A Month with Friends

Well, another month has flown by! June has been a busy month for me with lots of visitors. It was great! Some of my parent's best friends from Texas had been planning a big trip to Europe this summer with some of their friends from home and had Florence on their itinerary. So, my parents decided to come visit at the same time! Everyone met here one Sunday afternoon and we spent 4 days together eating great meals, visiting the sights, touring Chianti, and catching up.

Everyone on the Ponte Vecchio


Stopping at a vineyard in Chianti


Dinner at Open Bar


Bellini's at Villa San Michele


Walking around the Boboli Gardens


Another really fun thing this month was having Ryan Coletta in Florence. He was studying abroad with his FSU program here and it was great to have a friend from home living here for a little while. All of his friends were really nice and fun too!

I was so sad to say bye to Ryan, but the day after he left I had more visitors! Margaret and Cason stopped in Florence for a few days on their European backpacking trip. They were on their third week of traveling and stayed here for three nights total. It was so fun to see Margaret again, after just seeing her in Destin last month.

And last, but definitely not least, I was so happy to visit with some more friends from Destin, Ms. Karen and Emily Lyerly. They were also doing some traveling in Europe and spent a few days here. One of their nights here overlapped with Marg and Cason so we all met one afternoon to watch the World Cup.

Emily, Me, Margaret, and Cason


It's always nice to see a new, familiar face while I'm so far from home, so thanks to everyone who has taken the time to visit with me while you were in Florence this month! Yall are awesome and I'm so lucky to have so many great friends!

One more thing, look how big my babies are getting!! So sweet.

May

I know I say this every month, but it's really true this time; May was the best month and I can't believe it's already June! I have so much to catch up on! The month started out great with a visit from the Coletta's. Ryan is studying abroad here for the summer so Ms. Jeanne and Tiffany were so nice to deliver him safely to Florence. They were here for about five days and we had so much fun together! It wasn't their first time in Florence, so we weren't rushing around to see every touristy sight, it was very relaxing. Thank you Ms. Jeanne, Tiffany, and Ryan for all of the good food, wine, and laughs. I love yall!!

At dinner with one of my favorie families


A few days after they left, I flew home for two weeks! It was so great. I spent one week in Destin with all my friends and family and had the best time. The weather was perfect and I got to see so many people. Kristen surprised me by flying home from D.C. for the weekend! There wasn't a quiet moment! My whole time at home was spent visiting with friends, going on the boat, hanging out on the beach, eating great American food, and enjoying being in my own house. I also went to a wedding and got to celebrate Cheney's engagement! It was so great having everyone together.

At the Mattie Kelly outdoor concert


Taking a sunset harbor cruise


Margaret, Natalie, Jessica, Kristen, me, and Haylee


After a week at home, I flew up to Atlanta to see my Georgia friends. A lot of them are living there now so we all got together. It was the best reunion! I was actually there on my birthday and Ansley's is the day after, so we had a cookout at her cute house to celebrate. It was great seeing everyone!

My friends at the birthday cookout


Two days later, I flew to Colorado for the big event! I was invited to the Air Force Academy Ring Dance which took place at the Academy Friday night. Lucia was so nice to let me borrow one of her beautiful Italian gowns and I carried it practically half-way across the world for the formal. But it was so worth it! It was my first trip to Colorado so that was fun too, it's beautiful out there. Everything about the weekend was great!

Before the dance


The mountains in Breckenridge, Colorado


Before I got home to the U.S., I wasn't expecting to experience any culture shock because that's the only way of life I've ever known, but I have to admit that I did. Nine months in Italy really has given me a different outlook on so many things that I didn't even realize. I had forgotten about so many of the differences. The main thing was definitely the dining experience. And although I had some great meals at home, I was ready to get back to the Italian way of eating. But, I was pleasantly surprised to notice how soft everything was at home! It sounds weird, but since everything is air dried and ironed over here, I forgot how amazingly soft towels and sheets could be! I was sad to leave America, but thinking about the kids made me feel better. I was so happy to see them when I got back! They gave me so many hugs and kisses, we couldn't stop laughing and smiling. Now I've been back in Florence for a week and life is going on as usual. After the first day, it was like I had never even left. Now it's June (omg!) and there is so much to look forward to! I'm planning some trips for the summer and fall and I'm trying to squeeze in as much as possible into my last six months here!

