It's Never A Dull Moment In Guardia Sanframondi

The best thing about living in Guardia Sanframondi is I really tune in and follow my intuition, you never know where it will lead me.  This morning, I woke up with a hunch to take a walk and see what the morning had in store for me.  I really enjoy this time of day when it's still fresh out and the heat of the sun is still a couple hours away.   I'm discovering my rhythm to connect to my soul's desires and feel my body move.  I really enjoy my morning walks.  I feel rested and fulfilled and I see things with fresh eyes this morning.  Also, I finished a tax return last night, so feeling a lot less stressed!

I pause to take a photo of the cobblestone street a little ways down from my home in the historical center.  I can smell the flowers and clean laundry hanging from the balconies. Yesterday was Corpus Domini, there were beautiful chalk drawings left on the ground but the flowers had mostly blown away with the scent of incense from the procession.

 I notice people are sprucing up their homes and gardens are in full bloom.  It's the beginning of summer and the town seems more cared for, more loved.   Everyong is very cheerful this morning, greeting me, as usual, "Buongiorno, come stai?"  asking for directions and me struggling to explain, afraid to lead them on the wrong path.   But there really aren't any wrong paths, just different ways of getting to the same place, or somewhere else all together.

In the piazza, there is a truck selling flowers and one selling fruit.  I stop to inhale the sweet fragrance of peaches and garlic, normally not at the same time, but...when in Guardia....   I decide to buy some flowers for my balcony and join the beautification of the town.  I choose pink geraniums.  I want 2 plants.   The vendor wants to sell me the whole lot for 14 euros, a savings of 1 euro.  "But I don' t want all of them, just 2 please."   He offered to take them to my home for me.  "But what will I do with them all?"   I pick out 2 nice ones and pay him the 5€ and start to walk home.

Another neighbor stops me.  She has a home to sell and hopes I might know some Americans who would be interested.  It's so well located next to everything but she prefers to live in her house down in the historical center because her daughter has the place upstairs and she likes to be near her.  But her daughter lives in Lake Cuomo and she only comes to Guardia for about a month every summer.  "So why not live there when your daughter is here and during the rest of the year live here where you are close to shops?" I ask.  "Because then I have to pay taxes on 2 places." she explains.   "But you have to pay taxes anyway!"   I tell her I will come back later and take some more photos to post on the blog.

I continue home and come upon another woman I know sitting at the bus station, she's just sitting there, as usual, she's not waiting for the bus.  She sees my flowers and gestures toward the dead plant in a terra cotta planter that someone left at the side of the road, offering me to take it home and nurse it back to life.   Then I hear  "NOOOOO, Alecia" from the guy who usually sits at the next bench.  "Che dici?!" I ask , what are you saying?!   "My friend is taking that plant, you can't take it."  "Ok Ok, Don't worry, I won't take it."  I don't adopt dying plants anyway. 

 I return home to place my flowers in their box and pick up some documents I need to take to the post office.  But first, a cappuccino and a pause to write.... 

Italy's Witches And Medicine Women and My Birthday

How did I get here?  Why Guardia?  A question I turned over and over in my mind after I took possession of my first property. 

I reseached the "herstory" of the Janare, the witches who were really medicine women using ancient traditions to heal.  Unfortunately many were deemed devil workers and burned at the stake.  Attrocities against women and healing our divine feminine nature have been huge themes in my life and I was drawn to Her energy in the hills, valleys and rivers.   This started me looking for clues to try to understand my big question... Why Guardia?  That's when I discovered Karyn Crisis....   http://www.karyncrisisheals.com/

I felt there was a bigger purpose for me behind being led to this magical land.  Seeking answers, I found Karyn's website.  She was a medium, artist, musician and translated Italian books about the stories of the Italian medicine women and their cures.  I was intrigued and immediately contacted her, maybe a reading would shed some light on my greater purpose.    We connected right away and she could sense a deeper spiritual meaning for me.  She suggested I meditate and write, continuing to ask God and my spirit guides for signs and clues. 

A few months later, Karyn contacted me.  She was coming to Italy to write a book on the ancient traditions of Italian women healers and asked if she could stay in my spare room and if I could help her organize a driver and meetings with local healers.    Little did we know, this is how my little tour business would begin.

