Ladies and gentlemen, this is the very first blog post of my life. The very first personal blog post of my life, since I have blogged before for work purposes. So I must say I’m rather excited!

And I’m writing this post on a day in which I have just come back to the islands from a quick nip over to the mainland – literally left Tuesday morning, and got back Wednesday afternoon. After spending months on the islands I find all the cars and traffic, the noise, the lights, the crowds, the shops, the bustle of the city a little overwhelming and I feel like a little alien!

I feel very privileged that I can get to and from the place where I live by helicopter. Travelling by helicopter always gives me a thrill! the wind created by the propellers messing up my hair, getting strapped in, the “wooooopsy!” feeling with the vertical takeoff…I could spend hours watching the sea and its sparkles, the shiny trail of the ships extending almost like stretchmarks across the blue, the sandy strip of land separating the Lesina lake, the busy world below with its cars, its tractors in the green-brown patchwork countryside of Capitanata, gaping stone quarries, villas with bright blue pools, then the city of Foggia with its tall buildings and urbanisation.

Occasionally there are tourists who are quite visibly on edge about the whole experience, particularly before they take off as it’s maybe their first time on board a helicopter. Then they tend to relax and get into the groove of it, and start taking pictures like there’s no tomorrow! Personally, I always find the trip too short, I enjoy it so much.

As I approached the islands from above today, I just thought that…the one thing that I find astonishing about these islands is that although I’ve been coming on holiday here every year since I was seven years old, each time I arrive I’m left breathless by the colours, the smells, the atmosphere…the beauty. Whether I look up from the ferry porthole and see the familiar green ‘dome’ of the pinewood in the distance, or whether from above in the helicopter I see the expanse of deep blue break up into hundreds of shades of turquoise and green as we hover over the bays to reach the landing pad, the excitement is always, unfading, the same. It leaves me itching to dip into that sea, tread in that pinewood, breathe that air, be those colours, explore every corner, and watch the landscapes change with the light, the weather, the seasons.

So there it is. I am one very lucky woman.

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