Foods of Italy

I love that each region of Italy (& even each town) has it's own culinary traditions. Here in Treviso, food is taken very seriously. In season foods are used - in the fall you'd find mushrooms in almost everything, through the winter it was radicchio (the special kind called Treviso which looks like fingers, not a ball), and now we are on to asparagus and another tender spring shoot which I can't recall the name of. It's the same with meats, I suppose. From what I've heard, lamb is eaten on Easter, but not as common throughout the year. At one point, at the fish market, I saw a bin of live animals which looked like miniature crayfish. Today, I saw bins of snails. I had to take a picture - sorry for the poor quality. Yes, I've tried escargot. To me, it tasted like butter & garlic. I'm not sure if they have a taste of their own under the sauce but I don't think I want to find out. My children would definitely not eat them, so there's no point in figuring out if I'm brave enough to cook them. But here, on the right, are net bags of live snails. And, on the left, a bin of live baby snails. What would one even do with those little ones? Are the shells soft enough to eat whole? Sometimes food here baffles me.

I felt the same way recently when I saw older ladies buying artichoke stems. STEMS. Isn't that the bitter part that we all cut off? At the market artichokes are sold whole, as we normally see them. There are small ones & regular sized ones. They also have them with the stems on. Each stall also sells just the hearts, floating in liquid (not sure if it's water or something else, probably to keep them from turning brown), and then, there is a bin of stems. I'm happy to know that all parts are used, but I haven't yet figured out how.

Two weeks ago I attended my first cooking class here in Treviso. It was held in a demonstration kitchen at a home goods store near my home. The class was taught by a female chef & there were 11 ladies & one man in the class. We drank prosecco, had appetizers, and mainly watched, but also helped make (& then eat!) fresh egg pasta and four different sauces, lasagna, and panna cotta for dessert. I think the man was just there for the company & the food, because he never once got up to see what was happening on the stove & he didn't help at all (except to pour the prosecco). It was all in Italian & it was great! My only complaint is that the class was from 7:30-11:30 at night. After eating such a heavy meal so late, it was hard to sleep. But I learned a lot of new tips. I'd never made fresh pasta before. Also, I now have some new ideas about how to put ingredients together for sauces. Later that week I made a vegetable bolognaise at home & everyone really enjoyed it. Next lesson will be poultry & white meat. Another heavy night, but I'm sure I'll learn a lot.

Roma Diary by Ellie

This picture is of me and Liam inside the Pantheon.

Friday 25 Feb., 2011

Today after school we took the train to Rome. I read and ate the pizza my mom gave to me. When we arrived, it was freezing cold outside but soon we took the taxi to our apartment. After that, we watched a little TV and fell straight to sleep.

Saturday 26 Feb., 2011

Today I woke up and got dressed. Then I watched a little of Cuccoli Amici and went out of our apartment and luckily, there was a cafe where I had a chocolate croissant and then we took the bus to the Colosseum and walked around. But then it got super cold and we walked to another cafe where I had a toast (it was very yummy) and we walked to the Forum and I bought a splat-piggy. Then we had lunch at Enoteca Cavour and then we walked to the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. Then we got a 2-scoop gelato and went to a restaurant near our apartment.

Sunday 27 Feb., 2011

Today we got up early and walked to the Vatican but when we arrived, there was already a 3-hour wait so we went to Castle St'Angelo and then went to Piazza Navona where we got a picture drawn of me and Liam. Then we went to the Pantheon and it rained through the hole in the dome. Then we had dinner at Campo Dei Fiori and when we started walking it started to pour and we saw lightning and heard thunder. By the time we got back to our apartment we were soaked.

Monday 28 Feb., 2011

Today we woke up extra early and went straight to the Vatican and luckily we made it! Then we went to St. Peter's Cathedral and saw the really high dome with paintings and windows. Then we went to the Vatican Museum and it was only a 1/2 hour wait. We got to see the Greek statues and the Sistine Chapel. Then we went to the train station and had more gelato but we accidentally got on the wrong train and had to get off in Florence. In Florence we got lunch and went on the right train and came home and ate at a restaurant near our house.

