House and Table
There are many sayings and idioms about ‘home’. Home is where your heart is. Home is the nicest word there is. There’s no place like home.
An interesting curiosity, in Italian, there is no translation for ‘home’. At least in the sense that we define home. There is only ‘house’. This has perplexed me for years. The nearest translation is perhaps the nuance of ‘tavola’. The word table in the object sense, is ‘il tavolo’, but when your family and friends gather around a table to celebrate and enjoy a meal, it magically becomes ‘la tavola’. I believe this is the Italian version of a house becoming a home. The magic of closeness, open hearts, sharing, caring, enjoying each other’s company in a given space.
For our California selves, home is important and as an expat it is ever elusive. In the physical sense, it is where we lay our head and heart at night. But in the theoretical sense, it is where our family and friends are. It is where we share our selves and our heart.
After almost 7 years, we have left a very special place, our little village. But only in the physical sense. We have moved our belongs and where we lay our hearts at night to a new house. Two kilometers down the road is our new casetta, or small house, on a large plot of land with about 50 olive trees (we keep trying to count, but keep losing track) and 8 long rows of Sangiovese vines.
Of course there are many positives that excite us: Elliot has his own fenced yard (something he has not had since he was a puppy and as a senior he well deserves); we finally have a washing machine, a frig larger than a dorm-sized frig, and, hold for it, a dishwasher (I can feel my perplexed and confused American friends’ shock that we lived 6+ years sans these amenities); we can finally have our own garden; but most importantly, we can entertain in this space and make this house a home.
In our new casetta, once Spring rolls around, we look forward to sharing our new house with our local friends - American style BBQ most readily comes to mind, sunset apericena, and maybe even a traditional Sunday Brunch or two. Around the table we will enjoy this new house. We will make it a ‘home’, and perhaps turn our table into ‘una tavola’. Speriamo.
Follow our social as we share our new house and make it home. You can find us at the following Instagram handles: @thewanderingwestie @bellavitavacations @biciitalia
Want to come for a visit and have an authentic Tuscan vacay? Andiamo! Contact us today!
