Kristen Suzanne

Back in Italy – Still Working on Dual Citizenship (Italian. Expat Life.)

September 22, 2019 By Kristen Suzanne

Finally, we’re back in Italy as of a few weeks ago. And, we’re really happy about it.

We had to leave for the summer due to visa reasons. Well, Kamea and I didn’t have to leave because we’re in the middle of applying for our Italian dual citizenship, but Greg can’t apply until I get mine (as my spouse).

Therefore, we had to leave because he couldn’t stay.

Obvs, I was eager to get back. Italy is amazing. A little piece of my heart (or, rather, a big piece) was back in Italy while we traveled to Ireland and Bulgaria during the summer months.

And since we’ve been traveling like nomads pretty much since March of 2018, I’m a little eager to settle down. Now that we’re here, we’re doing just that.

Update On Our Italian Dual Citizenship Goal

It’s progressing nicely. For starters we’ve been able to get permission from the police headquarters here for Greg to stay while we’re processing my citizenship papers. That’s a relief because we don’t need to come and go anymore from Italy.

The other amaze-balls thing is that my paperwork continues to progress, getting the necessary approvals and verifications along the way. We’ve only one more approval to secure – the town where my great grandfather was born. They need to verify that he was indeed born there, even though they already sent us a copy of his birth certificate for the application. Mamma Mia!

Meanwhile, we’re living up the life in Italy. Indulging in the food, embracing the culture, and taking courses.

This picture pretty much sums it up regarding Italian community culture. Yes, please.

Italian Cooking

Only in Italy… a squashed clove of garlic on the sidewalk.

I’m back in the kitchen and I’m experimenting with Italian cuisine (yes, that means pasta!). Funny thing, though, as a kid growing up with pasta I would eat a huge plate of it, then find myself noshing on the stuff cold from the fridge in the middle of the night. But in Italy, a serving of pasta is not quite like that.

It’s smaller.

So, I bought a scale to serve proper amounts. I also bought a nice pasta pot. You know, a pot with a strainer insert for making pasta? I thought it made sense to buy one.

Well, when I was walking home with my prized possession last week I bumped into my Ukrainian neighbor (they’ve lived in Italy 11 years).

Always eager to practice my Italian, I told her I bought a pasta pot.

She asked why?

6 Reasons Why I Like Bansko, Bulgaria for Summer Travel

August 12, 2019 By Kristen Suzanne

We are spending July and August in a small and beautiful ski village town in Bulgaria. The name of the town is Bansko. Here’s my brain-dump on Bansko, and the 6 reasons why I like coming here for summer time.

Why Bansko, Bulgaria?

For most people, Bansko is a winter destination, with its popularity reigning as a nice ski destination.

However, it turns out that summer is a great time to enjoy Bansko, too. And although people do come here during the summer (there are a number of attractions noted below), it’s not crowded in the summer. It’s pretty darn perfect.

When we arrived in Bansko, I was cautiously optimistic. There are so many immediate notable things: the cleanliness, the splendor of the beautiful mountains all around, the walkability of the town, the friendliness of the people, the ski-village-like design of the buildings, the flowers… so many flowers, especially roses. I shouldn’t have been surprised by the plethora of roses, as I quickly recalled “Bulgarian rose” from my beauty product mental list. Turns out, I’d been using products featuring Bulgarian roses since I was a teenager.

So, this is where it comes from? Duh. :)

My immediate fascination aside, I waited a couple of weeks before making an opinion. You see, I have a knack for falling in love with a place, shouting its praises, and then seeing more warts than I want later.

Caffe Shakerato in Italy’s 100 Degree Heat – Italian Expat Life

July 24, 2019 By Kristen Suzanne

Back to Italy!

Kamea and I had to make an impromptu trip back to Italy, from our time in Bansko, Bulgaria, to work on our dual citizenship stuff.

However, it’s friggin’ hot in Italy right now.

Like 100 degrees F. And humid. And no air conditioning.

Most places and homes don’t have air conditioning because I don’t think this intense heat is normal.

Basically, we’re hot as f-ck 🥵 here.

But, I’m in Italy, and somehow that makes it seem less hot? It’s still La Dolce Vita.

You know something else that makes the heat more tolerable though?

Caffe Shakerato! Classic italian iced espresso.

This refreshing drink of espresso is the ticket to cooling off in this blistering heat. As my new Italian friend says about the heat, è bruttissimo (it’s very ugly). But with a caffe shakerato in hand, it’s not too bad.

So, Kamea and I have been popping into the few cafes with air conditioning, and cooling ourselves down, each with a caffe shakerato.

