My Days are Numbered...........

I don't know if all roads lead to Rome, but that's the road we took six months ago. Wait! Was it really that long ago that we came to live in Italy because of Stacey's job? To me, it seems only a few days ago. To Stacey it probably seems much longer. As one Italian told us, "American's live to work, but Italians work to LIVE!" To the Italians, work deadlines are just like traffic signs......only suggestions! So when Stacey mixed his "American deadlines" with the "Italian suggestions" it played out like a modern day gladiator game. Needless to say, our Italian experiences have been totally the opposite.
My daily schedule depended upon where Stacey was at any given moment. If he worked in Umbria, I spent my days wondering medieval hill-towns, taking pictures of churches, rows of cypress trees, vineyards, olive groves, villas, and farmhouses. If he worked in Naples, I would either take the ferry to the jet-setting island of Capri, or walk the dusty roads of Pompeii with Mt Vesuvius looming over my shoulder. Sometimes I would wait for him in Sorrento. This beautiful city, sometimes called the gateway to the Amalfi Coast, is wedged on a ledge under the mountains, and over the Mediterranean. It is spritzed by lemon and olive groves, and always seemed to whisper in my ear, "take another picture!" Sometimes I would follow him to Turin and we would spend the weekend touring some of the most famous vineyards in the world, and to the delight of my camera, sneak away to Stresa on Lake Maggiore. An area so beautiful, that Earnest Hemingway and Winston Churchill chose it for their honeymoon.
But most of my time was spent in Rome. Our main home was here, because of the central location for Stacey. I spent days trying to learn as much as I could about this magnificent and brutal city. I walked mile after mile, week after week, until all of the sudden, Rome felt comfortable to me. I became a different person. I woke up in Rome! I don't know if it was the combination of visual beauty, history, culture, or style, but the more I learned about Rome, the more I realized there was more I WANTED to learn. Each time I would peel back a layer, there would be more questions. I did research online in my hotel room, then I would grab my camera and set out to find the treasured spot. Never disappointed!
I understand why people come to Rome and write books about their experiences. The city changes you. It touches people on such a level, that you convince yourself, that your experience was different, and that you can somehow explain Rome in a new light. I will probably never write a book about my life in Rome, but it did change me.
I find myself talking with my hands more. Wanting to eat outside. Eating two hour lunches. Strolling, not powerwalking. I find myself being more conservative with my electricity, gasoline, and food intake. I don't watch T.V. I don't need ice in my drinks. There are no doggie bags, so you don't order tons of food. It is much better walking arm in arm with Stacey, rather then two feet in front of him. Although we never went to a movie over here, we will never again do "dinner AND a movie." We will take our time and do one or the other... and enjoy it.
The list could go on and on, but above all, the best discovery this past six months was my husband. Rome either makes you fall in love, or notice the one your in love with all over again! Italy and Rome, are all about people, and a way of life. I remembered why I wanted to come to Italy in the first place. It was to be with Stacey. Wanting me to take time away from work, to come with him was one of the most loving and unselfish things he could have done for me. Our Italian way of life has been good for us. In between our long dinners, talks, walks, and adventures, we have planned the next fourty five years of our lives. We only hope that we can get it all done by the time we are ninty five!
This is my last post on the blog. We are coming home on Friday. Thanks to everyone for sharing the adventure with us. Your comments were so much fun to read, and somehow made me feel closer to home. I hope everyone of you will somehow get a chance to do something like this someday. Don't be afraid to do it! Arrivederci!