Playing Catch Up

Since my last entry. A lot has gone on.

I guess I should start with our trip to Rome in early November.
Thanks to the tip from Giovanna, the Italian Liason at Tom's clinic, we went to see Andrea Bocelli in the Piazza del Polpolo in Rome. It was a national holiday, and the minister of defense put on a free concert featuring the famous tenor. It has been a wish of mine to see Andrea live. So, my wonderful husband took us along with our friend Cindy Harvey and her 2 girls (it was Cindy's Birthday that day) to Rome for the weekend. I was on cloud 9!

The only bummer about is was that since it was free, there were about 30,000 other people in the piazza, and in keeping with Italian tradition, very little personal space was allowed. But, I was about 75 yards away from Signore Bocelli and we had a big screen right in front of us. I was still a happy girl. (The blurry figure in the center of the picture is Andrea) We stayed for about an hour, our feet were hurting, and the 4 girls had reached their limit.

To finish off the weekend, we got another good taste of true Italian living, and had to deal with a transportation strike. Imagine being in Rome and having no buses, Metro or trains. Since we trained up the day before, getting home was going to be a challenge. Instead of fighting with all the other people fighting to get on the few trains they allowed in the evening for commuters, we rented a car and drove home. Viva Italia!

Taking advantage of the 4 day weekend for Thanksgiving, we went to Umbria (the region east of Tuscany). Again we went with Cindy Harvey, but this time her husband, Doug, was home and able to come. We went to Assisi, Montefalco, Cortone, Gubbio, and Norcia.

St. Francis Basilica, Assisi

Taking in the View in Gubbio.

Victoria in Cortona (Under the Tuscan Sun location)

Along with visiting these towns for their beauty, we also ate at some restaurants who belong to the Unione del Buon Ricordo ( The Union of Good Memories). When you eat the special dish, usually typical of that area, you also receive a commemorative plate. Doug and Cindy introduced us to this, and I must say, we are hooked. Now, when we travel, going to a "plate restaurant" will always be considered. We now have 4, and that number will grow quickly.

Our First Plate, We are so proud! With us is the owner of the restaurant, Giovanni.

The next big event was Anabelle's 6th birthday on December 14th. She started her big day opening a plethora of gifts from the family. As you can see from the pictures below, she did not like any of them.

We had a very lazy afternoon, then headed to the bar for Anabelle's party. I know, that sounds inappropriate, but in Italy, bars are not only alcohol, they mainly serve coffee and pastries. This particular bar has a room in the back that they rent out for functions. So, we shelled out the euro, and had the party catered. We also hired a girl we know, Mariangela, to entertain the kids. All 23 (mostly Italian) kids had a ball playing games and dancing. My only job was to socialize with the other mom's there. I didn't lift a finger from start to finish. It was the best party EVER!

The last couple of pictures are of the girls when we took some pictures to send with our Christmas cards. They are beautiful (and goofy) if I do say so myself.

Well, I need to get to cleaning my house and besides, any pictures taken after that are still on our camera. So, once my lazy behind gets them downloaded, I will finish the update. See Ya!