25 aprile. This is just a photo I pulled off the internet because I’m not actually in Italy yet. I’m less than a week away from departure and getting pretty excited!!

29 aprile. Here we are on the ferry on the way to the airport!! For those of you who don’t know, this is my travel buddy Ellen who is on this grand adventure with me!

30 aprile. This shot is for you, Sky, Piper, and Tallis! Zoom in and choose what candy you’d like me to bring back - I’ll pick it up on the way back through London.  😁

30 aprile. We made it to Italy!! Next up: the train ride from Milan to Perugia, with two changes including one with just 9 minutes to run from one train to the other.

30 aprile. This is our cute hotel in the historic center of the city,  Tomorrow we move into our apartment where we will stay for the whole month of May!  

1 maggio. This morning I woke up at 5:30 (8:30 PM Seattle time) and decided to go for a run since it would be another 3 hours before I was to meet Ellen for the hotel breakfast. I had the streets to myself (other than the occasional street sweeper) especially so since it was a national holiday - most shops were closed and everyone was sleeping in today. I learned the hard way just how many hills there are here. But it was amazing to discover the beauty of this place in the way that suits me best: with my running shoes on.

1 maggio. This imposing arch is directly across the street from our school.  It was built in the Etruscan era (which I know very little about.)  I am going to have to find out more!  

5 maggio.  It was a cold blustery day and we couldn’t see any sense in walking around town in this weather, so for our outing of the day we walked across the street - no more than 15 steps - and into the Capella di San Severo where there is a famous fresco painted by Raffaello (and finished later by Perugino.). Memories of Art History 101 at Williams are flashing before my eyes!! 

2 maggio. A few hours after the test, we received emails with confirmation of our placement levels, and the schedule of our classes. I was happy with the result: I’m in the Advanced 1 level! Ellen was placed well in Intermediate 1 which seems just perfect for her. But look at my classes!! This is nuts. It looks like I’m going to be in class for a lot of every day. And there seem to be multiple classes at the same time. And what about the Chinese - Italian translation class??!! Hmmm.. I will have to ask tomorrow.

2 maggio. This was the view from my bedroom window this morning - not joking. It took my breath away!

2 maggio. This morning we headed off to our school building (pictured just the left of me in this photo) to sign in and take the entrance exam. The walk is only about 7 minutes, and takes us down this amazing long stairway that passes by an organic community garden and a view to die for.

2 maggio. We were some of the first to arrive for the entrance test - this room eventually filled in with about 40 total people from all over the world. The people we talked to came from Mexico, India, Canada, England, Japan, and Germany. The written test took 45 minutes and got progressively harder page by page. We returned later for the oral exam, which was just a few minutes of one-on-one conversation with a professor. I throughly enjoyed the whole experience, even though I could hardly understand anything on the final page of the written test.

3 maggio. This morning I facetimed the family and gave them a tour of my apartment, but the wifi cut out when I tried to go up to our roof deck. So I took a couple of pictures to send to them. Here’s the first view.

3 maggio. Here’s another view from our roof deck. It hasn’t really been warm enough (and we haven’t had time) to enjoy sitting out here yet, but believe me, we will be taking advantage of this amazing feature of our airbnb!

5 maggio.  Stumbled on this view on my run this morning….

7 maggio.  I can’t wait to tell my new weaving friends at BARN about this amazing working studio where they make beautiful jacquard fabrics by hand on these magnificent centuries-old looms. I’m looking forward to going back some morning to see the artisans at work.

7 maggio. To create the complex patterns, the artists use a binary system to make these punctured forms which attach to the hand looms and therefore direct which threads rise each time the shuttle is to pass through. So cool. 

7 maggio.  The sun came out!!  

8 maggio.  I had such a great day today, and it started with an amazing run.  I finally figured out how to get out of the city walls and into the lush green valley that I see from my window.  I’ll be ready for the hills on Bainbridge when I get back!  

8 maggio. I can hardly believe my good fortune that my university has a chorus to join. And that they don’t seem to mind that I’m going to sing with them in their concert tomorrow! It’s so cool that the rehearsals are all in Italian - I’m learning a bunch of technical music terms and I still can’t get over when the conductor counts off ‘uno, due, tre, quattro…’ 😁

9 maggio. The clouds scattered and the sun burst out just in time for us to sing in a secret little piazza. My whole Italian class (including my teacher Marina) came to hear me sing - you can see some of them on the left of the photo. I had to lip sync some parts of the songs since I had only had less than an hour of rehearsal time for 6 songs in 6 different languages! It was a blast though.

