Hola, Madrid!

After buying our tickets to Madrid, I had buyers remorse. Why? Well, because everyone we know here has gone to Barcelona and we knew no one that had gone to Madrid. There's something to be said about the road less traveled...
Jamie and I borrowed books from the library, did research and planned, and then I began to get excited. Then we found out friends of ours here were going to overlap the days we were in Madrid too. To sum up our trip, it was spectacular! I loved every minute of being in Madrid! It didn't hurt that the weather was amazing either.
Madrid blew away my expectations and I loved, LOVED every minute we were there!!!

We flew to Madrid on Thanksgiving, we arrived at our apartment rental around 5:30pm. Shortly after getting our bags in the place, Jamie's phone rang. It was our friends Rebecca and Matt from Napoli. We had only found out a few weeks before our trip that they, and some of their friends, Alida and Jeremy, would also be in Madrid at the same time. They wanted us to meet up with them for dinner. For Spaniards, dinner typically starts around 9pm or so... Well past our kids bed time, and who am I kidding, well past MY bedtime! But we got lucky and found a place willing to serve a table of 13 around 7pm. So, for Thanksgiving 2011's dinner: Paella and Sangria. It was fantastic!!

First full day in Madrid started off with a metro ride to the Real Madrid Futbol Stadium.

We did the self guided tour and really enjoyed it, it even kept Riann and Lincoln entertained and happy. We walked through the museum of their many, many, MANY trophies, change in uniforms, history of the team, then we made our way to the field, sat in the team's "bench" which was made up of Audi car seats, we walked through the visitors locker room and sat at the press desk. It was a ton of fun!
We took the metro back and visited Pans & Company for lunch (cheap and delicious!), walked around to see Plaza Mayor and let Riann take a carousel ride.

We stopped at what would become our favorite spot in Madrid that afternoon for a snack: Mercado de San Miguel, a covered market that had tons of eateries inside. They had everything from fresh produce to helado (gelato... ice cream), to wine, fresh seafood, sushi, and local specialties.

We walked around Plaza de Orient and Plaza de Espana which had an open air market with a lot of fun things to check out. We took a break and the kids played Angry Birds with Jamie for a while before meeting up with our friends Rebecca and Matt and their two sons again for dinner. We walked around to see the holiday lights already out (lucky us!), went back through Plaza Mayor to see the Christmas Market and let the kids go on the carousel again, and finally, back to Mercado de San Miguel. (See, I told you we loved this place!!) The kids ate helado, the grown ups snacked on sangria and beer and oysters. It was a late night that evening, I think we got back to our apartment at 10:00.

Our second morning in Madrid was a special one... Lincoln's 3rd birthday!!!

Since we didn't have a cake, we started off with breakfast from Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts. So American of us, but we don't have either in Italy, nor do we have much variety in Italy, and we knew the kids would be delighted to pick out a special treat. Neither Jamie nor I even really drink coffee, but it was the holiday froufrou drinks that caught my eye and I had to indulge! After "birthday breakfast", we headed to Palacio Real, the royal palace of Madrid.

That took some time to tour, the rooms were magnificent, a dining room that had a table to seat 150.
It was snack time, and since it was on our way to our next stop, we ate at Mercado de San Miguel, again. Seriously, there was such a huge variety to choose from, we never ate the same thing twice. It was such a fun, energetic place to be, and the people were all so very nice, we couldn't go wrong!

And to do something special for the birthday boy, we headed to Museo del Ferrocarril, a train museum my friend Diana had recommended. It is in an old, converted train station and well, birthday boy was so happy and excited, I hardly got any photos of him as he just ran from train to train to train.

He loved it!!! He had such a great time that he ended up falling sound asleep in the stroller on the way to treat ourselves to a spanish specialty: churros con chocolat at an open air market. We headed back to our apartment for some relaxation (and to buy time to get through dinner). We walked over to Plaza de Espana for a snack of chorizo

and continued to walk around and enjoy the beauty of Madrid... oh yes, and one more stop at a famous spot, Chocolateria San Gines for what else but more churros con chocolate.

