Milano. Meh.

Incredible view of the cathedral in front of dark stormy skies

When Brian and I went to Milan (Milano) in 1994, we really didn't know what to expect.  Or, to be precise, we expected it to be like Rome or Florence, which of course, it isn't.  It's a business and fashion center and many of the buildings of any real historical significance were bombed in world war II.  We didn't have a great time there.  

But, this time around, I wanted to try it again.  I wanted the boys to see a different view of Italy than we had been seeing - and that famous gothic cathedral is just really, really cool!  But, unlike the other cities we planned to see for one week each, we chose just three nights in Milan.  That would allow us to pack in fun stuff and leave with a different impression than I went with.  Or, such was the plan, anyway.  

We arrived late in the day, having spent the day with Alessia's family in Mantua (Mantova) and getting myself a new "do" at the hair salon (parrucchiere).  Our apartment was amazingly spacious and also quite unpleasantly musty smelling.  We set out to find dinner and ended up eating at the McDonalds on the piazza with the cathedral.  Not bad - a sort of fun experience but not exactly stellar.  

What came from there was 2 days of some sort-of fun experiences, but a lot of stuff closed.  We didn't get to see the marionette theatre or the science and technology museum, as they were both closed (the marionette theatre, perhaps permanently).  I painstakingly researched restaurants and found a really neat sounding trattoria only to find it wasn't open on Sunday nights and was completely booked Monday night.  

In addition, our last day involved a super-frustrating wild goose chase to find a place to clean our clothes or have them cleaned.  Apparently, in Lombardia, the region within which Milan exists has outlawed commercial water-based washing machines.  You can get your clothes DRY CLEANED with chemicals but having WATER used is clearly dangerous to the environment.  My Italian is not good enough to get a sufficiently acceptable answer to this strangeness.  But, it's a new enough phenomenon that the apartment we were staying in did not have private facilities for us to use, either.  Apparently the only way to get commercial wash done is to send it out, but with us arriving late on a Saturday and leaving early on a Monday, this wasn't an option for us.  We eventually found a very nice lady who took our wash (only charged us 6 euros for it) and pointed us toward a pretty good gelateria.  All's well that ends well, but sheesh!

On the bright side, we did eat some super-delicious piadini, a local specialty (pictured below) and took the double-decker tour bus which Sam had been begging to ride one like it since Rome (also pictured below).  Milan also can boast giving me the only moment in Italy when I was actually cold.  

Piadini (with bresaola on the left and spicy salami on the right)

Happy Sam on the top level of the tour bus in Milan.  

So, Milan, I say "meh".  Maybe some day I will return to you for business and some colleagues can show me what I missed.  Twice.  Until then, parting is not such sweet sorrow.  

A Night at the Opera

We are not "opera people".  We don't dislike it, but we also don't go out of our way to see it.  But, when planning for this trip, I learned that Verona had an arena where they staged operas.  We were intrigued.  

"L'arena di Verona" was originally built in AD 30 and used for games and shows.  The outer facade was damaged in an earthquake in 1117.  During the Renaissance, it began to be used as a theatre and after, in the 1850's, some operatic performances were mounted there, owing to its outstanding acoustics.  In 1913, the 100th year after Verdi's birth, seasonal operatic performances commenced and were performed every summer except for 1915-18 and 1940-45 due to world wars.  The amazing acoustics allowed operas to be performed without amplification until 2011 when an "electronic sound reinforcement system" was installed.  Whatever that means...

So, even though we did not originally plan to go to Verona on our trip, we couldn't help but notice that Verona was an easy 1.5 hour train ride from Venice.  We planned a one-night detour.  We ordered our tickets for Don Giovanni and packed them carefully away in our luggage.

As it happened, when we were in Venice, we felt like a full week there was more than we wanted and so, instead of Venice to Verona and BACK to Venice, we stayed in Verona an additional two days.  But, the first night was THE OPERA!

Brian had already returned to Philly, so Alessia, Sam, Nate and I dressed up (as much as we had packed for!) and had a dinner at one of the restaurants at Piazza Bra'.  We all had "fancy" cocktails together and a delicious meal.  A word about our surroundings: At the Arena, they produce 6 different operas during the summer and the production changes nightly.  The arena stage is huge and the set pieces for each production huge to go along with it.  The arena has a backstage area, of course, but not enough space to store the set pieces for the 5 productions NOT being performed each night.  So, all around the Piazza Bra' and the perimeter of the arena are huge set pieces from Aida, Romeo and Giulietta, etc.  It was a very cool, if odd, reminder of the workings behind the illusion.

After dinner, we bought seat cushions and found our seats (which, indeed, did need cushioning!).  As much as I had prepared the boys for how to behave during an opera, we did get a couple of "shussh"es until they (Sam, mostly) understood quite what it meant.  The production was beautiful: costumes, set, lights, voices and even acting were wonderful.  The opera started at 9:00 p.m. and ran almost 4 hours so, no, we didn't stay until the end.  And I do wonder how much the boys got out of it.  We certainly could have gone without the boys, but I am happy we shared the experience with them.  Next opera will be easier!

Verona non-opera-related post script: Verona turned out to be the city with the BEST prosciutto crudo we ate in Italy.  Even though Bologna is much closer to Parma than Verona is, this was consistently true.  Verona is also where the boys got (great!) Italian haircuts and Sam chose an Italian-style swim suit.  We peeked at the balcony of Juliette but thought it to be "meh"

Glass Tour in Murano

We had a wonderful opportunity to take a private tour of Murano island.  Having, myself, used murano glass in my jewelry when I had my business, Eclecticat, up and running, I was particularly interested in the beads, but, of course, it's also an amazing educational experience for the boys.

Venice has been a glass-making city for a LONG time.  The glass factories were moved off the island of Venice to Murano in 1291 for fear of fires.  We visited the Signoretti factory (http://www.signoretti.it/) and were able to observe in one of their 10 studio areas where three guys (the master and two apprentices worked) were working to make an amber-colored chandelier.  The apprenticeship period is 15 years and while there are no laws about it, glassmakers are only men.  There are some female designers and finish-work artists, but none who blow glass.  In the past, the glass masters were required to live on the island of Murano and if they were caught having shared any secrets of the factory they worked in, their tongue and one hand would be cut off in punishment.  Serious business!  While we were allowed to take pictures in the workshop, we were not allowed to click away in their showroom.  You can see some of their work if you follow the link above.  There are approximately 400 glass factories on Murano and SERIOUS competition between them.  However, their greatest threat, I heard, is from China where they are getting pretty good at making copies.  

