Well, it's time to leave this beautiful place. Calabria that is. This has been my 7th (I think) summer in Belvedere, and it holds a special place in my heart. Let me just say that, if you've seen Rome, Verona, Venice, Florence, Napoli and Cinque Terre, then you're doing very well and hats off to you, but you're also missing out. For me, the heart of Italy is the south. A dirty, well-fed, swarming underbelly of contradictions and simple joys. I love the land...

We've been doing a fair bit of driving down here...to and from lovely little villages and beaches. Dad has his Fiat camper, so we're well set up to just head out and see where the wind takes us. Or the tiny, itsy bitsy roads....full of swarming, stubborn cars, cyclists, scooters and buses. I call this phenomenon bumper cars. It's quite entertaining to sit back and watch as three cars stubbornly move into spaces that can obviously only handle one...subsequentl...

Days are passing, full of activities such as swimming, walking on the beach, visiting nearby towns and family, going to markets and painting and reading on the terrace. I know...such a hard life. Yesterday we went down to the sea early to park the van before the market was fully set up. We walked around the market for hours, taking photos, drinking cafe, reading the newspaper and of course shopping a bit. After, we went to la casa della nonna per pranzo. She...

I had my first "real" Italian conversation today! It was very exciting to realise that I was able to understand most of what they said (well, at least most of what Gabrielle said) and even repsond with answers. I was taking pics in the village, wandering through the narrow passages and getting happily lost, when I came out onto a little courtyard with five older women sitting in it. We got to talking, and being a small village, they know my nonna, da...

I've noted this numerous times while in Italy, but for some reason it's creating a bigger impact this time. Perhaps because of the time frame I'm spending here and my subsequent desire to be accepted by these people. I note that nobody here smiles. Or very few people. Only when you know someone, or they want to sell you something/steal something from you. Most Italians seems to have no problem looking right at you, obviously looking you up and down, staring ...