Tourist Traps

Well, over the past week we have done our best to visit all the major tourist traps in Rome. We are still a few short but we are well on our way. We've been to Piazza Novana a couple of times, the Pantheon a couple of times, Piazza Spagna (where the Spanish Steps are) a couple of times, Campo dei Fiori (many times), Castel Sant'Angelo, Piazza San Pietro (in Vatican City), and we even did the required trip to the Forum/Palatine/Colosseum area. Some highlights follow.

Piazza Novana is big and spectacular and often overrun by street vendors. The current favorite are the guys that sell this little squishy ball character that, when thrown against a hard surface, splats out to nearly flat and then recovers his original shape in about 5 seconds. These guys are everywhere, asking 1 Euro for this thing. Their favorite sales tactic is to hold the item in the direct line of sight of your child and then harass you about it. Even Hadden has learned to say "no" when they come around. 

Bernini's Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (1651). Four guys around a big base made by Bernini to hold the obelisk from Egypt (Rome has a bunch of these - all taken from Egypt at various times). 

Detail of the palm tree in FQF - carved by Bernini himself. It's hard to get rock to look like palm fronds. You have to be a master.

We saw the Pantheon again (top photo is from the night before) but this time we saw the back, which contains a small bit of remains of Agrippa's baths. It's truly a remarkable structure but the crowds are large enough it's hard to keep track of your kids. Oh, wait. There's ours...yelling, bumping into people and falling down. 

One of my favorite statues from a church near the Pantheon. Not sure which one so I'm calling it the "Church of the Holy Hand Grenade". Anyone who's seem Monte Python's Holy Grail knows what I'm talking about. That rabbit's dynamite! And this dude has the weapon to defeat it...not the sword in his right hand, but the grenade in his left. One, two, five! (three, sir) Three! I like to think he's on "two" in this statue - even though one could argue the pin is still in (see the tiny cross at the top).

We also saw a big foot along the way. This is just on some random street corner. It's left over from Roman days and, I guess, all the museums were filled up so they put it here. It's remarkably clean with no graffiti.

I went walking down the banks of the Tiber south of the Ponte Palatino to locate Rome's first sewer outfall. This is the sewer they made to drain the area around the Forum and make it usable space. The big outer arch is new but you can see the old one if you look closely. It's still functioning and also serving a second purpose there days - bum's home. I scrambled down to get a better look and stumbled across a palatial (for a bum...did you know that that term, "palatial" comes from the Paletine Hill in Rome?) bum pad. This is not a major tourist attraction. Naturally. 

Atop Castel Sant'Angelo. The view is spectacular and the family held still long enough to get a photo. I think 3 out of 4 are actually smiling. Potential Christmas card right there. It might be too much to ask all 4 to smile at the same time. 

Our day on Palatine Hill. Clara was grumpy for a good portion of the day so this one was a tough go. Plus, the crowds were huge outside the Palatine/Colosseum. Among the things we saw: Constantine's Arch, a small portion of an aqueduct extension that goes to Palatine Hill. And, a rare moment on that day when both kids were happy - hopping from stone to stone on a Roman Road. 

 We managed to make it into the Colosseum in one piece. It was an absolute zoo. If you're in Rome you HAVE to go there, which makes it the zoo it is. You can't go to Rome and then say, "oh, we didn't go to the Colosseum." With Hadden and Clara at the end of their frayed ropes, we didn't loiter and read about the history of each brick. A relatively quick tour around the inside and that was it. Perhaps I'll go back later and loiter.

 Out trip back from the Forum on the 87 bus. We are getting proficient at taking Roman buses. Not that it's hard, it's just in Italian.

