The six of us enroute to Rome

I haven’t decided if I am going to add my experience as an international cat escort to my curriculum vitae.  It wasn’t an activity I intentionally sought out, but rather one that came to me serendipitously and fortuitously.

For a few years now I have been the blissful sidekick to three of the most well-traveled, worldly-wise, continental felines you’d ever want to meet.

Racking-up the frequent flyer miles as they move seamlessly and nonchalantly between Orvieto, Italy and the San Francisco Bay Area, these “catnappers” curl-up peacefully beneath the seat in front of me for the long journey to come.

Quietly chilling-out through the first of their nine lives – lulled by the hum of the jet engines as our airplane crosses the Atlantic Ocean on its way to Rome – I envision Chloe, Bella and Ditto having many, many more dolci vite Italiane (sweet Italian lives) ahead of them…

]]> http://orvietoorbust.com/2012/02/18/excatriates/feed/ 8 orvietoorbust Airport and cats Chloe Bella Ditto in Basket http://orvietoorbust.com/2012/02/11/airports-the-welcome-mats-of-the-world/ http://orvietoorbust.com/2012/02/11/airports-the-welcome-mats-of-the-world/#comments Sun, 12 Feb 2012 04:12:01 +0000 orvietoorbust http://orvietoorbust.com/?p=1680 ]]> I’m noticing a whole lot of crankiness and grumbling surrounding the subject of airports lately. Once elegant, stylish and civilized, today most passengers regard them as necessary evils to air travel. Is the honeymoon finally over for the airport?

My flight attendant friend Susan says that since the grip of post-911 hysteria took hold, the airline industry has “declared war on its passengers.” And adding to the fun and games is Homeland Security’s adoption of a kick-the-dog screening policy for terrorism.

It’s true. Airports have become complicated and chaotic places that can bring out the beast in the most easy-going traveler. Personally, I happen to like the vibe of an airport but concede that the experience can be quite stressful and overwhelming. Gone are the days of concierge service by well appointed gate agents – replaced instead with overregulated, hyper-vigilant, Starbucks–loaded TSA employees.

While navigating and maneuvering from one end of these elaborate micro-cities to the other requires an almost Herculean effort, you must try to keep your wits about you. If you can manage to remain calm and hang in there just a little longer, you might actually come out the other side with your sanity, dignity and baggage intact.  Airports are for the pragmatist in you, so stop fighting it. Your estimated time of arrival…eventually.

]]> http://orvietoorbust.com/2012/02/11/airports-the-welcome-mats-of-the-world/feed/ 5 orvietoorbust Car-airplane Interior of an airplane Terminals http://orvietoorbust.com/2012/02/02/a-steamer-trunk-mentality-in-a-rolling-duffel-world/ http://orvietoorbust.com/2012/02/02/a-steamer-trunk-mentality-in-a-rolling-duffel-world/#comments Fri, 03 Feb 2012 06:21:55 +0000 orvietoorbust http://orvietoorbust.com/?p=1602 ]]> Confucius said that life is simple but we insist on making it complicated.   I am about to head back to Italy next week and I’ve vowed that I am absolutely, positively NOT going to overpack this time!  I’ve made a master list.  Travel experts advise that I cut my list in half.  These so-called “experts” claim that one can travel across the European continent with only two pair of pants, one sweater, two tee shirts and a Swiss Army knife?

Traveling Light is For Backpackers and Beach Bums

I’ll have you know I am no stranger to the minimalist philosophy.  A few years ago I moved into a charming but tiny apartment near San Francisco with a kitchen, living room, bedroom, bath, den, office and walk-in closet all rolled-into-one.  It’s compact, efficient and very cozy: 300 square feet of heaven!  Living in a studio apartment is very much like living on a boat except that the room doesn’t rock during storms.  The view is spectacular, I can clean it from top to bottom in 45 minutes flat, and living this way keeps me feeling unencumbered, carefree and liberated.

In preparing for my journey I’ve piled everything I’d like to take with me on the dining table (better known these days as “the staging area”).  My things are separated into three categories: 1) Yes, definitely taking, 2) Maybe taking, and 3) Taking, if I have the room.   As someone who preaches the virtues of living beneath your means and with only the bare necessities, why do I have so many shoes?  I am seriously packing-challenged.  I think I need an intervention!

Join this month’s BootsnAll’s Indie Travel Challenge and comment to the Indie Travel Manifesto.

Every single one of us has our own unique and special mechanism for coping and strategizing our way through the world’s challenges.  I find that what works best for me is a random, shotgun-style approach to personal achievement.  I call it the “Spaghetti Theory”: throw everything you have at a predicament and see what sticks.

This philosophy encompasses a combination of the law of averages, blood, sweat and tears, and a bit of dumb luck. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t, but in less than two weeks I will be heading for Italy again – launching “Phase One” of my grand scheme. I am  so close that I can almost taste it. For nearly seven years I have been feverishly “flinging noodles” at the walls of life in a concentrated effort to reach my goal. I’ve been plotting, concocting, commiserating and essentially boring the living daylights out of my friends, family and even complete strangers.