Note from Hart: This was a homework assignment for Ellie - finally got her to write! Guess the food was most memorable for her. Funny, though, I thought there was only one very good meal there (Enoteca Cavour, suggested by Rick Steves). I loved the lunch in Florence, though! The sights were amazing to see again after so many years. It was fun to share tidbits of info. with the kids, although Liam's new catchphrase is "I hate ancient things". That kid!!! I'll post pictures of our trip on FB, since I can't do more than one here.

Venice with the International Women's Club

This is not the narrowest street in Venice!

The International Women's Club of Treviso went on a guided tour of Venice last week. We took the train down together & the guide showed us a lot of things that you can't find in guidebooks. For instance, in each piazza or square there is an old well - there are drain holes on the ground near the well, which let rainwater flow through sand & clay below into a big basin which collected the water for drinking. I had seen the wells before, but never noticed the drain holes!

Also, there was a triangular shaped carved stone that you have to walk under at Ponte del Paradiso. It was put in place to join the houses of two families that were linked when a son from one married the daughter from the other.

We visited a church that looked large, but plain on the outside, Franciscan Gothic style, called the Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa. Inside, Titian is buried (even though he died of the plague & nobody who died of the plague was to be buried inside the city, they made an exception for him). His painting, the Assumption of the Virgin, is above the altar and the largest altarpiece in Venice. There is a monument for him inside the church, designed by Canova and also a monument to Canova (whose body is buried in his hometown of Possano, but Canova's heart is in an urn inside the monument in the church).

I also found out that at three spots along the Grand Canal, you can take a gondola "ferry" across the river for only 50 euro cents! What a deal for anyone who wants to ride a gondola but doesn't want to empty their bank account.

At the end of the day, I went off to the Jewish Ghetto (the first ghetto) with an Israeli friend of mine. She picked up some kosher meat & I ate an amazing bowl of matzo ball soup. Then, we ran all the way to the train station, just to see it pulling out as we arrived. Luckily, trains depart from Venice to Treviso every 20 minutes. We weren't even late to pick the kids up from school!

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.

Back to Square Uno by Hart

After spending a whole month in the US, (where I intended to keep up with my Italian, but forces beyond my control stopped me - kind of like what happens with exercise for me) I've pretty much forgotten everything that I learned. OK, so I can still go to the market & ask for carrote (carrots) and insalata (lettuce), but seriously, how hard is that? Luckily there are many words that are similar to English or Spanish. But, I realize, now is the time to get serious. I returned to a class I tried a while back. The problem for me is that the other students are not well educated in their first language. One lady told the teacher that she had 4 years of schooling. 4. I think you need to know what a verb is before you can conjugate it. But, I'm going to go there for a few weeks until I get back into the hang of it & then hopefully find something else. One teacher who was really nice offered to do a one-hour skype call with me each week (for free!) so I can practice speaking. She said that in the future maybe I can help her with some translations. I hope I'll learn Italian well enough for that.

In April, Justin's mom is going to come out to visit us for a few weeks. They have offered for me to have some time off while they take care of the kids. At first, I was thinking of going to Tuscany to take a cooking class, but I've found some interesting cooking courses here that I'm going to try out. Instead, I am now thinking of going to Venice (not too far, so I can still see the kids & Justin) for a week of intensive language study. It'll be like when I went to Costa Rica in college. Stay with a host family. 4 hours of language classes in the mornings. Outings & cultural classes run by the school in the afternoons. Hey, I'm not too old for adventure!

Guinea Pigs (Porchelini d' India) by Hart

When we first arrived in Italy, Ellie was especially homesick & told me that she really wanted something fuzzy to cuddle with & love (that was alive). Luckily our landlords said, "no dogs", so we didn't have to go into that discussion. After a lot of negotiation & research, we settled on the idea of guinea pigs. Then, we had a lot of trouble finding what we were looking for: two baby females. We went looking in a few different shops. Finally, I asked one shopowner if he could get what we wanted for us. He said he'd have them the next week. A week went by & then he said it would be another week. Uugh. Finally, I got a call that they were at the shop. But, that same day, I found out that we had to leave Italy to return to the states for about a month. Today, we went to the shop, & brought the little gals home. They are about 2 months old now. Even though they are both girls, Liam's is referred to as a boy & is now named Fluffy (or Fluffball for short). Ellie is still deciding on a name. Suggestions welcome!

