Sunday, November 30, 2008

Liv Birthday Party



Sunday was the day of Liv's big 8 years old birthday party. She invited all of the girls in her class, and nearly all were able to come. The plan was for everyone to meet at 1 at the university sports center just down from our cottage. I hurried home from my soccer match and arrived just as the girls were showing up. Ooops. Rachelle managed to simultaneously graciously greet the guests and shoot me a "you will pay dearly" look.

We all had fun trampolining at the sports center and then the gaggle of girls headed for our home. We used the shared space and I quickly ushered them in for a game of musical chairs. Next a bit of balloon volley ball and lots of squealing and running around.

We sat around the large table and had pizza, fruit salad, carrots, and Shirley Temple's in little wine glasses with cherries and paper umbrellas, which were a huge hit.

A bit more running and squeaking before we had the soccer ball cake and singing. It is common for little Brits to sing out at the end of the birthday song, "And don't forget the champagne...pssshhh!"

Liv then took the girls out to some of her favorite trees for climbing time before they were picked up.

Fun was had by all.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Lists

U.S. > U.K.

1. Single sink spigots that mix cold and hot water
2. Toilet bowls that hold enough water and consistently flush
3. Electric clothes dryers
4. Radio stations that play decent music
5. Freezers that defrost
6. Garbage disposals
7. Washing machines that work

U.K. > U.S.

1. Ancient and beautiful architecture
2. Fuel-efficient and small cars
3. Valuing holidays and time off from work
4. Inexpensive air travel
5. Train travel
6. Pubs with good beer
7. Appreciation of the beautiful game - soccer
8. Street lights that turn yellow before and after green
9. Hand-held shower spigots
10. Compact towns/cities that encourage walking/mass transit
11. Proximity to Europe
12. Nudity on regular TV

Electronic Equipment we have Fried...So Far

1. IPod speaker
2. Walkie Talkie charger
3. Hair dryer
4. Hair curler
5. Electric tooth brush charger
6. TV/VCR

Competency in UK Driving*

1. Side mirror smacks (Lindsey - 2; Rachelle - 1)
2. Finding yourself driving on the wrong (right) side of the road (Lindsey - 3; Rachelle - 0)

*Tipping - but not breaking - another vehicle side mirror with your side mirror while driving is a sign of acute awareness of vehicle size and space. Finding yourself on the right (non U.K.) side of the road is a sign of automaticity in driving. A scientist claims that these behaviors are indicative of highly developed automobile navigation skills.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Ervins, Wells, and Poppy






Monika and Sweet Pea Visit!

Mona and Sweet Pea flew to London and met up with Rachelle in the big city. They had a blast going on the London Eye (Rachelle reportedly stood and looked out of the pod and kept her eyes open the whole time; I wouldn't believe it but there is this apparently un-Photo Shopped picture of her smiling in the pod); visiting the Tower of London where Anne Boleyn, Thomas More, and others were imprisoned and beheaded; seeing Wicked; playing in Hyde park past closing hours and having to climb a fence to avoid slumbering there; and staying in a stark Latvian hotel that is in a tight competition with our stay in Rome for the Hotel Squalor Award (the mouse traps in the Latvian rooms give it a slight edge). Back in Bath, Rachelle and the Ervins did the necessary trip to Lacock and Stonehenge. When I returned from Ireland, we all joined up to visit the Roman Baths in Bath (see picture) and have dinner at a great little pub. The visit was too short and we miss the Ervins already.

Day Date

After dropping off the kids at school, Rachelle and I stole off to Wells. About a 30-minute drive from Bath, Wells houses one of the greatest medieval cathedrals to be experienced. The front, built in 1230, is chock full of sculptures (see the picture of Rachelle). Inside houses rare scissor arches, painted ceiling, and a great ancient working clock. When the clock strikes, some miniature jousting knights pop out and go around in circles knocking each other off their horses. Not only does the clock tells the date, time, and lunar cycle, but it has some pagan symbols, which is not a typical finding in a Christian cathedral. Without having to compromise with the kids on a viewing pace, we had a great tour of the cathedral by an old fellow who shared great insider stories.