Other random notes:

• Hadden proclaimed Nona's house on Bainbridge to be the most fun of "all our houses". Second place is our place in Rome and bringing up the rear is our actual house in Seattle. 
• Most dinners at home have been hits with the kids. Lots of pasta bases, meatballs, salami, cheese (although Hadden doesn't like stinky cheese) and tasteless bread. Not sure why Italy does bread in such a pedestrian way. You would think Italian bread would be better. 
• There is no drying machine in the apartment (or in most of Rome) so I've been hanging out clothes out to dry old school.
• Hadden totally knows the 116 bus. He recognizes it, and the number on it, and calls it out each time. 
• Everyone, but especially Nona, is obsessed with counting stairs. I think it's 52 up to our apartment. 
• Clara climbed the Spanish Steps (138 stairs) from bottom to top all by herself. And then back down again. 
• Hadden has watched far too much "Transformers Prime" TV on the iPad. It's actually a pretty good series. 
• Our iPads are awesome. There is always someone using one of them when we are in the apartment. Even Clara plays Angry Birds. We are bad parents.

steve

Roma: Saturday, 8 October 2011

Now that the first day is over we are beginning to get our bearings although jetlag is still taking its toll. Nona and Yvonne and sleeping in like I have not seen in a long while, which is unfortunately made up for by them (and me) not feeling tired when we should. The kids are doing pretty well.

Once up in the morning and through our Kung Fu Panda 2 cereal (Honey Nut Cheerios) we are out for a small adventure. You would think there would be some sort of fabulous Roman cereal descended from the ancient world that has multiple health benefits...but there apparently isn't. Kung Fu Panda sugar Cheerios it is. No regular Cheerios in sight at the local Carafour Express around the corner. In fairness, we also had yogurt and bananas and, my new favorite, blood orange juice. Yum.

In case you want to know where we live, here is our apartment:


View Larger Map

Great apartment with a great location. Internet works almost all of the time and their are two toilets and three bedrooms (probably 2.5 is a better count). That's HUGE by Rome standards.

Our trip for the day comes straight out of Rome with Kids, a book we picked up beforehand. We are going down to Campo dei Fiori, across to Piazza Farnese, over to see the skull church (Santa Maria dell'Orazione e Morte), then under Michaelangelo's bridge from Palazzo Farnese, over to Palazzo Spada and back. Don't forget stopping off for pastries Forno Campo dei Fiori - supposedly the best bakery in town. Some highlights below.

Flowers in Campo dei Fiori - about a 10 minute walk from our apartment (15 with kids)

One of two bathtub fountains in Piazza Farnese. The kids love to play in/with/around fountains. We now bring "fountain backup clothes" on our excursions since they can and have gotten quite wet.

Hadden and Clara at the fountain in Piazza Farnese.

The upper roof area (I think there is a real architectual name for this) on Palazzo Farnese. Michaelangelo did this part as well as the third floor and big window on the 2nd floor. In Italian terms that means he did the 2nd floor and the window on the 1st floor.

The 116 bus drives through Piazza Farnese. This tiny bus seems to go everywhere you need. We call it "our bus", and "the magic bus" since it seems to be everywhere. It has to be this small to fit down the narrow side streets on which it drives. And in Rome, the rule is "if your vehicle fits...drive it there." Cars and scooters are everywhere. As a pedestrian (especially with 2 kids) you have to be on the lookout - head on a swivel...in football terms. On the plus side, drivers seem to be pretty good and generally avoid running over folks.

The left is from the door frame of "skull church", or more formally, Santa Maria dell'Orazione e Morte. The right shows the bridge Michaelangelo designed to go from Palazzo Farnese to the Tiber river. He never finished thus leading to his grade of "I" (in UW parlance, "incomplete"). 

This is Clara in the Palazzo Spada courtyard. Singing away. Apparently, because it's Rome, you can drive your motorcycle through the courtyard. So we had to watch out for a few of those in an otherwise peaceful setting. 

Highlight of the day: playing with two old strawberries dropped into the "boobie fountain". Although you can't see it clearly from the shots (it's a TV-Y blog) the water comes out of the woman's breasts to fill the fountain. Poking the 2 strawberries with sticks was at least a 40 minute activity. Would have been longer if we had allowed.

In the evening Yvonne met a work colleague in Piazza Novana for drinks and Nona and Hadden went with and explored the Piazza - and ate gelato (a recurring theme). Clara and I strolled over later, viewed the Pantheon in the early evening and then joined up for dinner at a local pizza joint. There are PLENTY of places to get pizza in town. 

Inside of the Pantheon at night.