Jet Lag Stinks by Hart

The only reason I'm even writing this is because I'm up at 3 in the morning & have already been up for 3 hours! I actually think my body could adjust to the 9 hour time change pretty quickly on my own because I'm so tired I can sleep at night no matter when night is. Unfortunately, my children can't meditate their way into sleep the way I can. Ander is especially difficult to convince that it is time to sleep when his body is telling him it's dinner time. Then, when he cries (although I'm doing all I can to settle him down), Liam is woken up. Liam jumps out of bed thinking it's morning when it is only 12:30am. Of course, all the commotion wakes Ellie, too. Justin has to work in the morning, so I'm trying to let him sleep, but I basically went from child to child for 2 hours before giving up & bringing them downstairs for quiet play.

I read that the keys to quick recovery from jet lag is exposure to sunlight as early in the morning as possible and physical activity. Last night (our first here) was worse than tonight: up from 12-5, then slept from 5-10am. But, we did get out of the house before noon & had a good long walk. The kids didn't really seem tired until their normal bedtime, so I had high hopes for tonight. I also read a suggestion that I not give food at night, only drinks. These kids are really hungry, though, so I did give them a snack. Liam was able to get back to sleep, so he'll probably be OK tomorrow at school. Ellie tried & tried, but couldn't. Maybe I'll have her try again at 4?

If any of you readers have experience with this, & would like to comment, I'd love to hear your suggestions! This is not the last time we'll have to make this trip, & I need all the help (& sleep) I can get!

Bird Poop by Liam

We came back to Italy. We couldn't open the gate for our car. Me and Daddy tried to fix it. We couldn't. Then we noticed there was bird poop on the sensor. Daddy cleaned it off with a wet towel. Then, the gate could open. The end.

California Vacation

Didn't I promise that I'd write here more often? Do all bloggers start off strong & then get distracted with life and other interests? Or run out of things to write about? I am going to keep working at this, even if it is hard, because it's a great way to keep a record of our adventures and to share them with our loved ones at home.

For the past month, we've been seeing our loved ones here in California, so there hasn't been much need for posting for others. But, in case we return to Italy & forget what we love about "home", here's what we've been up to:

• Staying in a rental house in Santa Cruz, 2 blocks from the beach.
• Spending a little time on any nice day down at the beach, playing, walking, digging.
• Playing at the many local (& well-equipped) parks.
• Meeting Logan, the kids' new cousin.
• Playing with friends in Santa Cruz & Palo Alto.
• Visiting the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
• Visiting the Boardwalk (& riding the Giant Dipper).
• Visiting the Seymour Marine Discovery Center.
• Visiting the Palo Alto Jr. Museum & Zoo.
• Spending Christmas Eve, Christmas, and New Year's with family & friends.
• Eating a wide variety of foods (of course the kids keep ordering pizza whenever they can, but I'm loving the Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Afghan, Indian, Burgers, Mexican, etc. . . did I mention I've gained 10 pounds since returning from Italy!?!)
• Justin & I having date nights & even a few over-nighters!
• Romantic getaway to Sonoma including my first wine-tasting.
• Zipline adventure in the redwood forest for my birthday.
• Justin barely working for over a month!
• Ander stopping nursing, learning to walk, & really starting to talk.
• No good macchiatos, but yes yummy mochas.

I have a long (& boring) story about how & when we finally will get to go back to Italy. Even now, with only a few days until our flight, we're not sure. But this experience has given us time to slow down, spend a lot of time together as a family, and think about what we have & what we want from life. Justin & I have always been such planners. Now we realize that there are things beyond our control. We have each other. We have struggles, but together we can overcome them. We have been extremely blessed. Now, all the kids are asleep, the house is peaceful, and I am able to appreciate it all so much more. This California trip has been good to us. OK. Ready to go back to Treviso now!

Back in the U.S.A. by Hart

As some of you may remember, back in August, I was alone with the children for 3 weeks while Justin started working in Italy. I had them start school since I still had no idea if or when the company would send us out to join him. Finally, we were given the green light, and 3 days later we were on a plane to Venice.