Sheffield Talk

Last Friday, I traveled European style (by train) to the University of Sheffield to give a research talk. It was great fun changing trains, pushing through crowds and ejecting squatters out of my reserved seats, and riding a cable car through Sheffield to find the university.

Liv's Birthday

Today (Friday, November 21) is Liv's birthday. She invited 2 of her friends (Lizzie D. and Poppy) over for dinner, cake, and ice-cream, and Poppy is spending the night. Just a side comment, from my perspective, Brit kids are not used to adults joking around with them. Also, the way they speak so properly and with those cute accents, not to mention wearing their little uniforms, I find it terribly difficult not to tease them a bit. Tonight, when I asked Poppy if her middle and last name were Seed and Bagel, she turned her head at an angle, and said, "No, they are not." I expect that if she had been American, she would have rolled her eyes and said to Liv, "Yea, I've never heard that one before."

Poppy is quite a crack-up. When Rachelle asked if she would like to try the ratatouille Rachelle had labored over, Poppy said in her crisp and surprisingly loud British accent, "Ratatouille. I absolutely hate Ratatouille." Also, Poppy was able to pay me back for my taunts. She gave Liv a big box of "Hama Beads", known in America as "Pearla Beads", and known to me as "Annoying tiny plastic things that get into everything." See the video below for a Poppy message.



We picked up a great used bike (see it just behind Poppy in the video) for Liv for her birthday, an Irish soccer jersey, and some new books. Her big party is a week from Sunday, so I'll provide a post blowout update later.

Now I must wrap this up as I agreed to play Tickle Monster with the kids outside before shepherding them to bed.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Memorable Moments and Cute Quotes





There are many little stories that do not fit into the chronology of our travels thus far and events slip my mind until post my posting of a blog, so now I bring you some bits and pieces of stories:

Brit Urinals

The kids have repeatedly insisted that I share the following bit (the Brits use the terms 'bit' and 'pieces' quite often, especially together as in "Let me just grab some bits and pieces from the store."). Noah, Liv, and I were in a public bathroom. As I began to use the urinal, they both yelled that I was in fact using the sink. This was my first (and their second) encounter with these interesting English public sinks that are built into the wall. They have automatic soap, water, and air dryer tucked at the top out of sight and once you place your hands (or other body parts) into the opening it somehow knows what to do. They delight in sharing this story with anyone who cares to listen.

Dishing the Dishes

If you recall a past blog about the kids washing dishes, they have figured out a routine to excuse themselves from the chore. Well, I should admit that I am in on the scheme ("scheme" is another commom British word; it is used as Americans might use "strategy" or "plan"). The kids ask Rachelle if they can go "exercise" outside while she cleans the kitchen. How can she resist. So, the twosome and I (Rachelle always declines the option to join them as she has worked out on showered earlier in the day) jog around the sports fields and then end up at one of the soccer goals for shots. On any given night, there might be 5-10 different small and big soccer games being played on these fields.

School Updates

Each morning at school, I enjoy accompanying the kids into school. As we enter the back playground, my kids join the rest of the green and yellow uniformed kids playing, running, wrestling, and tumbling around on the playground as parents wave and say "Hello, hello" in rising intonations to each other as only the Brits can do. It is mayhem. At 8:40 sharp, Ms. Dangerfield (Noah's teacher) marches out through the throng with long and straight strides. She lifts her chin, stands very straight, blows a sharp whistle, and announces in her clear and deep voice. "Gooood morning children! Please line up smartly!"

I do plan to videotape this moment, but I haven't gotten up the courage. Noah can tell you that Ms. Dangefield is a force to be reckoned with. Of course, some of the other teachers, such as Ms. Starch and Ms. Onion (those are their real names!) are tough too.

Noah reports that when his classmates are acting up (which is common), Ms. Dangerfield will say, "I am about to become very cross with you!" Fortunately, the children have not witnessed her actually become cross.

Liv has the sweetest teacher imaginable. Her name is Ms. Mumford and when we first met her, she said, "I have been to Atlanta," and added in a whisper, smile, and shrug, "I was following the Grateful Dead." She is terribly stylish, is always beaming, and clearly delights in the children. See the picture. Liv loves imitating Ms. Mumford with a big smile, raised arms, and sunny exclamations of "superb!" "brilliant!" and "Lovely!"

