Note: A small number of our readers have chosen to receive daily email of our posts, which arrive 24 hours after we’ve uploaded a new post. Since we’ve arrived in Tuscany, the daily email hasn’t arrived for some readers. We have reported this to our web designer and she is working on discovering the issue and correcting it.
In the interim, if you bookmark our page: www.WorldWideWaftage.com when you open it, the newest post will be presented immediately and you can scroll down to see the prior day’s post.
Thanks for your patience and know that we’ve given this technological problem our utmost attention. Once resolved, we will note it here on the next daily posting. Thanks for sharing our travels with us! Jess & Tom
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| See the two blue chaise lounges at a distance? That is another patio for our one hour of sunning time every few days. Due to the greenery, there’s a fair number of bees buzzing about. Tom and I both have allergies to bees, thus limiting our time in that spot. |
We never expected that traveling the world would be a continual flow of one glorious experience after another. Without a doubt, we’ve enjoyed a multitude of outstanding experiences, many back to back, many day after day.
Then, there are the days in between where daily life, as in the lives of all of us, are simple, uneventful, frustrating and downright disappointing. Although, neither Tom nor I ever suffer from boredom.
We’ve learned at our advancing age how to easily entertain ourselves, sitting quietly in restful repose, engaging in idle chatter or picking up our smart phones to read our latest book in our Kindle app. Even now, without a solitary English speaking TV channel, we find ways to make our days and evenings, special in some way.
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| The view to our left. |
Recently, we’ve been able to download and watch the entire 3rd season of Downton Abbey by Instant Video, setting up my laptop on the kitchen table, watching one episode per night, savoring the pleasure while we’ve dined on our homemade dinner, pausing only to do dishes.
Tonight, we’ll watch the movie, “Under the Tuscan Sun” by Tom’s suggestion as it was the movie that inspired me to want to visit in Tuscany, as is the case for many that enjoyed the popular “chick flick.” For a mere US $1.99 we’ll watch the almost two hour movie.
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| At 3:45 pm, our view from the veranda where we spend most of our lounging time. |
While in Scottsdale, Arizona in November and December, 2012, as we prepared our final paperwork, we downloaded a few hundred movies on our two terabyte external hard drive, mainly to save for the nine month period we’ll be in Africa, here again with no TV and for other reasons, dangerous to go out at night. (Its hard to believe that in two months and twelve days we’ll be on our way to Kenya).
In Boveglio, one is wise not to travel the winding mountainous roads after dark, with no guardrails, no street lights and endless hairpin turns. When we dine out, we’ll make a point to return while still light, before 9:00 pm.
Tom will hardly be able to enjoy a few cocktails, since I don’t trust my driving skill to be the designated driver for such occasions and one wouldn’t dare drive the road after a few drinks. If I fussed over the dangerous road in Belize, it was nothing compared to the roads here. Nothing at all!
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| The view to our right. |
I made Tom promise me that we’ll never drive on the scariest road in the world in Bolivia, listed as #1 in the top 25. (A few years ago, we watched a show about this dangerous road and it has stuck in my brain). See this link for the 25 scariest roads on the planet. Notice the two in Italy, very similar to the roads where we are located in Boveglio, Lucca, Tuscany.
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| The hazy view is not a photo taking issue. The vegetation produces massive amounts of humidity clearly visible in the far shots, although it is a bright sunny day. |
Unquestionably, the long drive down has a bearing on how often we’ll venture out. Driving to Collodi yesterday certainly inspired us to grocery shop for two weeks at a time, planning any errands for the same time.
Yes, we do plan to do some exploring in other parts of Italy, but not as often as we’d originally hoped due to how far away we’re located. In any case, when we do travel, we’ll have to stay overnight in a hotel, adding an unplanned expense.
For the moment, we’re content staying put for the next few weeks after the last hectic two months since leaving Belize; hauling our heavy luggage, paying extra for our heavy luggage, waiting in lines, dealing with security, and on and on.
As we sit on the veranda writing, high above the roads, we’re find ourselves fully engaged in the view and the simple activities occurring below; the sound of a dog barking, the appearance of a tractor, a biker out for a hilly ride, a truck delivering goods and supplies and the endless chirping of birds.
Tomorrow, we’ll post the information about the flight we booked today from Venice, Italy to Mombasa, Kenya departing on September 2, 2013, a 17 plus hour journey with three plane changes. Plus we’ll share photos of the nuances, annoyances and obstacles we’ve encountered while living in 300 year old house.