Daydreaming of Spring in Italy

Cloudy and cold in Albuquerque. I need some spring!

Most years I am well into February before the “winter blahs” hit me, but for some reason they’ve come early this year. It might just be the weather - the last 24 hours have brought cold, rain, hail, gray skies, and overnight snow to New Mexico where I am visiting my family this month.

Today it is cold, windy, and overcast with intermittent snowflakes. Usually snowy days in New Mexico are gorgeous, especially once the sun comes out and makes everything sparkle. But today there is not enough snow to create a pretty winter scene and no clearing skies to bring the sparkle. It is just cold and dreary. It is a good day to stay inside, sip some chai, write a blog post, and daydream about spring – sunshine, green leaves on trees, flowers – along with spring travel plans. And that is exactly what I am doing today.

These little yellow blossoms are one of the first signs of spring along Lucca’s walls

As for travel, I am finalizing plans for spending two weeks in Trieste in early March with a friend from Albuquerque. It is a part of Italy that I have never visited, with a unique culture that is part Italian and part Eastern European. I have been warned that it will still be chilly and quite windy, so may not quite bring me the dose of spring I am craving but it does give me something to look forward to. The trip is centered around some time in a special language program for seniors age 60+ and it includes several excursions into the surrounding areas. I’ll let you know how it goes!

March is the time for Camellias, especially in the small village of Sant’Andrea di Compito

Flower art in Spello for the Infiorata (photo from the Le Infiorate website)

I will get the taste of spring I need in the first week of June when I will do a few days of cooking classes on an agriturismo outside of Perugia in Umbria. That program will include a visit to the famous Infiorata in Spello, a celebration of the Feast of Corpus Domini, where the streets are paved in designs made from flower petals. . Visiting Spello for the Infiorata has long been on my list of things to experience, and this is the first time the opportunity has worked out for me. Definitely a spring event to look forward to.