The classic recipe calls for a liquid cane sugar which beautifully offsets the bitter espresso. That’s how Kamea likes her caffe shakerato – decaf, too. I typically get mine senza zucchero (without sugar). The espresso is freshly brewed and then shaken with ice (and sugar, if that’s your jam). Strained into a glass. Enjoyed.

Or, Kamea gets a caffe shakerato and Mama gets a spritz!

Going Blonde in Italy – Italian Expat Life

July 22, 2019 By Kristen Suzanne

Time for blonde.

I’ve been going back and forth for a long time trying to decide whether or not to put blonde highlights back into my hair. Having been blonde most of my young adult years I feel a longing for that youth I guess.

My first highlights were at age 11. It was a very exciting moment to get my hair done at the same salon as my mom.

I stayed blonde for many years, testing out some other colors here and there, always going back blonde.

I met my husband, Greg, as a blonde. Then, I got into the natural non-toxic thing and decided to go brunette. A phase, like torn Levis.

I did that for a couple of years, before I wanted to experiment with blonde again. I was feeling too blah with brown hair. I slowly added highlights until I mostly blonde after a few years.

Going frugal.

Then to save money, I went natural. Again. Even so far as to cut my own hair, which I didn’t realize was a mistake until I wore it down one day, eschewing my normal bun.

Now though, again, I’m missing the light color.

So, I decided to get highlights in Italy. But I wanted specific highlights. I don’t see a lot of women walking around with highlights here so I don’t even know if the people in the salon have a lot of experience with it. I like platinum blonde highlights. I like them to be very light. I’m not a fan of highlights that are too golden or yellow with my skin tone. And I definitely don’t want brassy highlights.

Google Translate at the salon.

So I typed into Google translate something to the effect of how I’d like to get my hair highlighted. I said in Italian, reading from Google translate, basically that I want them very light blonde. I do not want gold. I do not want brassy. I do not want orange. I like them very light.

They looked at Google Translate on my phone, and then they looked at me. The look on their faces made me question whether my translation was clear. I wondered whether the word “highlight” came through Google translate appropriately.

I’m Homesick for Italy – Italian Expat Life

July 16, 2019 By Kristen Suzanne

It didn’t take long… I’m homesick for Italy.

Within the first few days of our trip to Ireland I was missing Italy with all of my heart.

This is a very different experience than I had after leaving the US. I was gone from the United States for 5 months when my brother-in-law asked me what I missed about the states. I didn’t hesitate before sincerely replying, “nothing” (save for family, of course).

Here I’m gone from Italy less than a week, and I’m craving all things Italian – cappuccino, spritz, our community at the local bar, proper pizza, loud neighbors, and more. That feeling of belonging.

So, there are a few things I’m doing to ease the heartache.

A Month in Ireland – Our Expat Life

July 14, 2019 By Kristen Suzanne

We are in Ireland for the month of June. We kind of had to. Well, specifically, we had to leave Italy because Greg doesn’t yet have a permesso to stay there. Therefore we have to abide by the Schengen Area rule that basically states you can be in Italy (and much of western Europe) three out of every six months.

Ireland is not included in that Schengen Area so we took a trip there. Unfortunately, I’m not a master at planning trips and seem to find myself booking things making too many assumptions. Things like, oh it will be easy to get to.

Boy was I wrong for the Ireland trip.

When looking for places outside of the Schengen Area I looked at Ireland. Searching AirBnB brought me to a groovy-as-hell, super old schoolhouse for rent. For cheap! (I know why it was cheap now – the remote location.) But the reviews promised a really neat experience.

I never considered the travel to and from. I wrongly assumed that Ireland would be as easily connected by trains as I found the UK.

Well, long story short, our travel day from Italy to Ireland included the following…

Taxi to the train station in Rovigo
Train from Rovigo to Bologna
Bus from Bologna train station to the Bologna airport
Flight from Italy to Ireland
Bus from from Dublin to Wexford.
Bus from Wexford to Ballinaboola.
Car ride from Ballinaboola to Ballyhack – the super itty bitty fishing village in southeast Ireland.

Not a cheap travel day, nor very fun. So many timelines to keep straight. What was I thinking? Well, I know… I didn’t realize all that would be involved in getting from Rovigo to Ballyhack. Plus… two huge suitcases, backpacks, purses and my husband who can’t carry the suitcases because of his foot and hip, leaving me to move them up and down the stairs when the elevators aren’t working. At least I got my workout in that day.

Back in Italy – Still Working on Dual Citizenship (Italian. Expat Life.)