May 20

Abram with an espresso from the machine at the laundymat - it grinds the beans fresh every time!

the restaurant near the hotel and park

Owen and Abram playing fire fighting

view from our hotel - suburban apartments


We spent today puttering about Stra, a suburb of Padua. We bought breakfast from a small grocery store – prosciutto crudo (raw ham); rice salad with olives, onions, carrots, and prosciutto; cherries, and strawberries. Owen played in the park near our hotel while we did some laundry – 4 Euros to wash a load, but the soap was automatically dispensed. It was soap approved by the Minister of Sanitation, so I’m sure it was perfectly safe. Abram walked about during Owen’s nap and brought back a lunch similar to breakfast. We ate at a small, nearby restaurant for dinner – prosciutto crodo, grilled steak with almonds and tomatoes, grilled steak with cream sauce (for Abram), and grilled zucchini, eggplant, and peppers – while Owen went from the table to the park. We were certainly ready for a break.

May 19

end of the day
back street with laundry
S. Ellena park
lizard
S. Ellena park
glass making
Ponte di Rialto
San Marco
napping nusrling


Today was another busy day. We got up early and spent the day in Venice, about an hour’s bus ride from here. We got our fill of riding boats; Owen liked riding outside on the public transport boats, but the seats were hard to get. Owen took a nap as we took our first boat ride of the day. We spent some time walking around near Piazza San Marco – (briefly) in the Doge’s Palace, outside the Basilica, through the narrow streets with lots of shops up to the Ponte di Rialto. After lunch, we followed the map to the location marked #9 to find a public bathroom instead of the glass museum – oops, there were different colors of numbers. So, we caught a boat out to Murano, the island with the furnaces and Museo del Vetro where we saw lots of lovely “breakable” (one of Owen’s favorite words even before today) things, enjoyed a glass making demonstration, and bought a few items. Owen got a second nap on the ride back from Murano. We got off east of San Marco, and walked through a series of lovely parks along the water as Owen finished his second nap. When he woke up, he enjoyed the freedom of running around and playing at a playground in one of them. He especially liked playing in the drinking water fountain that ran continuously. Looking for dinner, we wandered through quiet, residential streets where everyone’s laundry was hanging out to dry. Owen made friends with some young girls from Chicago at dinner and kept wanting to go back “to see the ladies.” On our way back to the bus depot, we spotted a pirate ship which was quite exciting.
Tomorrow, we plan to have a much quieter day – waking up when we’ve slept enough, doing some laundry, looking for an internet cafe to check email and upload this log, and maybe going into Padua (a 20 minute bus ride) to the vegetable market.

May 18

Verona
Verona
Ponte Pietre, Adige Fiume, Verona

This morning we checked out of the Hotel de Capuleti and left our bags there while we walked about in Verona. We made our way along Adige Fiume (the Adige River) to a Roman bridge, Ponte Pietra, built during the 1st century AD; we walked across it and stayed dry, so it seems to be in great shape still. We also scaled the hill above the Roman theatre just above the bridge and caught some beautiful views of the city before heading back and finding some lunch. Owen and I had a peppery penne (with our rice pasta, of course), grilled liver (fegato), sweet peas (piselli), and greens. Abram had pasta al pomodoro (tomato sauce), steak (bisteca), sweet peas, greens, and fennel with cheese. Abram and I also had some vino rosso. Well sated, we picked up our bags and walked to the train station where we missed the first train to Padova. After arriving in Padova, we missed the first bus to our hotel, and when we finally arrived at our hotel, it was closed up with a phone number to call to be let in – except we have no phone. After a great deal of confusion, Abram’s running about, and a 1km trek, we ended up where we are staying for the next few days. Owen’s schedule seems to have worked out, and he was able to get a good nap in transit today.

May 17

Lake Garda mallards

Sleeping Handsome after 12 hours of sleep

view of mountains from ruins

Abram with view of Lake Garda from ruins

Owen and I at ruins

wild flowers

Lake Garda from ruins

pebbles on the beach

Owen on the beach

kumquats we had for a snack

poppies and olive grove (far left) on our way to Sirmione

Owen slept 12 hours last night. (As usual, he roused a couple of times to nurse, but there was no getting up and playing for a few hours. Yay!)
We finally had to wake him up to get on our way to Sirmione on Lake Garda. We took a regional bus about an hour west, passing olive groves, vineyards, and poppy fields to Sirmione, a beach town on the lake and once home to Catullus, Roman “love poet.” We all enjoyed the water and the sunshine on the public beach, and we collected a variety of pebbles from the shore. We toured the ruins of a late 1st century AD/early 1st century BC mansion, and walked through the over-priced, touristy shops in the small town. We made a second visit to the beach before heading back to Verona on the bus.