While the majority of the time in the workshop we watched the master and apprentices at work making a chandelier, they did pause at the end for a brief demonstration.  One of the apprentices took a lump of molten glass and sculpted it into the shape of a horse in a matter of seconds while we watched.  You can see the video here.   Then we walked through their showrooms with jaws dropped.  While not all of it was to our tastes, it was all amazing!  I bought a beautiful set of glasses with a pitcher which is being shipped home.  At the end of the tour, Nate was searching for some souvenir that he could buy.  Our tour guide said he would be happy to give us one of the horses that they make in the workshop for the tours.  Wow!  We were amazed!  The catch was that they will not ship them.  They are too fragile to be shipped safely and we must hand-carry them.  He actually gave us three of them as we have two boys and one spare in case of breakage.  With 11 days and 3 cities left in our trip we were really nervous but also thankful so took them gratefully.

At the very end, they offered the boys to try blowing glass!  We went back into the workshop and one of the apprentices drew a chalk circle on the floor for each boy, in turn to stand in.  Check out the videos here and here.  I'm so proud and amazed!!

At the end of it all, the only disappointing thing  is that I didn't get to see any beads being made nor was there an opportunity to buy any beads.  Alas...

Venice - The Vegas of Europe?

None of us had ever been to Venice before. Brian and I both had some preconceived notions about what it would be like: crowded, smelly, expensive and maybe a little bit tacky.  Other than smelly, it DID live up to these expectations, but it also has great value that makes it one of the worlds most visited places.

It occurred to me while we were there that Venice might be a little like how I think of Las Vegas.  Unique, beautiful (in it's own way), crazy, gaudy, full of tourists, and, while it is possible to do inexpensively is usually extremely expensive.  They are both places of which one can grow weary quite quickly - and many don't find a need to visit more than once in their lives...

Our trip to Venice was much like our trips to other cities, in particular because we didn't really do all the usually touristy things one "must" do.  We didn't go to St. Mark's cathedral, we didn't stand on the Ponte Reale, we didn't gamble.  We did a few touristy things, though.  We took a gondola ride with the boys, which was (while very costly) super fun, picturesque and interesting.

What we did mostly, though was walk.   We walked and walked and walked. I had read that letting yourself get lost was the best way to explore Venice - and so that's what we did.  The "streets" in Venice are really so difficult to explain.  Some times there is a sidewalk along a canal and some times there is not.  I'm sure the map-makers have done their best, but it's an exercise in letting-go to try to follow a map in Venice.  Not everything is represented on the map.  Perhaps much like taking off one's watch during vacation, it's best just to think, "We'll get there eventually."  There are bridges everywhere, from tiny to huge and when walking you can find sections with lots of tourist shops and then isolated sections where you wonder, "who lives here...?"

We were so lucky that the weather cooperated - the weather was in the high 80's for the time we were there.  After having seen only weather in the 90's during the first 6 weeks of our trip, this was a great relief.  The apartment, being on the 3rd floor didn't stay in the 80's, but after we figured out how to manage the combination of windows, fans and mosquito deterrent plug-ins, we were happy there, too.  Though, maybe if we ever return to Venice we would stay in a hotel.  :-)

Having been there makes me so curious.  How did this strange place "happen" and why?  I mean, I know a little of the story but not much.  I will definitely be learning more about this unique, beautiful, odd island, even if I don't feel the need to go back.

Museo Galileo

I know it would not be everyone's choice for a trip to Italy, but other than the climb to the top of the Duomo in Florence and the search for Brian's extended family, I have not been inside a church while here.  It is not something that is interesting to me.  I know I'm 'supposed to' want to and there's a lot of 'important' art, but it's not for me.  

World Map 1457-1459

What is for me and what we were all very inspired to see was the Museo Galileo in Florence.  And, it's a little poorly named, as far as I'm concerned because it has so much more than the scientific offerings and discoveries of Galileo Galilei.  The museum has exhibit areas in the subjects of astronomy (of course), time, globes, maps, navigation, the biological world, electricity and chemistry to name more then a few but certainly not all.  Having been to a few 'hands on' science-based museums in California, Pennsylvania and New York, it was awesome to see the actual models, representations and tools used by scientists, some times hundreds of years ago to explore, discover and teach.

In addition to the cordoned-off and behind glass items of historical significance, there was a section much like the Exploratorium in San Francisco where scientific principals were demonstrated through hands-on displays.    This allowed the boys an opportunity to really interact with at least some of the ideas they saw but could not touch.  And, finally, they have a fantastic gift shop and library with many books about science for kids of all ages and in multiple languages.  

Brian and I left inspired to create, teach and raise our kids to question and explore.

Etna - The Young Volcano

We were staying on the northwest part of the island and this island is BIG.  So, the fact that I wanted to see Etna, both for myself and the boys, was rather inconvenient.  It's a 3 hour drive each way.  We had discussed getting a hotel for one night, but decided the logistics just weren't worth it.  But, how many times in a lifetime do you get to see an active volcano?  Not many - or any for some.  So, bright and early one morning, we loaded the car with fully-charged iPads, headphones and snacks, stopped at the awesome neighborhood panetteria, got cornetti (like croissants but typically filled with cream or jam) and hit the road.  It's mostly autostrada driving so no confusing diversions and a pretty straight shot to Catania on the southern side of the volcano.  

We had arranged for a 1/2 day 4WD tour of the volcano through Etna Adventure so we were met by our guide, Francesco.  Etna is one of the most active volcanoes in the world, but is considered a relatively young volcano at only a half a million years old.  It sits atop the African and Eurasian continental plates which makes for some serious drama when those plates shift.  For the kids benefit, I asked Francesco to tell us his "credentials" and how he became a volcano tour guide.  He had grown up in the area, learned English and German in school and, because the economy made it so difficult to find work, especially in Sicily, a friend and he started this business.  They taught themselves about the volcano, its history and environs.  He was a great guide, very patient with the boys and took time to explain more than just the volcano, but how plants recover from eruptions, which grow first and how long it takes a flow area to reforest after an eruption.  

