And here's tonight's haul. This is all, literally, from today. Nine more cantaloupes (another holiday, I guess), 2 watermelons of dubious quality, 3 cukes, 3 zucchini, 2 strawberries, and a serious pile of tomatoes.
Lindy is really awfully well spoken for a two year old. That's why I can post funny things like this from tonight as we were getting ready for bed.
Lindy: Daddy, there's a stranger. Tim: Where? Lindy: In the hall. Tim: Who is it? Lindy: It's Daddy. Tim: Lindy, a stranger is someone you don't know. Lindy: [emphatically] Like deers are strangers.
Yup, it's self indulgent to share these moments, but it is the prerogative of the author...
So, we were at a soccer store, getting cleats for the girls' upcoming soccer seasons. I've been wanting a US Soccer Team jersey to wear during the Olympics, etc. I was trying them on and coming out to see what the girls and Jenn thought of them. Jenn was talking with one of the high school age guys working in the store with Oakley nearby when I came out.
When Oakley saw me, she said to Jenn and the guy...
And this is what we found when we returned from Italy. Several black cherry tomatoes, one stupice, several cucumbers and several zucchini. A few cherry tomatoes as well...
Needless to say, the girls (all 4) were very excited. I have resigned myself to the fact that the garden will be a growing proposition in the future...
This is how we made it through all the airports and towns. Much credit goes to all my ladies (Jenn in particular) for packing light. We did the entire trip in two backpacks (a smaller version of this on Jenn). The big girls walked everywhere we went, and Lindy rode her chariot (and Jenn's arms as well) like a champ.
This is one of my favorite memories from Venice... trekking all the way across town in rain and hail. And the girls had a great time with it, as you can see here.
Never enough pictures of the photographer, are there? Well, I took this one myself from the Duomo in Florence, and it didn't look too bad, so I'm posting it here...
For those of you who lack the patience to click through the linked slideshows below (like myself), I'm going to post a few of my favorite pictures directly to the blog. They won't be chronological at all, so you'll just have to deal.
I came home to find I had been added as a friend on Facebook by some new folks... Rob Fetherston was kind enough to include the three pictures you'll see here. Even my wife will laugh out loud at these.
Can you find... Me? Rob? Art Kuesel? David Kendrick? Mikey Wussow?
I can't offer much in the way of witty messages, but I did want to let everyone know that we're home and healthy.
Special thanks go out to the Kirks, Garners, and Hickmans who tended to the garden, and to Uncool Brian, who snuck in and left some fruit and milk and stuff. It is much appreciated, and, frankly, needed.
Getting back to the United States from Italy is not a trivial manner. In some sense, it takes two full days. We started the process by checking out of La Filanda at 10am on Day 18. We had originally chosen to come to Lake Garda based on a recommendation from a book called Italy with Kids. It mentioned that Sirmione was a fantastic treat and suggested a visit to Gardaland. Gardaland is a theme park like Disneyland, and we wisely chose to avoid that. On our last day, we thought we would visit Sirmione.
Sirmione has a castle and is a remarkable isthmus, reaching out into Lake Garda. The water around it is an amazing blue (reminiscent of Rae's Creek at the Masters, when they used to dye it). So, we visited, explored, etc. Sirmione wasn't thrilling, and my lasting memory is this. If ever there was a city that should have prevented ALL cars from entering, it is this one. The streets are marginally wider than those in Venice, and we were constantly hugging walls so that we wouldn't get run over.
So, off from Sirmione we went with assistance from the GPS. I will now suggest to all of you that bring a GPS when you come to Europe. The reduction in stress from not having to worry about directions is worth whatever it costs.
We arrived at the Hotel Cardano a few hours later and set up camp for the night. This was our first night staying in a single room together. It made for some funny times, as we were all a little loopy. I believe the bottom shaking competition came down to Jenn and Lindy. I will not reveal the winner here.
A good night's sleep, and we were done with our last full day in Italy.
I would like it noted that we are very tired of pizza.
I have some connectivity tonight, so I uploaded a bunch of pictures... I have posted several blog posts below (on the right dates) if you're interested. If you just want to see pictures, though, go here.
