An afternoon at Lago di Bilancino and dinner at Dario & Cristina's

Yesterday, July 10th, was a day full of different emotions. We started the afternoon off with a 4 hour trip to Lago di Bilancino as we wanted to try out our 2 person floating inner tube. We had a great swim and found a place to set up camp for a nice lunch. We figured 4 hours was enough time in the sun on a hot day, so we packed up and headed back home as dinner with friends was awaiting us. I stopped to fill the rent-a-car with gas and realized then that my wallet was senza cash. We had our rent-a-car broken into while we swam in the lake. I was really low and horrified, but also mad at myself for leaving my wallet in the car. Linda had purchased a bag to keep our valuables dry and yet I forgot to put my wallet in the bag to take with us down to the lake.

Off to the local authorities to file a theft report and then home as now we had to rush a bit to get ready for dinner. Dario picked us up as I wasn't sure on how to get to his place and there we met up with 2 other couples, who are friends of Dario & Cristina. Once I sat down there I realized I didn't have my wedding ring or my custom gold ring we had made for us in Hawaii. I had taken them off becasue my skin was slippery from sun tan lotion. Now what was alittle over a hundred Euros stolen was now well over 2 thousand dollars. This morning we went back to the police and filed a revised police report as we're hoping our home owners policy will reimburse us for the stolen property. Yesterday went from great to really bad to incredible, so it was a roller coaster of a day, but we're still thankful for so many things... although I'd like to pummple the creeps who ripped us off... Ciao, Ciao, Ciao!

These are a few pictures taken around our house and in the local vicinity. We brought our cat, Carrara, with us and she's enjoying her stay. I saw the stray cat, Mario, last night when we had our friends, Stefi & Saverio, over for dinner. Tomorrow our plan is to swim in Lago di Bilancino and tomorrow evening we're going to our friends, Dario and Cristina's home for an Italian barbeque. Should be an incredible day and I'll have pics to post pui tarde!

Stefi's hair salon

Linda and I went to our favorite hair salon on Tuesday in Borgo San Lorenzo and Stefi worked her usual magic. Before Stefi, Linda would rather have her teeth pulled than get a haircut. We're having her and her husband over for dinner tonight and I'm grilling in the yard for the first time on this trip, so we're looking forward to good food, wine, and friends!

Our first blog from Italia 2010

This is our first blog in Italy for 2010. We arrived on Sunday, July 4th in Roma, a holiday in the U.S.A., but just another day in Italy. It was so good to be home! We met the Meriggi's at dusk for dinner and it was such a glorious evening in the Mugello valley! The next morning we drove to Firenze (Florence for those reading back in the states) as we had to meet with our accountant to pay our Italian taxes. After you receive your tax bill, you head to the Italian post office as that's where you pay the tax bill. We got there and discovered we were 50+ people behind in the pecking order just to get to a window to pay, so it was over an hour which wasn't too bad considering some folks just got up and left!

After finally paying the taxes, we went back to the commercialista's office to have the bill stamped as paid.... on to lunch...

It's about a 10 minute walk to Il Giova, one of our favorite ristorante's in Firenze. There we dined on the cooking of Grazia, the owner of Il Giova. We had a simple Tuscan lunch, but very incredible!!! When it was time to pay the bill, Grazia said our tab was 0!!!! That's a friend for you.... we've dined there and became friends with her because a mutual friend took as there the first time. We learned yesterday that Eric Mosca Robinson passed away in April. He was an American we met at Hotel Lido in Firenze who was obtaining his dual citizenship and someone who inspired us to take the journey to Italy and buy a home.

I was devastated to learn of his passing and it's a reminder that life is short and to live it to the fullest... Ciao, Ciao, Ciao!

P.S. I also want to mention that Bill Gates screwed us again. Last year I had Windows VISTA and when I purchased an internet system from TIM here in Italy I could get the internet here at our house instead of going to an internet cafe. Now that I've updated my computer to Windows 7 the TIM system works really badly at our house and I had to spend extra money to adapt the old USB port key I had last year. I was planning on blogging every day, but because of this set back, I'll blog when it's convenient as the connection I currently have is like dial up which everyone knows just.... well, you get the idea... Ciao once again!

Thursday night at the Mancini's!

A few of the NOHO's started gathering at our apartment on Thursday evenings and these photos were from the last gathering. The idea is to get together for an end of the week celebration and we're been celebrating like crazy the past sevral weeks. It was especially crazy for game 7 of the NBA finals when our L.A. Lakers beat the Boston Celtics!!!!!!

June 20th Bar B Que at our cousin, Andrea's!

We were at my cousin Andrea's house today out in Hemet, California for a Bar B Que. She is my Aunt Veronica's daughter and we enjoyed seeing her, my Aunt and Uncle, and other cousins. Today was also Father's Day, so I spoke with my dad and my Aunt got to talk with her only living brother. It was a fun afternoon and we enjoyed ourselevs alot!

Dinner with friends on June 19th in Los Angeles

These photos and video were taken on June 19th in Los Angeles at our apartment. We hosted a dinner get together with friends Henry, Marie-Noelle, Cass, and Riley. It was a great evening as we had some wonderful wines and Linda's homemade pasta! We want to remind all of our frineds that we will be in Italy starting July 4th for 3 weeks, so check into the blog for our updates and adventures.

Ciao!