📢 Welcoming Elisa - a new member to the Community Center Team 📢

[Bhumika]

Hello everyone,

I hope you’re all doing well and enjoying a great hosting season!

Today, I have some great news to share with you… 🥁🥁🥁 A new Community Manager is joining our team for the English and French-speaking Community Center! I wanted to give you the opportunity to get to know @Elisa , who will be helping me and @Paula manage this forum during the PST time zones! I hope you’ll join me in giving her a warm welcome to our lovely Community Center! 😉

@Elisa , I’ll let you introduce yourself below! 😊

Have a great day, everyone,
Bhumika

[Elisa]

I’m happy to join this forum as your new Community Manager. I want to start by thanking @Bhumika for the lovely introduction. 

Allow me to introduce myself—a lover of all things unique and timeless. 

 My journey: As an Italian, I grew up on cobblestone streets. I’ve wandered through the bustling markets of Rome and sipped espresso in hidden Turin squares. But my adventures didn’t stop there!

Bonjour, Paris: Ah, Paris—the City of Light! I’ve strolled along the Seine.

French, with its lyrical elegance has shaped who I am and continues to inspire me every day.

From maple leaves to Toronto city: Canada welcomed me with open arms. From the Rockies to the Great Lakes, and its gems in Toronto. I’ve marveled at its vastness.

Beauty and gastronomy: My passions? Beauty—whether it’s a Renaissance fresco or a blooming garden—and the art of savoring good food. 

Old movies: Black-and-white classics hold a special place in my heart. They’re like old friends, comforting and familiar—they evoke nostalgia and timeless charm that we seem to be losing in today's fast-paced world.

Old manners, new connections: As your Community Manager, I would love to revive the old while embracing the new. Let’s share stories and create memories together.

I look forward to knowing you and creating something amazing together!

Feel free to reach out to me anytime with your thoughts and ideas. 😊

Kind regards

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Elisa 

Welcome Aboard, and thanks for sharing these terrific loves and joys!  I love them all too. 

Best wishes

Kitty

[Elisa]

Thank you @Kitty-and-Creek0, I am happy you like. 😊

Have you had a chance to visit any of those places?

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Elisa I've rambled through Tuscany and a bit of Liguria. Lived in Little Italy in Oakland, CA. My paternal family is Canadian!

[Elisa]

@Kitty-and-Creek0 Unbelievable! 

Tuscany is my favorite region in Italy. 😍 

What did you visit?

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

Hi Elisa - 

Cinqueterra and Assisi were my favorite spots on that trip, we covered a lot of territory in 3 weeks, and ate well!

Best wishes

Kitty

[Elisa]

Hi @Kitty-and-Creek0 

Those places are magical. 😍
Did you taste pasta with pesto in Liguria?

Warm regards 🌻,

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Elisa 

Definitely did, and we enjoy it at home regularly as well. We lived in Little Italy in Oakland for 17 years, with Ligurian neighbors who taught us how to cook and how to  farm in our gardens. Whenever I am in my kitchen gardens here I hear Arturo reminding me how to properly tend my fruits and vegetables! His soups and pestos were amazing. We learned also how to gather, preserve and cook with wild mushrooms. Such a delight!

[Elisa]

Hi, @Kitty-and-Creek0 

It sounds like such a rich experience😍!

This is amazing how food and gardening can connect us to different cultures and traditions. 

Have you tried making pesto at home after this lovely trip?

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Elisa 

Our Ligurian neighbor in Oakland taught us to make pesto from many different garden plants. We've grown more and more adventurous with modifying the basic concept. The last batch went into our freezer a week ago, made from our abundant crop of Shiso. It is so yummy!

[Andrea6232]

 Welcome @Elisa ! A big hug from Venice!

Andrea

[Elisa]

Ciao @Andrea6232

thank you! 😊 

I miss Italy, and I need to visit Venice again. Did you grow up there?

[Andrea6232]

@Elisa I love Venice! For me it is the most beautiful city in the world!

I grow up in Madrid, studied in Rome and lived in Milan before settling in Bergamo where I live 😀

Andrea

[Elisa]

That's really amazing! 😍  @Andrea6232 

Have you visited the Moroni Palace in Bergamo? It is beautiful. I had the chance to see the Henri Cartier-Bresson exhibition there a long time ago.