“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill

Curiously, as my objective moved from the realm of fantasy into the universe of real and tangible possibility, an odd thing happened – I began to experience a disbelief that I could actually get what I want, followed by a paralyzing fear that perhaps once I get it, I might not want it any longer!  Here I am, standing on the precipice of my dream coming true and finding myself in such a discombobulated state of mind.  Of course you’ve heard of a fear of failure, but did you know that some folks actually suffer from a fear of success? After all the obsessing and preoccupation, could I honestly be afraid of crossing the finish line? …Nope, don’t think so.

Teetering atop the high-dive, I am ready to take the plunge into the deep-end. There is no way in hell I’m going to come this close to the prize, only to turn in retreat before getting my just desserts.  I owe it to myself and to the many friends who have already blazed the trail abroad or who are taking up the rear.  I am not so special. I am only one of many dreamers of an Italian life.

You can read the wonderful and inspiring stories of other dreamers/bloggers at: Renovating Italy, http://www.renovatingitaly.com; Destination Umbria, http://destinationumbria.wordpress.com/; Bagni di Lucca and Beyond, http://bagnidilucca.wordpress.com/; My Melange,http://mymelange.net/; Bleeding Espresso, http://bleedingespresso.com/; and Indulge – Travel, Adventure, & New Experiences, http://lesleycarter.wordpress.com/.

Birthdays always bring me down.  It’s not my advancing age that annoys me so much (although I’m not thrilled about the fact I can no longer realistically “double” my age).  As “that” time of year approaches I begin to experience a weird sensation of anxiety and doom collecting in my stomach.  Really, as far back as I can remember birthday wishes have embarrassed and flustered me.  I hate to appear ungracious, but I’m uncomfortable being acknowledged and congratulated for an event that I had absolutely nothing to do with.  I feel the same way when complimented about my green eyes – it’s strange to accept credit for something that took no effort on my part to achieve.

 “You can live to be a hundred if you give up all the things that make you want to live to be a hundred.” – Woody Allen

Birthdays are a time-stamp underscoring the warp speed at which life travels.  It’s not death I fear – I am afraid of wasting a single minute of the life that has been allotted to me. I figure that by taking a “head in the sand” approach, ignoring the upcoming anniversary and essentially glossing-over the entire celebration by refusing to acknowledge the passing of days on the calendar, I may be able to cheat the clock. Remember the saying, “You can’t fool Mother Nature”?  Well, maybe I can outsmart Father Time?

]]> http://orvietoorbust.com/2012/01/15/the-birthday-blues/feed/ 9 orvietoorbust Candles http://orvietoorbust.com/2012/01/07/the-resolution-revolution/ http://orvietoorbust.com/2012/01/07/the-resolution-revolution/#comments Sun, 08 Jan 2012 03:11:32 +0000 orvietoorbust http://orvietoorbust.com/?p=1450 ]]>  “New Year’s Day…now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual.” – Mark Twain

As far back as the Babylonians, human beings have been making resolutions for the new year.  The ancient Romans offered promises to the god Janus, for whom the month of January is named.  We are one week into 2012 and already 88% of us have broken our new year’s resolutions.  Statistically only 46% of us will keep our vows past the six month mark.  Honestly, I’ll be lucky if my annual reforms survive until mid-February. I’ve decided that the problem doesn’t necessarily lie with the failure of the “resolution-maker” as much as it rests on the aspirations themselves; no one really wants to keep a promise designed to squish the fun out of life.  It’s important to note that not all resolutions are created equal and therefore, it’s no wonder that travel is in the top five of the most popular items on everyone’s “bucket list” this year.

My Checklist to Paradise

Alright, so I am not the most adventurous traveler that ever lived.  It’s true that my recent explorations have been confined to movements within the borders of a country shaped like footwear.  I agree that it would be good for me to venture outside of my comfort zone – breaking free from the Umbrian ties that bind me.  To this end, on the top of my “2012 Travel List”  is “Make a pilgrimage to Sicily”.

Considering all the time I’ve spent in Italy these last 8 years, it’s shameful that I’ve never set foot on the island home of my ancestors or, for that matter, in the town of my grandfather’s birth.  Situated approximately 75 kilometers from Palermo is the city of Corleone, Italy.  Yes, that Corleone.  You can see why I’ve been putting it off – it’s an intimidating proposition.  Armed (no pun intended) with my documentation, photos of my Nonni and a list of Sicilian phraseology extracted from episodes of Commissario Montalbano, I plan to set out for the motherland and see who and what I discover.  I mean, what’s the worst that can happen…? Boh.

“Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans.” — John Lennon

Before you know it, it will be 2013.  Go ahead and declare you independence from the mundane and take a break from the humdrum.  Pack your suitcase, grab your passport and head to the nearest airport.  Open your aperture for a wider view, cast-off the ball and chain of responsibility and get your Marco Polo on.  Listen to the advice of the winged goddess of Greek mythology Nike when she says to, “Just Do It”…tick tock, tick tock, tick tock…

This week Bootsnall is kicking off a new weekly event called the Indie Travel Challenge, that will last for all of 2012! Much like their 30 Days of Indie Travel project, Bootsnall invites bloggers from all over the world to participate.  This week’s prompt: Resolutions.

