Welcome to another addition of Florintine Braheem. Thank you so much for your kind compliments and we are so happy that you are enjoying the blog. This month, I have decided to Lead with "Notes from the Cheap Seats" Why? Well, because there is some pretty funny stuff to talk about over here in Italia!
From there you can expect the Blog to Flow as follows:
Croatia (My family history and recent visit)
The Travel Day from Hell and Back (You won't believe what we went through!)
Spain (Our one week visit with my parents to Madrid and Beyond)
My Mom and Dad's visit to Italy and their experience at the Castle
Olivia (An update on Ms. Liv)
Trey (An update on The book worm)
Florence (A continuing piece on this amazing place that keeps getting better!)
Lo Sport (My round of golf in the European Pro Am)
Enjoy....
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Notes from the Cheap Seats
Where There is smoke there is fire – I would be most interested in finding out the lung cancer rate in Croatia as they smoke like virtually no society I have ever seen (Maybe a dead heat with the Arabs who never hesitate to light up). What these people do when they come to America is beyond me, much less the 12 hour flight without being able to inhale. Every restaurant has an ashtray at every table and people literally are taking drags of their “Cigs” in between bites. Hell, I have seen people chewing and taking a drag at the same time! When I first arrived on this recent visit, my folks and I stopped by the house of a distant relative named Niksha. In the span of three hours at this home he took down no less than 15 cigarettes! Combine this with his daughter en-law who smoked at least 10 in the same span and you have the formula for a second hand smoke seizure! I had to take a 30 minute walk in the cold air about half way through to cleanse my lungs. When we left, I told my mom and dad, “I lost about 12 months of my life in that house today”.
Croatia and its food – I’m one half Croatian and a quarter Italian and Syrian and all I can say is thank GOD that I got my palate from the Italian and Syrian side! How a country like Croatia can be so geographically close to Italy and have gotten food SO WRONG is beyond my comprehension! Fish and Lamb are two of the main staples of Croatian cuisine and they manage to make both in an eatable way (They also make damn good bread), but it seems that the rule of thumb is “Make it With Sugar!” There is an unwavering commitment to sweeten everything (Even some of the strangest items). Case in point was when my family and I went out for pizza one night. We were a party of nine and ordered eight pizzas (I could not bring myself to ordering pizza in Croatia with the stuff I get at home!) Much to my shock, when the pizzas were brought to the table, the waiter also brought two bottles of ketchup! “Now, what might that be for?” I asked. My family proceeded to apply large quantities of Heinz to their pizza! Sorry but that’s freaking gross! No wonder so many Croatians have rotting teeth :>)
Croatia and its food – I’m one half Croatian and a quarter Italian and Syrian and all I can say is thank GOD that I got my palate from the Italian and Syrian side! How a country like Croatia can be so geographically close to Italy and have gotten food SO WRONG is beyond my comprehension! Fish and Lamb are two of the main staples of Croatian cuisine and they manage to make both in an eatable way (They also make damn good bread), but it seems that the rule of thumb is “Make it With Sugar!” There is an unwavering commitment to sweeten everything (Even some of the strangest items). Case in point was when my family and I went out for pizza one night. We were a party of nine and ordered eight pizzas (I could not bring myself to ordering pizza in Croatia with the stuff I get at home!) Much to my shock, when the pizzas were brought to the table, the waiter also brought two bottles of ketchup! “Now, what might that be for?” I asked. My family proceeded to apply large quantities of Heinz to their pizza! Sorry but that’s freaking gross! No wonder so many Croatians have rotting teeth :>)
More Notes from the Cheap Seats
The Italian Toilet Adventures! - This one may not be for the faint of heart, but those of you that know me are aware that my boundaries on subject matter can be vast :>)
I noticed that within a couple of days of arrival, and my father mentioned it right away “What’s the deal with Italian toilets?” There are several things that are strange about the old “commode” here in Italia.
First we will begin with the seat. For those ladies that complain about us guys leaving it up, nothing to complain about here as I would estimate that at least half of the public facilities don’t have them at all! Those that do, often times have them sitting on the ground, detached from the toilet itself. There’s something not quite right about having to pick up a toilet seat off a gas station floor!
Next is the flushing mechanism. One thing that they do right here is provide you with two options (Based upon whether you are getting rid of number one or number two!). However there is often an additional option provided to us flushers that can aid in the confusion. In many restaurant bathrooms there is a long cord hanging from a box in the wall. This cord has been confused by yours truly as well as my father as the means for dispensing all that is in the bowl. Think again, when this cord is pulled, expect to hear the sounds of a very loud alarm bell in the dining room! This cord is for emergency purposes only. Apparently using the facilities in Italy comes with significant risk of casualty! Nothing like sounding off a bell to let all those that are dining know that you needed some time alone!
Lastly is the need for a brush! OK, even “I” won’t go into detail on this one, but lets just say that the bowl brush is needed here A LOT due a preponderance of skid marks! Something about the way the toilets are constructed. They even have them in public bathrooms!
When It comes to Working Out – Italians are pathetic! I have not been a member of a gym in nearly 20 years, so maybe things are the same back home, but man there are a lot of bullshitters at the gym and very few that actually come to take care of business. Anna and I often laugh at the common site of seeing an Italian come in, jump on the tread mill for three to five minutes, then move to the exercise bike for the same period of time and then spend thirty minutes doing four sets of leg presses and calling it a day! Oh actually, I forgot. The day isn’t over till you’ve had a smoke!
Case in point…One day I was in my own usual little world with the IPod on and trying to return to the glory days of benching over 200 pounds when I decided to ask for help. Close to me was a “Thick” gentleman named Allesandro (To call him buff would be unfair to those that actually are). After he spotted me on the bench we got to talking for a moment and it turns out that he is a football player. By football I mean “Our” kind of football. It seems that Florence has a pro football team and Allesandro plays both center and nose guard (Its nine man football). Following our pleasant discussion and his invitation for Trey and I to come to a game, I continued my workout. When I was done I headed for the parking lot to ride the motorino home. When I glanced off to the side, there was my boy Allesandro, sitting on the curb smoking a cigarette! Ah, now that’s the way to finish a workout :>)
There’s Pizza and then There’s Pizza! –
OK, first a little history. Contrary to popular opinion in Croatia, Pizza was not invented there and should not be in the same dining room with a bottle of ketchup! Seriously though, it was invented in Naples Italy and those that have been to Napoli know that you don’t go to Naples and miss the opportunity to have a pizza (We visited Nalpes five years ago for one day and had the best pizza of our lives). Well, our friend Alex, told us of an unassuming little place outside of the city center called Santa Lucia. The owners are from Naples and rumor has it that they have all spent some time behind bars are one time of another! (Alex would know as her father is the chief of police of Florence). Whether they have or not is besides the point because they make the best pizza we have had since our visit to Napoli. On the menu are no less than thirty different pies that you can order, but for mine and Anna’s taste there is no reason to look further than the pizza with tomato sauce, mozzarella, fresh tomatoes, olives and the key ingredient Fresh Ricotta Cheese! Drizzle a little olive oil on top when it arrives and you have a pie straight from the pearly gates of heaven. We ate there twice with my mom and dad when they were here. My mom won’t argue these claims of pizza supremacy. The only downer is that all other pizza in Florence and beyond pales so far in comparison, its hardly worth ordering it anywhere else.
I noticed that within a couple of days of arrival, and my father mentioned it right away “What’s the deal with Italian toilets?” There are several things that are strange about the old “commode” here in Italia.
First we will begin with the seat. For those ladies that complain about us guys leaving it up, nothing to complain about here as I would estimate that at least half of the public facilities don’t have them at all! Those that do, often times have them sitting on the ground, detached from the toilet itself. There’s something not quite right about having to pick up a toilet seat off a gas station floor!
Next is the flushing mechanism. One thing that they do right here is provide you with two options (Based upon whether you are getting rid of number one or number two!). However there is often an additional option provided to us flushers that can aid in the confusion. In many restaurant bathrooms there is a long cord hanging from a box in the wall. This cord has been confused by yours truly as well as my father as the means for dispensing all that is in the bowl. Think again, when this cord is pulled, expect to hear the sounds of a very loud alarm bell in the dining room! This cord is for emergency purposes only. Apparently using the facilities in Italy comes with significant risk of casualty! Nothing like sounding off a bell to let all those that are dining know that you needed some time alone!
Lastly is the need for a brush! OK, even “I” won’t go into detail on this one, but lets just say that the bowl brush is needed here A LOT due a preponderance of skid marks! Something about the way the toilets are constructed. They even have them in public bathrooms!
When It comes to Working Out – Italians are pathetic! I have not been a member of a gym in nearly 20 years, so maybe things are the same back home, but man there are a lot of bullshitters at the gym and very few that actually come to take care of business. Anna and I often laugh at the common site of seeing an Italian come in, jump on the tread mill for three to five minutes, then move to the exercise bike for the same period of time and then spend thirty minutes doing four sets of leg presses and calling it a day! Oh actually, I forgot. The day isn’t over till you’ve had a smoke!
Case in point…One day I was in my own usual little world with the IPod on and trying to return to the glory days of benching over 200 pounds when I decided to ask for help. Close to me was a “Thick” gentleman named Allesandro (To call him buff would be unfair to those that actually are). After he spotted me on the bench we got to talking for a moment and it turns out that he is a football player. By football I mean “Our” kind of football. It seems that Florence has a pro football team and Allesandro plays both center and nose guard (Its nine man football). Following our pleasant discussion and his invitation for Trey and I to come to a game, I continued my workout. When I was done I headed for the parking lot to ride the motorino home. When I glanced off to the side, there was my boy Allesandro, sitting on the curb smoking a cigarette! Ah, now that’s the way to finish a workout :>)
There’s Pizza and then There’s Pizza! –
OK, first a little history. Contrary to popular opinion in Croatia, Pizza was not invented there and should not be in the same dining room with a bottle of ketchup! Seriously though, it was invented in Naples Italy and those that have been to Napoli know that you don’t go to Naples and miss the opportunity to have a pizza (We visited Nalpes five years ago for one day and had the best pizza of our lives). Well, our friend Alex, told us of an unassuming little place outside of the city center called Santa Lucia. The owners are from Naples and rumor has it that they have all spent some time behind bars are one time of another! (Alex would know as her father is the chief of police of Florence). Whether they have or not is besides the point because they make the best pizza we have had since our visit to Napoli. On the menu are no less than thirty different pies that you can order, but for mine and Anna’s taste there is no reason to look further than the pizza with tomato sauce, mozzarella, fresh tomatoes, olives and the key ingredient Fresh Ricotta Cheese! Drizzle a little olive oil on top when it arrives and you have a pie straight from the pearly gates of heaven. We ate there twice with my mom and dad when they were here. My mom won’t argue these claims of pizza supremacy. The only downer is that all other pizza in Florence and beyond pales so far in comparison, its hardly worth ordering it anywhere else.