10 maggio. We made it to Tuscany! We rented a car for the weekend (the cutest little Audi ever) to escape the city walls and explore the countryside of Tuscany! This is a photo of me just after arriving at our ‘agriturismo’ - a farm stay inn not too far from Siena.

10 maggio. The light was incredible.

10 maggio. Amiche!

11 maggio. The great thing about the farmstay is that it is a home base for a bike tour company so they have tons of bikes & bikers coming through. I rented a beautiful titanium road bike and went out with a couple that are friends with the owners - they came to bike here years ago and fell in love with it so much that they bought a house in the area. They took me on a b e a u t i f u l 28-mile loop along the rolling hills of the countryside. I was in heaven.

11 maggio. Terry and Michael (the American biking couple) gave us a fantastic tip to visit their friend Cesare who is a copper artisan in the hill town of Montepulciano. This is his workshop.

11 maggio. Cesare showed us all around his shop, quizzing us on everything (in Italian of course) and at the end of our visit he pulled out a copper disk and stamped a beautiful design along with Ellen & my initials and the date as a token of our friendship.

11 maggio. After our tour we went down the street to meet Cesare’s wife Iolanda at the shop where they sell his wares. Such a sweet and kind copule.

11 maggio. The sunset from Montepulciano.

11 maggio. Isn’t she cute??!!

11 maggio. The end of a fabulous day.

12 maggio. On our way home from Tuscany, we stopped at a hilltop abbey where we stumbled into a mass that was underway It was Sunday morning, after all. We stayed to the end, soaking in the music and the incense and the expansive space overhead.

12 maggio. Our last stop before returning the rental car was the town of Deruta, just 15 minutes south of Perugia. This is the birthplace and heart of the Italian Majolica ceramic tradition. It was a little sad to hear from some folks there that business isn’t what it used to be - there just isn’t the demand these days for this kind of hand-painted pottery. But they are all doing what they can to keep the art alive.

12 maggio. The oldest ceramics factory in Deruta.

12 maggio. What a character! Rolando closed his shop to take us downstairs to his studio where he demonstrated his wheel-throwing skills. He throws the pots and his brother does the painting. He was hilarious!

13 maggio. At 9:30pm Monday I got a group text that some people in our class were going out to sing Karaoke at a bar just a few minutes away from my apartment. How could I turn down an opportunity like that? It turned out to be more like a group sing-along but it was still a fun experience. These classmates are from Poland, Austria, Australia, and China. Notice how they’re all about 25 years younger than I am?? ;-) They were sweet to include me in their night out.

14 maggio. I decided to venture out on my own tonight to find some music. Perugia has a famous jazz festival every summer so the city really knows the genre. I heard music wafting out into the piazza near our apartment and stepped into a cozy wine bar. I stayed awhile listening to this amazing combo. I’m hoping to find a jam session before I leave so I can sing a few tunes….

15 maggio. Today our professor took us out on a field trip to two artisan studios - textiles and glass - as a fun way to listen to the language and learn new vocabulary from the tour guides.

15 maggio. Here’s are our two advanced C1 classes combined into one for our field trip today. I think it’s amazing that my classmates come from all over the world… (roughly from left to right in this photo): Argentina, Brasil, Belarus, Italy (our teacher), China, India, Austria, Switzerland, US, Columbia, Ukraine, Greece, Poland, Romania, and Australia. It’s so interesting to hear about their cultures through the conversations we have in class. One thing we all share is a love of the Italian language!

15 maggio.  Our guide showed us some of the techniques used to make stained glass, including some clever tools & tricks invented by her grandfather.  

15 maggio. This is just one of the many work benches in the glass workshop. I love seeing all the tools that have been collected over the years.

15 maggio. This is one of the masterpieces produced in the glass studio we visited… it took years to produce, and we learned all about the techniques used to create this kind of work. It’s been practiced in the family for generations. By the way, this is the queen after whom the Margarita pizza was named.