Etna has six distinct craters at the top and also more than 300 vents on its flanks or lateral craters.  While the eruptions from the top are more dramatic, the lateral craters create more threat to the population of the surrounding towns as they can occur quite low on the volcano.  We saw evidence of one of the most recent major eruptions in 2002-2003 which destroyed a small hotel and numerous other structures.  We were able to stand atop this flow and view the remains of the hotel. Most of the other structures were made of wood and were completely destroyed.  

The boys were a little disappointed not to see any red-hot lava. (!)  While we usually do a good job preparing them for new experiences, apparently they had a different idea of what to expect...  For me, I was awed by the volcano itself and glad to have the experience.  And I, for one, was GLAD to not see any red-hot lava!

Thanks Chiara! Recommendations From a Native

I am lucky enough to have been studying Italian in Philadelphia at the America-Italy Society of Philadelphia with a great teacher, Chiara Montera. Chiara grew up in Florence, went to Liceo Classico (the most 'hard core' of Italian high school types) then university and now teaches Italian at Temple University but also makes time for the likes of me.  As it happens, in a major strike of fortune and coincidence, Chiara was scheduled to be in Florence (Firenze) at the same time we were, so we were able to meet for caffè one of the first afternoons we were there. It was great to be able to chat with her in her own town and catch up on my learning process.  We have plans for how to proceed when we are all back.

But the other amazing thing that happened is that Chiara sent me a long and wonderful email list of recommendations: breakfast, lunch and dinner places, stores, sights, and of course, gelato. Here are a few of her recommendations which we experienced:

Breakfast: Scudieri in Piazza S. Giovanni. I went here once to pick up pastries and coffee to bring back to the apartment and another time we all went and sat outside.  The pastries and coffee were fabulous, but the cost to sit was a bit highway robbery so I don't recommend that (and neither did Chiara, to be fair!)  Next time, if we are on the way somewhere, we will simply find a place in the shade of the Duomo to sit and eat.

 Lunch: Del Fagioli on corso Tintori a few minutes from the Uffizi.  We went here twice and we'd go again tonight if it was possible!  The first time we arrived, we were hot and grouchy from a crowded experience at the Uffizi and this restaurant doesn't have the typical tables spilling out into the street.  But we went in anyway.  The staff was not only friendly, but clearly loved what they did and loved the food they served.  To us and to others they responded to questions about the dishes with more than cursory answers - they oozed from their person the reasons why each dish was on the menu.  We ate gnocchi, ravioli, a slow-cooked beef filet and polpette (meatballs).  The second time was with Ale (she had stayed at the museum the first time) and we shared this place with her.  Together, the 5 of us shared a giant and beautiful grilled steak which was perhaps one of the best we have had.

Dinner: we had three dinners on Chiara's recommendations...
Trattoria Nella on via delle Terme near piazza della Signoria.  We went here twice also (noticing a trend about Chiara's recommendations?  The two guys running the place are clearly brothers and were very warm and friendly, especially to the kids.  The food was fantastic and we tried a couple of their specials each time we were there.  Fabulous.  Coquinarius on via delle Oche is a wine bar with great food.  Chiara had told us to ask for Nico who, if I understood her correctly, had been the best man at her and her husband's wedding.  Nico was not there but the young woman serving us went from polite to over-the-top and effusively happy/enthusiastic/excited to know that we knew Chiara and Chris!  We ordered a mixed antipasti platter which was outstanding and a variety of other pastas and dishes.  We drank a delicious white wine which they had recommended and generally felt so happy to have been to there!  

Gelato: Gelateria de' Neri on via de' Neri was delicious.  We have certainly become gelato snobs here in Italy but I would certainly put this toward the top of the list.  Boys had stracciatella and cioccolato (almost 'the usual') and I had mint and chocolate.

We will most certainly keep her email and hope to use it again for more experiences in Florence!  Grazie, Chiara!  Un giorno se tu e Chris andremo in California, spero a darvi una lista similare!

Firenze - How Do We Love Thee?

Let us count the ways....!

Brian and I have been to Florence two times before.  And, to be extra clear, we have been to Italy two times before.  Once, in 1994 when my parents took all four of us on a trip to Italy as a grad-school graduation gift (we went to Rome, Florence, Parma and Milan) and once in 2000 when Brian took me to Europe for a month for my birthday (Amsterdam, Paris, Montreux, Florence and Positano).  After the second time, we both had developed a feeling of "meh" toward Florence.  Looking back now, I really can't explain why.  Perhaps it wasn't new to us like the other cities on the second tour.  Perhaps we were just idiots.

The boys sitting on the window of our apartment

In addition to this predisposition to Florence, I had a new view of Florence, the view of my Italian teacher, a Sarde who had lived in Rome nearly her whole life, she often joked about how Florence wasn't a "città", it was a "cittina" (Italians put "ina/ino" at the end of words to make them diminutive).  She admitted that she was a big snob (her own words) about Florence, and I definitely took it all with a grain of salt because I have seen how truly territorial Italians can be about their towns and regions, but I'm sure it influenced my anticipation of going back to Florence.

It all started on the right foot when we checked in to our apartment.  We had a pretty good experience with our Rome apartment but had just come from a relatively negative experience with our Sicily house.  The idea of dealing with another apartment that was not as it seemed from the photos had caused me angst.  After a long day of travel - by car from house to Palermo airport, fly to Rome, train to Florence - we were greeted in Piazza S. Lorenzo right outside the apartment by "Mr. Filippo".  The apartment was great: charming, nicely decorated, comfy beds, air conditioning in every room (including living room) and small kitchen and two bathrooms.  Whew!  I love you again Florence, I'm sorry I ever doubted you!!

The San Lorenzo market - yummmmmm

The food was really what turned us all around for good!  Partially it was an issue of what we were used to but truly it was also just empirically delicious food.  We had developed a way of eating "family style" which really worked well.  I will probably write a separate post on this.  Morning beverages were caffè macchiato for Brian and me, lattè macchiato for Ale and succo d'arancia or water for the boys.  Pastries of one sort or another for everyone but Brian who did well finding some savory breakfast options.  Lunch and dinner were usually similar to each other with prosciutto and melon, mozarella and tomatoes, salumi plates, risotto and pasta dishes and cutlets, meatballs and steaks.  And, one thread of consistency throughout our trip: gelato!