More Notes from the Cheap Seats
The Children’s Meal – My father, ever the tester of boundaries, uncovered an important line in the sand for future reference when dining on Spanish cuisine in Andalusia. By the fourth day of our journey through Spain, the lack of variety in Spanish cuisine had gotten the best of him. We stopped in an ancient village called Rhonda which is situated on a sheer cliff with remarkable views. A suggestion from our travel agent Linda was to eat at the Parador Hotel. Candidly, the restaurant was a little “Stuffier” than what we were looking for after four hours in the car, but the views were nothing short of breathtaking so we decided to give it a go. Following a review of the menu, the waiter arrived to take our order. Anna placed the order for THREE kids chicken nugget meals with fries. The waiter did a double take, glanced up at the table, scanned it with his eyes and said “Signora, you mean dose chicken nuggets si?” Anna then had the enviable job of explaining that her father en law wanted one too! Well, the story doesn’t end here. About forty minutes later when the food arrived, there were two chicken nugget lunches and a grilled chicken breast with fries for my dad! The moral to the story is that you can act young in Spain, but apparently you’re not allowed to eat young :>)
The day the Power Went Out - The need for services (Or anything for that matter other than good food) is something that you can’t count on in Italy. Sunday is a day of rest, with the streets mostly vacant and most every store, gas station and service provider closed for business. It’s definitely not a day for one to have their electricity go out when its 45 degrees outside!!! Well, that’s exactly what happened in mid October. As the sun began to set and the prospects of a freezing night without lights and heat became a reality, we scrambled to find someone with electrical experience (We checked all circuit breakers both in the flat and the main breakers outside and none were tripped). Well, in the end our pal Simone came to the rescue again, getting a hold of an electrician named Marco, who came to the castle as it was getting dark. He opened the internal breaker box, took one look at the breakers, pushed a small button in the box and all the lights came back on! To say that Anna and I felt like a couple of gringos would be an understatement. What made matters worse was that he refused to take any money from us!!!
More about the castle – The lore of Il Castello A Marignolle continues to grow. In early November we had our downstairs neighbors (The Nardi’s) over for a drink. The Nardi’s live on the third floor of the castle and have for nearly 35 years. During our time together they shared a couple of very interesting facts about the castle that we were unaware of:
a. The view – When commenting on the amazing view from our flat, Piero Nardi informed us that its considered to be one of the greatest views in Florence. This is supported by the fact that in 1977 the Italian Air Force came to the castle and spent considerable time in the tower. It seems that its 360 degree view provided exactly what was needed for them to create the government’s official aerial sketch of the city of Florence that is still used to the day!
b. During the German occupation of Italy in World War II, Hitler’s forces occupied the castle as it provided an ideal vantage point above this Renaissance City.
The day the Power Went Out - The need for services (Or anything for that matter other than good food) is something that you can’t count on in Italy. Sunday is a day of rest, with the streets mostly vacant and most every store, gas station and service provider closed for business. It’s definitely not a day for one to have their electricity go out when its 45 degrees outside!!! Well, that’s exactly what happened in mid October. As the sun began to set and the prospects of a freezing night without lights and heat became a reality, we scrambled to find someone with electrical experience (We checked all circuit breakers both in the flat and the main breakers outside and none were tripped). Well, in the end our pal Simone came to the rescue again, getting a hold of an electrician named Marco, who came to the castle as it was getting dark. He opened the internal breaker box, took one look at the breakers, pushed a small button in the box and all the lights came back on! To say that Anna and I felt like a couple of gringos would be an understatement. What made matters worse was that he refused to take any money from us!!!
More about the castle – The lore of Il Castello A Marignolle continues to grow. In early November we had our downstairs neighbors (The Nardi’s) over for a drink. The Nardi’s live on the third floor of the castle and have for nearly 35 years. During our time together they shared a couple of very interesting facts about the castle that we were unaware of:
a. The view – When commenting on the amazing view from our flat, Piero Nardi informed us that its considered to be one of the greatest views in Florence. This is supported by the fact that in 1977 the Italian Air Force came to the castle and spent considerable time in the tower. It seems that its 360 degree view provided exactly what was needed for them to create the government’s official aerial sketch of the city of Florence that is still used to the day!
b. During the German occupation of Italy in World War II, Hitler’s forces occupied the castle as it provided an ideal vantage point above this Renaissance City.
Croatia
My family (The story of Frank and Vinka) – Many of you may know this story, but to even those who do, the photos will help tell it in ways that you’re likely unfamiliar. The details can be robust so I will try to summarize as best as possible. I am 50% Croatian on my mother’s side. Croatia is a long and skinny country on the Adriatic Sea across from Italy. Croatia has a long and tumultuous history that includes being a part of the former Yugoslavia where it gained independence yet again following the war that ended in the early 90’s, and as far back as the 1200’s being under Venetian rule (See two months ago, the history of Venice).
My grandmother and grandfather (Mom’s parents) are both from a small island in the Adriatic called Hvar. Although they lived there for the first twenty some odd years of their lives, they never met each other due to the mountain range that separated their two villages (Not a high mountain at all, more like a large hill!). This was at a time where cars had yet to be mass produced and the only means of making it from one side of the island to the next was via donkey.
In approximately 1930 my grandfather moved to Delano California to work in the vineyards as he had family that had recently immigrated to America. Following a brief stint of a year or two in Central California, he moved to a small fishing village that he had been told about called San Pedro. The people of Hvar are sea fairing natives and my grandfather yearned to return to his roots. It was in San Pedro that Frank’s fishing career began. Fishing was a long and difficult job for Frank who would find himself at Sea for weeks at a time. On one of his journey’s at sea he met a man by the name of Pete Muskatelo who invited Frank over for dinner when they returned to land. Pete immediately took a liking to Frank and informed him that he had a niece (Vinka) back in Croatia on the island of Hvar. Upon seeing the photo of Pete’s niece, Frank made the following offer: “If you bring this woman to America I will marry her!”
Back on Hvar, Vinka was living in a tiny village named Dol. Not more than 200 people lived in her village and her family resided in extremely simple conditions, living off the land where they grew potatoes, lettuce, grapes and raised chickens. No one from her immediate family had ever been to America, but when she received the photo of Frank, she was immediately attracted to the idea! (Frank was one extremely handsome dude!) By boat, her journey would take one month to arrive in San Pedro and she would make the trip alone.
Her departure left her family in grief (For the rest of her life Vinka’s mother NEVER wore another color other than black as a symbol of her grieving). There is an elderly man that lives in the village still to this day (Piero) who remembers the day she left and when Vinka’s mother cried from the window sill yelling “I will never see you again”.
When Vinka arrived in San Pedro, she and Frank were married within a month. The two of them lived happily together for just shy of fifty years, having two children: John and Lucille (My mom).
Hvar “2004” –
My first trip to Hvar was with my family in 2004. We arrived on the tiny island following a week spent in Italy under some of the nicer accommodations that we have had the pleasure of experiencing. My mom, had never been to the island of her heritage and the sheer thought of me making it there first was too much to resist, so she met us there (It’s a good thing she did because no one speaks English and I don’t speak a lick of Croatian, but my mom is fluent!)
Vinka’s brother (Uncle Pete) was alive at the time (He passed away six months after my Mom, Anna and I met him) as was his wife Teta Maria (She is still alive). They lived with their son Niksha and his wife Antitsa along with their three children who were in their teens at the time. The house they live in to this day is from the late 1800’s and in the same tiny town of Dol (Population still 200 ish!). My mom slept in the room Vinka was born in! The house consisted of three very small bedrooms, a tiny kitchen (With a refrigerator that my grandma and grandpa bought for them in the 1960’s) and one bathroom (Which they had to go outside to use). They were the poorest people I had ever met, living off their small potato crop and an income that equates to 5,000 US dollars annually.
The three days that I spent with my family in 2004 are none like any I have ever experienced in my life and forever changed my view on “Family”. The unconditional love that they had to offer made them some of the wealthiest people I have ever known. Seeing the places where my grandparents were born in the “Old Country” gave me such an appreciation for the sacrifices that they made for me and future generations. If you have not yet returned to the place of your family roots to better understand who you are, let me suggest that you make this your next plan for vacation (Not to mention how important it is for your children to understand who they are). Words can not describe how it will permeate your being and infuse a sense of pride in family and origin. In late March we will be going to the island of Malta in the Mediterranean for Anna’s 40th birthday. Her mother Gina was born in Malta. Anna and I are very excited to teach our children about this piece of their heritage.
Croatia “October 23rd to 25th” - It would be blasphemous to be so close to the home of my heritage for one year and not pay my family a visit. Heck only the Adriatic Sea separates Italy from Croatia and they actually share a common boarder in the far North. Since our visit three years ago, Anna and I have taken an interest in the well being and education of my relatives and seeing them was near the top of my list of “Must Do’s” while in Italy. Of course my mom would need to make the journey as well if I wanted to have any type of communication with them! This of course worked perfectly as I have not seen my mom and dad in nearly three months (The longest stint of my life by a long shot) and have really been missing them.
One would think that a trip of such short distance would only take a couple of hours, but think again. I’m NOT in America! I woke on the morning of the 23rd at 4:00 am for my flight to Munich Germany (1.5 hours), following a two hour lay over, it was off to Split Croatia (1 hour). I spent the day in Split having lunch and seeing the historical palace of the exiled Pope Doleclitian from around 500 AD. My mom and dad arrived in the later afternoon and we spent the rest of the day in Split until we were able to catch the two hour boat ride to Hvar. Talk about planes, trains, boats and automobiles!
The time with my family was extremely precious to me. In total I was only on the island for about 36 hours, but we spent the time wisely by sharing most every minute together, talking (With my mom doing an amazing job as interpreter on very little sleep) and looking through photos. Anna and the kids were not able to come as Trey and Livy were in school, hence the reason for my short tenure. My family is doing so much better now than when I first met them three years ago which warmed my heart. My great Aunt (Teta Maria) is still well and as always it is such a wonderful experience to hold her hand and sit with her. We may not be able to speak to each other, but there is a mutual love that comes with the common blood of family.