Until later, Ciao,

steve

Rome - first day

Hi all,

My sabbatical officially started on 16 September 2011 but it doesn't feel like it until now. The whole family (and Nona) have made our way to Roma, Italia to live in an appartment for 6 weeks while I try and get my bearings on starting an engineering study abroad program here in Roma.

Getting to Roma
It was a long flight - 9 hours to London Heathrow, a 2 hour layover and another 2.5 hours to Fiumincino, Roma. Everyone was seriously jetlagged when we arrived. I didn't sleep much on the plane and neither did Yvonne, but the kids got some sleep (see below).

Hadden asleep on the London-Roma leg with his new Transformer toys.

We need to become quite wealthy so we can travel at least in business class on these types of flights. The conditions in "World Traveller" (aka crappy space and service but what did you expect for the price?) are marginal at best. 31" seat pitch (I'm not kidding...that's 31" of pitch for a long-haul route) doesn't work for my body size. Works great for Clara. The meals were mediocre and the kids meals were bizzarre. The meal about 1.5 hours before landing was clearly "breakfast" for the adults. The kids got yogurt, a banana, OJ (I get that) plus Oreo cookies. It turns out that BA isn't one of those airlines that publicizes their great international chef that designs their meals. Too bad, I would like to find the chef that serves Oreos for breakfast. 

On arrival in Roma, we had a driver service pick us up. It's the way to go. For 65 Euros an Italian guy met us at baggage claim with a "Mr. Muench" sign, escorted us to the nicely appointed minivan and drove us into town. I requested 2 child seats but one was broken so we flipped a coin to see who was riding w/out safety. While the seats were provided free of charge, I think they are WWII vintage...straight out of the great Mussolini child seat program. 

Our Apartment

We got to our apartment at about 7:45 p.m. The owners were there waiting for us (although we accidentally rang another apartment about 5 times). Over e-mail I must say I thought Nicola was a woman but it turns out it is Nicolo and he is not a woman. His fiancee is American (teaching at a nearby school) and both speak great English. The tour through the apartment was brief and we were on our own. 

View out the window of the top room. Nona sleeps here.

View from the main floor.

Steve making breakfast on day 2.

Headed out to buy groceries at the local Carrafour supermarket mini-store around the corner. Bought out groceries as they were closing so we had food. 

Campo dei Fiori and Piazza Novana...and naps

On day 2 we headed out to Campo dei Fiori just to have a look around - still jetlagged of course. It was a beautiful day - about 80F - and sunny. Bought some great salami at a salumaria (where else) on Campo dei Fiori and some fruit from the market. Also went across to Piazza Novana to see the fountains and play around a bit. Then...back to the apartment for some naps. After naps, across the river to Castel Sant'Angelo to play in their park. What, you don't let your kids play on castle grounds?

The family all set to go out on day 2.

 Clara in Piazza Navona

 Checking out the fountain. This is becoming one of our favorite activities.

Hadden reluctantly shaking hands with a street performer.

Did I mention that our apartment is 52 stairs above ground level?

 Playing in Castel Sant'Angelo's surrounding park. Always time for swinging.

 As we walk away from the Castel it is getting late and the light is spectacular. Rome is a big city, and like all big cities has its share of urine smells and trash but it is still quite photogenic.

We have been here 4 days and I'm already 3 days behind on the blog. Good thing almost nobody reads this. I'll catch up tomorrow...I promise. I think.

Steve

Happy 4th of July

Well,

We finally got around to celebrating Clara's birthday on July 3rd; only 16 days late. That's not too bad, right? Especially since she doesn't really know what day it is. Anyway, it was July 3rd in Seattle so we were taking a terrible risk that it may be 50 degrees and raining. Happily, it was 62 degrees and overcast...but not raining! We got 2 dozen Top Pot doughnuts along with some coffee, sausages, fruit and orange juice. Below are a few highlights from the celebration.

