September Can't Come Soon Enough

Next month, I am taking a trip to Italy with one of my best friend's. This past year has been filled with numerous stressful days of work, constant volunteer efforts (which I love being a part of), and school...I feel as though this break trip is going to be well deserved. We have been planning it for the past 6 months and neither one of us can believe it is just a few weeks away!

My friend and I have known each other since college and we couldn't be better paired for a trip like this with any one else. We have the some love for reading, history, people, and traveling.

We have been literally counting down every single day for the past 3 months.

Our travels will having us staying in 4 cities. Our first stop will be to Soave, Italy. Where the famous Soave white wine is made. We will be arriving as the annual La Festa dell'Uva kicks off. Otherwise known in English as the "Grape Festival".

During our time there, we will also be exploring the Medieval Village that encompasses the town. We are very excited to see this ancient walls which are still in tact.

From Soave, we will be ditching our rental car, which driving should be an adventure all its own, and taking a train to Rome. I have visited Rome before with family on my first trip to Italy. Though with Rome's vast history, it will be a treat to see it again. I also happen to know that my friend is very eager, understandably, to see this magnificent city as well.

Our next stop will be to Verona where Shakespeare's classic, Romeo and Juliet, is set. I am eager to see the amphitheatre where summer opera's are held. Sadly, we will not be able to catch a performance, though this city will have plenty of other treasures for us to explore and take in.

Of course, we will also most likely make our way over to see Juliet's fictitious tomb and home.

From Verona, we will travel to Italy's largest lake, staying in town at it's southern tip, named Desenzano.


This photo of Desenzano Del Garda is courtesy of TripAdvisor

While staying at Lake Garda, we plan on traveling to several resort towns around the lake. Sirmione, being one of them, where entrance to the town is over a moat and through a castle! If time also, we will head to Gardaland, which is an amusement park. We hope to spend part of one day enjoying the views of the lake and do some swimming in it as well.


This photo of Desenzano Del Garda is courtesy of TripAdvisor

Our last stop will to Venice. Here we plan on sitting at the Rialto bridge with a couple of glasses on wine and reflecting on our journeys through our tip, while watching gondola's pass by. It will be a nice way to unwind while watching a city like no other on earth.

My Big Fat Italian Family

Throughout this course, I have made mention of my very large, Italian Family. Being that my mother is from a family of 15 children!

The Sgambati family consists of my grandfather Stephan, grandmother Opal,10 daughters (Mary, Theresa, Kathy, Annina, Stephanie, Emilia, Elizabeth, Opal, Francesca, and Carolyn), and 5 sons (Stephan Jr., Bobby, Anthony, Sam, and Carl).

My mother happens to be the "middle" child, 7 before her and 7 after. She was actually born on my grandfather's birthday! This is the reason they named her after both of them, Stephanie Opal.

Being that this family is so large, any one could make the assumption that there many grandchildren as well. This assumption would be true! There are 46 first cousins in the Sgambati family! With in these 46 grandchildren, there is one set of twins, and a set of quadruplets!

My grandparents have been very happily married for 63 years,and have lived in the same upstate NY city for most of these years. With in this city is the church they were married in.

Most of the family lives in the area, with 2 in Chicago, and 1 in North Carolina. Just as in the movie, each gathering or holiday is large event. Some might consider it a bit overwhelming, as you can ask my husband or anyone else who has attended Thanksgiving dinner for the first time, but I wouldn't have it any other way. My favorite part of these holidays is to sit on the couch and listen to everyone around me. The laughing, the teasing and joking, it is very relaxing for me...I can't imagine a holiday being any other way.

Letting my Imagination Run, and Fly!

Letting My Imagination Run, and Fly! by samoriaz on Storybird

If I was a Time Traveler, I would....

Bald Head Island, NC.

One of my 46, yes 46, cousins got married in Bald Head Island, NC. Many of the family members made the trip down from New York to celebrate the occasion. It was a nice vacation, and also different way to get all of us together. All of the weddings on this side of the family had always been on upstate New York.
I had visited North and South Carolina on many other occasions, as my grandmother is originally from Mount Airy, NC, and we have made many a family trips down to visit the area and her family. This however, was the first time I had ever traveled to Bald Head Island.
My husband, brother and his girlfriend all stayed off of the island in Myrtle Beach, SC, which wasn't too far away. Once off of the ferry we walked around the island a bit, opting out of driving around in a golf cart, the only transportation available on the island. We made our way over to the Village Chapel, where the wedding was to be held.

Just in the distance, was the Old Baldy Lighthouse, which is advertised as being "centuries" old. I love lighthouses and though this one had a lot of character.

The area of the chapel and lighthouse was quite secluded on the island, but in a very quaint way. It was a very peaceful area, off of a dirt road, with white picket fence and bench to relax and enjoy the beautiful views, and peaceful sounds of birds and other wildlife.

About an hour after we arrived, the area started getting busier with the arrival of the guests and the wedding party. We all filled into the church, where the ceremony began. The highlight, besides the bride and groom of course, was the ring bearers; my cousins who consist of an older brother and his quadruplets younger brothers, walking down the aisle.

After the ceremony, we all headed to the reception area, which was under a large tent by marshfront, and a bay. It was a fabulous view to enjoy as we danced the night away and shared time with one another. The sunset, was stunning, behind the palm trees over the water. The picture below, with my grandparents, and uncle shows this.

The real stunner was towards dusk, as the party moved on into the night. This was one trip that I will remember for a long time, as it was special to be with family and loved one's celebrating a wonderful moment in two people's lives, in a beautiful place.

Artifact Project

This assignment was somewhat challenging for me, in the fact that I didn’t necessarily have many physical artifacts that I felt as though really explained who I was as an individual. It has been mostly the people in my life that have defined who I am, and even who I still hope to be. Originally, my project was to be based on my grandparents and the places that remind me of them and our memories together with family. Unfortunately, this was not to be as I had many difficulties with the images I was given. However, this class has inspired me to work with other family members in putting together a “story” of my grandparents lives and all of those that have been affected by them.
Aside from the special people in my life, I feel as though my greatest love is reading. I think that life and this world has so much to offer, and while I cannot humanly expect to take from it all, I can do more in reading. Books can take me to places that I hope to one day visit, and to time periods that I will never get to physically walk through. Books introduce me to characters that I have odd similarities with, and people that I will also never be like. They allow me to escape to places which can only exist in imagination, and to meet people I admire but will most likely never meet.
I hope my artifact project gives even a small idea to the great effect books have had on my life, and the love I have for them.

Animoto