The highlight for me was that my dad was able to visit Croatia for the first time. Although he is not Croatian, he had a wonderfully close relationship with Frank and Vinka and for him to see where they were born brought back many emotions for him. Those of you that know my father know that his silliness transcends language! One would not accuse my dad of being an introvert and it was wonderful to see him interacting with people whom he had never met and whom spoke a language so foreign to him. Within just one hour, he was singing songs and had everyone in hysterics!
I departed for my long journey back to Italia on the 25th. Following the two hour boat ride back to the mainland, I found myself sitting at an outdoor café watching the Croatian people walk by. My mind wandered to many places:
“They look so different than me, could I really be half Croat?”
“Their language is so dramatically foreign to me, even though my grandparents spoke it”
“How the hell can I love food so much and be half Croatian with what they eat (See notes from the cheap seats for further elaboration)!”
As I pondered these thoughts and the destiny that brought me to this earth, I realized just how true the cliché “Everything Happens for Reason” is. “Had grandma not had the courage to leave all she new, had she not weathered the surely difficult circumstances of being on a ship all alone for four weeks, had she not desired to better her legacy and take the chance of meeting a man whom she only new by a photo, would I be one of these folks on Hvar? Would my life have been a difficult struggle? Would I be eating bad food?” Of course the answer is none of the above, but rather that I would not be here at all!
Thank you Grandma for your courage…
My grandmother and grandfather (Mom’s parents) are both from a small island in the Adriatic called Hvar. Although they lived there for the first twenty some odd years of their lives, they never met each other due to the mountain range that separated their two villages (Not a high mountain at all, more like a large hill!). This was at a time where cars had yet to be mass produced and the only means of making it from one side of the island to the next was via donkey.
In approximately 1930 my grandfather moved to Delano California to work in the vineyards as he had family that had recently immigrated to America. Following a brief stint of a year or two in Central California, he moved to a small fishing village that he had been told about called San Pedro. The people of Hvar are sea fairing natives and my grandfather yearned to return to his roots. It was in San Pedro that Frank’s fishing career began. Fishing was a long and difficult job for Frank who would find himself at Sea for weeks at a time. On one of his journey’s at sea he met a man by the name of Pete Muskatelo who invited Frank over for dinner when they returned to land. Pete immediately took a liking to Frank and informed him that he had a niece (Vinka) back in Croatia on the island of Hvar. Upon seeing the photo of Pete’s niece, Frank made the following offer: “If you bring this woman to America I will marry her!”
Back on Hvar, Vinka was living in a tiny village named Dol. Not more than 200 people lived in her village and her family resided in extremely simple conditions, living off the land where they grew potatoes, lettuce, grapes and raised chickens. No one from her immediate family had ever been to America, but when she received the photo of Frank, she was immediately attracted to the idea! (Frank was one extremely handsome dude!) By boat, her journey would take one month to arrive in San Pedro and she would make the trip alone.
Her departure left her family in grief (For the rest of her life Vinka’s mother NEVER wore another color other than black as a symbol of her grieving). There is an elderly man that lives in the village still to this day (Piero) who remembers the day she left and when Vinka’s mother cried from the window sill yelling “I will never see you again”.
When Vinka arrived in San Pedro, she and Frank were married within a month. The two of them lived happily together for just shy of fifty years, having two children: John and Lucille (My mom).
Hvar “2004” –
My first trip to Hvar was with my family in 2004. We arrived on the tiny island following a week spent in Italy under some of the nicer accommodations that we have had the pleasure of experiencing. My mom, had never been to the island of her heritage and the sheer thought of me making it there first was too much to resist, so she met us there (It’s a good thing she did because no one speaks English and I don’t speak a lick of Croatian, but my mom is fluent!)
Vinka’s brother (Uncle Pete) was alive at the time (He passed away six months after my Mom, Anna and I met him) as was his wife Teta Maria (She is still alive). They lived with their son Niksha and his wife Antitsa along with their three children who were in their teens at the time. The house they live in to this day is from the late 1800’s and in the same tiny town of Dol (Population still 200 ish!). My mom slept in the room Vinka was born in! The house consisted of three very small bedrooms, a tiny kitchen (With a refrigerator that my grandma and grandpa bought for them in the 1960’s) and one bathroom (Which they had to go outside to use). They were the poorest people I had ever met, living off their small potato crop and an income that equates to 5,000 US dollars annually.
The three days that I spent with my family in 2004 are none like any I have ever experienced in my life and forever changed my view on “Family”. The unconditional love that they had to offer made them some of the wealthiest people I have ever known. Seeing the places where my grandparents were born in the “Old Country” gave me such an appreciation for the sacrifices that they made for me and future generations. If you have not yet returned to the place of your family roots to better understand who you are, let me suggest that you make this your next plan for vacation (Not to mention how important it is for your children to understand who they are). Words can not describe how it will permeate your being and infuse a sense of pride in family and origin. In late March we will be going to the island of Malta in the Mediterranean for Anna’s 40th birthday. Her mother Gina was born in Malta. Anna and I are very excited to teach our children about this piece of their heritage.
Croatia “October 23rd to 25th” - It would be blasphemous to be so close to the home of my heritage for one year and not pay my family a visit. Heck only the Adriatic Sea separates Italy from Croatia and they actually share a common boarder in the far North. Since our visit three years ago, Anna and I have taken an interest in the well being and education of my relatives and seeing them was near the top of my list of “Must Do’s” while in Italy. Of course my mom would need to make the journey as well if I wanted to have any type of communication with them! This of course worked perfectly as I have not seen my mom and dad in nearly three months (The longest stint of my life by a long shot) and have really been missing them.
One would think that a trip of such short distance would only take a couple of hours, but think again. I’m NOT in America! I woke on the morning of the 23rd at 4:00 am for my flight to Munich Germany (1.5 hours), following a two hour lay over, it was off to Split Croatia (1 hour). I spent the day in Split having lunch and seeing the historical palace of the exiled Pope Doleclitian from around 500 AD. My mom and dad arrived in the later afternoon and we spent the rest of the day in Split until we were able to catch the two hour boat ride to Hvar. Talk about planes, trains, boats and automobiles!
The time with my family was extremely precious to me. In total I was only on the island for about 36 hours, but we spent the time wisely by sharing most every minute together, talking (With my mom doing an amazing job as interpreter on very little sleep) and looking through photos. Anna and the kids were not able to come as Trey and Livy were in school, hence the reason for my short tenure. My family is doing so much better now than when I first met them three years ago which warmed my heart. My great Aunt (Teta Maria) is still well and as always it is such a wonderful experience to hold her hand and sit with her. We may not be able to speak to each other, but there is a mutual love that comes with the common blood of family.
The highlight for me was that my dad was able to visit Croatia for the first time. Although he is not Croatian, he had a wonderfully close relationship with Frank and Vinka and for him to see where they were born brought back many emotions for him. Those of you that know my father know that his silliness transcends language! One would not accuse my dad of being an introvert and it was wonderful to see him interacting with people whom he had never met and whom spoke a language so foreign to him. Within just one hour, he was singing songs and had everyone in hysterics!
I departed for my long journey back to Italia on the 25th. Following the two hour boat ride back to the mainland, I found myself sitting at an outdoor café watching the Croatian people walk by. My mind wandered to many places:
“They look so different than me, could I really be half Croat?”
“Their language is so dramatically foreign to me, even though my grandparents spoke it”
“How the hell can I love food so much and be half Croatian with what they eat (See notes from the cheap seats for further elaboration)!”
As I pondered these thoughts and the destiny that brought me to this earth, I realized just how true the cliché “Everything Happens for Reason” is. “Had grandma not had the courage to leave all she new, had she not weathered the surely difficult circumstances of being on a ship all alone for four weeks, had she not desired to better her legacy and take the chance of meeting a man whom she only new by a photo, would I be one of these folks on Hvar? Would my life have been a difficult struggle? Would I be eating bad food?” Of course the answer is none of the above, but rather that I would not be here at all!
Thank you Grandma for your courage…
A Day of Travel Straight to Hell and Back!
We, like many of you have had our share of crappy travel days, but THIS ONE takes the cake in our experience. It began at 10:30 am when we left the castle for Pisa Airport and our 12:40 flight to Madrid Spain where we would meet my mom and dad and Trey and Olivia would see them for the first time in three months (They had been talking about it for two weeks in anticipation). When we left, I asked Simone “How long will it take to get to Pisa Airport?” He responded “One Hour”. This of course is assuming that we don’t make a wrong turn along the way! Well, what should have been a one hour drive straight down the autostrada turned out to be a 90 minute journey with us arriving at 12:00 (Forty minutes prior to departure). The kids helped Anna, who had bags piled on her like a Sherpa on an assent of Everest, and I searched for a quick parking spot (Before you get on me about having Anna drag bags, know that had I let her find a spot she might have ended up in another country, as she still has some difficulties with directions in this land of “Labyrinth” like streets!) When I got into the terminal at 12:10 Anna was standing with the bags and the kids waiting to inform me that they closed the gate 40 minutes prior to departure and she was there 39 minutes before (Literally).
We raced over to the information counter to plead for help. After a brief wait in line I found myself across the glass counter from Georgio who clearly takes his job as the airport information guy far too seriously. At first he was quite empathetic, taking the time to call the pilot for us to ask if he would allow us to board. The minute the pilot found out that we had two bags to check, he would have nothing of such a proposal (At this point we were still 20 plus minutes before departure). Georgo hung up the phone and informed me we were out of luck. Well those of you that know me, know that at times like this, my head kicks into immediate crisis mode and often times this means, pulling out all stops! I immediately responded by asking Georgio if I could pay extra money to get on the plane and insure our arrival in Madrid on this day. To say that he was offended would be an understatement! He turned on the speaker microphone behind the glass and proceeded to “Light Me Up like a Christmas Tree” on December 25th! “I DON’T KNOW HOW THEY DO IT IN YOUR COUNTRY BUT THAT’S NOT HOW WE DO IT HERE! HOW DARE YOU SUGGEST SOMETHING LIKE THAT. WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!” I was shocked by his response and put my tail between my legs and proceeded to the next line to seek alternatives :>)
When I got in line, there were seven people in front of me and three lines open (Georgio was still staring me down (like Mike Tyson before a big fight) from one window away. Within three minutes two of the counters closed and went to lunch (Or somewhere, I assume lunch!). One hour later it was my turn to find out my options which consisted of only a scant few choices:
Fly from Pisa to Milan and then on to Madrid late tonight and pay 1,000 Euro each ticket (1500.00 US dollars) as only business class was available.
Take a three and a half hour train to Rome and catch a 5:30 flight this evening to Madrid (Reasonably priced as 200.00 euro a ticket).
