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

New Words by Elise

gelato - ice cream
euro - Italian money
ciao - hello
buongiorno - good morning
grazie - thank you
ghiaccio - ice
freddo - cold
neve - snow
gato - cat
cane - dog
bella - beautiful
bambini - children
acqua naturale no frizzante - water without bubbles
basta - that's enough
non parlo italiano - I don't speak Italian.
permesso - Can I get by?
Scusi - to get someone's attention
arrivederci - good bye

Mussels Recipe

A wonderfully easy meal made by Tiemen

In a large stockpot. Combine beer, sliced onions, carrots, mussels. Steam until mussels open.

Galleria and Duomo at Night

Duomo and Mimes

Our Weekend Trips

Milan by Elizabeth

On Sat. we headed to Milan with the family since Ron didn’t have to work. We have been there on past visits hoping to get in to see The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci but have never been successful. Once again we had no luck. We did get to see another beautiful church called San Maurizo. It is one of Milan’s oldest churches and is done in frescos, the same style as The Last Supper. Before heading to see the Duomo we stopped for some lunch in a small café to get a café and Panini. The girls had a fun time using the toilet since it was the stand and squat kind. Both Ron and I are always amazed at how massive the Duomo is when you round the corner and see it for the first time. Alana just stood there in awe. It was really cool to see this time since they finally have the scaffolding off of it. The girls were sad they could not venture to the rooftop this time since they must close it in the winter for fear of ice and snow. The gothic cathedral, known as the Duomo, took 5 centuries to complete and is the fourth largest cathedral in the world. For all you shoppers we were in the heart of it all. Brie enjoyed window shopping at Swavorski crystal store perfectly placed in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. No visit to Italy is complete without a castle visit, so we stopped for a quick photo in front of Castle Sforzesco, which now houses a museum. We had an early dinner of Milanese risotto (saffron) and Milanese pork cutlet with potatoes. Even though we were all tired we stopped over to visit friends and share in a bottle or two of wine. The girls had so much fun playing with the boys.

Bellagio by Elizabeth

Sun. we headed out on a fantastic drive with the same friends. Imagine when the kids said they wished they could play all day and we said “ok I guess”. Our loose plan of the day was to take a leisure drive along Lake Como starting in Como and ending in Bellagio. We truly enjoyed the picturesque lakeshore drive as we drove through each quaint town always with a view of the Swiss Alps in he background. To end our fantastic weekend Tiemen and Susanne invited us back to their place for dinner.

Same but Different by Elise

Hi this is Elise. Evryday I am looking around to see what is the same and diftrent and I would like to shair some with you here they are…
SAME
recicling
playgrounds
kids go to school and daycare
they have McDonald's and Burger King
the weather is almost the same but a little warmer and they have palm trees we don't
DIFFERENT
lots of dirt bikes
they use euros for money not dollars
we have to pay for our grocery bags
you have to wear gloves to touch the fruits/vegetables
we have to way the fruit/vegetables not the checkout
they keep the milk out on a shelf not in refridgerator
window blinds are wood and go up with a button
they eat dinner late 8pm
all stores close in the afternoon for siesta
they have very little steak – it’s expensive

Numbers (Numero) by Alana

Hi! This is Alana. I learned how to say the numbers in Italian. I was busy working on my N page and the housekeeper helped me do them in Italian. Here they are…
0 Zero
1 Uno *
2 Due **
3 Tre ***
4 Quattro ****
5 Cinque *****
6 Sei ******
7 Sette *******
8 Otto ********
9 Nove *********
10 Dieci **********
11 Undici ***********
12 Dodici ************

The Apartment, with Snow!

Very well located and very large by Italian standards, it unfortunately is being cursed by ENEL (the local electric company) and their inability to stop limiting the amount of power one can use.

Sights and Scenes Around Town

Here are some of the local sights as we walked around the city. There is the Commune Di Varese with part of the Alps in the background, the gardens, and the local church and bell tower.

First Trip Sights

Here are a few pictures of the trip over and our first trip to the local park nearby. The alps were beautiful during the sunrise as we flew into Milan. They seemed to go on forever.