When Ms. Mumford learned that we would be heading to Rome for holidays, she provided us with a 3-page typed document of travel tips, restaurants, and places of interest. She had lived in Rome with her boyfriend. One of our favorite Ms. Mumford stories involves a school assignment. Liv was supposed to create a family tree. Rather than a tree, she decided to do a family bookshelf. Each shelf was a different generation, and she labeled the bindings of the book with the person's name, age, relatives, and some interesting fact or comment about the person. Although I do admit it came out quite nicely, I was worried that the format might not meet the letter of the law of a family tree. Rachelle frowned at me when I pointed out that you could not really link up the parents and children because there were no connecting branches.

I kept my worries in my shut mouth as Liv strutted into class with her large colorful poster board of her family bookshelf. When Liv came home, I anxiously looked her over. She was beaming. She let us know that Ms. Mumford stood Liv up, hugged her shoulders as they both faced the class, and brightly announced, "Genius moment everyone!". Ms. Mumford proceeded to praise Liv's unique, creative, and beautiful family "tree".

We had our parent-teacher meetings not too long ago. In meeting with Ms. Dangerfield, we learned that Noah is doing well, he is ahead of his peers in most subjects, but his handwriting is poor. She also pointed out, "he has a strong sense of justice", and is not shy to point out inconsistencies in her teaching. At the end of the meeting, I collected my courage and asked if I could videotape her rounding up the kids in the morning. She paused, looked puzzled, then she said it would be okay and smiled and blushed. At that moment we saw another side to the Ms. Dangerfield we know.

So, I am posting a video of the morning routine. However, the video is not good because I tried to be sly about it and held the camera by my waist. So, it is hard to make out what is going on. I will make another attempt.

Liv's parent-teacher meeting was "superb" and "wonderful". Liv is doing swimmingly in all subjects, and Ms. Mumford enjoys Liv immensely. As with Noah, Liv's handwriting does stand out as being especially messy and inconsistent (capital letters in the middle of words, smiley faces to dot the i's). We explained that Liv's school in the states, Paideia, likely reinforced such a creative writing style, but that we would work on getting her script up to snuff.

Noah's class was studying World War II. At one point in class, Ms. Dangerfield informed the class that they would likely all be speaking German if it were not for the Americans stepping in to help out. Noah had a good day taking full credit and expecting thank yous from his classmates. To culminate this work, the students dressed as "evacuees". See the picture of Noah and his fellow 1939 mates heading to the safety of the country.

National Trust

We joined the National Trust, which is an organization that helps maintain historic properties in the United Kingdom. As members, we have free access to thousands of castles, homes, and other sites. Occasionally we will pop into places. Here is a picture of Liv at one of the homes in the Trust in Bath.

Cheers!

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

It Takes a Village and a Guiness...




Upon returning from Italy, we jumped back into our non-pizza-and-gelato-eating-life and landed ourselves in a pickle. I arranged a flight to Galway, Ireland, where I was to give a keynote talk at an annual research meeting, and Rachelle set up a bus ticket to London to meet up with her sister, Monika, and niece, Marita (aka Sweet Pea). Once the dust settled, we realized that the kids would be on their own Monday morning through Tuesday afternoon. Oops! A stressful and frantic problem-solving scramble ensued.

Kevin and newly formed friends to the rescue. The kids would accompany separate schoolmates for playdates following school and then join Kevin once he was home for work for dinner and a slumber party with him (Janet and Kaidyn were out of town). Kevin would bring the dynamic duo to school and Rachelle would be home in time to gather them at the end of the day on Tuesday. Crises narrowly averted. Phew!

Lindsey in Ireland

After dropping off the kids at school on Monday, I took a cab to Bristol and flew to Dublin. Given several hours before my flight to Galway, I hopped a double-decker bus for downtown Dublin. Following the advice of a tourist magazine, I made my way down O'Connell and Grafton and took in downtown Dublin. The Guinness advertisement were as common as those of Coke-a-Cola in Atlanta. I found a pub and had the prerequisite half pint of Guinness with lunch and wondered the streets a bit more. The combination of Guinness, sunshine, and statues and Georgian architecture left me with a wonderful impression of Dublin; I did not find it to be another big industrial city as I had been told.

