Home...

It is good to be home...mostly! We traveled from Montalto di Castro to Rome to New Jersey and there were no delays, missed trains, or grumpy kids! We made it...barely! It was a crazy trip but it worked out famously. We then spent a week in NJ with my parents in an East Coast heatwave...my first comment on landing was that the weather wasn't so bad...it was HOT in Italy! We enjoyed my brother's pool and the kids learned that the pool was a fun place to be. On the whole we weren't the best company...jet lag was a killer coming back to the States for us.

Then we were HOME! The kids slipped right back into life like we never left...they haven't slept this well in quite a while. I think they are just happy to be home, in their own beds, with all their toys and stuff, and enjoying playing outside with plenty of room to run. I am doing much better, NOW. It was a pretty rough week for me...my back went out, grocery shopping, hunting for clothes and things, unpacking suitcases...all of that plus being exhausted! I feel more rested now and life seems much more doable. Hey, I am even writing a blog post...I must be feeling good!

I haven't really had the time to mourn leaving Italy. I was certainly too busy the day we left...finishing packing, cleaning, getting ready for a LONG flight, trains, planes, and automobiles. But now it hits me at odd times that we are back. I miss ALOT from our 'home' in Italy. Honestly, the hardest part is getting used to Americans and their attitude towards families with small children. In Italy, children are SO loved...even complete strangers...ALWAYS have a kind thing to say, help whenever they see that you might need help, and overall, appreciate the fact that it is hard work to raise kids and think you are wonderful for doing it. Back to reality, being ignored or glared at because one of your kids has the nerve to be crying or needing something, pushing you out of the way to get ahead of you, and just plain not kind to families of small children. I am so proud of Gwen...telling cashiers and older people 'grazie' and 'buongiorno'...even though they totally ignore her now...I hope she remembers the few words of Italian she picked up.

But, it is certainly nice to sleep in my own bed again. To not sweat every second of the day! And to have a few of the creature comforts that were missed. I am enjoying seeing my family and friends again. I guess I didn't realize how isolated I was in Italy...not knowing much Italian was a real barrier to making friendships. It is so nice to be able to pick up the phone and just call someone...and not even have something important to say, but just hear their voices...speaking my language.

As I said earlier, I still have alot to share...some about Italy, some not...you are invited to join me on the crazy ride I call my life!

Have a wonderful day!

Ciao a tutti!

Ciao, Italy...

This will be my last post from Italy. I still have more to share and experiences to have, but they will not be from Italy! Overall, I am sad to be leaving. It is hot, the kids are a bit wonky (Gwen has not been dealing with the heat well), and I am ready to be home, but I will sorely miss this beautiful country.

I have been blessed with an incredible journey that I call my life...God just added a cherry! The people, the culture, the country, the history, and the atmosphere...all will be missed! I almost teared up on my last trip to the local food store!

Tomorrow, we are off to the airport. That, in itself, will be an adventure. Our car is small! The 5 people, 4 large suitcases, 2 carry-ons, 3 backpacks, 1 computer bag, 1 stroller, and 1 umbrella...just won't fit! So, I will take some stuff and kids on the train early, and Tobin will take the luggage and the rest of the kids and meet us at the airport! Pray that we all make it in time, with all our stuff and people, and that there are no delays.

With all that said, we will chat again from the States!
Have a wonderful and cool day!
Ciao a tutti!

Florence...

Our last and final adventure in Italy...mind you, not our last adventure! Life is an adventure! Besides, we do still need to fly out of this joint...and who knows how that will go! But as for our exploring and adventuring in Italy...it has come to a close. But not before I got to go to Florence! Museums are not the best places for small children, so I have been scheming for a long time how to pull off Florence for a while...Tobin (the most wonderful husband ever) agreed to watch the kids on a Saturday...so I made my reservations for Uffizi and Accademia in Florence. It was SO worth it! Case and I made the adventure together...super fun memories! Here is a pic of Ponte Vecchio...

Here is the Santa Croce Church...

Covered markets near Uffizi...

And the Boar fountain in front of it...

The Duomo...

Case filling his water bottle in front of San Lorenzo...

Not being able to go to many museums, I have hand picked the few I wanted to go to. Vatican Museums, Uffizi, and Accademia...all well worth the price of admission. Uffizi was our first stop and it has the finest collection of Italian art anywhere...period. The art was absolutely spectacular...but it was the hottest place I have ever been! I don't know why I was thinking it was going to be air conditioned but I was sorely mistaken. I didn't spend as much time just absorbing the art, as it was meant to be, but I certainly hit the high points. The most striking pieces...at least to me...were two Carravagio paintings (not in the special exhibit) of Mary and Christ as a baby. Generally speaking, those kind of paintings tend to be very 'churchy' and full of Catholic doctrine and such. But these two paintings (one with Mary with an infant Christ, and one with toddler Christ) were absolutely breathtaking. The realism, the emotion, the images are forever burned into my memory. For a good reason.