Lake Garda offers many options... we could have hopped into a car and explored the far reaches of this marvelous lake. BUT, the time has come for relaxing and indulging our children's desires before our own. That meant we need to go play rather than exploring.
We headed back to the same beach we visited yesterday, but this time we did NOT walk past the paddleboats. We walked right up to them. Yes, it seems a bit like something from a Chevy Chase movie, but we piled the whole family onto the paddleboat and headed out for Isola San Biagio. Jenn and I pedaled our way out and the girls rode on the front. Yes, it seems like the kind of thing that could be a disaster in so many ways. But, remarkably, it WASN'T. We had a great time even though we couldn't dock on the island (which was sadly private and required paying a fee). So we messed around in the shallow area around the island and the girls really liked swimming in the lake. (Except Oakley didn't like wearing goggles, because she could see the "green" in the distance.)
We had a floating lunch (the third of five meals we would purchase from the same butcher in our time in Montinelle) and played in the water some more. And I am only slightly ashamed to mention that I allowed the boat guy to UNDERCHARGE us for the boat. That's right, we were charged for only one our after having the boat for THREE... So, while Italy has taken a good bite out of my wallet a few times, it gave me back E17 worth today, so I feel like a winner.
The day concluded much like the prior one. Come back, rest, get some pasta from the butcher, make sauce, play at the pool, eat dinner, play at the playground... The girls loved and so did we. Lake Garda and La Filanda have really served us well. Tomorrow, we head to Sirmione en route to Milan in the end. A bit of adventure awaits tomorrow before the pure travels begin. I am both happy and sad...
We got lucky indeed. La Filanda is treating us well (with the exception of more bug bites like we got in Venice). Our place is excellent. No mold, plenty of room, people who aim to please us. It's a good combination. And, to this point, we've seen no one else who speaks English much at all.
We took a bit of a lazy morning while Jenn did her run and collected some pastries in town. She came back, cooked up some eggs and we ate before heading out for our morning hike. The hike started literally at our door, and within 30 minutes, we had reached the pinnacle of the climb. Yes, I know, 30 minutes sounds like it can't be much of a view, but you will be corrected by the pictures I'll post here later. The Rocca, as it's called, is a startlingly beautiful view in 360 degrees. The lake encompasses at least 300 of those degrees and the ruin that's at the top is fun to explore as well. I honestly can't think of a view I've encountered in my life that exceeds this one. And it was accessible enough that only Lindy required any assistance in reaching the top. Pretty awesome.
From there, we descended the mountain, stopped at the apartment, and headed in to town to collect some salami, cheese, and bread, our lunch. We packed that and ourselves in the car for a 3 minute drive down to the water and had lunch at a pebble beach with about 300 Europeans. The water is remarkably warm and the rocks weren't a problem in our Keens so we had a good old time. Eros and Eros are happy to note that there was a nude sunbather in addition to several speedo clad men, so the European influence is in full force. Fortunately, we didn't end up having to discuss it with the girls.
A bit of gelato and rest time at the apartment leave me where I am... hoping to get internet access to post a week's worth of posts... I'm off to try again.
(Continuing later...)
Not much else of note on Day 16... We decided we were tired of going out to dinner at restaurants that were both expensive and not very good, so, we created our own. I bought some pasta from the butcher (yes). It was ravioli, that I could tell. It contained zuca. Any ideas? The butcher and I worked it out and it tasted excellent (think Halloween). Jenn created a sauce from some tomatoes as well.
An evening of pool time, homemade dinner, playground time, and sleep is a good one. I like the slower life of these smaller towns.
The fish market at Rialto isn't open until Tuesday, so we had to head over and catch a few looks at some obscure fish. Not a bad way to start the day, and we checked out flounder, octopus, scallops, and plenty of other obscure fish. The tuna were noteworthy in their girth.
From there, packing ensued and we hiked over to the Ferrovia (train station), boarded a train for Verona, and got out of Venice. In deciding to leave early, we certainly needed somewhere to go. That somewhere was an extra night at La Filanda, our home as of this evening. La Filanda is an agriturismo (working farm of sorts) on Lake Garda. Lake Garda is a less frequented northern lake than the famous Como, but you'll hear more about that in coming days.
