Friends are such an important part of life, especially when they are enthused about a shared passion. Cortonese, Ivan Botanici caught it and said yes to helping me produce a bi-lingual, Ten Years in Tuscany book launch event in Cortona. Trying to use the past three launch events a model wasn’t an option. I’m in a foreign country, 7500 miles from my resources. My biggest fear: Would anyone come? Like …
[ Montepulciano, Italy by Larry Snyder ] Although our coordinates look similar year after year, we’ve come at it from a different direction this time. Pisa is a seaside, regional Tuscan airport accepting jetliners full of primarily Euro fliers seeking some Vitamin D, a well-priced glass of vino rosso, and a bit of stylish culture that comes in many forms. Celebrating the arrival of all our four checked bags, we …
[ Sotto Montepulciano ] There’s a push, a tangible draw coming from within this Ryan Air 737-800. It’s time to create. For this short window, I’m free of the norm, to take chances while I occupy land that nearly built the act of creativity. Feeling the need to up my artistic game, this trip has to be big on discovery. Not necessarily new destinations, although that is tempting. The surgeons …
I had a feeling when we pulled into the carpark (British term) and I noticed several signs noting our destination a UNESCO World Heritage site, that this was to be a memorable visit. Our favorite Brits, Bill and Tina, wanted to share one of their national treasures knowing we fancy (another British term) ancient stone structures that once welcomed holy residents. Fountains Abbey and the adjoining Studley Royal Garden has …
Sagre Amedeo: Our annual American-style 4th of July bar-b-cue on Amedeo’s birthday. The 20 stairs connecting our main living area to the garage provide me a little extra cardio this time of year. Each time we make this trip across the Atlantic, I’m commissioned to drag our three-piece hard-sided luggage set up the stairs only to take at least one back when Jill realizes how far over weight we’ll be …
What an honor to speak to this Expedia audience about getting the most out of traveling in Italy. I’ve been talking about 6/7 for weeks. Every other customer at my coffee post got to hear about it, some more than once. Fortunately for me, a seasoned tech veteran with a good position on the Totem Pole made the best suggestion I’ve ever heard. Trying not to become hysterical, I agreed that …
In the past 72 hours, I’ve enjoyed two concerts that both had over 100 musicians on stage. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one on earth incredibly inspired by live music. It’s always been that way. Perhaps it is my unmet lifetime desire to touch the keys like Bob James or handle the violin in the spirit of Joshua Bell. I’ve spent the last few years saying yes to ticket …
Last night I sat with a filmmaker to my left, an accomplished painter with a panache for everything French to my right, and straight ahead, a mom/wife who has gained hero status keeping a family together through her husband’s catastrophic illness. If these were people I’d just met, this would have been an interesting conversation. It turns out, I’ve known this trio for nearly two thirds of my life. Pre-dinner found …
Nearly everything good in my life over the past 10 years has included Starbucks. Most of you reading this have been brought to me somehow via a small coffee shop on the corner of 108th Ave NE and NE 2nd in Bellevue. My vast coffee community is another ironic tie to the old country where coffee shops become the center of social community even in the tiniest of villages, like …
The first orders at the post office. Thank you to all! Like many, going to the post office doesn’t fit in my Top Ten list of thrilling life experiences. That is, until yesterday. With Iron Twine Press founder and publisher-extraordinaire Ethan Yarbrough riding shotgun, I pulled into an awaiting spot at the United States Post Office in Bellevue, WA with the first dozen orders of Miracles in Montanare: Ten Years in …
