It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

Welcome back everyone! Things are going really well here in Italy. This may be somewhat of a random post, but I wanted to share a couple pictures and videos with you. Sorry, but not every post can be an exciting story of running to the bank or experiencing the nightlife in Italy. However, since many of my posts are stories of recent events, I wanted to give you a nice visual to accompany my exciting stories. Unfortunately, to my surprise it has been raining here quite a bit. Since my previous two trips to Italy have been in the summer, I wasn’t really expecting such cold weather with so much rain. Thankfully, today was a really nice day so I managed to snap a couple of shots I’d like to share. I would have taken more, but the batteries in my camera died!

The area of town I am staying in is fairly new compared to many surrounding medieval hill towns such as Monteprandone. Hopefully, I will have the chance to visit one or two of these towns. I am currently located in Centobuchi, Italy which is actually a subdivision of Monteprandone. The two pictures below were taken from the balcony of my bedroom. If you are interested you can also check out a really cool Google Maps street view by clicking here.clicking here. (Just give it a couple seconds to load.)

Although these are not my videos (I found them on Youtube), they both give some really nice images so you can have a sense on my surroundings. The first is a short video which shows some nice aerial shots of Monteprandone and some streetviews in Centobuchi.

The next is a nighttime driving tour of Centobuchi, Porto d’Ascoli and San Benedetto Del Tronto. The video is high quality and has some good music playing in the background so it’s pretty fun to watch. The female narrator’s Italian speech also has a nice ring to it. The last couple minutes include some good views of the “lungomare” (Beachfront Promenade) of San Benedetto Del Tronto, which is easily my favorite nearby city. It has the most shops, restaurants and nightlife. San Benedetto lies directly on the Adriatic Coast and is known as a summertime resort town.

In addition, you can also view a short video of still pictures from San Benedetto del Tronto. Now that I found out this is only 10 minutes away by bus, I will certainly be spending more time here.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this little “giro” (tour) through Centobuchi and some of the nearby towns. On a final note I would like to introduce you to one of my new friends. Her name is Ilary and she is a Chihuahua. She’s a really friendly dog and loves to hang out whenever I’m around. While I’m eating she likes to stand on her hind legs and puts her two front paws on my leg. It’s actually pretty funny. The only problem is she barks. Not only does she bark, she barks a lot. It’s pretty much non stop and sometimes makes you go crazy. Nonetheless, I like having her around. So I’ve included a message from her also.

In case you were wondering, she’s saying “thanks for stopping by, and see you soon!”