First Week in Italy

Monday was our first real day in Italy, Brett headed off to find the Intel office in Milan and the kids and I unpacked and got settled into our new home. We went grocery shopping, which is always an experience in a new country. The food here seems a little more expensive than Germany. The kids are learning to live without their peanut butter and cheddar cheese, they didn’t have it in Germany or here but they are big on Nutella-a chocolate hazelnut spread which the girls and I love for a snack. They have lots and lots of different pastas here so I think we will eat lots of pasta. They don’t have any ingredients for Mexican food so we will miss that, but while in Italy we will eat like the Italian’s good thing we all love pasta. It was a beautiful day, sunny and much warmer than Germany. We played at the playground next to our apartment and walked around our area. Several people tried to talk to me and I don’t understand anything, not many here speak any English. They called Allden a bambino and the girls bambinas and said bella which means pretty boy and girls I guess. The Italian’s really like the kids blonde hair and blue eyes, since everyone here has dark hair and eyes.
Tuesday we did more laundry, grocery shopping and exploring. I have learned that most businesses or stores close around 12:30 until 3:00 and then open again until 7 or 8pm at night, so when we were walking around the town at 1:30 all the shops were dark and closed, it was weird! We’ll just have to do our errands earlier or later in the day. The people are very friendly here, I just wish I could understand what they were saying, it’s also hard because I can’t ask anyone directions or anything so I feel a little more isolated. I have lots of 2 and 4 yr old conversations through the day and that’s about it. I don’t talk to Brett during the day since I don’t have a phone line at our house, just IM chat every once in a while. So it’s nice to have a little adult conversation when he gets home. Alana LOVES to play hide and seek especially with Brett, they always find the best hiding places. So we played hide and seek in our new home with new hiding places.
Wednesday was rainy and cold so we didn’t get out much. There are no English channels on TV but at least we have a few kids DVD’s to entertain. We also were not able to bring many toys and so their favorite things to do are play on the playground, watch a DVD and color or draw. Alana is getting quite good at writing her letters and she knows how to spell the names of everyone in our family. She is very creative and getting good at drawing too. I have been the travel agent on this trip so I have been researching Italy and planning our weekends here. There is so much to see and do we just never have enough time to do it all!
Thursday we celebrated Allden’s 1st birthday! I can’t believe he is already one year old! He is a very busy boy always getting into everything. He loves pulling things out and off….he pulled all the Kleenex out of the box, likes to unroll the toilet paper, take all the Tupperware out of the cupboard, pull books off the shelf. He is next to impossible to get dressed and change a diaper, always trying to wriggle free! Also he hates things on his feet,he is always trying to get his shoes and socks off, so sometimes we just give up and let him go barefoot. We have to baby proof every place we go and put all the breakable stuff up high. We made him a chocolate birthday cake and got him a couple toy cars, he loves to push them all around the house. He eats lots of people food now and started drinking real cows milk and loves it. He is a big cutie and everyone gives him attention. He really is a joy in our life and we all love him!
We explored the town a little more today and found the public library. Of course all the books are in Italian but the kids still enjoy looking at new books and we make up the story with the pictures.
Friday was a rainy day and we stayed indoors most of the day. However we did find a huge store like a super Walmart with groceries, clothes, furniture so we walked around that store for awhile (still no peanut butter)
Saturday Brett was off for the weekend and we headed to Venice. It was about a 3 hr drive from our house. We drove across the big bridge linking mainland Italy to Venice and parked our car in a big parking garage. We walked to St. Mark’s Square and saw St. Mark’s Basilica and Dodge’s Palace, it was very crowded with people and thousands of pigeon’s. We walked through St. Mark’s it is a huge church! The ceilings had gold and paintings. This is the third church to stand on this site. The treasures statues, icons and the famous horses were brought to St. Mark’s after the 4th Crusade had plundered Constantinople in 1204. Also the Doge’s Palace, the official residence of the venetian ruler was next to the church. We didn’t take a tour since the kids were getting tired of walking around Venice all day. It was a mistake to take the stroller, you have to cross bridges everywhere and they all have steps so boats can go under them. So towards the end of the day the stroller wheel cracked and broke!
Venice was created on a series of mud banks in a lagoon, with canals in place of roads. Venice’s public transportation is the vaporetto, a water bus that travels the canals of the city, the more exotic transportation is the gondola, which are very expensive! The gondola has been a part of Venice since the 11th century. There is a slight leftward curve to the prow, which counteracts the force of the oar, preventing the gondola from going around in circles. All of the gondolas are black, the gondola men wear striped sweaters and stand in the back of the boat and paddle. Today, gondola rides are so expensive they are only taken by tourists. It was neat to see them but we thought it would be difficult with the 3 children (plus very expensive!) So we took the vaporetto down the Grand Canal, it was very crowded! The canal is about 2.5 miles long and varies in width from 100-230 ft wide. Palaces line the waterway, which were built over a span of five centuries. Many of the buildings are faded and foundations rotted but it is still amazing to see this place. After leaving Venice we headed to a more quiet town just outside of Treviso for our hotel and a nice quiet dinner at a pizzeria. We were all tired of walking around all day and the noise and hustle and bustle of Venice.
Sunday we went to church in Treviso. It was a little branch so it was very small, there was only 2 kids in nursery and 2 in primary. Most people only spoke Italian but we did find someone to translate the talks in sacrament meeting. The people were very friendly and we got lots of compliments on the kids we hear bella all the time. After church we walked around the town of Treviso which was really pretty. There was a river that runs through the town, lots of big trees and very quiet and peaceful (compared to Venice). Then we started heading towards home we stopped in Verona. Verona was also a very pretty city and very lively with lots of people out walking around. The city has magnificent Roman ruins, second only to those of Rome. The Arena, Verona’s Roman amphitheater completed in AD 30 is the 3rd largest in the world. Bullfights, fairs, and opera productions are staged here. We enjoyed walking around, people watching and seeing the sites. We arrived home late Sunday night and back to reality to start another week.
Italy is a beautiful place, and we're looking forward to seeing many more sites over the next few weeks. The language will make it a bit challenging but we'll survive. Brett is comfortable with Spanish and Portuguese, but we're realizing that Italian is quite different. Capisci?