“The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 9,200 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 3 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.”

I am embarrassed to admit that my first thought regarding this information was how nice it would have been if the odometer could have rolled over to 10,000 views by midnight.  Fortunately I caught myself in my moment of greed and selfishness – reminded of the fact that 9,200 people actually visited my sight, either on purpose or by accident, representing 9,199 more people than I could have ever hoped or imagined would.  Some of you just stopped by one time while others are now regular email subscribers, traveling along with me on my journey.  However you came to Orvieto or Bust, I am really very happy and grateful that you were here.  It is about quality not quantity.

“The object of a new year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul” – G. K. Chesterton

My friends Suzee and "Yogi" on our New Year's Day Hike

On New Year’s Day in particular we are in “reflection-mode” – making promises that we may or may not keep and looking backward and forward at the same time.  2011 was a year of monumental global change.  If the Arab Spring and the Occupy Movement have taught us anything it is that human beings collectively are capable of creating miracles.  Maybe this phenomenon works the same way in our daily lives – all of our accomplishments and victories are not achieved in a vacuum – others were there to help us along, either directly or in the spirit of solidarity.  If I believe this to be true, and I do, then I can no longer hold onto the empty fear that there is a possibility I will grow old alone.  If we are all residents of Planet Earth then we are in it together and for the long haul.  It is all in how you look at it and I prefer to look at it just this way.  Peace, love and serenity in 2012!

Watch YouTube Video Below!

Like scrappy, bebopping Pied Pipers, Perugia’s popular street band Funk Off gets this party started with a nightly parade that snakes through Orvieto’s narrow and ancient cobblestone alleyways. Music lovers, young and old, scamper and skip behind these energetic hipsters as their infectious beat draws more and more followers along the route. The bluesy procession ends with an impromptu jam session in the Piazza della Repubblica, where you’ll find you can’t help but tap your feet, move your body and smile: It’s Umbria Jazz Winter #19 and “baby, it’s cold outside”.

The international flavor and welcoming spirit amidst the holiday lights and chilly, frigid temperatures creates a unique atmosphere that makes this festival something special. For five nights, starting from December 28 to January 1, Jazz fans flock from all over Italy and beyond to partake in the music and brotherhood for which this festival has become world renowned.  Performing on stage this year: Michel Camilo, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Chano Dominguez, Paolo Fresu, Gianluca Petrella, Danilo Rea, and many more.

2011 goes out with a bang! Capodanno is celebrated in the Piazza del Popolo at midnight, ringing in the New Year with a fireworks display and free outdoor concert.  On New Year’s Day arrive at the famous Duomo early to secure your spot for the first Mass of 2012.  Inside this majestic Cathedral you’ll witness something you don’t see every day; hymns sung at a Roman Catholic “Mass for Peace and Gospel” by the Harlem Jubilee Singers.  Hold onto your seats because this joint will be jumpin’!

For more information about the festival go to: http://www.umbriajazz.com/mediacenter/FE/home.aspx

SEE YOUTUBE VIDEO OF FUNK OFF HERE:

Andrew & me at my Mom's for Christmas Eve

Life is so full of surprises.   One evening in April, on a whim, I created “Orvieto or Bust”.  At the time I didn’t know that by publishing my first post I would officially become  a “blogger” – I was only looking for a place to chronicle my experiences in a little Umbrian hill town in Italy.  The unintended result has been the discovery of a latent love for writing that has fulfilled me in ways I never could have predicted and nearly eight months later,  can’t imagine living without.  With the assistance of the weird and wonderful internet, I am able to send my ramblings into cyberspace where I have had the opportunity to connect with some amazing people from all over the world.   It is to you, the people who have supported and encouraged me, that I send my love, affection and sincere gratitude and wish you and your families all the best in 2012.  Hugs and kisses.  Toni

]]> http://orvietoorbust.com/2011/12/25/from-me-to-you/feed/ 7 orvietoorbust Toni and Andrew 2011 http://orvietoorbust.com/2011/12/22/im-dreaming-of-a-green-white-and-red-christmas/ http://orvietoorbust.com/2011/12/22/im-dreaming-of-a-green-white-and-red-christmas/#comments Thu, 22 Dec 2011 08:44:41 +0000 orvietoorbust http://orvietoorbust.com/?p=1317 ]]>

…Where the joyful sonatas of “Auguri” replace “Buongiorno” just for the season…and the sparkling, twinkling, snowy-white lights bring elegance to streets and alleyways.  Christmas markets and ice rinks erupt everywhere…Presepio and Ceppo reflect the perennial traditions of the old and yawning, sleepy children at Midnight Mass remind us of the new.  Holiday salutations begin with Prosecco and end the night with Grappa…and it is never, ever too cold for gelato!  Panettone and Amaretti dunked into your cappuccino means it’s Christmas morning and…Babbo Natale “is coming to town” but in eleven days, La Befana is bringing the “stash”!

Buone Feste (Happy Holidays) to you and yours!

Peace in the New Year.