EVERTHING.
End of post.
Just kidding, but barely. There are a COUPLE of things that I don’t miss about living in Italy- the dial up speed internet and the fact that it was almost impossible to get anything done quickly but that’s it. I would put up with those two things for the rest of my life if I could just live in Italy forever.
By the end of our nearly three year adventure I’d mastered the art of
allora – so, then, well
aspetta- wait
domani – tomorrow
Mastered them so well that my two issues above didn’t really bother me anymore.
Moving on.
Here are the things I desperately miss about living in Italy.
The fact that Italians cherish children and family. I could not walk anywhere without receiving back pats and hearing Bella! Complimenti! Cara!
The produce. OH THE PRODUCE. Fresh, straight from the earth, and affordable.
The wine. DUH. The wine was cheaper than water and pure. I miss ordering a half liter or quarter liter of house wine. I miss going to the sfuzi/wine gas station.
The history. Everything here seems SO clean and sterile to me. I miss the beauty of the rooftops and the cobblestones and the ruins. I miss the brightly colored doors and shutters and the laundry flapping in the breeze.
I miss the smell. A combination of coffee, cigarette smoke (although, file the smoke under things I don’t miss),Italian being spoken, meats and cheeses, and chesnuts roasting (in the winter).
I miss the sound of church bells.
The rotaries and the sanctity of the lefthand lane on the Autostrada.
I miss the 4 hour dinners.
The fact that we could drive 6 hours and be in the south of France.
I miss Christmas markets and vin brulé.
The feeling of euro coins in my hand.
The beautiful women in their furs and sky high heels.
The nuns riding bikes.
I miss the fact that no one is in a rush or in a competition as to who is busiest. I miss la bella vita.
I miss the marble floors, wood beam ceilings, and shutters that could keep zombies out.
I miss $1 cappuccinos that blew anything I’d ever tasted at Starbucks out of the water. I miss the sound of espresso cups clinking on saucers.
The taste of gelato melting on my tongue and running all over my hands.
The sight of people just walking in their beautiful clothing during passeggiata. Watching them stop and chat and acknowledge one another. Observing their leisurely pace.
I miss the asilo that Cate and Lucy attended. I miss the nuns and the staff and the fact that every day the nuns would just sit with the girls and color and cut. I miss the fact that they were just allowed to be little.
I miss riposo and the quiet when everyone just went home and ate and slept.
Drinking an aperol spritz and watching the girls play in the piazza.
I miss being able to speak and listen to Italian, even though I butchered it daily. I miss the fact that every Italian is a teacher and will help you if you ask for help with their language.
I miss the rocky beaches.
I miss putting on gloves to buy produce.
The absence of skyscrapers.
The walking and the climbing and the fact that you could go days without having to use your car.
I miss how much affordable lodging and air travel was. And how easy it was just to GO GO GO every weekend.
I miss the sandwiches in Autostrada gas stations.
I miss the markets and the little old man that loved my girls in the local flower shop- he tucked fresh flowers in their hair every time we walked by.
I miss sagras.
I miss Florence. I miss Florence so much I’m irrational about it. Like if someone I follow on IG is in Florence I literally cannot even look at the photos.
I miss Carnevale in Venice and the castle in Sirmione and the market in Bolzano and the cheese in Asiago and spending the day in Verona. I miss Bologna and Padova and Puglia. I miss the Amalfi Coast and Cinque Terre. I miss Lake Como and Lake Garda.
I miss Vicenza and feel like it’s still home. I miss my Italian friends.
I
miss
EVERYTHING.
And it’s not just a thought. It’s a feeling. An ache in my heart and a constant longing. It’s tears in my eyes. Over a year and a half later. It’s in my heart. Constantly.
I miss everything.
xoxo
S
This is sooo beautiful. We just returned from two weeks in Italy in November, so this is ringing true as it is still so fresh in my mind. We also had a beautiful two days with Pamela Sheldon-Johns, a cookbook author, ( American/Italian duel citizen) whereby we had an olive picking experience and cooking lessons with her. I asked her what she missed about the states, and she said “nothing.” So to read your words this AM, I just smiled… thank you for sharing… I’ll be posting some of my 1000 plus pics soon…
What a wonderful post. Thank you for sharing these thoughts. I have only visited Italy for 10 days in 2014 – I think right around when I found your blog and you were moving there. I LOVED it. I lived vicariously through you and your family while you were there and so enjoyed every one of your posts. I would go back in a second. What an incredible place.
Thank you for your post and sharing your heart. There is just something about Italy that gets in your soul. I was just there for a week and I want to go back so bad.
Makes me want to live there too. God put the love for Italy into you, and he won’t let it be wasted. Praying for you, dear lady, to have your dreams come true.
I miss living your Italian adventure vicariously through you!
I miss how pretty my Instagram feed was and all the suggestions that popped up on my feed because I was following you!
I am so happy that you embraced your life in Italy and hope you can return there some day. For now, I want to know more about picking out produce while wearing gloves. Sounds like that should be a universal thing!
I miss reading stories about your Italian adventures. I really hope you can move back permanently one day.
So lovely.
There is something so beautiful about Europe.
We visited several cities and countries this summer for our wedding anniversary and I loved the feeling of just wandering and exploring.
I fell in love with Brussels of all places. A city that was never even on my radar, is now so deep in my heart I hope to go back some day. 🙂
I can’t imagine what it would be like if I had lived there three years! What an amazing experience for your family!
