Milford artist details two years living in Italy in new book & More News Here

by Terry Rogers

 

 

One of the themes of Rosemary and Bob Connelly’s married life was to “live cheap and make art.” The couple at all times loved touring and knew that after they did retire, they might need to go to many unique locations, main them to reside frugally whereas living and dealing in Phoenix in order to have the ability to spend their retirement years making artwork and touring. When their kids grew up and left dwelling, they traveled to many alternative locations, together with England, Ireland, Germany, France and Italy, simply to call a number of. What they realized was {that a} two or three week trip was merely not sufficient time to get pleasure from an space.

“We started thinking, wouldn’t it be really cool if you could spend more time in a place because two or three week vacations just weren’t long enough, right? And we just had this desire to experience life in another culture, and learn what’s it like to live in another country?” Connelly stated. “Because my grandparents all, well three, at least were born in Italy. One was born in New York, but her father was born in Italy. So, I’m 100% you know? And so, I wanted to go there. I wanted to experience life, to go to the towns where they were born and take the time to research, find ancestors and look for roots and that sort of thing. So, Italy because we loved it anyway. And it had that that connection to my family roots that it just had to be Italy.”

The Connelly’s packed up and moved to Italy, spending two years in 4 totally different Italian areas. This journey is now a book, Two Years in Italy, created from a weblog Connelly saved whereas they have been living overseas. Connelly needed to have one thing she may maintain in her hand, however she additionally needed to supply data to mates, household and others who might journey to the area.

“It was it was really just something I wanted to have, and I and I wanted to share it with people who know me and who would be interested in following it and also people who are interested in travel,” Connelly stated. “It’s just lots of lots of good information in it about places to visit and things that you can do that most people might not even know about, because living there and meeting people, like we had our landlords who were lifelong Italians took us places and showed us things that most tourists probably wouldn’t even know about. It was it was quite an amazing thing and to be able to share that with people who love to travel and who might get something out of it.”

The couple spent about six months in every of the 4 areas of Italy. They began their journey in Umbria, which she stated is called the “Green Heart of Italy.” It is near Tuscany which most individuals are aware of. They lived in a hill city referred to as Perugia, a spot chosen as a result of the Connelly’s knew they might not instantly have a automotive. The city had buses and trains that will permit them to discover simply. It can be an space with faculties which meant they might be capable to discover a furnished house simply since landlords catered to college students. It additionally meant that language courses have been available. From Perugia, the Connelly’s traveled to Sicily as that was the place Rosemary’s grandparents originated.

“We found just the most wonderful apartment and landlords; it was right on the Mediterranean Sea. We could just walk across to the beach. It was awesome,” Connelly stated. “And so then from Sicily, what we did was we were north in the summers and south in the winters for a couple of reasons. One, it was cheaper to go south in the winters and weather was better in the north, we expected it to be colder, not as good as it would be in the south through the winter. It was still cold but not nearly like when we left Perugia for Sicily, it had snowed already and by the time we got to Sicily, we were just in in sweaters.”

Once they left Sicily, the couple then traveled to Verona which is close to Venice. Connelly identified that though all of the locations they stayed have been in Italy, they have been every very totally different from one another, from the structure to the meals. After Verona, the Connelly’s went to the Amalfi Coast, staying in a city referred to as Vietri Sul Mare. Although that they had at all times deliberate to remain simply two years overseas, the beginning of a new granddaughter helped pull them again to the United States.

“In the middle of our planning, we suddenly became grandparents. So it was really a challenge to say, oh my gosh, what do we do? Do we go?” Connelly stated. “We were living in Phoenix at the time and my son and this new baby were in Richmond. So, we thought, you know if we stay in Phoenix, we won’t get to see her that often anyway. And so, we kind of made the sacrifice to go because we’d had this plan for so long and everything was in place. But that was another reason for us to come home. I mean, we have two children. My son had this great new baby and, we still other family back here. Right? We never planned to live there forever.”

Writing the book had its challenges, Connelly defined. Because blogs are often posted from latest to oldest, she needed to utterly reformat them right into a reverse order. Connelly’s husband, Bob, handed away in 2015, which meant studying a few of the passages have been troublesome, however Connelly additionally felt it was cathartic.

“Just going through that again, and the memories of what we did and, and all the details. I’m so glad that I wrote as much as I did. Because you know how it is later, you don’t remember everything,” Connelly stated. “So I’m really glad that I was as prolific as I was. And because it was so immediate, you get a sense of the of the excitement that I felt just every day. Every day we had the, the attitude that we were just going to enjoy whatever everyday brought to us. And we said yes to things we weren’t even sure what we were doing. Our landlords and friends would say we’re going to do such and such we’re going to this place, why don’t you come along with us? And we were like sure. We’re not sure exactly sure what, but we’re gonna try it anyway. It was just saying yes and appreciating everything that came in front of us.”

The book is written in a journal format and every passage provides a way of the thrill Connelly felt as they ready to attempt one thing new in addition to the plans made as their journey unfolded. There is a map of the nation with places identified in addition to an introduction that explains why they selected to spend two years in Italy. A prelude consists of excerpts from Connelly’s handwritten journal with details on planning for the journey and the couple’s pleasure about “leaping off that cliff and leaving America for foreign countries.” The book additionally comprises a few of Connelly’s unique paintings in addition to pictures, many taken by her late husband, a gifted photographer.

“We weren’t really fluent. We had a little bit of Italian in our repertoire you know, in our experience, but weren’t really fluent,” Connelly stated “So we knew we were going to take classes at the school for foreigners there and we knew that that there was a lot of English spoken and that’s another reason to start there. There are four chapters, so each of the places is its own chapter.”

The book is offered on Amazon in each paperback and Kindle eBook codecs. Connelly is holding a studying on the Mispillion Art League on Thursday, May 26 at 6:30 PM. Books might be accessible on the market on the studying.

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