a traveler's love letter... // michelle from i ripple. i dance.

While Chad and I are away wandering the streets of Brussels, London, Paris and beyond, I gathered some of my favorite bloggers and asked them to write a guest post/love letter to their favorite place on earth. These ladies are graciously babysitting my blog while I'm eating macaroons and taking postcard-worthy pictures of the Eiffel Tower + Big Ben. Thank you for reading and I'll see you when we get back! 

xo -- Amanda

Bella Italia

Ours was not just any holiday romance.  When I met you last year it was that cliche of love at first sight.  You were warm and welcoming and so beautiful, full of culture and wisdom.  I feel like you have so many stories to tell me and just want to sit in the sun with you and listen to them all.  You seem to have so many different personalities too.  In Bologna, it was relaxed and quiet.  Few people were around and I felt like we were alone wondering the porticoed streets.  In Rome it was exciting and you were full of suprises, around every corner there was something 'new' (but actually really really old).

In Tuscany we were able to relax and lounge by the pool and explore old towns on hillsides.  We discovered some antique markets too (that stuffed squirrel we saw still makes me giggle, we should have bought it). Together we discovered beautiful Renaissance art - Piero della Francesco frescoes on the walls of churches, Michelangelo in the Vatican, Carvaggio in Florence.  In Naples you showed your edgier side and were a little bit more, shall we say, carefree. 

We shared some great food together.  The gelato was heaven.  The peach + lavendar and ricotta + cherry were my favourite. The pastas, the gnocchi, so rich and delicious. Oh, and the pizza in Napoli.  Stuff that dreams are made of.

Mostly, I love how you love as though your life depended on it. Sunshine, food, friends, family are all precious to you and the passion you show everyday is contagious.

Don't think I have forgotten you.  I am coming for a visit again this year although it is brief.  Unfortunately I have promised Croatia that I will come and see her but we shall meet in Bologna for a few days.  Perhaps next year I can stay for longer.  I would love to discover Venice with you.

I promise that one day I will be able to stay with you permanently.  I imagine our life together, la dolce vita.  A little piece of land in the mountains of Tuscany where the light is so special.  I can't explain how it is different, golden doesn't do it justice, but I can understand how it inspired so many great artists.  The idea of this day is making me smile. 

Ciao mi amore, until we meet again.

xx
Michelle
i ripple. i dance.