Italian Soup Recipe for a Snowy Italian Day by Elizabeth

Brown about 6 cloves of garlic. Then, brown 3 Italian Sausages without casings along with a bunch of mixed fresh herbs (rosemary, oregano, bay leaves). Add 1 large diced onion and saute until transparent. Add 6-8 C of water, 1 can of diced tomatoes with liquid, a can of rinsed cannelinni beans, 4 sliced carrots and a small chunk of paremesan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer for several hours. Just before serving add 1 1/2 C of cooked spinach filled tortellini and 1/2 C cooked broccoli. Enjoy with some foccacia bread, olives, prosciutto and don't forget the red wine.

Our First Week in Varese, Italy

Well, it has been a different than expected first week here in Italy.

The girls did great on the flight over. Elise made friends with another passenger who gave her the tip that if you sleep following dinner you pretty much wake up there. She decided to take her advice and found it true. Alana, on the other hand, decided to see what it was like to pull an all-nighter. I hung out with Alana trying to get her to sleep to no avail. She did quite well and did finally sleep on the flight from Amsterdam to Milan. The flight was not even half full so Brie and Ron found an open row and snoozed for a chunk of time.

We are staying in a 3 bedroom – 2 bath apartment. It is rather large and is within a gated complex. The girls are very lucky to have a small enclosed space to play outside. They were busy exploring for at least an hour one afternoon. The girls are sharing a room and love staying up talking for endless hours. Do they ever get tired? Their answer is a resounding “NO”. There is a large kitchen, which most of you know how happy that makes me. However; I have found having a large kitchen and laundry facility is not all it is cracked up to be if you do not have enough electricity to run them. The girls have learned how lucky we are to always have power and they have come up with a number of creative activities to keep them busy…shadow puppets from the outside light, plays with props, etc.

For our first afternoon (Mon.) we hit the supermarket to buy a few necessity items. One being milk. Now that the girls have taste tested each of the different colored boxes of milk they have made their preference selection. Elise likes the green box which is pretty much a skim. Alana likes the red box which is the whole milk version. Brie unfortunately has not decided on any at this point. She has boycotted milk and pretty much all drinks for the first several days. Finally Ron brought home some liquid formula that she drank down once. She is not convinced, but since she is still having wet diapers I can not be concerned as I recall Elise going through the same thing her first trip. She is eating great and so we continue to find foods with a lot of liquids to try to keep her hydrated. What kid would refuse a Popsicle? Brie, I guess, and since the electricity goes out often Elise and Alana were the big winners on the package of popsicles. I think they both ate 4 each.

We decided to venture out the first day (Tues.) while Ron was at work. I bundled everyone up and headed for the busy streets of Varese. The sidewalks are tight, if any, so imagine the fun of keeping 2 walking kids and a stroller from getting hit by the cars speeding by. The girls have done a great job of learning to stay close to the buildings or whatever they can to avoid an Italian driver from taking them out. We had a lot of fun finding things that are the same and different from the US. I know the girls really enjoyed the 2 kid stores we went into. They had fun browsing the numerous costumes on display for Carnivale, which is to take place in just a few weeks. It is similar to Halloween, where the kids dress up but they parade around the piazza rather than go door to door.

That evening we met Tiemen and his family for dinner at a local pizzeria. The girls ate awesome and loved getting dessert. Elise chose a cream custard with fresh berries and Alana went right for a chocolate cake with cream and cherries.

It was another nice day (Wed.) so we headed to the Commune di Varese. They have wonderful brick paths throughout the hills which lead to several playgrounds and fountains. The girls were ecstatic to run until their hearts content.

The last 2 days (Thurs. and Fri.) were very low keep since Brie came down with a 102 fever and we got a ton of snow today according to Italian standards. I think it was 3-4 inches of heavy wet snow. I was really looking forward to spending quality time with the girls with no interruptions from the many volunteer activities I do usually, but wow 2 days in an apartment with little to no toys has been a great opportunity for us to come up with many fun and new activities of entertainment besides reading and doing school work. We have made robot puzzles, table decorations from post-its, and dressed up in sheets.

It is the weekend and we are trying to decide where to head and a bottle of wine is calling my name, so I better sign off. Hopefully we will be able to attach a few photos of our apartment and the surrounding area including the Commune de Varese.

Alana's Thoughts

I am excited to see the new stuff and learn about what they have in Italy. I am nervous about seeing different peole and hearing a different language.

Elise's Thoughts

I am excited because we are going to Turkey after we are done at Italy. That will be fun.

I am nervous about the lanwig that their speeking because they might not understand me but we do have a book of Italian but I'm still nervous.