1 Year Anniversary

This past week Katrina celebrated her one year anniversary in Italy. Brandon and I arrived in Italy one year ago today. Katrina welcomed us at the Linate airport and drove us to our new home in Vedano al Lambro.

Here are some of my thoughts after 1 year:

- I love Italian pizza, especially Puliese and Quattro Stagione
- I love gelato
- I love pasta and hate pasta
- I love driving in Italy
- I hate the drivers test
- I love cycling in Italy
- I feel very lucky to travel to all the places we have been
- My favorite country is still Switzerland
- Even after a year, there are still things that suprise us in every day life
- Living in a city, even though we are in the suburbs, is fun. The city is full of life and energy
- I'm tired of looking at Madonna and child paintings
- I miss Qdoba
- I love the Cinese food here
- Coke tastes better with real sugar
- I don't miss yard work at all. I do enjoy tending the flowers on our balcony
- I don't miss havin two cars. I was worried about this when we moved here
- Italians are wonderful, passionate, opinionated, gracious people, but it is also very difficult to break into their social circles
- Brandon's teacher, Ms Partridge, is one of the best he has had
- Castles and fortresses are cool
- Brandon missed Nestle Crunch bars (thanks Aunt Laurie)
- I wish more friends and family would come visit and let us share Italy....free place to stay!!
- The Metro is great for getting into and around the city of Milan
- Roman history and art history are so much more interesting now than it was in high school
- The Catholic church is a large organization with many riches, monuments, churches and art
- Scooters are everywhere. More Americans should ride scooters
- I feel fairly out of touch with American news, but so much more in touch with news from the rest of the world
- Wine is good
- Olive oil is good
- Limoncello is tasty
- Grappa is not
- Chocolate from Switzerland is the best
- Tired of cheese, except parmesan, which we sometimes enjoy all by itself
- I thought there would be more model train stores in Italy. Not the case. Most hobby stores exist for diecast car collectors. Germany and Switzerland have great model shops
- I still cannot speak Italian fluently. That frustrates me sometimes, but most of the time it doesn't. I can do almost anything I need to do with simple language skills.
- I miss our friends and family, although it helps to know we will be going back in just over a year.
- I miss my pupster, Tasha
- Occasionally, and only recently, do I miss my truck

Well, I think that sums up most of my thoughts after living here for a year. I hope you have enjoyed reading about our experiences in Italy during the past year. I will keep on writing and am compiling a list of topics for the year to come.