"Italian Glass" Tree

'Tis the Season

Altered Bottle Art

The PAls do Italy all over again at the 

Casa Serena dei Seidici Dolce

I miei ricordi italiano

Photos Taken on Capri

 Murano Glass Candies

Pieces of Capri from the Mediterranean

Produce

I was not officially Emmy for 12 whole days, but my Emmy-heart

couldn't resist snapping this precious bambino 

being conveniently weighed at a street market in Naples.  

Cute, eh?

We're done too.

Post-ITALIA 

Pre-ITALIA

Pretty pitiful, eh?  Yes, my Italian sandals took me all over Italy...

on cobblestones, tiled walkways, gravel paths, and miles and

miles of sidewalks and ancient pathways, and they are ready to be retired.

They served me well, and their time is past.

Arrivederci, sandali! 

I'm done.

Yes, my trusty camera-pal finally bit the dust,

and on my first official day in Italy, no less!

Oh well, she was a great companion, serving me well for almost six years.

Pretty amazing, given the amount of abuse she took at the hands of a 

budding baby-photographer named Caleb.

She was tossed about and dropped numerous times, but she kept rebounding, 

providing us all with marvelous photo-memories to treasure forever.

She's now been replaced by a sleek little black number by the name of

Canon PowerShot ELPH300HS. 

Elphie has a few more bells and whistles, 

something I'll have to adjust to, and will, in time.

Farewell,  my chubby little SD850IS...and thanks for the memories!

Wings of Love

Thank you, Karla for this beautiful image.

There are many in my circle of friends and family who are hurting today

because of disease, tragic deaths, and fears and disappointments of all kinds.

To remember that we are covered over with 

LOVE,

no matter what, is such a relief,
especially in the midst of our despair.

My Home Away from Home

A nice surprise on Capri!

Tip of the Iceberg

Our First Official Day in Naples

I just downloaded Marjorie's fabulous photos 

and thought this one pretty much said it all.

More to come!

August 11th PS

RAIN!

It's a Small World After All

It's hard to believe I could be in Italy on Tuesday,

Spain and England on Wednesday,

and back on the floor with Caleb and Sawyer today watching movies

and snacking on Italian pizza crackers and jelly candies.

Travelling the world AND having the pleasure of playing

with two precious grandsons...all in the space of a few days...

is like having cake and eating it too!

The icing on the cake for me today was Caleb snuggling up next to me

on our floor pallet while we watched a movie, and saying

"I feel so comfortable with you, Emmy."

I love my world!

Have Camera, Will Travel

Those of you who know me well, know that there have got to be

tons of Italy photos in my camera, just waiting to be downloaded and shared.  

Well, there are pictures in my camera, FIVE to be exact,

so I am sharing them with you at this time.

Why only five? 

It seems that after the fifth picture, my camera, the one I've used 

daily for years to capture the mere stuff of my days, decided not to play.

No matter what I did, it continued to indicate "no camera card"

when there was indeed a camera card in place.  

To show you how camera-ready I was for this trip, 

Rob had bought me an extra camera card as well as an extra battery for the trip.

I had my battery charger along, just in case.

I mean, I was ready!

Here are the five photos that resulted from my readiness:

 Madrid Airport

 Lunch at the airport's Cafe Cafe

Day #1 at Villa Rosa

Marjorie's Welcoming Touches

From here on out, the only photos I took of the entire Italy Adventure 

were taken, thanks to her generous spirit, with Debi's camera.

Marjorie also took some fabulous photos, so I will be sharing hers as well.

So, guess what!

I didn't have to have my own camera to enjoy this trip of a lifetime.
In fact, it was even liberating to know that I could actually do Italy without
my trusty camera-companion of the past five years.

How about that...another lesson in enough!

Home Again, Home Again

Where to begin?

How to put into words an experience that is beyond words?

I'm sure I'll figure out a way to at least record glimpses of a travel adventure

that has made my world vastly wider and truly more wonderful.

In the meantime, here's a tiny reflection from yesterday:

I departed our hotel in Madrid, after only four hours of sleep, 

with a taxi arriving for me at 4:30AM.

(Debi's plane didn't leave until noon, so she saw me off

and returned for a little more sleep and the continental breakfast.)

The flight attendant on my earlier flight to Madrid from DFW had warned us the 

 Madrid Airport was, perhaps, the most challenging international airport 

to navigate, so I knew I needed to get there early enough to allow 

time for whatever twists and turns might await me.  

When I stepped onto an elevator to make my way on the first leg of this journey, 

I was accompanied by only one other person.  

We compared boarding passes and realized we would be heading 

for the same gate and same flight to Heathrow.

From that point on, Laddie, a businessman from Nigeria, was my guide, 

making this whole airport-traversing-experience so much more pleasant for me.  

We visited about our families, our work, and our mutual disappointment that 

so much about our respective countries is skewed by the media,

including the "Nigerian scams" and the "U.S. extremists' behavior", 

all of this in light of the recent incomprehensible behavior in London 

by a small minority that is not at all representative of the vast majority 

of that very civilized and gracious society.

We made a lovely connection with each other, 

even the beginnings, perhaps, of what we might have called friendship,

reminding me that there are so many very good people 

in this wide wide world of ours,

and that we are often much more alike than we are different.

And here's the best part:

Laddie seemed to appear out of nowhere (and at just the right time),

which seemed to be the case throughout our travels.

More about that later... 

It's so good to be home!