Holidays

Last week we returned from a wonderful holiday on the Istrian Coast in Croatia and Northern Italy. It was the perfect end to a long, warm summer as next week it´s back to school for the boys. We stayed in Umag, Croatia for a week, spent a day in Rovinj and travelled home via Triest (Mira Mare), Grado and Udine, Italy. Having grown up in Australia, I LOVE SUMMER! And I´m so happy to have discovered Istria where you can spend lazy days at the beach, surrounded by nature and without thousands of people around. The most wonderful moments were at sunset...watching my boys - who are all grown up theses days, being kids again.

Italy

We have just arrived back from a wonderful holiday in the area around Lake Garda in Italy. It was so good to get away for a while...sun, water, relaxation and exploring were so enjoyed by all of us after the troubles that have marked our lives lately. We are soon leaving this much loved house behind us and moving to a nearby town where 2 of my children go to school - Bad St. Leonhard. We have found a large appartment there to rent and I am about to get started on painting the walls as they are all white...and that doesn´t even count as a colour as far as I´m concerned. We will have moved in by the 1st of October and although I´m really looking forward to living somewhere a little more livelier and practical than here and decorating and making a new start with Erich and the children, it is breaking my heart to leave this house. I have a song on my ipod - I have no idea who the artist is - and one line is "it will be just as quiet when I leave, as it was when I first got here"...time to go and make some noise somewhere new.

Adventure

"Life´s an Adventure" is the title of my second contribution to Swirly Girl´s 52 Figments.
How often do we daydream, making plans in our head which seem so realistic, close enough to touch but when we wake up and come back to the "real world" we let other people´s opinions and our own fears get in the way of fullfilling them. I am amazed by anyone who moves somewhere new to start a new life, leaving their old and familiar life behind to be with a new love or to start a new job. When I made these decisions in my own life I was young and carefree, open for anything new and I felt like I had nothing to lose, life was wonderful and the world was my oyster. Many years have passed since then but I can often feel the younger, carefree me wanting to break out, do something crazy so I feel really alive.
I have often dreamed about living in another country to experience a different life there...because of my love of simple interiors and the colour blue, Sweden has always been a favourite. Italy has so much history, wonderful food and a passion for all things loud and fun. Australia is a natural choice as I lived there for 20 years, from the age of 3 to 23 and the longer I am away, the more I remember only the good things and forget the frustrations. I am curious to know how life has changed there, if I idealise it too much and whether or not I would feel at home there. It wasn´t easy to grow up in a young country, with no real own identity, with parents who were themselves far from home and clinging to what they grew up with, their own morals and traditions. I never really found my own identity and it was comfortable to settle down here in Austria because everything seemed familiar to me. This summer my family and I are spending 5 weeks in Australia to celebrate my 40th Birthday and although a holiday isn´t the same as living there, it will definately be an adventure.
I do love Austria - although I am often ashamed of our politicians - I love the wonderful countryside, the history and the feeling of being right in the middle of Europe. I live in a beautiful village and we have 2 large cities only 1 hour´s drive away, Klagenfurt to the south-west and Graz to the east and it´s always an adventure for me to spend a day in the city, looking around in my favourite book shops and second hand stores, drinking milky coffee in a small café and buying home-decorating magazines to satisfy my addiction.
Crafting is an adventure too...when I work without a pattern, with only an idea in my head, I can never be really sure how the object will turn out.
Now that I´m writing about it I can see that adventure is everywhere...yes, LIFE`S AN ADVENTURE!