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A life-changing trip to a part of the world I thought I’d never see.

This year is a year of discovery and the intention was to live in Italy and make a few trips through the year. It hasn’t turned out that way. I wasn’t able to stay in Italy for more than 3 months so I have travelled to different places since leaving in September. One place had been planned for a year, Tanzania, Africa and it was a thrill to be able to experience that trip. I travelled with 7 other women and 2 guides to 3 different African National Parks on Safari. Tarangire, Lake Manyara and the Serengeti. We stayed in Wayo/Wilderness camps. One was built for our group and dismantled after we left. The people were incredible and amazing. The kindness and acceptance and sincere friendliness was palpable. People around us were sincerely happy or they seemed so.

And the experiences seeing these amazing animals is too difficult to describe. I put together a video of some of this experience and it has been posted on the Sunny Wonder Media YouTube channel for a few weeks and has just under 3,000 views today. That is somewhat unheard of on my YouTube channel. I often tell my friends, family and students that I am not a viral video poster or “influencer”. I just create and post videos of community events and activities because I like to capture these moments and share them. It is a skill I’ve acquired through many years and I like to share that with others. In teaching this skill to middle schoolers, I hope to see some of the experiences they share through the years. Here is the video: Africa and It’s Beauty:

This is a little bit of catch up. My intention this year was to live in one place and experience the culture and the seasons where my ancestors had emigrated to the United States from, Messina, Sicily, Italy. In mid-September, I was told in no uncertain terms from the Messina, Questura (Immigration Police) that I could not stay more than 3 months in Messina, even with an EU passport. I had to have a job, be in school or be with an Italian family member to stay longer. So my year has been under renovation and I am more of a nomad today. (I have a video on an indescribable Tanzania, Africa trip and an Amsterdam art experience yet to post here, which are already on YouTube) I do plan to return to Italy after the 3 month moratorium, maybe in March. Before leaving, I took this Enchantments trip to Northern Italy. This is Stop #4 – Cremona in early September. I am so glad I made this trip.

I went to Cremona because Conor said how much he wanted to visit it if we had a chance and it was his birthday when I was there this trip. I felt like I was there for him. And for my mom, who signed me up for violin lessons at my elementary school when I was 6, bought me my first and only violin when I was 11 and made all my concert required dresses by scratch when I played in Junior High and High School. I tried to make a few, too. She was definitely there with me in Cremona. And for my Dad who attended all my concerts. I was always so grateful he was there. I still play violin, but in the style of the fiddle today which is also fun and lively.

The final stop in my Enchantments Abroad trip may take me a while to edit. It is stop #5, Florence, but was actually 2 stops, one after Arezzo and another before returning to Messina. I stayed in Florence for 6 weeks in 2021 and met a friend who is also a teacher and works at a restaurant. We shared fun moments that summer and I met his very Italian mom who was a darling woman and they made the most amazing homemade Italian meals for me. We rode bikes around the city and I learned better Italian.

We stayed in touch over the 2 years since and were able to meet again during this Enchantments tour. I think there will be more about that in Stop #5, Florence as well as so much beauty in and around that beautiful city.

These were a few days that outshined my expectations. It was so worth it to take the water taxi to both Murano and Burano. I highly recommend that. The islands are worlds unto themselves rich in history and so beautiful to visit. Of course, there is already so much to see in Venice, so it is good to have a goal and make your way. Be prepared to get a little lost, that seems to also be the fun of visiting Venice.

On Murano we were able to see a demonstration of glass blowing that has been perfected through generations of artists and families. I don’t want to misquote the information we were given, but I understood the factories were moved to the island because the high temperatures required for glass was causing fires in Venice and the factories were established on Murano. They import sand from another part of Italy and have developed a recipe that makes Murano glass some of the most renowned in the world. It was so special to watch them create these masterpieces and then shocking to see them destroyed.

Nearby we were able to make our own fused glass pendants from Murrina Millefiori glass which was special. The photo above shows it as it is starting to cool after being fused in very high heat. In the same place, I found a Murano glass bird to take with me on my travels who may appear in some of my photos.

The beauty of these few days astounded me. It is not something I get to see every day. So much so that it is difficult to choose any one photo as a sample.

