Haiku Sunday - Italy's Le Marche

This week's Haiku Sunday is an introduction to Italy's Le Marche region. This stunning region along the Adriatic Sea and held by the spiny Sybelline Mountains just west is one of the most compelling and least visited regions in Italy. This tip of the iceberg should get you all excited to visit. (Remember to click the photos to see full size)

Rolling wildflowers

along organic vineyards

make me smile quickly

Blue skies abounding

over a  seven sided

tower and no people

Looking back surprised

we only wanted to see

and not touch the goods

Invited to see

the world of a ship's crew was

squalor and still hope

He stood no taller

than a child of eleven

and made cheese daily

chilled but not cold

bracing then round offers a glimpse

into the soul of man

last night cheese in our hands

cool red wine from the glass jug

real discovery

Italy Top 5 Weekly Images (Rome)

Welcome to the newest feature on The Blissful Adventurer: Italy Top 5 Weekly Images (Rome). To kickoff our new segment we share images of an old friend: Rome.

I expect this Top 5 to get a little irreverent over time and in the near future I will solicit guest photos of Italy to share unique views of the world's most iconic country.

Stay tuned to the new TBA site for updated galleries, easier links, and as always great stories both fact and fiction about food, wine, and travel.

This was my first time back to St John Lateran in 20 years. The site did not disappoint.

The renowned and wonderfully talented Katie Parla sent us to this fabulous gelateria near the Circus Maximus. Simply called Il Gelato, you can find all the details on Katie's Rome for Foodies smart phone application. It is the latest and constantly updated guide to the best food in Rome.

This was one of those days when the sun was so brilliant and the sky so iridescent that even the dog shit on the street had a glow about it. I love the colors of Roman buildings and on this day they were showing off for locals and foreigners alike.

On a late night drive to shoot guerrilla photos we met this guy along a stoplight and had to grab an image. Note the red wheels and the glow of our car headlamps on the front of this classic Cinquecento

We will see you all next week here on Italy Top 5 Weekly Images and our journey in Le Marche

Haiku Sunday (Monday) - Post TBEX musings

TBA represented full speed at the Travel Bloggers Exchange Conference this weekend in Keystone, Colorado. I learned invaluable tools and tricks to this thing we all call home on the keys and I am confident my site will become easier to navigate. Some of you have asked where I was these few days and that warms my heart to know that ol' TBA may have been missed or that your annoyance levels may have subsided a bit and you just realized why. To that I offer Haiku Sunday on Monday Afternoon.

One carry-on only

and the choice was so simple

who needs clothing?

Amaro drunk on Monday

Mötley Crüe music at high volume

Hemingway proud day

beating ploughshares hard

stone and earth turned by muscle

gently resting for now

Roe, roe, roe my boat

down to Palermo town

warm long lunch and lust

Fishermen come home

to eat, sleep and copulate well

wives can't wait for them to leave

smoking kills I thought

as he asked if I wanted a cig

then he asked, "why not"?

Pre-Earthquake Lunch in Verona, Italy

In mid May Juliet and I visited our dear friends Nicolas and Giulia in Verona, Italy. These guys are master salad makers. Nick and I had gone down to the fruttivendolo (the fruit and vegetable shop) picked up killer lettuce, tomatoes, cukes, and a container of fresh mozzarella di bufala while the ladies relaxed in the modern apartment just a 15 minute walk from central Verona.

Of course, when we come to Verona we want Bresaola; the air dried beef roast that is one part texture of prosciutto and the other part flavor of jerked beef. When we arrived at the deli or salumeria where all the greatness was laid before us, we got our bresaola and then could not help but grab a handful of shaved mortadella with the requisite pistachios interspersed with the meat.

This is not your grandma's bologna they sell over on the boot. Mortadella here is just succulent (I hate that word, but it really is) and soft with a very lacy texture which holds the bits of nut in place and unfolds layer after layer of piggy part fatty yumminess.

