Buon Giorno

Hello to my readers (all 3 of you!). Anyway, we had no internet service, then we did, then we didn't, then we did and now we don't and I had to trudge my way over to the Internet Cafe' and leave Bill alone with the ragazzi (kids). Oh, did I use the word "trudge?" I think I meant something like "skip with delight." Our family togetherness has gotten very, let's say, "very together." While Bill and I really enjoyed hanging out with each other, the kids are desperate for whadda ya know, other kids. I am working on the finding other kids thing and school starts in just 2 weeks, so I'm sure it will all be fine very soon. I think we will be taking a little trip over to a water park next week and we move on Tuesday or Wednesday into our "permanent" apartment.

On a brighter note, we are now "passing" and just last week we went out for a snack/light dinner and were NOT charged the ubiquitous, confusing and ever-present "cover charge" which is something like a combination tip-tourist charge-you don't speak Italian penalty-your shoes are ugly charge. (In defense of the cover charge, I actually think everyone pays sometimes at some restaurants, not just tourists.) Of course it was at the little cafe a couple doors down where Bill gets coffee every morning and the boys have charmed the ladies into making them special little breakfast brioche. Maybe it was just the spirit of Ferragosta, the big Italian holiday on
August 15.

I'm off and I will check in again in early September.

Friends in Florence

We spent a couple of days in Florence last week. We traveled first class on a Eurostar train complete with train stewardesses serving coffee, juice & snacks and assigned seats. This was a big change for us because previously we have just been traveling around on the no-frills local trains as our destinations have not been far and we always travel second class. Needless to say, all five of us really enjoyed the luxuriousness of it all. And since we have been living in a beautiful, yet historic B&B, the hedonistic American in me booked rooms in a modern, air-conditioned hotel just outside the main downtown of Florence. It was very nice and some of us enjoyed the relaxation of taking a bath instead of a shower.

It is August and Florence was PACKED with people! It was really quite amazing and honestly, a little off-putting compared to the peace, quiet and bargain priced gelato we enjoy here in Padova. 4 euros ($5) for a gelato! The first day we headed to a “hands-on” museum of replicas of Leonardo da Vinci’s various inventions. It was low-tech and just filled with wooden models of his flying machines, printing press, anvil, gears & gadgets, etc. Very “waldorfian” and the kids loved it – you could touch everything. Nick spent the next few days sketching out his own ideas for the re-creation and improvement (of course) of some of the models. Apparently, there will be a lot of building going on when we return home. That night we went to a small restaurant recommended by the hotel with great food, good wine and wonderful service (especially for the ragazzi).

But the best part of our trip was the next day when we met up with some friends of Sam’s (and now ours), the Kavanaugh family, who were on a cruise and took a day trip to Florence. It was really great meeting up with some familiar faces and the kids were giddy (and a little wild if you can believe that) with the excitement of seeing people they knew and could talk to. (It has unfortunately been very isolating for the kids this summer and while they have been having fun with all the newness and adventures of Italy, it is clear that they are very lonely for attention and we are all looking forward to school starting. The few children we have met they have been too shy to make friends with because of the language barriers – which I think are really less of a problem than they think it is. In hindsight, which is always so darn perfect, we should have waited until mid-August to move here.) We all went to see The David and it is just as awe-inspiring to me as it was 10 years ago when I came here with Terri. Even the kids were “wowed” by the sculpture and only Isabelle was young enough to get caught up in his nakedness – she refers to The David as “the guy with the decorative penis.” (I honestly have no idea where she came up with the descriptor “decorative” and you can’t make this stuff up, so I have no comment, although it is soooo hard to resist.) After that we had lunch in an outdoor café, went to see the famous Ponte Vecchio and they headed back to their ship. We then headed over to the see a famous palazzo/palace and the “you can’t miss them” Boboli Gardens (Guess what, you can miss them, take my word for it.) That night we had dinner in our hotel since we had spent the entire day walking around. I noticed that they had green Granny Smith apples all over the bar & restaurant in a decorative kind of way and asked the waiter if he could cut up a couple for the kids to have for dessert. He was a bit surprised that we actually wanted to eat them, but they were fresh and juicy and tart, just like we like them. So I’m sure he had a good story for his friends about the bizarre American family that ate the decorations.