Stop #2 of 5 – Lucca – This continues the sequence of my journey to the North of Italy journeying through Arezzo, Florence, Lucca, Venice, Murano, Burano, Cremona and then Florence again before returning to Messina, Sicily. This is the Second Stop – Lucca. I did go from Arezzo to Florence first and also went through Florence again on the way back, so that is the final stop in this story. It was a very interesting stop, for sure. I was encouraged to see Lucca over the last 4 years by at least 5 friends. Debbie and Andy told us about their amazing experience, even in the dripping heat of July, Michelle, Ansano and Linda told me of their family homes outside the walls of Lucca and Cyndy told me of her mystical time touring Lucca. With all of this, I had to put Lucca on my list. And I am so glad I did. What a beautiful part of the world. My tour guide, Diletta, told me so much about the city and it’s history that I am sure I only retained a portion what she said. But its richness of history and beauty did not escape me. Here is something of what I experienced:

While the video seems long, it actually took quite a bit of time to cut down hours to just 14 minutes. Lucca is known as many things but also as the city of 100 churches because there are many. It is quite a fun experience to walk around corners and discover new beautiful churches. It is said to be impossible to see them all in one day. There is a comic and games festival in November too which I think would be fun to take a video class to someday to document. This is one of my favorite photos in Lucca because it seems like its possible to see into a beautiful window of the past.

Then there is the photo of the campanile from the outside which shows what a big walk that was on the inside!

Thank you to the people who I mention at the end of the video and above who encouraged me to visit Lucca and thank you to an amazing tour guide, Diletta, for her knowledge and kindness in sharing her city with me.

While living in Messina, I have lived and learned about this beautiful part of the world. There is beauty here and there is also struggle. I have been invited to see the beauty, living in various houses, attending poetry readings and finally living in my own apartment with a view of the sea. Yet, I have sensed the struggle, my own and the regions with looks and questions and a sense I don’t belong. My question of whether I can stay for the year was recently answered quite definitively by the Questura, and then by a CAF office – If I don’t have a reason (Job, School, Family), I can’t stay beyond 3 months, even with an EU passport. I don’t have those here yet so I will continue my travels elsewhere and hopefully return for my remaining 3 months of my journey in March – June. Meanwhile, I took a trip to see more of this beautiful country. There were places I knew I needed to see, that I’ve never visited before. This installment is about Arezzo and Andreina’s Mosaic in Indicatore, Italy. What a beautiful day I spent in this part of the world. This is the first of 5 stories from this journey.

This video is produced for the middle school students in my video, media and coding classes that worked so hard with me on our school news show over the last 5 years. We have a project called My Story Your Story and this video builds on that. Today I have been in Messina nearly 2 months though I took a quick trip home for a family reunion in the July. It has been a daily adventure but also an opportunity to slow down. Life here does not rush. Someone told me: “Calm is a Sign of Strength” is a traditional saying. So for the last few days, I’ve spent time, reading, resting, editing and just going slower. The temperature has been in the 90’s. I am lucky to have a cool breeze blow through my apartment from the sea. Here is a 6 minute look at the last 2 months:

There are some funny moments and some slightly uncomfortable moments in this video. At one point I ordered the most wonderful 2 slices of Focaccia for dinner and ended up instead with enough Arancini to feed a family of 5. I didn’t discover the error until after a 2 kilometer walk uphill to my apartment so I had to try to fix it the next morning. Everyone was very nice when I showed up to pay more for the dinner. Then I had enough to last several days. Another moment after waiting for hours in very hot weather and knowing I had hours left on a hot sticky bus across Sicily, a bird pooped on my skirt. I couldn’t believe it. I had been sitting next to a student who was going to Enna on the bus and he quickly said, “That’s good luck”. That was the last thing I was thinking at the time. It put everything in a much better perspective.

The Vara di Messina procession has a very quick moment in this video. It is a spectacular event on August 15 every year. This video shows what happens more fully:

It was very difficult to film this video in moments because my place at the beginning of the procession was in high demand for the people who had stayed on the street when they were told to get off the street by the police. Yet, I hoped to keep my place where I could film easily. It involved a lot of negotiating. I say that in the kindest way possible. The procession recognizes the Assumption of Mary and is a feast day in Italy. I’ve seen that it started in 1535 as a welcoming procession for a King after a military victory. After August 14 and 15, everything in Messina seems to shut down for Feria and windows of shops say Chiuso per Feria 14/8/23 – 27/8/23. You can still get groceries and go to some restaurants and shopping is available in the tourist section of town, but almost everything else is closed.

My goal has been to get to know different parts of Messina. My attempts to find out more about my family and what they may have experienced living here is temporarily on hold until the end of Feria. Meanwhile, I am staying in a B&B in different parts of town some different nights to get to know people and places. One place was Pietro Castelli. It is up a hill in another neighborhood and there are so many apartments in that area. I was stunned to see them rise up out of the hillside. The host was kind to book a reservation at the Sicilia restaurant and it was a wonderful meal, one of only 2 I have had at a restaurant in Messina so far. Overall, there is a lot for me to learn here on how to slow down and experience the day to day without really knowing what to expect. Sort of like my new friend, this bird who I see perch on a rooftop during the day.