Hello again my friends. Well, I hate to say it, but it may be time to wrap-up “La Vita Italiana,” soon; Barbara and I made it back to the U.S. last week, so this is my first post state-side. All is well here in Atlanta. So glad to be with Nick and Celeste (and Emily and Jack, too!), and seeing so many friends these past few days.
So what's next? Lots to do, but first priority is re-connecting with so many of you. It's been great catching up with everyone stateside this month.
In case you’re wondering, these are the top 5 questions we’ve been asked this past week:
Wait, are you back for good? Yes, our very memorable two years in Italy have come to an end, we’re back in Atlanta now, ready for the next chapter. My teaching contract was for two years, and we decided around January that, as much fun as it was, and as much fun as it might potentially be in a post-COVID Italy (new variants notwithstanding), it was time to come back and be closer to friends and family.
Will you be living in Atlanta? Fun fact: This is the THIRD time we have moved to Atlanta—originally in 1991, coming back from the UK in 2004, and now in 2021. Someone contact the Chamber of Commerce for a testimonial ad! You may recall we sold our house last year; we didn't want to have to worry about it while we were so far away, and we intended to “downsize” anyway at that point. But the intention had always been to return here, and find a new place—we’ll take our time, as the market has been very hot for a while here. Right now we are renting an apartment in Midtown and reacquainting ourselves with ATL and all of its cute intown neighborhoods.
Will you [Matt] be teaching again? Yes, I was able to arrange with my old school, Atlanta International School, a part-time gig teaching only Economics, on a 60% schedule. Really looking forward to getting back with my old colleagues, and even some students that I last taught when they were in 7th or 8th grade. Should be fun, and free up some time to think about new ventures/activities/causes for Barbara and me to pursue.
So, does it feel different to be back? Um, yes! No surprise, things have changed a lot here in the U.S. the last two years (even during these ‘feels-like-time-slowed-to-a-crawl’ two years that we all just experienced). The trends we were noticing back in 2019 seem to have continued—I won't get political here, but the overall divisiveness and "my-opinion-counts-as-much-as-your-facts" tenor of conversation is even more entrenched than before. On the plus side, we love getting back to the overall optimism and can-do attitude of Americans, especially here in go-go Atlanta where things are downright frenetic (mostly in a good way)!
Are you glad you did the move to Italy? Yes for sure. By all counts it was not the best time to relocate, to be away from family and friends, and certainly not in one of the initial hotspots for a global pandemic. But, like all of you, we managed to make the best of a bad situation,—we experienced the Italian culture intimately, traveled quite a bit within Italy, and most memorably made some new lifelong friends. As our friend Kate says, “you guys really squeezed the juice out of this place!” The only regret we have is not having the chance to host all of you who had planned to visit our little town and a fantastic country. So, as Barbara says, “Don’t feel sorry for us!” And by the way, there’s a lot of energy building for “Estate [summer] 2022” in Italia—and you’re all invited!
Saying goodbye to new friends in Chieri and Torino was not easy. We tried to do a fitting farewell tour of our favorite eateries and drink-eries, and were even feted a couple of times by some very special folks! It was tough to leave, but we are adopting the mantra "don't be sad that it's over, be happy that is happened."
Of course there was a lot to say goodbye to...let's start with "best of" aperitivo spreads:
(l) Oche Rosa (note the cool spritz glasses); (c) Caffé Nazionale (love the slate platter); (r) Il Reale," a Vermuteria (yes, a "vermuteria," where they make their own vermouth!)
Life in the neighborhood:
(l) Gabriella and Massimo at Bistro ZZ (c) Gelato from Pino Pistacchio (r) A really sweet goodbye note from our lovely neighbors
(l) Grade 6 goofballs; (c) Mara, the owner of Faro, a gluten-free shop, who became a good friend (r) Andrea and the gang at Cesare Rago, our haircut/style place
And of course, we told you about Rosalba and Piero, our dear friends who really took us under their wing for the better part of two years! To the right is Rosalba meeting my brother Nick on one of our last nights in Chieri. Good times!
Thanks for joining us on this memorable journey; stay tuned for a couple of final travel posts and we hope to see you in person soon!
