Homesick

Can you be homesick for somewhere you have never lived? I think so. It has been either 4 or 6 years since I was last in Italy, I can't remember! I miss it terribly. My dad came over from Italy when he was four with his family. My Mom and Dad used to talk about taking us three girls and living there for a year. It never happened, what an experience that would have been! I would probably speak Italian. I have gone "home" to Italy three times. The first time was on a school trip and my Dad was a chaperone. We didn't get to see the family that time so I went back! This time my Uncle came with me and introduced me to my Italian family. A few of them lived in the States for a number of years so they spoke English. I had a great time and got fat eating gelato and pasta. :-) A little while after that my good friend Angie was studying abroad in Rome. I got so jealous I went right out and bought a ticket back over there to see her and my family. We were there in July and it was HOT, one of Italy's hottest summer on record in years. We ate gelato for breakfast, lunch and dinner I think. The hazelnut is best. Or if you are going for a double scoop, hazelnut and yogurt. After that trip I met Jay, went back to school, bought a house, got a real job a.k.a. turned into an adult. I know lots of people still travel, I just haven't quite figured out how to do it yet. I can't wait to take Jay and show him the places and people I love and to explore new places together I haven't been yet. Jay's ancestory is in Sweden so some year we will go there. I found tickets to Italy online last night for $534. That's a steal! We both have vacation days and our first anniversary is in October. I think we need to go. Now that the thought is in my head I can hardly stand it. I haven't been in the fall. The weather is usually a lot like here so it would be great. None of my pictures from before are digital so I found a couple of links to show you. This first one gives you an idea of where Pievepelago is, the closest town to where my Dad and Uncle were born and where my cousin has a hotel.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=pievepelago+italy&safe=on&um=1&ie=UTF-8&split=0&gl=us&ei=Nx9zSqPnEo_uswOc683HCA&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1

This link shows you the hotel. It is old and quaint and has the best food in the world. The last time I was there I spent a lot of time with the family and while I didn't learn to cook, I did help clean up and learn to communicate with everyone even though they were speaking Italian and I was speaking English.

http://www.albergogalli.it/foto.htm

Italy here we come! (I hope.)