Vado in italia!

Originally Published on:  May 3, 2006 

Here it is the day before my departure to Italy, and I'm doing okay...excited, yes, but so far no real anxiety. I guess there's still time for that. But more than anything, I feel really ready to go. For luggage, I have a 21" carry-on bag with wheels, and a small backpack. I considered taking a large backpack and a duffel bag, but decided it would be easier to walk around with the wheeled luggage than hauling everything on my back. (This proved to be a good choice, though next time I'll take fewer clothes.)

One thing that's changed for me in the past six weeks is the friends I've made in Italy through the language exchange I mentioned earlier in this blog. Several of my penpals have become good friends, and I'll even have a chance to meet one of them on my trip. Having these connections has changed my whole perspective, in that I feel a sense of going to visit the home of these friends, rather than thinking I'm visiting a foreign country. I'm eager to learn firsthand what their world is like. I'm so grateful for the many ways they've already enriched my life through their sharing, and their patience with my beginner's Italian. Their English is already so advanced that they don't need much help from me, while I struggle to remember common Italian phrases. Grazie mille a Luigi e Marco.

Another thing that's helping me out today is planning for the food I want to take on the airplane. Since I'll be enroute for nearly 20 hours, I want to have a decent supply of nourishment, so I won't be tempted by the high-priced junk food in the airports. So I've stocked up with apples, muenster and mozzarella cheeses, and freshly made whole wheat sourdough bread with kalamata olives. Yum! The woman at the bakery where I bought the bread suggested I also take along some dark chocolate. So I found the very best: organic dark chocolate with raspberries. I have enough to share, should I meet a kindred spirit on one of my flights. It's happened before, so it won't be surprising for it to happen this time. (As it turns out, they fed us plenty of food on the transatlantic flight from Minneapolis to Amsterdam...two large meals in eight hours, so the food I brought with me became my meals for the first few days in Florence.)

I've been assured that I'll have plenty of access to internet cafes on my journey so I hope to share my travels as they happen. Be sure to check back for updates. I'll be traveling from May 4 through May 16.

ciao!