View from the top of the Duomo

Something else that really fit well with us in Florence is the smallness of it.  Yes, exactly what my Italian teacher complained about!  But, its smallness allowed us to explore, especially with kids, and see much of the city.  We walked everywhere and took transit never.  We saw Boboli Gardens, the Uffizi Gallery, climbed to the top of the Duomo, visited the Leonardo Da Vinci museum and the Galileo Museum.  We walked to restaurants and gelaterias all over town.  We walked across the Ponte Vecchio and to the grocery store. I walked to go shopping and to get my hair cut.

So, Brian and I have been to Florence 3 times now.  We no longer think "meh" - and I know we will be back.  Someday.

A Day in Bologna

Almost immediately after we arrived in Florence, we left Florence to take a day trip to Bologna.  We called it our "giorno di gusto" and the primary purpose of our trip was to enjoy food famous in the region of Emilia-Romagna, and, in fact, the world.

The day was scorchingly hot so we were lucky and happy that Bologna is a town of porticoes.  After purchasing a little map of the historic center, we made our way to Gelateria Stefino on via Galliera relatively close to the train station.  It is just a tiny storefront but we were glad we didn't miss it.  The boys had strawberry and chocolate granita, one on top of the other in their cups, Brian had salted caramel and I had grapefruit granita.  Amazing!  We continued to walk to the center of town and proceeded to look for Eataly Bologna. 

Eataly was founded on the principals of the slow food movement and there are now store-restaurants in Italy, the United States and Japan.  Eataly Bologna would be our third Eataly (after New York and Rome) and we were excited to see another.  While the Eatalys in New York and Rome are gigantic, sprawling, jaw-dropping affairs, the Eataly in Bologna seems to be paired with a wonderful book store.  The first level was primarily books, the second level still contained many books, but among them books about food, recipe books, food items for sale and a couple of small eating areas.  The third level was even more food and more places to eat.  We sat down in and eating area which had only cold foods: salads, cheeses, meats and beverages.  We ate well!  

After lunch, we saw Piazza Maggiore and the statue of Neptune (yes, a statue of Neptune in a land-locked town).  The story of this statue goes like this: a french sculptor created the statue and in its original form Neptune was rather, ahem, well-endowed.  The pope at the time did not approve of such proportions (jealous, I guess) and demanded it be adjusted.  The sculptor did as commanded, but made sure that, when viewed from a certain angle the outstretched hand of Neptune (and, in particular, his index finger) told us that Neptune is "a grower not a shower".  The fountain was not completely operational on this day.  Unfortunately, the water that is supposed to spray out of the nipples of the maidens around the base of the sculpure were dry...

Nate with his NOT fidanzata

The day was so hot and I was miserable, but Brian encouraged us to try to stay until our originally planned 9pm train back to Florence.  So, we found a taxi which took us to Giardini Margherita which I had read had a hot-air balloon you could ride straight up for a view of the city.  When we arrived, we did not find it and a brief internet search explained that the hot air balloon was removed (for unknown reasons) in 2008.  But, we paid for our taxi and went into the garden, instead finding a playground for the kids, some water and a little patch of shade.  There was an italian girl of 10 years who took a liking to Nate.  She asked me in Italian if he had a "fidanzata" which means a very serious girlfriend (like fiancée) and I told her no, he didn't.  She told Ale and I that her "fidanzato" was Japanese and too bad that Nate didn't have a girlfriend...  In spite of a slightly boy-crazy girl dominating conversations and inventing new games for everyone to play, they boys had a great if extremely sweaty time.  

We had successfully managed to fight through the heat and remain in Bologna long enough to enjoy one more meal on our "giorno di gusto" so we made our way to our dinner reservations.  We had another delicious meal and the boys were treated like royalty, as usual.  Afterwards, we waddled our way back to the train station and back to Florence.  We had been to Bologna before, but had not relished it like we did this time.  And if living in Philly has taught us something, it has taught us how to "lean into" the heat.  Thanks, Brian, for encouraging us!

The road less traveled

Everyone has a different travel philosophy.  And, what might work for one person, at one particular time in their life, might not work for that same person at a different time.  Certainly, Brian and I notice the differences between this trip to Italy and the two previous times we came here.  So, the following is not to say that our way is right, I am merely taking a moment to appreciate a couple of cool experiences we have had because of our approach on this trip.  While in Sicily, we had two distinct experiences which rewarded us for our flexibility and spontaneity.

Altofonte
We were renting a house near the town of Castellammare del Golfo which is approximately 40 minutes west of Palermo, one of Sicily's largest cities.  Palermo is a big, crowded and, at times dirty city.  But, it also has some unique open-air markets and is known for it's marionettes (museum and shows).  So, one day, we got a fairly early start to our day and hopped into the car to brave Palermo.  We made it into the city and it became clear pretty quickly that parking was going to be extremely difficult in this city.  Further, the roads were twisting and complicated enough that several times we could not drive the direction we had set out to go.  So.... before long, we decided that Palermo wasn't in the cards for us and we set to redirect generally back to our little house.  Well, easier said than done!

With Brian at the wheel and me navigating (and boys and Ale in back), we tried to get back to the main road to our house.  I saw what looked like an interesting smaller road where, perhaps we would see a few pretty sights on our way back and maybe stop somewhere for breakfast.  The map clearly showed that the roads were narrow and twisting, but we weren't prepared for the steep climb and that these narrow roads would have lots of CARS parked on both sides!  Yikes!  These conditions meant that turning around wasn't an option, either!  So, there we were in little Altofonte (means tall spring) Italy.  We hadn't planned it, but there we were.  There was even a point where Brian had turned  toward "Centro" and found himself not sure he could physically navigate the car (a 4-door sedan, but not a huge car) around some buidlings and between other cars.  There were one or two cars behind us in close quarters, so turning around wasn't an option either.  So, I got out and carefully guided him through the maze that is Altofonte.  (We wish we could have stopped to take a photo!) We all remained calm and had a good laugh when I was able to get back into the car.  We decided to not follow any more signs toward "Centro"!  We were finally able to get our car pointed back down and away from the town but still hadn't had breakfast.  As we were driving, Ale hollered from the back seat, "Caffetteria!  Stop the car!"  This time, it was her eagle eye that saved us.  Luckily, there was a place to park and we all hauled out for something to eat.

