Tranquillo Tranquillo – Dolly Travels

Tranquillo

Hello, again,

I haven’t written for awhile, as I have not been traveling, but that is just an excuse, not a valid reason. Today I was inspired to write again, as I remembered one peaceful, beautiful hill town of Tuscany.

This morning, while driving to an appointment, I found myself becoming increasingly irritated by the rudeness and careless actions of other drivers. Drivers cutting in and out of traffic as if they were on the Indianapolis Speedway. What is wrong with these people? I wondered, as I could feel my temper as well as my blood pressure rising.

All at once, in my head I could hear my Italian language instructors saying, “Tranquillo, tranquillo”. I heard those blessed teachers say that to me frequently when I became frustrated during language classes. Essentially, “tranquillo”, in a word, means: let your mind relax. Count to ten and take a few deep breaths. Settle down. Let your mind become tranquil.

Hearing those voices this morning made me so absolutely homesick for Montepulciano and those patient instructors at Il Sasso, the Italian language school that I had the opportunity at attend three years ago. I simply had to write this post and dedicate it to Sara, Sylvia, Cincia, Lucia, Alberto, and of course, Heike.

I realized this morning that my irritation with the other drivers was more of a reaction to my being homesick for Italy, rather than the driving techniques of other people.

Since I cannot be in Italy right now, I felt it would be beneficial for my mental well being to think and write about feeling “tranquillo”.

First, I must tell you, I am usually happy when I am home. I love my home, my family, my friends, the activities that take up my days. However, I feel much more comfortable, at ease, “tranquillo” when I am in Italy.

I loved staying in Montepulciano. When we were not attending classes, we were walking up and down those steep streets, or hiking down to Chiesa San Biago.

Sometimes I would just wander down a passageway that brought me out to a view point that looked over the Tuscan countryside.

I could go on and on, telling you about so many other places in Italy that have given me the sense of “tranquillo”, but today I am homesick for Montepulciano, so I will only tell you some of my memories from that lovely hill town.

If I don’t recover from my Italy homesickness soon, you may hear about Cinque Terre, the Dolomites, the parks and piazze of Florence and Rome, the seaside town of Sorrento. But I must close now and send this off to you, so, hopefully, you can read the blog, see the pictures and share a new sense of “tranquillo” with me.

Ciao for now,

Dolly

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