Lately

This month has flown by! And I obviously haven't been too good about keeping everyone updated lately. But with the beautiful weather, traveling, friends visiting, and meeting new friends in Florence I haven't been spending as much time on the computer, which I guess is a good thing. But it's been a great month! For my off weekend, I went to Cagliari in Sardinia with Burney and Caroline. It's a cute little beach town off the coast of Italy. We went to the beach, walked around town, and ate great seafood. Burney and I actually got an extra day and night there when our flight home was cancelled due to the volcano but we didn't mind at all! We had great weather and a fun time together.




Sadly, the volcano also cancelled my mom and grandfather's trip to Florence. I did mind that one, but hopefully we can reschedule their visit for another time. I was really looking forward to having them here but I ended up having a nice, quiet week instead. Burney and Molly came to stay with me Saturday and Sunday. We also had a friend from Georgia who was passing through Florence so it was fun being with all of them. Molly had a week off from her family in Switzerland so she stayed with me for a few more nights. Yesterday we took the train to meet Burney in Lucca, a small Tuscan town about an hour and a half from here. I LOVE LUCCA! It was my first time there and I'm already looking at my schedule to see when I can go back. I could live there forever! Molly and I got there in the morning and rented bikes. Lucca is still surrounded by the old city walls and there are bike paths and little parks all the way around. Burney got there at lunch time so we had a nice meal outside together and walked around a little bit before I had to come back to Florence. I hated leaving them because we've been able to spend so much time together lately and it will probably be a while until we will see each other again.

Taking advantage of the beautiful weather (and my friend's rooftop terrace) Saturday afternoon


And again on Sunday...


Lucca



Some more recent news, I've decided to extend my stay with the family and will be here until January! That is great news for everyone who hasn't visited yet because now you have a little more time! I'm really excited about having another fall in Florence and a few more months in Italy. I was starting to get so sad thinking about leaving the kids, the family, and everything here when Lucia asked me if I was sure I really wanted to leave. We never really talked about me staying longer so I didn't know it was an option, but when she offered it to me I almost felt relieved. I was curious when I got here to see if a year in Italy would scratch the itch that I felt to live somewhere else and experience a new culture. I was wondering if I would feel fulfilled or if it would just leave me wanting more. I guess I did feel like I needed a little more time, but I promise I'm not staying forever! (Not even in Lucca.) I think this will be the perfect amount of time and a great way to end 2010. And since I decided to stay here longer, I asked if I could have some time to visit home. So, I'll be in the states for a few weeks next month! I'll be in Destin May 11-18th so let me know if you're in town too!

Spring Has Sprung

It's finally spring in Florence and I couldn't be happier! The weather has been so nice lately (with the exception of a few afternoon April showers). We were driving back into town a week or so ago from being in the mountains and it was like the seasons had changed overnight. Everything is green! Flowers are blooming and the sun is out! But so are the tourists...the past few months have been so pleasantly quiet around town but I guess tourist season is back...oh well. We've been back and forth between the mountains so much lately, we've barely had any time in Florence. Only two days this week then heading out again on Thursday. They're trying to get in every last minute of skiing. We spent the past weekend there too but it rained all day on Sunday so we spent the morning in the house then went out to a fabulous Easter lunch. The restaurant had a special set Easter menu with SIX courses. We were at the table for two hours and couldn't even think about food for dinner that night. It was so good though!

The kids are out of school this week so I took them to the Boboli Gardens this morning. It was such a beautiful day that I wanted to get them out of the house. We ran around and explored the gardens for a while then went to Mama's Bakery for a special treat. We met two little girls there and ended up staying for over an hour playing with them. It was a great morning! Tonight is my night off so I'm cooking dinner at a friend's apartment then heading out to Beatles night at Be Bop. I haven't been there since Kristen and I studied abroad here but it was one of our favorite things to do so I'm looking forward to it!

