Archive | travel

portraits of my children {11/52}

March 17, 2014 at 2:28 pm

The 52 Project: a portrait of my children once a week & every week in 2014.

Lena: Both of these photos are from last week in Florence with my family. On Thursday we visited Pisa, and while we were walking to the Leaning Tower we spotted this balloon abandoned in a bush. Lena and Gil played with it the whole time we were there! (Also I was editing this photo and was going to straighten it, but then I realized that everything in the photo is tilted. That’s Pisa and little kids for you!)

Gil: Our last night in Florence, the kids rode the carousel in the Piazza della Republica. The carousel itself was magnificent, and I found out later that it is the ancient carousel of the Picci family and was built in the early 20th century. But of course none of that mattered to little Gil, who was thrilled to be up there with his Auntie Ema, twirling around and around!

——–

Unfortunately, one bad thing happened in Florence: my iPhone was stolen. Ugh! We were enjoying the view from the Piazzale Michelangelo, and I stupidly set my camera bag down to take some photos. My iPhone was in my camera bag. When I realized my mistake, the bag was gone.

The thing that devastated me the most about losing that perfectly-good, planned-to-have-it-for-years phone, though, was the photos and videos that I lost with it. I take several photos (or dozens) a day on my phone, and I don’t keep up with downloading them onto my computer. Honestly, I hadn’t downloaded them for months. I sobbed afterwards to Elliott that I felt like I’d lost a part of Lena and Gil’s childhoods. I’m thankful that I’ve saved the best through Instagram and my blog and emails to family, but there are so many I’ll never get back.

Anyway, the phone is gone. I started to think I might prefer to just live with a flip phone for awhile — so much less distracting for me and my kids! But because we have a contract and are paying for data, it makes financial sense to get another smartphone. I’m hoping, though, that until my new one arrives, this break from an iPhone will make me more aware of my phone-checking habits and help me be more present with my children. It’s already been eye-opening for me. Maybe I’ll blog about it!

Do you have a smartphone? Do you wish you didn’t?

22 :: in 52 project, Italy, travel

Good morning from Florence!

March 11, 2014 at 9:05 am

Gil and Lena holding hands as their aunts (Jess and Emily) carry them through Florence!

It’s a beautiful morning here in Firenze (Florence), and my sleeping babies might actually let me finish this blog post! I thought I’d share a few photos from our first couple of days of vacation together. My parents, sister Emily, and sister-in-law Jess are here with Elliott, Lena, Gil, and me… a huge treat for all of us!

We’re totally in love with this city by now, and I just want to move to Florence. The beauty, the architecture, the history, the people, the bicycles, the river, the views, the countryside, the food… sign me up! I’ve been posting photos on Instagram, if you’d like to follow along for more frequent updates.

Here are a few photos of our apartment, which totally exceeded our expectations for location and beauty:

On Sunday morning, our first full day here, my mom and the kids and I were up hours before everyone else. We took a walk through the city in the early morning while the street sweepers were still at work:

View of the Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge filled with jewelry shops) as seen from right outside our apartment.

Weird angle of some happy early-morning walkers!

Later we took a walking tour of Florence together, which was rather long (3.5 hours) for all of us, not to mention for our 2- and 1-year-old! The kids kept us laughing and entertained, though, even as the tour guide droned on… and on… and on…

This photo made me laugh. Basically this is how Elliott and I “listened” to the entire tour: with two kids jumping off of us.

We got to see the traditional Sunday morning parade through the old city. It reminded us of our Sicilian town’s medieval festival every August!

Old and young.

A tired tourist snuggles with her mama.

This happy guy wanted to do nothing but walk walk walk, this time with the assistance of “Auntie Ema.”

The famous Santa Maria delle Fiore, Florence’s main cathedral. I read a whole book about how the dome was built, so it was thrilling to see it in person!

Elliott and Lena talking together in the huge Duomo (cathedral) on his birthday. Happy 33rd, dear Elliott!

I love these last two photos: Lena jumping in the Palazzo Vecchio, and Lena and Gil with my dad in the Duomo. I’ve been reading books about the history and architecture of Florence in order to prepare me for our visit, and now to see my family in all these beautiful places is such a gift!

I’m grateful for this season of our lives: happy little children, living in Italy, a whole week with family. I’m also praying that the rest of the trip goes as well as the first part has… can anyone relate to that prayer?!

P.S. If you’ve been to Florence, I’d love to hear recommendations for favorite eateries, views, sights, and surrounding towns to visit!

15 :: in family, Florence, Italy, travel

For kid-friendly tour of Catania, take a choo-choo train!

February 25, 2014 at 3:50 pm

Last Friday we finally got to check one very fun cultural activity off our to-do list: ride the tour train in Catania! The miniature train is always driving around the center of “the big city,” and we see it parked by St. Agatha’s Cathedral when we bring visitors to see Catania or go to the market. Lena’s been asking to ride it for months! After I learned kids ride for free (and adults pay 5 euro), the trip takes only 45 minutes, and it leaves every hour on the hour… well, it just seemed too good to pass up.

We invited my friend Sarah and her two adorable sidekicks — Matthew and Aubrey — to come with us, and off we went!

Three very excited kids. Well, Gil was kind of clueless… except that he really wanted to eat Matthew’s train ticket.

Lena: “Why helloooo, Matthew….” Just kidding, I have no idea what was going on here, but it was so hilarious that I had to include it.

And we’re off!

Two very small and very intense train riders.

Matthew with his toy train, and the Teatro Massimo (opera house) where Elliott and I went to a concert for our beautiful anniversary date.

