Iniziare!

I’ve never appreciated surprises – it’s the anticipation of good things that I love. Counting down the days, planning, imagining…it thrills me. And because he knows me so well, my amazing husband has given me the greatest graduation present ever – a trip to Italy! This summer! And I get to spend every day between now and then anticipating the adventure!!

Italy has always been a place of romance, in my mind. When I was a little girl, my grandpa told me about his grandparents who came from Italy and worked as stonemasons in the New World (their name was Chiappa). Though I am only 1/16 Italian, I have always been proud of them and dreamed of seeing the land they once called home. I read books about Italy for fun. I drew maps of the country (seriously). I covered my walls with posters of pristine beaches and rolling countryside. When we were in college, Tim studied abroad in Tuscany for a semester and we sent countless letters back and forth across the Atlantic. We fell in love through those letters, and when he came home he asked me to be his wife. Now, the promise of a slower pace of life has captured my imagination – meals eaten al fresco, long walks in the country, cooking with fresh local food, siesta, swimming in the sea…I can’t wait to experience it all with my love.

So, in the spirit of delicious anticipation, I have created a blog so we can keep a catalogue of photos, ideas, and places we’d like to visit, and just generally be excited about the upcoming trip. Of course I also plan to have a countdown (once we have a departure date), as well as an Italian word/phrase of the day to help us expand our vocab. Check out our Google Map (at right) for more details on where we are headed.

Ciao! Let the adventure begin!