I'm starting this post the morning after having returned from nearly two weeks in Italy - so pretty jet-lagged and a little emotional.
What I Loved:
Italy is an objectively beautiful country. We flew into Rome, spent a couple of days there, then went to the Tuscany region for five days and then to the Amalfi Coast area for four days. In Rome you have the history and the art. In Tuscany, you have the beauty of the rolling hills, the quaint villages, and the wine/olive oil, and in Amalfi you have the beauty of the ocean next to the mountains. Every region we went to was very different, but all of them were beautiful in their own ways. My favorite was Tuscany - Tuscany is like the Napa Valley region of California, but covers a much larger area and has a much deeper history. I loved the small villages and we were fortunate to see many of them (Lecchi, San Sano, Gaioli, Radda, Montepulciano). There is a charm and quietness to them that is unlike anything I've seen here in the US. For example - when we arrived in Florence, we did a little exploring there and then drove to where we were staying in the Tuscan countryside. We needed some basic groceries and just happened to stop in Lecchi (it was unplanned). The small village grocery store was open and then gentleman who owns and runs the store, Paolo, was incredibly helpful and welcoming. We probably ended up spending more money there than we were expecting, but he was patient and offered us samples of all the meats and cheeses he recommended, and it was all fresh. It was such a pleasant experience that we drove specifically to visit his store again later in our trip. In that same town was a wonderful little restaurant called Malborghetto - the owner himself took my reservation and then it felt like we were eating in someone's backyard while we were there. Excellent food, wine and atmosphere. There are a lot of stories like this from our time there.
I loved the pace of life there as well - at first I was a little taken aback by how long some of our meals took, but I came to like that pace...just a lingering and an enjoyment, not the rush and urgency I so often feel here in the US. A lot of the places also close middle of the day - open for lunch, closed mid-afternoon, and then open again for dinner. I think I need to remember this takeaway, especially with family -- to enjoy a meal that just lingers...and really, to make space for it; to not rush to clear the table when people are done eating or to rush to the next thing, just sit and enjoy time together.
