Just Doing Paradise

After being offline for a while, I am back.  And I’ve landed in France.  Nice, France to be exact.  Okay, interesting backstory here…realizing that I may never acquire a long term visa or citizenship in Italy, I found the opportunity to apply for a long term residency visa in France.   I applied, (very easy), I was granted the Long Stay Visa within 6 days!  Italy was not going to approve me for their long stay visa or citizenship.  So was this a newsflash to me?  No, I knew this long ago…I just liked the idea of seeing so many countries and then coming back to my home in Italy.  So my plans have changed, France may now be my home permanently with long visits to Italy and America…no decision as yet but thrilled with France.

Are the French nice? Very much so. Many English speakers in the tourist cities and towns.  The French Riviera is simply gorgeous.  The turquoise blue water is like a beautiful picture.  So many landmarks, statues and works of art are everywhere.  The Nice area is laid out very well, many beautiful green spaces, great shopping and of course, great food.  The ‘Boulangerie’ is quite addictive, I try to ignore them. Not always successful but a few words to myself to pace myself but dang, these people bake fabulous baguettes, croissants and pastries!!!

And Nice?  Ah so glad you asked!!!   First, second largest airport in France.  Beautiful city, I love so many cities and Nice is a must see.  The anchor of the French Riviera.  The Promenade de Anglais (The English Promenade -boardwalk) is very wide. Clean, beautiful to walk for a couple miles.  Beaches are sand and many are small stone beaches.  The water is that turquoise blue that calls you to come see!  The temperate climate in the Cote D’Azur makes it quite inviting – supposedly average temps between 40 – 80F. It’s always a great adventure to walk back into the French neighborhoods, where the restaurants and stores are home to mostly French citizens and here is the best shopping and eating!!  Like Italy, it seems most restaurants are single proprietors.  The food is excellent. Quite a bit of the Italian food here also.  And last night, for the first time in years, I stepped inside a McDonalds.  The menu is quite similar and quite enhanced.  The food in Europe tends to be a better quality due to higher standards and laws.  This McDonalds had a coffee bar and patisserie case.  Who does that????  I was desperate for wifi and that was an easy one to utilize.  I’ve noticed a couple other US food ‘chain’ stores, Starbucks, Burger King, Five Guys…but they are few and far between.  

I like the transportation systems.  As usual I am quite interested in how municipalities move people around on public transportation.  The Trams and Buses are electric and new.  Many  motorcycles and cars, but the cars in general, are smaller than what we have in America, due to the cost of gas – about twice what we pay per gallon, many are electric and really small.  Same in Italy as France.  The architecture of the many apartment buildings resembles New Orleans – more ornate and quite lovely.   Like Rome, Nice doesn’t seem to have any skyscrapers.  Laid out by the ocean and sprawling up to the mountains surrounding.  France drives on ‘our’ side of the road.  I see numerous electric charging stations on the streets. You park there to charge up. 

Ah yes, if you are visiting France or Italy, please remember to address the French people with a ‘Bonjour’ before you ask or tell them anything.  It is a normal part of the French culture and so important.  And with a smile.  For the Italians, ‘Bongiorno’. They also smile and say to each other. I have not been turned down for any information requests using this behavior.  I represent you.  And the reputation of American tourists is a big responsibility.  For all of us. And smile.  It’s hard for someone to ignore you or be angry when you are smiling.  One more thing…I am so grateful for this life. What a blessing – of course the French bread and croissants are heavily in that gratefulness!!!

I do need to add the language issues…French is a beautiful language.  They add numerous ‘letters’ at the end of words or anywhere in the word, that are silent.  Versus the Italian language where just about every vowel and consonant is said.  And ‘si’ (see) and ‘oui’ (wee) are ‘yes’ in each language, but I am struggling with ‘si – oui’ as my effort for ‘yes’.  So far they are tolerating my minuscule efforts!!  They always seem to have a curiosity about Americans.  I act as normal as I can most days.

The lovely breeze off the Mediterranean Sea keeps the air clean or so it seems. With electric trams, buses and trains…a very nice place.  I’ve started doing a bit of travel and will post some places you may not have heard of, but worth a look.

Photos from walks, rides and just eating around Nice!

Apparently life had an adventure I could not have foreseen. An old ‘boyfriend’ came back into my life and now everything has changed. My life’s trajectory is new. Exciting, interesting and it would seem love has reappeared. But I digress….