Our train dropped us in Verona and we made our way over to the Hertz office at about 12:30. And the stupid office was closed. Seriously, the midday siesta thing is a little odd regardless, but in a service/travel industry? Lame.
We had planned to head into Verona regardless, and so we used the buses instead of the cars and took a quick trip in. Verona is coverable in about 90 minutes, and we did just that, stopping for a shot of gelato as well. I liked the smaller size of the town, the Roman Arena, and my gelato by the river. I was struck by the old square. Its winged lion, acknowledging the victor Venice, was fine. But I was overwhelmed by the immense pile of junk being sold in the square again. When people complain of America's commercialism, they need to come look at the defiling of these old squares by the sellers of crap for tourists. Jenn and I literally could not FIND the famous, 2000 year old fountain in the middle of the square because it was obscured by the "market". God knows I should have bought the mask in Venice (where they are famous), but at least I can get it in Verona! Or probably Milan, or maybe even in Atlanta when we land.
So, Verona was fine, we bused back to the train station and loaded into the car. (Note: Renting a car seat in Italy for three days costs substantially more than buying a comparable car seat in the states. What is one to do with that fact?) We were off to the unknown... the world that was not suggested by Rick Steves, the western coast of Lake Garda.
As Jenn and I were driving along, we considered the possibilities. We could already see the massive mountains beyond the lake. They were stunning, and boded well. And then it occurred to me... were we about to head into Gatlinburg East? Why don't American's visit this beautiful land positioned well between Venice and Milan? Were we making a huge mistake? Was their website misleading?
As we pulled of the Autostrade at Desenzano, our fears grew. The ferris wheel was clearly visible. The mass of humanity in place. Gatlinburg it was. Jenn kept saying, "Keep driving. We could make it to Lake Como tonight. It's only 3 more hours." We managed to plow through the first hit of commercialism without turning around. We moved on and grew closer to La Flianda (according to the GPS). We were within 2 miles of home, and it was looking SOMEWHAT better, but we were still unsure. And then we saw it. The sign, in bold black and yellow:
<---- SEXY SHOP... Eros e Eros
Uh oh. Not good at all. This cannot bode well. My fears changed from trailer parks (which we did see) to _nudist camps_. This was not a good sign.
The long and short of it, though, is that we were wrong to be concerned. La Filanda is pretty neat, actually. It is sort of a walled fortress of its own, including a pool, an olive orchard, and about 20 family focused apartments. Less than five minutes out the back door is a little town, complete with somewhere for dinner and a little forno (bakery, not porno). The girls got in a quick swim before the pool closed (the other guests are almost all German, complete with speedos at the pool).
Lake Garda appears to have fantastic potential. Whether we take a ferry to Sirmione or a hike to some castle ruins, we're going to have a good time. We may even just vacation by the pool for a piece of the day. All of the options are good ones. I am thrilled to be free of the piles of people in the bizarre theme park that is Venice. I'm thrilled to see some grass. I'm really excited about exploring a part of the world that is beautiful in any language... So, I'm excited, and tired. (I am now aware that 2 weeks is the point at which I feel like I've been away from home for a long time.)
So, Jenn and I spent some time planning this day the night before and concluded the following... we were pretty well done with Venice.
NOTE: If you don't want to read negative thoughts, skip this post. I am going to speak freely about Venice as compared to other places we're visiting. I DO believe that Venice is worth a day - two and interesting to experience briefly, but, the following are my honest thoughts, so take them for what you will.
We plain and simple planned too much time in Venice. To my untrained eye, Venice is unbelievably homogenous. As mentioned previously, St. Mark's is quite impressive, as impressive as St. Peter's or any other we've seen. Other than that, though, There are very few places where you could drop me in Venice where I would know exactly where I was. All of the streets are of similar width, all of the squares are of similar size (Campo San Polo is slightly larger).
Rialto, while distinct, is some sort of queer bottlenecked crap selling mall. I have seen the same 40 masks and cups of fruit in so many places, I don't even see them anymore. (Note, I have now seen the same stuff in Verona, along with the same international football jerseys. Still boring.)
