Week 1!

Hard to believe I have already been in Italy for a week! The first few days were spent wandering around Rome,: Villa Borghese, Spanish Steps, the Colosseum. 

On Friday I got to stay with Anna at her home right downtown. After a VERY large pizza at a tiny little pizzeria, we wandered Campo Fiori. The next day we headed out to Paganica, a little town up in the mountains. This place was beautiful - the mountains, the air - I can't wait to go back and really wander!

This week things are back to normal - I get to work with both boys all week, which should be an adventure! 

Day 1

Last time I was here they had 'unseasonably cool weather' ... That is not the case this year!! The heat is crazy . I almost wish my hair was even shorter!

It was my first day working with Adri - wow has he grown! No arguments over learning English, or going for walks. He even was able to convince me to stop in at a small pizzeria! I had forgotten how good the food was here - although I didn't need to know that pizza that good was only a 15 min walk away. 

In the afternoon I took a passeggiata through the city, ending up in my favourite place, Villa Bourguese. So beautiful and calm - it's going to be a regular stop for me again this year.

After my passeggiata and much needed shower, I did what many Romans do in this heat - took another nap! Hopefully I will settle into the time change quickly!

My backyard - where I get to hang out and read every day! 

My Roman Adventure 2.0

Once again I have arrived in Rome for a summer of adventure! It was interesting how much I remembered - everything feels like I had just left, not that I had been gone for 2 years. Well, everything except the boys - they have grown so much!

After a quick nap, I am getting ready to head out for dinner with my Italian family! I promise I will add more as the time goes on! 

Until this, Buonosera (good evening!)

7

I exactly one week I will be on a plane half way back to Canada, so I am trying to cram as much in as I can over my last few days in Rome!


Monday was crazy - I took the boys to the Zoo for the morning. It's a small little zoo in the middle of Villa Borghese (about 1/10th the size of the Toronto Zoo), but still it had enough to keep the boys interested over our 2 hour walk. The boys love the Reptile house (of course!) and the butterfly exhibit.



 



But, to me, the most interesting exhibit was the Guinea Pigs. Yup - Guinea Pigs... in a zoo. Didn't make any sense to me, but Adriano and Pietro loved them!





On Tuesday I took the bus to Termini Station and wandered the main downtown core. Inside the station is an underground shopping centre, with a few small restaurants (and of course, 2 McDonalds).

Outside the station is Piazza di Repulica - a huge open square with fountains, indoor shopping and a series of outdoor markets. A 5 minute walk down the street and you get to a series of stores, gelaterias and tourist shops. A little farther down the street and you arrive at S. Maria Maggiore Basilica, a wonderfully large church right in the centre of town.

 Today I returned to Termini Station to explore the other side of the station and do some shopping (found an amazing 3-floor bookstore so that took a little while to go through!) I wandered for hours, eventually ending up back down Via De Corso and near the Colloseum. An incredibly long and hot day, was topped of by some wonderful Gelato (chocolate and straccaitella) before catching the bus back home! Now for a rest before I begin another adventure tomorrow! Ciao!

And then there were 10 ...

Only 10 days left in my Roman adventure!!

It's a little bitter sweet... I'm loving Rome and loving all of my adventures, but I'm exhausted! Every day I hop on a bus to travel somewhere new, or just start walking and see where I end up! In the last few days I've visited Vatican City (though only the outside - waaaay to long of a line up for the museums) gone back down towards the Colosseum, caught a bus the wrong way and ended up at a really cool outdoor market (I even bought a new purse!), and found a small little grocery store that sells maple syrup - so I was able to make pancakes for my Italian family! Oh yeah - and I went bowling and to a dance club (guess which one I had more fun at)... that's been the last 3 days of my life!!!

 

Though that has all been fun - I'm looking forward to coming back home and sleeping in my own bed! I'm also looking forward to eating something other than pasta! Seriously - it's pasta almost every day... pasta and mozzarella!

Despite all that I have seen, the Colosseum is still one of the most amazing sights for me. I don't know if it's the size, or the history... but I just can't see it enough. Every time I wander downtown I see it in the distance. This day was very busy - the line to get inside was over an hour wait, and yet people were waiting just to get a glimpse inside.

It's also one of the most tourist heavy areas... everywhere you walk people are trying to sell you tacky souvenirs, bottled water and flowers. Then there are all of the people trying to make money by getting you to take your picture with them ... every few feet there is someone ready to pose - fake statues, roman gladiators, normal people with birds they want to put on your shoulders. It's hard to walk down the street without them coming up to  you!

Sunday was a little quieter ... there are not a lot of buses running in our area, and they were calling for rain later in the day, so I just went out for a quick wander in my neighbourhood. This is the view of the north part of the city from the top of the hill. Such a beautiful view - hard to believe that about an hour after this picture we were in the midst of a very heavy thunderstorm!
I still can't get over how much green space there is in Rome - so many trees and parks everywhere you look!

And of course - because you all complain that there are never pics of me, here is the obligatory self pic from the top of the hill!

Tomorrow is a nice relaxing day - I'm taking the boys to the Zoo in Villa Borghese :)  Then, as always, a few more hours of wandering somewhere in the city! Not sure where I'll end up - but that's half the fun!

buona notte amici miei!
(Good night my friends!)

A Day of Art!

Today was an especially hot day for Rome, so I finally decided to visit Romes Museum of Modern Art. A beautiful place inside and out (though I do miss the AGO!). It had a nice mix of modern works, roman sculptures and classic pieces.

There is not much to say about the art ... I will let the art speak for itself.

(Though the nerd in me needs to say that I thought this piece looked like Giles ...)

And finally, when one has spent hours looking at some of the most beautiful art in the world, what does one do to relax? Practice drawing cartoon version of 'One Direction' with an almost 8 year old boy ... yup, that happened.

Tuscany!

I just spent the weekend at a house in Tuscany... how was your weekend??

Let me start by saying that Tuscany is beautiful. So peaceful and quiet - I never new there were so may stars in the sky! Such a different experience than city living.

Mi familia italiano have friends that own a house up in Tuscany that they are working on restoring and let us use it for the weekend. The first thing I notice on the way in were the fields of sunflowers ... just stretching on forever!

A nice small little place out in the country  ...

The second floor was just for me - my own sitting room, bedroom and bathroom!

 The view from my room ...

Mi famila italiano had friends with houses near by, so out first day was spent having a wonderful lunch at their home, followed by a trip to the Mediterranean Sea! We went late in the afternoon, so that it wasn't as bad for my very white skin, and I'm proud to say that, with the use of sunscreen, a hat, long sleeved shirt and skirt, I did not get sunburned!! 

In the evening, we went back to their friends house for a bbq ... home made bruscetta and bbq'd chicken. We didn't finish eating till almost 11 pm - but wow was everything wonderful! Al of the adults spoke a little English, but they kept asking me to translate words for them... their favourites? Crumble and hail. No idea why, but both words made them laugh like crazy!

Day two was as wonderful repeat of the first day! I feel like I could stay there forever, but alas, back to Roma we came. Now for a short rest and back to work for tomorrow! I will leave you with a picture of the sunset over Tuscany ... Ciao!