I just don’t know where to begin. I wanted to blog about the view today, but the picture I wanted to get was unavailable because lovers were trysting at the best spot on the hill. So another time I will get an amazing panoramic view of the hills. So we begin:

This is a view from the garden.

This beautiful building on the right is the church of Pecetto, the little town where the family lives. These other pictures are over the hills of Torino that are covered in trees.

I wanted a picture of the straw bales because paintings always show them as round, but I never knew if it was true. Here is proof for any who care (I might be alone on this one)—in Italy the straw bales are cylindrical.

The church rings the bells and has that foggy sunshine that shows God is, at times, an Impressionist. It was in Italy that Monet first painted the sunrise that started the movement. But the greatest painter in the world can only reflect a fraction of what the Creator has already accomplished. The view is breathtaking.

I take walks straight up the hill from the house and the path eventually opens up into a meadow that makes me sing like Frauline Maria. (But today I touched some plant with my leg and now it stings and has bumps. Don’t worry, the swelling has dwindled jk—I just have to wear pants from now on.)

I have been to the city twice, but very briefly. Some time I will get pics there. It is incredible. I asked Gaia why she liked to live here for our English discussion and all she could say was “It is beautiful, no,” as if there is no need for another reason. I agree. It is fantastic. Except I can’t really look at it because I am too terrified driving.

It is so cliché to talk about driving in Italy BUT LET’S TALK ABOUT DRIVING IN ITALY. Every time I get in the car I say a prayer so that I can get to point B safely. It is insane. Do you see this road?

This road is what we drive on in the hills of Torino. It is approximately 6.5 feet across. The cars are probably 4 or five feet wide. I don’t know. These are estimations, but I feel like if I laid down in the street I would get hit from both ways. And notice I said HILLS. I did not say plains. First gear. This stupid red car is something I hate.

My first trip to the city was in this car. When a hill comes (from the 20 yard break of flat road) it won’t go faster than 16 kilometers an hour, which is under 10 mph. Everyone behind would rather go 40 kph. So I am driving so slow thinking any second we might start going backwards while the entire line behind me is plotting an assassination. Also, as you can imagine, the roads on the hills are quite curvy. So you have to honk every time you come to a curb so that someone coming the other way can think about slowing down. So getting there was really scary. Then of course in the city, the traffic was so weird. I don’t know who thought of this method. There are NO lanes. Everyone just kind of goes where they want to and then 100 cars will merge at once. Magically, it works. The stoplights are no bigger than a child’s fist. And they come out of nowhere. All the sudden Gaia is like “NO TIME NO TIME” meaning that I went through another red light.

And let’s talk about the finale. Getting out of the parking garage is like defying gravity. It was straight up. So I went and of course I have to stop right on the steepest part at the top. So I try to go when it is clear and WHAT HAPPENS—after I killed it 15 times (yes, to all who are going to suggest or ask, I know the parking break trick). The lady behind me was laughing and everyone behind her was honking. Finally a guy from the back comes and motions that “the hand brake needs pulled” so I say (with my hands) “you try it”. He does and tells everyone behind us “Morte”. It dies every time. So I say “We push it?”

“Si.” So the nice lady behind me starts rounding up everyone from behind. “Vene, vene, spingamo” “We push it.” So I got in the car and steered while they pushed me up the hill. The kids were laughing and I was shaking. I killed it again out of shock when I tried to pull out onto the street, but WE MADE IT OUT ALIVE. I was silent the whole way home trying not to get killed on the curves or other places. When we pulled up to the house Tommy jumped out and said “Earth. Earth!”. I was still shaken. But I was starting to laugh and now I can’t stop when I think about it. I walked in the house and met the grandparents. Nonno’s first question was “Are the Italians good?” And I thought of the honked horns and the hand gestures and the yelling and the near death experiences and then those pushing me up the hill and I said, “Molto Bene, they pushed me out of the parking garage!! Of course the Italian people are good!”

But always:

God Bless America from the mountains

To the prairies

To the oceans white with foam

God bless America my home sweet home—with its turning lanes and visible stoplights