I am in full-on VACATION MODE. I know, it's only June but I leave for Canada on Sunday for my best friend's wedding and so I have a good reason. This month's #DolceVitaBloggers topic was "Hidden Gems of Italy". I have to admit, I'm always wary of doing this type of post because I'm greedy and I don't want anyone else to find out all my secret spots. However, I've realized over the years that Italy is just full of gorgeous hideaways and towns that it would be impossible to give away all her secrets, there's always going to be somethng beautiful and undiscovered just around the corner.

I chose Sestri Levante because it was freshest in my head, we were just here two weekends ago and had our second swim of the summer season. I'm calling it a hidden gem, although maybe to Italians it isn't. It's quite popular with local tourists, the locals from Milan and area who make the two hour drive to catch some rays on its quaint beach. In Italy, you can either go to either coastline but I prefer Liguria for the water, it's crystal clear and clean in contrast to the Adriatic on the other side. It's not as well known to foreign tourists, likely because of proximity to the more famous Cinque Terre or Portofino. That's fine though, it just means more Sestri Levante for me! The most fabulous part about this little town in Liguria is that it actually is itself a mini-peninsula, the old town sits on a strip of land and on either side of it is water, two bays that are named La Baia delle Favole (The Bay of Fairytales) and La Baia del Silenzio (The Bay of Silence); the latter is the one you see pictured above. For lovers of long stretches of sand beach, this is not the place for you- the beach itself is rather small and you have to get there early to claim a spot. You'll be packed like sardines, common on Italian beaches in summer. This was not a huge issue for me because I love swimming and frolicking in the water.

You need to be a good swimmer to have fun in the Bay of Silence- this is because the bottom of the sea is dotted sporadically with ricci (sea urchins) so it's much better (and safer) to swim or float on the surface, even in the shallow areas. A little known fact about sea urchins is that in addition to their spikes, they can actually sting you as well...fiesty little buggers they are, but delicious with spaghetti. We were tempted to cut one open and eat it as you should- raw- but we didn't have a knife on us. Have you guys eaten ricci in Italy before? Sorry, as usual this post has gone off-topic because the only thing I think about all day is food! 

Happy June Dolce Vita Bloggers, see you at the next one!  Please leave a comment and then go and check out the other amazing posts. 

This is part of the June 2018 #DolceVitaBloggers Linkup. 

Past #DolceVitaBlogger Link-Ups:
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #6 May 2018 - Five Italian Words
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #5 April 2018 - The Perfect Day in Italy
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #4 March 2018 - International Women's Day
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #3 February 2018 - A Love Letter to Italy
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #2 January 2018 - Favourite Italian City
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #1 December 2017 - 'The Italian Connection

June: Hidden Gems

It's finally summer here in Italy and we are in the #VACATIONMOOD. Your hosts of the #DolceVitaBloggers link up, Kelly, Kristie, and I, invite you to share your favorite hidden gem(s) in Italy. Let's get off the beaten path and armchair travel together through il bel paese. We can't wait to hear about your secret places! 
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HOW TO JOIN OUR LINK-UP:
For instructions on how to join, click here.
For an instructive video on how to join, click here.
​
The link up will be open from June 7th to 14th. You’ll be able to add your blog post or vlog below as always by clicking the BLUE BUTTON. ​

I just realized that today is both Love Story Lunedì AND May 7th which means I had to make the very heart-wrenching choice between sharing a love story and sharing my #DolceVitaBloggers contribution! Just kidding, I came up with a brilliant compromise that incorporates some of the Monday romance you're all used to and this month's linkup topic which was: FIVE ITALIAN WORDS OR PHRASES (and why you love them). Italian has always been considered the language of romance, and for good reason, the way it rolls off the lips of a sexy Italian is second to none. Sorry if this is TMI but I find Italian to be a HUGE TURN ON. Before studying the language, I might have said that the Italian accent in English was hot but now I just want to hear the language in all its full glory. Sometimes I just lie in dark and listen to Italian songs and just get completely lost in the words. Nerd alert. You know what is also extremely sexy? THE CONGIUNTIVO. Oh man, when I hear an Italian boy use the congiuntivo come se FOSSE niente, my pants just dissolve. I mean, technically there's no reason why Italians shouldn't be using the congiuntivo correctly but I think I love it because it's such a hard concept for English-speakers to grasp. Getting back on topic, here's FIVE romantic, sexy phrases in Italian that I just adore the socks off: 

May: Five Italian Words

Your hosts of the #DolceVitaBloggers link up, Kelly, Kristie, and I, invite you to share FIVE of your favorite Italians words, phrases, or expressions. You can choose to elaborate on them however you please, but we'd love to know why you chose to share particular words or phrases and if they have some special meaning to you or if you simply like the way they sound! 
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HOW TO JOIN OUR LINK-UP:
For instructions on how to join, click here.
For an instructive video on how to join, click here.
​
The link up will be open from May 7th to 14th. You’ll be able to add your blog post or vlog below as always by clicking the BLUE BUTTON. ​

Your hosts of the #DolceVitaBloggers link up, Kelly, Kristie, and I, invite you to dream big and share your perfect day in Italy for the April 2018 link up topic!
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Perhaps you’d like to share a memory of a blissful day you’ve already experienced, or perhaps you’d like to share a hypothetical perfect day that you’d like to experience if money were no object.
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• Who are you with?
• What would you do?
• Where would you go?
• What would you eat?