Hey, we were walking an average of 5 miles a day and how often do we get to visit Madrid??

The following day was museum day. We headed out on the metro and landed ourselves at the Reina Sofia museum.

It was their "free entrance" day, but it was not open just yet. But there was a Starbucks spitting distance from the museum, hence we had a snack.
The main reason we went to the Reina Sofia was to see Picasso's Guernica, and since our kids aren't quite the museum roaming kind of kids, we literally went in and headed directly to the room to see Guernica.

We really checked it out, Riann and Lincoln were both telling us what they saw when they looked at the enormous painting but then exited the museum shortly thereafter. We still had the Prado to go visit! The kids were museumed out so we walked to the beautiful Parco del Retiro. It made for some great photo opportunities, some great street entertainment - music, puppet shows and just a fun afternoon, and a gorgeous day to be outside!

We headed to the metro once again and visited Plaza de Toros de las Ventas, the bullring. It was not bullfighting season, so we only were able to walk around the stadium but it was pretty spectacular!

I doubt we would have gone to see a bull fight, it seems pretty dramatic and well, crazy to watch bull after bull be put to death before our eyes. Not exactly G-rated for Riann and Lincoln either. We finished our afternoon off by walking back to our apartment, seeing some sights along the way and just enjoyed being in Madrid.

Oh yea, and we stopped one more time for churros con chocolat. Don't judge... They were ridiculously delicious!

And as with every trip comes our last full day. We walked over to Jardines del Templo de Debod, an ancient Egyptian temple rebuilt in Madrid, we snapped a few photos as the low battery light appeared on the camera and then moved on to a nearby playground.

We met a lovely and very pregnant American woman there, her son and her father-in-law. Her husband was also in the military and worked at the nearby NATO base. Our kids all played and had a ton of fun together, but their hunger got the best of them and we headed to the Mercado de San Miguel for a snack.

Our last night in Madrid, we opted for variety, American variety, and walked through the doors of TGIFridays. Ironically, our server did not speak any English but he successfully brought us our 17euro burgers. It was another great night in Madrid!

We had to wake up well before the sun in Madrid - the sun doesn't come up in November until about 8am - so it was really, really dark at 7am. Off to the airport to head back to Napoli...
Adios, Madrid, you were fabulous!!!!

I molti giorni di Halloween

Translation: The many days of Halloween

October proved to be another busy month for us. Lots of parties - mostly birthdays, but also a going away party for our friends, the Borja's, that were moving back to the states. Since it was their daughter Jasmine's birthday and they didn't have the supplies to bake - and I love to - I took it as an opportunity to get creative. Here's a photo of the birthday cakes I made for Jasmine:

I am completely convinced that October is the best month for birthday parties too! Not only is it a good month generally for weather no matter where you live, but the plethora of costumes, candy and creative ideas for Halloween and costume parties: the ideas are endless.


And then you add in a supermom-creative-momgenius (like my friend Molly),

you have yourself an awesome party to attend.
Between Riann and Lincoln, we had multiple costume and/or Halloween-themed parties we were invited to. And lucky for us, we have a lot of friends who also have a lot of costumes stashed away so every party, Riann and Linc were able to dress as another character.
And let's not forget Halloween itself, pumpkin carving and trick or treating! F. U. N.

Riann had saved her peacock costume for Halloween night,

and Lincoln... well, Lincoln kept asking to be Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon. After asking around to buy felt from friends (versus buying the 7euro a yard for felt... and you can only buy it by the yard here, and I only needed a little), I finally completed Lincoln's costume in the nick of time. Of course, in almost-3 year old independent fashion, Lincoln no longer wanted to be Toothless as it was nearly time to go out the door for trick or treating. He opted to be Buzz Lightyear, the same costume he wore last year, only he ended up not going out last year because he wound up with a nasty ear infection that landed him in bed for the night by about 5:45pm and completely missed trick 'r treating.

