Butterfly feeling.....

This is one of my favorite pics I took while in Italy....

Why?

I just got this butterfly, almost tear in my eye feeling 

when I glanced over the rocks and saw these kids...

Remembering what it was like to be in college...

Everything opening up to you

and no real worries

 other than grades, relationships, and what are we going to do tonight?

I am hope they know how lucky they are to be able to travel 

the world at this point in their lives....

Hope this gives you a Happy start to your weekend...

Love-

Pam

Linking to my roomie Lara's page
She is such a great and patient teacher,
 beautiful person inside and out.
The first doggie pic on the page
was a shot we could have paid someone to set up...
and there he was just sitting there!
Check it out
Modern Prairie Girl  

Insta Friday Italian style....

Instagram

from Italy 

with love....

for a while I thought I was going to

 Techno schizophrenic

 switching between my manual camera

and my IPOD!

No frames this time b/c I want you to see the whole image...

Leavin' on a jet plane.....

The Pantheon

Trevi Fountain at night....

Painted under glass - street tribute to Mary.....

The Coliseum

Capri

Best Gelato of the whole trip!

Sunset leaving Rome....

Hope you have a wonderful Friday!
I finally feel like I'm over my jet lag and my feet are actually normal again!
Ciao! 

Where to begin?

Italy

WOW!

SO,

 I can probably

write for a month or more about Italy and maybe I will...

 I tallied up the numbers

and i took over 1,290 photos

with my DSLR

and probably 40 or 50 with my IPOD!

We walked a lot.

We ate a lot.

We drank a lot.

We painted and sketched a lot.

We rode plains, trains, and automobiles.

Learned some Italian and even when others didn't speak English

we somehow found a way to communicate.

 Sensory overload in a way at some point.

Now that I'm home I'm discovering lots of things

that left impressions on me, inspired me, and taught me a few things.

Lets start with the amazing "Campground"

I stayed at....

The building I stayed in has parts that date back to before 79 A.D.

I thought my 1918 house was old!

The family that owns the property restored the building so it could be

used as individual apartments and they live in the section

on the far left corner of this photo...

they call it the Neffola Residence

This section is the side of the apartment Lara and I stayed in....

View of the gate we left through every morning to explore town

This is the entrance to our apartment and our small courtyard

 View of the cliffs from my doorway...the trees you see are lemon trees - they are everywhere!

Not much of a photo

but I slept with this window open every night

(something I cannot do at home)

for some reason my allergies did not bother me here

This is where the bird would sit outside my window and sing every morning...

at night you hear 

the laughter at the restaurants

the buzz of scooters

and the occasional Italian husband and wife having a good

argument!

A few interior views of the apartments

and the lounge chairs were on the rooftop terrace

belonging to Father Bruno...

Mt.Vesuvius is in the background....

 Instagram view from the rooftop terrace of the city surrounding us and up into the cliffs...

Sorrento is built up and into the cliffs as much as they can manage ...

We ate dinner here, sketched, painted, and just hung out here a lot.

 Sunsets here are amazing...

they change so much.

You could photograph the same sunset for a half an hour and it would change

so drastically it looked like a different day 

every few minutes....

 I hope you return to enjoy all I've experienced...

Today barely breaks the surface....

Happy Thursday all....

and to my girls still in Tuscany

Ciao!

Shhhhh.....listen....

The first morning I woke up in Italy

I heard the most beautiful birdsong just outside

my open window....

Trilling and calling just above the faint hum of the first scooters 

heading out for work or coffee...

It was so beautiful I grabbed my IPOD

to tape the sounds.

"I always want to remember how magical this was"

I thought to myself.

At breakfast

my new pal Heidi told me she had done the same thing!

The first morning after I arrived home

I woke up at 4:30 a.m.

probably from the time change...

I shuffled to the bathroom for some water

and lifted the window for some air...

Above the hum of the first autos headed out to work...

There it was...

a similar beautiful birdsong

just as loud 

and as intense

as what I had heard in Sorrento.

 I then had a thought.

Maybe this song has been here

outside my OWN window all along

but

 I had just forgotten to listen.

Going away

and leaving all your responsibilities

and worries can be easy for some of us...

Coming home and choosing how you let your

experience guide you

I think is harder.

You have to free YOURSELF

in order 

to change your perspective.

(Mary Tribute outside residence gate in Sorrento)

Love to you all...

sorting through all the photos to share with you....

Ciao Italy!

Back from the

trip of a lifetime for so many reasons!

I can't wait to share 

with you all

the fun, food, 

and friendships that were made!

I took over 1290 pictures with my

"DIGEE-TAHL" camera

(Italian accent)

and probably 40 or so with my

IPOD.

Going to take some time to sift through!

So I thought today

I would give you a 

taste...

All these were taken with my IPOD!

I'm spending today sifting through

my photos and ideas.

Giving my feet a rest!

Weird experience with them swelling due to the long flight.

Not to mention walking all over Italy kicked

my outta' shape rear end!

I hung in there

and now I have a reason to start kickin' my own

tush into shape at home!

Hope you have had a wonderful week..

Love you all!