“The comfort zone is a region where great dreams go to get murdered, buried, and forgotten.”

Michael Bassey Johnson

It’s that time again, I’m off on another adventure. This time, a 68-day adventure, with a mix of solo time, friend time, and family time. On my trip to Puglia, I had the best of intentions to write about the places I visited, and I did well until the later portion of the trip. I kept thinking I’ll write when I get home and thought my photos would remind me of what I experienced. Obviously, it didn’t. I found my pictures were lacking the details, especially names of restaurants, churches or other venues I saw, and they didn’t capture that “this is what I was feeling moment”. I tried using Google Maps, Apple Maps, etc., and I found myself utterly frustrated and gave up finishing my posts.

Since Puglia, I have moved from Chandler, Arizona to Buffalo, New York. I love it here, and it already feels like home. I am fortunate to have family nearby that I see often. My sweet Oden passed over the rainbow bridge just three days after I moved into my new apartment. I know he held on just long enough to check out where I’d be living to be sure I’d be okay when he left me. I’m not. The heartbreak of losing a beloved pet is hard, and I think my little guy was the glue holding my heart together after the loss of my parents the previous two years, and now the glue is gone. Once my heart heals, and I know it will, I will get a new rescue to love and cherish, but I’m just not there yet.

“Eat, Pray, Love” – that is what a dear friend exclaimed when I told her about my plans, and hence I now refer to this trip as my own “Eat, Pray, Love Italian Adventure”. Since I’ll be in Italy, we know the eating is covered. I’ll be there over Easter, so praying is also covered, but what about love? …What about love?

I am starting off much like Julia Roberts did in the movie, learning to speak Italian. If you know about the language levels, I probably speak at an A1 and can read at an A2, but after many failed attempts at trying to get over my nervousness of speaking, I decided it was time to get out my comfort zone and take a leap of faith. Heck, I went back to school, in a very competitive program, and changed careers in my early 40s, what could possibly be harder than that? Perhaps learning Italian? We’ll see. I’ve rented a studio apartment in Montepulciano for four weeks where I will attend language classes 5-hours per day, Monday – Friday, 4-hours group and 1-hour private. I found the school via a Facebook group that I follow, it’s the same group where I found the Puglia trip. Quite a few women who belong to the group have attended this school and highly recommend it. I start classes on Monday, wish me luck!

After I finish in Montepulciano, I am joining up with four of my friends from my Puglia trip, and we will join five women we don’t know on a tour of Tuscany. The first seven nights we will be based in Cortona, staying in the villa used to film Under the Tuscan Sun. I’m told Frances Mayes’ actual villa is just down the road. Then we’ll venture off to the small spa town of Bagno Vignoni for three additional nights of pampering. From there, four of us will meet up with two more of the Puglia tribe in San Gimignano, the birthplace of my maternal grandmother for two nights before heading north to Bologna for a night. Then we part ways, each on our own adventures.

I thought about coming home after the Tuscany tour but concluded it would be foolish to spend four weeks in school to learn a language and then head home to speak English. They say practice makes perfect, and at least I’ll have an adventure trying. I’m staying in apartments and plan to live like a local. The only bookings I have made for this portion of my trip are my apartment rentals and train tickets, nothing else.

So where am I headed for the final weeks? The first stop will be Treviso, just outside of Venice. I have a cousin and his family there and he wanted me to visit. Treviso is a town many people skip when they go to visit Venice, but everything I’m reading is telling me it should not be missed. From there I will head west to Genoa. My dad sailed from Genoa to New York City when he came to the United States in the 1950s. I hope the weather will be nice so I can take the ferry to Portofino for an afternoon. Then I’ll move a bit north to Turin. I cannot wait! Another city that tends not to be on tourist’s radar. It has great food, palaces, beautiful landscapes, and my dad’s beloved football club, Juventus. I may try to catch the Juve v. Verona game while I’m in town. Then it’s off to the picturesque Lake Garda. Another cousin and his family will be “glamping” less then 10 miles up the road from my condo, and with the train I can visit Verona and Brescia easily for day trips or take the ferry north to Riva del Garda. My final destination will be in my favorite region, the Valtellina Valley. If you watched the Winter Olympics, this is where the men’s alpine events were. I will be based in Chiuro, just outside my dad’s hometown of Sondrio. Then finally I’ll return home.

On this trip I’m bringing a travel journal with me to take notes. If I fall behind on my writing, I can “easily” catch up later, or at least I hope.

Next time I write, I’ll be in Montepulciano!

Ciao ~ 413 Girl 💕