Italty on my mind

The colosseum at night.

i’ve got italy on my mind

One of the main streets down the center of florence

In April of 2003, L and I went to Italy for 23 days of glorious honeymooning.  It was 3 months after our wedding, but COMPLETELY worth the wait.

Colorful windows in a Roman piazza (near the Pantheon)

I am LONGING to go back!  For some reason, I still seem to feel “burned out” from residency…even though I finished it almost 4 years ago and didn’t do a fellowship like most of my peers.  I have this need to feel like I am fulfilling and living my life outside of the hospital.  Which is one of the reasons I chose to work part time and stay at home with my 2 year old daughter instead.  This brings me to my longing for italy – people in Italy seem to truly ENJOY living.  They just get that there is more to life than work and  work and more work.

The jewish ghetto - just outside the Vatican

They enjoy sitting in piazzas, eating, drinking, cooking, being outside, talking to friends, spending time with family…I could go on.

Ok, I admit, I know VERY few people who are actually FROM Italy, which means that I am probably just restating stereotypes.  BUT, I do think that more people in Italy have a passion for enjoying life and actually act on that passion, than people here.

The Positano cliffside

This is why L and I are planning on going back to the country of “I-ate-so-much-gelato-I-no-longer-fit-into-my-pants” this spring for our baby free vacation.  Unfortunately we wil hae no where close to 23 days like we did last time (in fact, I dont think we will EVER have that much time again), but we will have a full week.

A church in Sicily

The main focus of our trip: Food, Wine and Dessert.  Oh yeah, and don’t forget relaxing, sitting in piazzas..and maybe some sight seeing here and there.

Piazza Di San Marco in Venezia

The only problem: I’m overwhelmed with wanting to go EVERYWHERE and have to find a way to narrow down to 2 cities (max) so that we can focus on staying relaxed and really enjoying the places that we stay in.  Top on the list so far: Roma, Firenze (Florence)/Tuscany in general, Milan.

Il Duomo in Firenze (Florence)

I’ll let you know what we decide on!

The Pantheon in Roma