Lentamente muore chi non viaggia,
chi non legge,
chi non ascolta musica,
chi non trova grazia in se stesso.


He who does not travel,
who does not read,
who does not listen to music,
who does not find grace in himself,
dies slowly.

Pablo Neruda

Continuing the series of travelling through Italy with my family last European winter....

For me it did not feel lIke Christmas because we were havIng a white Christmas. Funny -  that after all those years of seeing ChrIstmas trees with snow on them on cards....!!! and now when I am surrounded by them .....it does not feel lIke Christmas because our Christmas in Australia is sweltering - opening presents with beer and nuts and fantastic ham with cranberry sauce...

Here in Italy they have lasagne in the Christmas meal.  Now why the hell would you want to eat Lasagne for Christmas, when you have it all the time throughout the year???

Spent my birthday driving from Liguria to Grosseto and went out to a Pizzeria wIth a mixture of Australian and Italian friends – a bit of a change from the recital I have for my birthday back home where all my talented friends and family perform.

We have had such an eventful week since I last wrote that I do not know where to start. The most wondrous was openIng this huge three meter door at a hotel in Perugia UmbrIa, at 5.30 am and receivIng  the biggest shock on seeing the white snow.  We had not seen TV or heard the news so we did not know it was going to snow.... 

In Italy, I have to concentrate here a lot more while driving because of the little motorscooters that zip in and out around your car. I missed one by an inch. These young boys on the bikes – mamma mia – they do crazy things – illegal and give you a heart attack!! We saw an 80 yr old woman on a motorscooter.  However she was more sedate!!! Ju laughed her head off!!! Here kids can ride a 50 cc at 14 yr. I guess ju would have one by now if she lived here. (glad we don’t live here now). Unfortunately my children say to me “But you rode a motor bike mum when young – why can’t we”???  I think if I lived here though I would get one again for the summer  as the drivers are a lot more used to bikes than we and finding a park is a nightmare for shopping and so expensive.

Driving here up to Liguria from Pisa nearly killed me with heart attack, from too much adrenaline. We came out of a big tunnel through the high mountains and there we were swaying in mid air on a suspension bridge thousands of meters up in the sky strung between two high peaks that dropped down to the sea. I made the mistake of looking out over the edge.  Wooohhhh!! screamed the kids. With that I had to start deep breathing as i suddenly felt sick.  It took all my concentration to think about following the lines on the road as i was absolutely terrified. I am scared of heights and it was simply terrible.

I cannot describe how wonderful it is to be travelling in Italy. I simply love it -the lifestyle, the language, the smells of the coffee, the food...the clothes. Winter in Italy is freezing. I had forgotten what Europe is like with the winter - you know the fur when you speak. It was 3 degrees one day then 10 the next. Long johns are necessary for my nobbly knees. I just do not know how the homeless exist and there are many in Roma. My heart goes out to them sleeping under the bridge in winter. I always remember the story when I was learning Italian at the international school in Rome many years ago now about the Danish doctor who was studying with me. He went for a ride on his scooter at night and left his wallet behind. He ran out of petrol and had no phone etc or money and could not leave his bike as it would get stolen... 

Working with Italians everyday and visiting them every year for twenty years, they never cease to make me laugh with their ways and sayings.  The Italian language is very beautiful and their proverbs  and idioms when translated are so very funny.  One  of my favourite is when someone is cranky or angry you say that ‘ He has a fly up his nose”!! “Gli è saltata la mosca al naso, si è arrabbiato”! The Italian way is very different from English, Australian and American culture......