Hadden hugs Clara while Ramona (with the tats) hits the Top Pot

Hadden rides on the spinny thing

Clara LOVES tending to baby Madeline

Hadden and Cole on the teeter-totter

Clara feeds baby Madeline

Emily and Clara on the jungle gym

Leslie, Cole and Madeline are here
Auntie Leslie and cousins Cole and Madeline are in town for 6 weeks. Or, you could say the in-laws are here. They are staying with Nona but we have had mucho fun visiting on a number of occasions. Hadden and Cole run around nonstop and Clara is obsessed with baby Madeline. She wasn't sure she wanted to go to Bainbridge Island for the 4th of July parade but she definitely wanted to go there to see baby Madeline.

4th of July Parade
We went to see the local Bainbridge Island 4th of July parade through Winslow the other day. A great little parade - reminded me a lot of the Kailua 4th of July parades when I was growing up. We had front row seats because Nona put out chairs on the street at 9am to reserve the best seats out front of her condo complex. There were a bunch of fire trucks and many of the local businesses and non-profits. LOTS of these organizations had candy they were throwing out. I thought Hadden would be all over free candy thrown his way but he was content to stay in his chair and watch the candy hit the deck...and let us clean it up later on. There was enough candy that some parade watchers were throwing it at others (in fun) and there was still candy on the road after the parade was over. Needless to say, although Hadden didn't fervently collect it he certainly hoarded the booty after it was all over. He and Cole split the cache with bubble gum,, half-eaten lollipops and melted tootsie rolls going in the trash. A good time was had by all. It was about 80F that day and my family was sitting in the sun. All 3 of them wilted after about 30 minutes - I have got to get everyone to Hawaii again.

Status Update

• Clara is now 2 years old. She often says her own name now, which is relatively new. It's "Cawa" with a long first "a". 
• Clara is now peeing on the potty! Not every time but often. Hooray!
• Hadden is still totally into Karate. He listens very intently in class - he's in the Kinder Karate zone. 
• Hadden can count well into the 30s without error now. 
• Hadden is now dabbling in Italian since Leslie/Cole/Madeline got him an Italian kids book. 

TTFN,

Steve

Spring 2011

So the blog posts are becoming more of a quarterly thing rather than a bi-monthly thing or whatever they started out as. I suppose there's some sort of metaphor in there somewhere but I don't have the energy to tease it out.

It is Spring in the beautiful Northwest - we've now gone something like 195 days without cracking 70F (since November 3rd, 2010) on the thermometer at Seatac Airport. It's also been wetter this year than normal. So it appears Spring will largely pass us by and we'll go right on into summer. On the good side, the forecast for Friday this week is 70F and sunny!

What is everyone doing these days:

• Clara: closing in 23 months and talking a ton these days. Favorite expressions include "my doos it!" (leave me alone and let me do it) and "yak-it" (for "lookit" as in "look at this..."). Yakit daddy, yakit! The term "bi-ba-bee bar" from last post is now the common word for all cereal or energy bars. So, you could hear this from Clara: "Yakit daddy yakit bi-ba-bee bar!"
• Hadden: is taking karate class on Saturday mornings. He's no quite a master yet - it's called Kinderkarate and they do 45 minutes on Saturdays. He's totally into it and will show you a proper punch, kick, block and fist if you ask. As a result of this class, he can now count to 10 in Japanese. 
• Clara: Loves riding on daddy's shoulders when given the opportunity. Every time we walk outside now I get the "Daddy show-duh?" question. 
• Hadden: becoming more numerate. Can recognize double-digit numbers (some). Currently skips 15 a lot in counting but other than that can get to 20 easily. 
• Clara: can sing most of the A-B-C song from memory. Not sure she knows any of the specific words but she can do the whole thing. Kind of like singing along to that pop song you loved but never really knew the words to.

Hadden working on Karate punch form with Sensei Adam

Clara at "dance" class with me. I love my daughter but dance class is killing me. 

Preschool

Hadden and Clara are both happily in preschool these days. Hadden goes 2 half-days to Zoom (Spanish lauguage school) and the other 2 half-days plus the other 3 days he's at preschool at UW Child Center at Laurel Village. Hadden loves preschool and all his friends and teachers there. Clara goes to preschool about 3 days/week. Mondays Nona takes care of her and Wednesdays Jennifer comes over and takes care of her. T-Th-F are preschool days for Clara. She seems to love it too. The routine is a bit longer dropping Clara off.