The beginning of November, Riann's kindergarten class went on their annual field trip for Olive Harvesting. I was one of the lucky moms picked to go on the adventure. Four classes of kindergarteners, 6 moms from each class, plus teachers and their aides... it made for a really fun, fantastic day - and the gorgeous weather made it even better! Miss Orapallo's (the Italian immersion kindergarten teacher) husband's family owns a huge olive farm in Benevento. Every year, she invites the kindergarteners to go help pick the olives and learn all about the olive oil process. It made for a very fun, educational day. This is a picture of her class under the 300 year old olive tree:

A few days of rain made for awesome puddle jumping the following weekend. Busy boys are happy boys... and boys that get to jump in really huge, muddy mud puddles make for ecstatic (and later very tired) boys.

November 20th, we celebrated Lincoln's 3rd birthday with a few of his friends. I kept it small and quiet with his usual Thursday playdate friends because he tends to get really shy and clams up around larger groups. He had fun and his friends had fun too.

Riann had her Thanksgiving feast in her kindergarten classroom. She and her classmates sang a few songs, had a few costume changes and were able to tell all the parents what they were grateful for. Riann, by the way, was thankful for turkey. Each family brought in a dish to share, so we all enjoyed sharing a delicious turkey lunch together.

It was almost Thanksgiving, only we would be taking off for another adventure instead of having the usual Thanksgiving Turkey dinner. Instead of the mad rush to the grocery store the night before turkey day, we were packing our suitcases for Madrid!

Oktoberfest... e Tanti auguri a Jane!

Translation: Oktoberfest... and Happy Birthday to Jane!

Jamie needs to sit down and blog about his all-guys getaway weekend for Oktoberfest. THE Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany. Or as they renamed it, OktoBROfest. I'm sure it would be simply amusing. Then again, you can probably imagine the shenanigans and crazy antics the Germans and Oktoberfest tourists endured when they saw six goofy American guys pulling up in a van in their authentic lederhosen and feather-donned hats.
Or maybe he shouldn't blog about Oktobrofest. I saw pictures and let's just say your imagination doesn't even quite do it justice.

Gigi & G-Daddy (Jamie's parents) came to visit us again at the end of September. Riann had just started soccer for the season so their first full day, post jet-lag, Jamie and Riann took the G's to Riann's soccer game, then to climb Vesuvio. It was a beautiful day for it!!

We had also planned for a wine harvest tour up near Benevento which included our very own grape picking, grape stomping (that's right, bare feet in the crate of grapes!) and tutorial in wine making followed by a typical Italian, 3-hour long lunch. It was another incredibly clear and beautiful day and it was a lot of fun!!

Gigi was spending her 60th birthday with us so we figured we had to show her a great time in Italy. The second weekend of their visit, we headed up past Rome and to Civita di Bagnoregio, a tiny town only accessed by a walkway / narrow road that only allows for pedestrians and motorscooters.

A great town to visit as it sits atop a plateau of friable volcanic tuff overlooking the Tiber river valley, incredibly unique!! As a silly little fact, this was also a destination Matt Lauer visited (from The Today Show) one year during "Where in the World..." series. The population of Civita di Bagnoregio fluctuates from about 12 residents in winter to about 100 in the summer (thanks, wiki!). We enjoyed a great lunch at a little restaurant recommend by Rick Steves and just walking around the quaint little town before we got back on the road to drive to our agriturismo in Umbria.

The agriturismo we stayed at, Le Mandrie di San Paolo, is a working olive farm, an old farm house that has been fully renovated. The view was spectacular as we could see for miles and miles and miles. It also proved to be a great location for our stay as we had planned to visit several towns/cities throughout Umbria over the long weekend.

Up first was Assisi, the birth place of St Francis.