From Montenegro I made a detour to Florida…a couple months then back to my home in Italy. The weather is colder now, but not ‘biting’ but after Florida, it’s cold.  So you bundle up and head out to see where the day will take you.  Rome and Florence are magnificent at Christmas.  The decorations are just over the top.  And even in cold weather, you simply have to stop and stare.  I do that so much. Just stand around and stare.  It seems all so interesting – even though I have seen so much already.  The ‘Presepe’ (nativity creches) on display in St Peter’s Piazza are awesome.  How artists interpret the holy nativity scene is quite interesting.  I take a lot of photos of everything that looks amazing, beautiful, unusual and special.  

My village is decorated with so many lovely items.  The poinsettias are everywhere and they do place decorations along the road and walkway.  The main church has a video projection on the front of it of the Holy Mother.  Somehow that feels like peace and comfort.  

Friends are visiting and that makes the season fun and crazy.  I’ll be back home in the US next month. But for now, enjoying the season, fewer tourists, great food and wine, beautiful decorations and kindness.  If for no other reason, Christmas reminds us of our opportunity to over-tip, over-smile, over-eat and drink –  and be grateful for all the blessings we are given.  Share. Love. 

Hope you enjoy the photos, so many beautiful places here to see.  It never gets boring.  Of interest is the Florence Duomo now open to tourists.  Heretofore it is has been closed for quite some time.  The statues and items of note were placed in a Museum behind the Duomo – which is a great Museum and well worth visiting.  The inside of the Duomo is stunning so hope you enjoy the photos from the Duomo and from my favorite Florence piazza, Piazza Signoria.  So many statues and what a fabulous light show on the side of one of the buildings.  

Photos include a Swiss guard in a dark winter uniform at the Vatican.  A statue that is a stunning Jewish boat with people – depicting sadness and loss, permanently situated in St Peter’s Piazza and photos that caught my eye there.  

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year. Pace. (Peace in Italian – and seen so many places in Italy).  It is time for peace.  xoxoxo

Four recent events have become so interesting and eye opening that I felt I must write about them. The first is a fabulous tour I did with my American friend, Becca! We met in Kotor and over coffees, dinners, lunches and lots of walking, became fast friends! Becca is fun and just wonderful not to mention pretty and intelligent ! (She lives in Spain). So we decided to do a tour. Over the mountains to a Mausoleum of great pride to the Montenegrinis, breakfast, tour of the old Royal Capital – Centinje, then onto Skadar Lake, late lunch, boat ride…all excellent.  

Continue reading “Montenegro…a country that is coming into its own…and then there is this.”

Immigration to any of these countries for citizenship is not an easy process. Years ago it was somewhat easier. Having dual citizenship can be an awesome feat. Owning property does not give one citizenship. So beyond citizenship, what else?

Continue reading “America, Italy and Montenegro – anything in common?”

First, I must admit to being horribly ill with food poisoning. And although I would like to pin the rap on a restaurant, I think it was my poor decision making. So you know, if you order a plate of local cheeses for lunch and cannot eat it all…do not, repeat “do not” place said package in your backpack, walk in the sun for 30-40 minutes to the bus stop….but I am getting ahead of the story.

Since I arrived, it has been a whirlwind of activities, discovery and just total amazement. The other day I had a wonderful tour of the Kotor historical district. It is unbelievable the amount of people over thousands of years who have come here to rule or fight and that this country has not only survived but flourished. The mountains are so beautiful. I wonder if wild goats are in these mountains? I’ve noticed the clouds sometimes cover the mountain tops. All very beautiful!!

I knew it was coming…my first ‘Schengen Shuffle’ to a country I’d never been to. Nope, pretty far east for me. A Balkan country, still considered a European country, small with so much coastline on the Adriatic Sea. I’ve been asked ‘why Montenegro? Aren’t you excited? Wow, sounds fabulous’…and the comments went on. I just wanted to stay in my home, my Italian home. My secret private world of my own. But not to be, Italy has spoken…on a Tourist Visa? Time to go.

In America, Sundays are pretty much ‘everything open’ days. Not so much in the outlying areas of Italy – if judged by my village. Although due to a unique tourist hot spot here, we do get tourists every day. So six days a week, just about everything is open. There is also the ‘dead zone’ in all of Italy outside of the tourist areas…you know, that 1pm – 5 or 6pm siesta time. How does one cope???

I mean, what? The food and vino? The hot men? The art? History? Architecture? Traditions? People? Well in a nutshell, it’s all that and so much more!

So many questions from people that it seems a good time to answer a bunch of those questions ! And share some additional revelations!