The Place Where We Ate Lots of Ice Cream

My goal of catching up on blogging....obviously not met. We have been so busy and been traveling so much that I haven't had the time to blog. And truthfully, I haven't been in the mood. Does that ever happen to you? I just haven't felt like communicating. Well, now I do. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that school finally started today (HOORAY!) and I actually have an uninterrupted moment to myself. (Then again, almost uninterrupted. Naomi's school starts tomorrow, so she's still home. She, however, is easy to entertain - for instance, right now she's listening to samples of Christmas carols on the digital piano. Easy.)

I promised a long, long time ago that I would post pictures of Italy. I'm here to make good on that promise. Italy is the place my kids refer to as "the place where we ate lots of ice cream." I like to think of Italy as, "the place I could gain lots of weight and feel happy about it," or, "the place where I can spend A LOT of money and not regret it," and finally, "the place in Europe that feels like home." It was so great to be in Italy. I've lived in Germany longer now than I lived in Italy, and I still don't feel as comfortably at home here. I think it is because I've been forced to live on an Army post and haven't learned the language and haven't been immersed in the culture like I was there. (Granted, living on post is much, much, much easier.) I experience a huge sense of relief each time I cross the border (I feel the same way in France) because I can understand all of the road signs and know that if there is an emergency I can talk to people. Ben and I have resolved to learn German this year. I want to feel like Germany is home. I want Germans to talk to me IN GERMAN! (They usually give up after a sentence or two.)

I digress...

Here are some pictures of our first days in Italy. We went to Tuscany the first week of April. It was beautiful. We spent day one driving to Florence. Our original plan was to (after having checked into our apartment) make our way into town, wander, find some food, return to the apartment, cook up some mouth watering pasta, and relax.

What actually happened -

We drove to Florence (Ben was amazed to see that I was right - lanes really are only suggestions in Italy.

We spent at least a good hour touring and checking into the apartment. (Naomi was, during the check-in process, horribly, horribly distraught because she had (while in a period of deep sleep) wet her pants in the car. She woke up right when we pulled up to the gate.) It was not a pretty scene. I think that the owner of the apartment may have had some second thoughts about us as renters during the check in process...I would have.

We drove around in a futile attempt to find a grocery store with parking.

We drove around in a futile attempt to find a restaurant that the apartment owner had recommended to us (we had left the address behind - oops!).

We finally gave up and ate at the first restaurant we found that had a place to park nearby.

Here are some pictures of views from our apartment. It was a lovely place to stay. We could see the old city of Florence from the gate.









Day 2 was much more successful. We were, in fact, able to accomplish just about everything we had planned. We parked our car in a rather frightening public parking lot and took the bus into downtown Florence. (I was rather pleased to discover that I remembered enough Italian to ask directions, buy bus tickets and actually understand what people said back to me. We spent the day visiting the Boboli gardens, the Pitti Palace and wandering the old town of Florence. We did learn one valuable lesson, however, on day 2. Just in case you're wondering, it is unwise to give your children Camelbacks completely filled with water while traveling in Europe. Big mistake. We'll leave it at that.

The Pitti palace....


Naomi by the fountain at the Pitti Palace....


The Boboli gardens....


Let me insert here that I think the Boboli gardens (attached to the Pitti Palace)are a waste of time and money. Such a waste. I've now been there 3 times, and each time I've gone I've been disappointed. If you want to see beautiful gardens go to Isola Bella. Or Villa Taranto. Or Versailles. Or the Schwetzingen palace gardens. My point is that the Boboli gardens get all kinds of positive press, and they're really not that impressive. They are big. They are a great place for a picnic, or some shade on a hot day. That's about it, however. Nothing to shout about.

Views from the Pitti Palace....




Naomi and her Camelback....


Ian and Naomi in the gardens....


As you may be able to tell from the pictures, the weather wasn't the greatest that first day. It wasn't terribly cold, but it was drizzling. Unfortunately I left all of the umbrellas in our car (which we were hoping was not stolen). We ended up buying some new umbrellas from street vendors who magically appeared, arms laden with cheap umbrellas, the moment it started to rain. Thank goodness for hawkers of sub-par goods who prey on tourists. They saved my bacon that day.

Oh, and we did eat gelato that day. Very, very expensive gelato. Note to future travelers - ascertain the price of your gelato before it is scooped. It will save you a lot of grief and a lot of money.

Well, I made it through day 2. Only 8 to go. I SWEAR I'll cut back on the narrative. It's the only way I'm going to survive....