After church today, we attended a travel lecture by a woman who is a renowned storyteller and mime in our area. She has been having a love affair with Italy for the past 6 years. I have been having an unrequited love affair with Italy for the same period of time. Terri showed us slides of a sculpture workshop, the beaches, mountains, play houses, sculpture parks, kitchens, the people, the architecture, the house she almost bought, and the marble quarries. On this side of the ocean, I drink my chianti and make my spaghetti Bolognese. I grow basil and make pesto. I read books by Frances Mayes, Marlena De Blasi, and just recently Elizabeth Gilbert. I forgo Rachel on the Food Network and hone in on Giada and Mario.
Friends of ours, just returned from a tour of Florence and Venice. I drooled over their pictures. Another friend, Nan, went for a photographer's tour of Tuscany. The gallery who sponsored the trip is going to have a showing of the group's work in December.
So, I am appealing to La Befana, the Italian Christmas Witch for a little magic to get Jill (and her family) to Italy. Besides that, I just really like the idea of a Christmas Witch. Buon Natale!
Showing posts with label Italy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Italy. Show all posts
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Eat Pray Love and pray some more
On Tuesday, I was privileged to see my friend Nan's pictures of Italy. She had gone over with a gallery group who were taking pictures and painting. Now, I don't need stimulation to start my travel envy. It's a given. And the two places I want to spend a summer are the Italian countryside and Paris. Nan lent me her copy of Eat, Pray, Love. The author is fairly local and will be speaking at the Junior League next month. I won't be in attendance. That's $55 I can put in my Europe fund. I've wanted to read this book for a while--long before Oprah recommended it. I love me some travel memoirs. Give me Frances Mayes or Peter Mayle, and I am a happy woman.
So, yesterday after my workshop, I took the book and sat outside a crepe restaurant in Lancaster. I imagined I was back in Paris (I was there for 48 hours in 2003). The folks who walked by weren't dressed as well the French, but I imagined it all the same while I noshed on my brie and mushroom crepe. (There's a funny story of our trip to Paris, my brother and his fiancee ordered a ham crepe and tuna crepe respectively. When the crepes came, they both had a mixture of ham and tuna. NOT a great culinary moment for France.)
So, I dream of taking my kids and spending a few weeks in Paris. (Mon homme, too if he can get off work.) I will eat and paint and write. (Read The Writer's Paris if you need inspiration.) I will take the kids to the parks and art museums. My son fences, so we will check out sabre duels. My daughter is a ballerina, so we will find a place to dance. All of us will eat cheese and crepes and escargot (my daughter's favorite food in all the world). I read a chapter of Eat, Pray, Love to my daughter this morning. We decided that maybe we should sell pizzas door-to-door to raise money for this educational experience. And maybe, too, I can sell posters of my little dancer paintings to all the people who love dance. It's a dream. It's a plan. It's a prayer.
So, yesterday after my workshop, I took the book and sat outside a crepe restaurant in Lancaster. I imagined I was back in Paris (I was there for 48 hours in 2003). The folks who walked by weren't dressed as well the French, but I imagined it all the same while I noshed on my brie and mushroom crepe. (There's a funny story of our trip to Paris, my brother and his fiancee ordered a ham crepe and tuna crepe respectively. When the crepes came, they both had a mixture of ham and tuna. NOT a great culinary moment for France.)
So, I dream of taking my kids and spending a few weeks in Paris. (Mon homme, too if he can get off work.) I will eat and paint and write. (Read The Writer's Paris if you need inspiration.) I will take the kids to the parks and art museums. My son fences, so we will check out sabre duels. My daughter is a ballerina, so we will find a place to dance. All of us will eat cheese and crepes and escargot (my daughter's favorite food in all the world). I read a chapter of Eat, Pray, Love to my daughter this morning. We decided that maybe we should sell pizzas door-to-door to raise money for this educational experience. And maybe, too, I can sell posters of my little dancer paintings to all the people who love dance. It's a dream. It's a plan. It's a prayer.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)