Wait till tomorrow and take the same flight at 12:40 the next day (Not an option in my mind as my folks were not reachable as they were in route from Croatia without a cell phone and also would be very worried when they arrived at 11:45 this evening in Madrid expecting us to be there!)
The only problem with option two was that I didn’t know if there was a train available to get us to Rome in time for the 5:30 flight and of course the lady at the airline ticket counter didn’t know either (Why should she, the train ticket counter is at least 200 yards down the hall in the same airport. It would require WAY TOO MUCH COMMON SENSE AND EFFICIENCY for the ticket agents at the airport to have access to the train schedule on their computer!) For this reason, I had to get out of line and walk the three minute walk to find out if I could catch a train to make the Rome flight at 5:30. When I got there I found out that it simply would be cutting things far too close at this point, so I returned to the airline ticket counter and of course had to get in the back of the line!
As I made my way to the front over the next 30 minutes or so, a man frantically walked past me and straight to the ticket window, cutting in front of everyone and babbling something rapidly in Italian. Of course his emergency was far more important than all of ours. This ignited an argument between him and two other people in line that became somewhat heated, but he wouldn’t back down. The result was another 30 minutes of waiting (Total of one hour since finding out the train was not an option) for yours truly as his problem took quite a while.
When I finally returned to the front of the line I informed the ticket agent that I would like to bite the bullet and go with option one (Flying to Milan and then on to Madrid however ridiculous the price might be). After about ten minutes of her playing with her computer keyboard, she looked up and informed me that those seats were now taken and the flight was sold out! “OK…………. deeeeeeeeeeeeeep breeeeeeeeeeeeeeath! Had I not had to get out of line to walk to the train ticket office and then wait another one hour I would….ah no one cares so just stop the complaining.”
Now it was back to the drawing board for the next 75 minutes with the ticket agent. We finally located an option that would work if we could “boogie big time”. There was a flight that left from Bologna (Three hours away) at 6:40 and had us arriving in Madrid at 8:40. By this time it was nearly 2:00 so making it there would be a test.
We bought the tickets (You don’t want to know how much we had to pay, it was highway robbery), reloaded the car and put the peddle to the mettle.
Think again if you thought this was the end of the saga. The next hurdle was that the machine in the parking garage that required payment for our three and a half hours at Pisa airport was broken and there was no one in sight to help! This is where I lost it! Talk about feeling like nothing can go right. Imagine sitting in the parking lot with a wooden gate in front of you (You know the one, with the bar that goes up in any standard parking garage) and you can’t go anywhere. I didn’t know whether I wanted to laugh or cry, so I literally chose the later…
Well, we finally retrieved help and were given our “Get out of jail free card” and hit the autostrada at high speed. The problem with our route is that the highway from Florence to Bologna (The last 75 minutes of the drive) winds through the Appinine Mountains and is notorious for having slow traffic due to big rig trucks. I decided to make the call to our pal Simone (You must remember him from last month’s gasoline escapade) and asked him to meet us at the train station in Florence with four train tickets to Bologna. By now the only chance we had of making it was a high speed train through the mountains as the delays in the parking garage all but sealed our fate of missing a second flight and wasting a significant amount of money.
We arrived at Santa Maria Novella Train Station at 3:55 pm, five minutes before the train’s departure! The scene that you have watched in movies of the family racing down the train track to catch the train was us! I literally had to throw our bags onto the train as it was about to begin moving. Lets put it this way, it’s a good thing that I only had family was sitting next to Anna and I on the one hour journey to Bologna, because I cant believe we smelled too good at this point!
Well, we made it to Bologna on time and made our flight, but this day was not quite over. As we were boarding we were informed that Iberia Airlines, cancelled our return from Madrid to Pisa in their system as we were listed as a “No Show” from earlier that day! It was at this point that we simply had to find humor in all the hassle. It’s a good thing we have the best travel agent on the planet in Linda Lockner. She of course as always took care of us and got our tickets reinstated with the central ticket office for Iberia airlines.
Moral to the story? Yup, take a driver to the airport, its simply not worth the stress :>)
We raced over to the information counter to plead for help. After a brief wait in line I found myself across the glass counter from Georgio who clearly takes his job as the airport information guy far too seriously. At first he was quite empathetic, taking the time to call the pilot for us to ask if he would allow us to board. The minute the pilot found out that we had two bags to check, he would have nothing of such a proposal (At this point we were still 20 plus minutes before departure). Georgo hung up the phone and informed me we were out of luck. Well those of you that know me, know that at times like this, my head kicks into immediate crisis mode and often times this means, pulling out all stops! I immediately responded by asking Georgio if I could pay extra money to get on the plane and insure our arrival in Madrid on this day. To say that he was offended would be an understatement! He turned on the speaker microphone behind the glass and proceeded to “Light Me Up like a Christmas Tree” on December 25th! “I DON’T KNOW HOW THEY DO IT IN YOUR COUNTRY BUT THAT’S NOT HOW WE DO IT HERE! HOW DARE YOU SUGGEST SOMETHING LIKE THAT. WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!” I was shocked by his response and put my tail between my legs and proceeded to the next line to seek alternatives :>)
When I got in line, there were seven people in front of me and three lines open (Georgio was still staring me down (like Mike Tyson before a big fight) from one window away. Within three minutes two of the counters closed and went to lunch (Or somewhere, I assume lunch!). One hour later it was my turn to find out my options which consisted of only a scant few choices:
Fly from Pisa to Milan and then on to Madrid late tonight and pay 1,000 Euro each ticket (1500.00 US dollars) as only business class was available.
Take a three and a half hour train to Rome and catch a 5:30 flight this evening to Madrid (Reasonably priced as 200.00 euro a ticket).
Wait till tomorrow and take the same flight at 12:40 the next day (Not an option in my mind as my folks were not reachable as they were in route from Croatia without a cell phone and also would be very worried when they arrived at 11:45 this evening in Madrid expecting us to be there!)
The only problem with option two was that I didn’t know if there was a train available to get us to Rome in time for the 5:30 flight and of course the lady at the airline ticket counter didn’t know either (Why should she, the train ticket counter is at least 200 yards down the hall in the same airport. It would require WAY TOO MUCH COMMON SENSE AND EFFICIENCY for the ticket agents at the airport to have access to the train schedule on their computer!) For this reason, I had to get out of line and walk the three minute walk to find out if I could catch a train to make the Rome flight at 5:30. When I got there I found out that it simply would be cutting things far too close at this point, so I returned to the airline ticket counter and of course had to get in the back of the line!
As I made my way to the front over the next 30 minutes or so, a man frantically walked past me and straight to the ticket window, cutting in front of everyone and babbling something rapidly in Italian. Of course his emergency was far more important than all of ours. This ignited an argument between him and two other people in line that became somewhat heated, but he wouldn’t back down. The result was another 30 minutes of waiting (Total of one hour since finding out the train was not an option) for yours truly as his problem took quite a while.
When I finally returned to the front of the line I informed the ticket agent that I would like to bite the bullet and go with option one (Flying to Milan and then on to Madrid however ridiculous the price might be). After about ten minutes of her playing with her computer keyboard, she looked up and informed me that those seats were now taken and the flight was sold out! “OK…………. deeeeeeeeeeeeeep breeeeeeeeeeeeeeath! Had I not had to get out of line to walk to the train ticket office and then wait another one hour I would….ah no one cares so just stop the complaining.”
Now it was back to the drawing board for the next 75 minutes with the ticket agent. We finally located an option that would work if we could “boogie big time”. There was a flight that left from Bologna (Three hours away) at 6:40 and had us arriving in Madrid at 8:40. By this time it was nearly 2:00 so making it there would be a test.
We bought the tickets (You don’t want to know how much we had to pay, it was highway robbery), reloaded the car and put the peddle to the mettle.
Think again if you thought this was the end of the saga. The next hurdle was that the machine in the parking garage that required payment for our three and a half hours at Pisa airport was broken and there was no one in sight to help! This is where I lost it! Talk about feeling like nothing can go right. Imagine sitting in the parking lot with a wooden gate in front of you (You know the one, with the bar that goes up in any standard parking garage) and you can’t go anywhere. I didn’t know whether I wanted to laugh or cry, so I literally chose the later…
Well, we finally retrieved help and were given our “Get out of jail free card” and hit the autostrada at high speed. The problem with our route is that the highway from Florence to Bologna (The last 75 minutes of the drive) winds through the Appinine Mountains and is notorious for having slow traffic due to big rig trucks. I decided to make the call to our pal Simone (You must remember him from last month’s gasoline escapade) and asked him to meet us at the train station in Florence with four train tickets to Bologna. By now the only chance we had of making it was a high speed train through the mountains as the delays in the parking garage all but sealed our fate of missing a second flight and wasting a significant amount of money.
We arrived at Santa Maria Novella Train Station at 3:55 pm, five minutes before the train’s departure! The scene that you have watched in movies of the family racing down the train track to catch the train was us! I literally had to throw our bags onto the train as it was about to begin moving. Lets put it this way, it’s a good thing that I only had family was sitting next to Anna and I on the one hour journey to Bologna, because I cant believe we smelled too good at this point!
Well, we made it to Bologna on time and made our flight, but this day was not quite over. As we were boarding we were informed that Iberia Airlines, cancelled our return from Madrid to Pisa in their system as we were listed as a “No Show” from earlier that day! It was at this point that we simply had to find humor in all the hassle. It’s a good thing we have the best travel agent on the planet in Linda Lockner. She of course as always took care of us and got our tickets reinstated with the central ticket office for Iberia airlines.
Moral to the story? Yup, take a driver to the airport, its simply not worth the stress :>)
Spain
In total we spent six full days in Spain, but in many ways it seemed a lot longer! This is in part due to the hectic travel experience in getting there and in some ways a poorly planned trip. It would be a bit unfair to say that Spain was less than terrific as there were many wonderful experiences that we shared, and one must consider that we will forever compare other countries in Europe to Italy. For our taste, Italy is pretty tough to beat. Our goal was to see as much of Southern Spain as possible as there are limitations as to the time of the year that you can travel to “Andalusia” (The Southern most region of Spain) as summer is far too hot and winter can get a bit cold. A brief bit of history is necessary to really appreciate Spain, which can rival most any country in historical significance. I have broken down this section into three destinations:
Madrid (The capital of Spain)
Seville (The Capital of Andalusia)
Granada (The Final Stronghold of the Moorish Empire which ruled Spain for 700 years)
Madrid – It would be a bit unfair to have an opinion either way on Madrid as we lost one full day there due to the airline fiasco (In total we only spent two nights and one half day there), but we did get a chance to walk around a bit and see some of the cities amazing architecture. There are of course many amazing cities in Europe from the perspective of architecture, and I would have to say that Madrid is near the top of the list. On any given street you will see some of the most impressive buildings that you can imagine. What makes the architecture unique in Madrid is that it appears to be relatively new compared to places like Rome, Paris and Florence. Since Spain was one of the worlds foremost Imperialistic Countries (Having conquered such a significant percentage of the New World) it would make sense that its capital is home to an amazing collection of treasures (Especially gold and other fine minerals that it stole from the Indians of North and South America! Sorry for the politically opinionated diversion, that’s just the bleeding heart in me coming out :>).