15 maggio. Our tour guide who grew up upstairs from the studios told us that when she was a kid she was creeped out by all the models of hands and feet all over the walls in the studios. They were made to help the artists create more life-like designs on glass. Her grandfather and uncles made many of the giant stained glass windows in the churches in Perugia and in many other cities in Italy. She is carrying on the tradition now, and has small children she hopes will learn the craft as well.

16 maggio. This 1000-mile car ‘race’ features antique cars that are cruising around a giant loop of Italy. They passed through the center of Perugia this afternoon, winding through the narrow stone streets.

17 maggio. Heading to school down past the community garden.

17 maggio. Today our Art History class went on a field trip to see this Roman mosaic, which was created sometime during first couple of centuries after Christ. Yep, almost 2,000 years ago. Our eccentric but genius professor wrote a book about this ancient work (just one of dozens of books he’s written about the art history of Perugia and Assisi) and he has such a knack for bringing the context of the pieces to life.

18 maggio. Aren’t they awesome?? This screenshot was taken at 10:30pm my time, 1:30pm their time Saturday. How can I ever thank them enough for letting me go on this adventure?? ❤️❤️❤️

19 maggio. It poured again today off and on - the locals say it’s been the worst weather they can remember for the month of May. Mostly cold, wet, and windy with some sporadic sun breaks. Despite the forecast I headed off on a run and it turned out to be the highlight of my day. I got soaked but I didn’t care! I was mostly out in the countryside but I had to make my way through some winding streets to get out of the city. So much beauty.

22 maggio. I was determined to get out for another ride and the sun was supposed to show its face so I found a bike shop where I could rent a bike for a morning. The owner of the shop convinced his retired biking buddy to take me out for a couple of hours and we cruised along dirt roads and bike paths just outside of Perugia. This photo was taken while I was riding, just minutes before my chain & derailleur broke (!) and we had to walk to the nearest road where the bike shop owner met us and delivered another bike so we could finish our ride. Another adventure!!

22 maggio. Our teacher has planned a fun activity for our class tomorrow! Each student (or group of students) is to bring a traditional dish from their country and share it with the rest of the class, along with a recipe written in Italian. I collaborated with Athena (the other American in my group) to make chocolate chip cookies that will represent the US. We had fun trying to figure out how to find the ingredients in the store, measure everything, and cook in a celcius oven.

22 maggio. I had the good fortune to be invited to attend a concert at a beautiful theater tonight. The concert was a benefit sponsored by the Lions Club of Perugia, which is working to create a sister city connection with the Lions Club of Seattle, so they seemed happy to get to know me! The lead musician is the brother of Toni Sevillo, a super famous Italian actor, and he was backed by two spectacularly talented Argentinian musicians. For the final encore, they performed a classic Italian love ballad and the audience was invited to sing the chorus over and over again a cappella. It was amazing to be sitting in a giant theater full of Italians, singing in unison with them a melody that is near and dear to their hearts. I had tears in my eyes when I looked up near the end and saw a grown man in front of me with his head in his hands, sobbing.

22 maggio. It was pretty hard to capture the whole scene, but this is the theater after the lights came back up.

23 maggio. A couple of days ago we had a practice test to give everyone a sense of what the final exam will be like at the end of the course. The great thing is that I’m not going to be here when the test is given (at the end of June) and nobody cares about my grades anyway, so it was just a fun exercise. It was six pages long, and took a solid 2 hours to complete. I wonder if all my smiley faces got me that extra point??

23 maggio. I volunteered to make the cover of the recipe book for our class along with my sweet Chinese friend Manuela. She’s 19 and learning Italian so she can study fashion design here in Italy next year. I drew the picture of our school and the title and she drew all the flags. We ran out to a copy shop during our break to make color copies for our prof so she can compile the book for our party tomorrow.

24 maggio. There was a lot of excitement for our international foods party in class today. Some people slaved away for hours and even skipped class before the party to complete their masterpieces. Here Bharti and Ramit from India are proudly displaying their spiced rice pudding. It was sooooo good and I was the lucky one who got to take home the leftovers!!

24 maggio. After we ate we went out on the roof deck of the university to get a group shot.