When Nick and I got back, the table was being set as we showed off our goods. We told the girls how I almost stole some saffron at the deli because I had it in my hand and simply walked away. We went back in to pay and the woman behaved as if we were old friends making an honest and completely innocuous mistake. This is one of the reasons I love Italy. I can pretty much operate much like I did as a kid in a small town in Texas with "I'll pay you laters", "can I sit here for a minutes", and "oh yeah I owe you this from last weeks." There is a trust and belief that people will do the right thing in the day to day. Utopia, Italy is not and I am sure some of my readers will tell me about how the pizzeria in Florence ripped them off. I don't doubt it, I am simply saying in local culture, among residents, there is a code. I like this code and I believe in it.

After the walk, the stories, and the time to wash all the veggies, we were starving and this may be one of the reasons this was the best salad from our entire trip. It could also have been the lovely bottle of Pecorino (yes this is in fact a wine from Le Marche) from the brilliant bio-dynamic producer Aurora we enjoyed along with our lovely salad and salty meats.

Or it could have been this....

In the end, I am confident it was the quality of all the ingredients, the talents of our wonderful hosts, and a blessed day of conversation fueled by conviviality, mutual respect, and the overriding sense of curiosity and exploration that surrounded this gathering of Blissful Adventurers that made this lunch extraordinary. Somehow we took our grappa-soaked selves to a winery for a tasting later that day, then in the middle of the night, our very existences came into peril.

....to be continued

The Story of Michael and Juliet

Hello Blissful Readers,

This is Juliet and Michael together for our inaugural joint post. We wanted to feature Juliet's photos today as an introduction to her art and to bring our current readers into the life of a traveling nurse a bit. The photo above is perhaps the most compelling photo that either of us has ever taken. We were on a woman-powered work boat rowed by two amazing Venetian women (one a valiant ex-pat) when we came upon this bridge. Michael felt obliged to capture the rowers and Juliet simply took what the universe gave her. Even simply looking at the image on the iPhone 4s after the shot we both knew something had just happened. This is what is brilliant about photography; akin to a hole in one and perhaps even more rare is that shot that simply transcends the moment, the camera, and the photographer. This was one of those shots for Juliet and we had to share it with you all today.

Juliet is a traveling nurse. This means she works under contracts at hospitals across America (she is licensed in 26 states). When Michael sold his business and stopped working for them in 2011 Juliet left her position in Houston to travel together with Michael and create this Blissful Adventure. Juliet is specialized in cardiology and works in a procedural area know as the Cath Lab. These positions are very difficult to fill in the USA and there is a strong demand for travelers to fill immediate and seasonal needs in Cath Labs throughout the land. Juliet has proven to be very adaptable and she has now taken 4 assignments here in Colorado.

Last summer Michael and Juliet put 90% of their possessions into storage in Houston, sold 1 of their cars, and embarked on a journey of the unknown. 1 year later, The Blissful Adventure is a new entity with over 1500 subscribers and growing. Juliet and Michael have taken over 25,000 images together in Colorado, Asia, and Italy. Now, the goal is to launch a book by next spring, and to change locations again in September.

As a contract nurse, housing, travel expenses, and living expenses are subsidized by the employing agency. This kind of freedom without the burden of rent or mortgages allows Juliet and Michael the ability to be nimble, travel for extended periods out of the country, and to focus on building an audience for this blog and future releases.

While this all makes great sense, Juliet's job is far from glamorous and the horrors of seeing human beings so close to the edge everyday is a constant reminder that this life cannot be permanent. Michael and Juliet are working diligently to pursue their dreams all the while knowing that the life of travelers, at least in the career sense, is finite. These photos are evidence that something more creative is on the horizon for Juliet, and it will be beautiful.

Michael believes in Juliet's talent and his passion and joy would be to see her creating as a career each day. Of course, he could not be more proud of the amazing care she shows humanity and how she tirelessly and diligently offers her time to the cause of restoring quality of life to so many people each day.

Juliet and Michael met on Yahoo.com on December 10, 2006. Their first date was December 11. They have spent 5 nights apart since December 11, 2006. For many that might be a bit too much of someone but for these two it has remained one Blissful Adventure.