Author: Yvonne Wilson

We left San Francisco on Monday April 27th at 3:45pm and landed in Rome on Tuesday the 28th at 2:45pm Italian time. From San Francisco to Cortona took us 19 hours so we were really glad to finally get here!

The trip was really nice, we flew Air France and it was really comfortable considering.  We were lucky as John had the window seat, I had the aisle and there was an open seat in the middle.  we changed planes at the Charles de Gaulle airport in France. As we were landing there it was a spectacular view. There were fields of bright yellow as far as the eye could see.  The fields are of Colza, Rape Seed which are lovely vivid yellow flowers. These are used to make canola oil.  There are a few fields of them that you can see down in the valley from Cortona, but nothing like we saw around Paris.

When we arrived in Cortona it was evening and we visited with Maria, the lady that owns the palazzo we rent an apartment in. Over the years she has become a special friend and we keep in touch through Skype when we are not here. Her daughter, Laura is visiting from France with her fiancée Frederik so we got to meet him.  We stayed and visited with them for a couple of hours drinking champagne and getting caught up to date.

We have been getting over jet lag so just spending some mellow time walking around town, visiting with people we have come to know over the years and getting settled in.

Wednesday John went with Maria, Laura and Fred to a local man for wine tasting. I stayed home and kicked back. The winery they went to is a very exclusive, not well known one just outside of Cortona in Pergo.  They were not given a street number, just told to look for the red gate! it is called Cantina Doveri and owned by Fabrizio Doveri. He produces just one wine, L’Usciolo Syrah. in English it means Small Door Syrah.  His process is completely natural, he refuses to enlarge his business so supplies are limited even though the local enoteca wants to carry it.

Yesterday (Thursday), we went down the hill to Camucia to the local market and bought produce. I have yet to figure out why our strawberries in America are so different from the wonderful ones you can buy here.  We spent some time visiting with the owners of Bar 500, Rob and Emma who we have come to know over the years. While visiting with them we met Eric and Molly who are here visiting from Portland, Oregon, they are really nice couple and we arranged to stay in touch through email.  The last couple we met here, Leisa and Mark, also from Oregon have turned out to be very close friends of ours. Last night John got his wish and we went to his favorite restaurant for dinner, Fufluuns.

Today Maria leaves to visit her brother near Naples for a week so we will be helping her load her car for the trip. We walked around Piazza Signorelli today as there is a market there. mostly flowers and plants but some antiques. Today is their Labor Day so there was a brass band marching down Via Natzionale. So strange to us to see the communist flags flying high as part of the group marched by!

We are heading back to Italy on Monday!!  We haven’t been there in two years and we are so excited!  We fly from San Francisco and will be landing in Rome.  While we are there we will be based in Cortona for three weeks, then Orvieto for one week and Venice for a week. We then fly back to San Francisco from Venice.

I will be attempting to post blogs as often as possible and give details about the areas we are in and what we have been up to. We have been to Cortona many times as that is one of our most favorite places in the world. We also love Venice and look forward to going there again.  In Cortona we stay with a lovely lady that owns apartments and has become our dear friend. Her apartments are mere steps from the center of town.  In Venice we will be staying in an apartment we have rented once before. It is right next to a vaporetto stop and overlooks the islands of Murano and Burano and the Isola di San Michele which is the island that is a cemetery. We have never been to Orvieto so that will be a fun new experience.  During that time we have several other areas we will be making day trips to, of course including Rome.  I HAVE to see Rome again!

So the list of “things to do” is still long, the time before leaving is getting short and I will be glad when we are on our way.  It is amazing how many details there are to handle before you leave.

One of the things I am trying to do is learn the new camera John bought for me.  It is a Sony also (love Sony!) but is the small new A6000.  So much lighter than the larger camera I usually take along. But with that comes the learning curve for it. And of course none of the attachments I have for the other cameras fit!!  It will be exciting to see what I can do with it, but of course I am trying to cram the information I should have been gradually learning.

I am so excited to get to visit with the lovely people we know over there in Cortona!  They have truly become very dear friends and I miss them a lot.

I am a lazy blogger but my new years resolution (just made this week) is to try to post on a more regular basis.  I hope that after our trip to Italy I can do retrospectives on some of the other things that we have been up to.  Last September we went to England and Croatia and I never got around to blogging about that.  Also some shorter trips and happenings. Hopefully I will fulfill my resolution.  I hope you will enjoy them!

Until later from Italy!

I am puzzling just how I am going to go about this blog. My dream is to script my past and present life and dreams for the future. Anything that seems amazing, different or interesting. As you will find out, my passion is travel, my dreams are many and I hope you will enjoy!

I am in the middle of the insanity that practically everyone I know understands.  Rushing around to get all of the chores done. Shopping for the “perfect” presents, the “perfect” tree.

At this time of year I always say I will change the way we do things. Plan far in advance, maybe start shopping in June and wrap gifts months in advance. Never seems to happen that way. It seems to always be last minute rush, stress and confusion. I know I am not the only one this is happening too but figured I wanted to ask myself this question: WHY!?

We lose the real meaning of this time of year. We spend so much time on the tree, gifts, food etc. that we lose sight of what is important. Going to the store, driving on the street, I am confronted by the truth, people lose all sense of courtesy and kindness during this time of year.

Why must the tree be perfectly straight? Why do we have to outdo each other with the gifts that we buy? Who cares if the turkey is overdone? How did we ever get to this place? This craving for perfection that leads us to forget all that we know we should hold dear.

The real meaning of this time of year is love.  A time to sit back, take a look at what we have and spend time being thankful for it all. Why don’t we take the time to share what is important, the togetherness of those we love, the true act of kindness for one another. Why do we become these raving maniacs racing from one store to another with no time to smile or talk to those around us. What does it get us? What do we leave in our wake as we scramble from one counter to another pushing those in our way?

I for one am going to change as of this moment!  At least give it a good try. I want to take the time to just sit back and think about all that has happened during this year. Take the time to look around me and recognize that the important things are love, kindness, togetherness. Enjoying the presence of those I love and just spending time in front of the fire, cozy and warm and reading a good book!

My dream is to share all that is amazing that I find in this world. To present what I find interesting and exciting or important and hope you feel the same way or get something out of what I share.