Ever since last year's epic Halloween party we had been planning the sequel. I spent an entire Saturday gathering wood for the massive bonfire I planned. I timed the mowing of our enormous yard to ensure that the grass wouldn't be too long, which is hard to do when it rains constantly. We ended up ruining the blade belt of our mower due to the wet grass with over half of the yard left, which had me in a panic. I borrowed the Crandall's mower, without waiting to hear back from them if that was okay, and wrecked their engine also. Ashley had to borrow the Jones' mower to finish most of the job, which was just enough for the party.
Isaac was Calvin & Hobbes, Georgie was Queen Raven from some TV show, and Juliet was a purple Minion from Despicable Me 2. Ashley made Juliet's costume, which was awesome, but which she wore for about 2 seconds because she couldn't see or move around very well.
Although here she seems to be able to see the TV just fine.
Ashley was quite smashing as Mary Poppins.
The Italian kids starting showing up early, and some of our American friends with cars for the trunk or treat showed up late, but no one was run over and we were able to start the trunk or treating at a reasonable time. The kids did four or five laps around the ring of cars and collected mountains of candy, which I have confiscated from our kids and am slowly working my way through. Hypocrisy is delicious. They'll get the sweet candy back eventually, once I am done with the chocolate.
Here are Isaac with two Italian friends in "Scream" masks, Georgie with her friends Lana and Destiny, and Juliet with her friends Kala, Mary, and Katie.
Jubie with Mary and Kala. Mary was Jubie's best friend at Asilo (preschool) last year.
The bonfire was a smashing success, with a flame about 20 feet tall at its peak. The only disappointment was that this was the second straight successful bonfire that Greg had missed while deployed to Niger. And no pictures! Arggh! But I got compliments on the structure and spacing of the wood from our fighter pilot friend Doug, who has an engineering degree.
Here is Juliet with Katie and Kala. They all go to the same Asilo, Katie in the same class and Kala in the class just below Jubie.
One of the girls from Isaac's class.
Ashley with Mattia's mother, a boy from Georgie's class.
The after party chili dinner was more of a monocultural affair this year, as it was a reward for the Americans for bringing their cars and candy. Still, we had a fantastic time and had several new friends over for the first time. That night and the next morning we did some serious cleaning and cooking because the next day was...Practice Thanksgiving!
Every year we have been here we have gone to Tuscany with the Edstroms and the Trifilos for Thanksgiving. Last year we added the Crandalls, the four families forming the core of the "Famici" group. This year, Kate and Steve were moving to Vandenburg AFB in southern CA on 15 Nov, so we had to have Thanksgiving early before they left. Everyone (except Megan - party pooper) had also been to the Halloween party the night before, so it was a Famici kind of weekend.
Steve and I have become twins. At two separate dinner parties in the past few months we have both worn: plaid collared shirts from H&M, dark blue jeans, and Camper shoes. It must be because Kate and Ashley are dressing us at this point in our lives.
The main table is on the left with the kids' table on the right. Kate and Steve made a fantastic turkey, even though it wasn't sous-vied because their equipment had already been shipped to CA. Ashley made Grandma Jeanette's famous rolls, which disappeared rapidly.
Afterward we played the envelope game until late in the evening and even managed to get Greg involved in the game from Niger via text messages. And then we finally had the slumber party that we had been planning since we met these friends. Ben & Charlotte stayed in one bedroom in the apartment with Luca and Kate & Steve stayed in the other with Brennan, while Megan slept in the TV room downstairs with Yorba and Verna. Greg slept in a tent in the desert.
The next morning we had breakfast and some of the most serious conversation that we have ever had as Famici. Everyone gradually made their way home and Ashley was finally able to flop down on her bed and rest after a truly epic weekend.
We had planned to go to Germany and Belgium in early October, but poor communication doomed the trip and we were left scrambling to find a way to fully utilize some time off. Luckily, the local options are plentiful and fantastic. We drove the three-plus hours to Bolzano in the Italian region of Tretino-Alto Adige, also known as South Tyrol (Sud Tirol) by German-speaking people. A lot of the people in this region are ethnically Austrian and speak German as their primary language.
Isaac has been wanting to go see "Oetze", the prehistoric iceman he learned about in school, at the museum in Bolzano for some time now. Oetze was found in the Alps near the Austria-Italy border in 1991 and lived over 5000 years ago. He is a "wet mummy" and a large portion of his skin and soft tissues are preserved as well as his clothing and artifacts. He was buried by snow soon after being shot in the back with an arrow and his protective covering did not melt until the early 1990s.