The caffetteria or pasticceria we found was truly amazing.  It is called Love Story and we tried a little bit of everything.  You can find and "like" them on Facebook.  :-)  We had two types of arancini (the filled and fried rice balls) that were the best we had in Sicily, amazingly beautiful ice cream on-a-stick creations, pastries and coffee.  The staff was extremely friendly and patient - we could not have been more ecstatic to find this place!

Baida
The other discovery came a few days later when we decided to investigate the little coastal town of Scopello.  It is smaller than the small Castellammare del Golfo, but closer to our rental house and so we planned to head over and give it a try for dinner.  We arrived at what we thought was Scopello and didn't find much appealing for dinner but saw an orange sign for Ristorante Baida which we decided to follow.  We drove the direction the sign had pointed us until we were sure we had gone too far, but then we saw another orange sign, saying "Ristorante Baida".  Then, it happened again, and again, and again.  There were probably 10-12 orange signs and between each a period of time that made us think, "what the heck"?  We had wound and climbed into the hills above Scopello and could see the town far below us.  Brian even started making Deliverance jokes and wondered when someone was going to step into the road and say, "Where you going, city boy?"  Eventually, he used the mapping app on his Italian phone, saw where we were and where Ristorante Baida might be.  At this point, we were very worried about what this dinner would be like and how long it might take us to redirect to something else.  But, we soldiered on and eventually arrived at what was clearly a large family piece of land with some farm spaces, a little restaurant and a few other buildings.  We were welcomed in warmly and seated with a lovely view of the coast below us.

The waitress (and owner, for all we know) was extremely helpful.  The menu was large, but we figured with a place like this that there were certainly specialties of the house that we should try.  She kindly offered suggestions for all courses which turned out to be wonderful, fresh and tasty.  The weather high up was mild with a nice breeze.  All-in-all, we were rewarded with a wonderful dinner and an experience we won't forget.  And, in the end, Brian was able to find a different route back to our house that didn't involve retracing our steps.

So, in the moments when I am frustrated by aspects of this "slow travel", I remind myself of what opportunities this approach offers.  

The Repeat Customer

Before we even left for Italy, Brian and I wondered, in each location, will we find some places (restaurants, bars, shops) that we like a lot and frequent and re-frequent them or will we try different places all the time?  Certainly the latter is a tempting approach since it's human nature to think that there might be something better if we just keep trying to find it.  But, we didn't really know how it would turn out.  This "slow travel" concept is new to us and we just couldn't predict what we'd do.

It has turned out that we have had some places we repeat, either because of the convenience of the location or the greatness of the place itself.  There was a pizzeria, for example, in Rome that was very near a stop along our tram, "l'otto".  The service was sometimes brusque but the pizza was awesome and inexpensive.  The boys liked it AND, there was a good gelateria nearby.  Similarly, there was a pasticceria and a supermarket along the same tram line which we frequented a number of times.

special caffe marocchino - for "regulars" only?

Similarly, near Scuola Leonardo DaVinci, my Italian language school, there was a bar, Bar Gio which I frequented nearly every one of the 15 days I had school.  Some days it was just for a bottle of cold sparkling water but many times it was also for a cup of espresso or caffe marocchino standing at the bar between classes.  A caffe marocchino is an espresso with cocoa syrup on the bottom of the glass, a tiny bit of steamed milk inside and a sprinkle of cocoa powder on top.  Usually this was presented unceremoniously as Bar Gio, while a perfectly nice place, is not one of those famous places which makes designs in your milk foam or some such frivolity.  But, on my last day of classes, when I arrived outside of the normal school break schedule to sit and study for my final-day test, I ordered a bottle of water, a marocchino and a small pastry.  I cannot help but feel that what I got was not just due to the boredom of the barista but because he recognized me and hopefully even saw my Italian and my accent improve over the 3 weeks that I had been ordering from him.

Anyway, I'm curious, does this experience extend to the rest of Italy?  And, can it be seen in America? Relationships are important - more important than we credit, I imagine...

The town of Erice and a culinary journey

We are staying near the town of Castellammare del Golfo, which is west of Palermo on the island of Sicily.  But, west of here and atop a hill there is a small town of Erice (pronounced EH-ree-cheh) which, while it can be reached by car, is commonly reached by cable car, it is so high above nearby towns.  

Sam with his granita and the sugo arancino

So, one morning we drove to the base of the cable car in Trapani/Erice, bought our round-trip tickets and hopped on to the nearest cable car. For those who have ever taken a ski lift in the summer it was not anything special. Ale, Nate and Sam, however, had never taken a cable car in the Summer, so for them, it was exciting and new. At the top, we had the privilege to walk up even more hills!

One of the first places we arrived at was a small cafe/bar, at which we promptly stopped and ordered water and coffee to start. We had yet to eat Sicilian granita which we felt earned the hype, so we tried again. The boys each ordered 'arancia' (orange) and I ordered caffè con panna (coffee with cream). The boys granite arrived in lovely glass dishes with a pretty flower-shaped swirl on top. The granita itself was delicious, a natural orange flavor with a smooth texture while still being dense. Mine was served in the same type of dish but my granita had whipped cream on top. The consistency of my granita was more course but had a true coffee flavor which was delicious with the cream.

The miniscule 'sidewalk' Nate found

We also ordered arancini, which I knew to be a Sicilian specialty from our former (Sicilian) au pair, Donia, having had told us about them. Arancini are fried rice balls. There seem to be 2 types: prosciutto and sugo. The prosciutto has an inner core of ham and mozzarella surrounded by a layer of rice which is then breaded and fried. The sugo has rather same breaded and fried outer portion with a tomato-meat-peas sauce center. They were both delicious! Donia's mom told us they were too difficult to make, but I can guarantee that Brian and/or I will be trying it at home some time this year...

