Italy: Experiences and Discoveries

Florence, Bologna, Manarola and Venice: AirBnb

I've been eyeing AirBnb for a while and was finally able to use it on this trip. The accommodations we got did not disappoint or at least most of them. My favorite was the 800 year old apartment in Florence. Our host Paolo was gracious and very knowledgeable about the city. He recommended a really good restaurant and gelato place. I also loved that informative and interesting books about Florence and Italy lined his bookshelves. He has five other Airbnb listings which I would love to see in future visits. The one where we stayed was near Ponte Vecchio. All I can say is that it was simply lovely and if you ever need to go to Florence, book with Paolo.

August Challenge: Reflections After Italy

I barely wrote anything for the month of August except a few notes and postcards. It sounds like a huge transgression not to journal everyday when you're in one of the most popular countries in Europe. But I was busy dancing, partying, drinking wine, eating gelato and cherishing moments for the most part of the month. Nothing bad about that!

July Challenge: Read One Italian Blog Entry Daily

Ciao a tutti!

I picked this challenge for July in preparation for a trip to Italy mid-summer. I wanted to know a few words and be able to at least ask for what I needed and express gratitude. I started reading blogs but, with the help of language learning pros such as Tim Ferris, Benny Lewis and Sonya Gil, I soon realized that it would be much easier and far more practical for me to learn by hearing la lingua and knowing how it is used in every day situations.

June Challenge: Read One Chapter Daily

The book I chose to read this month is Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project. I find that it is most relevant to what I am doing, trying to keep a resolution for the entire year. Through this book, I learned:

April and May Challenge: No News But No Quitting

So I never updated you after the first month of my challenge but that doesn't mean I'm quitting. In fact I'm trying to catch up to my June challenge which is to read one chapter daily. Of course I can read more but they say change is more effective when you do it little by little every day. In any case, I wasn't reading every day this month but I am now in the middle of a book I started reading just these past few days.

I haven't completely forgotten about my April and May challenges: to wake up at 6 am on weekdays and to listen mindfully to other people. I will have to restart those resolutions unfortunately. Don't you just hate it when you have to be accountable for something? I've already listed all these excuses in my mind: I was on vacation or I had to focus on life rather than blog about these silly resolutions I never make! That's probably why people hate being accountable, because it's effective. Now I have to write to whoever reads this (if there's anyone!) that I failed the past two months. But then again, what do you do when you fail? Try and try again.

I've also announced this challenge in a separate blog. Ugh, more accountability! I hope this is worth it.

March Challenge: Regular Yoga Practice

I discovered yoga when I was miserably employed in a hotel. Most of the time, I connected spoiled guests to our housekeeping department. Okay, not everyone was spoiled. I got all kinds of guests. I was happy to encounter respectful and happy customers. Usually at the end of the month, some suppliers gave me hell because our Accounting department wouldn't answer their calls. I occassionally got calls from a douchey previous employee who arrogantly berated me for transferring him to his desired department twice without talking to him first. Life was toxic and I knew I needed to release all that bad stuff. So I searched for yoga places online and at that time it was hard to find any. Luckily, Ananda Marga had a website and thus my yoga journey began. We practiced in an old house twice a week and always meditated at the end of the session. There were days when we had vegetarian dinners and wellness sessions. Their focus was meditation and yoga. This was not a studio of competitive yuppies trying to out do each other on the mat.  I was comfortable and people were welcoming. Sadly, I had to move out of the city and move back to my hometown. I searched for a teacher there and found one but my practice became inconsistent. There were only two of us taking her class and the other one was my sister!

The List That Will Change My Life (Or Yours)

A blog post from zenhabits.net inspired me to write this post. Leo Babauta has one of the best blogs out there so be sure to check that gold mine out. In the said entry, he suggests starting one habit every month. There's a program created to guide you in every step of the way for $10/month which may be great for a lot of people but I figured I will try the concept without spending so I'm sharing my list with you. If I am a woman of my words, we shall find out after 30 days! I promise to write at least two posts about every item on the list. It sounds like a tall order but it will be for my own good. You can share your own list too and let me know if we can be accountability buddies!