Like many who travel to Florence, the artist in everyone was inspired and all the kids spent the next couple of days with their sketchbooks in hand, drawing anything and everything. The next day we got up early and headed over to the Ligurian Sea for a couple of days, but that is another story for another blog. I must immerse myself in Italian culture and do the laundry for 5 people coming home from a 6 day trip without a dryer! I don’t want to forget to publicly thank the Kavanaughs for their graciousness with our rambunctious gang and also for lunch!

Venice at Mid-day with Urchins

Since we have had one story of Venice at Midnight with Urchins, we thought a better and easier trip might be Venice at Mid-day with our Urchins!

One of the great things about Padova is its proximity to Venice, it is an easy train trip and only costs 11 euros for all 5 of us to get there. We decided to go over there yesterday since there wasn’t much going on around here and we knew things would at least be open there for all the tourists. We took a vaporetto which is basically a bus-boat from the train station to our destination. When I have been on them before they have been fine, but I have to say yesterday it was a bit over-crowded and had both Bill (if you can believe that) and I feeling a bit unsure (me more than him). It felt just a bit more unsteady in the water than I would have liked from the weight of all the people and bags; it was really rockin’ & rollin’ with the wakes from the other boats and its own starting and stopping. I thought it would be no big deal if you were on one of the outside decks and it tipped over – you would just have to swim about 6 feet to the side of the canal, but we were “packed like sardines” inside. I was mentally rehearsing how I would get all the kids out the open window to swim away from the tipping boat. I am sure that these boats really never tip over and the much, much smaller gondolas are the boats in any real danger of getting knocked around.

Nonetheless, we made it to our stop and headed toward the Peggy Guggenheim Collection which is a very small museum of modern art housed in a beautiful Palazzo that she bought as her “retirement home” in 1947 and had for 30 years before her death. One of my travel books identifies it as a place kids might really like for a number of reasons – the paintings are all big & very bright, there is a beautiful sculpture garden that the kids can run around in, Ms. Guggenheim is buried there along with her 14 little lhasa apso dogs and modern art is inherently appealing to young kids. And another reason not in the guide books, but known to all – “the private parts” on pictures and statues are all worth a good giggle to the 6-8 year old crowd. It was a nice quiet place (at least until we arrived) away from the hustle & bustle of the Grand Canal and the more popular destinations. We stayed for awhile and all enjoyed it. Isabelle’s favorite was a Picasso (of course, if you have seen the self-portrait she did in her bedroom), Sam liked the Jackson Pollack (who I just don’t get) and Nick liked one called “The Little Machine” that looked a lot like the numerous sketches he is always making. You can check out the website at www.guggenheim-venice.it/ and select the English version.

We had lunch in a great little out of the way café near the Guggenheim situated half-way under one of the big bridges over the Grand Canal. Great pizza – the kind with a crunchy crust that you fold in half and eat like a sandwich, its always been my favorite and while the kids didn’t like it when we first got here, now they love it, too. While we were waiting for the train to leave and sitting on the steps of the Grand Canal, there were a couple of guys dressed up like Native Americans and performing American Indian songs and dances for change and selling CD’s of their music. Curious is my only comment and I am hard pressed to believe that they were real Native Americans from an Indian tribe in North America, but who am I to judge? The train ride home was fun and crowded, but we made it back to Padova before 9 pm. Isabelle and I sat next to a beautiful Italian blonde grandma who was done up in all purple from her eye-shadow to rings/bracelets/earrings to purple silk pantsuit – a little girl’s vision of purple loveliness. When she re-applied her lipstick after eating pizza, Isabelle got out her own lip gloss and also re-applied. After that, the nonna(grandma) and bimba (little girl) were fast friends despite the language barrier.

Another fun day on our excellent adventure!

