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La Dolce Vita

January 2, 2004 by Divina Cucina

Since Under the Tuscan Sun, everyone has been dreaming about the Dolce Vita  here in Tuscany. Well .. wake up and smell the expresso!

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I think that Frances Mayes writes very poetically and does create visions of Tuscany that make you dream.. but in between the lines there there are some nightmares too!

Living here is much different than being in vacation.

Besides the fact that the dollar is down about 40%, and those on a budget are really feeling the squeeze..

it just isn’t easy! Every little thing you need to do becomes a major task.. and I have been here for 20 years! Luckily I have my husband, who is Florentine, to take care of the dalily headaches for me.

We have a deal, I am the breadwinner in the family and he takes care of all the Italian redtape!

So far so good..

But Sunday night, just for toppers, our house was broken into, with us in it!

Luckily nothing was taken ( one of the benefits of being poor!) and I really didn’t get scared until the next day. Hopefully that was our one experience..and we got off easy! But how did they get upstairs without us hearing them.. oh well..

I am not working much this month so we can get a new iron door made to avoid this happening again.

As for food.. we celebrated new year’s with some Gravlax(marinated with some Tequila from our recent trip) roast leg of lamb with oven roasted potatoes, and fabulous chocolates from Amedei, their meditation selection, and some Moet Chandon!

Takes the edge off the day

Buon anno a tutti!

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Filed Under: Life in Italy Tagged With: reality check, tuscan life

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Judy Witts Francini

Originally from California; Tuscany has been my home since 1984. I found the city of Florence to hold all my passions, food, wine, art all in one place. When I am not in Tuscany, I am often found in Sicily, my other favorite place to be. Always searching for recipes to share and exploring for the guides I write to my favorite cities for food and wine.

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