The first two months in Treviso were spent at Palazzo Brando, which is the Italian version of the Residence Inn. It was a great place for us to start, to get used to the town & lifestyle, and to make some friends.

Then we moved into the house that we found our first week in Italy (but had to wait for) in the beginning of November. This was a wonderful change - but then no internet for a month! Just as we were starting to get settled in, everything was unpacked, kitchen was stocked with dishes & pots & pans, we hired someone to help keep the house clean (sorry, but I can't watch 3 kids & clean 4 bathrooms on my own!), our 90 days in Italy was up. In fact, Justin was in the U.S. for the last 3 weeks because he was waiting for his work visa to be issued. That didn't happen in time, so we all had to leave.

Boo hoo.

This time, I didn't have to fly with the kids on my own. Justin flew out last Thursday - got stuck for 10 hours in the Frankfurt airport & luggage never arrived. Then, on Saturday, we all flew back together. Well, now I just sound like I'm complaining, but Justin reminded me that we've had so much amazing luck lately, things were bound to have to balance out at some point.

Now we are renting a little beach cottage in Santa Cruz, visiting with friends and family, and getting ready to enjoy the holidays here in the U.S. Yesterday we bought a little tree & decorated it this morning. I'm happy to see that beautiful angel on top - couldn't have used her in Italy because the plugs are different. We drove down "Christmas Tree Lane" in Palo Alto, & there are radio stations that only play Christmas music here. Things are feeling festive.

The most important thing for me, though, and the children, is stability. This is something we haven't had in our lives for 4 months now. It is taking a toll on all of us. So, after the holidays, my hope is to return to Italy, settle down, and stay put for a while - get back to studying Italian, making new friends, eating & drinking well, and enjoying la dolce vida.

Aack, what am I saying? Let's have la dolce vida here!!!

November, The Lost Month by Hart

So many times in the past month (while we had no internet access) I told myself - write down your ideas for the blog & then you can post them when the internet is turned on. Of course, then life got in the way. Now, I wonder if it is worth it to try to go back in time. So much has happened here & more happens every day. Maybe I'll just move on. However, here are some of the things I was thinking of writing about - if anyone is interested in any of these topics, let me know & I'll post something with pictures.
Our trip to Paris (was going to title this one Food Poisoning in Paris) the trip was mainly amazing.
Our new house - also amazing - especially now with internet!
Halloween
Thanksgiving
Chanukah
Our day trip to Nove (ceramics) & Asiago (cheese)
International Women's Club outings - guided tour of Treviso, guided art tour, Christmas market, hike in Asolo
Kids playdates/ new friends
Yoga
Snow
Justin being in the US while we are here because of visa/document problems
What we like about Treviso/Italy & what we miss about California

Mainly what we miss are our friends. We are making new ones here, but we'd like to keep the old (gold) ones also. Now that we are back online, you can comment here, send email, or skype. Also, if we're still on your holiday card list, our address is:
Vicolo Piave 1/A
31100 Treviso, TV
Italia

Sending love to you all. Will write again soon (I promise!)

Lessons (Italian, Cooking, Cultural) by Hart

Well, luckily we're all flexible in this family, since there are many differences between the home & life we were used to in Palo Alto & our new life here in Treviso.



Out of necessity and interest, I've begun Italian lessons. Twice a week a mom from the kids' school comes to our home in the evening. I put the baby to sleep & Ellie & Liam watch a movie while Justin & I have our lesson. So far it's going well, although the grammar of Italian is difficult (many more articles, sentence structure is different, genders, and everything has to agree in gender & quantity). Justin keeps having work dinners (lucky!) and has missed a few lessons, but overall the situation is working out well.



I'm also working through a language program on the computer which I bought before we came here. It is very helpful - teaching me a few new words & lots of repetition each lesson. But, there are some things it's taught me that are incorrect. For instance, "Io voglio" means "I want". But, (I learned from the real live Italian teacher), it is used by children when they are being naughty & demanding - "I want! I want!" Instead, a polite person should say, "Io vorrei", which is closer to "I would like". So, I take the computer program with a grain of salt.



