January in Naples, reconnecting with Italia

Coming 'home' to Naples after 6 weeks in Boston was easier than we expected. Our little Italian villa felt like 'home', we hadn't been invaded by ants while we were away, and our Italian friends had missed us, as we had missed them. Josh was back into his work routine, with a New Years resolution/goal to see more of the local sites and experience more Italian culture (outside of his work commitments), and Kim was back to daily walks to the park, afternoons with friends and Evan with playmates, and a goal to try cooking at least one new recipe a week. Kim spends most days with Italian friends Claudia and Loredana, and their sons/Evan's best friends, Andrea and Allessandro, Mom's all within walking distance, and babies all within a few months apart. On the weekends this month we've been exploring--true to Josh's resolution, and spent time in Piazza Cavour shopping the local market, visiting Italian friends, 'picnicking' in the heart of Naples with fresh sandwiches from the Salumeria, at night watching the Napoli soccer team with Italian friends, dining together on pizza, picking the oranges from our orange tree, and recently even checked out an 'ecological site' that we can literally see from our villa but had yet to explore. It dates back hundreds of years, and after walking through a tunnel that takes about 20 min to 1/2 hour to get through, opens up to a park with sweeping views of the Meditteranean, old Roman ampitheatres and a ton of history. Due to politics, money that was given to continue excavation of this site has been blocked, so there is tons of land, within easy walking distance of our villa, that folks know has tons of additional archeologial treasures, but have yet to be uncovered. Pretty neat that we live so close.

I hosted a girls breakfast this week, serving up homemade blueberry muffins and french toast, an unusual menu for my Italian girlfriends but a menu enjoyed by all.

January has been pretty mild, with me wanting to wear white as if it is summer, but today, the rain has come in, and so we are planning a relaxing day at home. Who knows, maybe we'll look ahead to make a plan for next weekend...so much to explore!!