Wow, I knew it had been some time since I posted but I didn’t realize it had been 3 months. I guess its time to catch everyone up.
At long last, I’m officially a resident of Italy! Yippee!! I even have a small car to get around in so I’m not so isolated anymore. It’s so nice not to have to ask someone to take me grocery shopping or whatever.
My almost daughter/niece Vicki came to stay with me for two weeks in May. We absolutely exhausted ourselves traveling all over Italy while she was here and eating a lot of gelato! We spent time in Rome visiting the Vatican then took a really long day trip to Pompeii, along the Amalfi Coast to Naples and Positano. We were able to see Mt. Etna over the Bay of Naples. Sampled all kinds of limoncello (melon, pistacchio pronounced Pis-tak-io, cream, to name a few) and got slightly hysterical when we found a giant glass shaped penis and testicles filled with lemoncello for sale in one of the shops! The Pompeii trip was fantastic with all the history there. We were able to take pictures of some of the preserved bodies (now plaster casts) of people that had died in-situ when the volcano erupted. Archeologists have uncovered some well preserved wall murals in what used to be villas in Pompeii and there were poppies blooming everywhere we went. All in all it was a good day.
Our next jaunt was to Venice. We had a gondola ride with an extremely entertaining gondolier who kept singing “I a-love a youuuuuu 🎶” and then discussed the economy with us! Vicki’s favorite place was the island of Murano. We did a tour of one of the glass factories and watched as they made large glass leaves, curled, for a chandelier. Incredibly hot near those furnaces but such talented people. Of corse, we had to visit the showroom and indulge in a bit of buying too. Fabulous lunch in an interior garden in one of the restaurants. We met a really delightful couple from England at our hotel and breakfasted with them for two days. We’ve even managed to stay in touch since we all went home.
Our last stop was in Florence as that was where Vicki was flying home from. Had a lovely day there including meeting with an old friend of mine who is a tour guide there. Got Vicki into the Galleria d’Accademia to see the David statue. Fabulous food every day of the whole trip.
Then it was back to reality again! Summer has finally arrived in Tuscany, though it took a while. I was very fortunate in meeting neighbors I hadn’t seen before. A German couple my age who own the house around the corner from me, the Gassner’s. They have another home in Berlin as well, and they speak English which was nice for me. They graciously invited me to participate in the celebration of their fortieth wedding anniversary with a group of friends and family who were coming from all over to be there fir their celebration. Over forty people ended up coming – all German speaking, from Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, France, the Netherlands, etc. it was crazy! There was an outdoor concert by 3 of their friends (violin, bass and guitar) one evening that was amazing. On the Saturday, there was another piano concert at the little church here on the grounds followed by a huge luncheon. It was quite an experience and I was made to feel completely welcome by everyone. Apparently they all get together here every year for a week for this anniversary celebration and have been doing so for many years.
My grow towers are doing very well. I’ve been eating salads out of my own produce for several weeks as well as strawberries. My four blueberry plants are loaded with fruit that’s almost ready for picking and my squash and zucchini are in full bloom and starting to produce. I also have four tomato plants that are starting to scare me. They’re so full of ripening tomatoes that I don’t know what I’ll do with them all. My neighbors have at least a dozen plants so they won’t want any of mine!
The walnut trees are loaded with green walnuts so I’ll be back to walnut picking in the fall! Also, having to wait for at least another month before being able to gather any blackberries.
My Italian is getting better every day and I can now carry on a basic conversation. Still learning vocabulary and verbs but I know it will come in time.
I’m sure there are other things I wanted to share but I can’t remember them right now. Besides, this is probably more than enough for now. Ciao!
Oh, yeah – I got my first ever tattoo!!o
Of course, it’s a poppy!
Izzy’s Art 