Home Sweet Italy.

It really is nice being back in Italy.  I went back to work the day after I got in, and surprisingly the time change didn't phase me at all.  I missed our apartment, and my classroom and all the kiddos, and especially the hubby.  Even though every day life can be difficult here at times, it is nice to be back in my "normal" routine. 

We are a little sad, because three of our best friends here moved away while we were gone in March.  Our married couple friends, Dave and Rita, left us - Dave to Afghanistan, and Rita to a great job in Seattle.  Then, our upstairs neighbor, Steve, left for Georgia, leaving our apartment building a little lonely.  They all were our "first" friends here, so we hate to have them gone.  They were great at showing us the ropes!

Since I was gone, I completely missed the season transition here in Italy.  When I left and it was still really cold...I come back and we are experiencing spring in full swing!  It has been so beautiful here.  John Ralph is bringing home some potting soil for me tonight and I plan on getting some flower boxes going over the weekend.  We also just purchased our first basil plant, and so far we have used it every single night. 

It's still a little confusing to me to see how most Italians dress.  Back home, I feel like as soon as the temperatures break 60, you see people in flip flops and short sleeves.  Well, it has been in the upper 70s and lower 80s here and there are people still wearing scarves and coats.  Um...News Flash, Italy...it feels GREAT outside.  Live life on the edge and pull off that scarf.  I dare you.  Here I am having a hot flash walking home, and these people look at me like I'm crazy because I don't have on my fur coat.  I guess some things I'll just never understand...

As far as our April plans go, we've booked our hotel for the first part of our block leave and I'm so excited!  We decided to stay in a little town right outside of Interlaken, Switzerland.  We're staying at Hotel Berghof (Here is a link to some photos) and everything around it looks so beautiful!  While I was home, I caught up on the last season of The Bachelor, and they ended the season in Interlaken.  Needless to say, I was excited to find out John Ralph had booked us a hotel there!  The weather was supposed to be really nice, but lately it looks like it might be a little on the chilly and rainy side.  I'm crossing my fingers that the forecast changes over the next week and we have a beautiful Easter weekend there. 

I've made a decision to start taking more pictures, something I've always been terrible at remembering to do, so I promise to start posting pictures more frequently.  We're spending this weekend doing a little spring cleaning and getting everything lined up for our block leave, but hopefully I'll have some beautiful flower boxes to show off soon!  I hope everyone back home has a wonderful week leading up to Easter!  Tell the Easter Bunny we moved to Italy...I wonder if he makes stops here?