After our hunger and thirst was satisfied, we took off to discover Erice. It is an interesting town which has been relatively untouched by the ravages of time and plundering.  Because of Sicily's position between Europe and Africa, there have been numerous countries/civilizations in control over the years, which creates a fascinating mix of architectural styles and influences.  It was a hot day and the town is quite hilly, but we persevered in exploring the town.  Nate did discover a very narrow "sidewalk" which we took as part of our tour of town.  We visited a few different shops, finding quite a different assortment of geegaws and postcards and eventually settled in another bar/cafe for a lunchtime snack of sliced cured meats, a mixed salad, a little pizza and LOTS of water, frizzante and naturale.  As a brief side note, Sam has somehow dug in his heels about sparkling (frizzante) water here, in Italy.  While he used to drink sparkling water at home, he now says that he doesn't like it and only will drink "NORMAL" water.  The rest of us drink sparkling water and so, most times we order him his own special small bottle of "normal" water.  We have tried to resist this tyranny, but he has held steadfast!

Bar della Loggia in Erice, our best gelato in Italy!

While having our snack, we noticed a gelateria across the piazza and told the boys they could have a gelato after we ate.  They had been, after all, great troupers through the day and earned themselves a treat.  We went over and I got a lemon granita and they each got gelato on cones.  In a little isolated tourist town in Sicily, we found what I consider the BEST gelato we have had here in Italy so far!  There have been contenders to be sure, but this was so unexpected and wonderful!

The view coming down from Erice to Trapani

Having had our fill of wonderful sights, a lot of walking and climbing and many Sicilian culinary discoveries, we made our way to the cable car and back down.  If you ever find your way to western Sicily, it is true, Erice is not to be missed!

Happy Birthday Sam!

Our captain, Stefano, driving us away from Castellammare del Golfo

Sam turned 4!  Or, as it is conceptualized in Italian, Sam now has 4 years.  Our age is not our identity ("I am 4") but something that we have, something that has happened to us, but has not defined us.  Sam ha 4 anni - he has 4 years.

I knew when we scheduled this trip for June and July that our boys would celebrate their birthdays here, in Italy, away from their friends and family and away from a place where it would be practical to give them many gifts or take them to Dave and Busters or Chuck E. Cheese.  Nate understood this and accepted it, but I wasn't sure how much Sam understood.  So, on the morning of his birthday, there were a half a dozen balloons (filled with air, not helium) saying "Tanti Auguri" and a few cards that friends and family members had sent to me before our trip.

The middle of the day was relatively ordinary for vacation standards, but part of the time was spent organizing a birthday dinner for him (and us!).  At around 7pm, we dressed into slightly fancier clothes and made our way to Castellammare del Golfo, a town near here for a dinner boat cruise.  We boarded a pontoon boat to find a table for 5 and a nice young guy named Stefano (who spoke no English!) who would take us around the little gulf and serve us a dinner we had preselected.

Our boat putted around as we dined on prosciutto e grana (cured ham with parmesan cheese), risotto with seafood, veal cutlets and fried calamari.  After a stop to view the (almost) full moon and take some inspiring photos of the little town, water and moon, Stefano served watermelon and cannoli (instead of birthday cake).  We lit a "4" candle, placed it in the watermelon and sang "Tanti Auguri a te" to Sam.

No, not your typical 4-year-old birthday, but one we will always remember, even if he doesn't.  Happy Birthday, Sam!  We love you so much and are so thankful we could share this birthday with you on this trip of a lifetime!

La via alla scorrevolezza

Imparare un altra lingua e un viaggio.  Non c'è un altro modo di pensargli.  Ho ascoltato altre personne dice che loro stanno volendo diventare perfetti con una nuovo lingua.  Secondo me, questo è un sbaglio.  Ho cominciato parlare inglese 42 anni fa e io non sono perfetta con l'inglese!  La mia migliore amica parla tre lingue: e mentre lei parla bravissima l'inglese, ci sono volte quando lei trova una parola che non capire or ricordare.  Questo è normale.  Allora, se non voglio ottenere perfezione con l'italiano, cosa obbietivi dovrei avere?

Certamente, le tre settimane in cui ho studiato a Roma, mi stavano aiutando decidere (o firmare) cosa io voglio da l'italiano.  Presto, dovrò decidere dove va il mio imparando.  Ma, qui sono alcuni delle mie obbietivi in Italiano:

• Vorrei migliorare il mio leggendo, ascoltando, scrivendo e sopratutto parlando dell'italiano.  Questo obbietivo aver bisogno di molte cose.
• Vorrei parlare l'italiano abbastanza corretemente che possa parlare a casa con i bambini senza dover cambiare all'inglese per communicare.  Trovo che quando cambio ad inglese, di solito rimango là.
• Vorrei guadagnare una certificazione che, un giorno, mi aiuterà trovare un lovoro in cui parlerò Italiano (e l'inglese).

Non so dove questo viaggo mi fa, ma sta essendo un buonissimo viaggio.  Adoro l'italiano!

A Search for Lost Family

One of the reasons we directed our trip to Sardegna is because Brian's great-grandfather ('bisnonno' in Italian) Francesco Michele Tanda, was born in Sardegna in March of 1887.  While we have a lot of information about his Great-Grandmother, Maria, born in Falerna (at the tip of the "toe"), we don't know anything about the parents or grandparents (etc) of Francesco Michele.  The reading I have done about finding genealogical information in Italy has indicated that the local Catholic Church is a great source of information.  While, throughout the history of Italy, records have not always been kept within the governmental offices, they have always been kept in the church.

So, without a huge amount of preparation, we set off for the Cheisa di SS Cosimo e Damiano in Anela (a church, which had been built in 1968, the year of Brian's birth to replace the ancient one which had been there for centuries).  Anela is in the northern center of Sardinia and a very small town.  We rented a car, programmed the GPS and lovely Alessia drove us toward Anela.  The countryside reminded us a lot of California, particularly central and Southern CA.  An hour and a half later, we were arriving near the tiny town.  We accidentally drove past the miniscule roads toward the church a couple of times before we decided to park and walk to find it.  We got some seriously suspicious stink-eye from the locals ("who the hell are you - I know EVERYONE in this town") but no one gave us any trouble.

