The year of trips

Post-Covid, everyone seems to be on vacation this past year. And the local towns here in Abruzzo had filled their August schedules with so many events. Just in our little town, the streets were packed and alive. But let me back up a bit to April when we went on our first vacation/visit back to the US in 6 years.

We had planned a few times to visit family and friends in the US, but little did we know, as everyone else, what Covid was about. We had a trip planned for the Spring of 2020, which we had to cancel, thinking in a few months, when Covid is ‘gone’, we could reschedule. Fast forward 2 years and we got closer to making real plans. This past spring, we finally got back to the United States to see our daughters, grandbabies and some dear friends. It was a whirlwind 10 days so we packed as much as we could into those few days.

It was the first time for us flying out of Naples airport and it was a good decision. Only a 2-hour drive from our house, connecting flight out of Frankfurt, Germany and on to Dulles. Once on the ground in Washington, DC, and with our rental car (after a few hiccups), we headed out on US495 around the city. At that moment, the funniest thought came to me that the traffic on the US highway felt tame. I was actually able to relax. That’s what happens after living 6 years amongst the Italian drivers. lol After we checked in to our B&B in Havre di Grace, MD, we met up with John’s daughter, Jennifer, and family. Finally meeting our new granddaughter, now a year old, was a beautiful moment. Her brother, Zac, hadn’t seen us for 6 years and was a bit shy at first, but he warmed up fast and we heard all kinds of fun stories. We relaxed along the waterside of Havre di Grace as well as had some fun time at the local zoo. Unfortunately, after a few days (way too short) visit, we had to say our goodbyes for now. We’re hoping that they will someday make the trip to visit us in Italy. What an amazing experience that would be for everyone…

Our next stop was to see my daughter, Brooke, who lives on her birth farm in rural Virginia, halfway between Williamsburg and Richmond. The farm overlooks the Chickahominy River in Charles City County, where the bulk of the farming in that area is in corn, soybeans and winter wheat. Brooke divides her time between Williamsburg, Charles City and Mount Vernon (birthplace of George Washington), contracted as a historic gown maker. We checked in to the Peace Hill B&B just across the road from her farm, which has upped their game from a local farm specializing in eggs and field crops to a gorgeous hospitality venue set in the peaceful countryside.

Our time was filled with a visit to Williamsburg to meet up with my dear college friend, Michele, and her lovely daughter, Kate, as well as touring around Colonial Williamsburg and the campus of the College of William and Mary with Brooke. Both Brooke and I are alumni, so it was fun seeing what hasn’t changed on campus since our times there as well as all the new and exciting construction. Definitely a nostalgic time.

Continuing our time with Brooke, we all headed up to Richmond, met up with Brooke’s partner, David, to enjoy a few days in the capital. We explored Ginter Botantical Gardens, so I could get my flowers and plant fix. Such a gorgeous place, complete with water features and orchid greenhouse. We also had some time to visit the historic Church Hill district of Richmond, where the famous ‘Give me Liberty or Give me Death’ speech by Patrick Henry took place at St. John’s Church.

A very important part of the trip for me was to attend K9 Search & Rescue Dogs’ 30th reunion! How wonderful to see many of the original members from the early ’90smy, my former teammates, and the dogs..of course! We had time to watch the teams train, reconnect and enjoy a delicious meal together. Realistically, this may be my last time in this group setting and I will hold that time dear to my heart. Thankfully, I still can chat with my good friends online and ‘follow’ them as they train their dogs and head out to searches.

We finished up our trip to Virginia with a visit to John’s mom, now residing in Charlottesville, VA. She just celebrated her 98th birthday and still going strong. It was definitely a bittersweet visit with her. Many of you, that consider moving to Italy or anywhere else far from home, may struggle with the difficulties of leaving family behind. Trust me, that struggle is real in our lives, even after 6 years of living in Abruzzo. But I am reminded what my daughter told me as we were thinking over our decision to make the ‘big move’… she said, “Mom, go live your dream”. We are definitely living the dream and we are both so very grateful to our family for understanding and supporting us.

It was a jammed-packed vacation to see family and friends. How we wish we could transport everyone to Italy to visit us someday!

Our next vacation this year, was a surprise trip for John’s 70 birthday. He was born in July and I knew it would be a hot and busy vacation as I planned for it. We’ve both wanted to see Venice and it just never had happened. So, I bit the proverbial bullet. Venice in July.. shoot me now.. but truly we figured how to make it work and only had maybe 4 or 5 hours in the 5-day trip when we were stuck in the masses of tourists. I picked a charming hotel in a quiet neighborhood, where we could have some downtown away from the heat and crowds and we spent many hours walking the out-of-the way places, much to our delight.

We wandered through different neighborhoods, crossing numerous canals, visiting many of the stunning cathedrals the hordes of tourists miss. Ate amazing seafood, enjoyed the AC in our hotel during siesta time, as it was a very hot week (40C), took boat rides to the islands, and yes, ate gelato! We knew we wanted to see San Marco’s piazza and basilica and make the 15-minute walk over to that area. Absolute craziness in regard to the number of people, and even though we had skip-the-line tickets, the basilica was packed to the gills. We were basically pushed along by the masses. Afterwards, we headed back to our quiet neighborhood to decompress. We had the opportunity through our hotel to take a ‘free’ boat ride out to the ‘glass’ island of Murano. I was concerned that we would be high pressured into buying the high-priced handblown glass (way out of our budget) but it was handled with class. We also visited the colorful island of Burano and had a lovely lunch.

Venice is an amazing place, that most of us dream about, but it is also a real city filled with residents. Going during the busy summer months and experiencing the rudeness of the tourists gave us a glimpse of the difficulties the residents of Venice live with on a daily basis. It only made us want to be more mindful of our behavior as well. We will definitely return during a fall or spring season!

We had one more vacation, a cammino, which we did in September. I’ll hold off until next post to describe that trip in the northern Italian region of Lombardy. Yes, it was a busy year for traveling; definitely post-Covid ‘let’s get out and about’! We’re sticking around Abruzzo for the winter, but have some plans for a few trips in 2024, all Italy-based.

In the meantime, we’re counting a few more days for my daughter, Brooke, to arrive here in Tufillo for a visit. She is currently attending a fabric workshop in London, then makes her way over to us. I’ll give you some highlights later this month…

Thank you for visiting here at ‘Navigating Life in Abruzzo’ and we hope that you get a chance to visit our green region of Abruzzo someday soon. Wishing you a blessed holiday season!