Since we didn’t have a tour of Madrid, or time to visit its numerous monuments, there is little that I have to share about the cities history. I can only tell you that as far as a walking city goes, its pretty darn impressive (See photos)
Seville –
For a great many years, I have had Southern Spain near the top of my list places that I would love to visit. The challenge has been the time of year that is ideal for visiting this land whose coast line lies only 30 miles from Morocco in North Africa. Temperatures can reach as high as 125 degrees during the summer months, making the Spring or Fall the only times that one should visit. It simply has not made sense to travel half way around the world for only one week (The kids school schedule would not permit anything other than Spring Break), so when we decided to move to Italy, Andalusia (Southern Spain) was an automatic. The biggest attraction for me is that I am one quarter Syrian and therefore have a desire to experience as much of the Arab world as is safe to do so. Southern Spain gives you a true taste of Arab influence but without the worry. We Americans have a jaded perspective on Arab people due to the many conflicts we have witnessed in our lifetime, however just as “We” are not our government in America, neither are the Arab people theirs. Arab people are some of the most passionate, social and charismatic you will ever meet and their food aint too bad either!
Seville is the capital of Southern Spain and a large city of nearly 1 million people (It doesn’t seem that large however when you are there). Many are unaware of the history of Spain and in particular the South, so I will take a brief moment to summarize.
Spain was predominantly under Roman rule (And a part of the Roman government) for many hundreds of years up until 712 AD, when it was conquered by the Moors of Northern Africa. The Moors being of Muslim decent incorporated many of their traditions into the food, architecture and religion into this region that it ruled for over 700 years! Their reach of habitation covered all of Spain up to the French boarder, making it one of the largest land areas under Muslim rule. It is interesting to note that at the time of Arab rule, Spain was inhabited by Muslims, Jews and Christians and tolerance was practiced towards all three religions. It was not until the fall of Grenada (More on this city later) that the conquering Christians forced conversion to Christianity and extradited all Jews from the Country. Seville itself fell to the Christians in 1248 and the unfortunate fact is that much of the wonderful Arab architecture of this period was destroyed by the Christians.
The major attraction of Seville is Santa Maria Cathedral and we hired a great guide by the name of Luis to show us around. The Church was built in 1401 and is the largest Gothic Church in the world and ranks as the third largest overall behind St. Peters in Rome and St. Pauls in London (Those that remember last months blog should immediately detect that we now officially have a controversy on our hands as Alex tells us that the Duomo in Florence in the worlds third largest church!) Lets just say they are both freaking big! Perhaps some of you have been to Notre Dame in Paris (The worlds most famous Gothic Church). I would tell you that Santa Maria in Seville is far superior. The alter itself, took over 40 years to carve and its back drop is wood covered in gold leaf (Floor to ceiling, which is 8 stories high!). It is nothing shy of mesmerizing with over 2000 individual pictures telling the story of the Christian religion (In these times, virtually everyone was illiterate so conversion to the faith was done with visual imagery). To give you an idea of the sheer magnitude of this amazing shrine, one of the side alters has a painting as a back drop that is alone just over 500 square feet in size! (See photo).
Perhaps the greatest gift that Santa Maria Cathedral offers however is the tomb of Christopher Columbus himself! The story of Columbus is quite interesting. We all know the story from our history classes of his famous voyage and discovery of America in 1492 (He actually discovered what is now the Dominican Republic and an Italian, Amerigo Vespuccio discovered the mainland of what we consider to be America, hence he name!). The part of the story that I was never told was how he died. Columbus was commissioned by Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain to sail the Pacific in an effort to prove that the world was round and to find an alternative route to India (Hence the reason it was called the West Indies). The deal that he had with the King and Queen entitled him to 10% of all the land he discovered! It seems that when the King and Queen realized just how much land there really was (Basically most of Central America and the Carribean) they decided to renege on the deal and threw Ol Chris into jail! He died there that very night (Mysteriously I might add). Upon his death his remains were moved to Seville and later his son moved them to the Dominican Republic. When the French later invaded the Dominican, they were moved to Hvana Cuba. A few years ago there was a lively debate between Seville and The Domincan Republic as to who really had the bones of Columbus. Following an extensive analysis by scientists, it was concluded by DNA findings that BOTH countries truly had partial remains of the famous Spanish Conquistador.
A final note about the Cathedral. The city of Seville is built along the Guadalquvir River “Big River” which runs some 90 kms to the Atlantic. Columbus, Magellan and a host of other Spanish sailors came to pray at this church before they set sail to Americas.
Seville is also the birthplace of two wonderful traditions (Flamenco and Tapas) and it would be wrong to not mention both. Flamenco is a type of dancing that is synonymous with Spain and is performed to the Spanish acoustic guitar and singing. We went to a Flamenco show one night in Seville that included a tapas dinner. The entertainment was un-remarkable (Wasn’t horrible, just nothing special) but we were treated to watching Trey swipe a plate of olives off a neighboring table (Per his grandfathers coaxing) as my dad was simply not wiling to wait for the typically methodical food service you receive in Spain!
Tapas are a bit of an institution in Spain. Think of Tapas as small meals (Appetizers) that are eaten in most cases standing up, while having a glass of wine. It is not at all uncommon for Spanish people to migrate from one tapas bar to the next over the course of an evening, while eating several dishes. It makes for a very social way of dining and the dishes are excellent. Without question, my favorite was the “Suckling Pig” which melts in your mouth. Those of you that are saying “What the Hell is suckling Pig”, think of pulled pork but without the BBQ sauce, that type of tender. In finality on Spanish food, much to my father’s surprise it is nothing like Mexican food. Paella, gazpacho and pork are all staples of the Spanish table. The only problem that we had with Spanish food was that it simply wasn’t diverse enough. Every place we ate seemed to have the exact same menu. A week was simply overkill of the same dishes.
Following three days in Seville, we jumped back into our rental car and made the drive across the “Andalus” to Grenada. Along the way we passed by many unremarkable villages (This part of the trip was a bit disappointing as it was long and tiring). One stop in particular was in a village called Rhonda, which must have some major historical significance but we just never found out about it because we didn’t have the time. Rhonda is also the place that bull fighting was invented (Many of these villages in the Andalus were likely far better than we realized, but we only saw them from the highway!). What we did find out, was that you better hadn’t order a kids meal in a nice restaurant with an amazing view unless you qualify (See notes from the cheap seats)!
Grenada –
Our final stop was the city of Grenada, which also happened to be the final stop for the Christians in their quest to take back Spain. Grenada was the final city to fall from the hands of the Arabs in 1492 (Yes the same year that Columbus discovered America!) At the time of the final battle, Grenada was the largest city in Europe. This may seem astonishing, but it was for good reason. As the Christians migrated across Spain and one by one conquered the various Arabic cities, the remaining Arabs fled to Grenada. The city swelled in size over a 100 year period of time and became the place for the Arabs last stand.
The major attraction for one to visit modern day Grenada is The Alhambra (Red Castle). Built in 1238, The Alhambra is the only example of a Medieval Arab Palace left in the world. You will no longer find any remaining in Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia etc… as they were all destroyed by the Turks and Mongols hundreds of years ago. The Alhambra is in an ideal position as far as palaces go. It rests high on an enormous hilltop over looking the valley that houses Grenada and is blessed with having an aqueduct which provided it with running water (Not exactly a common amenity in the middle ages and a bit of a necessity in a place that has soaring summer time temperatures).
To say that the Alhambra is a stunning palace would be an understatement. The distinct Arabic influence in its architecture, makes for an incredibly exotic feel. The Alhambra actually boasted seven different palaces within it enormous walls, but only three remain as four of them were destroyed by France during the Napoleanic Wars. These are not palaces of opulence like those found in many places of western influence. The Arabic people lived under a philosophy that the outside of a home (Or Palace) should be understated so as to not make those less fortunate feel bad. Internally, The Alhambra has some of the most spectacular architectural design you will ever see. The ceilings alone as awe inspiring (See photos)
When visiting the Andalusia, we were given a different perspective on the religion of Islam that many in our part of the world may be unaware of. One of the interesting facts that we learned is that genetically speaking, Arabs and Jews are more closely related in their genetic makeup than any two societies on the planet (Like two brothers that hate each other I guess). A further insight into this close relationship lies within the Koran itself where the following people are all included and revered within the Muslim faith (Mohammad, Jesus, Abraham, Adam, Moses and The Virgin Mary). When meeting the people of the Arab world (We met many Moroccans on our trip to Spain) and you reflect on the above facts, it makes it even more difficult to understand the problems that we have in the world today…
Madrid (The capital of Spain)
Seville (The Capital of Andalusia)
Granada (The Final Stronghold of the Moorish Empire which ruled Spain for 700 years)
Madrid – It would be a bit unfair to have an opinion either way on Madrid as we lost one full day there due to the airline fiasco (In total we only spent two nights and one half day there), but we did get a chance to walk around a bit and see some of the cities amazing architecture. There are of course many amazing cities in Europe from the perspective of architecture, and I would have to say that Madrid is near the top of the list. On any given street you will see some of the most impressive buildings that you can imagine. What makes the architecture unique in Madrid is that it appears to be relatively new compared to places like Rome, Paris and Florence. Since Spain was one of the worlds foremost Imperialistic Countries (Having conquered such a significant percentage of the New World) it would make sense that its capital is home to an amazing collection of treasures (Especially gold and other fine minerals that it stole from the Indians of North and South America! Sorry for the politically opinionated diversion, that’s just the bleeding heart in me coming out :>).
