life is good, part 2.

we've been having some incredible early-fall weather the past few days! it's been so refreshing.

wednesday was a rough day at school, i was in a bad mood and the kids were obnoxious, only making my irritability worse.  on the way home from school as the tram began down the mountain into trieste and R was looking through some of his 2nd graders' artwork, i literally teared up.  the pictures done by the 2nd graders were priceless, and the weather was perfectly crisp and clear providing a magnificent view of the city running into the sea.  the combination of R's simple reminder of the happy and non-stressful parts of teaching with the breathtaking views brought the biggest smile to my face -- in that moment, all i could think about was how happy i am and how much i love where i am and what i'm doing here.  i'm so lucky to be working with such incredible students and teachers every day AND to be able to take in the most spectacular scenery while commuting.  the views during the entire tram ride (30 minutes) silenced my inner monologue, helped me unwind from the day, and reminded me how incredible fall weather is -- fall, you are my new favorite season.

below are some pictures lisa took during the sunset on wednesday (gorgeous)

yes, this is my commute home from work.

more pictures from gorgeous weather last week (at barcola after school on thursday): 

the sunset at barcola -- castello di mira mare is jutting out of the mountain on the right

view back toward trieste during the sunset

and today! saturday! it was the perfect relaxing saturday.  the weather forecast was for heavy rain all day but thankfully it cleared up around noon and turned into a beautiful fall afternoon!

i relaxed all morning at my apartment, did some reading on the balcony (which turned into a nap in the sunshine) and then late afternoon headed downtown with K for the food festival! i feel like there are food festivals every weekend here.... not that i'm complaining at all!  but the highlight of this one was finding cheddar cheese!!! K was beyond excited (she's from wisconsin) and together, she and i bought an obscene amount of cheese. 

we had coffees on the canal and the clear sky and beginning of the sunset created the most amazing reflection in the water

and the sky continued to look incredible as the sun set

we walked home via castello di san guisto to get a good view of the city at night and it was beautiful

i love my city. 

and then, as i was winding down for bed, i called my mom. she was post-game tailgating in cville after a uva win over vmi (wahoowah!) with so many of my friends.  she passed the phone around and i got to say hi to everyone! best saturday i could have asked for :)

xx!