Spencer and Ross Try Ice Skating!

We finally figured out how to take a video, transfer it to the computer and make a YouTube of the boys on Ice in Orvieto, Italy. It was their very first time on ice skates and we think they did really well! Awww, youth..mostly fearless. Especially Rossie!

Staying In The Moment

Our Sweet Kids

Back at Laura and Robert's home, it became apparent that our trip was coming to an end. How do we thank our kids for making this time so special and memorable for all of us? Laura and Robert planned everything so well. (I think this was one of those defining moments where the parents and kids traded places!) They took such wonderful care of us and all the details. The time seemed to fly by with so many wonderful places to go and see and what seemed like unlimited time to visit and just be together. You know how that goes! It suddenly hits you like a ton of bricks.....the wonderful carriage you have been riding in is about to turn back into a pumpkin.

I find it fascinating how time gets so distorted when you are traveling. Half the time I had no idea what day it even was. It didn't really matter as we had the luxury of devoting 100% of our time to just focusing on the moment. On the one hand, it seemed like forever ago that we got stranded in Munich overnight by missing our connecting flight and at the same time I wonder how the time went so quickly.

The last week of our month long vacation saw moments where the concerns of everyday life at home started to creep into our thought patterns once again. Work, the bathroom remodel, commitments, the projects and other things that people were relying on us to do, etc. etc. were dancing in our heads once again. The perpetual 'to do' at home started to rear its ugly head and that can be distracting when you are trying to enjoy and savor every last minute of where you are.

Ross 7 1/2 and Spencer 10 1/2

On Monday and Tuesday of our last week we were able to send Laura and Robert off to their over night get away in Gaeta. This gave us a perfect opportunity to be with our little grandsons and to savor moments with them. There was just something so magical about being with these two sweet boys. Grandparenting just simply must be experienced to be understood. Who knew we had this kind of love within us until we had felt it? It was so neat to have this one on one time with them while Mom and Dad enjoyed some time alone.

Spencer and Ross are polar opposites in many ways and yet identical in how much they are loved. They are smart, funny, full of life and such good boys. Honestly, they gave us no problems the entire month. I think we were stuffing down the melancholy at the prospects of not seeing them for another undetermined amount of time, most of our last few days there. When Robert and Laura returned we had only 2 days left.

Even though we had a lot of busy work to do in getting packed up, preparing a box to mail home, etc. we managed to thoroughly enjoy both of those days. But in the back of my mind the saying good bye was taking up more and more space. I fought it but could not deny it. It was very hard to stay right in the present and not think about being part again. Because in spite of all the time and fun we had...I think families are meant to be together and when we are not....something always seems just a little off. I have come to know that for me personally, I will never get use to it. But like so many things in this life you just push through it, do the best you can and find creative ways to make it as good as you can under the circumstances.

One nice thing about living apart is that it never becomes routine when we do have time together. Each moment is cherished and that is one reason why I have spent so many hours writing about what we have done. I think I have captured the highlights that will remind us of all of it. I want to have a blog book made of this time in Italy for us, for them and for Jim's mom. How often do four generations have vacation time together anyway?

We have been home six days now and I am eager to get back to blogging in the 'actual moment' but I have just a few more posts to do about Italy. We took so many photos and it has been a chore to go through and edit them but it has been worth it. Digital cameras have got to be one of the best invention of the century! And blogging, what a wonderful way to preserve memories in a timely way. I cannot think of a better way to stay in the moment while savoring it and saving it forever.

Sisters' Sabbatical~Nov 09

Traffic jam near Napoli

November of 09 found Jennifer and Laura having a sisters' fabulous get away in the beautiful boot. Jen had been to Italy once before but only for a few hours. She just had to find a way to go and visit her sister after nearly 2 and half years of being apart. They got to do a little get away sans kids for five days. They talked and played and dined out and walked their legs off and slept in and enjoyed every minute. Their sweet husbands made this happen for our hard working, weary girls! Jen got to stay for ten days total. We love those sons so much for this and many other things! I think Jim and I enjoyed this vicariously as much as our girls did.

We have enjoyed our two trips totaling seven weeks in Italy while our kids have lived there. It is hard to believe their three years is almost over. Unbelievable and very exciting!! We look forward with great anticipation to their return to the US in mid July. However, there is just a little melancholy in the thought we may never pass that way again!

Ponte Vecchio, Florence

Gelato~Everywhere!

Market in Pisa

Pisa

Pisa Shops~Check out the prices of these plates! Yikes!

Pisa Shops

Beautiful Things~Exorbitant Prices!
This Tuscan serving tray is E 151 or $204.51!

Laura Climbing the Leaning Tower of Pisa

The beautiful Cinque Terra

Jen Over Cinque Terra!

Jen lighting candles in a small church
for her girls in Cinque Terra

The Love Locks of Cinque Terra

Laura on The Cliffs of Cinque Terra

More Love Locks~♥ Them!