We visited the Basilica, we walked through some of the streets stopping in for some snacks in a pasticceria (pastry shop), we visited Piazza Comune (where a Roman Forum is located), we walked to the Basilica of St Clare, then on a long walk up to Cathedrale San Rufino, a stop for a lunch break and then to Rocca Maggiore, a fortress up above Assisi,

with a brief visit to a gum museum... Okay, not really but it was a funny memory of visiting Assisi. See for yourself. Yup, that is all pre-chewed chewing gum.

Since it was so gorgeous out and we were finished seeing the highlights of Assisi, we decided to drive to Gubbio, another town in Umbria. We saw the amphitheater as we parked, then walked up to the hillside town...and up further to see most of Gubbio. And as with every trip, we stopped in for some gelato for two hungry kids and four hungrier adults. Gubbio is a great little picturesque town!

The next day we made our way to Perugia, a town well known for its chocolate and it's chocolate festival, only we were about 1 week early, but we did see them setting up for the festival, and of course there was no shortage of chocolate!! We also happened to arrive just as some sort of processional was going on through the streets, the only clue was a sign that held up a sign that translated to Lord of Miracles, but there was some chanting, burning of essence, and music being played.

Since that was only a half day visit, we had time to visit Cortona - I think this was one of my favorite towns in all of Italy! Antique shops, enotecas (wine shops), so much detail to the old buildings... beautiful!!!

We made quite the hike up the winding brick and cobblestone roads to to Santa Margherita de Cortona (church), which houses the remains of Saint Margherita. On the way back to our agriturismo, we ran into rain, a vibrant rainbow, and once we got up the hill to the agriturismo, the view was out of this world!

We also ate at the farmhouse's restaurant on site and indulged in some of the very best Italian cooking I've had since moving here. Their vegetable lasagna was piping hot and so, so good! After all that good food, and a long day ending with rain and some chilly temps, it was time for bed.

Our last stop in Umbria before heading home was Deruta, a town I actually knew about from my working days at Williams-Sonoma. Chuck Williams brought back a "chicken pitcher" that has been sold at the company since it was opened. The town itself is known for its ceramics, some of the very best ceramics around. Our first store (rushed, you know, because a ceramics shop is not the place to bring two kids, one who also happens to truly be a bull in a china shop / tank in a ceramics shop) had me eyeballing quite a few pieces, but since it was only our first shop, we thought we'd come back... And we did, only it was closed for riposo (siesta, lunch) and we wanted to get back home before dark. Lucky me, we still have 18 months to live here and hopefully a few return trips to Deruta to pick up some treasures.

That was the end of that adventure, but we also had several more days with the G's in town.
Jane and I went to a cooking class.

Riann took part in her school's vocabulary hat parade (her hat was the word "greenhouse".

I took Jane and Dan to the International Bizarre that was hosted by the NATO base here in Napoli. Each NATO nation represented had a booth of goods from their country, everything from wine to cheese, beer to leather goods, furniture to ceramics and scarves. Oh yes, and the food... My favorite: Germany for the bratwurst and sauerkraut and Spain for their Paella and Sangria.

Lastly, Jamie and I had a weekend away while the G's hang out with the grandkids. Unbeknownst to Jane, our trip was to include a stop in Florence to pick up a bracelet she had been looking at for a few years... the previous year they visited us and we were in Florence, she happened to see the bracelet in a jewelry store there. I was in contact with the owner and he had helped us obtain the bracelet almost in time for Jane's 60th birthday. Hooray, mission complete!!

Jamie and I had fun reexploring Florence (this time without kids, always a little easier!) including the Salvatore Ferragamo Shoe Museum (not exactly Jamie's favorite),

and ate at a really great restaurant that was recommended to us by my friend Blair back from the Penn State days. We also visited the Florence American Cemetery and Memorial.

Back to Napoli for us, and back to Syracuse for the G's... It is always nice to be HOME again.