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A Tuscan Winery Experience – Castello di Verrazzano
Tuscany is the type of place you see in love stories, like Under the Tuscan Sun, and then dream about going to one day. It is undeniably a region full of postcard material. Famous in Italy for its rolling hills, food, and most significantly wine, there is so much to see and do in Tuscany. Choosing A Tuscan Winery For Valentine’s Day weekend, we traveled to the Chianti region of Tuscany. We stayed in Monteriggioni and decided to do our first winery tour and tasting just a few towns over in Greve in Chianti. Recommended by a friend who had been there recently, we chose Castello di Verrazzano as our…
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Brent de l’Art: A Ravine in the Province of Belluno, Italy
If what you’re seeking is a unique hiking experience with photogenic surroundings, Brent de l’Art is the place to visit. Located within 2 hours driving time from Vicenza, Italy, this ravine lies in Trichiana, Province of Belluno. What’s a Brent? The term Brent indicates a stream. It flows at the bottom of a deep valley and is more or less quite narrow. You will often see the word “brent” when driving over a short bridge as it names the small river or stream below you. The ravine formed at Brent de l’Art is a result of water, stones, and plants once entering the canyon creating whirlwinds and slamming intensely against…
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Basic Tips to Photograph the Northern Lights
When we booked our trip to Norway to see the Northern Lights, I knew I had to learn how to capture this incredible phenomenon. Up to this point, I’d always used an iPhone or GoPro to document our travels. Everything I kept reading said that to photograph the Northern Lights would be much more complicated than simply snapping a pic on my phone. I spent a lot of time learning, researching, and taking notes about the best ways to take photos of the Aurora Borealis in order to avoid getting myself into a situation where I would miss the lights because I was too busy trying to fiddle with the…
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Colorful Cinque Terre
Blue skies. Blue seas. Gelato. Lemon trees. Those are the first four things I noticed when I got off the train in Monterosso al Mare, one of the five towns that is part of the Cinque Terre (pronounced “chink-e” like 5 in Italian). Cinque Terre means “five lands” in Italian and is composed of Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. I chose to stay in this town after reading other blog posts comparing the five towns. Monterosso has much more to offer activities wise. There are shops, restaurants, and bars galore. The beach is significantly larger than Vernazza so there’s lots of room for laying out. I stayed…
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Bittersweet Goodbye To My First Home
Two posts in one week….yes, unusual for me, I’m aware. Maybe it’s because I have more free time or maybe it’s because I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting lately. Either way, writing has become soothing to me and my go to when I need to put my thoughts in order. Tonight is the last night in my very first home and it is so unbelievably bittersweet. When I first started looking for a home to buy last summer, Stephen was hardly a figure in my life. I had given up on men and the thought of settling down on my own made me content enough at the time. I…
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Where in the World Are My Household Goods?
If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you probably read my post here about packing all of my household goods up and having them shipped overseas back in September. That shipment was supposed to arrive November 27th, just one day after I did. Inside the shipment contained my winter clothes, Christmas decorations, all of our furniture – including my queen size bed with sheets and blankets. Oh and all things cookware. Well…it’s currently halfway through December and I have yet to receive my items. In fact, when I inquired about it a week ago, they had no idea where the ship was and had to send an “urgent…
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My Reason Why
As 2017 comes to an end, it only seems right to reflect back on all that has happened throughout this life-changing year. First, let’s go back to the beginning of my blog and my WHY.
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The Year That School Started Without Me
For the first time in my life, I was neither a student or a teacher today. In 20+ years, I have been a part of the education system in one way or another. To say that today has been emotional for me is an understatement.
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Food, Photography, & Hiking in NC
Summertime…the beginning of vacations, a social life, and relaxation. I almost forgot what it was like to have friends and free time because I was so busy during the school year. It’s like a breath of fresh air and good for the soul to be able to spend quality time with my gal pals.
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I had a plan…
“You can make many plans, but the lord’s purpose will prevail.” – Proverbs 19:21 All my life I had a plan…a plan to go to a certain school, work a certain job, marry a certain boy. Guess what? Life doesn’t work that way. That school, that job, that boy you’re wondering about… they don’t exist in my life anymore. But you want to know what does?? A career, a life, and a man that I absolutely love that was not part of that original plan.
