FIRENZE - TOSCANA

ITALIA

A life can change in a matter of two and a half months. When I returned from my holiday last December and January 2017 in Rome, I made a decision it was going to be “now or never” for a life-changing experience and move to Italy; the home of my paternal ancestry. I had started working on accumulating all required documents to obtain a dual-citizenship between America and Italy a few years ago and I knew I had to make this move to not only facilitate this desire, but to leave the chapter of Los Angeles — the good and the not-so-good of it behind me.

Once I made this decision, everything started to fall into place as if the Gods of the universe were pushing me to come here, and I listened. In March I bought my ticket and found a previsionary apartment in the center of Florence, and sold my car, relinquished my apartment, said farewell to friends [who cheered my every move to take on this journey], and by mid-May, I was on Lufthansa's cushioned flight heading for Florence Peratola Aeroport in Tuscany. The velocity in which my life began to take flight in a new and brighter direction, clearly showed me that this is what happens when you are heading in the right direction. Nothing distracts. No one disturbs. Fears fizzle and friends applaud. Life takes over and lifts you up to where you belong. So the journey and journaling of this venture begins. There may be gaps in sharing, but I promise you, there will be amazing stories to share.

Come along for the ride . . . even if it gets bump along some of the cobblestone streets.

BOBOLI GARDENS - A Delight When Walking in the Rain

A Bridge Not Far Enough . . . First Weeks in Florence, Italy

I first stayed on Via Ricasoli which was about twenty steps from The Duomo and I remember when I first stepped outside of my lovely two-level flat with the spiral staircase, I was almost stampeded by hoards of tourist groups and I said to myself, "This isn't going to work for me!" And then every day, I was lost. I mean lost in that I would leave the apartment and walk a half an hour or more and find myself smack dab back in front of my apartment again - even with Google maps! My sense of direction is SO bad, it lead me to want to stay at home and the fear of getting lost again every day set in until a friend of mine told me to "Just go get lost!". And so I did and I found hidden gems I would never have found. Best advice is to allow oneself to get lost in the labyrinth of streets in Florence and discover what you were meant to find - about the area, the people, and yourself!

DAVID - Out-of-Doors & Not the Right Guy!

Can I just say I was a bit bonkers to think when I happened upon this statue of the famous David in the middle of the courtyard at Uffizi Gallery on one of those days I was lost for the better part of the day as I had just arrived in Florence, I literally cried when I saw this thinking THIS was the original. Nooooo! As my professeressa would say. This is the beauty of traveling solo. No one gets to see your mistakes! When I finally visited the original, it was with my friend Jennifer, and we both cried by being awestruck. The passes to get to the front of the line were well worth it!

WALL ART - Near Botanical Gardens

On one of my first days in Florence, and in perhaps the very first week, I found a patch of green called the Botanical Gardens, but by the time I found this place [which was about 10 minutes' walk from my apartment], it was closed. Then, one day, again in the midst of being navigationally-challenged, I realized I was walking alongside the same place I had first wanted to see and it was open. The days of intolerable heat had arrived and I needed to take refuge in the cool of the gardens. Luna and I sat and contemplated the shade and I had been feeling a bit overwhelmed and "lost" inside my heart and soul, wondering if I had made the right move here and then, as someone had said to me shortly after my mother died, "You will see a sign—something that you will not expect—and you will know she is with you. I looked down and sitting beside Luna was the feather and I knew this was my mother Edith telling me to have faith, to believe in myself, and to continue on this path.