Dream big and inspire us with your perfect day in Italy! It’s a perfect opportunity to inspire others visiting Italy this summer with a dreamy itinerary for a perfect day in the bel paese.

HOW TO JOIN OUR LINK-UP:
For instructions on how to join, click here.
For an instructive video on how to join, click here.
​
The link up will be open from April 7th to 14th. You’ll be able to add your blog post or vlog below as always by clicking the BLUE BUTTON. 

Past #DolceVitaBlogger Link-Ups:
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #4 March 2018 - International Women's Day
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #3 February 2018 - A Love Letter to Italy
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #2 January 2018 - Favourite Italian City
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #1 December 2017 - 'The Italian Connection'

​Inspirational women come in all shapes and sizes. My inspirational woman is about 5 feet 2 inches and has the most infectious laugh of any of my family members. You can typically find her in the kitchen, cooking up a storm for twenty people, or singing in her church choir. She is kind and caring and most of all, strong. Strong in the face of adversity when she first arrived in Canada with my grandpa where they opened a grocery store, despite not speaking the language very well at first. They worked long hours to give their children the Canadian dream that so many immigrant parents wanted for the next generation and they were rewarded- my mom and her two brothers are all university graduates and between my cousins and I, we share innumerous numbers of degrees and titles. I think what many immigrant families are after is to prove themselves worthy of the country that accepted them and to bring a sort of prestige to the family name and while I hope we’ve done my grandparents proud, what we learned most never came from our formal education. We learned from my grandmother, that no task is too big and no dream unattainable. That with hard work and dedication, you truly can build something from nothing. When she first moved to Canada, my grandmother didn’t even know how to boil water. Now, she is our family’s most beloved cook and chef of all big, festive gatherings. Nowadays, younger generations might balk at the idea of moving to a new country where they don’t speak the language and have to sustain themselves by finding a job, making new friends, and essentially re-creating a life. I did exactly that because I had the living proof that it was possible. My grandma showed me that. If you think about it, I followed her footsteps and I hope that in some small way, I might be able to inspire others as she did me. Her strength has always been her greatest strength and while we were all devastated by the unexpected death of my grandfather (that's him in the photo above!) this past January, she maintained that steadfast demeanor that we’ve come to admire. It doesn’t mean tears were not shed or the loss intensely felt, but it means she watched a whole lifetime of memories with a smile, strong in her love and held up by her incredible faith and family. If I accomplish anything in this life, it would to be regarded by my friends and family as sharing and emulating even the tiniest bit of her. So to end this post, I'd like to raise my glass to my grandma and all the other wonderful women who continue to inspire us. Cheers to you, you're beautiful! 

If you're interested in another piece I wrote about my grandparents and language learning, you can find that here: Why Learning Italian Made Me Appreciate My Grandparents

This is part of the March #DolceVitaBloggers Linkup:
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #4 March 2018 - International Women's Day​

Past #DolceVitaBlogger Link-Ups:
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #3 February 2018 - A Love Letter to Italy
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #2 January 2018 - Favourite Italian City
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #1 December 2017 - 'The Italian Connection'

March: Inspirational Women

In honour of International Women’s Day on 8th March, tell us all about the woman or women who inspire you. (You are welcome to write about any women from around the globe, not only Italian women!).

Whether it's someone famous or revered worldwide, or maybe someone not so famous but admired by you and you alone, whoever the woman that inspires you is, we want to know her.

The linky will be open from 7th March and you will have one week to submit your own posts and a full month to read and share everyone's stories. We will obviously share and comment on them all as well! 
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Marzo: La Festa Della Donna
Per commemorare la Giornata Internazionale della Donna dell'8 Marzo  raccontateci di una donna o delle donne che vi hanno ispirato. Potete scegliere qualsiasi donna nel mondo, non solamente Italiana. Non vediamo l'ora di leggere tutti i vostri commenti.

Il linky aprira' dal 7 Marzo e avrete 1 settimana di tempo per inviare i vostri post ed un intero mese per leggere e condividere tutte le vostre storie. Noi lasceremo dei commenti e condivideremo tutti i vostri post.

​HOW TO JOIN OUR LINK-UP:
For instructions on how to join, click here.
For an instructive video on how to join, click here.

