Karin Loves Italia

 I was 34 years old before I crossed the Atlantic for the first time. Harold and I travelled to Italy on a guided tour.  It was the first and last time we allowed others to plan our vacation.  I have meticulously designed this return visit, spending  hundreds, if not thousands, of hours perusing hotel websites, train schedules, museum exhibition listings, restaurant menus, Covid regulations and travelogues.  I have learned through this process that not much has changed in Italy over the past three decades. Other than joining the European Union, discontinuing the lira as the primary monetary unit, and updating culinary creations to appeal to the 21st century palate, the country remains the Italy that beguiled many of us in films such as   Roman Holiday The Godfather,  Three Coins in the Fountain and La Dolce Vita.  The art is still spectacular, the gelato still deliziosa , the countryside eternally picturesque . Harold and I, on the other hand...

  A GIRL NEEDS HER STUFF It is one week before we embark upon our excellent retirement adventure. One week!  Our three-month sojourn in Italy began as an offhanded remark from Harold a year ago. "What if we were to spend a year in Europe?" he asked during a commercial break from an excruciatingly boring Netflix show.  I'd name the show so my readers could avoid it, but it was excruciatingly boring so I forgot the name.   I did not ask if he was serious. I did not take so much as a nanosecond to consider my job, our family, our dog, our bank account, or the fact that I couldn't possibly trust a random beauty salon to match my hair color.  I simply got out of my chair, and visited Google to learn if this was possible.  It was not.  We learned that foreigners cannot spend more than ninety consecutive days in Europe before having to register as temporary residents, which involves many financial disclosures, lots of paperwork etc...so our year abroad q...