Le Dolomiti sono:

Bellissime!

 Meravigliose!

 Stupende!

Grandiose!

On our last day, we took a drive on a less-traveled road (not the freeway) and saw these amazing Dolomites. Our mouths were agape at the beauty.  They truly are magnificent mountains!

Dolomites Day 2

The next day, we went to a ski area that also had a sledding run that was supposed to be EASY and that we could ride a ski-lift to.  It is a 3 km long run down the mountain...like a twisty mountain road. We got there, rented our sleds and helmets, bought our lift tickets, and we were off. It was so much fun.  I told Norah as we were going down that I hadn't had that much fun in a long time!  We originally bought 2 lift tickets (to ride the sled run twice) but we liked it so much that we bought two more lift tickets!  Our third run was the best.  The first one, we went slowly because we were learning the run. On the second run, we went a little too fast and almost hit some of the walls. The third run we did just right and had a blast....Norah even put her hands up and said, "No hands!!!" On the fourth run, we saw someone's wallet on the track, so I stopped to pick it up to turn into the office, and then James got a little ambitious (or maybe tired...it was hard work to keep upright and steer with legs and feet) and tipped over with Luke and Susy on board (thank goodness for the helmets!). We came across them with snow all over their faces, down their necks, and lots and lots of tears flowing.  We felt bad that the last run had to be like that, but we didn't want to do another run because they had had enough.  That was that. We turned in our equipment, handed in the wallet, and were on our way. I think I had a permanent smile on my face the whole way down the mountain each time!

Here are some Dolomites!!

James wanted some suspenders for his snow pants. These have edelweiss flowers on them!  We ARE close to Austria, after all!

 Riding the ski lift and watching the skiers

 Ready for another fun run!

 James and the kids getting ready to take another run. See the mountain back there? There were people climbing up it with a guide in order to ski back down from near the top. Crazy!!!

 This was the set up for James' sled.  Suzy in the backpack, Luke in front.

Norah got to ride with Daddy and Susy one time, too!

Dolomites: Winter Edition

We loved the Dolomites so much when we visited them with Grandpa and Oma in October that we decided to go back to visit them in the wintertime.  Our goals were to relax, see some scenery, eat mountain food (read: speck, streudel and cheese!), and go sledding.  We accomplished all goals, despite the kids being under the weather with a stomach bug (which was subsequently caught by James and I...).

This time, we stayed in Val Anterselva, which is a small valley very near the Austrian border.  The locals pretty much all speak German all the time, but if I asked them to speak in Italian, they would...haltingly and with a strong accent!  Our hotel had a pool (bonus!) but it was ice cold (still can't figure that out!) so only the brave (Norah and Luca) went in more than once! The mountains around our hotel didn't look like Dolomites to us...they looked like typical mountains.  I was wondering if we had been duped into booking a hotel in the 'dolomites'...Oh, well. They were still beautiful!

I saw on the map that we were near a ski resort, so I figured we would just go there to sled. But, when I asked the hotel receptionist about it, she said, "No, no sledding there. Only skiing!" and looked at me strangely.  I thought our vacation was going to be a bust, but then she told me about a lake nearby that we could "walk up the mountain and sled back down."  Sounded like a plan...arduous, slightly dangerous, but probably worth it...onward!

 James and the kids on the lake, which was frozen completely over.  So, we got to walk on the ice. This made me nervous, but as everyone else was doing it, I figured we might as well take the short cut, too!

 Mountain James and Susannah in her trekking backpack

 Well, the walk up to the rifugio (where the sleds were purported to be...) was VERY long for the kids, but they all made it!  Here are Susannah and Norah soaking in the sun rays and taking in the view.

When we got up to the top, we had lunch and then we asked about the sleds, and the man asked us whether we had done anything of the sort before..."Yes, I went sledding in America," I said.  Well, truth be told, we had never sledded down a mountain path before, but it looked like fun, and we sure as heck didn't want to WALK down...so we went ahead and, promising the man we would go very slowly, make our way down the mountain. Here are James, Susannah, and Luca (in front of James), sledding down the mountain. I took Norah with me on the other sled.

 We made it down the mountain!! It was a fun and sometimes terrifying ride.  Perfect!

 Time to walk back across the lake toward our car.  Kids are TIRED!!!

 Here's how thick the ice was on the lake.

Norah and James (and Susannah) making their way across the ice.

All in all, a great first day in the Dolomites!

just living life

Here are some random photos from February and March. No theme, other than 'kids' because they are usually the subject of our photographs!

 Working on her homework

 He really wants to have homework, too!

 Aspiring artist

Rub a dub dub, three kids in a tub!  This might be the first photo of Susannah's new, pointy front teeth, which resulted from a nasty fall the first day she started walking back in November. She's stuck with these until they fall out and she gets some new ones in about 5 years!

Swim lessons

Susannah finished a set of swim lessons in March. The first day of the lessons, she cried and cried because she didn't want to wear the swim cap. Then, she saw all the other babies having a blast in the water and finally let me put it on her.  Now, she knows the drill and has NO problem putting her swim cap on--she knows she will have fun in the water!  We signed up for another session because she loves it so much!  On the last day, they let the moms bring cameras so we got some photos of Susy in the water. What a little fish!

Carnevale

We celebrated Carnevale in early March this year.  As you can see, we had a fairy princess, a bumble bee, and a tiger.  We braved the crowds in the piazza and threw some confetti.  Fun times!