24 maggio. Anastasia sits next to me in class which is fortunate for me since she’s a star with the language. She is also kind enough to giggle at all my attempts at side jokes in Italian. We were all sad because this was her last day in Italy - she flies home tomorrow to the Ukraine!

24 maggio. I wandered around town a bit today since the sun was out. Here you can see a griffin, a symbol of the city of Perugia, with wings of an eagle and the body of a lion. I had to run out into the middle of a road in between traffic to snap this shot. I can’t believe cars are driving over this every day. I wonder if they notice all these amazing little details all around them?

24 maggio. I heard that there was a shelf in one of the city libraries dedicated to Seattle. It was so cool to hunt it down and see all the books about Coast Salish traditions tucked into the corner of this alternative library focused on peace and free thinking.

24 maggio. Ellen’s husband John arrived for a short visit before he heads off for a bike tour in Tuscany. I couldn’t resist taking a photo of them before they went out on the town.

24 maggio. This day never ended! After going out to a cool local theater production, a group of us hung out on the steps of the Palazzo Priori along with hundreds of other Italians until the well after midnight. They really know how to live the night life!

25 maggio. For real, this is the kind of thing you run into in Italy.

25 maggio. Tonight the three of us went out to a street food fair at the far end of town. We sampled a bunch of traditional foods from different regions of Italy and enjoyed some great people-watching.

25 maggio. Have you ever seen a burger that had mozzarella for a bun?? Top AND bottom. I couldn’t get over it. Mmmmmmm…..

26 maggio. As i think I’ve mentioned, Perugia is a sister city of Seattle and there are a handful of people here who work to nurture the relationship. 11 years ago, a Coast Salish artist came and created this sculpture to symbolize the friendship. A new Italian friend named Daniela took me over to the piazza for a look around. She is a part of the LIons Club here, specifically on a committee designed to create some initiatives between the two cities where they can each learn from each other and benefit from the interaction. We brainstormed some different ideas, discussing some of the trademark aspects of Seattle and what we might have to offer the citizens of Perugia.

26 maggio. Daniela swung me by the nearby museum & shop of the local professional soccer team. This photo is for you, Sky!

26 maggio. I rented a car for the weekend so we could check out some of the hill towns in Umbria. The signore at the AVIS office suggested this ancient medieval town that is accessible only by a foot bridge. It was spectacular. Lesson learned: always listen to the locals!

26 maggio. I loved the original stone walls and all the tarnished accents everywhere.

26 maggio. It’s so cool to think about the many people who have walked through these piazzas for centuries. I didn’t get any good photos, but we got to descend into some ancient etruscan caves in the town, built as homes 2,500 (!!!) years ago. Later the Romans inhabited the dwellings, and then homes and other buildings were constructed above. It’s pretty mind-blowing.

26 maggio. It’s geranium season over here!

26 maggio. After visiting the village in the sky, we stopped in Orvieto and this scene took our breath away. The ornate facade of the Duomo is in dramatic contrast with the simpler style of the rest of the city. The cornerstone was laid in 1290 and apparently it took about 300 years to complete, including 30 years to draw up the designs!

26 maggio. For me, the most striking aspect of the duomo was the glittering gold and the vibrant colors of the facade. The images depict a miracle that took place nearby as well as various biblical tales. The majesty of the church served to prove the power of the Pope and to warn the public to stay the narrow course.

26 maggio. I love the patterns in all of the churches I visit. You see a lot of Mother Marys everywhere, but it’s the abstract forms and colors that attract me the most.

26 maggio. I finally found someone to go salsa dancing with me! I had learned how to dance latin ballroom when I lived in Italy 24 years ago, so I really wanted to get out and bring the experience full circle.

26 maggio. Georgia gets out dancing often in Greece so she was happy to go with me, even though the dancing didn’t start until 10:30pm! We had SUCH a great time.

29 maggio. I was invited to lunch today at the home of Riccardo Spadolini (President of the Perugia Lion’s Club) and his wife Katia … and an auntie too… We had a wonderful time getting to know each other. I heard all about Riccardo’s grandmother who was from Seattle, and we discovered several interesting connections. We talked about doing an exchange where their grandkids come and stay with us in America, and we send our kids to them! Such kind and lovely people.