My little flight to Galway was bumpy, but we made it to the west coast port town safe and sound. Another UK researcher, Sara Kelly, who was on my flight and I met up with one of the conference hosts, Dave, at the airport. (Did you notice how I subtly referred to myself as a UK researcher?) Dave toured us around the quaint city and then out to dinner where Brian, the other conference organizer joined us. We had a great meal and shared too much wine. We then headed to a little pub for a Guinness. Off to bed for me in the lovely hotel with a flat screen TV and a very comfy bed.

The next morning was sunny and I strolled around town enjoying watching the very rapid river come through town and empty into the harbour (By the way, the Galway pictures were lifted from the internet. Rachelle absconded with the camera to London). I met up with Brian and we headed to the Univeristy. My talk went well and I enjoyed meeting with the academic folks with their fun accents. Brian and I went out to dinner at a seafood joint, and the food was magically delicious. The next morning I cabbed it to the airport, caught my flight to Dublin, then my flight to Bristol, and cabbed it to Kevin's house so I could walk over and pick up the kids from school (Rachelle, Monika, Sweet Pea, and the car were in Lacock).

Stay tuned for the stories from the last few days from Rachelle (London with Monika and Sweet Pea) and Noah and Liv (holding down the fort in Bath).

Monday, November 10, 2008

Bergamo Surprise

For our last day in Rome, woke at the crack of dawn, caught the 5:30 am Metro (we were old pros at this point), took a bus, and arrived early for our 8:00 flight from Rome to the Bergamo-Milan airport. Upon arriving in Bergamo-Milan, we consulted with the information booth and jumped on a bus for Bergamo. We arrived at the outside of the old city, which is enclosed by a great wall, and took a cable car up the steep hill to the center of town. The steep climb allowed views of the lush countryside and the terracotta roofs on the ancient buildings and houses.

After some pizza, we found the central piazza, which was bordered by ancient and beautiful buildings, a cathedral, and a cafe. We stepped into a church and marveled at the ornately decorated interior. We walked to the corner of the walled city and took another cable car out and up to a castle overlooking the region. After the heavily touristed Venice and Rome, it was refreshing to find at the top of our steep walk up the cobblestone road no entrance fee, no gate, no signs, and not a single other person in sight at the castle. We wandered the empty ancient stone castle and found some narrow and dark steps down into the dungeon. We took in the view from the top of the structure of the green and vast lands. After this unexpected adventure, we headed back to the airport for our flight home.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Roaming Cohens





We woke and Noah was feeling slightly better and there was a bit of color in his complexion. He argued to stay in bed with a Harry Potter book, but, hey, we were in Rome and you know how Rachelle and I felt about the room. Let me just point out that we are not uncaring parents, but we figured Noah could feel ill in the room or feel ill out in one of the most culturally rich cities in the world. Easy choice.

So, off we went to the Coliseum and Roman Forum and walked around the ruins, statues, columns, and historic structures. If you ignored the many tourists, the loud throng of chanting students who filled the streets on some kind of anti-government strike and demonstration, and Noah’s complaints about wanting to return to the room, you can really imagine yourself in ancient Rome. It is a magical city, and even Noah eventually lost himself in the wonder. That evening, Liv and I ventured out to get pizza, fruit, bread, olives, tomato-rice dish, and water, and we had dinner in our room.

Friday morning found all Cohens healthy and ready for a Roman adventure. As we headed out, the Spanish mother-daughter travelers from next door were heading out. We bonded over our distaste for the accommodations as we walked with them to the Metro. I had a chance to practice my Spanish, which was muy fun, and our motley group of foreigners found our way to an office to purchase Roma passes (3 days of free travel and entrance to 2 museums).