And you know what else? Venice stinks, but not in the manner for which we had prepared. I had been warned that it smelled, like sewage in my imagination. But, in fact, the stink was different. We had major mold problems in the anteway of our apartment... black crap hanging from the ceiling. If you arrive at this post based on the key word www.veniceapartments.org, know now that you might want to avoid veniceapartments.org or venice altogether.
On top of that, Venice smells like smoke constantly. The Italians smoke a lot. We passed a picture of a famous composer whose music was going to be played in a concert. He had been photographed, intentionally, with a cigarette in his hand. It struck me that in our culture, that would be an embarrassment. In fact, it's been 50 years or so since Sinatra thought it was cool to be caught with that in a photograph. Not the Italians, though. They still flaunt it, enough so that I swear I took more polluted breaths in Venice than anywhere I can remember. Frankly, the air doesn't seem to circulate very well.
So, now that my negative thoughts are well documented, I can move on. We decided that we didn't need to kill time in Venice... we needed to get out. So, we canceled the last day of our apartment to the extent we could, and planned for only one more day. We decided to go for some "fresher" art, and made our way across town to the Peggy Guggenheim museum, which focuses on more modern art, early 1900's. This worked out well because the art was more appealing to the children in our group, Aspen, Oakley, Lindy, and Tim. In fact, we took a good tip from a book for children and had the girls sketch their own copies of some of the art. Once we return to the states, I'll be sure to post some of their work. When the rain came, we even added another piece or two to their repertoire.
I want it noted, though, that by about 3pm, we had already had gelato twice. And by 9pm, we had added a third. It was a good day in that regard. The freedom that came from departing a day early was excellent.
We wallowed in the sage decision to leave early, and prepared for our departure. Day 15 would take us away from Venice, and we were happy about it.
Rome was certainly a lot more planned than was Venice. Given that it fell much later in the trip, we left the details out for Venice. And so, we got up this morning with not much of a plan. I headed out to find some pastries and brought them back for a pretty good breakfast (with the fruit from the prior day).
A bit of rain hit in the morning (our first of the trip) and so we delayed our departure a bit. It cleared up and we headed out for Venice's best known sight... St. Mark's square and Doge's Palace. St Mark's is absolutely PACKED with people. Do you all know that I really don't like people very much?
We ultimately decided to explore Doge's Palace first and it was reasonably interesting. The palace portion had some art, which didn't really register for me, and then we made our way to the prison (somewhat interesting, although far less so than Alcatraz) and then the institutional rooms. We did enjoy the Hall of the Grand Council. It is a large room (seating more than 2000) with fantastic works in oil (as exciting as painting can be). We had a frank discussion amongst ourselves regarding the quality of the room as compared to the Sistine Chapel. Aspen summed up our collective opinion, "I don't want to discompliment Michaelangelo, but this really is more impressive." The Sistine Chapel certainly is impressive, but to my untrained eye, this was more so.
The Doge's Palace was also the point at which I hit overload. I was DONE. I was hungry, I'd seen enough old stuff, I was ready to get out of there, which we did, and things turned up. We had a nice lunch at a place nearby where they let us sit, eat sandwiches, and get out for a mere E15.80, a fantastic deal in comparison to some we've experienced here. We then cruised quickly up to an alternate enterance to St. Mark's and walked in with no line whatsoever... it was excellent, and raised my spirits. St. Mark's is impressive as well (again, probably moreso than St. Peter's). The domes are remarkable with the mosaics, and we were pleased to see it quickly. (Note that the sites in Venice seem to be anti-camera, so I have little to show in this regard.)
When we arrived on the loggia of St. Mark's the rains had returned. We had a great view of folks sprinting through the square before we headed down. We decided it was time to come home regardless, so we had a clear path through the streets of Venice as everyone else avoided the thunderstorm under cover... We came home with wet clothes instead... certainly more memorable than standing in a tunnel. Every bit of our clothing now spins in the washing machine here in the apartment... expanding the case for apartments in foreign countries.
Also of note... our neighbor across the canal has been sharing their music with us. In the morning, Phil Collins. Just now? MJ is kicking some Thriller!
