Around The Town

It wasn't all work and no play for Chris. After his full day of courses he was usually able to join us by 6:00PM. We'd have a leisurely dinner then cruised the streets. We happened upon a very unique wishing well. You must drop a coin as you rub the boars snout having it land it just the right spot.

While in search of just the right gelato we passed these impressive chalk artists hard at work.

By our second day of the trip Graham was saying, "Si, Si" and "Ciao, Ciao"
By Monday evening he was saying, "I want ice cream!" He could spot those lovely bins of goodness from miles away. It wasn't always easy to convince him that ice cream at 9AM was not a good idea and that he would have to wait until later (at least 10AM).

I must say this boy was SPOILED on this trip....french fries, pizza, pasta, and lots and lots of gelato.

We enjoyed our fair share too. At first I was concerned about my weight loss challenge. The hotel did not allow me to work out until 9 which was well after we'd left everyday. We walked and walked and walked some more so in the end I was able to enjoy everything I wanted with no detriment to the fitness challenge.

Love these guys!

Touring at Two

The last time we went to Italy Zach was 4 and Ethan was almost 2.5. After that trip I swore I would never take a 2 year old on another European vacation. Ethan's personality aside 2 year olds are just so dang busy. Even with 3 adults, my sister Lauren came too, it was a lot of work. It didn't help that as I was packing for the trip the fist waves of pregnancy nausea were crashing down upon me that lasted the entire trip and well after. It was unexpected as I rarely felt sick with the first two.

Then just as Graham is approaching two this amazing opportunity arose for us that we couldn't pass up. All we needed was a babysitter for the big events (and the big boys) and Graham just comes along for the free ride. By the way, lap children are not free! Discounted a bit but not free. Then don't even think about bringing a stroller because they just take it from you making cross airport connections a nightmare. Don't try to save money by bringing your own car seat because they will just charge it as an extra piece of luggage. I could go on and on. At least he was super good on the flights especially when our travel both to and from kept him up all night.

This time during the day we had 3 adults, myself, Grandma Jenkins, and Marjory, making this trip very manageable with a toddler.

We didn't miss out on Michelangelo's tomb....

or any of the notable churches, like Santa Maria Novella.

But by the 3 day G figured out something very interesting.
His ECHO!

Which he decided to use repeatedly upon entering the churches. So we took turns browsing, learning, and experiencing the beauties of Florence while one got to go out and chase pigeons or get an ice cream at 10AM.

Often it was Grandma J. who opted out as this was not her first trip to these sights. She was gracious enough to be Graham's playmate while Marjory and I climb the 300+ stairs of the Duomo. We got to see the red hot fire pokers in store for the wicked close up and personal.

But, best of all we climbed out on top of the cupolla for stupendous rooftop views.

We also took in all the major sights with pre-booked tickets. Cutting the lines is so the way to go. Not only did we not have to entertain G while remaining in Que but with free downloads of tours on our iPhones we hit the high lights and were in and out before G woke up from his nap.

The shopping on the other hand took a special kind of patience. I do love leather among other things. So between thank you gifts, souvenirs, and moms weakness/illness for expensive things both G and Grandma J had to put up with a lot. Marjory was completely on board with shopping so I had a partner in crime.

There were also an abundance of street performers, pigeons, gelaterie, horses, and a merry go round to keep our little guy busy as we explored nearly every street the city had to offer.

Finally Florence

We arrived in a downpour after an hour of negotiating the traffic through the city. It was one of the frustrating drives where the GPS tells you to go one way and the city/construction signs tell you to go another.

But the next morning we awoke to this...

they gray clouds quickly moved out and there were only blue skies from then on.

Our first morning we visited the Pitti Palace. There was a special exhibit of gorgeous designer gowns from the 1700-2000. There was so much eye candy to behold and each display mixed the era of the dresses so we would try and guess the dates before looking at the dates, designers, and so forth. After so much exquisite displays you can only imagine my shock when we entered a room to see this.....

It looked like a tray of dead babies. It was so bizarre I couldn't pass up a photo op an of course share it with you all.

We then moved out of doors into the gardens. These were definitely designed before the day of wheel chair access. Luckily Graham was in the mood to walk, at least at first. It took a bit of prodding to get him up the hill but when we got there we weren't disappointed.

There was also a porcelain museum with beautiful dish sets from around the world and a display of "extremely modern" tea pots and other things from a local artist. Graham loved the little porcelain girl pouring tea.....she was just his size.
Then there was a little boys dream, mud and a fountain full of frogs.
After a very long stroll through the grounds we headed out to find some lunch.

Marjory's guide book gave recommendations for good eats in each zone of the city. Because it was Sunday many of the options it suggested were closed. I then noticed a rotisserie place and decided to step in. Everyone in there was Italian, there were no tourists so we decided to try it out and we weren't disappointed. Then Marjory just happen to flip through her book while waiting for our food to come and she said one place is open today. When I looked at it I said, "Guess what? That's where we are." We just happened upon a winner. After that we stuck with the book and were NEVER disappointed. The only bad meal we ate the entire trip was a place of our choosing. We were trying to avoid a restaurant that caters to tour groups as in our experience they are never good. So as we tried to avoid this one particular restaurant we moved down the street a little further. The only problem was that unbeknownst to us it was a different entrance to the same place.

We then did a bit of window shopping in the Ponte Vecchio area, built in 1345.

These gold shops were once used as slaughter houses. The ruling Medicci family didn't care for the smell as they passed from their palace to other places in the city so they built a walkway above so they could pass without being seen. Then eventually they kicked out the meat vendors and brought in the jewelers. Also during WWII, Hitler specifically asked that this bridge not be destroyed as they were bombing all the others. He did damage the ends to make it unusable but thankfully saved this spot.....

