Category Archives: Uncategorized

Well, we made it! Thirty hours without sleep. (Can anyone sleep on an airplane anymore?) The last 6 hours or so included the 4-1/2 hour drive through the mountains… Finding the villa was the expected adventure, meeting a person we … Continue reading →

Headed back to the homeland to recharge the batteries and restore the soul. And because Donna had a case of trip planning amnesia last year, it’s just us and 8 of our closest co-conspirators. 8 of us leave together from … Continue reading →

October 18/19 Gonna party like it’s 1348… Well, after traipsing around and through the best of the medieval villages and towns of our favorite part of Italy it seems that perhaps I touched something I shouldn’t have or maybe the … Continue reading →

October 18, Wednesday is Boboli day. Jack and Lynn took off early… headed for adventures which probably require a lot of stairs. D and I prepare for a more … moderately paced day. I didn’t even get up for coffee … Continue reading →

  October 17… loose in the city of art… Kind of a lazy morning. That drive yesterday may have been a little more taxing than we were willing to admit yesterday. Everyone is up and at the table by about … Continue reading →

October 16… bumpkins headed for the big city… So generally we stick to the smaller towns and villages when we visit Italy. Cortona has been our home base since 1999. We relish the quiet countryside lifestyle and pace of things. … Continue reading →

Today is a day to celebrate a little bit Donna’s birthday! Being in Italy with good friends and wandering around some of the most beautiful and inspiring places in the world is a pretty good way to do it.  Today … Continue reading →

Oct 14 Ahh Cortona… Everyone seems to be getting the hang of sleeping in a little. La dolce vita is taking hold. We finish breakfast around 9… something. Well, they finish breakfast, I finish my third espresso. Happiness in a … Continue reading →

Tuscany 2017 Our nearly yearly pilgrimage to Italy was wheels up on Wednesday the 11th. We have been so looking forward to this trip since we decided that we needed it more than it wasn’t really in the budget, more … Continue reading →

  Back in one of my previous lifetimes, way back in the 1980s, I was trained as a violin maker. I never made a living at it but I worked in a couple of shops in the early years. Ever … Continue reading →