In church in Caserta~headphones help
Spencer understand the talk in Italian!

Rossie after church on the grounds of the Caserta Reggia.

Ahhhh, Venice!

For me, Venice should just naturally be last when recounting a trip to Italy. I don't think it is necessarily the most beautiful or the most interesting from an historical point of view, but it is definitely the most fun and unique place we have been. Rick Steves describes it as a decadent decaying jewel~held afloat by tourism. We all know that Venice is build on the water but I never gave much thought as to why. Many centuries ago the Mongolians were apparently a threat to the people of this area (and afraid of the water??) so the city was build on over 1,000,000 wooden piers out in the lagoon for protection and safety. For several hundred years Venice was a very big hub and the most important sea port in Europe for commerce. There were about 200,000 people living there in its heyday. During that time there were more than 1,000 people that attained individual wealth comparable to the Rockefeller's. The palaces or palazzi were truly decadent and very ornate and beautiful. The life style of the rich and famous was common place along the grand canal.

A Gondolier on The Grand Canal

Grand Canal Sights

Decaying Palaces of Venice

In Venice there are really only a few things to do. You can ride on the water, visit St. Mark's Square, shop and eat, listen to live music and feed the pigeons. It is also a great place for wandering around the back streets and exploring the island. I think that is one thing that made it so much fun~Limited choices~all good ones. It is very easy to get around with lots of waterway choices. You can take the water buses, a water taxi, a gondola...whatever your heart desires and your pocketbook can afford. The canal is teaming with lots of delivery, mail, commercial, police and fire boats and speed boats owned by the locals. There is never a dull moment out there and the water traffic regulations are pretty amazing with lanes and routes and the whole bit. When the siren of a police or fire boat is heard...all the boats pull over to the side just as we do in our cars. If you arrive in Venice by train like we did, everything is readily available for water travel just right outside the train station so it is a very convenient and user friendly city, even when you do not speak the language. We were glad we stayed out in the suburbs and didn't have to roll luggage around and take it on the boats, etc.

Jim at San Marco Square

Views from the top of the Tower on St Mark's Square
All the trees in Venice are under the city!

The back streets of Venice

Feeding the Funny Fat Pigeons of Venice

San Marco Square outdoor cafe. The chairs are all empty because you must buy to sit. It is primarily a bar and this photo was taken at 9:00 am. At night they have great classical concerts here with performers in powdered wigs and full regalia.

The famous Rialto Bridge
One of only three bridges crossing the Grand Canal.

~Back street canal of Venice ~
Grampa & the boys enjoyed
exploring while the moms shopped!

Today the city's population has shrunk to about 65,000 people. They have no schools in Venice so the children that live there have to go to the mainland about 20 minutes away by train. There is a causeway that connects Venice to the mainland now. The Palaces are in a state of decay and disrepair. Many are still inhabited but the residents do not live on the first floors as Venice is sinking and many of them are waterlogged especially during high tide. For the most part these places lie vacant just because they are astronomically expensive to maintain along with a fortune required for rent. Many have been turned into very expensive hotels. We have relatives, that shall remain nameless, who spent more than one thousand dollars per night to stay here.

Us about to board the train from Povada to go to Venice on day 2

Since there are no streets in Venice there are no cars and that was so nice. The tiny streets and alley ways are more like sidewalks so no horn honking or motor noise and no vespas and that was refreshing. There is something that seems so tranquil about water travel...you just cannot hurry about as people do everywhere else. There is also something very Disneyland-ish about it. When we first sailed down the canal and saw the palaces my first thought was why don't they paint these places and fix them up a bit, deck them out with lots of light, etc. Then I realized that that would ruin it and make it truly like Disneyland. They have very strict laws that do no allow any changes to the palaces without permission from the powers that be. This is truly a good thing.

Of course one of the main highlights for us was the trips to the other islands, mainly Burano, as I have previously mentioned. There is just something so magical about Venice and everyone should see it at least once in their lifetime.

It was funny but the other day I saw some Rick Steve's DVD on various other countries so I picked one up on Scotland and Ireland. We all adore Scotland so I thought it would be so much fun to watch that one. Well, can I just say that compared to all there is to see and do in Italy, our beloved Scotland paled! I don't think we have ever been anywhere like Italy before. There is so much to see and do and it truly is an eye candy land. There is so much diversity in the kind of spectacular things Italy offers from it's cliff side resorts to it's amazing art and palaces and countryside and historical monuments.

And let's not forget the amazing cuisine and the gelato! My personal favorites were melon (cantaloupe) and fragatto (strawberry.) If you cannot find something to love in Italy I would check my pulse if I were you.

Rossie's favorite gelato was....can you guess....Chocolate!

The setting sun in Venice on our last night there! What an unequaled experience!

Ciao Bella Venice! Until We Meet Again!
Original posting 5/3/2008