2009 in Review

As we settle in to 2010 and get back into the normal work/life routine, I thought I'd share some of the reminiscing that we did over the new year holiday with some short summaries and photos of the year's highlights.

Back in January, we met up with a group of friends from Lagos in Brussels. With them, we explored the city, visited Luxembourg and Ypres, and drank some beers at the famous monastery - Westvleteren Brewery.


In February, I wrote about the Milan wholesale veggie/fruit market, Marco breaking his nose snowboarding, a Valentine's day chocolate and wine tasting, a daytrip to Bergamo, and one of the most memorable trips we've taken. Visiting Dusseldorf and Cologne during Karneval was a blast! We drank some good beer, visited nearby castles, and generally enjoyed partying on the streets with loads of Germans.


In March, I joined girlfriends flying in from Zimbabwe, Bucharest, Athens, and Dublin for a long weekend in Paris. We shopped, ate, and drank - soaking up every minute. My friend from Harare joined me in Milan afterwards where we visited Eataly and the chocolate festival in Turin. Marco and I managed to squeeze in a trip to Rome near the end of the month where the mild weather was a pleasant change from the rain in Milano.


April was not full of showers for us. We celebrated our first anniversary with a trip to the Amalfi Coast. We visited Sorrento, Capri, Paestum, and Amalfi itself. A work trip to Venice at the end of the month rounded out the travel.


Plenty of travel during the month of May as well. Started out with a quick overnight to Trieste, a holiday weekend at a country home in Umbria, and a trip with friends to check out the ceramics in Nove. We saw plenty of Milan that month as well, exploring the local garden show and attending a friend's baby shower.


In June, the death of my much-loved Grammy sent Marco back to the U.S. where he stayed for some training and visiting with his side of the family. The work trip that kept me from joining him ended up not working out and left me full of regrets during the year's low point.


After the hectic sadness of June, July was quietly spent at home. We did a little hiking in Piani di Bobbio, played with Cooper in the city's dog parks, and learned about our upcoming assignment to Kabul, Afghanistan.

As usual, August was a slow month in Milan. We countered that by staying plenty busy! There was more hiking by Mark, another trip to Paris by me, and a trip to Edinburgh that had us both traveling and both hiking. Paris was full of memories as I visited with an old friend but Marco and I made new ones as we met up with friends in Scotland. We hiked Arthur's Seat, visited the Fringe Festival, and enjoyed the music and performance of the Tattoo.


In September, we visited Como and Bellagio with visiting friends. This month is also notable as being the month in which I completed my New Year's resolution for 2009 - reading 50 books! Book fifty was a murder-mystery novel by Kate Atkinson called "Case Mysteries". I completed the book (and the resolution) while in Montepulciano. Marco and I spent a week in Tuscany taking language courses in the village on a hill and exploring the surrounding countryside, including Montalcino, Perugia, Pienza, Greve in Chianti, and Pisa.


Two weddings took us back to the States in October. Celebrating marriage with family and friends was one of the highlights of the year. While in-between ceremonies, we visited Charlottesville and spent time in DC and Philadelphia. Once back in Milan, we visited the yearly festival in the nearby town of Gorgonzola and were able to sample plenty of the local cheese.


During Thanksgiving weekend in November 2009, we made to to Barcelona where we explored the city, ate wonderful food, and were generally THANKFUL for the amazing travel opportunities we have just by living here in Europe.


And finally, December! A month filled with holidays and gathering with family and friends. We started out with friends first as I toured around Milan with a visiting amica. My parents and sister followed shortly thereafter and we made it to Cremona and Como all together. I cooked a big Christmas dinner and right before New Year's Eve, Marco and I traveled to Garmisch for a long weekend of skiing and fireworks. You can probably tell that I have some more postings ahead.


So, what's ahead for 2010? Some more traveling, for sure. We've done a lot already but it barely scratches the surface of our "to do" list. We'll make it to Athens (Georgia and Greece), Orlando, and Florence in the immediate coming months. I'm sure there will be places left on our Europe list that remain unvisited. In the summer, we'll be back in the States for two months as we do some training in the DC area before heading to Kabul. While in the U.S., we plan to travel from Austin to DC via as many National Parks as we can handle! Then...we'll have to see what Asia holds in store for the rest of the year.