sabato 7 febbraio 2009

My Life Today in Umbria - Genius Loci Country Inn - Bevagna

This is the center of my life today, after my 40 years in Umbria. How did I get here, to Umbria AND to becoming an innkeeper, to Genius Loci Country Inn?  That is what I will attempt to write about for those who are interested and would like to follow my blog.  

What an adventure it has been, 40 years, a lifetime, in Umbria after growing up in Long Beach, California.
This restored farmhouse is the center of my life, filling my empty nest as my children went on and away with their own lives, often far away and for long periods.

But let me back up to tell you how I got here.

After two years at UCSB, studying art history, I decided to take a year off and travel to experience first hand what I was so passionate about.  With two friends we came to Europe with "Europe on $5 a Day" in hand and traveled the continent in depth and width, from as far north as Berlin to as far south as Istanbul.  

I traveled by a Volkswagen which we picked up in Munich and then shipped home to use for years as I finished my studies.  

It WAS love at first sight.  I was charmed, stimulated, enlightened, enthusiastic, challenged, delighted by all of Europe.  It was 1965, the days when I could pull up right in front of museums to park, when I could drive in the historic centers without hassle or traffic, when $5 a day WAS truly possible.


5 commenti:

  1. Welcome to blogging. I also have a blog, but posting regularly has become a challenge as life gets in the way. 40 years in Italy! Guess you're not going back to Long Beach :). I've just completed my third year here, about an hour or so SE of Rome.

    I'll create a link to you from my modest blog as I think my readers would enjoy your photos (beautiful) and writing style. Ciao!

    RispondiElimina
  2. Hi
    I have been matched with you through a bun can dance I can be contacted at j_agg@btinternet.com It may be possible to contact you via this site and send an email, however I am new to blogging and have not quite found my way around the site yet. Perhaps you could email me your address to write to and likewise I would be happy to do the same. Please also include a little more about yourself andhopefully we can meet somewhere in the middle as far as interests. #best wishes
    Jayne-Marie

    RispondiElimina
  3. Have just discovered your blog and I am intrigued. Would love to know more and see more photos. I am planning a trip to Italy next year and Umbria is on the top of my list of places to visit.

    RispondiElimina
  4. Beautiful photos, Mary! 40 years is such an accomplishment! Auguri!

    RispondiElimina
  5. Ok, this is amazing! I studied abroad in Perugia my junior year of college. I fell in LOVE with Italy the way you fall in love with a person. So, after graduating college, I moved back....but to Rome. And then fell in love with an Italian :) Anyway...we were in Rome for two years, but I'm back in the States now! I need regular trips back to fulfill my love for Italy - so lucky you are there!

    RispondiElimina