...which leads right into Piazza della Signori.

More to come...

Assisi

Assisi (A-see-see)
is one city I have been desperate to get back to.

Not for it's charm....

or for it's architecture.

Not for it's amazing....

panoramas.

Not for the food...

although we had an amazing turkey cutlet stuffed with fresh vegetables and cheese.

Not for it's famous church St. Francesco di Assisi.

Not for it's quaint hillsides...

or it's delectable treats and gelato.

BUT FOR IT'S
ART!

I so enjoy seeing the craftsmen working away as you browse their wares. I have a sickness that involves Italian ceramics and one other unique artistry that I fell in love with about 6 years ago and that is the work of Massimo Cruciani.

He only has two show rooms and although you can see his work on his web sight, www.cruciani.com you can only purchase his work there if you want to contact them for a special order. One studio is way out of the way in the hillside town of Gubbio. The other is in Assisi as well as his studio. 6 years ago we bought this painting because we adore the Umbrian and Tuscan countrysides. Also, water colors are one of my favorite mediums of art. But Massimo takes it to a different level by painting on glass, with acrylics that take on the misty watercolor look, in reverse. I love his work because when I am missing Italy I just sit back and look at his painting and it immediately takes me back there. Sadly my painting was a bit damaged in the move. It is only noticeable upon close inspection but I fear it won't survive a voyage home when we do decide to leave.

So on this day a desire to return was fulfilled. I spent a good amount of time in his showroom wracking my brain for a way to allow for one of the following paintings to fit into our budget. Meanwhile Marjory was quickly falling in love with his work too and bought a lovely scene of Umbria that fit nicely in her carry on home so that when she is home her memories of this trip will carry on every time she looks at it.

But alas what you don't see is the enormity of size and price of these paintings and we fear terribly that they would not arrive in Kingdom in the condition they were sent. We also fear that when our time here is done the packers would not or could not safely prepare them for a journey back to the USA.

Now these iPhone shots are pretty pathetic and do not do his talent the least bit of justice.

But for now I just dream of the day I can own another of his paintings....one large enough that I feel as though I could just step right into it. In this case bigger is better!

Indebted

We just returned from a quick but amazing Italian Adventure.

We are INDEBTED to several families for allowing us the opportunity to go:

The Logans, the Franklins, the Reynolds, the Hasiuks, and Kirk Peterson.

You all cared for, fed, washed both boys and clothes, refereed, swam with, and kept them from harm while riding their bikes, along with many other things so Chris could attend the SPE Conference and I could cheer him on.

Our tickets had us leaving from from different countries. So after Chris left me in Dammam he drove on to Bahrain for his flight. I flew to Dubai and then met him in Amsterdam where we also met up with our dear friend Marjory from Alaska. We then all caught the last leg to Bologna together arriving just in time for lunch. Oh yeah paninni with fresh mozzarella di buffola and the real Fanta.

First we drove to Ascoli Piceno.

This is one of our favorite cities. It has amazing food, good friends, and very few tourists. Here you walk ancient streets where all the sights and sounds are truly Italian.

Chris was in desperate need of a new suit so we spent a bit of the afternoon shopping.
Then gathered with dear friends, some of whom had just arrived back into town as well, for a wonderful meal (except Chris who ordered Polenta, it took so long we were all done before his meal arrived). Unfortunately, the all night travel had caught up with Graham and I had to take him back to the hotel and we didn't get a picture of the grand reunion group. At one point G grabbed my camera and did take this one of the meal.

The next morning we set off for the Fortezza delle Armi (The Fortress of the Army) in nearby Civitella del Tronto.

It was a windy and twisty road that brought us here. Along the path we discovered that I am not the only one in the family who suffers from motion sickness.
Just where the road intersects with the brown field in the picture above is where Graham could no longer keep down his breakfast. Luckily I had extra clothes for him but his car seat was completely destroyed. As I took the car seat cover off Chris set out to find a towel to get things cleaned up. A women in a nearby house was kind enough to give us one. When Chris told her we had a sick kid and needed some help she responded, "Where did you find this sick kid?" Uh. Laughingly Chris replied, "He's ours." As if we just found some sick kid wandering around.
So with all the windows down and a somewhat clean padless car seat we made it to our destination.....

....only to be attacked by flying ants. They didn't bite but they sure where pesky. Once we realized what those strange black clouds were we avoided the swarms.

We learned during this visit that some of the prisoners that had been captured here were later taken to America to fight in the Civil War for the south. I thought that a bit strange to have people fight for something that wasn't their cause. I mean would they even fight at all since they weren't even concerned about what was going on. I guess they thought it would be better to be soldiers in America than be shipped off to Australia.

Graham found the two seater bathroom facilities very interesting.

After our tour we had no choice but to head down the same road we came up. However, this time G slept the entire way down and was ready for some lunch. He was so angry during this meal because whenever he dropped his pasta on the ground the pigeons would scavenge for it right away. He started yelling, "NO, No, Mine!" Even though he couldn't have it he sure didn't want them to get it either. Now he knows how Ethan feels all the time.

Since Marjory had never been to Ascoli our friend Alberto became our personal tour guide. He would stop us every so often and say, "Take a picture of that! Isn't it beautiful. It's very old and very important."

So we did.
These are Roman washing machines. OK so they aren't machines it was where the women gathered to do the washing.

He then took us INSIDE an ancient Roman bridge.

That evening while waiting for friends in Piazza Graham busied himself cleaning pillars and poles with his wipes.

These are some of the members the church from when Chris served here.

Our last morning we visited with the parents of Chris' friend Serafino. Each time we come we have more children and they just can't get enough of them. They weren't too happy that we didn't bring all the boys and couldn't stay longer but we needed to get on the road.

More to come.....