Twenty five years ago Laura and I visited Italy for the first time as something we “should do before we have children”.  We joked on the flight over about how this might change our lives as I had often read about some artist or scientist having been influenced by a visit to this country.  Little did we realize just how profound an impact the trip would truly have on us.  From that first day in the Piazza di Spagna, with gelato at 5:30 in the afternoon and dinner starting at 9, the country, people, art, food, wine, and architecture has genetically invaded our lives.  This is now our 5th journey back. Drawn in by the tidal pull of Tuscan hills, bottles of red wine, frescoes, cobble stones, pasta, and a feeling that is beyond description as you sit in a piazza and take it all in.  Our ‘Grand Tour’.   Four months to try, as Laura says “to get it out of our system”.  Realistically I do not believe either of us think for a moment that is going to be possible.

So we will try to keep the world back home informed and up to date with us as we learn to navigate the “blog world” and the Italian countryside.   We hope you will enjoy the journey with us and keep in touch.  We will try not to bore you with a never ending stream of great scenery, architecture, and food photos.  Yeah right!  We will most definitely miss our friends and family during all of this.  We will be thinking of you and hoping all is well.

Ciao

Michael and Laura