Escape from Reality
My birthday gave us an excellent opportunity to escape from reality....
A Lesson about Italian Health Care
My Italian doctor has invited me to attend an important event. Learn about my experiences with the Italian health care system. ...
Vanquishing the Tramontana
Fiendish Wind We’ve been having a struggle with the weather this week. We started the week with snow, which was beautiful and magical and we loved it. Then the sun came out and it was clear and bright and we loved it. With the sun came the wind. It...
The Baths Up the Road
We visited Bagno di Romagna recently, a small village near here known for its thermal springs. Bagno di Romagna is a Roman town and became an important stop on the route between Rome and Ravenna. The thermal springs are a cozy 116 degrees year round. I can imagine that...
Road Trip
We took a road trip recently to the Adriatic coast. We’ve decided that now that things are somewhat settled for us, we should take an overnight trip about once a month. We’d like to go to places we’ve never been, but since we’ve been traveling here for over 20...
A Gift of Grapes
It’s grape harvest time here. We’re really not in wine country, but everywhere you look you see rows of grapes. We even have some in our backyard. Ours are white grapes and are very sweet. Almost like a muscadine. I don’t know grape varieties, but would like to learn...
A Birthday on Two Continents
Birthdays roll around every year to remind us that as much as we don’t like to think so, we are getting older by the minute. They provide us with the framework we need to mark time. I can watch other people age, but I live my life not through...
Gluttony and Other Virtues
Santuario della Verna I really don’t know what my fascination with St. Francis is. I was raised Southern Baptist and we didn’t do saints and such. But for some reason, St. Francis strikes a chord with me. Maybe it’s because he was all over this part of Italy. Maybe...
Day Trippin’
We’ve been a little housebound for the past few weeks due to various issues and situations. We had expected to take many day trips while we’re here and we’ve really been itching to get out. We finally got out recently and took two trips. One to Deruta and one...