Finally, I have two language exchanges with Italian women each week. One is a mom from the school. We go to her house & talk (mainly in English for now). The idea is that over time, as I become better at Italian, we can speak half the time in English & half in Italian, so we can both practice. The other woman is a nutritionist that I met through the International Women's Club of Treviso. Most of the women in that club come from other areas: the U.S., other parts of Europe, Japan, Israel, etc. This woman comes because she wants to improve her English. She & I meet & walk around town and talk. Becaues of these exchanges, I am already understanding so much Italian! It's the talking that's hard.

The kids seem to be picking up Italian too. At school they have to speak English, but they are pulled out for Italian lessons and even have some math lessons in Italian. In the playground at lunch, the children speak Italian, so they are also learning "playground talk". This seems like a great age to learn - much easier than as an adult!



Ander is now going to a babysitter 3X/week in the mornings. Originally I wanted someone to come to my house, but this arrangement is good because the caregiver has a lot of toys and there is one other child with Ander. It's more interesting for him there. She speaks English, but with the children she speaks Italian. So, he'll definately get the language! The question will be - will any of us retain the language once we go home? We have a few Italian friends in Palo Alto, so we'll rely on them as much as we can to practice.

This week, when I met for my language exchange with the mom from school, I had a little cooking lesson. We sat in the kitchen to have a coffee, & she started going through her frig to teach me the names of some items: proscutto crudo, proscutto cotto, pancetta, etc. . . There is an abundance of pork products here, and Italians feel very strongly about the importance of each type - where it comes from, qualitites that make it unique, what dishes it is good for, etc. Before this, I really didn't know the difference between proscutto & pancetta (I thought they were the same thing, just cut differently). Man was I wrong! She also taught me how to make Pasta Carbonara, which is a local dish. The pasta sauce is made mainly from pancetta & eggs. Of course, she told me, it is important to use spagetti #5 for this dish. In my mind, who cares? I talked with another American about this later & she laughed. Her husband is Italian & when she made this dish for him (with #3, not #5 pasta), he told her it was all wrong. In our way of thinking, #3 cooks faster than #5 & it tastes the same. For them, each ingredient & step in cooking is a part of their heritage & identity. I hope to take a "real" cooking class while I am here in Italy. Then, when I return to the states, I'll have to take another one - to teach me how to cook other types of food from scratch. Will I be converted? Or will I return to my Trader Joe's ways?


Recently a new Italian aquantance invited me to a shop where you can buy designer children's clothes & jackets for 1/2 off. I thanked her politely, but told her I didn't need anything for the kids. The truth is, I'm not a person who would spend $150 on a jacket for a kid who is going to ruin or outgrow it right away. If the jacket was normally $300, I still don't feel that $150 is a bargain. Why would a kid's jacket ever cost $300? Well, then, she told me that there is another shop where they have adult clothes & jackets. Again, I said no. Really, I wouldn't spend $300 on a jacket for myself either! Of course, here you don't just come right out & say "no". It would be rude. The kids were sick & home from school, so I had a good excuse. The next time she asked, Justin was on a business trip in the US, another good excuse. Then she suggested that we go after school one day & her babysitter could watch my kids. I didn't feel I could say "no" any more without losing her as a friend & alienating myself from the whole Italian community here! It was totally inconvenient for me, but I felt obligated to go. Then, on the way there, she told me that if you spend $500, then you get another $30% off. That's when it hit me - "I'm going to have to buy something! And, it's not going to be cheap." In the end, I was able to find one thing that wasn't too expensive. Another woman was with us & she bought something too, so with all of us, we got the extra 30% off. As time goes on, I'll learn more about how to navigate these situations gracefully. For now, I'm just observing how different things are here, and enjoying the warmth of my new designer coat!

HAIL!!! by Liam & Hart

It was an old boring day. Bleh. The most thing I don't like about boring days is...

HAIL!!!

The most wonderful thing that happened in my whole life. Wow, I loved it. It was really big! My first time seeing actual hail fall from the sky. It's ice. We're going to the mountains where it snows. And, did you know, it snows here?

