Calcio, a Dunking and bye-bye Nona

Highlights from the last three days...

Sunday

Took the 116 ("Magic bus") from, essentially, our house to the Villa Borghese. The intention was to take the short walk over to the Pincio (gardern part of the park) and then down to Piazza del Popolo, where we would run around. However, on the way we got a bit sidetracked. First, we spotted a fountain with a big pool around it. So we off-roaded the stroller down the hillside and ran around the pool for a while (it was about 1.5 feet deep). Clara and Hadden sat on the edge and I got a few good photos. Then Clara decided to turn around and fell in the pool. She went head first and Yvonne fished her out by the legs. Needless to say, she screamed and was soaked. Luckily Steve brought backup clothes for the kids  (I call them "fountain backup clothes since they tend to get wet around fountains) and Yvonne, the fisherperson, brought hugs and love. Between the two of us Clara was alright in about 10 minutes. We continued on until we saw a lame-o merry-go-round, which the kids had to ride. Then we had to stop for lunch because we were not able to walk 500m in 2 hours. Afterwards, we stopped briefly in P.d Popolo before heading home on the 116.

Before falling in. Ms. Clara rocks it.

After falling in: Ms. Clara is NOT happy.

All better again.

That night I went to the much anticipated S.S. Lazio vs. A.S. Roma calcio (soccer) game at Stadio Olimpico. Bused it there and back. It was an adventure getting a ticket to this thing, which, being the local HUGE derby game, sells out instantly. Eventually, a guy at the UW Rome center asked a barrista in a cafe and he said there was a place 5 stops away on the tram. Went there once and was told I needed cash and my passport to buy the ticket. Went back the next day and could only get a single 110 Euro ticket. This better be a good game. They print your name on the ticket and won't let you in at the stadium unless you have your passport and YOUR ticket. Makes scalping tougher. Got there and found there to be about 15,000 empty seats. Not sure what constitutes a sellout in Roma, but apparently the interpretation is different than where I'm from. Anyway, great game. Lazio crazies were in the Curva Nord and Roma crazies were in the Curva Sud. Neutrals and well-to-do folks were in the middle expensive seats. I was in row 13 at midfield. EVERYONE at the game smokes. I felt like I'd been smoking for 2 hours after the game. Also, refreshments sucked. Worse than the Kingdome on its worst day. Not a single souvenir stand in the stadium. Also, no roving vendors in the stands. And...the scoreboard spent the first 35 minutes of each half advertising mineral water. No score, no lineups, no replays, nothing. It's ALL about the game here. Roma scored in the 4th minute, Lazio equalized in the 50th after a straight red card to Roma in the penalty box and Lazio won it in injury time with a Miroslav Klose goal. Crowd went nuts. We sang the Lazio song. Apparently everyone there knew it but me.

Curva Nord: Lazio fans only.

Curva Sud: Roma fans only.

Lazio fans are delirious after the Klose goal!

Monday
Yvonne had a cooking class for most of the day. I assume she learned how to cook Italian food. At least that's what she said. Sounds like a cool class. Her and one other person in this woman's apartment in the middle of Rome (Diane Seed is her name - we have her Rome food lovers coffee table book that we dragged over here). Nona and I took the kids about 8 blocks to the Palazzo della Cancelleria where they had a Leonardo Da Vinci "interactive" exhibit. We figured "interactive" would be great for kids. It was an exhibit where someone or some people had made actual replicas of the stuff he doodled about in his various sketch books. Some things were famous (his helicopter, a parachute, etc.) and some things were bat shit crazy (a collection of 12 cannon barrels all on a single mount to be fired like a machine gun...or a "tanks" that had four hand-cranked wheels on the inside with a turret to shoot out of). Just because somebody sketches something doesn't mean its genius. Leonardo himself was probably snickering when he drew some of these things. Also, "interactive" ls relative. I'd say about 75% of the exhibits said "do not touch" in 4 languages. That's not really interactive. The other 25% said "touch but BE CAREFUL". It's like someone wanted an interactive exhibit, then got cold feet. Perhaps they saw our kids coming and thought the better. I don't think we broke anything...although Clara did fall down off a stool and cried loudly causing the museum guy from upstairs to dash downstairs and remind us to be careful. Yeah, thanks. Honestly, taking those kids to a museum of ancient relics (or Leonardo knock-offs) is like walking though with a live grenade. Eventually, it will go off and something's going to get damaged.

Leonardo da Vinci's "tank". Part of the interactive exhibition that you cannot touch.

Clara interacting with one of Leo's gadgets. It appears to be some gears. Not sure it represents genius.
But still...good work, Leo.

Outside the exhibit in the Palazzo courtyard.

Hadden and Clara checking out the oven at Forno Campo de Fiori.
Supposedly one of the better bakeries around.

Tuesday
Nona left for England today (she's going there before returning to Seattle). We all said goodbye and then ate breakfast. Decided to go to the Vatican today. Played a bit in Piazza de San Pietro and then got in the security line to get in. We climbed the Cupola (up to the top of the dome) with the kids. Hadden climbed all 551 steps himself. Impressive. Clara climbed many steps herself but bypassed the first 230 in an elevator with Mom. It's really way high up at the top. Even though there was a solid fence preventing any child from plummeting to his/her death I was still unsettled with my kids running around at the top in a sea of tourists. We spent about 8 minutes in the Basilica itself before we decided to beat a hasty retreat before the kids melted down. We did see the Michaelangelo Pietra statue before we left.

San Pietro from across Rome. We went to the very top bit - the cupola.

Hadden starts out on his 551 step quest. Quite happy at this point. Actually, he was fine throughout the climb. Could have done another 500 steps.

At the cupola. Enjoying the view? Nope, checking out his thumb that was cut on a tree three days ago.

On our way down. Clara did a fair amount of this on her own too.

The cupola as viewed from 320 steps below (with a telephoto lens).

The cupola is the small bit on top of the dome.

In the evening we went for a short walk to get gelato BEFORE dinner. How wise is that? Super cool little gelato store: Gelateria del Teatro at Via San Simone no. 70. Kids scarfed down gelato like it was their last meal. Hadden is a buzz saw with gelato.

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The happy ending is that both kids ate all their dinner - even the cooked carrots. That is a daring feat with a a 2 and 4-year old tandem: dessert BEFORE dinner. Yvonne's getting brave.

Ciao,

Steve

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:


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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