1. sign in on the door going in to the classroom
2. parent take off shoes before entering classroom
3. go to Clara's cubby
4. remove jacket
5. remove Clara's shoes and replace with "inside" Crocs
6. sign the daily toddler report sheet (time in, time woke up, time ate breakfast, when you will pick up, etc.)
7. go to sink and wash hands - both the parent and Clara. Sometimes Clara lolligags at the sink and uses way too much water and soaps her hands like 2-3 times but we all look the other way because she can do it herself. 
8. dry hands with paper towels from dispenser
9. hold hands and walk to adjoining room where they are serving snack.
10. say "goodbye" (I usually say "adios") and watch her go get her morning snack
11. go back and put on shoes
12. off to Starbucks for a chai!

Hadden's Birthday (April 12th)

Strangely, we got fewer pictures this year. In fact, almost none. But...we had a family party for him on Monday April 11th, a Pump It Up party on Saturday the 16th and a pinata smashing in early May (thank you Angela and Kyle for the pinata!). So he got his fill of celebration. Hadden is now the proud owner of a real aluminum bat (we hit tennis balls at the park), a bicycle (training wheels) and various other items including some books, new clothes and even a few toys. 

Hadden, Dexter and Harvey scramble for candy from the busted pinata.

So Hadden is 4 now and 4 is WAY older than 3 so there are many things that ninos grandes can do that 3-year olds can't. Hadden can tell you. Now he rides his bike, plays baseball and dresses up as a soccer player (has yet to play on a team). Especially cool: the Colombia national team outfit his grandparents got in Cartagena, Colombia on their latest cruise. 

Angela and Kyle get Married!

Angela, our fabulous nanny for 3 years got married to Kyle in February! Hooray for everyone! Now, if only Kyle could do something to get his "Oregon Duck fan" problem fixed. 

Clara and Yvonne look great at the ceremony.

Hadden greets Angela!

Sabbatical

Yes, I am going on Sabbatical in September for 9 months. It is officially approved by the University. We have a place rented in Rome. We will be staying here: http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p331982?cid=E_OWNERINQUIRY_DB_O_20110308_propertyurl_text_LPROP. If you want to know the exact dates on which to rob our house you can e-mail me. Still finalizing any time in Hawaii. There will also be time in Seattle. I am considering working on that beer gut I've always wanted. 

Other occurrences of note the last 3 months:

• Hadden claims his grandparents have "cracks" (wrinkles) on their bodies and would like to know how they got there
• We let Clara run naked upstairs before her shower a bit too long one day and she dropped a deuce (wolf bait, tird, biscuit, log) in our room 
• As we exited the movie theater after "African Cats" (4pm show) Hadden announces very loudly, "Mommy, I don't have any underwear on!" 
• Clara responds to most requests (regardless of the request) with "no". Great to be 2-ish.
• Eating lunch at the Pacific Science Center - Dad notes Clara's bottom is really warm because...(wait for it) she peed on my leg. We soldier on for the rest of the visit - pee and all. Clara gets her diaper and clothes changed, daddy does not. 
• Only Cara is allowed to sing the A-B-C song in the car. If we join in, we are abruptly told to "Chop, daddy, chop" (accompanied by the sign language sign for "stop" - which looks like a...wait for it...chop motion)

Ciao for now,

Steve

• 
  

Christmas and the New Year

So, it's been since November since the last post. That's about par for the course from here on out. 


First things first, what can the kids to and what have they been up to?

• Clara: 20 months now and loves dancing and singing (at least when others sing...even badly)
• Clara: Loads of words. Will mimic most anything you say. Pronunciation is not her strong suit but she'll try anything. For instance, Laraby Bar (a health bar you can buy in the store) comes out as "Bi-ba-bee bar", which is close enough. 
• Hadden: still excellent at being difficult. His teachers at preschool claim he's a delight and does whatever they say. Sometimes, though, that's not the case at home. Overall, thought, still delightful.  
• Hadden: all over climbing jungle gyms now. Can get to the top and frighten his parents now. 
• Hadden: learning some letters and numbers. "duh, duh, duh...is for 'd'!"
• Hadden: can count pretty high (he claims up to 51 but I've only heard into the mid 30s). Although you often have to spot him 14 since he is prone to missing that one. 

