The Venticello is Gone With the Wind
We arrived here two weeks ago to the most amazing weather. It was hot – in the 90s – but very low humidity and and the most delicious breeze, the venticello. That breeze kissed your face and brushed your body with a gentle coolness that made you feel like...
The Miracle of Leroy Merlin
We visited the Leroy Merlin near Perugia to look for some outdoor furniture for our terrace. Leroy Merlin is kind of like a Home Depot. Getting to it required a trip on the E45, the main highway that cuts through Umbria and eastern Tuscany. Now you may think this...
The Angles of Anghiari
Anghiari is a small town. It’s about 5,500 people. I call it a partial hill town because if you come upon it from the east you will see it as a majestic hill town, but if you come upon it from the west, it looks pretty ho-hum. The hill...
Jesus at the End of My Street
I live on Via della Propositura, which is basically the street of the parish church. As the name implies, the parish church is just down the way from us. There’s really nothing else on this street – a few houses and a couple of entrances to the centro storico...
Italian Complications
I know it seems like my life is perfect (and for the most part it is right now – I’m continually pinching myself), however, we do have our share of complications. And they’re complications in Italian which is whole new sphere of weirdness. We recently ran some errands in...
We Go to a Dedication
I’ve said this before and I’ll probably say it more times, but Anghiari is really a small town. One of our neighbors, an older gentlemen who speaks absolutely no English, lets us know about all the insider events going on around town. He recently told us about something on...
We Visit Umbria
We took Myra on a tour through Umbria, which is the region just to the east of Tuscany. It’s just as beautiful as Tuscany and not quite as tourist laden, although it’s being discovered more and more. Umbria is called the “Green Heart of Italy” because its landscape it...
We Welcome Myra
Our dear friend Myra has come for a visit. This is her first time in Europe and we’re so happy to be able to share some of our experiences with her. No matter how much you prepare or think you’re ready, the trip over here is just a killer. ...
We live simply
After our extravagant trip to Switzerland, we are trying to be frugal and simple this week. Our dear friend Myra is coming next week, so we want to be in top form for that as well. This week has been the perfect time to do this for two reasons:...
We Complete a Journey
The train from Florence to Interlaken goes first to Milan, where you change trains, then through a few northern Italian towns, and into Switzerland; but you don’t even know when you’ve crossed the border (there are no, “Leaving Italy”, “Welcome to Switzerland” signs). There are two more train changes...