Once we found the church around 12:30 p.m., we were excited to gather some information about the names and birthdates of Brian, Nate and Sam's ancestors.  We finally found the Church, but no one was there.  After maybe 10 minutes, a car pulled up to the tiny piazza and a young (30-ish) man in black got out with two bags of groceries.  He came toward us with a quizzical look on his face, but kept walking to the small building next to the church.  Alessia walked up to him and asked him if he could help us find the records for which we were searching.  His response was, "NOW?"  We told him we would be happy to go get some lunch in a local restaurant and come back a little bit later if that was better for him, but he, somewhat grouchily, notified us there were no restaurants in Anela so if we waited a few moments he would try to help us.  We guessed he must have been the pastor of that church.

After a little wait in the small bit of shade outside the church, he led us into his office.  He arranged a small chair on the "guest" side of his desk (there were two of us, so neither of us sat), went around to his side and asked, rather unceremoniously, "what do you want?"  Between the two of us, we explained that we had Francesco Michele Tanda's birth certificate which showed the date and town (Anela) of his birth, but we were in search of the names and birthdates of his parents and maybe we could find more generations before.  He told us rather clearly that this was too far back and that he wouldn't have the information.  He excused himself into a nearby storage room where he rummaged through stacks of handwritten notebooks, but said, "he wasn't married here, he didn't die here, how am I supposed to help you".  After a short period of time, he told us our best bet was to return to the church at 7:30 p.m. after mass and that perhaps some of the older parisioners would remember the name and something about them.  We were hungry and our bladders were full so we got into the car for the nearby town of Bono where they had two restaurants for us to choose from!

We weren't really sure if we would go back to Anela after lunch, but we knew we would make a better decision AFTER eating, not before!  The restaurant we chose, Pizzeria Trattoria da Pippo was pleasant, air conditioned and friendly.  We feared that we would awkwardly be the only patrons there, but thankfully we were not.  We had a wonderful meal with the best antipasto plate we have ever had: fresh, soft, tender prosciutto, salame, pancetta arrotolata, marinated artichokes and olives.  We enjoyed tortellini and 2 types of gnocchi, paid our bill.  While we were disappointed to leave central Sardegna without more data about Brian's extended family, we decided that this was still information (even if it was not the kind we were looking for).  So, we decided to head back to our fabulous hotel in Porto San Paolo.

With Alessia at the wheel and Brian in the front navigating, I don't know what made me look up and out the window when I did, because after all, we were in Bono, not Anela - this is not the town we were expecting to find anything!  But, on the stone wall of a yard at a corner where Ale was turning, I saw something posted with the name "Tanda" on it.  I hollered, "Stop the car!" and poor Alessia thought she had hit an animal or small child.  We pulled over and got out of the car.  What we found was a death notice of a man named Giuseppe Tanda.  He died in May of this year and was 71 years old.  While this is decidedly not the information we were looking for, it was a wonderful moment of serendipity!  Now, from my computer at home, I might be able to research the Tanda family of BONO and find more answers about Brian, Nate and Sam's ancestry.  One amazing and unexpected moment ("eagle eyes, Brian called it) changed our day from disappointing and dismal to tiring but pleasantly surprising.

Isola Tavolara, etc

Since we left Rome, there has been a veritable dearth of internet connectivity.  So, apologies for lack of posts.  I'll try to make up for it here, in Sicily.

We arrived in  Sardegna last Tuesday, with plans to stay 2 nights.  When we got there, we were all so in-love with it (especially Brian) that we made plans to stay 2 extra nights.  With that in mind, we arranged to join a boat tour around the Tyrrhenian sea and the Islands of Tavolara and Molara.

On Wednesday morning, we got up, had breakfast at the Hotel Don Diego (www.hoteldondiego.com) and hopped into a taxi for Porto San Paolo.  There, we boarded the 'Sir Lawrence' for a truly amazing day.

A beautiful view of Isola Tavolara

Tavolara is a limestone massif, 1 km wide and 5 km long with steep cliffs except at its ends.  The story of "Isola Tavolara" goes like this (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tavolara_Island): a couple hundred years ago, Tavolara was ruled by the Bertoleoni family as the kingdom of Tavolara, one of the smallest kingdoms on the planet.  In 1836, King Charles Albert of Sardinia visited the island and acknowledged Giuseppe Bertoleoni as an independent sovereign monarch.  The sovereignty remained in the Bertoleoni family for quite some time, including in 1900 when Queen Victoria of England sent her Royal Photographer to Tavolara to take a portrait of the royal Bertoleoni family for her collection of royal portraits.  While the sovereignty of the Island has finally been lost to simple Italian hegemony, the island is still owned by the Bertoleoni family to extract a hefty tax on local tourists in the form of mediocre restaurant food.

Ale, Brian and Nate swimming in the sea (not a pool...)

Our boat tour took us through the waters between Porto San Paolo and the islands.  We went past an interesting shipwreck and finally stopped near Isola Molara for a swim by those were interested.  Alessia, Brian and Nate all jumped in, swam with fishes and enjoyed a truly unique experience.  Brian let Nate know how lucky he is - Brian was 32 before he first swam in the Mediterranean/Tyrrhenian and Nate is still only 7...

After our fun swimming diversion, our boat motored over to Isola Tavolara and moored at the dock for us all to disembark.  We made lunchtime reservations at the aforementioned restaurant and played in the water.  After a good but relatively uninspiring lunch, we headed for the beach again and played, swam, floated and collected rocks and shells.  With multiple re-applications of sunscreen, we had a great time!

Brian and his boys on the shore of Isola Tavolara

Our boat picked us up at 3:30 for a direct route back to Porto San Paolo.  I think for all of us, this was a once-in-a-lifetime amazing experience! 

Hydromania!!!

I finished my classes yesterday, Ale has gone to Puglia for the weekend to visit her parents, Brian doesn't arrive until tomorrow and it was going to be a 97 degree day.  AND, I discovered that a water park called Hydromania was only a single bus ride away.  That's all we needed!  http://www.hydromania.it/ here we come!