Here is Isaac with a remarkable reconstruction of what Oetze most likely looked like. They know how tall he was, how much he weighed, his hair color and length, his tattoos, his illnesses, and the contents of his last meal (einkorn and goat). Incredible. He wore a bearskin hat and shoes and goat skin leggings, loincloth, and coat. He had a bow and a quiver full of arrows, mushrooms for medicinal purposes, a flint knife, and an axe with a remarkably modern-looking copper blade. His discovery pushed back the start of the Copper Age by over 1000 years.
Georgie is wearing a reconstruction of his coat, the lower half of which is preserved, which is why the upper half has the question marks.
Here she is attempting to reconstruct the birch bark cylindrical container that he carried in his backpack. He would wrap hot coals in green maple leaves, which were also remarkably well preserved, and then carry the hot coals inside these birch containers to use to start his next fire.
Another shot of the model. You aren't allowed to take pictures of the actual body, but there are tons of great pictures online. He is missing his eyes and nose, so it may be a little scary for young kids.
After the museum we ate our way through Bolzano, getting some wonderful baked goods, smoothies, and gelato. Here we are in the main piazza with the church in the background.
We drove from Bolzano up into the Dolomites to an agriturismo that Ashley had skillfully found online. This was our view. Unreal.
This is another view with the "Sassolungo" (Long Rock) peak in the background.
In this little porch area they had a ping pong table, a foosball table, a swing, and a rope ladder. All of which we fully utilized.
This is the front of the agriturismo. We only stayed one night but we really fell in love with the place.
The next morning we started hiking from the agriturismo straight into the Dolomites. We first came to Rifugio Duac after about 45 min of hiking and stopped for a hot chocolate. Sassolungo can be seen in the background.
Another shot at the rifugio. I think Jubie's hot chocolate hadn't arrived yet.
This is the view of the ski area behind the rifugio. It was a fantastic day. Although the visibility wasn't perfect, the low, patchy clouds added to the ambience.
Our final destination, Rifugio Firenze, is in the background. Ashley and I refused to carry Juliet throughout the entire 90 min hike, and the last haul was particularly troublesome. I entertained her with a story about a 4 year old girl named "Viola" (her favorite play name is Violet) who had to rescue one of her family's goats that had been injured and was trapped in a storm. Isaac and Georgie also became enthralled and listened intently.
This is it, our final destination. Jubie walked the whole way, by herself.
The rifugio had a great playground, which has to be up there with the ones in Edinburgh and Switzerland in the category of Most Epic Playground Ever.
Jubie riding a squirrel with rabbit hutches and Dolomite peaks in the background.
Our server bringing the food, which was a great mix of Italian and German favorites. Not a bad view for lunch.
The polenta, knudel, and kaiserschmarren were particularly good. Kaiserschmarren is a family favorite. It was Emperor Franz Joseph's favorite food, which we learned (and ate) at the Schloss Schoenbrun in Vienna. Since then we have ordered it whenever we have the chance. It is like a pancake with a egg coating and powdered sugar and berry sauce on top. Delicious.
Georgie took this shot of us. Just a couple of eternal honeymooners, spending their retirement in their 30s.
While the kids played, Ashley and I took it upon ourselves to leave our mark in the Dolomites. You can barely see Ashley way in the background next to our creation.
Zoomed in. Perfectly legal graffiti. I Merback siamo stati qui.
Not to be outdone by my Yoga-instructing wife, I did my own epic handstand on the way down.
We made our way back down and started the three hour scenic drive back home. The pass we climbed on the way out of our valley (Val di Gardena) was particularly outstanding. This is the south side.
And the north side. We need to coming skiing here this winter. And then stay forever.
We made one last pit stop on the way home when we saw this view and couldn't pass it up. Way down behind us is a mountain lake. The kids listened to "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" by Judy Blume on the way home. It is funny listening to that book as a parent. Reading the book as a child, I found Fudge, Peter's little brother, hilarious. As a parent, I find him incredibly annoying. I wanted to take his mother aside and teach her a thing or two about discipline, limits, and consistency.
Our overwhelming feelings during and after this trip were of gratitude for the experience and amazement that the area isn't better known. Sud Tirol is a perfect combination of Italy, with the familiar language and 3G access, and Austria, with the amazing alpine villages and German food. Ashley completely made up for our failed Germany-Belgium trip with a perfect weekend. Way to go, Mom.
