Weigel Family Travels: Bella Italia, etc.

Hey Everybody,

Well, as you've gathered from Hayden and Evan's brief updates, we went to Italy for a couple of weeks in Feb/March. We stopped trying to plan (as every plan was interrupted by some sort of misfortune), and decided a day or two out after Stella's stay in the hospital (and once we were sure she was completely well) to finally head to Italy. Italy has been one of Robert and my favorite places for a long time--for me since I first went there in '98. Hayden and Evan have been to northern Italy before, but it's been about 5 years for them and they were too young to remember much. Last time we were there, we had just recently found out that we were expecting Stella...so it was time to bring her back to the country that inspired her name.

We headed out of Ansbach early the morning of February 23rd, and were completely breath-taken by the view of the Alps as we drove out of Germany and into Austria at sunrise. The kids woke at the first sign of daylight and were completely mesmerized by the views of the alps and the clear and colorful sunrise that morning. They kept thinking that the mountains would end, and repeatedly chirped, "is this STILL the Olps?" (misspelling intentional--they had a hard time saying "Alps"). The pronunciation only got more confusing as we went through hills and plains and more mountain ranges further south as we approached our first destination--Rome.

I was skeptical at first about heading to Rome because Robert and I had been south of Rome before--about 11 years ago--and the traffic then was outrageous. I'm admittedly a chicken, and I was a nervous wreck as we drove around the vicinity of Naples back then: New York seemed easy-breezy in comparison. Surprisingly, Rome had a rhythm all its own and it seemed to suite us all pretty well. Make eye-contact with the other drivers and go with the flow was the advice of our travel guide. We heeded with pretty decent success. Once in Rome, we didn't need the car much, and were able to go by foot or bus to all of the sights. The kids soaked it all in: St. Peters and Vatican City (inside, out, and from the top--we even had a view of it from our otherwise very humble apartment) , The Colosseum, The Roman Forum, Piazza Navona, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, and most importantly--lots of pizza and gelato! For Robert and me, we were pleasantly surprised to have the best--and cheapest--cappuccino we have EVER had, just footsteps from our apartment in Rome. We went to the small cafe' every morning and the kids either came along or stayed at home to play Legos and would wave out the window to us at the cafe' below. We took a side trip to the beach too, and the kids loved experiencing the difference between their familiar Florida beaches and the beaches near Rome (Ostia). The verdict was that "our" beaches are better, but the beaches in Italy have better "docks"--they don't need docks because they have long, narrow rock peninsulas from which fisherman can fish, or on which kids can do plenty of climbing and exploring.

After a busy but fun-filled week, we left Rome Thursday morning and headed to Tuscany. We were met by gracious hosts in a tiny (I mean tiny) Tuscan farming village surrounded by vineyards and olive groves, we were welcomed with a homemade bottle of wine, and then we and the kids slowly but surely adjusted from fast-paced Rome to the more casual pace and earthy lifestyle of the Tuscan countryside. We spent a mostly sunny two weeks in Italy between Rome and Tuscany, and the kids saw so many sights (and started to mimmick Italian speech--quite entertaining. Stella's still occasionally pipes up with and perfectly intoned "due Cappuccini"), and we all had a fantastic time.

We returned to Ansbach the following Thursday (March 8) and right away started getting ready for Stella's birthday (March 9). We celebrated with family and good friends in true Frankonian style: we had nice weather so we grilled "eingezwickte" bratwurst, and a birthday scheduled from 12-4 instead lasted until after midnight.

The weather has been really nice here since we returned from Italy: lows in the thirties/forties, highs in the sixties/seventies) and, more importantly, sunshine!

Hayden and Evan are coming along well in Homeschool, and their German is improving daily. They communicate solely in German with their Grandparents, but still tend to use English with Robert and me, even if we speak to them in German. All of the kids are hoping that--weather pending--we'll get to go to Legoland soon; it opens here this Friday. They are doing some T-charts to compare our favorite and not-so-favorite things about our two homes. It's fun to read/hear their perspectives and I'll hopefully post some of their results soon.

Stella recently started preschool here in the neighborhood. She's been missing her preschool friends and asked if she could go to school here too. Luckily there was a spot left for her, and she's happy to have some kids to play with every morning. We were amazed at how affordable preschool is here compared to back home. Although there are more students that what she's used to at home, it's a very well-organized (we are in Germany, after all!!) and fun place fer her to be. We walk to and from preschool each day, and she told Robert and I the other day that we didn't need to come with her anymore: "I KNOW the way, mommy...I can walk by myself." Needless to say, she's a little too young for that, so she has to bear the burden of walking with one of us everyday.

We were busy with festivities for Robert's birthday over the weekend (birthdays, even for grown-ups, are a BIG deal here) and we're back into the swing of things this week. Until next time...

Here are some more photos from our trips to start. Mostly Rome, then Tuscany. More Tuscany and birthday party pics coming soon!

Mopeds and Motorcycles at the Rome train station

Riding the carousel

Pizza break

Fresh Porchetta at the Piazza Fiori market

Robert's kind of market...Proscuitto a-plenty!

My favorite--Gregory Peck, and Robert's favorite--Terrence Hill

Piazza Navona

Piazza Venezia

Looking out the apartment window

Forum Romanum

Quail (wrapped in pancetta and rosemary)

St. Peter's square

From the top

Ostia

Spanish Steps

Trevi Fountain (shortly before Stella walked away from us)

Found again!

Gelato!

Mortadella!

Susie's kind of market: Campo di Fiori! I had a kitchen where I could cook it all!!

Zucchini Blossoms

Fried Zucchini Blossoms! Yum!

Baby beet greens, our new favorite green

First pics in Tuscany. This is the city Tower in San Quirico D'Orcia,; it's also a vacation apartment where Robert and I stayed many years ago. We stopped to revisit this pretty little village so the kids could see it too.