Good thing our two weeks in Morocco ended with relaxing days in Essaouira. The next months in Italy were about to ask a lot of us. Here are edited excerpts from letters sent to the family. February We started the month traveling to Rome with local friends to attend a Chopin recital and returned another …
When an unexpected IRS refund arrived, we decided to spend at least part of it on a mid-winter trip to Morocco. A country we’d wanted to visit for decades, it offered not only unique sights and sounds but, just as important, insights into ourselves as travelers. Here’s an edited account of our adventures sent to …
As we neared the end of 2009, one thing after another arrived to challenge us. But we managed to pull through and gain a bit of wisdom along the way, not to mention an unexpected reward. Here are edited excerpts from letters to the family. July Last May, when I was rushing to get ready …
Toward the end of December, 2008, we began to focus on the complex process of moving from Umbria to California. We met with our lawyers in Rome for a briefing on legal and tax obligations involved in selling our Italian property. We identified Italian and international realtors whom we’d interview to find the best firms …
Kismet…fate…whatever we call it, sometimes deals us a bunch of challenges. That’s what happened in the last six months of 2008 — the loss of another dear Amelia friend, myriad problems for and with my Aunt Ethel, the hard physical labor of an abundant olive harvest. Happily, the year ended with the joys of the …
Living overseas, as opposed to visiting, offers the opportunity to become part of another way of life with all that brings, both happy and sad. Our days in Italy brought both, enriching our lives far beyond what we could have imagined. January We’re about to vote in the first-ever Global Primary. Six million Americans live …
On the home front: an injured cat, our first grapes, annual parties with three generations of local friends’ families. Around the world: helping an aunt, celebrating our anniversary in Sardinia, attending a wedding in Sri Lanka. I look back on 2007 now and ask myself how we managed to pack so much into a year. …
Traveling in Europe when you live there is as easy as traveling from state to state in America. Excellent trains and freeways make for pleasant trips from point to point. An example was my journey to Scotland to share in the celebration of a friend winning a prize for her novel. I caught a train …
Living in Italy for so many years made it possible for us not to rush seeing famous sites. Spread out over time, such visits helped us avoid the customary tourist schedule of one day here, one day there. Back home, when not attending local open-air operas and village festivals, we hosted guests from all over …
Good news/bad news must have been the theme of our first six months of 2006. Part of Amelia’s ancient wall collapsed, we finally got the upstairs renovation done after years of thinking about it, we lost two dear ones but spent quality time with another, Zack was attacked by a viper, and I had serial …