What's Been Up

Okay, my dad says enough witty repartee’ for now on smoking and bras (I'm really not a journalist, am I?) and a little more on what we have been doing and eating. First and foremost is that the weather has cooled down and been just gorgeous - 70's and low 80's and mostly sunny days - just perfect. Since we got back from Gardaland we have been mostly just hanging out with the kids and enjoying the slow pace of summer life. Bill has been going to work a bit, his lab already has an office and computer set up for him. The kids have been playing in the yard, roller-blading around the Prato della Valle, and fighting with each other (like all siblings in August!). The Prato della Valle is a 22 acre grass and concrete “park” where people skate, bike & stroll, families play, 20-somethings just “hang,” couples lounge & smooch, tourists pass through in large groups and dutiful sons & daughters walk their elderly wheel-chair bound parents. It is about ¼ mile around the loop of the park. The ring of the park has about 50 statues (I’ll count and let you know - postscript 15/08/2006 it is 78 statues) of famous Padovans around it – many of them posed with various animals, angels and other mythical small creatures. Every Saturday there is a market there most of the day with vendors for shoes, clothes, plants, hardware store things, towels, sheets, underwear – you name it, you can buy it there (other than food which is at the wonderful fruit and vegetable markets which will deserve their own post one of these days). Last week a part of the Miss Italia contest was set up there and while it was happening too late for our family, we stopped and watched the hopefuls practice their dancing and singing. The little dancing & singing members of our family were all very sorry that they didn’t get to see the live performance.

We mostly eat at home for dinner because the restaurants don’t open until at least 7:30 and that is just too late for the kids to eat because we are moving toward our school schedule and trying to get everyone in bed by 9 or 9:30. On days that we go to the market we are eating scrumptious meals of fresh fruits, veggies & meat. For example, the other night we had potatoes fried in olive oil & fresh rosemary picked out of our backyard (which everyone loved), melon with prosciutto wrapped around it, tomatoes, peaches and fresh bread. The bambini, especially Nick, devoted fruitarians, can make a meal out of eating a couple pieces of fruit. Of course we eat a lot of pasta, especially when we go out. Nick has picked up a taste for clams, Isabelle is eating her own weight in tuna and Sam is always looking for new and interesting ways to use Nutella. I am missing strawberries & and kids are missing Granny Smith green apples (they are both VERY expensive here), blueberries (that are almost non-existent) and broccoli (which I haven’t seen at all). Amazing enough, no one has starved without their morning fix of Nutri-grain frozen waffles. Honestly, I don’t think we are eating any less or more healthy than here at home – there is much less processed food & restaurant portions are just perfect but there isn’t whole wheat/rye bread or skim milk and we are eating pastry for breakfast every morning!

We had a family play date with another family from the States who are on a sabbatical and they had 3 children who will be attending the International School with our kids; although their kids were a bit older (15, 11, 8). We only got to visit with them for a short time one afternoon, but I have been running into them or their kids around town once in a while. They came in June and did all the settling things that we did in late July and are doing a lot of traveling around – they have just left for Norway for a couple of weeks. I’m sure we will see more of them when school starts.

Things are starting to slow down ("come to a complete halt" is probably a better description) for the big August 15^th holiday of Ferregosta (Assumption of Mary) and we are heading off for a couple days in Florence and then over to the Ligurian Sea to the Riveria de Levante to stay in a small town, Levanto, just north of Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre is a national park area, fishing villages and has lots of hiking. While it can be virtually impossible to get a hotel in Cinque Terre during the summer without 6 months notice, I tried. Fortunately, I couldn’t get one and while we will still be in a resort town, it should be a little less crowded than the more popular Monterosso al Mare or splashy Portofino. I’ll let you know.

So that’s a little picture of what's been going on & I'm tired now . . . goodnight Dad.

P.S. I promise to add LOTS of pictures to the blog once I get my digital camera problems straightened out.

Italy vs. America – To Bra or Not to Bra

(Warning to Parents - This blog is probably rated PG and if you are one of my nieces or nephews reading this on your own, GO CHECK WITH YOUR PARENTS!)