When people say to me it must be hard having your husband travel so much, I say yes. But there are some wonderful benefits too. Visiting places where he works can be extremely rewarding! I think there is a finer appreciation for our time together as well. I think Italy was probably that for you 🙂
Can’t wait for our summerholiday when we are going back to Tuscany. Everytime i come back there it feels like coming home.
Oh Stephanie, thank you for your post. Maybe you should come back to us in Europe 😉 I can tell you that it gets better though it might take a little longer than you anticipated. I am German but we lived in London for 6 yrs and took all our vacations on the island to get properly aquainted. When we came back 6 yrs ago with a baby it was hard. We missed the city and the island so much and for a long time. After about 2 yrs it got better, we did not feel as homesick and slowly got used to our life in Munich again. But London still feels more like home than Munich does even though we bought a house here last year and as Europeans that is a big deal. Maybe in our hearts we truly are Italian and British and maybe our true home really is there? Ciao from Monaco di Bavaria… (btw we had busloads of Italians arrive here last weekend for the Christmas Markets and in our city centre all you could hear was Italian)
I truly understand your feelings! Only mine has held on for over 30years now! Mine was Germany though. I fell in love, was married and spent the next year there! I was proposed to at a little cafe in Florence over a bottle of wine. I miss the Christmas markets at this time of year. Having a gluwein while strolling through the stalls! We lived in the community not on an army base and learned to love the locals. Europe has a way have getting in your soul and staying there! I hope you get to return some day!
I miss many of these same things about France. But I found a group of French ex-pats and I joined the French language institute and they sponsor many events (wine tastings, movie screenings, etc) and that helps me keep France alive in my heart. I also took the things I loved most about myself/made me happiest in France (dressing for everything, heels always, lipstick always, doing things that scare me/being fearless, eating for the season, wine with dinner every day, etc) and have incorporated that into my NYC life.
I feel this way about so many places I’ve lived, but especially Germany. I’ve lived there twice. I miss everything.
We plan to go back to visit over the summer for a month+. I was telling my friend about this and she said that maybe it’ll help me not miss Germany so much if I could spend the summers there. And, I know it came from a good place so I didn’t want to say what I felt, which is… it won’t. Being there for the summer will just make me miss the falls, winters, and springs so much more.
It’s one thing to visit a place and another to live there.
Every word is so true, and I feel like you took the words right out of my mouth! We lived in Vicenza for 3 years, and have been back in the states for almost 4 years now. I can still taste the milk, the local milk from the milk machines scattered around town. The chocolate festival, who doesn’t love a festival completely encompasses around chocolate!? Speaking of chocolate – the espresso beans. The chocolate covered espresso beans that were so good, it’s like Jesus made them himself. Mmh, so many wonderful memories I will FOREVER cherish! Thank you so much for the sweet reminder for me today 🙂
Three years later I feel the same way! Life is certainly different after living in Italia! Makes my heart hurt a bit reading this!
Rachel
Exactly….everything….me, too. We lived in Lapio for 7 years. We have been away for over 3 years now and I still miss everything.
I lived there 7.5 year and have been back exactly 2, I’ve been back 2x to visit and yes … I miss everything too…every day
I definitely miss Italy. For all of these reasons and more!
Such a beautiful post, I could almost see the beautiful sights and taste the gelatto!
Wow. I’ve never been to Italy, but you’ve written about it so beautifully, I miss it for you.
This post puts Italy at the top of my travel list. I love how you wrote about it in sentences, each one creating an image. 🙂
We left Vicenza 12 years ago after three years there. We were lucky to visit five years ago. I feel EXACTLY as you do. Photos of bell’Italia keep popping up. Our kids (8&10) are learning the language and culture and we hope to get them there someday. Thank you for saying what has been in my head for years!
Worked in Vicenza for almost four years and lived out in Thiene. I miss our little town where no one spoke English and my family and I could stroll around the piazza without a care in the world. I miss it deeply. Thank you for writing the words my soul is feeling.
After 5 years there, I was torn away from my beloved Naples. As they say, the city will make you cry twice… once when you get there, and again when you leave. Now after nearly three years back in the US, I still have a hole in my heart where la bella Italia should be. Anyone who has truly lived it would be transported back in a heartbeat reading each of your recollections. All so true. I miss it all. Even the crappy dial-up internet.
Our family lived in Naples for five years and in Catania for three and a half years. We left in 2010 and I miss it every single day and probably always will. We raised our three children there and it was the most beautiful and amazing experience for us all. I am changed as a person due to all the wonderful trips and adventures we had there. I long to go back…..
I was dry-eyed until I got the the Autostrada sandwiches, then I started to bawl. We mov d from Napoli almost 15 years ago and I still miss it. It’s an ache in your heart. Charleston, SC is really close… neighbors stop to chat, you say good morning, food and family are important…
We were blessed to spend 3years in Naples. everything about your post is true. While there of course, we complained about the things as Americans, we are spoiled to have, ie, central heating and air, cheap electric bills, fresh running water, etc. Now that we are back in the states I miss Italy so bad. Most everything you mentioned is things I miss. Starbucks could never replace the amazing coffee you only get in Italy. The cheap travel, the amazing food, I also loved how you go to another part of Italy and the food is different. I would love to go back if ever given the chance. Thank you for your post.
Thank you for this beautiful post. It’s helping me be thankful for what I have (also in Italy with a young child), and will one day also miss.
You made me miss it and I didn’t even live there!
I have been many times and I love it there. The pace of life is so appealing and there’s nowhere in the US where you can live that kind of lifestyle.
You had a really special experience that will probably never be matched. That is both fortunato and triste. Abbracci e baci!