In 2010 Derek and I went to Venice for a conference he was
invited to speak at. Venice is arguably
one of the most beautiful cities on the earth.
I was overwhelmed by its beauty, history and antiquity; every step you
take there reveals a spectacular treasure.
What I didn’t realize during that trip, is that you haven’t really
experienced Italy if you haven’t spent time in an Italian home with real
Italians. The two trips to Italy I
experienced were so very different! So,
while Venice will always be an amazing memory for me, the Italy I will dream
about visiting again is not Venice, it is one of Italy’s best kept secret
beauties; Cagliari, on the Island of Sardinia.
That is the Italy where we left a portion of our hearts!
Here is what we will miss most about Italy:
T H E B E A C H E S
Alessandra (our exchange student/big sister) took us to 3 different
beaches. GORGEOUS! White sand, and the clearest calmest water I
had seen at any beach. The kids had the
time of their lives:
Swimming
Snorkeling
Building Crazy Sand Castles
And hanging out
As a side note I have to say that this would have been a time when I would
have loved to have had a bottle of instant Italian tan handy…but I think I
proved to be a nice form of entertainment as I smothered 30-50 sunblock all over
myself and the kids walking around in my extremely modest (even for Idaho
standards) swim tank and shorts. :)
T H E B E A C H H O U S E B B Q
Alessandra's Uncle Franco and Aunt Donatella were kind enough to invite our family to a BBQ at their amazing beach house, They cooked steak and some Italian sausage that was perhaps the best meat I have ever eaten!!!
A N C I E N T R U I N S:
T H E F O O D
I was in heaven each time we sat down for a meal, EVERYTHING was hand mad from scratch by our very own Italian Mom and Grandma, a power-team of culinary wizards!
G E L A T O !
Serious goodness.
T H E S C E N E R Y
G O I N G T O C H U R C H
(the gospel is true everywhere!)
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G E T T I N G T O H A N G O U T A N D
D O S E R V I C E W I T H S O M E A W E S O M E M I S S I O N A R I E S
(hooray for good influences!!)
What will we miss the very most?....
F R I E N D S ! O L D A N D N E W ! !
Here is our Italian Family! Annamaria, Alessandra, Grandma Nina and Elia.
and Roberta (Alessandra's sister)
This is Betty (Alessandra's Aunt) and Claudia (Alessandra's Cousin)
This is Eduardo (Alessandra's boyfriend of 7 years)
and Eduardo's parents.
This is not even half of the amazing people we met and fell in love with. I seriously can not tell you how much we love these people. Love, love, love!!! They are so dear, so generous, so open with their love and kisses and hospitality. Alessandra's family moved in with their Grandma so that we could sleep in their beds. They fed us amazing food every day, took us on long journeys and even threw us a party on the last day with all our favorite people. They really know how to make a person feel amazing!!! Being around such openly loving individuals was just what we needed to fuel us for heading on to a place where it's trickier to find your way into someone's heart.
Thank you Italy for loving us and for being so loveable! We will never, never forget the memories we made here! Thank you Carboni's for your loving hospitality! You are the best!!!
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