Home At Last

Just wanted to let everyone know that we have made it home safely. We had a fabulous time. Our vacation to Turkey was just amazing. Since we did not take a computer with us we were not able to blog or add photos, so it is my hope to catch you up on the best part of our trip over the next several days.

Made it to Turkey

Made it to Turkey with only a minor flight change to save time. Got to Izmir and to the hotel. Beautiful area and saw Ephesus yesterday along with Mary's house. Will post more later

Vacation

We will be heading on vacation on Wed. to Turkey, so we will have very limited internet access. We hope to at least get a few pictures up for you to see where we are. We are going to be heading to Istanbul, Ephesus, and Cappadocia.

Food by Alana

My favorite food in Italy is Gelato, chocolate.

I also like prosciutto - ham.

They also have a funny kind of broccoli - cauliflower that was good.

Report on Italy by Elise

Flight
About 10 hours long
Stopped in Amsterdam, Holland and then went on to Milan, Italy
Ate dinner and then slept

Where is Italy? Where am I?
We are in Varese at the top of the boot about 30 minutes from Milan, fashion and banking capital in the world
Shaped like a boot
Surrounded by water on all but the North
Swiss Alps are on the North
75% of Italy is mountains or hills
3 active volcanos

Weather
Much like Michigan, but not as much snow unless in the mountains
30-45* F while here in Feb.
We had 1 day of snow
Rome got snow the first time in 25 years


Time Difference
6 hour difference, so at 8pm here it is 2pm in Michigan

Language
Italian, but you will also hear English, and some European languages like German

Government
Prime Minister runs the country
President is ceremonial figure

Religion
95% Catholic
Only 30% go to church

School
Kids go from 9-1pm
Lunch not served
No extra activities after school
National sport – soccer which they call football

Food
I like Tiramasu- made out of cream on cookies called ladyfingers
Gelato – very creamy ice cream
Breakfast simple – Briocche and juice
Lunch – paninis
Dinners – start after 8pm and have about 4 courses – antipasto, 1st plate (pasta), 2nd plate (meat or fish), and Dessert and Coffee

Interesting Facts
Pinnochio written in Italy
Pizza first made in Naples, Italy
Italians eat ½ # bread a day
Christopher Columbus and Marco Polo were Italian explorers
Italy is 4th most visited country
Eyeglasses were invented in Italy
Ice cream cone invented in Italy

The French Riviera

For Valentine’s Day weekend we headed to France with Tiemen’s family. Ron was able to practice his Italian driving taking turns up and through the many mountains at top speeds of 170 km an hour. We decided to stop in Monoco to take a look around at the castle/old city and walk around the sea front. It is quite the high end city with the casino. Ron and Tiemen both picked out the luxurious yachts they wanted and we never did settle on which property would meet our needs.  I would have to say the old city/castle was my favorite part. The kids loved the playground that was nestled perfectly on the edge of the hill, which had to be some of the best real estate ever overlooking the boat slips.

Then, it was on to Antipe, France. It was chilly so there was no swimming but the girls can definitely explain the difference between freshwater lakes versus saltwater seas and oceans. They each got to take a small handful to taste the difference. We sat down for a fabulous French meal there after walking around the small town. The adults enjoyed a 3 course menu while the girls split salmon. I had foie groe, duck confit, and a cheese platter for dessert. Ron went with escargot, lamb chops, and a medley of sweet desserts. It was getting late and so we headed out to find our hotel for the night in Cannes, best known for the Cannes Film Fest.

It was a wonderful hotel and they even had a complementary bottle of champagne (not that fake stuff either) since it was Valentine’s Day. The girls had their own room and Brie slept in her pea pod in the bathroom. Now we can just hope it will go that smoothly for our weeklong journey to Turkey. After waiting out a little bit of rain the mission for the day was to find a place with crepes and to enjoy a leisure tour of Cannes and Nice, France. It is nice to explore and see how each of these seaside cities has something that makes each one unique. Even though it was a little chilly many people were still out enjoying the outside cafes with heaters. The girls loved watching the little dogs in the restaurants and stores. We walked up to the old city in Cannes and enjoyed some awesome views. The girls tried Nutella crepes and I had a 3 Cheese Crepe.

Last stop of the weekend was Nice. Unknowingly they were having a carnavele there earlier that morning. We got there in time for the crowds to die down, but still was able to enjoy some of the festivities. Ron and Tiemen took the big kids on the ferris wheel and for the view while Susanne and I hung out with the little kids. We grabbed a bit to eat after walking along the water and then headed on our way.

No complaints with our Valentine’s weekend in the French Riviera.

Friends and Fun in the Sun