Greetings from my childhood home, where I am enjoying a lovely break for the holidays.  I am saddened that it has been a year since I last wrote, and I am making sure to post often this coming year.  While the posting has not been frequent, the travel has.  Since my last post, I enjoyed a visit to Genova where I visited my old school and students, then off to  Taormina, Sicily, where I rented a Fiat and traveled all up and down the hills of Sicily, along with blissful wandering strolls.

That summer, I spent some time in an Iceland stopover, where I got to ride a horse for the first time, galloping across lava fields during an everlasting sunset.  The famous blue lagoon was fully booked during my stay, so I have a great excuse to return to the pristine country.  After, I popped over to Frankfurt where I visited a friend from Italy, then up to Hamburg to visit a friend from Madrid I met studying in Norway!  Then down to Bruges, Belgium where I met up with my friends Jasper and Dave to celebrate 15 years of friendship.  From there, I journeyed to Baden Baden where I spent a few days in a hotel that seemed straight out of Bourne movie, and dipped in spas I saw on Rick Steves Episodes in 2007, vowing one day to go.  It was fantabulous,  and so was the Black Forest Cake in  . . . the Black Forest.  After, I spent three weeks perched in a perfect apartment with a view, nestled on the top of a mountain in the Portofino Park.  I relaxed, recharged, and enjoyed views over the Ligurian sea with Genoa in the distance.  I used the area as my peaceful base, spending my days scooting around the coast, swimming in turquoise blue water, visiting old friends, watching the Olympics, and fantasizing about buying my own apartment up there one day.

I met my Dad in Lucca, a charming walled city, where we stayed a night before traveling back together.  He stayed in a hotel in Camogli overlooking the sea, down the mountain from my apartment.  We enjoyed breakfast every morning, and on my birthday, we took a ferry to a pristine beach called San Fruttuoso.  Each night, I made wishes on shooting stars, and fell into a peaceful slumber.  Upon my return, it was back to work, another school year.  I haven’t traveled since, and I couldn’t make it work for this Christmas due to the airfares, but I have some adventures ahead: a quick jaunt to Malibu and wine country for MLK weekend, and then off to the Swiss Alps for my February Ski week.

There have been way too many adventures I haven’t posted about, but let’s start with finishing last years Christmas journey to the Italian Alps!