christmas in Italy |

viterbo fountain

Well we arrived in Italy, rented a car a drove a couple of hours to Viterbo, the little town that has been my son’s home for the past few months. His host family greeted us and served a delicious vegetarian dinner – fresh pasta, with mushrooms, and an assortment of other goodies. They live on an olive orchard a few miles outside of the town, it was night when we when arrived so we could not see much, but we had some of the olive oil that they made which was a far cry from the Trader Joe’s variety. We exchanged lots of smiles with Reggie communicating for the both of us. Reggie showed us his room and his italian mom and I shared our dismay with Reggie’s messy room- no words needed. We were impressed with Reggie’s command of italian and his maturity, it is amazing what can happen in a few months.

Reggie & his italian family

We checked into Hotel Viterbo, and quickly fell asleep until 1 PM Saturday. Reggie our guide took us into the town, which is a walled city dating back to the 11th century . After a strong coffee we were good to go, within 10 minutes I discovered Milly Shoes, and snapped up these bling trimmed sweeties.

bling bling boots

Milly Shoes

I was amazed at the selection of shops in what I thought was a sleepy little town, much like my beloved Whittier. Between the curvy cobblestoned streets, lined with traditional italian architecture, boutique after boutique what more could I ask for? Next stop was Elisabetta Franchi, a cute store with pretty, sexy, girlie girl clothes at nice price points. I picked up this nude lace gown, that I love–not even worried about where I will wear it, something will come up and I will be ready. Then I saw this cute little “mui mui” inspired bag and could not leave without this, I know I will get lots of use out of it years to come a classic.

the dress…

Gigi & the dress

pretty bag

My guys did their share as well, my poor husband traveled with no jacket, and yes it is the dead of winter, and not our 80 degree Cali winter, so two jackets later he was all set. Reggie shopped for christmas gifts for his host family. I enjoyed people watching, the italians, young and old are so stylish. We ran into a few of Reggie’s classmates, and visited his school and finished the night with dinner at one of the local spots. Our little “boy” told us that he wanted to stay in town and catch up with his friends and that we should go back to the hotel and pick him up later.

I could not help but think about how fortunate our kids are to have traveled so many places, my husband and I both come from humble beginnings, I was in my 30’s the first time I ever traveled to Europe, married with kids no less. Our vacations growing up were going to visit other relatives, and most of the time it was a car trip, I could count the times I had been on a plane on one hand growing up.

The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.- Saint Augustine

Tomorrow we will leave for Florence.