Things That I Will Miss

Starting today, I will write an entry every day of the things that I will miss about living here.  Today’s entry: The routine salutation wave every morning from my balcony to Assemio and the smile on his face when I greet him in the street. The freedom the boys have to wander and explore Incredibly [...]

Read Full Post »

Weekend Getaway

June 12 – 14 The boys had been asking to go to Pisa.  Everybody has to see the infamous Leaning Tower while they are here, right?  So as a reward for completing an entire school year in Italy, we decided to spend three days in Pisa, Lucca and Viareggio.  We still have so many places [...]

Read Full Post »

Poisonous Porcinis

Fall 2009  Helen had just received a batch of fresh picked mushrooms as a “thank you” from our neighbor Silvia’s mother.  There was quite a variety and because there were many mushrooms Helen was not familiar with, she invited her friends Mia and Juanjo over to help her identify them.  This was the first time [...]

Read Full Post »

Happy Trails

In the fall we saw a lot of hikers coming through our area.  Huge oversized backpacks, assorted gear and walking sticks.  Some carried one walking stick.  Some had two – like ski poles.  There are many hiking and trekking trails through this area.  There is the Grand Apennine trail – Grande Escursione Appenninica (GEA) which [...]

Read Full Post »

The Caprese Natural History Museum

As I am starting to pack up things to get ready to leave, I am going through the myriad of “things” the boys have found and accumulated over the year that we have been here.  It looks like a Natural History museum with all of the bottles and jars of their collections.  On their shelves [...]

Read Full Post »

La Mensa – School Lunch in Italy

Wednesday was the last day of school lunches for the boys.  Have I told you yet about the school lunch program here?  The school that the boys attend has a full hot lunch program. I am not even sure if you can bring your own brown bag lunch, I never really asked once I heard [...]

Read Full Post »

L’Ultimo Giorno

Today was the last day of school for the boys. A momentous occasion!  They’ve completed an entire year in an Italian public school.  It was truly a heartfelt moment when I went to pick them up today.  I had tears in my eyes as I waited for them to be let out.  I could hear [...]

Read Full Post »

My Permesso Saga – The Conclusion

Of Permessos and Paperwork Part 9 – In a Shoebox

Read Full Post »

The Gift

Let me tell you about a gift I received last evening.  Dante’s school pal Michele was over visiting and I was chatting with him.  He told me that his father had been out earlier in the day truffle hunting.  Apparently his father had found a dozen good-sized truffles. Curious about truffle hunting, I began to [...]

Read Full Post »

Beef, It’s What’s For Dinner. Maybe

In the category of “Things in Italy that confuse the hell out of me” is: trying to buy a whole standing rib roast at my supermercato.  It is basically the same cut of meat that they use here to make into the thick slabs of Bistecca Fiorentina. I had a dinner party the other night [...]

Read Full Post »