I first went to Italy in 1999 during my tenure at the software company, Informix - the firm that first sent me to Europe on business also gave four week sabbaticals after five years of employment. It didn't take me long to decide where to go - and I took off for three weeks in Italy plus a week in Belgium to visit my friend Serge. Back then, there were no laptop computers (yes, I am showing my age), and I took a small notebook with me and wrote about my travels. Today, it's hard to decipher my penmanship. Anyone who knows me well knows that my handwriting is atrocious so I opt for type written words. Maybe it's because my thoughts work faster than my fingers can write.
Today, I was reading parts of what I wrote and what I thought in June of 1999 still holds true today - "I am in love with Florence. It's gorgeous and I want to come back already." Back then, a dear old friend of mine joined me on my days in the city of the Duomo. He was someone I had met nine years earlier at a country and western bar. "If you had told me that the someone I admired nine years go would be with me in Italy," I wrote, "I wouldn't have believed you. In nine years time where will I be next and who will be with me?" Well, I'll be about three years off that number next year when my mom and I visit. I love planning and looking forward to events. Thinking about all that's ahead will get me through the winter. Half the fun of any trip is the planning, the anticipation and the talking about what you'll do. For me, that's a huge chunk of the vacation. And it's an upcoming vacation like this - one where I can show my mom another city that holds a special place in my heart - that makes working and living so worth it.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
Another European Tour - Summer in Italy
The weather may be turning colder, the days getting shorter and the holidays fast approaching, but already my plans are turning to summer and yet another European tour with my mom. Months after our amazing trip to Paris, Rosemarie and I still talk about the incredible trip we had together. In fact, after we returned, I uploaded all 425 photos onto a digital frame and sent it to her. Now, that may have been a mistake, since when she got it, she kept staring at the changing photos for hours. Between emailing and photo watching, her days were full.
As the year progressed, events in my life made me realize how short life truly is and that every moment needs to be grasped, enjoyed and lived to its fullest. It was during one of these times that I concluded that the time with my mother did not have to be once-in-a-lifetime, but a lifetime of moments that we create together.
"How about we go to Italy?" I asked her.
"I've got my passport, let's go," she responded back. "A world traveler at last."
Deciding where in Italy wasn't too difficult. I have been to the country where my paternal grandfather was born twice and although he was from Ortona in the Abruzzo region of Southern Italy, I fell in love with Florence. Southern Italy, is of course, beautiful, but the crowds and traffic of Rome were no match for what I found in the birthplace of the Renaissance. Without a doubt, this is the place that I want to show my mother, and what better place to stay than in the most charming B&B that hosted my last two visits, Dei Mori. What a good value surprise it was when I discovered that because I was a returning guest, they would give me 15% off the stay if I paid in cash. From here, we will take a day trip to Rome, Pisa, and perhaps an overnight stay in Venice. There will be endless choices in the days and months ahead. Because the television industry won't allow for time off in late spring, our travel dates are July 3 - 13, 2011. With a little creative planning, piggybacking on an NBC business trip to New York City at the end of June will be another good value.
For now, though, the hotel is booked and I've begun looking for the best flights. So far, connecting through Munich seems to be the best route as there are no non-stop flights from Boston to Florence. Although I'd rather make a connection within the United States, I've no doubt that the Germans will be more than efficient in getting us to our connecting flight. Plus, the last time I flew Lufthansa, the flight attendant was pretty damn cute. This is no United with its red nail polished-hanging on to my seniority - helmet hair cabin attendants. We may fly Swiss Air, and who better to get us any place on earth on time than the Swiss?
As the year progresses, there'll be stories to tell - of growing up Italian, of grandfathers and grandmothers (Rosemarie's father of Sicilian heritage, my paternal grandmother's family from somewhere in the Molise region) - but most of all, there will be Rosemarie anecdotes, no doubt the highlight of the trip. I probably, should, at best, leave out the Lithuanian grandmother stories, this is, after all, a tale of going to Italy. If you want to hear about my mom's mother's husbands, love of vodka (do any of you see a resemblance here?) and South Boston living, I'll regale everyone with a very different blog in another time and place.
So, sit back, enjoy what's to come and when we get to Italy, you'll be along for another spectacular ride.
As the year progressed, events in my life made me realize how short life truly is and that every moment needs to be grasped, enjoyed and lived to its fullest. It was during one of these times that I concluded that the time with my mother did not have to be once-in-a-lifetime, but a lifetime of moments that we create together.
"How about we go to Italy?" I asked her.
"I've got my passport, let's go," she responded back. "A world traveler at last."
Deciding where in Italy wasn't too difficult. I have been to the country where my paternal grandfather was born twice and although he was from Ortona in the Abruzzo region of Southern Italy, I fell in love with Florence. Southern Italy, is of course, beautiful, but the crowds and traffic of Rome were no match for what I found in the birthplace of the Renaissance. Without a doubt, this is the place that I want to show my mother, and what better place to stay than in the most charming B&B that hosted my last two visits, Dei Mori. What a good value surprise it was when I discovered that because I was a returning guest, they would give me 15% off the stay if I paid in cash. From here, we will take a day trip to Rome, Pisa, and perhaps an overnight stay in Venice. There will be endless choices in the days and months ahead. Because the television industry won't allow for time off in late spring, our travel dates are July 3 - 13, 2011. With a little creative planning, piggybacking on an NBC business trip to New York City at the end of June will be another good value.
For now, though, the hotel is booked and I've begun looking for the best flights. So far, connecting through Munich seems to be the best route as there are no non-stop flights from Boston to Florence. Although I'd rather make a connection within the United States, I've no doubt that the Germans will be more than efficient in getting us to our connecting flight. Plus, the last time I flew Lufthansa, the flight attendant was pretty damn cute. This is no United with its red nail polished-hanging on to my seniority - helmet hair cabin attendants. We may fly Swiss Air, and who better to get us any place on earth on time than the Swiss?
As the year progresses, there'll be stories to tell - of growing up Italian, of grandfathers and grandmothers (Rosemarie's father of Sicilian heritage, my paternal grandmother's family from somewhere in the Molise region) - but most of all, there will be Rosemarie anecdotes, no doubt the highlight of the trip. I probably, should, at best, leave out the Lithuanian grandmother stories, this is, after all, a tale of going to Italy. If you want to hear about my mom's mother's husbands, love of vodka (do any of you see a resemblance here?) and South Boston living, I'll regale everyone with a very different blog in another time and place.
So, sit back, enjoy what's to come and when we get to Italy, you'll be along for another spectacular ride.
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