Ortona

So I'm now in the region of Abruzzo staying with my wonderful friend Chiara.  We met through our mutual friend Ilaria (who just got married) while I was studying in Bologna.  Chiara studied in Arkansas this past spring and was able to come and visit us in California, so now she is hosting me in her home town.  It's so wonderful, a small town on the Adriatic sea where she knows everyone and this week, there is a festival going on where every night there are typical dishes that Ortona is famous for where you can go and eat with your friends and have a nice evening with good food...they call is a 'sagra'.  We've been going to that in the evening, or venturing over to the neighboring town, Pescara where Ilaria lives along with many of our other friends from Bologna.

Continuing to fall in love with this country more and more every day.

xxx
al

Wedding Bells

The instigator to the entire two months in Italy was to come to the wedding of my old roommate, Ilaria.  And it was so worth the trip!  The wedding was this past Sunday and we all had a blast.  The mass was held in a beautiful church in the countryside and was half in English half in Italian because the groom, is Greek but was born in America and has been living in London for the past 10plus years...so all of his guests were British.  I felt amazing because for once I could understand everything, although my Italian is pretty good now, it's not my native tongue, so it was fun to joke around with all the British people and make fun of each others accents. 

After the mass we went to Ilaria's house in the countryside...two years ago I went there with her and her family for Easter.  They had moved things around a bit, but it was a perfect spot for a wedding reception.  We ate well, drank a lot of wine, sang, danced, and then did it all over again. It was so beautiful and fun, and so wonderful to see my friend so happy and in love.  

So happy! So blessed to have such wonderful friends all over the world. 

xxx

al

It's been too long and I've had too much fun

Ok, so the blog kind of went on vacation along with me, but I'm going to try and be better.

First things first I had the most amazing 12 days in Sardegna.  I stayed with my friend Laura and her amazing family and seriously lived the dream. Every day we would scooter to one beach or another in the morning, come home for lunch with the family, then do the same thing in the afternoon.  One day Laura's dad took us on his boat which was amazing.  There is no better view of a beach than from the water....another day her brother took us out on a different kind of boat, they call it a gamone, but I don't think there is an english equivalent, it's like a speed boat but with rubber inflated sides.  Like a giant raft for white water rafting with a motor.  It is really fun to dive off of into the water, especially when the water is crystal clear and full of beautiful fish.  Sardegna was a dream.  Good food, family, friendship, and the most beautiful scenery, beaches, water, etc.  Even went horseback riding on the beach one evening, which was an experience in it of itself...but that's a good story for when I'm back home.  
Here are some of the highlights in pictures of the trip.