Tel Aviv
The second week of December Yvonne jetted off to Tel Aviv for a week on "business." I can only assume there was business but there sure were a lot of sightseeing photos. Steve and the kids hung around rainy Seattle for 9 days while Yvonne tried to avoid sunburn in Israel. About a week after returning we decided in an uninspired moment to order out from "King Falafel" (http://www.yelp.com/biz/king-falafel-grill-seattle-2) one of the many Med. take out places in Greenwood. As we are eating, ever the food snob, Yvonne states, "This hummus is not as good as the hummus in Tel Aviv." No kidding. Rub it in some more please. I'm pretty sure the Shawarma wasn't as good either.

Christmas
We stayed right here in Seattle this year. Christmas was just Yvonne, Steve, Hadden, Clara and Nona. Small but great. Clara and Hadden got more stuff than they can remember and had a great time opening presents. We went at their pace and I don't think the last presents were opened until early evening. Highlights were a Buzz Lightyear from Angela (for Hadden) and baby dolls from Santa and Angela (for Clara). Lots of great books and other presents from relatives - Buzz Lightyear shirts, etc.I will not recount all the presents - if you are looking for validation in a blog like this...keep looking. I would be happy to validate your wonderful and loving present in person. Of course, the real highlight was a day after Christmas when Auntie Leslie, Uncle Karl and Cousin Cole came for a week. Hadden and Cole got along great and made HUGE messes. Fabulous. On another note, the Fenner family now has a brand new baby daughter (Madeline) so Clara will get into the Fenner-Muench fray soon. Cole enjoyed very much chucking toys into the tree. 

Clara sorts through Christmas ornaments

Mom needs help with delicate ornaments

Preschool
Since the last post, Angela (nanny for 3 years) has gone on to better things - a job at Zoom Language center (a Spanish language pre-school). At first, we were interviewing new nannys but were only making marginal headway. Then, in mid-December, about 10 days before Angela's last day, got a call from the UW child care at Laurel Village and they had a spot for Hadden (after 3 years on the waiting list). Sign from heaven! Took the spot and he started in January. First week was a bit rough (Daddy, I don't want to go to preschool today) but since then it's the most fun thing around. His favorite days are those in which he goes to preschool early in the AM and stays there all day. He still does Zoom from 8:30-noon on MW but other than that it's preschool. 


So Hadden was "in" starting in January but Clara was not. We cobbled together a nanny network for her in January:

• Monday: Jennifer all day with Clara (also, Jennifer picks up Hadden at Zoom at noon and drives to preschool)
• Tuesday: at neighbor's in a nanny share until about 1pm after which, Angela comes
• Wednesday: Jennifer all day with Clara (also, Jennifer picks up Hadden at Zoom at noon and drives to preschool)
• Thursday: Nona all day
• Friday: Angela from 9am on

Luckily, Clara got into preschool starting February 1st. Once Hadden is in, Clara leapfrogs everyone on the toddler waiting list and is first in line. So, word of advice, if you have one child you might as well have 2 just to take advantage of the nearly automatic daycare option. So, after January we were out of money with the pieced together Nanny scenario but we are back to somewhat normal for February. Jennifer still comes on Wednesdays and cleans/cooks and takes care of Clara for the day...quite nice.


Sabbatical
Preview of later this year: Steve is going on a 9 month sabbatical. Now that I have tenure I get the big-shot sabbatical. For those of you unfamiliar with such things: http://www.engr.washington.edu/mycoe/faculty/paidproleave.html.  Basically I get to do something that's not normal. We are planning on going to Rome for about 1.5 months in October/November. If you know any contacts there let me know. If you'd like to visit us, please send me your babysitting credentials and hourly rate and we will consider your in the order received. Seriously, let me know if you're going to be in Rome. After that, we will probably be back in Seattle and then off to Hawaii for a month or two. Weeee! 


TTFN,


Steve