Our second stop was Accademia (Micheangelo's David). Equally breathtaking! First, it was air conditioned and a welcome relief to the heat. Second, was David...absolutely exquisite! I, for one, was unsure that it was worth going to...you already know what David looks like, everyone has seen pictures. It was SO worth it! I truly appreciate being able to go. First, the sculpture is much bigger than imagined. Second, the detail is absolutely amazing (I am running out of adjectives here). It looked like he could just get up and move around...SO realistic. And out of marble! To make it more fascinating, they had on display several unfinished works of Michealangelo...it was almost like looking at his process...how the sculpture came out of the block of marble...being able to see some of the technique in sculpting...amazing!

So overall, I liked Florence and it's museums. I am glad that I made the effort even as I am packing the last few items in our suitcases (most of those last few items came from Florence!).

Have a wonderful and cool day!
Ciao a tutti!

One last time...

On Tuesday, we (me, the kids and Grandma) went to Rome, one last time. Pat hadn't seen the Vatican yet and I was more than happy to go. So off we went, using our train shortcut, beating the heat and the tourists...if feels good to be in the know for a change...

Gwendolyn and her chariot...

We found the Metro (the boys favorite) and then made our way to Piazza del Popolo (the people's square)...

With it's obelisk with hieroglyphics...just pretend it is a vertical pic...

On to the Trevi Fountian...you have to remember to throw in a coin...that way you will return to Rome...or as the legend goes. The boys relished this and even a sleeping Gwen (with mommy's help) managed to get one in...

And a fun, but hot train ride home...

I have to be honest, as far as things that tourists see, there is not much left in Rome that I haven't gotten to. Being so close and having a local train has been a highlight of our time here. Rome has been hot, gritty, and crowded at times, but we also have been able to see so much more of it! How people live here, what they like to do, and almost, be treated as a local. What an amazing experience that I am very thankful for.

Have a wonderful and cool day!

Ciao a tutti!

Day 5...

Day Five: Waking up in air conditioning...felt like heaven! I slept like a log! Up bright and early, we visited the city of Genova (this is where Christopher Columbus was born). We found this fun pirate ship...the kids LOVED it...

Ahoy...

This ship was used in a movie...Pirates...

Then we were off for home with a quick side trip to Carrara...this is THE major marble quarry in Italy...the tours were closed, since it was Sunday, but we could drive right through it. It was pretty cool...this is where Michealangelo would pick out his marble for his sculptures...

They shave the marble off in very large rectangular blocks...pretty cool...

And that, my friends, is our first family vacation in a nutshell! It was a super fun time, we made tons of memories, and we really got to see all the things that we wanted to see. God has been so good to us!

I hope that you have a wonderful and cool day!

Ciao a tutti!

Switzerland...

Day Four: Waking up in the middle of nowhere Switzerland...Awesome! Our next drive was south through Switzerland, back into our 'native' Italy, and our hotel was in Genova. Our first sight was this lovely pass...

Then by this amazingly blue lake...

Up Gottard Pass...just look how crazy it is...

Above the tree line...

Above the 'anything' grows line...

To what seemed like the top of the world...we are actually looking into Italy...

The kids loved it...

A very short stop to Milan...

And a wonderful night's sleep in our first air conditioned hotel in Genova...

Have a wonderful and cool day!

Ciao a tutti!

Day Three...

Day Three: This was our 'easiest' day...no plans...all we had to do was make it to our next hotel in Switzerland and according to the directions I found that would only be 3 1/2 hours. Unless you factor in that our hotel was in the empty space in my map...literally! I had found this hotel in the middle of nowhere Switzerland...here's to another adventure!

We woke up in sunny Innsbruck, Austria. Slept in as much as 3 little kids allow. And hit the road. Here is a bit of Innsbruck...

And the surrounding Alps...

One of the many curiosities that we found, were these little outbuildings...they were everywhere...they are tiny...they are smack dab in the middle of hay fields...they were kind of weird...

We took several of the back roads through the Austrian Alps...

Over Flexen Pass...

And down...

We made it to Leichtenstein...

And then into Switzerland...up this mountain...

Drove by this lake...

And made it straight to our hotel! It was literally in the middle of nowhere Switzerland. LITERALLY. It was awesome!

Ciao a tutti!

Neuschwanstein...

