tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-103514162024-12-18T22:22:00.926-05:00The travels, adventures, foibles, and other stories of two New Mexicans living in Italia. (And yes, New Mexico is a part of the United States.) All Rights Reserved.Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01055759718776417654noreply@blogger.comBlogger367125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10351416.post-23001237825801621462020-12-26T05:59:00.000-05:002020-12-26T05:59:31.434-05:00

 My Letter of Love to BasilicataHiya! It's been a long time. The ol' blog is a nostalgic place now, but I wanted to come back to share the latest news. After a few years of plotting, planning, and scribbling, during Italy's Lockdown I finally sat down and got serious  to write and complete my book. It's truly a labor of love, and a love letter to this region that I call home.52 Things

Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01055759718776417654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10351416.post-47454696974925566172014-01-07T10:32:00.005-05:002014-01-07T10:39:01.807-05:00

As you can tell, the blog has fallen by the wayside.  As everything has its season, the blog was a great way to connect and share our experiences of traveling around and living in Italy.  We met some wonderful people and made new friends because of it.  But work and other projects left me with little time to keep at it. That doesn't mean I'm not still active writing about Italy!

Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01055759718776417654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10351416.post-88265405046941660302013-01-07T06:12:00.000-05:002019-01-24T06:43:21.348-05:00

I love grassroots efforts.  The effects of normal people pitching in to help others or spearhead a good cause always makes me feel good.  My friend Valerio, an actor and talented playwriter in Rome, has been involved in just such a cause, and now he's asking for our help. The Teatro Valle is an historic theatre in the heart of Rome.  It was built in 1726 and was the only opera

Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01055759718776417654noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10351416.post-58865995748824227082012-12-14T07:08:00.002-05:002012-12-14T07:08:54.055-05:00

In my youth I’d heard about panettone, the traditional Italian fruitcake proffered only at Christmastime. I had pined for a taste but had never laid eyes on what I imagined to be a refined-tasting confection of golden-hued beauty. The weighty whole-fruit- and liquor-filled fruitcakes which Americans consume seemed coarse and common in comparison. Then I moved to Italy and received a hefty

Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01055759718776417654noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10351416.post-80825059333248396092012-10-31T15:33:00.000-04:002012-10-31T15:33:23.865-04:00

My first glimpse of the Adriatic was many years ago during one of our early trips to Italy.  We were heading to Urbino from Treviso and stopped off at Rimini to have a look at the sea.  Big mistake.  The industrial zone, the huge port and the ugly concrete apartment blocks didn't cast it in a golden light.  Granted, the overcast, damp and cold weather didn't help any

Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01055759718776417654noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10351416.post-36139299015897603802012-10-10T16:41:00.001-04:002012-10-10T16:47:36.479-04:00

Second up on the Coast to Coast to Coast tour was the Mediterranean.  The fabled sea that laps the shores of southern Europe and northern Africa, and flows out the Straights of Gibralter.  It is on the opposite side of Basilicata from the Ionian, and is opposite in character, too.  Where the Ionian is shallow and limpid, the Med is deep and moody.  Steep hills tumble down to

Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01055759718776417654noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10351416.post-10526916246985539382012-09-26T13:27:00.000-04:002012-09-26T13:29:35.420-04:00

Summer is over, regretably.  No, I didn't spend more than a month on vacation, as much as I'd have loved that.  I returned from the US to a full onslaught of work, bureaucracy, and travel planning for an upcoming family reunion as well as a visit from my sorella. My sister is a fearful flyer.  Not just mildly bothered, but full-out aggitated, stresses herself, cringes at every

Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01055759718776417654noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10351416.post-24120387819419064622012-08-02T04:40:00.002-04:002012-08-02T04:40:33.146-04:00

Like the rest of Italy, I'm heading off for August vacation.  Buone vacanze, tutti!

Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01055759718776417654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10351416.post-16400868374229402582012-07-30T08:05:00.002-04:002012-07-30T08:05:45.549-04:00

There are a few sure ways to know that summer in Italy has kicked into full gear.  One, of course, is the heat.  While that's kind of a no-brainer, it seems that we don't really have a spring to speak of.  It just goes from cool and maybe a little damp to hot and dry in the blink of an eye.  And the heat has been rather unrelenting throughout July.  Having spent 20 years

Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01055759718776417654noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10351416.post-6987024860335623482012-06-22T16:15:00.001-04:002012-06-22T16:19:07.037-04:00

Sometimes you need a change of venue to recharge, so last weekend I took a quick trip to Ascoli Piceno.  A friend offered her guest room, other friends emailed about a festa, and the lure of a couple of days back in the city of travertino was more than enough to pull me away from the computer. My old "hometown" glistened in the sunlight, all geared up for summer and decked out with the

Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01055759718776417654noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10351416.post-65925258206574198902012-06-05T16:06:00.000-04:002012-06-05T16:06:23.454-04:00

I've been thinking lately about the impact a person can make on others.  I've written before how my grandparents' quiet, every-day actions helped the people around them.  A word, a card, a pie, a hand - little things that touched their neighbors and their world. But in the digital era, it can go even farther.  Something I say online can help (or hurt) a person I've never met.&nbsp

Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01055759718776417654noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10351416.post-35414395640865448592012-05-26T03:07:00.001-04:002012-05-26T03:08:46.792-04:00

So we're back at the microphone with the questions from the crowd.  Diane just threw out the query about the strangest custom we've experienced.  Hmmm.  My first impulse is to say the way no lines exist, everyone just groups up in a human blob at whatever counter or office they need to line and wait for.  But that's may be more of a *lack* of a custom than a strange custom in

Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01055759718776417654noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10351416.post-12498947066997798772012-05-07T11:40:00.000-04:002012-05-07T11:40:28.097-04:00

So Janine kicked things off with a bang when she stepped up to the microphone and asked the deep, philosophical head-scratcher:  What is the biggest/most important lesson that Italy has taught me?  Well.  We've come so far from those early months when we felt like toddlers learning to walk.  We've learned a language, learned to adapt, learned to laugh at ourselves.  But I

Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01055759718776417654noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10351416.post-79965733530457166292012-04-18T12:36:00.000-04:002012-04-18T12:36:25.263-04:00

My first year of college was spent in Columbus, Ohio, which is where I met my husband.  We married, moved west, and I graduated from the University of New Mexico ("Everyone's a Lobo woof woof woof!") but have fond, if somewhat hazy, memories of that year living two blocks from Ohio State's party central, High Street (appropriately named for a college campus party avenue,

Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01055759718776417654noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10351416.post-66947312058228870032012-03-18T12:44:00.000-04:002012-03-18T12:44:38.724-04:00

That old song by the Steve Miller Band with the line, "Time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping into the future" has been rolling around my brain lately.  Time really has slipped away from me the past couple of months.  You'd think living in a village would free up more time.  I mean, let's face it, you can walk the length and breadth of it in fifteen minutes, and all told

Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01055759718776417654noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10351416.post-11686505493818751942012-02-12T04:32:00.002-05:002012-02-12T14:43:55.023-05:00

That's a great phrase I learned when I moved to the south.  You might remember 'mo' from my Five Regional Words list.  I'd never heard it while living in Ascoli Piceno, but it's very common here, as I mentioned.  I often hear "mo' basta!" or "basta mo'!" uttered by frustrated mothers who are telling their kids, "knock it off".  It also means, "enough already!"

Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01055759718776417654noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10351416.post-16951466104664574212012-01-26T15:38:00.001-05:002012-01-26T15:40:03.384-05:00

I know; my entry is early.  But I just couldn't wait!  It's a momentous occasion, an annual decadent event.  A chance to gorge on chocolate-hazelnut goodness for an entire day, and look through inspiring recipes and read emotional or funny tributes to the simple spread that brings smiles and soothes the soul.  As I've said before, it's the little things in life... Anyway.&

Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01055759718776417654noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10351416.post-48056984873482510252012-01-06T11:46:00.002-05:002012-01-06T14:31:34.359-05:00

It seems the older I get the more the years takes a roller coaster approach.  There seem to be more ups and downs than I remember in previous periods of my life, and sometimes those rocky patches of road can take an emotional toll.  I sometimes get wrapped up in the worries and wranglings to make things work out and forget to relax and enjoy the small, good things of each day.  It

Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01055759718776417654noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10351416.post-69865475251301949322011-12-22T15:12:00.000-05:002011-12-22T15:12:38.121-05:00

I've been running around like my hair is on fire - and unfortunately with the humidity and million things to do it sort of *looks* like it is, too.  I'm heading out too bright and early to catch a bus to Roma and the airport.  We'll be spending the holidays in the US with la famiglia.  Judging from the photo my sister sent, it looks like it might be a white Christmas in Ohio

Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01055759718776417654noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10351416.post-22034775763375750552011-12-12T15:52:00.000-05:002011-12-12T15:52:27.418-05:00

I don't know about you but I've been enjoying the monthly posts by the great gals of the Italy Blogging Roundtable.  It's interesting to see how each writer explores the monthly theme.  I know some of them and admire all of them.  So when they opened up the topic for anyone to participate this time around I couldn't resist.  The theme is gifts (or presents). I like

Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01055759718776417654noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10351416.post-51858325264446103852011-11-11T17:13:00.000-05:002011-11-11T17:13:15.356-05:00

It's something that was already on my mind, but it seems everywhere I look this week it's all about comfort food.  The grand dames of the blogging roundtable have been posting about it.  The Food Network site has a page devoted to it.  And someone reminded me of a post I'd penned some time back talking about my grandmother's kitchen.  It's been one of those seasons, that

Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01055759718776417654noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10351416.post-81910863224692867512011-11-05T10:49:00.002-04:002011-11-05T14:51:02.303-04:00

Well, did you see it?  How was it?  The big episode of House Hunters International featuring our home search in Trivigno aired last night, but it's not transmitted over here to the bel paese.  I hope it showed our beautiful region in a positive light.  To see more about Basilicata, check out our website! My Bella Basilicata A friend sent a screen shot from the TV Did you

Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01055759718776417654noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10351416.post-25912613386210995332011-10-27T04:54:00.001-04:002011-10-27T04:58:08.052-04:00

So lest you think I'd given up blogging, I'm back with a hint of red on my cheeks - a bit of embarrassment that I've been too busy to blog, along with a flush of rosso from rushing back across the ocean, then careening down the length of the boot to get back home.  I'm a tad tired. We were back in the New World to revisit la famiglia and celebrate our wedding anniversary.  We went

Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01055759718776417654noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10351416.post-35528597021691728502011-10-08T11:34:00.000-04:002011-10-08T11:34:26.307-04:00

I knew it would end sooner or later, but the summery autumn we'd been enjoying could have held lasted a little longer.  A few days ago I was in a denim skirt and sleeveless top.  Today I'm sporting a mock turtleneck with a cardigan swaddled around me.  The wind blew in a cold downpour last night, right on schedule according to predictions, which had everyone scrambling in their

Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01055759718776417654noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10351416.post-82358853970910635012011-09-17T17:32:00.001-04:002011-09-17T17:36:33.810-04:00

Do you remember the three months we spent in the Cilento?  Before we returned to the US?  The sunsets, the seafood, the stunning villa?  We enjoyed exploring that part of Campania, but it was in the winter, when the sea was spunky and Cilentani were sleepy. I returned yesterday for a day.  I went for work-related research.  Sometimes great sacrifices must be

Valeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01055759718776417654noreply@blogger.com3