Walking through Italian villages is like a journey into the past. Another time, another way of life. Everything speaks of times gone by. From narrow cobbled streets, to ancient buildings. The ever-present scent of wood smoke fills the air, transporting the mind to slower days. When whole families gathered round the fire for warmth, chestnuts roasting […]
Do you rush out to buy new things or have you learned the art of making do? My husband’s hometown is a village where thrift reigns. Where people have long been used to making do. The current trend toward simplicity and frugality is so normal to them, that they would ask “Is there any other way?” […]
One by one they filed in, sitting around the smoky fire in the dark, dingy room. The entire village, it seemed, wanted a look at us — the Americans. While I in turn, through teary, smoke-filled eyes, examined them. Our new town folk, for this was our new home. A village from another era Life in that isolated […]
My husband’s hometown, Sacco, and our summer home are right in the middle of a national park, is one of the most interesting places in Italy. Interesting because it’s rarely ever visited. Interesting because it’s a striking area of lonely, rugged mountains that stretches into the Tyrrhenian Sea, and forming the southern end of the Gulf […]
There is only one road leading to the isolated town, our summer village. A place little touched by time, technology, or by the frenetic pace of getting ahead. Thirteen years had passed since our last visit. And though fewer and older, the inhabitants somehow seem to have remained much the same. Many of the old and wrinkled […]
My husband and I love Italy, although, as with anywhere, it has its negatives and downsides. But when we look back over the years, we think of the wonderful people we’ve met and come to love. We reflect on the beauty of the land and the culture. And we recall God’s unwavering faithfulness to us […]