May 16

pictures: outside of arena, hall inside arena, inside the arena (2), view of piazza from arena top, Owen and Abram with the statue with boobies, view from our hotel room

Owen is such a trooper. He is slowly adjusting to the time change.
Today we left Milan for Verona. We got a late start because Owen was up a few hours in the middle of the night, and we all woke up late.
We passed lots of corn fields, vineyards, and a few olive groves on our 2 hour train trip east. Owen got in a short nap, so he was refreshed when we arrived.
Verona is a much more charming place than Milan. They are having a street festival this week, and as we walked to the arena, we saw lots of families enjoying the activities. We explored the arena, the best-preserved Roman amphitheater. It is from the 1st century AD and is still in active use. There was a crew preparing for what appeared to be quite a gruesome play while we were there. We climbed all the way to the top, and Owen enjoyed running through the maze of halls along the outside under the stands.

As we walked around the street festival looking for an ATM, Owen shouted, I see boobies! He notices them on all the statues these days. It’s just after 9 PM, and Owen has now gone to sleep. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for tonight!

May 15

pictures: view from our window, picnic, outside of the monastery-hotel, Duomo (Milan), Santa Maria delle Grazie

Owen had a bit of trouble sleeping, so we were all up for the day by 1:30. Needless to say, we were all tired when we arrived at Santa Maria delle Grazie to pick up our reserved tickets to see Cenacolo Vinciano, da Vinci’s Last Supper. We had to wait a bit since they did not have tickets for us (some confusing story about payment not arriving by one week in advance although we have a confirmation number – I’ll have to look back at the actual credit card statement to make sure we didn’t buy tickets twice! I was sure to get the refunds address just in case.) By the time we actually got in to see it, Owen was asleep in my trusty wrap. It is in a part of the church which was damaged during WWII and is now a sealed viewing room. We also looked at the rest of the church (for free) before heading to the Duomo. Owen slept for more than two hours in the wrap while we walked about. We finally headed back to our room where Owen was able to continue his nap a few more hours and we got some sleep too.
We ventured out in the rain and bought a couple of umbrellas, visited the park Owen found yesterday, and picked up a picnic at a small deli. We had a grand picnic in our room: onions sautéed in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, dried tomato salad with oregano and olive oil, mixed steamed seafood (including octopus, squid, mussels, and shrimp) with olive oil, prosciutto, and wine – yum! Owen called the octopus suckers feet and ate them up! He really liked the prosciutto.

May 13-14: A Very Long Day

So, folks, although we have not had internet access for the past few days, I have managed to get some notes each day. I am posting each day separately. Enjoy!

Okay, so one more disclaimer: I cannot get this computer to copy and paste even though I am pretty sure I am using the right commands. I also cannot type an apostrophe! So, until I can get internet service on our computer, you will be looking at pictures all loaded in random orders at the beginning og the text.

What a long day! We left home yesterday morning at 9:30. We got just a bit of rest on the plane trip over, and finally arrived in Milan (by way of Philadelphia, Detroit, and Amsterdam) around noon. (While it was a bit odd and took extra planning, it proved to be no problem to bring out own food for the plane trip. By breakfast, the flight attendant actually knew we would only want water. Potato omelets travel particularly well and are good cold!)
After successfully navigating the metro system and getting cash, we found our accommodations at the Instituto La Casa, a small monastery with private rooms.
We were pleased to find the room quite nice – though definitely modest with an air of monastic cell about it. So it’s a bit different from the standard American motel: The lock uses a skeleton key! You leave it at the desk when you go out; curfew is at 1 am so no trouble for us tired folks. The towels are huge and are a flat-weave rather than terry cloth – like a tea towel. There is not TV or AC.
Owen was asleep when we arrived, so we all had a much needed nap. When he woke up, he enjoyed playing in a small court yard here with Daddy while I got a shower.
Around 6, we went out to see the neighborhood. It is a rather quiet urban neighborhood with lots of cafes and small shops. Not feeling up to trying to eat GFCF (gluten-free, casein-free) local food just yet, we opted for one of several sushi restaurants for dinner.
Owen also spotted a small playground down a side street and enjoyed playing with some other kids for a little while.