OK. Actually, the weather was nice in the morning. The kids were at school, Justin was at work. I took Ander out in the stroller to do some errands in town. When I got to the other side of the train station, though, it had started to rain. Of course, I didn't have an umbrella or cover for the stroller. I thought about going home, but remembered that there was no food in the house. Instead of the market shops I planned on going to, I went straight to the close supermarket - then, when we came out, it was sunny and clear again. It stayed nice until the afternoon, when we realized that on one side of the apartment building it was sunny & clear & the other side had very dark grey, ominous clouds. Then, all of a sudden, we heard banging & screaming coming from outside! We looked & huge hail stones were falling - the screams were the neighbor teens hanging out wit their mopeds getting under cover. We all got so excited, that I didn't think to take a picture or movie until it was all over. The photo above is from a while later, after the hail stopped & melted a bit.

It's just another difference from our life in California, but we know we need to be prepared for anything when we leave the house!

Field Trip to Parco Faunistico Cappeller by Ellie

My class and I went on a field trip! It was really fun. We saw thousands of animals. First, we took a bus to the Cappeller wildlife park. It took an hour. I sat with a girl named Kiara. She's really quiet. Then, we got off the bus and had snack. We walked to a presantation. The guide lady showed us skulls, eggs, horns, and porcupine quills. We also played a game. Then, we went out and saw the animals. Seriously, there were at least a million animals in that park. Then, we had lunch. And then we saw some more animals. Anyway, the

picture here was the biggest animal on the planet. Seriously, it was huge! Can you guess who it was ? it was.............CAMEL! It was my favorite animal. When it stood up, it looked like a giant dog with it's tail wagging. :) :)

Day Trips by Hart

Since we've been here, we've tried to get away one day each weekend. We are loving Treviso, but what better opportunity will we ever have to discover all the amazing sights in our backyard?

VENICE

Our first trip was to Venice. We ended up driving, even though the train would have been faster & easier because we had to go to IKEA first to buy a high chair! Anyhow, after that errand, we drove to Mestre & took the train into the city. We walked through town, across the Rialto bridge, and into Piazza San Marco. The weather was perfect that day, & the crowds were minimal. It was like something out of a dream (plus we were still jet-lagged, so everything seemed like it was out of a dream). The kids got hungry half-way to the Piazza, so we stopped at a pizzeria for a late lunch. Later on, when we arrived at the Piazza, Ellie said she thought we were going to get pizza! Um, didn't you just eat a whole pizza 15 minutes ago? All I can say is that girl loves pizza! I found all the shops a real distraction - the kids were constantly asking if we'd buy them something. In the future, I'll let them bring some of their own money & plan on walking slowly so they can browse & pick what treasure they really want. The kids were tired out by the time we got to the Piazza, & there was a larger crowd there, so we decided to skip the rest of the sightseeing & save it for another day - we are only 30 minutes away, after all - we can come back any time we like! So we decided to hop on a water-bus instead of walking all the way back. After figuring out how to buy tickets & getting on a bus going in the wrong direction (it was a loop, so it didn't seem to matter, except it made the trip much much longer) we ended up back at the train station about an hour & a half later! Well, not too bad for our first time out, & at least a lot of lessons were learned.

VERONA

The second weekend here, we visited Verona,which is about 1 1/2 hr. drive from Treviso. When I traveled to Europe after college, I went through Italy two times, but never had time for the little towns - pretty much only saw the biggest & most famous cities. It turns out that Verona is the 4th most visited city in Italy! The weekend we went, there was some big festival going on (which we didn't know about ahead of time), so there were a lot of people there & a lot going on. I always love Rick Steve's guides, so I took mine along & we used it to navigate the city & see all the "important" sights. First, the Arena, which dates from the first century A.D., & is still used for concerts (the day we were there, they were setting up for a Peter Gabriel concert). Must wean the baby, then find a babysitter, then we can talk about going to a concert at the Arena! Walking around town, we saw a marching piccolo band, accordian players, & dancers. We visited the House of Juliet (not really her house, but still romantic - especially since a great friend of mine's boyfriend traveled to Europe to surprise her & somehow arrived just as she was standing in the balcony & then he proposed). Along the walls, thousands of lovers have written their names. Having 3 kids in tow makes it a little less romantic, but we all started off with stars in our eyes! This was a really nice moment to teach the kids about Romeo & Juliette, too, so now they know the story - must think of this as educational for them.

near NOVENTA DI PIAVE

Last weekend we spent the afternoon on Saturday at a classmate's birthday party at a winery the parents own about 45 minutes out of town. It was so beautiful driving through the countryside! During the party, there were entertainers hired to play with the kids, & the parents watched & chatted while sipping prosseco (the wine of this region) & eating tasty snacks. It is typical for all the kids in a class to be invited to the birthday parties here, but it still is so nice to be included & everyone is so friendly!

