[welcome to part 4 of my 6-part mini-series, wellness around the world: the european edition. as my family and i travel through six countries in europe, i am sharing wellness habits from each. here are the links to part 1, part 2, and part 3. today’s spotlight is on italy.]
italy, you have stolen my heart.
(or maybe i’ve simply found my heart?)
i grew up in an italian family.
our household was always loud and chaotic, but very close.
being warmly welcomed to the country by blood relatives
allowed me to recognize and assimilate my roots from the moment i arrived.
beginning with tangible reminders of my grandma’s childhood,
then witnessing my heritage in a startlingly familiar display before my eyes.
i am at home.
and i’ve actually been at somewhat of a loss for words since i’ve been here.
everything i’ve seen and experienced has been grander and richer
than i ever imagined it could be.
in fact, i cannot fully describe the emotions i’ve been feeling.
it will take me awhile to process it all.
so i’ll just let the photographs speak for themselves this week.
i hope they give you a sense of the meaningfulness of this journey for me.
[the home where my grandma was born and raised in besano, italy.]
[my grandma as a young girl.]
[my italian relatives in induno olona – my grandma’s sister’s family.]
[my italian relatives in besano.]
[my cousin gabriella’s cat.]
[my italian (french) relatives in le bonhomme, france – my grandma’s brother’s family.]
[with my childhood friend in milan.]
[saint veronica sculpture @ st. peter’s basilica, vatican city.]
[the pantheon, rome.]
[the colosseum, rome.]
[trevi fountain, rome.]
and how do the italians practice wellness?
- laughter and playfulness
- energy and animation (i felt right at home talking with my hands!)
- family celebrations and traditions
- passion for life and for each other
- wine as part of their staple diet
- confrontation to clear the air and move on
my take-away:
traveling opens your eyes to fresh insights and new opportunities.
a personal connection to an unfamiliar place only heightens that intensity.
grazie to everyone who made our time in italy so very very special.
[descriptive words that immediately came to mind upon my first visit to italy.]
~~~~~~~
what if you had the chance to explore your own ancestry?
would your life suddenly make more sense, take on more significance?
make a commitment to EXAMINE YOUR ORIGINS IN MORE DEPTH.
(and let me know about your plan in the comments.)
[a summary of the six european wellness commitments introduced in the mini-series may be found at the end of this post.]
Lovely that you’ve been exploring your heritage.
I’ve always been aware of my cross cultural heritage – I’m an Irish Catholic/Polish Russian Jew mix and I grew up in the UK. It was only when I moved to NYC, that most Jewish of cities filled full of every type of immigrant that I truly appreciated my heritage. And how the immigrant experience is very different to growing up somewhere.
Have a great trip!
what an interesting background, liz! i’m polish on my mother’s side and i hope to travel to poland one day soon and visit the birthplaces of my maternal grandparents. i wish that i had appreciated my heritage earlier in life – i grew up with my italian speaking grandparents right next door, and didn’t even bother to learn the language. i’m planning to study italian with my dad (who is a fluent speaker) when i return to the u.s.
Hi, I took a trip back to my parent’s homeland and it has stuck with me almost 20 years later. I’m so thrilled that you are enjoying your experience and discovering your roots. You learn so much about yourself during the journey don’t you?
that is so inspiring to hear, sonia! where is your parents’ homeland? yes, you really do learn a great deal about yourself when you take a trip like this. thanks so much for visiting my site.
My husband is from Rome and as we live in Madrid we get there a lot to visit his family. Rome is my favourite European city!! Everywhere you turn there’s something amazing and, as my father in law pointed out to me, the skyline of Rome is just as it’s always been for centuries. Unlike other European cities with new buildings interspersed with old, Rome is just old, old, old! Love it. My husband says he could never live there now as it’s way too disorganised (and corrupt…) But amazing place to visit.
how interesting, kelly! i thought your last name must certainly be italian. my maiden name was vergobbi (and my grandma’s maiden name was colombo).
Nice to hear about your background!
I’m *only* Norwegian, but I’ve lived all around the world. I feel that I grew up as a grown up in the Middle East – Beirut, and I know that the year I spent in France before that had a huge impact on my whole image of who I am and what I do (eat a lot of French food ;), now I live in Denmark after 5 years in London, I love all the cultures I bring with me to this tiny little village and my life.
what a fascinating heritage you have, solveig! wonderful how you’ve integrated each aspect of who you are into a complete and vibrant whole. 🙂 thank you so much for visiting.