Family is Everything: La famiglia e tutto

Salve! Despite having spent my undergrad at a college further away from home and being okay with it, I’ve gotten a lot more homesick than I thought I would here in Italy. So when I found out that my aunt Francesca and uncle Dan booked flights to see me for a week, I was ecstatic! It was going to be a fun week of good food and wine, sightseeing around the city, and living with them at their Airbnb and I loved the idea of having family around again.

It ended up being a crazy week. Every day we walked all over the city, including a day we walked through a massive wind and rain storm just to get down to the city center! We ate and drank to our hearts content, traversed through museums, and walked until our feet hurt —and it was perfect.

As a small surprise, and due to the fact that I’ll be missing Thanksgiving with my family for the first time ever, my aunt and uncle planned to cook me a makeshift “Thanksgiving” meal, turkey and all, while they were here. It was such a fun night. Francesca made turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry, stuffing and cooked vegetables all paired with a delicious bottle of wine Dan bought. I got to be thankful about a month early, but man, was I thankful.

To finish up a whirlwind week, we made our way to Montepulciano and Pienza in the Tuscan region for more food and wine and lots of shopping.This day my heart was the most full; the happiness I felt hanging out with family and exploring small towns in one of the prettiest countries in the world was immeasurable.

Events like these make me so thankful for everything I have and where I’m at in life. The fact that I have family members that were willing to fly 14 hours (one way) to hang out with me for a week to make me feel a little less lonely and a lot more loved is so amazing and I’m so blessed.

I can’t wait for the rest of my family to visit!

+ Alina