Tieske's Adventures

Ten days I spent in the Netherlands after my stay in Florence. Ten days filled with music, festivals, BBQ’s, a wedding and lots of love from friends and family. Yet, here I am, driving south again.  A two day journey This drive is different than a month ago. I’m driving through Switzerland instead of Austria on my way to Italy. But more importantly, this time I am not struggling with the question of "why I’m doing this". I’ve got my answer. If you know your “why”, your reasons for doing things, it is a lot easier to keep going, when things don’t always seem to go your way. While listening to podcasts, one quote resinates with me during this drive: “Don’t think about all the things you are feeling, just be glad to be here.”  It is about a 15 hour drive to Rome and the landscape is amazing. I don’t mind driving alone. In fact, I’ve learned to appreciate some alone time and found that I need it, to be fully present during social interactions. I guess that makes me...

After a short business trip to NYC last week, I got back to Florence. Ready for some adventures. During one of the Meetups in Florence I’ve met Caroline. She’s from Scotland, lives in Sydney and is visiting Florence for a month. To explore beyond the city of Florence, we decided to take a few morning trips through Tuscany.  Since I start working at 2PM, we've got all morning and a bit of the afternoon to do whatever we like. We jumped in the car to visit the most amazing places.  Most of the times we looked at the map to find a place with a “fun” name, and just go there. Not one of these places turned out to be disappointing. The region of Tuscany is lovely.  We spent some time in San Gimignano to walk around, enjoy wine and have (of course) some gelato. Tavernelle Val di Pesi proved to be a cute little town with gorgeous roads and a castle that cannot be found. The beaches in Rosignano Marrittimo made me think I am in the Caribbean, and the views in Livorno are n...