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Dear Readers,

With this introductory issue, Grapevine Magazine is moving into a new territory, the Pisa and Livorno provinces. What better time than summer to launch this magazine, an extension of the Lucca Grapevine created by Susan Jarman 18 years ago?
   The cover photo of the sailing ship Amerigo Vespucci, taken by Francesca Trupia (see her blogspot, livornoinpink) inspires me; it represents connections between past and present, the far-away and the near-to-home, with smooth seas and cool breezes.
   In 2002 the Vespucci, school ship of the Italian Naval Academy, sailed to New Zealand. Along the way it docked in Honolulu. My father, a retired Coast Guardsman living there, greeted the Italian mariners. "Buon giorno! Mia figlia vive a Lucca, vicino a voi! Andate a salutarla per me." ("Greetings! My daughter lives in Lucca, near you. Go say hello to her for me.") I'm sure they were surprised to hear Italian spoken so far from home.
   It was my habit to call my dad whenever I was at the beach, taking out my cell phone and pointing it to the far-off horizon. The thought of my father greeting the young Italians on the other side of the world always cheered me. I like to think that nowhere is far away and anywhere I hang my hat is home. This I learned from my father, and my granddad, who were both in the Navy during World Wars I and II.
   In this Grapevine you will find information about Vespucci, the Naval Academy, the Tuscan islands, and art, culture and leisure in some small Pisan towns, Santa Maria a Monte and Pontedera. The known and the lesser known, a guiding thread to which we will return each month.   

Norma Jean Bishop