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June 2019

Show Them You’re Serious

June and July are the busiest home sale months of the year. When inventory is in short supply and you may be competing with other offers, it is important to show the seller you’re serious. Make your offer look as good as possible because you may not get the chance to make or accept a counter-offer. Put yourself in the seller’s shoes. Your home has just gone on the market.… Read More »Show Them You’re Serious

A Trip to Italy (and maybe some runs) Part 13, Arrivederci Italy!

Our Ride We were up before the alarm. The anticipation of a long trip home sort of weighed on us as we headed down the scary elevator to meet our “driver.”There had been a little bit of a joke about us opting for the car instead of the taxi. Well, not when we hit the curb. There was our guy in a black suit driving a black frickin’ Mercedes Benz.… Read More »A Trip to Italy (and maybe some runs) Part 13, Arrivederci Italy!

A Trip to Italy (and maybe some runs) Part 12, When in Rome, Time to Go Home

Grabbing shade at Monte train If it’s Monday, it must be time to head to Rome. A bit of a sore knee made a run a lousy idea so I went for a walk instead. We were pretty much packed from the night before and we kind of knew that this would be the close to final packing as we had very limited time in Rome for such things.Breakfast was… Read More »A Trip to Italy (and maybe some runs) Part 12, When in Rome, Time to Go Home

A Trip to Italy (and maybe some runs) Part 11, Monterosso!

Morning in Monterosso Al Mare The day began with a rooster crowing at about 6:30. I guess even the rosters sleep in in Italy. My job was simple: get up, get dressed, and hit the run down the hill. Monterosso is actually two places, Monterosso and Monterosso Al Mare. The first is South of Al Mare and a little smaller. That’s where our hotel was situated. While smaller than Al… Read More »A Trip to Italy (and maybe some runs) Part 11, Monterosso!

A Trip to Italy (and maybe some runs) Part 10, Hello Coastline!

Chiara’s Car Fully Loaded Note:   You will notice that Blogger began acting up halfway through this post (not wrapping text around pictures). After completely wasting 30 minutes trying to cure its actions, I just gave in. Hope it’s not too annoying.It was time to say goodbye to the Villa and head for the coast. I confess to looking forward to the move mostly because the villa, while wonderful, was boring.… Read More »A Trip to Italy (and maybe some runs) Part 10, Hello Coastline!

Don’t Leave Home Without…

You’ve been planning this trip for some time and almost every detail has been considered…or has it? Have you thought about how to protect your home while you’re out of town? What’s going to make sure that everything you left is still there in you return? Nothing could ruin a trip more than coming back to find out your home has been burglarized or worse. It makes sense to spend… Read More »Don’t Leave Home Without…

A Trip to Italy (and maybe some runs) Part 9, Lucca and my Mission

Cover me, I’m going inthru the Lucca Wall It was Friday (I didn’t miss this one). It was our last full day staying at the villa. I was on a mission.The day we walked the streets and shopped the shops of Lucca, we had seen some wonderful handmade pottery that nicely depicted the Tuscan countryside. This morning, I was going to combine two of my favorite things: running and doing… Read More »A Trip to Italy (and maybe some runs) Part 9, Lucca and my Mission

A Trip to Italy (and maybe some runs) Part 8, Firenze and Kevin’s Bag and Fish

“All Aboard” Today (Thursday) had three events on tap: a good run in town, a day trip to Firenze (Florence), and the second catered meal.The run was simple. I took the shortcut into town, spent most of the time running the flat streets of Camigliano, and came back via the long uphill road part. That road gets amazingly narrow at times and seems safer to run than it does to… Read More »A Trip to Italy (and maybe some runs) Part 8, Firenze and Kevin’s Bag and Fish

A Trip to Italy (and maybe some runs) Part 7, Siena

Two cute kids at Piazza del Campo The Flexi-plan became fully functional again today as it seemed that everyone had their own idea for how to spend the day. For Linda and me, we decided to take “Chiara’s Car” to Siena.Siena was first occupied by the Etruscans sometime between 900 and 400 BC. It has a long and somewhat checkered past. Far enough from Rome to be seen as a… Read More »A Trip to Italy (and maybe some runs) Part 7, Siena

A Trip to Italy (and maybe some runs) Part 6, Lucca and Me

The Walls of Lucca Unguided trips come in three types: the free for all, the tightly run ship, and the flexi-schedule. We were on the flexi. John had planned a few excursions and made them pillars of the itinerary, but at the same time there were some days that were wide open for individual variation. Today, Tuesday, was open.For most everyone, this meant a day to sleep in (wait, I… Read More »A Trip to Italy (and maybe some runs) Part 6, Lucca and Me