I was fortunate to tag along with her to Benevento, Guardia and San Lupo searching for clues of the old traditions and connecting with women who were using local herbs, olive oil and prayer to cure and heal.   It was a magical experience for me.  Karyn went on and wrote and published her book Italy's Witches and Medicine Women and we stayed in touch meeting in San Francisco from time to time.   Then she went on to create  The Golden Bough School  offering online classes on mediumship and healing remedies she learned in Italy.   And I went on to create My Casa in Guardia Sanframondi, an apartment rental on Airbnb and My Sweet Life in Italy, a boutique tour company  for travelers who want to experience authentic life in rural Guardia.

We collaborated again on my birthday last Friday when Karyn brought her first group of young women students to Italy and she asked me to organize a full day in Guardia.  We did it! and it was magical.  12 young women descended on Guardia, we met at Dolce Pasticceria Dolci Delizie for a typical Italian breakfast,  cappuccini e cornetti.

After breakfast we took a walk down to Piazza Castello where we began our guided tour of the historical center.  Rossella was our guide and her daughter, Vera, translated for us as we navigated the charming historical center and told stories of the Janara and Streghe that Rossella remembered from her childhood.   We visited the Castello, Ave Gratia Plena and the Butterfly museum, a beautiful metaphor for our theme of transformation and change as the butterfly emerges from the chysalis.

After our stroll through the historical center, we visited Cantine Foschini where Adelina prepared a feast of typical homemade dishes for lunch and we celebrated my birthday with a beautiful homemade cake.

After lunch we had a moment with the sweet nonna Filomena who invited us into her lovely home to witness the olive oil remedy to heal malocchio.

The rest of the day we visited another healer and took a trip up to the mountain to surround ourselves in the beautiful nature around Guardia.

If you are planning to visit Italy, do plan to spend a couple days off the beaten path to visit authentic Italy.  I can plan guided day trips or longer excursions for you in and around Guardia Sanframondi which is about an hour and half from Naples, Pompeii, and the Amalfi Coast....and more!    I have a 10 day cooking and culinary trip comming up soon.  Stay tuned for stories about our exceptional experiences.

My Sweet Life

…When I finally took possession of my flat, the question still lingered….how did I get here?  Why Guardia?  A question I turned over and over in my mind.  It wasn't like I had a  burning desire my whole life to have a place in Italy.  In fact, I had a love affair with France since I was a little girl.  I thought, hoped, dreamed of having a part time pied a terre in Paris or the French countryside and for 6  years, I lived in France part time, created a tour company called Find Your Self in France and my story was published in the book My Paris Story.  But my dream to live in France didn't materialize the way I imagined and I was able to let go of what I thought I wanted for what actually took form.  My Casa in Guardia Sanframondi.

I didn't make an informed, logical decision to move to Italy.  I didn't do all the practical things I usually do to make a big decision.  No, I didn't travel around Italy with a checklist of what I wanted in a place to live and make a list of pros and cons.  Living near the sea would have definitely been on that list!  But Guardia is in the hills of beautiful wine country and the closest beach is over an hour away.   I always say, I didn't choose Guardia, Guardia chose me.  And I followed.  When you come to Guardia, you get what your soul needs.  I hear similar stories from other expats from different parts of the US and the world who heard their calling and also followed.  

I've had plenty of experience following my soul's longing, my soul and intuition are more highly tuned to what is needed in my life than my logical brain and I'm comfortable making important decisions on a hunch, trusting that my intuition knows better than I do.   My soul knows what it needs to grow and, my soul needed to grow in love; self-love.

For the first half of my life, money, finances and career were the important areas for my soul to learn, especially so I could care for my family as a single mother.  So I listened to my father's advice and became a CPA.  I wasn't fulfilled with this work but it paid the bills and allowed me to be available to my two sons as they were growing up.  But my passion to help women prosper spurred me to create Money Chi (Moulala), a coaching practice to help myself and others cure their relationship with money.   After successfully raising my sons, (they are both doctors and married!) this goal seemed to have come to some completion.  Its not that I created a lot of reserve resources for myself, a goal I would have connected with financial success and independence, but I have created a beautiful life where I have enough.

 At the age of 50, when my younger son, Sam, went off to medical school in another city.  I found myself in a deep depression.  Both my sons were living far away and I was lost.  What I needed was to find love; self-love.  And I found Guardia and many experiences to grow my capacity for love.   I  tuned to the Divine Feminine energy from the hills, the rivers, the nature which called to me quietly but powerfully and I heeded her call.... I now have the freedom and flexibility to live the life I want and follow my soul's calling, attracting all I desire.  For this I am eternally grateful and that is why I started My Sweet Life in Italy,  to share my love for the rural, authentic part of Italy I now call home.