England & Italy ~ April 2019
Hi!
It’s true, I don’t blog enough! To be honest, I sometimes forget that I even have a blog to blog on, but then I remember and well, here I am. I was updating the website and adding new photos and came upon some great pics from my last travel adventure back to England with a quick trip to Italy thrown in just for fun…..with amazing food, and Aperol, and the best wine to ever touch my lips, but all that is expected about Italy, right? Right!
Anyway, my oldest (longest) childhood friend is British. We met in third grade when her parents moved here to New Jersey for a short bit. We were instant friends and I immediately loved listening to her speak as we walked to school together everyday. She lived here less than two years and went back to Surrey, England. I remember missing her when she left and we did keep in touch, like pen pals, until we were teenagers and then stopped writing because, well, we were teenagers.
So many years passed by ( SO many) and then in 1998 Princess Diana of Wales brought us back together….seriously, no joke. I remember watching every bit of news coverage when she died, obsessed and devastated actually, and I mentioned to my then fiancé (now my husband) that I had a very good friend in England. Of course he didn’t believe me, at all and I’m sure the fact that I never spoke of my dear friend had everything to do with that. He laughed as said, “No… you don’t”. “I absolutely do!” I told him and set out to find paper and a pen. Now, I may not remember what day it is half the time, or what I even did yesterday, but I remembered, by heart, her EXACT address in Epsom Surrey…..zip code and all (or post code, as they call it). So, I wrote her a quick sweet note and 2 weeks later she sent me a NINE page letter, it was truly amazing. Happy to report we’ve been in touch ever since (practically every day now, thanks to incredible technology) and have crossed the ocean many times to visit each other. I have to say, it’s truly special and truly great. The TRULY great part is that when I go there, she’s planned everything out from A to Z and I just show up and go. And I must add, that spending time in Europe with an actual European makes the trip that much more amazing. I know. I’m very lucky.
So, for now, I’m just going to add a few pics (just a few, because there’s literally a million) and call it a night, but this was SO great! We must do it again real soon. Ciao!
My horse friends in Reigate Surrey, England
So, if you haven’t figured it out by now, I really love horses…can’t get enough of them. In fact, I ride a horse every weekend and it’s the highlight of my week. There’s a really sweet pub in Reigate, Surrey, England called The Skimmington Castle (or The Skimm, as the locals call it) and we put on boots (like the wellies I’m wearing above) and make our way there by following a pretty long footpath that may or may not be really muddy (unpredictable English weather). Hence the boots. All along the way, are horses! Lots and lots of horses. And I love stopping to see them for a little chat before drinking wine and eating English chips in the very sweet countryside pub. Such nice memories. Trust me, it doesn’t get any better than that.
Aren’t they so sweet? Unbelievably friendly lads :)
Pretty, right? England is really pretty, it’s true.
Ciao from beautiful, Pisa! Such an amazing experience. Great weather, gorgeous scenery, friendly people and the best food and wine, EVER.
I’m telling you, if there’s a horse, I will find him….and love him :-)
When in Pisa, one must hold up the tower. You can’t not do it. Everyone is doing it. Literally, EVERYONE and it’s SO much fun watching them all try to get the perfect pic! I would have been happy to sit and watch them all for hours and hours…..with wine, of course, but still. It’s people watching at it’s very best. I love how my photos turned out!
Here she is! My very dearest, very British, childhood friend who likes to travel around with me and drink lots of wine with me and orders things in different languages for me because she’s fluent in everything and it’s impressive as hell……did I mention the wine? Yes, lots of wine….and giggles, mustn’t forget those. So, this is Jane, and she’s the best :-)
One of my favorite photos of Pisa. So very charming and quaint……..and Italian.
A wonderful, memorable time there.
Buona notte, for now xxx