Italy – To Bra

After the first week of walking around Italy, mostly looking down so I could just stare at everyone’s shoes, I looked up and what did I see? Everyone’s (and I mean everyone’s) lingerie. It appears based on my observations (admittedly limited, but respectful enough as I am (almost) a trained sociologist and qualified to do qualitative research) that everyone regardless of age or cup size, is wearing a bra, all the time even if it shows a little or in many cases, a lot. Bras are on view with skinny-strapped tanks, loosely buttoned sweaters, low cut blouses, halter tops, etc. Often times it is just the straps or the peeking out of the cute little lace on the top of the cup, but if the shirt is low cut enough in the back, which I have seen on numerous occasions, you get the full view of the back. (Once at Gardaland, I almost reached up and pulled up a woman’s stretchy top in the back as I was looking at the slightly-ratty back of her bra.) In general, seeing the straps and/or a little bit of the lace is “cute” and a bit sexy in mostly tasteful kinds of ways and hopefully, I will be able to figure out how to pull it off myself in the coming months. The only “look” that really has me flummoxed is the bra with a halter top by women ranging from svelte-21 year olds to busty-50 year olds. I have seen both the “transparent” straps and regular old straps with a halter and you can guarantee that you almost always get the full back view of the bra. I guess the transparent straps deserve some very feeble nod, but the regular bra is just plain tacky. I have seen the bras of certainly all the women I have met and have contact with on a regular basis and it has struck me as very attractive in an sexy European kind of way for women of all ages. I have also been visually annoyed at having to look at someone else’s underwear while trolling the grocery store for peanut butter. Bottom line – 90% of my observations would be rated anywhere from “looks pretty good” to “wow – how can I do that?”

America – Not To Bra

We all know that many American women choose to go bra-less some or all of the time regardless of how it looks. Who among us has not seen someone at the mall/park/church/insert the name of any public place who could have benefited from some support, breast and/or nipple coverage? I realize that it’s hard to wear a bra with summer tanks, sleeveless blouses of certain designs or little strappy things, but once you are of a certain age, like say 17 – you are required to give your girls some help doing their job if they need it. (I realize that many of us don’t need much assistance even after having a baby, turning 40, etc. – you are graciously excused). It seems to me that, in general, most American women don’t like to have their straps bra showing and either skip the bra or skip the blouse if need be. (I think evening wear is a different story and most people are willing to show a little lace with their cleavage.) Bottom line – While most of the time, most of us probably don't even notice when someone isn't wearing a bra, but when we do it is because they need one!

So in my humble opinion, the Italians are over-bra-ed and the Americans are under-bra-ed. But more importantly, note to self – remember when you get back to Grosse Pointe that you can’t have black lace generously exposed when you take Isabelle to her first day of first grade!

Dante or Tuscan Sun?

Dear Readers of My Blog,

Recently I was gently chastised that my blogs were sounding more The Inferno than Under the Tuscan Sun (with Children). We are all getting used to our new place and some of it we absolutely love and some of it we are less than thrilled about – like any family moving to a new country and culture.

The good stuff – the food, the fresh fruit and vegetable market with tomatoes that we all pop in our mouth like candy they are so good, our daily gelato fix, the bunnies in our backyard that are cute with a capital “C ” (we have now fed the bunnies so many times the little ones hop toward us when we come into the yard) the beautiful pool/sports complex where we can go swimming, the wine, not having a car, Vladi (our landlady who could not be sweeter), Graziella (our realtor who when we apologized for the kid’s being too noisy answered “they are children, they are supposed to be noisy”), the helpfulness of everyone we have had to deal with in an official capacity, Paolo (Bill’s boss) & his wife Rita, the International School, listening to everyone speak the beautiful Italian language even though I understand almost none of it & Bill only a little and the sincere generosity of spirit of just about everyone we have come in contact with while getting settled in. Oh, did I mention the food? I’m sure I have forgotten other stuff that we love but these immediately come to mind.

The yucky stuff – grocery shopping without a car for our whole family (5 people eat a lot of food and drink a lot of water!), the mosquitoes, the heat with no air conditioning, having to take taxi’s to the pool which turns it into an outing versus just a quick run for a swim, the kids not having other kids to play with yet and getting on each other’s (and our) nerves and of course, the smoke (which you all know about from my rant).