Past #DolceVitaBlogger Link-Ups:
 ​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #3 February 2018 - A Love Letter to Italy
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #2 January 2018 - Favourite Italian City
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #1 December 2017 - 'The Italian Connection' 

You were like the captain of the football team, such a stereotypical choice that I wanted to avoid making. I had to avoid making. It’s almost shameful to utter the words “I fell in love with Italy” however, I suppose I should have considered that I used to be a cheerleader and therefore you were my inescapable fate from the start. I’ll come right out and say that it was lust at first sight and not love. It was not love for a long time because of your beauty. Captivating, impossible to ignore or deny. That summer, I was in awe of you. You made me marvel before I knew the word. You were the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Wide-eyed, I took to your cobblestone streets, negotiating the path of Gods and lesser gods in high-heels and dodging glances from your entourage, dark-eyed and tempting. But it wasn’t them I was looking at, nor the men nor the women. Seductive as they are, I couldn’t take my eyes off you and you alone.

You have that kind of hold on people, and dare I say it, on virgins especially. First-timers. Yet the more I came to you, entranced and enthralled, the more I realized that amongst your beauty there were ruins. I began to see your faults because we all have them. Not even you are perfect, actually, you are the farthest thing from perfection. You hide behind this façade of slow dinners out in the piazza at twilight, the laughter of friends over clinking glasses filled to the brim with Aperol, prosecco, soda water and ice, the cypress-lined drives in the Tuscan countryside, a wake of white dust following a red 1960 Alfa Romeo Giulietta, a silent prayer after wine-fueled nights of passion in a language created for courtship and opera.

Your façade is literally in the façade of buildings that not only house history but are history themselves. You seduce easily, using all these things as part of your armory, but you let only a select few in. I get it. I’ve done it too. It’s a self-preservation thing. So many have thought they loved you until they saw the you without makeup in the morning, with fluorescent lighting after a sleepless night when nothing is going right and everything in the world is wrong. Full of secrets and corruption, of bureaucratic failures and few everyday successes. You like to dwell on the past, your past conquests, your past glories. You live in the past, but this isn’t high school anymore and it’s like everyone grew up around you. You’re vain as well. Sometimes too arrogant to admit your faults but depending on the day, you’re self-deprecating at the same time, quick to react and slow to change.

​The others, they want only the beauty without the beast. But Italy, my dearest, you are both. A paradox of sorts and a riddle that can never be solved. And only a handful of us are content with an unsolved riddle, with getting lost in it and with losing ourselves in it. Some people might say that a love like ours is destructive. I say it’s the only kind to live for. Where I am so entwined and tangled up in you that I can’t discern where you start and I end up. To live with you is to be you and to know that on some days, there are ruins in our beauty and that on others, there is beauty in the ruins. You’ve taught me not only about love but of life. I left behind so much for you, sacrificed everything that I thought of as sacred before you came along. But in you, I finally found what is sacred: slow dinners out in the piazza, twilight, the laughter of friends, the cypress-lined drives, Tuscan countryside, a wake of white dust, a red Alfa Romeo, wine-fueled nights, a language, courtship, opera, and most of all and in it all, passion.

February: A Love Letter To Italy

As February is the month of love and Saint Valentine, we thought what better than to write a love letter to our beloved Italia!

What do you love about Italy? What's your relationship with the country? Does it make you fall head over heels one minute and frustrate you the next? Tell us how you feel. As always feel free to interpret this theme as you wish...An idea could be to write it to Italy as a person, starting with "Dear Italy...", for example.

​Take it as a chance to express your love ❤️ for il bel paese. Maybe the love is unrequited, maybe it's been a lifelong affair, maybe you took a "break" but you wanna get back together, maybe she's caused you so much heartache that you have to walk away, whatever it is, we want to know why you love or have loved Italy.

We can't wait to read your letters!

The linky will be open from February 7th and you will have one week to submit your own posts and a full month to read and share everyone's stories. We will obviously share and comment on them all as well!

Please fill in our form here where you can tell us what topics you'd like to see and how you prefer the Linky to be run! This is all so we can create a wonderful Italophile community! Talk to us!

Febbraio: Una Lettera D'Amore

Poiché febbraio è il mese dell'amore e di San Valentino, abbiamo pensato... che cosa c'e' di meglio che scrivere una lettera d'amore alla nostra amata Italia?

Cosa amate dell'Italia? Qual è il vostro rapporto con il Bel Paese? Vi fa innamomare un minuto e vi frustra un istante dopo? Diteci come vi sentite? Come sempre sentievi liberi/e di interpretare questo tema come desiderate ...

Non vediamo l'ora di leggere tutti i vostri commenti.

Il linky aprira' dal 7 febbraio e avrete 1 settimana di tempo per inviare i vostri post ed un intero mese per leggere e condividere tutte le vostre storie. Noi lasceremo dei commenti e condivideremo tutti i vostri post.

HOW TO JOIN OUR LINK-UP:
For instructions on how to join, click here.
For an instructive video on how to join, click here.
​

Past #DolceVitaBlogger Link-Ups:
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #2 January 2018 - Favourite Italian City
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #1 December 2017 - 'The Italian Connection'