Rick Steves treated us to some good dinner as well, which we chased with some good gelato at La Boutique di Gelato. Not a bad finish to the day.
Day 12 is underway right now. I'm writing this as we cruise along in a train from Florence to Venice. Jenn and I have concluded we're big fans of the train system here. Renting a car was necessary to stay in Bucine, but just barely. The train station was walkable and the hassles of renting a car are tremendous. Were it not for the GPS that my dad brought but didn't want to use, it would have been even more painful.
Today started with a sprint to get out of the house... the cleaning crew arrived before I was even awake! They wanted us out at 9:30 because they had someone else coming. At first, I was annoyed. Now, having just made the train comfortably due in part to their "encouragement" to leave, I am grateful.
Surely tonight's adventure will include finding both the key drop and the apartment in Venice. Those stories will have to wait for later...
And later it is... (now writing on Day 13 from the apartment in Venice, to be posted at some later date...)
Getting the key was no problem (except that I have to go back to pay on Monday). We decided walking to the apartment, bags and all, was manageable, and I have to say it was the right choice. Venice is not huge... As an adult, I would say the entire city is walkable... hoisting a 2 year old around the whole time on your shoulders makes it a bit more taxing, but OK. We found our way to the apartment with relative ease. It is, quite frankly, huge. In some ways, it's nicer than Rome, in others, not so much. We have a separate sitting room, a kitchen, bunk beds, etc. Now, the mold in the area outside our door is kind of gross, and I've been sniffling because of it, I think, but it is outside our space. I suspect, also, that mold like that is a common problem because of "acqua alta". So, we move on and don't complain. I still think that apartments like this one are a sound idea for a family like ours.
Venice, I say again, is small, and different. It's wild being in a place that lacks cars. If you're willing to use the force a bit, it seems reasonable to get around as well. I was quickly able to find my way to the produce market and get some fruit for the next morning. Streets are narrow, seriously... like 3 feet in places. What that means is that our apartment is right on top of those next to us.
We opened our windows on this, our first night (it was really hot here). Both Jenn and woke up at various points absolutely convinced that someone was in the apartment with us. We had NO DOUBT that they were taking things and walking freely through the apartment. Jenn went so far as to get up and look for our backpacks. It is a wild sensation. I must admit that it lead to a terrible night's sleep. Even as I write this now, someone just outside the door scared me to death with his booming voice...
Ultimately, we made it through the night. Day 13 comes in a separate post.
We all enjoyed our off days so much that we wanted to keep a bit of that in our on day for Day 11. That meant that a long trip to San Gimignano or Civita was ruled out in favor of a short trip nearby. After much perusing of the guest book at the Villa, Jenn discovered mention of Monteriggioni. She searched it out on the internet and discovered that it was a small castle town about an hour from Bucine. That alone was a good start. Even better, Monteriggioni was hosting a medieval festival this very weekend. Perfect.
So, we spent the day in the pool, showered and prepared, and headed out to Monteriggioni for the evening. We traded our Euros into G-something or others and enjoyed the various acts and the incredibly small town. It was fun to imagine what life might be like in such a small place. There were literally three streets, each about 100 yards long. We probably circled the entire town 10 times as we checked out kids' activities, stilt performances, a rocking band with recorders and bagpipes, dolce, porchetta (the Italian version of barbecue in my opinion), and life in a really small town.
We finished the night with some gelato, our second of the day. We are mired in the world of mediocre gelato right now... we long for the exceptional stuff found at Gelateria Carabe (Florence) or Il Gelato di San Crispino (Rome). Perhaps we can return to it in Venice.
Day 10 was another of our vacation days, chilling at the Villa, swimming, etc. No big agenda, no destination, simply relaxing. We did enjoy a third meal created by Maria, the cook who made wonderful meals for all of us on our off days. Jenn took another opportunity to watch as she prepared the meal and I think she learned some more. Another day well spent.
The "Mi Scusi Express" continued its rampage through the pool as Lindy and her float crashed into anything they could find.
Oooh, I forgot we also had a water balloon fest in the afternoon. Pictures are available here...
A special thanks go out to Nana and Papa (not shown) for bringing us all together in Italy! In this case, Nana has joined her 6 wonderful granddaughters in front of the Florence Duomo. Thank you so much!