I feel like my time here is flying by. It's already been more than seven months! We're starting to talk about summer plans and when I'm going to leave...it's so weird. But I'm excited about so many things coming up soon. My mom and grandfather are coming to visit in two weeks and I'm in the middle of planning a few other fun trips. It's going to be a good spring! Even though I'm a few days late, Buona Pasqua...Happy Easter to everyone!

Fresh flowers at the market


Tulips in full bloom at Piazzle Michelangelo




The kids at Boboli






Pietro and I couldn't find Gilda for a few minutes (a little scary) but eventually saw her here...

Spain

If I hadn't had my trip to Spain with Emily to look forward to, I would have been depressed after the Maldives. We got back to Florence late Sunday night and I left the next Tuesday morning for Madrid. It was actually snowing as I walked to the train station that day and I almost cried thinking about being on the beach two days before. But, when I landed in Madrid and saw my Mom and Emily I was so excited! We spent that afternoon walking around Madrid and catching up and I was really sad when my mom had to leave the next morning. I was suffering from the worst case of jet lag and was tired from all the traveling (5 different planes and 3 different countries in 7 days!) and climate changes so I was feeling a little less than par the first few days. (Side note- Lucia asked me what that phrase meant the other day and I told her it was a bad thing, but isn't less than par a good thing in golf? where does that come from?) Anyways, we still had a good time. The weather was colder than we were expecting, so we spent a lot of the time trying to run from one inside place to the other- museums, shops, restaurants. I really liked Madrid and thought it was a beautiful big city. There were lots of trees, parks, and nice buildings. We saw some great museums, toured the Royal Palace, did some shopping, and went to a Flamenco show one night that was really neat! And I can't forget all our trips to Starbucks- they don't have these in Italy, so it's always a guilty pleasure for me when I leave the country.

Thursday afternoon we left Madrid and flew to Barcelona. We got in pretty late so we just grabbed a quick dinner and went to sleep. The next day we saw some sights around town- the food market, the seaside and port, Gaudi's famous church and park, and toured the Picasso museum. Neither of us was really crazy about the food in Spain, actually I really hated it but Emily said I was just being a spoiled brat from living in Italy. But we managed to find a few tapas everywhere we went that were pretty good. Everything is ham, eggs, and potatoes though and you can't escape the smell of ham anywhere! Eww. Saturday, our last day there, was the best weather we had all week. We spent the whole morning trying to get to Figueres, a town 2 hours away with the Salvador Dali museum, and ended up missing our train. But we were happy to have a nice day just to hang out in Barcelona. It's also a really beautiful city. We sat outside for a while and people watched- a very interesting thing to do in Spain- and enjoyed the sun. That night, we HAD to have an Italian dinner and it was delicious!

We both flew out early Sunday morning. Emily went back to school and I went to Rome to spend the day with Caroline. I hadn't seen her since November and figured this would be a good time to pass through. I actually got to see Burney and Will too who got to Rome for a vacation about an hour before I left. Now I've spent this week getting back into the swing of things in Florence. We're leaving shortly for almost a week in the mountains. The weather has been wonderful lately and I'm soo looking forward to spring!

P.S. the picture uploader isn't working now, but I'll check again when we get back from the mountains next week...

Two Weeks in Paradise

Ok, I know these posts are long overdue, but better late than never, right? It's going to be hard to describe how wonderful our trip to the Maldives was, but I guess I'll try...two weeks in paradise is exactly what it was! The weather was absolutely beautiful every day, it felt like summer and only rained the first day during our nap so it was actually perfect. The first week we had two villas, one for the parents and one for the kids and me, then the second week the dad went home so the mom, kids, and I stayed in one. To get from the capitol city, where we flew into from Milan, to our island, we had to take a 30 minute ride on a sea plane. That was my first experience on a plane like that and landing on the water was a very strange feeling, but it was the most beautiful view I've ever seen. The island we stayed on, Coco Palm, is a very small island in the middle of the Indian Ocean. I think there were about 99 villas and you could walk around the entire perimeter in about 15 minutes. There are more staff than guests on the island and everyone was so nice. There weren't many kids there so of course everyone loved Pietro and Gilda and knew them by name.

