Asolo & The Rocca

For those of you who have children, do you sometimes wonder why they have such bad attitudes? We literally give them the world & they appreciate nothing. I'm exaggerating, of course. But yesterday we decided to take a trip to the small hillside town of Asolo (seen down below in the photo) and the fortress on the hill, The Rocca (where Ellie is standing in the photo). This town is only a 40 minute drive from Treviso, less than the distance from Palo Alto to Santa Cruz, a drive we used to do ALL THE TIME. However, the kids seem to just want to stay in the house all the time now. If we stay in the house, we might as well be in California. I think we should get out & see this new land of ours. So, out we went.

There was so much complaining on the way, I wondered if it would be possible to enjoy ourselves at all. But once we arrived, things seemed better. We walked through the narrow streets of Asolo and up 267 steps to the fortress above. The kids barely complained at all during this part of the trip & it was the most difficult physically. Once at the top, there was an amazing view. I had been here once in November, with my hiking group, but the Rocca was closed that day & I really wanted the rest of the family to see it. The pathway & steps were lined with olive trees. In November I got to see some old Italian men harvesting the olives. Inside the Rocca, there was a medieval looking wooden staircase/scaffolding to allow us to the top of the fortress wall. The whole thing was a little scary - luckily none of us have a terrible fear of heights. Ander was safe in a backpack. Ellie was a little worried. We stayed away from the edge.

After the hike, we ate a simple but very authentic meal at a little restaurant in the center of Asolo. It consisted of hearty bread, rustic salami, prosecco, polenta, and penne with sausage & treviso (a type of radicchio). Then, Justin & I got a coffee, & the kids had their first gelato in some time. Nobody complained on the way home, & our evening was pleasant. I think that with children it is easy to get into a rut no matter where you are, to stay home is the easy thing to do. But once we are all in the habit of going out & exploring the world, maybe there will be less resistance from the get go. It is especially difficult now that the children have so much free time (they were over-scheduled in Palo Alto), but if we do it together we can have a lot of fun!

The Circus (Circo)

Ellie liked the horses trotting in formations, the little ponies, and the dogs doing tricks the best.

Liam liked the seals balancing balls on their noses, clapping, shooting baskets, and pretending to go to sleep.

Ander was entertained by everything: tigers, camels, yaks, zebras, a hippopotamus!!! (so sad), clowns, juggling, magic tricks, horse vaulting, acrobatics.

Everyone enjoyed the cotton candy.

Justin was happy to have found out about the circus from a co-worker & to get front-row seats for only 6 euro.

We were happy to see that they put a cage up before bringing out the tigers (since we were in the front row)!

Although the circus was similar to one I went to when I was a child (& could not exist now in the US) & we found the situation for the animals so sad, I'm glad we had this experience. It was a one time event for me as a child & it will be a one time event for my kids as well. I was glad to have the chance to talk to them afterwards about what I liked & didn't about the circus - this entertainment comes at a cost.

If You Need Medicine, Come to Italy

Recently, we've all been quite sick. Our family never gets the flu shot & we never get the flu. This year, though, it got us. Although Italy has nationalized medicine, we are on a private insurance plan through Justin's work. Because of this, I'm no expert on the national system. I found a pediatrician who speaks English through an ex-pat friend of mine. The first time I took the kids in, she saw both Ellie & Ander (Liam hadn't gotten sick yet) & only charged 40 euro. Her office was not high-tech. In fact, to check if the kids had a temperature, she put her cheek on their foreheads! I don't think a doctor could get away with that in the US. But, I wonder, do we really need to know the exact temperature of a patient? Anyhow, it worked for us. We went back this week for a follow-up appointment, and she didn't charge me anything.

The pharmacy here is also ridiculously inexpensive. A prescription that I had filled in the US (generic brand) cost me $75. Here, I got the name brand version for under 15 euro. The pharmacy also carries homeopathic medicine, which is about half the cost of what you'd find in the US.

When a woman gets pregnant here, her doctor excuses her from work for the duration of the pregnancy. If you break your arm, you also are excused from work. I know this because two teachers at the International school are out - one for the remainder of the year, the other for 2 months. My friend told me that we can get a doctor to prescribe regular massages for stress relief & the insurance will pay for them. Hmmm. . . maybe I'll look into that. First, though, we must get over this flu!

Trader Joe's Bolognaise - Goodbye Forever!

Trader Joe's used to be my go-to store for almost everything. I loved that I could whip up dinner in 30 minutes using TJ items - usually enhancing them, but not always. Although my step-mom taught me to make pasta sauce from scratch when I was a kid, I've always relied on jar sauce since it is so easy. Even when I made lasagna, I'd use jar sauce - basically, I was just assembling my meals.

Here, there are no convenience foods. If you want an easy snack, and you can go out, your choices are: brioche (croissant), tramezzini (white bread sandwich with tons of mayo), toast (white bread, ham, & cheese), or at home you can have crackers or cookies. I have found granola bars & breakfast cereal, but most are very sugary or full of chocolate. Other options are fresh fruit & veggies, which we snack on a lot, and bread & cheese (& a variety of meats).

So, I'm learning to cook things from scratch. Last week I made black beans for the first time in my life. It's so funny that I asked Justin to bring cans of black beans from the US last Dec., but his bags were too heavy & he ended up having to dump them at the airport. Shortly after that, I found dry black beans at a specialty bio (organic) shop. And now, I know how to make beans!

Tonight I made a bolognaise sauce. I've been doing this every week since we've been here, & I think my sauce is getting better & better. The great thing is that I know it so well that I can just throw in whatever is in the frig. This one had onion, garlic, leeks, carrots, zucchini, and red bell pepper along with the tomatoes, meat, & spices I added. I also love my new cast iron cooking pots - bought just two, but I think I'll go back for a couple more sizes. And, we have a new set of knives that make cutting a breeze and a couple of great wooden cutting boards.

I'm very excited about learning how to cook more things from scratch, & am looking into some cooking classes here. When we come back I may resort to canned beans for a quick & easy taco-salad night, but I don't think I can ever go back to a jar of bolognaise.