Heaven...

Being home on holidays for some days is always a good thing.
Spending "high value time" with your family doing the things you like is quite addictive and makes me start planning my next holidays.
In this Blog I would like to share with everybody some information about places in Italy that are outside the normal Venice-Florence-Rome trip.

Let me then open this 2014 with a Post about Holidays.
Today, in this wintry, rainy and cold day I would like to talk about... SEA!

And this is the type of sea I like...

Where am I?
Is it Barbados, Caribbean islands or some "in the middle of nowhere" place?

No. This is Puglia (Apulia).

The easternmost town of Italy, the first to see the dawn of the new world, the enchanting landscapes of olive trees, the dry stone walls, the coastal towers, the historic farms, the white towns, the national parks, the ancient underground olive-presses, festivals and religious holidays, crystal clear sea, golden beaches, deep reefs, unforgettable sea bottoms, the local traditions and the ancient crafts, tasty food, beautiful little towns, all of this and much more is Puglia!

Taking a trip to Puglia it means to immerse yourself in a unique atmosphere, in which the visitor is captured by the many and varied attractions that this country offers.

Have a look at Gargano, the northest side of Puglia. If you have decided to visit Gargano, one of its tourist attractions are definitely its long coastlines and especially the coastline that goes from Vieste to Peschici characterized by "strange buildings" called “trabucchi”, 

that is old tools for fishing no longer used and converted into restaurants or tourist attractions becoming part of the "Gargano National Park".

If you love the sea and the white sandy beaches, so let's visit "Mattinata", known as the Gargano's butterfly, so called because it is placed on a hill like a white butterfly on a flower, in a typical Mediterranean landscape between olive trees, almond trees and prickly pears. To avoid losing these wonderful places, it is better to organize your holiday by entrusting to reliable online incoming websites, such as www.pacchettievacanze.it (see also their FB and G+ links) which is specialized in Puglia and offers accommodation, holiday packages, tourists guides services and even more.

Have you ever heard of "Trulli of Alberobello?" 

World Heritage Site since 1996, they are typical  buildings erected in the dry without the use of mortar, which end with a particular conical roof. Do not miss the chance to stroll the narrow, winding streets of "Rione Monti" and "Aia Piccola"

and live the experience of staying in a real trullo, catching some good deals as those proposed by www.pacchettievacanze.it.

Otranto, the easternmost town of Italy, it is the first Italian town to see the dawn of the new year. This ancient village, surrounded with the majestic walls of the castle, after knowing the "fear of the Turks", it reveals to visitors telling its stories through the architectural and historical beauties, such as its Cathedral with the majestic mosaic pavement and the chapel of the Holy Martyrs of Otranto, the Castle, the Ramparts, the small church of San Pietro, important example of Byzantine architecture. Live its charming history, discover its alleys and narrow streets looking for panoramic views and small jewelry, let yourself be guided by an expert guide to give voice to this ancient village.

This will be my summer destination... anybody wants to come with me?

Have a nice week end

Things to do in 2014

Wishlists and rankings.

I really do not like them and this time of the year, everybody is making their own "special recipe" with things to do to become a great man, a leader, to earn more money or simply to lose some weight.
I have seen a list of 26 (twentysix!!!) points required to be a better leader.
Probably the point number one should be "NEVER write a list of points to become a better leader".

But apparently to be a great Blogger you need to put down a list. And here I am.
In this Blog I want to list the things I would like to do to improve myself and, in all modesty, that I think everybody should try and implement.
Simple, clear and straight forward points.

Let us then decide how many of them though.
I think that 3 is the perfect number. Enough to remember all of them and to give most of the information. Also when doing my presentations I tend  not to list more than 3 things in one slide or to give three reasons why something works better than something else.
Trying to limit the number of items obliges you to think about what is really important.
It is clear that "give more time to your family" or "try to have an hobby" are good points to improve life quality. But everybody knows that and everybody tries to do this. So I took these things out of my list.
I managed to bring the list down to 4 points. This is the bare minimum.

4 things to do in 2014 to be a little happier.

1) Always follow what you think is right.