 The bumblebee was NOT in a good mood!!!

Luckily, it was a beautiful, sunny day!

James in the Philippines

James had an opportunity to go to the Philippines for work in late February.  He spent most of his time in a room training people how to use a system he had helped to create, but he and his coworker Anjali managed to get out and see a few sites, too.

 James and Anjali on a boat ride

 James after a hike up to see a volcano-lake

 At the WWII memorial in Manila

 James chatting it up with some war leaders in the park

What a ham!

Back in Desio

A couple photos taken one day as we were getting ready to go outside.

 Make your silly faces!

Susannah's hair has been growing like a weed!!

The ride home: Orvieto

On the recommendation of Chiara's uncle Marco, we decided to stop in the town of Orvieto on the drive home from Naples. Orvieto is a beautiful little town in Umbria built on...you guessed it...a hill!  Orvieto is also the home of our favorite white wine:  Orvieto Classico. The cathedral in Orvieto was what we were sent there to see. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain when we got there, AND they had the cathedral closed to the public until late afternoon (we got there at lunchtime). We couldn't wait around all day to see the inside, but we got a few pictures of the outside. The really cool thing is that the back and sides are all striped in black and white marble. The front facade is absolutely gorgeous with gold mosaics and beautiful carvings. The photos don't do it justice; it was breathtaking. We made up our minds that we would definitely have to come back sometime in the future to see the inside.

 Orvieto cathedral in the rain

 A closer view...too bad it was rainy

Famly band in front of the cathedral. You can see the striped sides here.

Orvieto, we will be back!!!

Sicily: Palermo

Our last day in Sicily was spent in Palermo as we waited until our evening car ferry would depart. Palermo was a crazy town with crazy driving, lots of crowds, and a bit of chaos.  We didn't take many pictures because we were trying not to get separated the whole time. Plus we were all in sort of a bad mood that day. Maybe it's because we knew we had to leave Sicily...what a beautiful place with great food and wonderful people!  The city driving leaves a lot to be desired, but the rest of the island is magical. We definitely want to return sometime and see the Eastern part of the island.
Here are a couple photos from Palermo.

 Norah taking in the sights and sounds and smells of the Ballaro' street market in Palermo

 Basilica in Palermo...very complex stonework on the outside

Susannah is reminding Luca to be quiet on the inside of the Basilica!

That's all we have for Sicily, folks!  That night, we got onto a car ferry to ride to Napoli. We thought the ferry would be dingy and dirty, so we even brought some toilet paper in case we had communal bathrooms. In fact, we had our own family cabin with its own bathroom!  Clean, comfortable, and really pleasant.  I immediately got sea sick on the boat, and was reduced to having to sit on the floor and crawl around after a while. James miraculously held it together and helped get the kids settled into their bunks while I tried not to lose my supper. We all slept all night and when we woke up early the next morning, we were in Napoli.  Now, to drive home!!!

Sicily: San Vito lo Capo and more

The next day, we planned to drive to the East of Trapani to visit the beach at San Vito lo Capo. There were maybe 8 other people on the whole beach; it was amazing!  The water was blue, the sand was white, and the kids had a great time. I can imagine that in the summer, this place would be packed; it seemed like the perfect place to go swimming...shallow clear water and soft sand.

 Susannah's not so sure about the sand...

 No people on the beach means Luke was free to throw sand into the water!

 Some toys went into the water, so Norah took one for the team and went in and saved them!  Then, she took a run along the beach. 

 Luke + Sand = Happiness

 After hanging out in the beach for a while, we decided to go to a town called Castellammare del Golfo, to see a castle near the sea which is supposed to be impressive and also to have lunch. Well, the lunch was pretty good, but the castle was nothing to write home about. After lunch, we drove South to a place where we could go swimming in a pool heated by a hot spring. The place was a little dingy, but the water was really warm, and the kids had a lot of fun swimming!!

 Norah checking out the view

 Susy blue eyes

This dog was pretty friendly and wouldn't let the kids out of its sight. This of course prompted Norah to start asking for a dog of our own!

Sicily: Salt Pans and Erice

The next day, we decided to check out the salt museum just south of Trapani in a town called Nubio. Unfortunately, the website failed to inform us that it was closed for the season. How hard would that be to put on a website?  This area south of Trapani is known for salt production. There are great big shallow areas near the shore where the locals let sea water come in and then evaporate.And then there are old windmills around that were used to grind the salt into different sizes.  Since the museum was closed (grrr....), we drove a little further and took a boat to the island of Mozia which houses a museum collection of Phoenician artifacts and the ruins of an ancient Phoenician city. We walked around the island for a bit, and then headed back toward Trapani in order to ride a cable car up to the nearby hill town of Erice.  Erice sits on top of a 750m tall mountain next to the sea. It just pops out of the landscape, and someone thought, as with almost every other hill in Italy, "Let's build a castle up there!"

 At the salt museum

 Windmills everywhere...feels like we are in Holland!

 Piles of sea salt, each with their own roof of clay tiles

 A windmill in the sun

 Norah and Luke in Erice, high above the town of Trapani

 Laundry and the view from the top of Erice...this is looking East along the northern coast of Sicily

 Family photo...well Susannah was sleeping on my back in the carrier...

 "Mad faces" in Erice

Well, what d'ya know? Another castle in Italy!

The view of Trapani (on the right) and the salt pans from up in Erice