Toni Noel
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Politics or Tuscany? Tuscany! Hands down!

9/18/2011

9 Comments

 
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Life hasn't gotten in my way, summer has. A week spent at a fish camp in Liggett, California, ten days in Tuscany and Rome that turned into three weeks away from home, and a week in the Antelope Valley where every two hours I dropped eye drops into my son-in-law's eye recently freed of cataracts.
    Now that I've put my summer down in print I see life did get in the way of my writing, although I did sign contracts with Desert Breeze Publishing for three romance novels to be released in 2012.  
    I'm home now and hope to stay here a while preparing for the October 15th release of my dark romance Decisive Moments by Desert Breeze Publishing, Inc.

     For California residents who seldom leave the state, our overseas trip was a really big deal, but with borrowed luggage and shiny new and at that time unsigned passports, we boarded an El Italia Airlines at the San Francisco Airport, apprehensive, but delighted to be on our way.
    We changed planes for Rome in Amsterdam, where we were politely informed we wouldn't be allowed into their country until we signed our passports. In Rome our daughter discovered she'd failed to bring her newest driver's license and asked her father to sign for the rental car although he had no intention of driving in a foreign country.
    We loved sharing our daughter's trip to Italy with her. We could never have negotiated the numerous Roundabouts the way she did, dodging Smart Cars and Vespas  determined to outrun her. As she shepherded us around lovely walled cities and impressive churches built in the 700's  I realized the majority of Americans have no appreciation for anything more than ten years old. Buildings are not torn down in Italy. Past generations pass the old stone residences down to current generations for future generations to live out their lives in.
    On the drive from Rome to our Inn near Florence I admired rolling farmland edged by wildflowers, but mistakenly thought the farm houses were all boarded up. I soon realized the boards were shutters covering every window of the two and three story stone structures. Shutters in all shapes and sizes, hung inside and outside windows, allowing filtered light and cooling breezes to enter, but assuring privacy without the expense of drapes, curtains, blinds, or the rods needed to hang them.
     I was fascinated by the dense forests of trees growing in neat rows, then realized I was seeing evidence of the deforestation that occurred in the bombing of World War II and the reforestation that followed the war.
     I fell in love with the Italians, their cheerfulness, their willingness to help lost tourists, the rhythmic flow of their rapid-fire conversations, the sexy eyes of the teenage boys. 
     The rolling green hills of Tuscany were just as I'd imagined, but I'd never dreamed the fields of sunflowers would be so startling, their yellow heads facing in one direction like smiling faces bobbing in the gentle breeze. 

     We were one of the last trains leaving Venice when the train workers walked on a twenty-four hour strike to make their complaints heard, a common occurrence we learned, and all part of a memorable trip.
     What I'd like to forget is the way CNN announcers on London TV laughed at this country because our government allowed a few outspoken individuals to threaten to bring all services to a halt instead of increasing the debt limit.
     Our country truly lost face abroad over that fiasco.   


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9 Comments
Jannine Corti Petska link
9/18/2011 07:30:13 am

Toni, I've known all along about the great Italian hospitality. LOL, I lived it!!!

Thank you for the beautiful descriptions of a beautiful country. I, too, have an appreciation of the churches, castles and all buildings and archtecture of the past. If no one visits Italy (or other countries), they'll never know true history.

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Kristen Koster (Kaige) link
9/18/2011 07:50:54 am

Great post, Toni. I've only been out of the country twice. Once to Haiti and once to Switzerland. Both were radically different experiences and both definitely changed how I thought the rest of the world perceived the US.

I remember thinking similar thoughts in Zurich when you see the striking new glass and steel architecture butted up against the old stone and brick buildings that have been so carefully preserved. They definitely don't build churches and cathedrals the way they used to!

Thanks for the mini-vacation!

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R. Ann Siracusa link
9/18/2011 07:55:50 am

Tony,
Nice article. I'm glad you enjoyed your trip. Italy is amazing and is still my favorite place, particularly Rome. Maybe it's the many fond memories.

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Shirley Wilder link
9/18/2011 11:12:58 am

Good job, Toni. It's been years since I was in Rome but just reading your blog brought back fond memories. Your daughter was brave to drive over there, that was very dangerous years ago even without smart cars. I especially remember a fender bender we observed and watching the argument that ensued between the two drivers was worth as much as much as a feature film ticket. So glad you had a good time.

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Phyllis Humphrey link
9/18/2011 03:20:53 pm

Toni: What fond memories you evoked. Ten years ago, we did a tour of Rome, Florence and Venice for about three weeks. Managed to get to Pisa in there too. We then took a train to [Milan, and drove a rental to Lake Como. Magnificent. Yes, we can learn much from Europeans, especially the Italians. Thanks .

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Nancy Kay link
9/18/2011 10:59:54 pm

Toni,

The train strike issue made me chuckle. My daughter did her jr year of college at the University of Bologna, which gave my husband and I the perfect tour guide and free accomadations for our 25th anniversary trip! We loved Italy, especially Bologna and Florence. We took the train to Florence and lucked out when there was a train 'strike' the very next day! The piazza's (SP?) are a treasure, expecially on Sunday afternoons when the men gather and children play. At least it was then in the early 90's, but I often wonder if that simple charm still exists in our electronic world. Thanks for sharing your memories.

Nancy Kay

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Toni Noel link
9/19/2011 04:31:43 am

Nancy,
The piazza is just as charming, but crowded with tourists in July. Rome's Apian Way is closed to traffic on Sunday so pedestrians and bicyclists can enjoy it.

Toni

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angelicamarie webcam link
9/30/2013 01:50:07 am

How do you signup for a blog from Weebly?

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Andres Roemer link
12/1/2016 12:19:36 pm

Very good points you wrote here..Great stuff...I think you've made some truly interesting points.Keep up the good work.

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    Toni Noel enjoys  writing romantic suspense and contemporary romance, reading, gardening and walking her dog Jack in Southern California.  

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