PADOVA

On Sunday we visited Padua. There is a famous chapel there called the Scrovegni Chapel, which was built & then painted around 1300. It's considered to be the first piece of modern art - although the frescoes were all religious in nature, the subjects were portrayed in a more human way than earlier works. Please don't shoot me, art history major friends, but I'd never heard of the Scrovegni Chapel before - however now I think it must be one of the wonders of the world! It is so well preserved after all this time. Now they have a series of air locks and they limit the number of people to view it & the ammt. of time you have inside in order to keep out the moisture. It was amazing and beautiful & I highly recommend that anyone coming to Italy visit this masterpiece. After our 15 minutes in the chapel, we viewed the art gallery. I would have thought 8 & 6 were too young to appreciate the art & history of Europe, but so far things are working out for us. I really enjoyed looking at the art with the kids, & talking to Ellie about what we liked (& didn't), why some paintings might be important, & how the artists might have created their works (color, shadow, perspective, etc.).

JESOLO

Tomorrow we are going to another birthday party - this one in Jesolo (a beach town an hour away), at the family's beach house. Nice. We booked a hotel room & plan to play at the beach on Sunday. It probably won't be play-in-the-water warm, but we can at least build sandcastles & walk along the shore. Wonder how it will compare to our beloved Santa Cruz?

Hi everybody! wer'e having so much fun!

Happy Children by Hart

In general, the kids have been adapting to this move very well.

Ellie has noticed that Italians love dogs & almost everyone has one or more (usually small & cute) dogs. She was asking for a dog before we came to Italy, but her want has increased since we've been here. Our compromise is that once we get a house she'll be able to get a pet - NOT a dog, but maybe a guinea pig or hamster. She just needs something cuddley to love, is that so wrong? I made the mistake of shipping her most beloved stuffed animal (dog), Peanut, who is still in customs until we move into the house. Hopefully in the next month we'll move & those problems will be overcome. As far as school goes, Ellie seems to be doing well. Some subjects are very easy for her - spelling was always one of her talents, but now she is in a class with 98% native Italian speakers. She is picking up Italian amazingly quickly. They also have a subject here called, "mental maths", so she is learning to solve math problems in her head. There is an indoor pool nearby, & I've got the kids on a waiting list for lessons twice a week. Hopefully they'll get in before the bad weather begins, so they can still get some exercise. For now, lots of walking!

Liam is also adapting well. He likes school. He really likes the uniform! He has his first playdate scheduled for this afternoon - we're going to a park where kids ride bikes & scooters (the other kid is providing the vehicles). This weekend he is going to a birthday party for a classmate. PE has been a bit of a problem - they played Dodgeball his first day & didn't explain the rules. He came home & told me everyone was mean & they were all throwing balls at him! Poor guy. Liam (oh, now he goes by William at school) is also doing well in class. It is tough being thrown in with 2nd graders, but he's keeping up. He's getting used to doing homework. He comes home & explains Italian grammar rules, "Mom, if it ends in an 'o' it's a boy & if there's more than one of them, the end changes to 'i', like gelatto - gelatti, gelatto is a boy, mom!"

Ander is having more trouble than the other kids. First off, he got a new tooth the first week here. Now he has a cold. He is also going through some developmental changes - standing & cruising more, even balancing for a second or two. He's also started dancing, as you can see in the video! His language has definately been impacted by the move - he used to say at least 15 different words. Now he mainly says "mama, mommy, & ciao." I did get him to say "bubbles" the other day, but he isn't even saying "dada" any more. Hopefully this confusion won't last too much longer. Ander is also not sleeping well. He's been waking & nursing all night. I say I'll stop the night nursing when he's healthy again, but who knows what new thing will be an issue then. Hoping for the best (& a little sleep for mama)!