Since we didn’t have a tour of Madrid, or time to visit its numerous monuments, there is little that I have to share about the cities history. I can only tell you that as far as a walking city goes, its pretty darn impressive (See photos)
Seville –
For a great many years, I have had Southern Spain near the top of my list places that I would love to visit. The challenge has been the time of year that is ideal for visiting this land whose coast line lies only 30 miles from Morocco in North Africa. Temperatures can reach as high as 125 degrees during the summer months, making the Spring or Fall the only times that one should visit. It simply has not made sense to travel half way around the world for only one week (The kids school schedule would not permit anything other than Spring Break), so when we decided to move to Italy, Andalusia (Southern Spain) was an automatic. The biggest attraction for me is that I am one quarter Syrian and therefore have a desire to experience as much of the Arab world as is safe to do so. Southern Spain gives you a true taste of Arab influence but without the worry. We Americans have a jaded perspective on Arab people due to the many conflicts we have witnessed in our lifetime, however just as “We” are not our government in America, neither are the Arab people theirs. Arab people are some of the most passionate, social and charismatic you will ever meet and their food aint too bad either!
Seville is the capital of Southern Spain and a large city of nearly 1 million people (It doesn’t seem that large however when you are there). Many are unaware of the history of Spain and in particular the South, so I will take a brief moment to summarize.
Spain was predominantly under Roman rule (And a part of the Roman government) for many hundreds of years up until 712 AD, when it was conquered by the Moors of Northern Africa. The Moors being of Muslim decent incorporated many of their traditions into the food, architecture and religion into this region that it ruled for over 700 years! Their reach of habitation covered all of Spain up to the French boarder, making it one of the largest land areas under Muslim rule. It is interesting to note that at the time of Arab rule, Spain was inhabited by Muslims, Jews and Christians and tolerance was practiced towards all three religions. It was not until the fall of Grenada (More on this city later) that the conquering Christians forced conversion to Christianity and extradited all Jews from the Country. Seville itself fell to the Christians in 1248 and the unfortunate fact is that much of the wonderful Arab architecture of this period was destroyed by the Christians.
The major attraction of Seville is Santa Maria Cathedral and we hired a great guide by the name of Luis to show us around. The Church was built in 1401 and is the largest Gothic Church in the world and ranks as the third largest overall behind St. Peters in Rome and St. Pauls in London (Those that remember last months blog should immediately detect that we now officially have a controversy on our hands as Alex tells us that the Duomo in Florence in the worlds third largest church!) Lets just say they are both freaking big! Perhaps some of you have been to Notre Dame in Paris (The worlds most famous Gothic Church). I would tell you that Santa Maria in Seville is far superior. The alter itself, took over 40 years to carve and its back drop is wood covered in gold leaf (Floor to ceiling, which is 8 stories high!). It is nothing shy of mesmerizing with over 2000 individual pictures telling the story of the Christian religion (In these times, virtually everyone was illiterate so conversion to the faith was done with visual imagery). To give you an idea of the sheer magnitude of this amazing shrine, one of the side alters has a painting as a back drop that is alone just over 500 square feet in size! (See photo).
Perhaps the greatest gift that Santa Maria Cathedral offers however is the tomb of Christopher Columbus himself! The story of Columbus is quite interesting. We all know the story from our history classes of his famous voyage and discovery of America in 1492 (He actually discovered what is now the Dominican Republic and an Italian, Amerigo Vespuccio discovered the mainland of what we consider to be America, hence he name!). The part of the story that I was never told was how he died. Columbus was commissioned by Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain to sail the Pacific in an effort to prove that the world was round and to find an alternative route to India (Hence the reason it was called the West Indies). The deal that he had with the King and Queen entitled him to 10% of all the land he discovered! It seems that when the King and Queen realized just how much land there really was (Basically most of Central America and the Carribean) they decided to renege on the deal and threw Ol Chris into jail! He died there that very night (Mysteriously I might add). Upon his death his remains were moved to Seville and later his son moved them to the Dominican Republic. When the French later invaded the Dominican, they were moved to Hvana Cuba. A few years ago there was a lively debate between Seville and The Domincan Republic as to who really had the bones of Columbus. Following an extensive analysis by scientists, it was concluded by DNA findings that BOTH countries truly had partial remains of the famous Spanish Conquistador.
A final note about the Cathedral. The city of Seville is built along the Guadalquvir River “Big River” which runs some 90 kms to the Atlantic. Columbus, Magellan and a host of other Spanish sailors came to pray at this church before they set sail to Americas.
Seville is also the birthplace of two wonderful traditions (Flamenco and Tapas) and it would be wrong to not mention both. Flamenco is a type of dancing that is synonymous with Spain and is performed to the Spanish acoustic guitar and singing. We went to a Flamenco show one night in Seville that included a tapas dinner. The entertainment was un-remarkable (Wasn’t horrible, just nothing special) but we were treated to watching Trey swipe a plate of olives off a neighboring table (Per his grandfathers coaxing) as my dad was simply not wiling to wait for the typically methodical food service you receive in Spain!
Tapas are a bit of an institution in Spain. Think of Tapas as small meals (Appetizers) that are eaten in most cases standing up, while having a glass of wine. It is not at all uncommon for Spanish people to migrate from one tapas bar to the next over the course of an evening, while eating several dishes. It makes for a very social way of dining and the dishes are excellent. Without question, my favorite was the “Suckling Pig” which melts in your mouth. Those of you that are saying “What the Hell is suckling Pig”, think of pulled pork but without the BBQ sauce, that type of tender. In finality on Spanish food, much to my father’s surprise it is nothing like Mexican food. Paella, gazpacho and pork are all staples of the Spanish table. The only problem that we had with Spanish food was that it simply wasn’t diverse enough. Every place we ate seemed to have the exact same menu. A week was simply overkill of the same dishes.
Following three days in Seville, we jumped back into our rental car and made the drive across the “Andalus” to Grenada. Along the way we passed by many unremarkable villages (This part of the trip was a bit disappointing as it was long and tiring). One stop in particular was in a village called Rhonda, which must have some major historical significance but we just never found out about it because we didn’t have the time. Rhonda is also the place that bull fighting was invented (Many of these villages in the Andalus were likely far better than we realized, but we only saw them from the highway!). What we did find out, was that you better hadn’t order a kids meal in a nice restaurant with an amazing view unless you qualify (See notes from the cheap seats)!
Grenada –
Our final stop was the city of Grenada, which also happened to be the final stop for the Christians in their quest to take back Spain. Grenada was the final city to fall from the hands of the Arabs in 1492 (Yes the same year that Columbus discovered America!) At the time of the final battle, Grenada was the largest city in Europe. This may seem astonishing, but it was for good reason. As the Christians migrated across Spain and one by one conquered the various Arabic cities, the remaining Arabs fled to Grenada. The city swelled in size over a 100 year period of time and became the place for the Arabs last stand.
The major attraction for one to visit modern day Grenada is The Alhambra (Red Castle). Built in 1238, The Alhambra is the only example of a Medieval Arab Palace left in the world. You will no longer find any remaining in Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia etc… as they were all destroyed by the Turks and Mongols hundreds of years ago. The Alhambra is in an ideal position as far as palaces go. It rests high on an enormous hilltop over looking the valley that houses Grenada and is blessed with having an aqueduct which provided it with running water (Not exactly a common amenity in the middle ages and a bit of a necessity in a place that has soaring summer time temperatures).
To say that the Alhambra is a stunning palace would be an understatement. The distinct Arabic influence in its architecture, makes for an incredibly exotic feel. The Alhambra actually boasted seven different palaces within it enormous walls, but only three remain as four of them were destroyed by France during the Napoleanic Wars. These are not palaces of opulence like those found in many places of western influence. The Arabic people lived under a philosophy that the outside of a home (Or Palace) should be understated so as to not make those less fortunate feel bad. Internally, The Alhambra has some of the most spectacular architectural design you will ever see. The ceilings alone as awe inspiring (See photos)
When visiting the Andalusia, we were given a different perspective on the religion of Islam that many in our part of the world may be unaware of. One of the interesting facts that we learned is that genetically speaking, Arabs and Jews are more closely related in their genetic makeup than any two societies on the planet (Like two brothers that hate each other I guess). A further insight into this close relationship lies within the Koran itself where the following people are all included and revered within the Muslim faith (Mohammad, Jesus, Abraham, Adam, Moses and The Virgin Mary). When meeting the people of the Arab world (We met many Moroccans on our trip to Spain) and you reflect on the above facts, it makes it even more difficult to understand the problems that we have in the world today…
My Mom and Dad's Visit
Much of what has been captured in this month’s version of Florentine Braheem involves my mother and father whom following our time together in Croatia, traveled with us through Spain and then visited us in Italy for one week.
One of the reasons we were so determined to make it to Madrid on that long travel day, was to surprise them by having Olivia and Trey awake when they arrived at the hotel after midnight. They had not seen their grandchildren in over three months and were so excited to spend time with them. Spain was a major journey with a considerable amount of driving and living out of suit cases, so our arrival in Italy brought some much needed rest to both of my folks.
My dad has been having trouble with his knee and back lately and unfortunately was limited in the sites he was able to see in both Spain and Italy due to the walking requirements in many European Cities. This however did provide for a lot of quality time with Trey and Olivia as they aren’t exactly avid tourists of historical sites at this point! Their time together is best summarized by dozens of games of “Crazy Eights and Fish” which evolved into learning card tricks, playing billiards, shooting craps (j/k) and being silly!
Grandma on the other hand as usual took on her European vacation with reckless abandon. My mom’s philosophy is that she is pretty much “Up for anything”, especially shopping, which she and Anna did a considerable amount of, especially in Florence. Additionally, my mom spent two days on tours of Florence with Anna, Alex and I (We visited The Piti Palace and Fiesole together). Of course neither of my parents missed a chance to help get the kids ready for school each day and help them with their homework when they arrived home from school in the afternoon.
For me personally, the time was way too short. I awoke the day after they left in a funk. I can’t believe how fast the time went by and regret that the time was not longer. The saving grace is that in just over a month I will get to see them again for the holidays when we return home to California. There have been so many lessons that we have already learned here in Italy, perhaps none that is more important that the value of family. One of the highlights for me was waking up at 2:30 in the morning with my dad to watch the Monday night NFL game on satellite (We get one game a week in the middle of the night here in Italy) and it happened to be our Pittsburgh Steelers that were on!
Rather than try to summarize their feelings and experiences, it would be much better for them to speak for themselves:
An Interview with Jim and Lucy:
Q – What did it feel like when you saw the kids that night in Madrid after a long day of travel?
LA – “It was just so weird because I was standing at the desk, checking into the hotel and something grabbed my leg. I was in shock, it was really hard to describe. What a great surprise.”
JA – “Oh man, first of all I didn’t expect to see them at 1:00 am in the morning and after traveling nearly 10,000 miles it was simply terrific to see them. What a shock.”
Q – The blog has included a cast of characters in the past few months (People like Simone, Stella, Alex etc…what were your impressions of these Italian Friends of the Braheem Family?