Our typical day was waking up and putting on our bathing suits before walking to breakfast- where they had the BEST waffles and pancakes- then getting to the beach around 11am. If the parents were scuba diving in the morning, I would be with the kids and if they weren't I could have some free time or we would all be together. But we would play in the sand, make sand castles, or play in the water (which was the perfect temperature btw). My favorite game was laying on the raft and making the kids push me around, which we "played" almost every day! Around 1pm we would head to lunch then back to the villa for an afternoon nap or quiet time. Around 4 or 5pm, just when the sun was perfect, we would head back to the beach to play for a few more hours. Almost every night we got to see an amazing sunset from our beach chairs, I was in awe. Even after growing up in Destin and witnessing beautiful sunsets in my back yard every night, it never gets old to me. Then we would shower and get ready for dinner and head out to eat around 8pm. We had most of our meals in the same restaurant that was a buffet. The food was always great and I can't even talk about dessert...so good! After the kids went to sleep, I would either have free time to wander around on the beach or just sit on the porch and read.

Besides hanging out and relaxing on the beach every day, I got to do some other really fun things too. I went snorkelling a few times around the huge reef that was right off the beach and saw some beautiful fish and coral, but the real highlight was scuba diving! I took the beginner's course that lets you go down 12 meters without being certified and I loved it! I was a little nervous that I wouldn't remember all of the rules and how to work the equipment and everything, but once I got underwater it all came pretty naturally. This is definitely something I would like to continue to pursue. Being that far under the water, 2 inches from all of the sea life was so amazing. We saw a small shark, tuna, an eel, so many kinds of beautiful fish that I don't know the names of, coral, starfish, and plants. I felt like I was in "Finding Nemo", but I guess that's what I get for hanging out with kids all day. We also rented a catamaran one day and sailed around the island, which was really fun.

It was really strange being on the complete opposite side of the world. I realize that this trip might be a once in a lifetime thing. I hope I'll be able to go back someday, but it's a long trip from Italy (10 hour plane ride, ahh) and a REALLY LONG trip from the States. It was weird to call home at 10am, right after breakfast, and talk to my parents who were about to go to sleep at 10pm there. But it was the best feeling to be back at the beach, and skiing and snow was the farthest thing from my mind!

In two weeks, I saw the sky do some of the most amazing and different things. Of course the sunsets were all beautiful and really different, but I also got to see the full moon which lit up the entire beach. Then, the next night the moon was nowhere to be found and there were more stars in the sky than I've ever seen at once. I even saw two shooting stars, which was cool because I don't know the last time I've seen that. And the sun was definitely stronger than at home...not even SPF 50 helped me a few days. I came across this passage the other day and couldn't help but think of our amazing trip to the Maldives, so I'll end with this:

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world."
-Psalm 19:1-4

our daily hang out spot


our villa


just a few sunsets






before dinner one night


gilda and me


picture from the website- aerial view of the island

Six Months Down

I can't get the song "ohhh ohhh you're half way there...ohhh ohhh livin on a prayer" stuck out of my head...I'm half way through now and I can't believe it! It is so strange to think that 6 months ago I was unpacking my bags in Italy and now I'm packing to go to the Maldives for 2 weeks with people who were still strangers only half a year ago! The past few weeks have been so busy that I haven't even really had a chance to think about our trip until this week but now I'm so excited! I am soo ready to be back in shorts and flip flops. I'm just praying for good weather! Then, the day after we get back, I'm flying to Spain to meet Emily there for her spring break. I'm so excited about that too! I feel like from here on out, the time is going to fly by and I wish I could just make everything slow down a little bit. This is going to be a short post because I have a
L O N G day tomorrow (9 hour plane ride from Milan to the main island in the Maldives, then a 30 minute hydro-plane ride to our island) and I need to get some last minute things in my suitcase and get in bed!I'll be taking a little blogging break while I'm relaxing on the beach and soaking up the Spanish culture but I'll be back soon...Ciao!