28 maggio. Our chorus ‘Voci dal Mondo’ (Voices of the World) had a big dinner party last night after practice. My favorite part was when they busted out some of their tunes (from memory) that they had performed before I joined the chorus. So many wonderful people - it’s going to be hard to say goodbye to new friends in a couple of days!

28 maggio. Daniela took me out today to a great bookstore to look for some presents to bring back to the family and we dropped her son Andrea off at karate class along the way. I told him all about Tallis and discovered that they share an interest in Pokemon and Star Wars. I realized that at that moment Tallis was getting ready for school so I video facetimed him and was able to introduce them to each other over the phone! It was so cute to see them trying to communicate (with help from their moms translating the conversation). We’re hoping they’ll become pen pals.! Andrea’s karate buddy Alessandro is also in this photo with us.

29 maggio. I heard that one of our neighbors in our building was from Boston so I knocked on her door one day. We discovered we both love to make music so we decided to sing together at an Open Mic night tonight. We had a ball practicing in her apartment last night and ended up working out four fun songs for our little set!

30 maggio. Ellen and I went out to her favorite restaurant for our last dinner together. She was a pro ordering from the menu in Italian!

31 maggio. It is unbelievable that the month has flown by so fast. I had my final classes this morning and took one last selfie with some of my classmates. There were a lot of hugs and promises to keep in touch over facebook and What’s App. I’m so grateful to have shared this time together with these lovely people!!!

31 maggio. We had one last visit to our roof deck to take in the view and one last selfie. Ellen was an amazing roomie - I am SO happy she came with me on this crazy adventure! When we parted ways at the train station (she was heading to meet up with her husband in Tuscany, and I was heading up to Milan) I shed a few tears. How could it possibly be over? I will forever remember this precious time together!

31 maggio. Another last view, this one from the top of Palazzo Galenga. It was a beautiful sunny day for our departure.

31 maggio. I made it to Milan!! You should have heard the squeals when I found Laura at the train station!! She was one of my two Italian roommates from my infamous study abroad year in Milano so many years ago. It all started here!!!

1 giugno. What good fortune I had that Laura’s husband Stefano was going for an early morning ride, and that he had and extra bike!!

1 giugno. We rode a bike path along the canals of the city - the same path I used to run!

1 giugno. We went to see Laura’s parents who I had gotten to know when I lived in Milan. Laura’s son Leonardo had spent the night at Grandma & Grandpa’s house as he does every Friday night. Laura’s Dad kept talking about the importance of friendship and how he couldn’t believe I came back to visit. He gave me a hug at the end of the visit and say he cared about me as if I were one of his own children. It melted my heart!

1 giugno. 1 giugno. There are a couple of super cool apartment buildings here that they call the ‘vertical forest’.

1 gigno. Our other roommate Nevina met up with us for a mini reunion. We were thick as thieves back in the day! We had so much to catch up on.

1 giugno. We took a walk down memory lane and swung by our old apartment on Via Oxilia with another friend. We pieced together a lot of stories and I pulled out a photo album with old photos of us. We haven’t changed al all… . :)

2 giugno. My last day in Italy . Laura and her family took me up to Stresa on Lago Maggiore to soak in the sun that finally arrived. We played in the water, had lunch, walked around the town, and of course ate gelato! My suitcase is packed and I head to the airport tomorrow morning. What an epic, unforgettable adventure.

3 giugno.  I guess it’s not over til it’s over!  They never told us why the plane from Milan was delayed but I missed my connection in London - the last flight to Seattle - so they put me up in a hotel for the night.  I’ll get home eventually!! 

4 giugno.  I can’t stop posting photos - help!! The flight over the top of the world was pretty stunning. I was planning to get online but there was no WiFi available so I did a lot of gazing out the window, reflecting on my trip and life in general. This scene reminded me of a Klimt painting in a cool (cold actually) palette.

4 giugno.  It looks like a lego city from up here!

4 giugno.  Ok - this will be my last photo, I promise.  I’m safely back on the ground and I’ve crossed the sound over to our sweet little island. It’s amazing to think about where I’ve been these last five weeks and I’m looking forward to sharing it all with my family.  The kids will be home on the bus in an hour and boy will I hug them tight!!!  Thanks for reading along and cheering me on. I hope it’s inspired you to reach out and take a step towards your own personal adventure, whatever that may be!!