Day Two: The second day of our vacation was a pretty rough day. I knew it when I was making the plans and I knew it that morning when we woke up! We were to drive from Bolzano through Austria and into Germany to make it for a 1pm ticket into the Neuschanstein Castle...it was a stretch to begin with. It was a long uphill walk, two castle tours, and a hot day with three kids and a stroller, plus it wasn't exactly my husband's cup of tea...but I did it anyway...because I REALLY wanted to! And it was AWESOME!

Schloss Hohenschwangau and Schloss Neuschwanstein are located in the Bavaria region of Germany...just outside the Austrian border...in the amazing Alps. Neuschwanstein Castle is what Walt Disney used as inspiration for his castle. Both are closely tied to Mad Kind Ludwig II of Bavaria. Schloss Hohenschwangau is actually his parents castle...where he grew up and Schloss Neuschwanstein was one of the castles he built when he became king of Bavaria.

Hohenschwangau is named after the 'swan in high places' or something like that...after the Swan Knights that lived there long ago...

The first castle was Schloss Hohenschwangau...only a 10 minute walk up some stairs...apparently they break you in easy! It is an amazing yellow structure that rises above the tree line. The tour was about an hour, the rooms are exquistely decorated, and my 2 year old was not really into the tour thing! But I still HAD to see it...

After the tour she managed to pose a little for me in front of this fountain...

Then onto Schloss Neuschwanstein...it is an amazing place. Kind of where fairy tales were born. I can blame it on my daughter, how I wanted her to see it (she is really into Sleeping Beauty right now...thanks to Krystal and all the castles we are seeing...we sold the tours by saying this is where Beauty lives)...but I will be honest...I wanted to see it! I REALLY did! Even after the 30 minute uphill hike with 3 kids and a stroller, sweating and baking in the sun...I REALLY wanted to see it! It was worth every minute...

And of course, we both enjoyed it after all...

And a special thanks goes to my most wonderful husband who made this whole day possible...schlepping the kids up a mountain, my idea...his back! Thank you for making our vacation happen...

After this long day, we stopped at our local german McDonald's...

Who could say no to this face...

We had to back track a bit because our hotel was in Innsbruck, Austria. It was late, dark, we didn't have much of a map...but we found it anyway...

Have a wonderful and cool day!

Ciao a tutti!

Bolzano...

Last weekend we finally managed to carve some time into an 'official' vacation! Apparently, we are homebodies in the States and haven't had a real 'family' vacation since Tobin and I went on our honeymoon (that would be 9 years ago)! I was certainly ready for one and who could have picked a better spot. As I said last time, we headed north.

First stop on the wild vacation ride was the booming metropolis of Bolzano, Italy. I have been interested in this region since I read about it in my guide book months ago. Apparently, this region used to be Austria (they speak German) prior to WWI, but after losing that war, Italy got this portion of Austria when they carved it up afterward. So the people of this region are fairly different than the Italians that we have come to know and love in the south. They are much fairer (there are actually folks with blonde hair and blue eyes) and they are just a bit bigger (stature-wise). I immediately noticed that I didn't stand out like a sore thumb (it is ridiculously apparent that I am not from Italy in the south)...and everyone spoke to me in German! The area has a very rich German influence...all the road signs are in Italian AND German...it takes a bit of getting used to! So when interacting with the locals...they all just slip into German. You know how fluent I am in Italian...so you can imagine how well those coversations go! Everywhere I go, everyone asks if I am German...I never knew I looked so German! They are honestly shocked that I am an American...you would think they would pick up the accent!

Here is an example of a sign in Italian and German...it says to push (like push the door open)...

Bolzano is surrounded by Alps and grape vines...right on the sides of the mountains! It is a pretty curious site to see grape vines clinging to the mountains...it obviously doesn't get that cold here...though it was much cooler than Montalto. They don't even have air conditioning in the hotels, but it did cool down dramatically when the sun went down!

We realized that we were very used to our surroundings here in Montalto, driving into Bolzano, it was easy to see it was foriegn...bikes were EVERYWHERE...

And the architecture is completely different...

Back to the town...here is a picture of Piazza Walther...

Bolzano's cathedral...I so LOVE the colorful glazed tile roof...

But after all it is still in Italy, so it was pizza for dinner...I so LOVE the pizza here. I especially like the personal ones you can get...I can get 'normal' stuff for the kids and Tobin and I can get whatever 'crazy' toppings that I want. My current favorite is called 4 seasons...prociutto, black olives, artichokes, and mushrooms...Yum...

And after a long day of vacationing...the crew crashed...

Day one of our first family vacation was a resounding success...even with a 2 year old and a 6 hour drive! One of our favorite things to occupy our time was to keep track of the number of tunnels we drove through each day (and each country...yes, I am a nerd)...Day one...39 tunnels!

I hope that you have a wonderful, cool day!

Ciao a tutti!