Gaudi Park Geuel Project Barcelona from Park Geuel Park Geuel Entrance Park Sculpture Park Sculpture Park Passageway Park Apartment Structure Gaudi Residence Gaudi Garden Sculpture Gaudi Garden Sculpture Gaudi La Pedrera Building La Pedrera Exterior La Pedrera Courtyard La Pedrera Staircase La Pedrera Staircase La Pedrera Apartment Hall La Pedrera Apartment Study La Pedrera Apartment Window La Pedrera Apartment Dining Room La Pedrera Bathroom Bathroom Accessory La Pedrera Attic Roof Arches La Pedrera Roof Supports La Pedrera Roof Vents and Chimneys La Pedrera Roof Vents La Pedrera Roof Line Gaudi Loveseat Gaudi Settee Gaudi Chair Picasso Museum Stairs 4 Cats Restaurant – Picasso 4 Cats Restaurant 4 Cats Restaurant Interior Royal Palace Square Entrance Royal Palace Square Main Market...

Basilica East Facade East Towers East Towers East Facade Detail Crucifixion Detail Exterior Sculptures Exterior Sculptures Basilica Nave Basilica Interior Basilica Interior Basilica Interior Basilica Interior Basilica Stained Glass Basilica Ceiling Basilica Nave Toward Altar Basilica Altar and Crucifix Crucifix Detail Basilica Interior Basilica Organ Pipes Basilica Tower Stairway Basilica Tower Interior Basilica Workman Basilica Workman Basilica Workman Basilica Tower...

Toledo, Spain Toledo Cathedral Toledo Cathedral Nave Toledo Cathedral Choir and Ceiling Toledo Cathedral Choir Toledo Cloister Toledo Cloister Toledo Synagogue Constructed By Moor-Islamic Craftsman Toledo Town Wall Gate Seville Cathedral Giralda Tower From Royal Palace Carriage Entrance Seville Giralda Tower Seville Cathedral – Night Seville Cathedral Gothic Detail Seville Cathedral Gothic Detail Seville Cathedral Side Isle Seville Cathedral Side Isle Seville Cathedral Transept Seville Cathedral Transept Seville Cathedral Choir Seville Cathedral High Altar Tomb- Christopher Columbus Plaza of Spain Plaza of Spain Tower of Gold on the Guadalupe River Triana Bridge Triana Bridge Detail Guadalupe River...

The Alhambra in Granada Alhambra from Generalife Palace from Generalife Nasrid Sultan’s Palace Courtyard Nasrid Palace Portico Moorish Arches Archway to the Courtyard Sultan’s Palace Entrance Hareem above a palace entrance Sultan’s Palace Interior Decorative Entrances Nasrid Archway Toward Alhambra from Generalife From Alhambra toward Abyazin Moorish Quarter Alhambra wall tower Alhambra Wall Alhambra wall at night Alhambra Gate Sultan’s Summer Palace Seville – Real Alcazar Wall Real Alcazar – Royal Palace Place Wall Entrance To Royal Palace Courtyard Palace Interior Courtyard Moorish-style courtyard Palace courtyard Courtyard portico To the King’s private garden Palace Interior Courtyard Palace stairway Moorish ceiling tiles Visiting...

Trieste, Italy – Hotel View Trieste – Grand Canal Trieste – Grand Piazza Arlene Giving Joyce Encouragement Beauty and Bronze Nova Gorica, Slovenia Station Slovenian Rail Vintage Train On Slovenian Rail At Lake Bled, Slovenia Lake Bled Flat Bottom Boat Lake Bled Transportation Oarsman Underway St. Peter’s Church, Bled Church at Night Bled Castle above the lake Slovenian Hay Drying Rack In the Slovenian Julian Alps Julian Alps Castle Julian Alpine Valley Alpine Crests Toward Slovenian-Austrian Border Alpine Slopes High Alpine meadow Alpine Farm Headwater of Soca River Alpine Sport Training Complex Ljubljana, Slovenia Ljubljana toward castle Ljubljana River and Castle Ljubljana Square Ljubljana City Center City Center at dusk Ljubljana Castle Ljubljana Castle Roof Line Ljubljana Castle Courtyard Courtyard at night Ljubljana from Castle From Castle toward our apartment Toward our apartment Apartment- Top floor More planning underway On the street where we lived Our street at night The three bridges Spanish Orchestra Concert Square at night City Hall Square City Hall Courtyard Ethnic street musician Impromptu practice Street jazz combo In the groove Visiting Italians Bridge sculpture Bronze sculpture Bronze sculpture At the Dragon Bridge At the Dragon Bridge Urban courtyard Ljubljana River walk River walk cafes Ljubljana Open Market Market food stall Local favorite preparation Food preparation Flower stall Flower stall Fresh fruit stand Shopping Shopping Ready to party Street wedding celebration Bride partying A bride’s assist Wine and Ljubljana At the three bridges Three bridges at sunset From the river Ljubljana at night Dusk on the...

NEW YEAR’S PERSPECTIVE 2016

By Larry & Arlene on Jan 10, 2016 in Blog | 9 comments

NEW YEAR’S PERSPECTIVE 2016 I am spending a post-Christmas and New Years afternoon in our comfortable Italian apartment reflecting on the year that has just passed. This my third attempt at a synopsis of recollections and impressions at the year’s end since we arrived in Ascoli Piceno two and a half ago years ago. On a day in late June 2013, we stepped out of a hired van with a driver that brought us from Rome’s Fiumicino airport to the start of a new life in Ascoli Piceno. On arrival in Ascoli, the sights had a vaguely familiar look. But that slight sense of familiarity was based on a remote, two-dimensional, visual-only impression derived from hours spent absorbing Google Earth images. And now we were standing in a mid-afternoon light rain in the three-dimensional reality of Ascoli Piceno. Neither one of us had ever set foot on the ground in Ascoli before that moment. On that drizzly June day, we arrived in the historic center of a town in the middle of Italy where we had chosen to live. We had left the country in which we were born and had spent our lives being intimately involved with family, friends and demanding careers. Moving to Italy had been no impetuous decision. We had thought long and hard about it. There had been a whole host of issues to be resolved. But as each issue was tackled, it seemed to strengthen our resolve that together, we were doing something important. At this juncture, a reasonable question to ask is how we are now feeling about this major change. As time has gone on, we are becoming increasingly comfortable here in Ascoli. So we still feel convinced this is the right thing for us to be doing. We also have an awareness that this experience seems to be changing us. As a result, I find myself wondering how comfortable it would be for me to now return to live in the country I came from. Seeking new experiences was a major factor in motivating us to becoming Expatriates. For the first year or so in Ascoli, we were very engaged in the settling-in process. Not that there isn’t more progress yet...