The Kitchen Window

The Kitchen Window
Antique Milk Bottles with Herbs and Flowers

Welcome!

Welcome to the Frog Hollow Farm blog! I've been blogging since January 2010 and have switched from Blogger to Word Press, but I'm back to Blogger because, for me, it's easier to use. My husband and I live on a little farm in Northwest New Jersey. We have some chickens and a very large vegetable garden with asparagus and raspberries, and rows and rows of sunflowers, snapdragons and zinnias. Traveling, entertaining, gardening, spending time with family, studying Italian, blogging and reading keep us busy and happy. With all of this going on, moving towards a simpler life seems almost impossible but it's definitely a daily goal.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Visualizing Italy

The other day I was in the dentist's office for a 3 hour appointment.  It seems that one of my root canals (my teeth hurt just typing those two words) - well, there was a problem with the root canal and one of my teeth needed to be extracted because the problem had extended into the bone.  Lovely, right?  Anyway, between the extraction and bone graft my dentist asked me if I wanted to watch a movie or wear the very expensive Bose headphones and listen to Andrea Bocelli. 


Now, I love listening to all Italian opera, as well as to Andrea Bocelli, I mean, who doesn't?  But I've worn those headphones before and even those the audio is fabulous, every sound the dentist's tools make seem to be exaggerated 10x with the headphones - so I opted out of wearing them for this appointment. 

Instead, I decided to visualize my way through Italy, remembering the cities, towns and villages we visited this past fall.  And you know what, it really worked!  It was so interesting because one memory would lead me to the next, and the next, and so on, until my appointment was just about done. 

Since I really enjoyed my visualized trip back through Italy, I thought I'd share some of the images with you.

Lake Como, the town of Bellagio...and Venice....
























Tuscany farmland and vineyards...



Florence from Michaelangelo's Hill...


The Coliseum in Rome...


Inside the Pantheon in Rome, looking up at the oculus...

FHFB and I love to travel, but we don't like being over-scheduled and tend to stay away from tours that have early morning wake-ups and lots of driving in a bus.  We tend to book a great hotel and with recommendations from friends and family, hire an experiened and affordable tour guide for a few hours - otherwise we prefer discovering things on our own. 

I usually have the restaurants already researched and reserved for dinner, (La Giostra and Garga in Florence and Pier Luigi in Rome, although I know that there are hundreds more wonderful places to have dinner!)

Our lunches are very casual and if we find a great aperitivi bar we might even end up missing dinner. 


We are planning a trip to Ireland in the spring.  My mom grew up in a small village called Kilmactranny in County Sligo, on the west coast of Ireland. 


We're hoping to see the thatched farmhouse that she grew up in and visit with some relatives that we haven't seen in many years. 

I hope you enjoyed my little travel post. 

Ciao, bella!

10 comments:

  1. Beautiful pictures! I'd love to visit there one day. :-) Sorry to hear about your tooth,, I hope you're feeling better.
    Blessings,
    Jill

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  2. I hope you're feeling better today. What a great way to get through a dentist appointment by visualizing...of course having those beautiful images in your mind would definitely make the time pass. Thanks so much for sharing these with us. I look forward to hearing about your trip to Ireland...another place I hope to be able to travel to.

    Have a great day.
    Jackie

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  3. SO SORRY YOU HAD TO GO THROUGH ALL THAT, BUT ANDREA BOCCILLI
    IS WONDERFUL. UNCLE BILL AND I JUST LOVED HIM. JACKIE DANCED WITH HER DAD TO ONE OF HIS SONGS AT HER WEDDING, I FORGOT WHICH ONE, YOU WERE THERE, DO YOU REMEMBER? LOVE YOUR PHOTO'S, AND HAVE A WONDERFUL TIME IN IRELAND. (HOW EXCITING)
    TAKE CARE, LOVE AUNT RIZ

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  4. Good for you - you distracted yourself with a trip to Italy! I hope you're feeling better!

    xo
    Claudia

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  5. Hope you're feeling better today! What gorgeous pictures of Italy. I saw the movie Eat, Pray, Love the other day, and especially loved the part that was about Italy. It's so nice seeing your photos. How wonderful that you're going to Ireland, and to see where your mom grew up! I loved your mother. I have the fondest memories of the trips I made back east as an adult, and she always welcomed me into her home, making me feel that it was home. She is missed.

    There was a settlement of Irish people from Sligo, here in Colorado, long ago. It wasn't far from where I went to college. I remember taking drives out on the prairie and seeing remnants of the buildings. There's also an old cemetary there.

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  6. Beautiful photos, I enjoyed this little travel escape!

    ~Andrea~

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  7. Hope you are feeling well and not in any pain..I have to get back to the Dentist soon for a crown etc etc. such a pain I loathe the dentist!! I never wear the headphones either. I actually text the entire time its not easy but I do it, the endodontist thinks its hysterical. I am always shaking and scared while I am there. Your Italy pictures and memories are wonderful , thanks for sharing. I love Ireland and hope to get back there sooner than later if at all possible.
    Have a great night
    xoxo

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  8. Be still my heart! Gorgeous pictures and you have brought back so many memories for me. I love Italy and I especially love Venice.
    I agree with you, the headphones magnify all the dental sounds. When I know I have an appointment coming up, I start a few days ahead and start thinking about what I'll think about in the dentist chair. Not my favorite place,either.
    Thank you for the spectacular pictures.

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  9. Wow, I want my trip to the dentist to be like that! Your pics are gorgeous! I need to go back, now that I know how to take better pics especially food ones. Italy is absolutely fabulous, thanks for taking me back.

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