This was an awesome spot our trip to Siena on Monday... Just stopped on the side of the road for a quick look...These fields carried on indefinitely... farther than I could see.
Day 9 was one of the big ones for all of us. It started with an early departure for Jenn. (In truth, Jenn has been up early everyday running, but on this occasion, she left again before I got up.) She walked to the train station in Bucine on her own and boarded a train for Florence. She expected to find someone selling tickets at the station, but we've since learned that Bucine doesn't rate a person, so she got help from a friendly Italian who bought one from the automated machine.
After an hour on the train that included an elderly Italian woman befriending her, Jenn arrived, got a cab, and headed out to Trattoria Zibibbo. It was there that Benedetta tolerated an additional member of the staff for the day. Jenn worked on countless dishes including a swordfish spaghetti and the day's pesto. It all starts, as I understand it, with soffrito (red onions, celery, and onions). Jenn worked with the kitchen staff at a small, high end restaurant and the literal glow on her face when we arrived seemed to indicate she really loved it.
Our day started a bit later, but followed a similar course. The girls and I (including every other member of our party, 13 strong) boarded the train at 8:30 en route for Florence. We arrived, got oriented, and headed over to the Duomo in the center of Florence. It is large indeed, and it has steps; 463 of them, in fact. Like my own little reindeer, Aspen and Oakley joined their cousin Jocelyn in leading me up the steps (with Lindy in my little sack, or arms, or wherever she would fit through the tiny corridors and spiral staircases of the duomo).
The view from the top was exceptional and Aspen and Oakley frankly did far better than expected in climbing all those steps. The quality of the spiral staircases actually amazed me... so regular and smooth and travelable... remarkable craftsmanship.
After our quick descent, we headed for a cab and ride out to Zibibbo ourselves. We shared a tasting menu with Jenn, repleat with champagne, two red wines, a cognac style drink, a potatoe/porcini/bechamel dish, a chicken liver pate bruschetta, the pesto, a ragu based tagliatelle, a filet, and some gelato, plus bread and water.... ugh, I'm still stuffed writing it. Benedetta was such a fantastic host to Jenn and us... we really appreciate it.
From there, the five or us climbed into a cab and headed to the courtyard outside the Uffizi where we caught a few shots with some famous sculptors and a famous (imitation) sculpture, sparing us some big lines.
A walk to Gelateria Carabe and back to the train station brought us back to Bucine for a quick swim before bed. Not a bad day in total. In addition to the links above, I'll post a few of the pictures to the site here as well so you are forced to see them.
First, a quick mention of my business partner Mike Rustici... we had to visit Siena, as his most recent child is named for the city.
The villa gives us great freedom to wake up when we please and cruise out for some exploring. Monday's destination was Siena, another neat hill town of sorts, but Siena is pretty big. Its rivalry with Florence is well known, but it failed to keep up due to the black plague... The result, though, is a huge duomo and a beautiful central square.
Soon after we had arrived and picked up a great picnic lunch at a place called Morbidi, we stepped outside to figure out where we were headed. Aspen commented quickly... "Something fell on my head!" I asked what it was, and she said it was an olive. She was, uh, wrong. As you can see, it was green, but it was no olive. Fortunately, Jenn was aware of a technique for removal. Don't you dare reach for a paper towel... just wait it out. When the poop dries, you can simply flick it out instead of smearing it. Aspen was a trooper, never once freaking out about it, and even laughing pretty quickly once we established that there was no reason to be embarrassed.
Our other highlight from Siena was the Palio... No, we didn't see it live, but we did catch a video of it and the history of it is excellent. I simply love anything sporting event where the community cares about it wholeheartedly, and the Palio certainly qualifies. The 17 neighborhoods all try to enter, and only 10 are allowed each year. A horse is assigned to each, and they run a total of a mile in three laps through the city square. It is fascinating and the passion is off the charts.
Our girls chose a souvenir in Siena... a scarf representing their chosen neighborhoods. Aspen went with the cheetah (panther), Oakley with the owl, and Lindy with the catepillar... If you're interested, check out some video here...
