Blogs from Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy, Europe - page 7

We got a reasonably good start to the day today, heading down to the post office to do some final mailings. After this we had lunch and finished packing and weighing suitcases (we are flying to France) as well as cleaning up the house. In the afternoon, Joshua and Benjamin joined Luigi in the fields and spent the afternoon cutting hay with the tractor. The weather has turned very summer like, though there is a storm building and everything seems unusually quiet as we pass a rather lazy final day here in town.... read more

Though we have met virtually all the relatives now, there are some that we only met briefly at the family reunion and have not spent much time with. Today we had been invited to Anna and Bruno's house for dinner. After doing school work for most of the afternoon, Bruno picked us up at the house to take us to their house near Udine for dinner. On the way, we stopped off at a high vantage point and took some photos of the surrounding countryside including a castle in the distance. Their house is just a short distance outside of Udine, and is set on a large lot with farmland behind it and mountains off in the distance. Here we met their two sons, Matteo and Gabriel. Matteo is at the University in Udine and Grabriel ... read more

As an American living in Italy, I have the opportunity to see Italy, the Italians and their EU neighbors in a light that few natives are willing to admit. Many have dreamt of traveling abroad to absorb the beauty of the gondolas in Venice, the Sistine Chapel in Rome, the vineyards of Tuscany and awe at the beauty of Piancovallo atop to Dolomite Mountains; myself included. The country offers beautiful, picturesque sites that constantly surround you, regardless of the region of Italy you’re traveling through. I have filled my camera many times just driving from my home to one of the open air markets held 7 days a week. What we fail to see on the travel channels, magazines and brochures are the true colors of Italy. The country is plagued with thieves, pickpockets, hooligans, corruption ... read more

Some of the things that Joshua and Benjamin need to do for their school work are difficult to accomplish on the road. We have taken advantage of our longer stay here to get some of these projects, such as the ones involving paints, done. In math, Benjamin has been asked to build a large Geodesic dome out of rolled up newspapers. We took advantage of the rainy weather today for him to build this in the living room of the house where we are staying. The resulting structure was quite impressive, though it did need a bit of help, in the form of dental floss tied to the chandelier, to stand up properly !... read more

Today marks the eight month point in our journey. Evy's cousin Laura picked us up at the farm this morning and drove us to Luciano and Teresa's house for a BBQ. Their house is recently built and next to a large field that was bright yellow with the crop of canola planted there. Here we also were joined by Evy's cousin Fausto and Barbara as well as their baby girl, Alice who is just getting over the chickenpox. Evy's poor cousin Robbie, who also managed to get the chickenpox, was quarantined to the kitchen as we are not sure if Joshua has been innoculated against them or not. While Luciano barbecued, Joshua, Benjamin, their cousin Simone, and the dog, Brick, played in the large yard. We had a great dinner, the first barbaque that we have ... read more