Gravina in Puglia

Gravina has become one of our favorite places to visit. Gravina is in Puglia. It is similar to Matera, but much less touristic. . .so less crowds. It is equally beautiful, in my opinion.

Ironically, as we were exploring the cliffs across from the city we noticed some antique “relics” that looked new and out of place. When we got closer we realized that they weren’t real. They were props. We had a chance to meet one of the guards and he told us that they had just finished filming 007 yesterday right here in Gravina! How fun is that? I can’t wait to see the movie now, which we were told that it was filmed in Gravina and Matera.

Gravina is beautiful because you can easily walk through the caves and trails and paths with only a few others nearby. It is peaceful, green and amazing. The caves are crazy to look at. I am always fascinated thinking of how people lived in them long ago.

As our kids have grown we have learned to make an effort to get out of the house and go on adventures. It has become a regular habit. We love finding new towns to explore and forests to adventure through. We love seeing the history that surrounds us here in Italy as well as the natural beauty in places like Gravina.

But we didn’t start these adventures in order to see new places. We started these adventures in order to have time together as a family. When the kids were little, it was easy to sit down and make a craft or play legos, or bake cookies. Now, that they are growing, they are often distracted, full of homework, lazy and full of the desire to stare at the TV or play video games, or just want to hang out with their friends.

We have noticed that the moments are fleeting. . .and time is flying. And so we have made an effort to create these adventures in order to have time together. We are able to have the best conversations with our kids as we stroll down a new street in a new town- asking them about school, friends, life. We laugh a lot. We try new things. We see new places. We make memories together and we teach them the importance of family. Because family is important. I want my kids to know that they are important to us. And I want them to treat each other as if the other is valuable and precious and worthy of our time and attention.

Time goes by so fast. But it is beautiful along the way. I think sometimes we forget to enjoy it. We forget to enjoy the life we are living daily. We forget to enjoy one another. We forget to enjoy God’s creation around us. So we’ll just keep taking our little adventures and creating our memories as long as we can.