Briana returned from Finland and decided to continue taking Italian lessons. Although La Parola was a great school, she decided to see what other options may be available. She learned of a brand new school “monnolisa”, that offered very competitive Read more…
During Briana’s trip to Finland, my nephew Justin came to visit me in Florence. It timing worked out kind of funny. Briana’s trip had been planned months prior and Justin purchased his tickets about 3 weeks before visiting. I had Read more…
Since we had gathered some forward progress with my permesso di soggiorno and my fingerprints, we continued to press on with the documentation to establish my residency in Firenze. Being registered with the Comune requires a visit from the police as Read more…
After the visit with Briana’s sisters and Kristina, it was time to start being a little more frugal. Entertaining can get a little costly when you are traveling from city to city. We decided to spend the next few weeks Read more…
The Monday after my mom’s visit, Javier and I decided to resume our Italian lessons. My sisters and my Finnish friend Kristiina would be arriving for their visit in 2 short weeks, which gave us the perfect amount of time Read more…
Moving a cat to a new continent is not an easy task (as we previously learned). My mother had to jump through some ridiculous hoops to get all the documentation and the airline approved pet carrier to move Meka across Read more…
Briana’s birthday was a very exciting time for the both of us. Between hot springs and all the amazing food Italy has to offer, we have been indulgent to say the least but we always treat ourselves to something extra Read more…
Driving in Tuscany is as magical as everyone says it is, and our 2½ hour drive flew by. It was close to the end of March and springtime was coming into full bloom. We found ourselves surrounded with rolling hills Read more…
Javier and I felt a renewed sense of freedom and purpose after finalizing my official residence in Florence and finally picking up our new car. To make things even better we now had enough documentation to begin the process for Read more…
After Briana was confirmed for residence in Firenze we knew that she would soon be able to obtain her ID card, and we were continuing to build some positive momentum. The fact that Briana and I don’t speak Italian has Read more…
We were still hosting our guest when we left him for the morning so that we could conclude our business with the comune. Javier and I nervously set out to the main Florence Comune with all the paperwork we imagined Read more…
At this point all of our attention was clearly here in Italy, on the present, trying to move forward. To make our move possible, our cat Meka was sent to live with my family in Auburn until we could get Read more…
Oh Italia, how you love to toy with our emotions. After having our home registered at the local commune, we had to wait for a police visit to confirm our address. We waited, semi-patiently, for the officers to come to Read more…
Javier and I couldn’t be happier with our new home. How many people get to say they live in a castle in Tuscany, older than the United States? Having accomplished that major hurdle, in less than 3 weeks we mapped Read more…