LA – “Oh, well, I’ll tell you. Simone is just a prince of a young man. He’s very special and not the kind of a young man you find every day. I can see now why you feel so confident in having him take care of your kids even at his young age. What a nice young man.”
“Stella (Laugh) is exactly how you described her. She’ crazy, but such a nice lady. I wish I could have communicated better with her as she has so much to say. She is such a special lady. You are lucky to have her. I love her energy. She doesn’t let anything get in her way of being happy.”
“Alex, oh gosh, what a charming young lady with so much knowledge and passion for sharing it. She makes you happy because she is happy. I really liked being with her so much.”
JA - “Really good personalities and very friendly people. Even though I couldn’t verbally communicate with them, they made me feel at home. It makes me feel so much better to know that they have friends in Italy that they can count on and have to help you. It makes me feel good for the kids that you have made friends.”
Q – As you ready to depart for home, what will be a few of your fondest memories that you will take with you?
LA- “Just spending time with you guys and the kids. Sleeping with my grandkids every night, helping them with their homework every day (Tears rolling down her face when saying this). Also this place. You guys try to describe this place (The castle) and nothing you can say or show in pictures will ever do it justice. It’s simply amazing. I love looking out the windows and seeing so many beautiful things.”
JA – “Croatia for sure. Getting to meet my wife’s relatives and seeing where my mother and father en law are from was amazing. It was really hard for me to leave as I know that I may never see them again, but I’m really happy that I got a chance to meet them.”
“I really enjoyed seeing the kid’s school. Knowing that they are in a good school and that they are happy there was nice to see.”
“You know what, I can’t really say that much about Spain. Its not that I didn’t like it, but Italy has it hands down over Spain.”
Q – Tim and Anna talk a lot about the food in Italy in their blog, did it live up to their lofting billing?
LA – “Oh My God, its just going to be so boring eating at home. Even the best of restaurants won’t be as good as the simplest of restaurants here. You can’t even come close to the quality at home versus here.”
JA – “Without a doubt! Tim told me that we have yet to find a bad meal and I didn’t find one either! We sure went to a lot of different places looking!”
Q - What surprised you the most about Italy and Spain?
LA – “Well, one thing that surprised me about both countries is how much they smoke and how little they care about non-smokers. Also the crazy drivers. Its like your playing bumper cars when driving in Italy. The roads are nuts.”
“It surprised me how people just stood around and ate their lunch standing up in Spain (Tapas) I have never seen that before.”
JA – “I was surprised about how different the food was in Spain from Mexico. I guess that since they speak the same language that I thought that the food would be more similar but it was totally different.”
“In Italy, I could not believe how well my son was able to navigate around the city through the amazing array of narrow roads and streets and how well he knows the roads already.”
Q - What did you like the least or created the biggest disappointment in your European Journey?
LA – “I guess what I least liked was that there wasn’t the enthusiasm in the people in Spain that there is in Italy. The people are more formal in Spain and more warm in Italy. Italy has it hands down over Spain.”
JA – “What I liked the least was having to say goodbye to people.”
One of the reasons we were so determined to make it to Madrid on that long travel day, was to surprise them by having Olivia and Trey awake when they arrived at the hotel after midnight. They had not seen their grandchildren in over three months and were so excited to spend time with them. Spain was a major journey with a considerable amount of driving and living out of suit cases, so our arrival in Italy brought some much needed rest to both of my folks.
My dad has been having trouble with his knee and back lately and unfortunately was limited in the sites he was able to see in both Spain and Italy due to the walking requirements in many European Cities. This however did provide for a lot of quality time with Trey and Olivia as they aren’t exactly avid tourists of historical sites at this point! Their time together is best summarized by dozens of games of “Crazy Eights and Fish” which evolved into learning card tricks, playing billiards, shooting craps (j/k) and being silly!
Grandma on the other hand as usual took on her European vacation with reckless abandon. My mom’s philosophy is that she is pretty much “Up for anything”, especially shopping, which she and Anna did a considerable amount of, especially in Florence. Additionally, my mom spent two days on tours of Florence with Anna, Alex and I (We visited The Piti Palace and Fiesole together). Of course neither of my parents missed a chance to help get the kids ready for school each day and help them with their homework when they arrived home from school in the afternoon.
For me personally, the time was way too short. I awoke the day after they left in a funk. I can’t believe how fast the time went by and regret that the time was not longer. The saving grace is that in just over a month I will get to see them again for the holidays when we return home to California. There have been so many lessons that we have already learned here in Italy, perhaps none that is more important that the value of family. One of the highlights for me was waking up at 2:30 in the morning with my dad to watch the Monday night NFL game on satellite (We get one game a week in the middle of the night here in Italy) and it happened to be our Pittsburgh Steelers that were on!
Rather than try to summarize their feelings and experiences, it would be much better for them to speak for themselves:
An Interview with Jim and Lucy:
Q – What did it feel like when you saw the kids that night in Madrid after a long day of travel?
LA – “It was just so weird because I was standing at the desk, checking into the hotel and something grabbed my leg. I was in shock, it was really hard to describe. What a great surprise.”
JA – “Oh man, first of all I didn’t expect to see them at 1:00 am in the morning and after traveling nearly 10,000 miles it was simply terrific to see them. What a shock.”
Q – The blog has included a cast of characters in the past few months (People like Simone, Stella, Alex etc…what were your impressions of these Italian Friends of the Braheem Family?
LA – “Oh, well, I’ll tell you. Simone is just a prince of a young man. He’s very special and not the kind of a young man you find every day. I can see now why you feel so confident in having him take care of your kids even at his young age. What a nice young man.”
“Stella (Laugh) is exactly how you described her. She’ crazy, but such a nice lady. I wish I could have communicated better with her as she has so much to say. She is such a special lady. You are lucky to have her. I love her energy. She doesn’t let anything get in her way of being happy.”
“Alex, oh gosh, what a charming young lady with so much knowledge and passion for sharing it. She makes you happy because she is happy. I really liked being with her so much.”
JA - “Really good personalities and very friendly people. Even though I couldn’t verbally communicate with them, they made me feel at home. It makes me feel so much better to know that they have friends in Italy that they can count on and have to help you. It makes me feel good for the kids that you have made friends.”
Q – As you ready to depart for home, what will be a few of your fondest memories that you will take with you?
LA- “Just spending time with you guys and the kids. Sleeping with my grandkids every night, helping them with their homework every day (Tears rolling down her face when saying this). Also this place. You guys try to describe this place (The castle) and nothing you can say or show in pictures will ever do it justice. It’s simply amazing. I love looking out the windows and seeing so many beautiful things.”
JA – “Croatia for sure. Getting to meet my wife’s relatives and seeing where my mother and father en law are from was amazing. It was really hard for me to leave as I know that I may never see them again, but I’m really happy that I got a chance to meet them.”
“I really enjoyed seeing the kid’s school. Knowing that they are in a good school and that they are happy there was nice to see.”
“You know what, I can’t really say that much about Spain. Its not that I didn’t like it, but Italy has it hands down over Spain.”
Q – Tim and Anna talk a lot about the food in Italy in their blog, did it live up to their lofting billing?
LA – “Oh My God, its just going to be so boring eating at home. Even the best of restaurants won’t be as good as the simplest of restaurants here. You can’t even come close to the quality at home versus here.”
JA – “Without a doubt! Tim told me that we have yet to find a bad meal and I didn’t find one either! We sure went to a lot of different places looking!”
Q - What surprised you the most about Italy and Spain?
LA – “Well, one thing that surprised me about both countries is how much they smoke and how little they care about non-smokers. Also the crazy drivers. Its like your playing bumper cars when driving in Italy. The roads are nuts.”
“It surprised me how people just stood around and ate their lunch standing up in Spain (Tapas) I have never seen that before.”
JA – “I was surprised about how different the food was in Spain from Mexico. I guess that since they speak the same language that I thought that the food would be more similar but it was totally different.”
“In Italy, I could not believe how well my son was able to navigate around the city through the amazing array of narrow roads and streets and how well he knows the roads already.”
Q - What did you like the least or created the biggest disappointment in your European Journey?
LA – “I guess what I least liked was that there wasn’t the enthusiasm in the people in Spain that there is in Italy. The people are more formal in Spain and more warm in Italy. Italy has it hands down over Spain.”
JA – “What I liked the least was having to say goodbye to people.”
The Last Supper
Following this interview, it was time to load up the car and take my parents to the airport. My mom and dad had an early morning flight on Monday the 12th of November and Pisa airport is about 75 minutes away from the castle. For this reason we decided to drive to Pisa the night before and have my parents stay in a hotel so they would not have to wake up in the middle of the night. Just prior to us leaving, I remembered a book that my friend Claire Leahny gave me titled “The Culinary Traveler” which is a book written by a Tuscan woman about the different regions of Tuscany and the local restaurants that she has frequented. There was just one restaurant in the Pisa area in the book called “La Traverna Dei Gabbiani”. La Traverna is a simply eatery owned by two bothers Dino and Mario. Mario is the chef and Dino perhaps the most charming waiter/host we have ever had (Pretty sure that the charm is aided by some type of stimulant!). There is no menu as they only serve what was caught that day.
Above you have read the validations of my parents about the food quality here in Italy, so hopefully when I say that this was the greatest fish meal of our lives, you will know that I am not exaggerating! In fact, I will go so far as to say that this was one of the top five meals I have ever eaten! We started with a puréed sea bass that was mixed with egg less mayonnaise and olive oil. It was to die for, when spread on top of bread that had been dipped in this seasons freshly pressed olive oil. The best part is that I have the recipe :>). This was followed by the best calamari I have ever had. But what really solidifies it, is that my dad (Who has eaten more calamari in his life than anyone on earth) confirmed it was the best he had ever eaten as well! The calamari, was so tender it melted in your mouth and was sautéed in olive oil, with arugala, tomatoes, basil and lemon. The next dish was an all world pasta dish made with homemade pasta (Tagietelle Noodles) with an amazing light tomato based fish sauce (This is a recipe I would love to have). Mr. Trey ate two huge helpings. We finished with shrimp and calamari fritti (Fried calamari and shrimp) which was accompanied by some of the best French fries we have ever eaten! Following are some quotes from the table:
Anna: “The best calamari EVER”
Trey: “The pasta was magnificent!”
Jim Braheem: “It doesn’t rank on a scale of one to ten on fish meals as its by far the best I have ever had!”
Jim Braheem: “I would ruin these fries with ketchup!”
Lucy Braheem: “Thumbs way up on the fries”
I cant think of a better final memory of Italy for my parents!