We then headed to the Vatican and into St. Peter’s Basilica, which was overwhelmingly beautiful. Noah and Rachelle enjoyed using the audio guides as Liv and I explored the vast Church and eerily beautiful tombs. From there, we had a great lunch at Antonio’s, a restaurant that our friend Dom had recommended. Next was the Vatican museum, which wound through rooms and rooms of mosaics, tapestries, sculptures, and painted walls and ceilings. The final room contained the Sistine Chapel. As was becoming our mode, Rachelle and Noah were tuned into the audio guide headsets, which toured them through the building as Liv and I meandered on our own. Needless to say, the Sistene Chapel was incredible. We all stood in complete awe. Noah actually wanted to go back, especially because we didn’t spend much time in the other areas of the museum as we had a little one with us and attention spans were somewhat limited.

Following the advice of Liv’s teacher, Ms. Mumford, who used to live in Rome, we headed to Piazza Novana and found Trescalini of the famed ice-cream chocolate ball. Along with hot chocolates, which were thick enough to eat with spoons, we had our chocolate quota for … the day.

Next, we walked to Campo de’ Fiori – a hip and bustling square filled with students and yuppies - and found a great little restaurant. Liv picked it out because it was one of the only ones with Halloween decorations (it was October 31). The waiter taught them how to say, “Scarito o Dulcito” (“Trick-or-Treat”), and they used it to get some candy from 2 stores, which was an accomplishment as the Italians do not seem to really do the Halloween thing… Liv also was introduced to spinach and ricotta ravioli, a delight she asked for every day there after.

We took a very long and windy walk home, thanks to getting quite lost, and stopped to pick up some groceries along the way. The kids were great troopers, when we finally arrived home, the parents were a bit sore, but not the kids.

On Saturday, we joined our Spanish friends and went to the Coliseum for a tour. Noah and Rachelle used the audio tour headsets and immersed themselves in stories of the emperors, gladiators, and games. Liv was not in a site-seeing mood and I multitasked between keeping her out of trouble and wandering the Coliseum and listening to the audio tour. We soon discovered that any time an audio guide was available, Noah really got into the museum or site. We were really proud of ourselves for making this discovery early on.

Next we headed to a wonderful park in the Northern section of Rome (the Borghese Park). After Liv had her fill of climbing trees, we rented a 4-person bike cart. It was an odd vehicle in that you could peddle, which then started an engine that only worked as you pedaled. The front 2 seats had steering wheels, but only the left one worked. We took turns steering and barely managed to avoid running over people and dogs enjoying the sun and the park. Liv did most of the steering, Lindsey was in charge of the braking and Rachelle just covered her eyes as we nearly missed several elderly people.

For dinner we went on a quest to find a restaurant recommended by Dom, which was located near Campo de’ Fiori. After a long meandering hunt, we found Trattoria der Pallaro, which is a family-run restaurant. There is no menu and after you sit down, they start bringing out food and more food. After 3 hour and at least 7 different delicious dishes, pie, mandarin juice, and a large jug of wine, we rolled home.

Despite going to bed close to midnight, we woke early to get to the Borghese Gallery, a wonderful little museum filled with Bernini statues, Titian, Raphael, and Caravaggio paintings, and other wonderful Italian art. Although the fearsome twosome protested vehemently that they had had enough site-seeing from the moment they woke until we entered the museum, they both enjoyed the visit. Rachelle, Noah, and I all used the audio guide headsets and Liv enjoyed viewing the art on her own schedule. The kids were particularly impressed with Bernini’s statues of David and Apollo and Daphne, as well as Caravaggio’s David and Goliath painting (David is holding Goliath’s severed head).

We wandered our way on foot all over Rome taking in many more locales including the Piazza del Popolo, the Spanish Steps (we sat on the steps and let Noah work on his school homework – a PowerPoint presentation about the Smoky Mountains), the Treve Fountain, the Pantheon (Rachelle and Noah enjoyed the audio tours while Liv and I counted the holes in the floor that drained the rain that could come through the opening in the dome, it was truly amazing), the Vittoriono (the Wedding Cake or Urinal building), and a great gelatteria. We decided to come back to our hotel for a siesta around 4:30 before heading out to dinner in our neighborhood.

For our final day of Rome we took the Metro to the Piazza Barberini and found the Capuchin Chapel, which contains a crypt where the bones of 4,000 dead Capuchin Monks and several shriveled skeletons wearing monks’ robes decorate the 4 dark small rooms lit by handing lamps made of bones. The final room has a skeleton on the ceiling holding a scale and a scythe. This visit was both creepy and beautiful.

