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.