Above you have read the validations of my parents about the food quality here in Italy, so hopefully when I say that this was the greatest fish meal of our lives, you will know that I am not exaggerating! In fact, I will go so far as to say that this was one of the top five meals I have ever eaten! We started with a puréed sea bass that was mixed with egg less mayonnaise and olive oil. It was to die for, when spread on top of bread that had been dipped in this seasons freshly pressed olive oil. The best part is that I have the recipe :>). This was followed by the best calamari I have ever had. But what really solidifies it, is that my dad (Who has eaten more calamari in his life than anyone on earth) confirmed it was the best he had ever eaten as well! The calamari, was so tender it melted in your mouth and was sautéed in olive oil, with arugala, tomatoes, basil and lemon. The next dish was an all world pasta dish made with homemade pasta (Tagietelle Noodles) with an amazing light tomato based fish sauce (This is a recipe I would love to have). Mr. Trey ate two huge helpings. We finished with shrimp and calamari fritti (Fried calamari and shrimp) which was accompanied by some of the best French fries we have ever eaten! Following are some quotes from the table:
Anna: “The best calamari EVER”
Trey: “The pasta was magnificent!”
Jim Braheem: “It doesn’t rank on a scale of one to ten on fish meals as its by far the best I have ever had!”
Jim Braheem: “I would ruin these fries with ketchup!”
Lucy Braheem: “Thumbs way up on the fries”
I cant think of a better final memory of Italy for my parents!
Olivia Rae Braheem
All is well with miss Livy these days. She is loving school (And doing extremely well at it). In late October we had our parent teacher meeting and Olivia’s teacher referred to her as “My Go To Girl”. It was pretty clear that not only was she doing well academically, but that she also had won her teacher over and had become the “Pet”. In fact, one comment that was made was “I just wish that I could be a fly on the wall in the student council meetings as I’m sure she is a riot!” Speaking of student council, Olivia is enjoying being a part of the decision making process at school and has even created a suggestion box for her classroom so her fellow students can help her generate ideas.
Italian has started to catch on for Olivia and we are finding that she is using it more and more these days in communication with us. It is not uncommon to hear her answer our basic daily questions in Italian and she seems to enjoy showing off what she is learning in school. She like Trey has Italian every day in school for 45 minutes.
One particularly terrifying moment for Olivia came when we discovered the Lily (Formerly known as Iris, which is a long story that Anna can fill you in on!) our cat has taken to exploring the outer ledges of the castle. This would not be a problem at most houses but the drop from our ledges must be at least 100 feet to the ground! Upon noticing Lily, walking the narrow ledge in search of pigeons, Olivia became terrified at the prospects of losing her kitten! We managed to calm her down and coax miss Lily back to safety. Don't need any more tragic moments on our hands!
I mentioned last month that Livy was looking for a hobby and I think that we have found one for her, “Swimming”. We signed her up for swimming lessons a few weeks ago (She knows how to swim already but this is to teach her advanced swimming strokes) and she really loves it. In just three weeks, she has already moved up two levels and is able to swim the length of the pool using the backstroke. Her teachers speak a bit of English and her improvement in Italian has helped bridge the rest of the gap. There’s just something about seeing her in her little one-piece bathing suit with her cap and goggles on that warms your heart.
Bike riding on the other hand has not taken off like we would have hoped. Olivia is still a bit gun shy from the breaking of her arm and won’t allow me to let go of the seat just yet when she is riding. If you think back to this big step in your life (Riding on two wheels) it takes an understanding that you need to have speed to be able to obtain balance. We are still in the process of developing her comfort in this area. It doesn’t help that the only place to ride at the castle is on gravel! Not exactly the ideal training ground for two wheel bike riding.
October brought Halloween to Italy (Not exactly the Trick or Treat capital of the world). We did see a few decorations in stores here and there as the days drew nearer to the 31st, but the act of trick or treating is not practiced here in Italia. The kids were able to celebrate a bit at school with a pumpkin patch, but the actual day of Halloween fell while we were in Seville Spain. Anna’s parents (Gina and Brunz) were so thoughtful and found some really cool costumes for the kids on the internet and sent them along with my parents. Olivia and Trey were so excited to open the surprise and immediately tried them on in the hotel room. The next step was to convince Trey to walk the streets of Seville on Halloween night as the grim reaper (As usual, Olivia was up for anything and loved the idea of parading around as the snow princess!). After about a half hour of negotiations we were finally able to convince him to give it a go. It was so fun to see the reaction of the dozens of people that passed us that night when we meandered the streets. I would imagine that it wont go down as being the greatest Halloween experience of their lives, but I also don’t think that they will ever forget the time that they were the only ones in costumes either!
Livy also missed a couple days of school in mid November with a nasty little bought of lice! We’re not quite sure how she contracted it, but it must have happened at school. Nothing like having to comb out the living bugs in your daughters hair for 90 minutes (Anna handled that chore), followed by placing all of her sheets and towels in sealed hefty bags for three days to kill em all off! The result was a day with mom and dad shopping, which actually turned out to be one fun day with just the three of us.
Lastly, perhaps the highlight of Olivia’s month (Other than seeing her grandparents) was when she received a letter from her best friend Brinn from back in California. There’s nothing like a little kid getting something in the mail. It made her day!
This month’s interview with Olivia –
Q – How did it feel to see your grandma and grandpa for the first time in three months?
A – “Really super duper good. It was fun to stay up late and surprise them and see they look on their face.”
Q – How do you like Swimming so far?
A – “I love it. I like the things that they are teaching me. I never new that you had to take a breath when you put your face up and then blow bubbles under the water.”
Q – Tell us about Spain. Did you like it and why?
A – “Italy is much better. We always get to see kitty in Italy and I like living in the castle. The food is better in Italy, especially vegetable soup and pasta with meat sauce.”
Q – What is the strangest thing that has happened to you since you have been in Italy?
A – “Me breaking my arm, because I never broke a bone before in my body. I don’t really think about it any more but I remember it. It was hard having a caste because the glasses for drinking water are big and I like to lift them with two hands. With a caste it was tough. It was also hard when I had an itch.”
Q – When you come home for Christmas for two weeks, what are you most looking forward to?
A – “Seeing my grandpa and grandma and my friends. I am really looking forward to seeing Brinn, my friend in Thousand Oaks. I hope I can see Fluffy and Fuzzy our hamsters and Tasha our dog.”
Italian has started to catch on for Olivia and we are finding that she is using it more and more these days in communication with us. It is not uncommon to hear her answer our basic daily questions in Italian and she seems to enjoy showing off what she is learning in school. She like Trey has Italian every day in school for 45 minutes.
One particularly terrifying moment for Olivia came when we discovered the Lily (Formerly known as Iris, which is a long story that Anna can fill you in on!) our cat has taken to exploring the outer ledges of the castle. This would not be a problem at most houses but the drop from our ledges must be at least 100 feet to the ground! Upon noticing Lily, walking the narrow ledge in search of pigeons, Olivia became terrified at the prospects of losing her kitten! We managed to calm her down and coax miss Lily back to safety. Don't need any more tragic moments on our hands!
I mentioned last month that Livy was looking for a hobby and I think that we have found one for her, “Swimming”. We signed her up for swimming lessons a few weeks ago (She knows how to swim already but this is to teach her advanced swimming strokes) and she really loves it. In just three weeks, she has already moved up two levels and is able to swim the length of the pool using the backstroke. Her teachers speak a bit of English and her improvement in Italian has helped bridge the rest of the gap. There’s just something about seeing her in her little one-piece bathing suit with her cap and goggles on that warms your heart.
Bike riding on the other hand has not taken off like we would have hoped. Olivia is still a bit gun shy from the breaking of her arm and won’t allow me to let go of the seat just yet when she is riding. If you think back to this big step in your life (Riding on two wheels) it takes an understanding that you need to have speed to be able to obtain balance. We are still in the process of developing her comfort in this area. It doesn’t help that the only place to ride at the castle is on gravel! Not exactly the ideal training ground for two wheel bike riding.
October brought Halloween to Italy (Not exactly the Trick or Treat capital of the world). We did see a few decorations in stores here and there as the days drew nearer to the 31st, but the act of trick or treating is not practiced here in Italia. The kids were able to celebrate a bit at school with a pumpkin patch, but the actual day of Halloween fell while we were in Seville Spain. Anna’s parents (Gina and Brunz) were so thoughtful and found some really cool costumes for the kids on the internet and sent them along with my parents. Olivia and Trey were so excited to open the surprise and immediately tried them on in the hotel room. The next step was to convince Trey to walk the streets of Seville on Halloween night as the grim reaper (As usual, Olivia was up for anything and loved the idea of parading around as the snow princess!). After about a half hour of negotiations we were finally able to convince him to give it a go. It was so fun to see the reaction of the dozens of people that passed us that night when we meandered the streets. I would imagine that it wont go down as being the greatest Halloween experience of their lives, but I also don’t think that they will ever forget the time that they were the only ones in costumes either!
Livy also missed a couple days of school in mid November with a nasty little bought of lice! We’re not quite sure how she contracted it, but it must have happened at school. Nothing like having to comb out the living bugs in your daughters hair for 90 minutes (Anna handled that chore), followed by placing all of her sheets and towels in sealed hefty bags for three days to kill em all off! The result was a day with mom and dad shopping, which actually turned out to be one fun day with just the three of us.
Lastly, perhaps the highlight of Olivia’s month (Other than seeing her grandparents) was when she received a letter from her best friend Brinn from back in California. There’s nothing like a little kid getting something in the mail. It made her day!
This month’s interview with Olivia –
Q – How did it feel to see your grandma and grandpa for the first time in three months?
A – “Really super duper good. It was fun to stay up late and surprise them and see they look on their face.”
Q – How do you like Swimming so far?
A – “I love it. I like the things that they are teaching me. I never new that you had to take a breath when you put your face up and then blow bubbles under the water.”
Q – Tell us about Spain. Did you like it and why?
A – “Italy is much better. We always get to see kitty in Italy and I like living in the castle. The food is better in Italy, especially vegetable soup and pasta with meat sauce.”
Q – What is the strangest thing that has happened to you since you have been in Italy?
A – “Me breaking my arm, because I never broke a bone before in my body. I don’t really think about it any more but I remember it. It was hard having a caste because the glasses for drinking water are big and I like to lift them with two hands. With a caste it was tough. It was also hard when I had an itch.”
Q – When you come home for Christmas for two weeks, what are you most looking forward to?
A – “Seeing my grandpa and grandma and my friends. I am really looking forward to seeing Brinn, my friend in Thousand Oaks. I hope I can see Fluffy and Fuzzy our hamsters and Tasha our dog.”
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