From there we snaked our way through Rome and had lunch at ‘Cul de Sac’ in Piazza Navonna based on Ms. Mumford’s (Liv’s teacher) recommendation. From there, we crossed the Tivere river and found the Trastevere neighborhood. We enjoyed popping in to the 12th century church of Santa Maria. We walked around and the kids were especially amused by my re-telling of Seinfeld episodes. We crossed the river, pausing briefly on Tiberina Island, climbed to the top of the Vittoriono for a great view of Rome, and made our way back to our grisly little hotel. We ventured out for a yummy dinner of pizza and éclairs and said goodnight to Rome.

There is a saying, “Roma, non basta una vita”, which translates to “Rome, one lifetime is not enough”. Well, after 5 packed days, we were close to having our fil of Rome. Liv said she has a tough time picking one favorite part of Rome, but she was especially fond of the park and quad-bike ride and the Sistine Chapel. Noah said the Coliseum, Sistine Chapel, Borghese Gallery, and the park were his top Rome picks. We will all surely miss our daily dose of pizza, pasta, gelato, and pastries. However, if we had continued at the above mentioned pace, we would have needed to stop in Milan for some new fashionable clothes in new extra large sizes.

Italy Ill-Tally: 2


On the overly-crowded water bus in Venice, Noah complained that he felt sick. Rachelle and I figured that a combination of seeing Liv pampered when she was ill and the swaying of the packed and hot boat contributed to his complaints. Oh, how wrong we were.

As we exited the boat, Noah filled a plastic bag as the exiting throng of passengers parted to give him some space. We boarded our bus and began the 40-minute drive to the airport. Fortunately, we had several more bags, and boy did Noah need them. The poor guy was not doing well. Although his stomach was empty, his vocal retching was loud enough to send all of the pigeons in St. Mark’s square a-flight. I am Noah, hear me roar. At one point, I noticed the bus driver glance up sharply in his rear-view mirror and I feared he was going to pull over and toss off the ill American bambino. Some of the passengers snuck peaks our way to see if Noah’s head was going to spin around when he let out particularly loud roars. We were not far from the Vatican where a proper exorcism might be performed.

As a side note, Rachelle and I – both being middle children - share an overly developed desire to avoid standing out in general, but especially as Americanos when we are abroad. For example, we try not to speak too loudly, we are excessively polite, and we do not wear tee-shirts emblazoned with, “I bleed red, white, and blue.” After 20 minutes of Noah’s yowling, we had to just laugh at our situation and give up any fleeting hopes of decorum.

The flight was quite bumpy and we took some comfort in noticing that Noah was not the only passenger with his face in a bag. As we landed in Rome, the storm that rocked our plane was in full force. We bought our bus tickets and were told to hurry outside to await the bus, which was supposed to arrive shortly. We huddled together with a group of 4 Slovenians, a family from Scotland, and some others waiting for the bus. The rain came down; the rain also came up, left, and right. The thunder bellowed and the lightning lit up the dark sky. With our fellow desperate bus-waiters, we created a tent of umbrellas with everyone in the middle. Despite these efforts, we could not have been wetter if you dunked us in the Venice Grand Canal. Along with our other drenched palls, we all just began to giggle and laugh at the absurdity of the situation as we waited an hour for the bus. Dripping wet and exhausted, we made it from the bus (see picture) to the subway and the subway to our hotel arriving around 11:30pm. We fell asleep before our heads hit the pillows.

