I was delighted to be nominated for this award by Orna O’Reilly, who writes a terrific blog about her life in Italy. She has recently moved from the north of Italy to Puglia, where she and her husband are creating their own little bit of heaven. Take a look…http://ornaoreilly.com
I’m sure you will enjoy her blog as much as I do. She takes wonderful photgraphs and clearly enjoys sharing what she loves about Italy.
There are some questions to be answered for the Unique Blogger Award.
1. What inspired you to become a blogger?
I started writing my blog to help friends who were coming to stay at our apartment in Bagni di Lucca to discover the delights to be found in our village. It didn’t take long before the blog took on a life of its own and expanded to include all my travels. Nobody was more surprised than I was when it began to attract followers.
Because the original blog went off track, I started another one, Bella Bagni di Lucca, to concentrate on the lovely villages that make up Bagni di Lucca.
2. Has anything interesting ever happened to you thanks to your blog?
Meeting people from all over the world, both online and in person, has been one of the best things to come from my blog. I am also happy that my blogs have encouraged many people to visit Bagni di Lucca and in some cases even buy property here.
I have been asked to write for other publications, which is fun, and sometimes I even get paid! I love nothing better than talking about the delights of Italy.
The blog has become an excellent photographic record of the building of our mountain house, Casa Debbio. Now that the house is finished the garden takes up a lot of my time and blog posts.
3. If you could travel anywhere, in this very moment, where would you go?
Considering the awful weather we are having here right now, the Maldives sound like a good idea. I went there almost 30 years ago and found the islands enchanting. If you want a perfect tropical island go to the Maldives.
Apart from that, the Amalfi Coast always calls me. I would go there in a heartbeat at any time. It was my introduction to Italy 45 years ago and it is still one of my favourite parts of of this beautiful country.
Orna has her own question to add to the mix.
Which do you enjoy more? Writing or photography?
I had not written or taken photos before I began my blog. It takes a little while to find a voice writing a blog. These days I usually take photos and a post develops around those. I think writing a blog has made me more observant about the places I visit.
It is becoming more difficult to attract an audience to a blog as people move to Instagram and other platforms. I now write because I like it and don’t bother too much with the statistics.
Another task involved with the award is to nominate other blogs. I am going to stick with Orna’s list and add Margie in Italy. http://margieinitaly.com Margie is one of the delightful people I have met through blogging and she writes with love about Italy.