By the way, I forgot my address book, so if you’d like me or the kids to write you (or your child) a letter or postcard, please send me your address directly to my WSU email. The kids love to write letters and I’m sure they would also love to receive some. We are all just a little homesick, them much more than me because I still have my email, favorite websites & the phone. Also, Bill & I are still just taking everything in and enjoying the change and wonder of Italy. I’ll send you our address via email because I don’t want to post it on this public blog. However, please don’t send any packages because we have to pay taxes on them. We found out from another American family here on sabbatical that they were planning on shipping lots of things, but you have to pay tax on everything that is shipped (even if they are yours and not something new). For example, Bill’s thoughtful sister sent the boys some games for their birthday here in Italy and we had to pay a tax of 24 euro (about $30) to get them from Fed Ex. This part of the message is mostly for my Dad who is so organized and efficient, I would hazard to guess that he has already bought some xmas gifts for my kids and thinking about when to send them.

Good bye for today – stay tuned for “Italy vs. America – To Bra or Not to Bra”

Our One and Only Real Complaint – THE SMOKE

We have only one real complaint about Italy – the smoking. The myth/notion that everyone is still smoking in Europe appears to be true. While smoking is not allowed in public buildings like the police station, immigration office and secretary of state (all of which we have spent a bunch of time waiting in line at), it is ever present everywhere else! Even at Gardaland, standing in line and walking away from the rides/attractions was an opportunity to smoke incessantly while holding the tugging hand of your 5 year old or pushing a stroller. Nick has asked for an air mask to wear on the street because honestly, it feels like we are always in the “line of fire” for second hand smoke – walking, eating, shopping, sitting in cafes. Have they not heard that it is not only unhealthy, but politically incorrect to smoke? Especially in the presence of your own or other’s children? And, that smoking should be confined to your own backyard while you are sitting around with your friends or in dark, crowded bars when you are on your third beer? Is that why everyone here is so thin? I know from my research that obesity rates in Italy are about a third of the U.S. and it easily observable how slender the Italians (and French) are compared to the Brits and Germans at Gardaland. More importantly, why are the Europeans numbers on health status and longevity so much better than the U.S.? (Maybe it is healthier to be skinny and smoke than an overweight nonsmoker?) It seems like Sam’s asthma has been acting up because he has been coughing a lot. Is there some pollen/plant allergen or is it all the smoke? Will we all have our lives reduced by 4.8 days from being exposed to second hand smoke for this year? Will I decide to start smoking again?
I checked on the stats and the daily smoking rate in Italy is 24% of adults versus 18% in the U.S. The fact that it feels much higher could be attributable to any number of reasons. We are essentially in a college town with a higher proportion of 20-somethings people who will eventually quit smoking once they graduate, become parents, etc. Smoking may be more socially acceptable in Europe and/or people may feel more compelled to “hide” it in the U.S. I know that I have been to a number of parties where new friends/acquaintances have lit up away from the watchful public eye or their children when I had not idea they smoked.

So if you plan to visit, be forewarned or fore-“cheered,” there appears to be little shame or public censure of cigarette smoke.

Gardaland

This week we went to “Italy’s nr 1 Amusement Park,” Gardaland, and stayed at the Gardaland Resort Hotel to celebrate Nick & Sam’s birthday on August 2^nd. Basically, we went to Italy’s version of Disneyland. Can you believe it? While Bill and I think Disney is okay, we have been reluctant to load up the gang and “do Disney.” We always have lots of good excuses like “we really prefer to go skiing on our winter/Easter break,” “it sounds fun, but its really not on our short list,” and “the kids are really still too young.” Honestly, we have been Disney-snobs and privately rolled our eyes at each other at the idea of joining the teeming masses in the hot sun for a week of Mickey & company. So, what is the first overnight trip we take as we begin our year in Italy, the cultural bastion of Europe? Italy’s version of Disney, of course! Therefore, we invite and encourage all of our friends and family to tease/chide/berate endlessly for being shamelessly seduced by a family resort with air conditioning, pool and theme park only a short train ride from Padova.