So, after stops to our local pasticceria and grocery store, we hopped bus 088 to Hydromania.  There were so many foreign aspects to this place that they are hard to name, but I'll say that the whole experience, while SUPER fun, was so completely different for the three of us!  The most significant issue for us is that we seemed to be, not only the only Americans there, but possibly the only native-English speakers.  Unless the words were uttered from our mouths or the mouths of employees who were valiantly trying to communicate with us, we never heard English once.  When we arrived, we bought tickets (the prices for kids, like most places in Italy, was not based on their age, but their height) and entered.  Immidiately we were confronted by a group of lockers with a change machine and a strange looking keypad and screen thingie.  I suspected we would need a locker, so I put the 4 euro required and valiantly tried to figure it out.  After a few mistakes and watching others, I realized that the system assigned us a locker based on availability and I was prompted to choose a 6-digit pin code.  Each time I wanted to re-open this locker, I'd re-enter that pin code.  Ok, valuables stowed in locker.

Next, we found an empty lounge chair in the shade to put our towels and my phone and we climbed the stairs to the nearest water slide we could find. We noticed that some of the others ahead of us had 2-person inflatable "boats" but some did not so we didn't worry too much.  When we got to the top, a slighly-annoyed young man explained to me that we could only go down in twos.  What about me and Sam together and Nate separately?, I tried to ask (in Italian)?  Nope.  What about without the inflatable boat?  Nope.  Are there other water slides at the park where we can go as three? Nope.  (This, thankfully, turned out to not be true - I must have asked it wrong or he must have been tired of my questions and just trying to get rid of me).

So, a bit dejectedly but not completely deterred, we went back down the stairs to find another slide. There was a 6-wide slide I had seen on the website with pictures of happy families holding hands on their way down and we made our way to find said slide.  First, we found a pool structured a bit like a beach with a very gradual slope from dry to deep and we cooled our bodies and moods there before moving on.  Next to it was the 6-wide slide and we climbed up to give it a try.  It was awesome and super fun. We went down it several times before it was closed for lunch (1pm - 2pm).  This gave us time to retrieve the boys goggles from the locker (why did I leave them there?) and get some lunch of our own.

Like most other places in Italy, you pay first then get your food.  It was a bit strange because we didn't really yet know what we wanted, but we managed to secure Nate a chicken cutlet sandwich (panino), two thin triangular sandwiches (tramezzini) for Sam and me, three bottles of water and three gelatos.  We shared our one lounge chair in the shade and ate our lunch. 

There were a set of pools near the base of the 6-wide slide that we swam and jumped and splashed and played in.  We rode the slide several more times and had lots of cool-down fun in spite of rules which we broke and were required to remedy (I was not allowed to have sunglasses on in the pools, boys were not allowed to have goggles on nor was I allowed to have a plastic clip in my hair on the slide).  We could see other slides but after observing people splashing out of them at the bottom, I never saw kids coming out - not to mention little kids with their moms or dads, so I imagine if my Italian (or their English) were better, I could understand the rules better. 

At one point, Sam dutifully told me he needed to go to the bathroom - we found a bit of a surprise - individual clean stalls with no toilets, just holes in the floor with formed ceramic around them where one was clearly supposed to put their feet when standing or squatting over said hole.  No problem, I thought!  Sam will pee standing up, it will be an amusing thing to share with Nate and all will be fine.  Then, Sam says, "I think I have to go poop".  Well, I'll spare you the details.  It did all work out, but not without a little bit of messiness and chuckling. 

Finally, the bathing suits were just like we had seen in Terracina.  Prepubescent girls without bathing suit tops, boys in speedo-like trunks... Most amazing to me was that ALMOST NO women wore one-piecs bathing suits.  Of the hundreds of women we saw, of all ages and all shape and sizes, I think I only saw two one-piece suits.  Word to the wise, then, for anyone wanting to travel to Italy in the summer and who prefers to wear one-piece suits: don't plan on being able to buy them here.  I suspect they are a specialty item!

But, with all the differences we found, we had a really fun time and I think Nate and Sam came away from the experience thinking Italy was really cool (both literally and figuratively). 

Sciopero!

There is a transit strike today in Rome, or "sciopero" (show-perow), which means that the trams, busses, metro and trains won't run, except for brief morning and evening commute hours. Our apartment is not particularly close to the city center, but we are very conveniently connected by a single tram. Conveniently, that is, until there's a transit strike. I might normally take this as a sign from the universe that I should cut class for a day except for the fact that today is my LAST day of Italian class here in Rome and we have a test! So, even though my school starts at 12:30 p.m., here I am, off to grab the tram before 8:00 a.m. to make sure I am able to get into the center before the trams stop running. I guess it's an opportunity to semi-laze about in Italian cafés, studying for my exam. A sciopero is part of Italian living and we're living it!

Without a watch - On Italian time

So, because of ALL the numerous warnings about pickpockets and theives, Brian and I decided it would be better to travel only with my wedding ring and no other jewelry (not that I am an austentatious wearer of jewelry, but everything I wear is very special).  So, when deciding to not bring my nice watch, I was left to decide what watch I would wear instead, and I decided not to wear one at all.  Those who know me, know that I like to be prompt and usually am very aware of what time it is and how much time remains between one thing and the next.  So, I figured that while I was on vacation, in Italy, no less, I could stand to relax a bit and "do as the Romans". 

One of my discoveries.  A place where Italian boy scouts meet!

What has ensued is an interesting philosophical and awareness-raising set of experiences.  First of all, I've been late for stuff - lots of stuff.  I have not missed any airplanes or trains, but I have missed trams, been late for class and late for timed museum tickets.  And, you know what, nothing horrible happened to me!  Maybe I annoyed some people, but I can say, it has been a bit liberating.  And, it has helped me understand others better, too.  A few times, when I did not know the time, I felt freer to find an alternative route to school or whatever shop I was looking for and got lost and stumbled upon areas and neat stuff that I never would have found if I had realized I really didn't have time to explore. 

Even more importantly, perhaps, is that this experience has allowed me to enjoy experiences and be in-the-moment much more than I clearly am usually.  I know this will not come as a surprise to those who have not been a slave to the time like I sometimes am, but when I am not obsessed with schedule and promptness, there are more opportunities to enjoy fully the here and now. 

So, in Italy at least, I will remain watch-less.  And, I will be eyes-open ready for me and new experiences to find each other.