Through the narrow city streets!

Family portrait…

Because Sarah and I had chosen not to snack on Cheerios during the entire train ride, we were in need of fortification afterwards. (Wrangling four children while bumping down cobblestones and carrying on a disjointed conversation must — I am quite certain — burn about 500 calories per hour.) A cappuccino and arancino set this mama to rights.

Unfortunately, our children only took a few bites before dashing across the piazza to dangle precariously in the fountain. So much for a relaxing meal!

After Sarah gathered her troops and headed back to base for an appointment, my children and I had time to kill, so we decided to get a gelato and enjoy it by the fountain. Lena chose lemon gelato, which was a gorgeous shade of green, like the new green lemons of the winter. She and I loved it, but Gil’s expressions made me laugh out loud. Obviously it was good enough for another taste, though… and another and another!

11 :: in friends, motherhood, travel

Confetti (and Crushing Disappointment) at Carnevale in Acireale

February 21, 2014 at 4:23 pm

Well, we got a spoonful of Italy and a spoonful of misery on this excursion. Lesson of the trip: make lunch reservations on a Sunday afternoon in Italy!

But let’s start at the beginning. As Lent approaches, ’tis the season of carnevale in Italy, and the most beautiful carnival in Sicily takes place just about 30 minutes away from us. We decided to go see the fantastical floats and throw some confetti this past weekend in Acireale (pronounced “ah-chee-ray-ALL-ay).

The floats were amazing. Historically, artists craft them from papier-mâché and make some into caricatures of political figures or financial crises, thus bringing the spirit of carnival to even the most serious issues.

Lena completely freaked out and started screaming at the first float she saw, leading me to believe that our excursion might be over before it even began! Thankfully some parental encouragement changed her opinion of the technicolor characters coming towards her, and pretty soon she was just as awed and delighted as we’d hoped.

We walked into the main piazza of Acireale, where a blanket of confetti covered the cobblestones. Elliott unbuckled the kids from the stroller and set them right down in the middle of it, and they had the time of their lives!

Lena quickly got into confetti-throwing wars with other kids. Guess we missed the memo about putting our kids in costumes!

Finally we packed up and started walking down towards a little fishing village that I had read about in our guidebook. The tiny town of Santa Maria la Scala, the guidebook said, boasted several quaint trattorias that served a delicious seafood lunch. We could pretty much live on seafood, and the hike down to the town sounded simple and beautiful, so off we went.

The hike down was beautiful! But it was a bit longer — and a little harder with a heavy double stroller — than we expected. When we arrived, we started looking for a restaurant along the town’s meandering main street.

Unfortunately, every single restaurant was completely packed. Whenever I caught the eye of a harried waiter, he would ask me if I had a reservation or tell us we’d have to wait 30 minutes. When we looped back after inquiring at every restaurant we could find, the still more frazzled maitre d’s now informed us that it was too late. The restaurants had sold their food, it was now two o’clock, and they were closing.

We sat on a park bench in stunned silence. No food? It was two in the afternoon. We were starving. That hill back up to Acireale was enormous, and it would take us almost an hour of sweat and whining children to reach the top again. Sadly, we unpacked the snacks I’d brought — a meager lunch indeed — and then turned our stroller wheels back to the cobblestone pathway up the cliff.

Elliott heroically pushed that stroller all the way back to our car.

What an end to the day! I did manage to smile about it with Elliott a few days later — “will you ever trust me to plan an excursion again?!” — but I think it will take awhile before we can really laugh about it. So much for excessive eating and bacchanal drinking for our carnevale! More like an early taste of Lent! Thank you to my family for being such troopers, and I promise I’ll make a reservation next time… even for lunch in a tiny seaside village.

13 :: in hiking, Sicily, travel

a weekend in the Madonie Mountains of Sicily

January 22, 2014 at 4:07 pm

We took this trip over a month ago, but somehow in the rush of Christmas and the new year, I haven’t had a chance to post the photos yet! Our weekend trip to the mountains was so beautiful, though, and we had a wonderful time with my mom, who was visiting for 10 days. I literally found my new favorite place in Sicily and really hope we get a chance to go back!

The Madonie Mountains are in north-central Sicily, and they are particularly famous for the beautiful hilltop mountain towns (like the one in the first photo). I was reading The Stone Boudoir, a memoir about Sicily’s mountain towns including several in the Madonie Mountains. The hills literally were alive for me that weekend as I absorbed vistas, streets, and foods in real life and through the pages of my book.

We stayed in an agriturismo (farm stay) because we wanted to enjoy the fruits of the region. The Slow Food movement originated nearby, and our host proudly told us that all but a few of the things we ate were from “kilometer zero,” or were harvested/gathered 0 kilometers away. We loved that agriturismo, and so if you visit, be sure to check out Casale Magherita.

A little fall foliage in December!

We also visited one of the five most famous mountain towns in the region. This one was called Castelbuono and is the largest of the five. We explored the castle, wandered through the streets, and ate an amazing lunch at Ristorante Palazzaccio.

View of Castelbuono from its castle.

Lena and my mom admiring a huge presepe (Nativity scene).

I really liked all the clean laundry, I guess…

We sampled traditional Christmas sweet bread (panetonne) with a spread made from manna, the dried sap of the ash tree for which the region is also famous.

Salute! Cheers!

Even more wonderful (and challenging) than visiting a mountain town with two small children was an incredible and verrrrry long hike we took during our visit with an Italian outdoors group. Photos from the hike coming soon!