Italy is the land of artisans. When we moved here I aimed to take advantage. I really hoped I could find an old man, a woodworking master, who would let me hang out with him and sap his vast knowledge, meanwhile learning to speak better Italian.
Enter my dream man, Daniel. I met Daniel one day 1.5 yrs ago when he was drunk sitting out on the sidewalk along my walking route to pick up the kids from school. We had a lovely conversation, a lot in English, where he told me he refinished furniture professionally and showed me around his wood shop. He is also a musician who loves American Jazz, and used to travel around Northern Italy playing Friulian folk songs at festivals (our region of Italy is called Friuli -Venezia Giulia, its culture, language and local people called Friulians/Friulano). He was so friendly and warm. I really felt like I had made a friendship. The next time I passed him on the street he didn't even remember who I was. Drunk! ha!
This Spring I brought him some chairs to refinish for me on which visit he mentioned that he had heart problems and in order to take care of his health he ate very healthily (still does), had bad days where he couldn't work and the he was sober and had been for 5 years (...except that one slip up on that day that we met, apparently! But I didn't point that out...kept that memory to myself;) On this second visit I think our friendship became real and he really responded to my interest to learn from him. I stopped by a couple of times a week on the way to and from taking Juliet to school. He came over to the house once, met the family and saw the furniture I had built (crap by comparison) and some tables we planned to refinish together. I organized a once a week babysitter to make this happen in the summer. But summer happened. Travel, guests, the garden...the time and the babysitter escaped me.
Finally, fall came around, we're settled with the kids school routine, some abandoned summer chores have been caught up on and I was able to make it to Daniel for a wood project this week. It was awesome. We're speaking in Italian, I am learning a little bit about what a solid wood shop should look like as well as how to refinish furniture like a professional. I know it sounds a little dramatic but I felt like I was fulfilling a dream. Pinch Me. Mostly I felt so grateful to live here, have things like this be a part of my life and to be able to meet such a generous soul. Living abroad is life changing.
Italy is poor right now, its economy is in the tanks and a lot of people are out of work. As you can imagine, not many people are paying to have furniture refinished, therefore Daniel is also out of work. In his hey day, he told me, he had 3 people working for him because he was so busy. He was refinishing pieces for people all the way from Verona to Venice, people transporting their beautiful antiques to tiny little Sarone for the hand of a master who charged an honest price. Nowadays, he has a broken car and no money to get it fixed. This fact was told to me without a whiff of sadness or sympathy seeking, only because I asked if he had a car. He has lived in the same small apartment for 50 years, one he shared with his mother and his grandmother because the men in his life died in WWII. It's simple and full of old little things crafted or improved by his own hand, right down to his only sofa that he recovered himself. He wears a tiny gold band on his ring finger which triggered me to ask if he was married. "Only to my grandmother," he replied with a smile. During WWII Mussolini demanded all the gold the Italian people owned in order to fund the war. His grandmother didn't like Mussolini and didn't agree with the war so she hid the gold ring from soldiers who would surely come digging through every peasants home to find it. He wears the ring every day because he is proud of his Grandmother.
I came to his house this week with a tiny offering of bread, fruit and cheese for us to share for lunch. He told me he had planned to serve me some pasta. "Pero, okay, cosa voi...we'll eat what you brought." He brought out more things from his meager fridge to add to the lunch and then offered to teach Juliet and I to make pasta the following day. He sent us home with a mountain of fresh pasta and 3 jars of jam he'd made from the trees in his backyard. He teaches guitar lessons to some older teens and then they eat dinner together afterward, all made by him, and play music. After totalling it all out he probably doesnt' make more than a ten dollars. He supplied all the paint and wood finish I used , all the power to run the machines that we worked with, never once portraying even a hint of resentment. It's hard to keep track exactly but almost every time I have been over to his house he has sent me home with something. Generosity...a trait not uncommon among Italian people but one I find particularly inspiring in Daniel. "I am a simple man," he told me yesterday. Here's a video of Juliet and Daniel in action!
Ever since June 2013 we have all had a hankerin' to go back to Baska on the island of Krk in Croatia. Due to the craziness of the past summer we didn't get around to it until mid-September. Normally it would still have been plenty warm for a beach vacation, but this summer has been the coldest and wettest of the past 50 years in this part of Europe. The forecast kept changing, and I was being very pessimistic, but we went for it anyway.