Gardaland is located close to Peschiera at the southern tip of Lago di Garda (Lake Garda) which is one of the beautiful alpine lakes in the Dolomites. (Lake Garda’s better known sisters are Lake Como and Lake Maggiore both farther west and closer to Milan.) We were all really looking forward to getting out of the heat of the city and our non-air conditioned apartment. I was looking forward to sleeping in air conditioning (ha ha – our air didn’t work the first night we were there and our third floor suite was hotter than our apartment), Bill was looking forward to not listening to me whine about being hot, the boys were lusting for roller coasters and Isabelle was just ready to have some fun! Picture Disneyland in 1975 and you have Gardaland in your mind’s eye. There were rides, a dolphin act, Broadway review, ice show, light parade after dark and lots of french fries. The kids LOVED it and we spent 23 hours at the amusement park in just 2 days!

We stayed at the Gardaland hotel, a very lovely and very modern hotel located about a half mile from the park. The hotel looked like it belonged in Southern Florida – design, building materials, etc. All things considered, however, we can’t understand why anyone would stay there more than once. Aside from the people, who were extremely accommodating, the hotel itself was not much for a high price. We don’t really understand the business model for this hotel. It is just a collection of hotel rooms for the theme park. Even the pool, which was nice, was closed on the Thursday we were there. They offer nothing else: no shopping, no bike rental, no hiking, (needless to say) no golf (Bill's comment), only one restaurant with an overpriced buffet dinner – soft drinks NOT included in the price. There was no hotel discount for Gardaland tickets. They didn’t even have their own shuttle bus, but relied on the Gardaland shuttle which stopped at the hotel every half hour. It would have been a much better deal to stay in Peschiera, which was only a mile away but had many hotels, lots of restaurants and shopping, ferry boats to take you to many other small towns on Lake Garda, and THE SAME free shuttle to the park.

It wasn’t too crowded because Italy’s official summer holiday, Ferragosta, is August 15 (Assumption Day) and it appears that most families wait until that week to go on vacation. We were there with LOTS of German families, easily recognizable by their hiking boots and/or incredibly ugly shoes with multiply pierced teenagers in tow wearing tee shirts that said things like “The Black Hordes of Satan – The Only Reality is Death” or the women from the former East Germany with bigger shoulders and narrower waists than Bill’s. There was a smattering of British families who we were always happy to chat with (and they with us) and a smaller number of French/Swiss/Italian families. And I would like to “out” the beautiful French and Italian women who, yes, do wear shorts and tennis shoes while walking around a theme park with their over-stimulated, sticky young children just like us. I didn’t hear any American voices although Bill thinks he might have just once although it may have been just delusional after he had to ride some spinning acorn ride 4 times in a row with the boys as I declined (the ride consisted of 16 airplane shaped capsules, 4 groups of 4, each set of four spinning around a central axis attached to 4 larger arms that themselves spun around the main axis of the ride – so imagine circles spinning inside of a bigger circle – and, oh yes, the whole lot being raised up about 80 feet into the air) Children less than 137 cm must be accompanied by parent, and after one look, I decided that I wasn’t going anywhere near that ride. Nick and Sam each rode twice, and Bill therefore rode 4 times. He was dizzy for an hour afterward.

Since I couldn’t find any mention of Gardaland in any of my many travel books, I’m guessing not many Americans use their too short vacation time in beautiful Italy to meet Prezzemolo or ride the Magic Mountain roller coaster. (Prezzemolo is the park’s mascot whose name in English means “parsley” and is also part of an Italian idiom essere come il prezzemolo meaning something like “to turn up everywhere” – none of which we could figure out other than Prezzemolo is a big bright green dragon/dinosaur sort of creature who is in fact, everywhere you look.) Apparently we have a small accomplishment under the column of “immerse yourself in Italy” as we traveled to a place largely unmentioned in the guidebooks, unknown to Americans and did it all with public transportation – from the bus ride to the train station, to the crowded train which required all of us to stand for part of the ride home to Padova.

As such, we came to Italy and have been willingly hazed into the club of theme park parents and have yet another excuse to not “do Disney” – we’ve been to Gardaland!

P.S. We have some great pictures, but have unfortunately messed up the softare to download pictures from our camers, so no photos until we get the disk from Suzanne or figure out how to download it from the Canon website (which of course they charge for).