You might think that we were comforted finding ourselves dry and in our hotel. This is partially correct. We were all glad to be out of the downpour and Noah was glad to be close to a toilet, but this was not the best hotel. Actually, ‘hotel’ is not an accurate name. The establishment consisted of about 5 different apartments on a hallway in the bottom floor of a building. In our flat, the bathroom had some sort of garbage disposal-like machine built in to the pipes, and each time you flush or run the shower or sink it grinds and churns loud enough to rattle your teeth. The assortment of towels, sheets, and blankets were of all different sizes, textures, and colors. They did all match in the fact that they were consistently thin, tired, stiff, and pilly. The blanket on Liv’s bed was more likely a small rug. None of these lovely sheets or towels were cleaned during our 6-night stay. There was teh dregs of some shampoo in a bottle and no soap in the bathroom. Breakfast consisted of a basket of Twinkie-like cake things in a basket on a less than clean table at the end of the hall. On the bright side, the grimy facilities encouraged us to spend most of our time out enjoying Rome.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

3 Days in Venice






We had breakfast at our hotel and headed to the grand train station in Milan. The station was enormous, impressive, beautiful with columns, marble, and carvings, and bustling with people of all nationalities. We were all wide-eyed. We boarded a train for Venice and tried to politely eject some nice little Italians from our seats until they helped us realize that we were on the wrong train. Oops. We ran and found the correct Venice train, which was great because we had our own little seating compartment; the kids noticed the similarities to the seating of Ron, Hermoine, and Harry on the Hogwarts Express.

We arrived in Venice and Noah suggested we walk, using our trusted Brit friend Emily as a guide, rather than take the water bus as suggested by the hotel. Several miles into our journey, Emily quit. Some might say her battery ran out, but we know that Emily was annoyed about being muted (we didn’t want to draw attention to ourselves), being away from her home in England, and having to figure out the best path through the tiny streets and canals.

So, after stopping for some yummy pizza and pasta, we used our excellent pantomiming ability and the help of a nice Italian man with a cell phone, and found our way to our hotel. Once there, the owner led us to our flat, which was around the corner. We basically had a studio apartment with a decent-sized kitchen with 2 tables, a bathroom, and a large room with a queen bed and 2 singles. It was quite nice.

We relaxed a bit and then headed out into the maze of streets, bridges, squares, and canals that is Venice. Liv and Noah delighted in the many touristy shops selling intricate painted masks and glass objects. Beyond that, Liv was especially awed by the buildings with their intricate carvings and the many narrow passages. She often stopped to point out the different colors of buildings and how they “fit together like a tapestry.” When I pointed at a gargoyle and said, “Cool!” Liv responded, “Dad, everything here is cool!”

We stopped at a little café for salad and sandwiches and headed back to our hotel. The kids loved the freshly squeezed orange juice and, of course, the gelatos on the way back to our hotel. As a bit of foreshadow, juice and ice cream are not the best mixture for a little girl so recently ill.

It was a rough night for Rachelle, Liv, and me, but mostly Liv. Around 2:30, Liv woke and headed full steam for the bathroom. She almost made it to the toilet before vomiting. Poor Liv. The rumbly tummy was back. Poor parents who had to clean the bathroom floor, door, shower and toilet.

We woke groggy and grumpy, but were somewhat cheered by the arrival of breakfast. The hotel owner brought over a big basket with croissants, rolls, crackers, hot chocolate, coffee, and orange juice (none for Liv). The caffeine and sugar perked up the parents as we all headed back out into Venice allowing ourselves to get sufficiently lost as we explored the many passages, canals, and bridges. We found our way to the impressive but highly touristed St. Mark’s square. Liv was feeling good, and had a great time feeding the pigeons bread, and letting them climb on her to peck it out of her hand.

We found a great little restaurant tucked into an alley, and enjoyed pasta and salad for lunch. We returned to our flat for a siesta before heading back out into Venice, including the famed Rialto Bridge. After dinner of pizza, salad, and tiramisu, we headed home for a good night’s sleep. We all slept through the night and kept the day’s meal inside.

We woke in good moods. Liv even appreciated the humor when I angled the shower nozzle so that it sprayed well above her head when she showered. We had our bonding, grooming, de-licing ritual with each of us carefully combing out each other’s hair, and we were pleased to see that only a few of the Brit nits joined us for our adventures in Italy.

Out into Venice again, winding and twisting our way through the alleys. We bought some fruit and bread from a vendor and enjoyed a picnic lunch in a square. Having opted to travel and sight-see by foot up to this point, we decided to go for a gondola ride. We slid through the canals, seeing the residences of Marco Polo and Casanova and hearing stories from our Gondaleer.

After stopping for cocoa and coffee, we began our trek to the airport to begin the Rome portion of the trip.