A big upside was that we got another fantastic apartment very close to the one we had previously. It was at the end of this long, narrow pedestrian street with brightly painted aqua-blue doors and shutters. More than one group of tourists stopped to take pictures of it over the weekend.
Here I am with the big kids heading down our street to find some gelato.
We arrived on Friday and had that afternoon to play on the beach, but it was Lake Tahoe cold and we were definitely the only crazies out there.
That night we ate pasta salad that Ashley had brought on the roof-toop veranda of our apartment. It was magical, despite the cold.
The next morning it was pouring rain. Our friends Ben and Charlotte Crandall had driven out Friday night and we met up with them and their toddler Luca for a breakfast of delicious pastries. We went back to the apartment and contemplated playing cards or some other indoor game when we noticed that the rain had let up somewhat. We decided to head down to the beach in our rain gear just to skip rocks and let the kids play in the sand. Slowly the rain let up, and we braved the water with the paddle board that Ashley had wisely rented.
Here are Georgie and I out for a spin. Ashley has been enamored with paddle boards ever since she and the kids visited Uncle Robbie in SoCal and he took them all over the little cove by their house.
Next thing you knew, it was sunny. Not warm yet, but sunny. At this point a few other brave souls started to venture out and join us on the beach. Isaac paddled around standing up, but felt more comfortable going long distances on his knees. At one point I couldn't see him at all and panicked. Turns out he had set in at one of the other nearby beaches for a little while before launching out again.
Don't let this picture fool you. That water is not warm. Still, lovely day.
Georgie was likewise awesome on the paddle board, although she preferred to stay close to the shore where we could see her.
Juliet loved riding on the paddle board with us, but she preferred to fly over the water.
That evening we ate dinner at our favorite restaurant, Cicibela, but they had changed the menu from last year and no longer had the fantastic ravioli that I had ordered. Twice. We also got gelato from the "fun" guy that builds characters for the kids out of their cones and scoops.
This is the pier and little beach that we camped at for all three days. Sunday was even lovelier than Saturday and we headed out as early as we could.
Ashley was dying to try some paddle board yoga, which she was able to do successfully without falling in. Georgie also did a great job. I, on the other hand, fell over several times trying to side plank.
This is an Italian woman that just loved our kids and Luca. She played with them on both Saturday and Sunday. Crazy story: Georgie lost her CTR ring that Gaga had given her in the water close to the shore. We looked and looked for that thing. Ashley even bought a mask for me to use to find it. No luck. Georgie told her Italian friend about the ring and within five minutes she had found it. Georgie is holding it up for the camera.
None of us wanted to leave given how beautiful the day was, but the men had a little more motivation: at 1800 was the Udinese-Napoli game. We split up, the ladies in our minivan and the boys in the Crandalls' car. Our seats this year are WAY better than last year. But they also cost twice as much. Not Isaac's though, same price.
Ben and Isaac before the game started. We tailgated out of the back of Ben's car, eating the sandwiches, pita chips, hummus, tortilla chips, guacamole, and carrots that Charlotte had packed for the beach trip. Thank you, Charlotte! This is the one game that we missed last year that Isaac was really disappointed about. Napoli is his 2nd team after Udinese. I think it is because we had such awesome pizza in Napoli and bought him a cheap Napoli team jersey and scarf there. And you will notice that under his Udinese jersey there is a bit of light blue, and under his Udinese scarf there is another flash of light blue. That's right, he wore BOTH jerseys and BOTH scarves to the game. And escaped without being assaulted.
I love these games. I get so excited for them and it kills me when we can't go. It is Isaac's and my "thing". We love European football!
This picture is special because the guy warming up in the green jersey with the white shorts and blue socks is Isaac's favorite player on Napoli, Jose Maria Callejon. Isaac's Napoli jersey has Callejon's name and number on it. Callejon is also Spanish and used to play for Real Madrid alongside Cristiano Ronaldo. He came on as a substitute in the second half.
Ben had never seen Udinese win before, but that night he would not be disappointed. Udinese won a free kick in the Napoli half of the field and I could feel that something special was going to happen. I started recording with my phone just before Di Natale lofted the kick over the defense and into Danilo's path:
And we won! 1-0! A perfect end to an almost perfect weekend. Sad that we will probably never go back to Baska again. But who knows? Anything could happen.