It looks something normal but it's not.
We must first understand WHAT we believe and what we think it's right. We need to understand WHO we are and WHY we are doing what we are doing. We need to leard how to communicate it and then stick to that.
If you want to behave differently you will not show your abilities and your best parts. You will be simply an actor playing a different role from what you really are.
Always remember: “If you can't do great things, do small things in a great way.”  

2) Mens sana in corpore sano (a healthy mind in a healthy body).

We need to keep our body fit. Not only doing some sport but eating properly. I was once told: "would you put gravel instead of fuel in your car? Well, by eating what we're eating today we are doing this with our body".
I sincerely think that we are overestimating our "healing capabilities" by not caring about ourselves at all. Until it's too late.
Then, once we are taking good care of our body let us focus on our mind. Read, listen and learn. Find one new thing to learn: a Language, a sport, a game, whatever, and do it.
Keep your "mind gears" well lubricated.

3) Semel in anno licet insanire (once in a year one is allowed to go crazy)

Do something crazy. One thing that you want to do and that you always postpone.
Do one of the things that you want to do before you die.

4) Celebrate the achievements

We are always setting our targets higher and higher and working hard to reach them. It is always a difficult road, paved with problems, hurdles and difficulties. But when you are able to win, when you are capable to go there you must celebrate. Have your celebrating time will allow you to be rewarded and restart full and motivated.


Here it is then. My first list and, in all fairness, I quite liked doing it.

Some of these points are included in this manifesto.
This is my present for a great and happy 2014.
See you soon

 

Resilience

The Wikidefinition of Resilience is the ability of a material to absorb energy when it is deformed elastically, and release that energy upon unloading.
This has been the definition that I studied during my University times.
Then I started working and Resilience changed from being a Material characteristic to being a PERSONAL characteristic.
Books, meetings and presentations made me understand the meaning of this new meaning for Resilience and the importance of this attitude to succeed achieving your targets (see my Post "Persevere").

But last Sunday I have clearly understood what it means.
First Half Marathon of my life. Good conditions, slightly cold (around zero deg.C) and great view of the mountains around.
This has been my "running target" for this year and to reach this I have trained early in the morning or late at night regardless the weather conditions. Well, I tried my best to be prepared and FINISH the race. 
Finish my first half marathon.
750 people were at the startline ready to run 21km (and some meters) around a beautiful Belluno. 

750 normal people and some real athletes ready to prove themselves they could do it. 
That they could arrive or run faster than last year: simply everybody had a WHY to have moved from other cities, other countries even to be there on a freezing Sunday morning dressed with a red shirt ready to run.

And during the race there were difficult moments, bad feelings, things not working fine but also other runners that helped keeping the right pace or giving some piece of advice to help out of the crisis.
The more you're getting close to the end, the more you are alone though.
And then the last three km are the worst. I was tired, my legs heavy and feet soaring. I am definitely not a real runner and I was clearly feeling that.
But, finally I could see the finish line. Go, go, go, slightly faster to finish propely the race.
Then... no, although the finish line was at 20meters we had to do 1 more km going around the town first down and then uphill.
one km, one thousand meters. After having run 20km. I was completely out of fuel.
Resilience is the ability of a material to absorb energy when it is deformed elastically, and release that energy upon unloading.
I was "deformed" (my feet definitely were) and I had to release the energy, the last energy I had coming out of this.
And that was a real understanding of it.
Now I can say that I am an Halfmarathon finisher (1h 54min... not an athlete yet) and that I know quite well what resilience means.

As usual it is a question of setting targets and work to get there with passion and belief. 
No excuses. No "I do not have time". No "I will do it tomorrow".
As usual a question of people and to give them targets that they can achieve even if there is a "last minute problem". 
And, at the end, sit down and appreciate you have reached your target. 
Then set another one.
Need to stay alive. Need to set the next step and work to reach this. Need to enjoy this.

Next step... 30 km. Bellunofeltrerun

This is my next "running target".
I should probably avoid the thousand of calories that we will have during the dinners on next days. I should, I do not know if I will.
Happy Christmas to everybody