Anzio

On Suday, we went to church with the Romans where I tasted the worst wine possible (I think) during communion. It was bitter and gross. After church, we went for a drive down to Anzio for an afternoon stroll. We ended up spending about 4 hours there just walking along the beach. The story of Anzio is that during WWII, the British and Americans landed there to launch an attack on the German soldiers. Unfortunately, from my reading, it didn't go the best because the General waited too long to call for an attack. There is a statue in the city along the beach that is of a small girl who apparently led the allied troop to where the Germans were camped.

During our walking, we spent most of our time along the beach. We picked up seashells from across the world. That was an amazing thought of how something so far away is so similar to things so close. We spent probably 2 hours walking the beach and looking for shells during part of that time. Pictured below are Leann and Juliano.

Walking back up the beach after picking up shells.

Here is Juliano and Anna. They were our wonderful, funny, and sincere hosts during our 3 days in Rome. They were so good to us and were the highlight of our trip. They put the whole Italian experience into perspective. It felt like home there. We talked of the struggles every society must deal with. We experience the passion of Italians and the event of dining while with them. Leann and I are both certain we gained 5 pounds just during our stay with them.

This is one of our favorite pictures. It is so innocent and sincere. Just to walk arm in arm down the street talking of things to do, things to see, things to come and things that have past. Just simplicity of being friends. (You would not see many guys in America willing to walk like this anymore.)The end of the day looking back over the sea.

Pompeii

OK, OK. I get tired of blogging. For this being Leann's thing, I am the only one that does it basically. This was our time in Pompeii. Pompeii is a city that was buried by a volcano in about 70 A.D. That is only 40 years about after Jesus died. This would have been right around Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus. It was preserved just as Jesus would have seen it. That is the most amazing thing about it. In the back of this picture under the tree is Mt. Vesuvius, the volcano that erupted that covered Pompeii. By the way, Pompeii had the population of about 20,000 they estimated when the volcano erupted. In the bottom right part of the picture would ahve been to boat docks. The sea would have come all the way up to the brick by the tree in the very center of the tree. The volcano ended up adding about 1.5 miles of land to the get to where the sea is now. (Also, there are vendors just down the hill that sell lemonade from the home grown lemons they are famous for in that area. DON'T TRY IT!!! It is pure lemon juice - no sugar, no water, nothing but lemon and pulp. It was gross - thanks Titus!) :)
The picture below depicts the crosswalks throughout Pompeii. They were made like this so that horses and carriages could still pass through the streets, but people didn't have to walk in the muck and poo. On the right and the left are the actual sidewalks. They were very smooth for the most part from all the wear while people lived there.

This is a little street in the town. You can see the buildings on both sides and if you look at the bottom of the picture in the street, you can see two lines about a carriage width apart. This is where the the actual carriages had worn down the stones in the street. It is amazing how smooth they were too. The streets were very well laid and it was amazing to see them.

Have a hankering to go out to eat. They had that too. Here is a diner of sorts where in the open holes, they would have had pots filled with stuff that they could serve to people on the street. One of the most fascinating things that we saw was how smooth the things were in the town. The countertop here could rival marble or granite counter tops that we install in our houses to this very day. We saw the marble baths that the city had that were better than any bath I have seen in our houses to this day.

After hours and hours of walking, we decided it was time to go. The city is worth the trip and mostly because of the Biblical history that Leann and I know. It is amazing to see the stories in the Bible that talk about the cities and what they were to do and how to be Christians. Then, walking through the city you could see exactly what things looked like and why it was hard to be a Christian during this time. I didn't post it, but the first thing you see when you come into the city is the Temple of Athena, which would be saying that the city was her domain and she was the patron god from the Greek mythology. There was a brothel and other things that just showed you what the culture was like and how they aren't really much different than we are today.

In Branson

Well, today we drove to Branson for our week off. There really isn't too much to report, except both the older kids are super excited about swimming. They both will swim without us touching them when they have their floaty arm things. They are really really excited about it all. Sydney though just sits there and looks like she is about to fall asleep because she doesn't want to move. After about 1 hour she started to move - but not much. We shall see what tomorrow brings!

Vatican, St. Marks, and stuff

Well, I forgot to put a few things on from the day before so let's catch up a little. The first day in Rome we walked and walked and walked. We saw so many things and here are a few other things that we did. This is the Trevie Fountain (don't know how to spell it). This fountained is carved into the side of a building. You walk around the corner and there it is. You don't think you are walking up to the fountain other than you can hear water. You don't expect it to be in the side of a building though. There were a ton of people walking around and we think that there was a guy having his bachelor party because they hoisted him up and started singing and carrying him through the streets. It was odd and a little funny.
Notice how small the people are in comparison to the fountain. It is HUGE and I really liked it. I would have wanted to hang out in the piazza more there weren't so many people there.

Below is the Pantheon. Today it is owned by the Catholic church and there are a couple of dead people inside it and that is really it. There are a few statues and stuff, but the main thing is just the building itself. It was designed with a hole in the roof and made so that the water would dissipate before it reached the ground inside the building. How did the Romans figure that one out???

OK, no look at the little people standing right next to the columns. Each column is I believe 60 or 80 feet tall. That is huge, but not the impressive part. Each column is a single piece. There are no cuts and it is out of 1 rock!!! AND - they shipped it to Italy from EGYPT!!! Again - what? How? uhhhh?

This is the Piazza Navona. This is where all the artists come to paint and you will hear it in many different movies. One movie it is in is "Return to Me". There were literally hundreds of artists out selling their paintings and just milling around. You can see some in the background, but not to many. This is the fountain exiting the piazza on one side.

As we were wandering through the streets to get back to the train station to go home, we had to stop. We didn't really know why, but kept trying to make our way through the crowd. Finally, when we got up closer this is what we saw. The ladies under the Max & Co. sign are models and were doing a photo shoot there in the street. We just happened to be going the same way they were so when they started moving and the crown dissipated, we actually followed the for about 1o minutes walking. They had their own body guards and all. I would say it was cool, but I was too tired and my feet hurt too much that really I could think was "get the skinny girls out of my way!!!"

This was one last interesting thing we saw in the way of sculptures. This is a coffin. If you are able to zoom in on it, you can see the veins in the horses necks and the muscles in the bodies of the scene. Wonder how much that would cost in these days?

So, that rounded up basically the first day. There is again, so much more that I can't show here or explain, but it was cool. The next day we took off to the Vatican and St. Marks Square. The Vatican actually was about a 5 mile walk inside. The whole time there was so much stuff on the ceiling and you spent almost the entire time walking up on ceiling while you are walking. There was so much Pope art that I really was disgusted at walking through and seeing the Pope and Jesus giving everyone the peace sign. I can't imagine Jesus ever giving people the peace sign! SO, after 3 hours of art that was starting to get on my nerves while just trying to get to the Sistine Chapel. Man they make you walk forever to get there! Anyways, here is one piece of art that I loved and will try to find a copy of someday. It is unnamed and the artist is unknown. I just can't help but imagine how that hug from Christ would feel and how it would cool your soul. I love the colors and the style of the art. This is one of my favorite pictures that we saw in Rome.

After 4 hours in the Vatican, we finally got back out into fresh air. This is St. Mark's square. Michelangelo designed this and this is also where the Pope comes out on Wednesdays and blesses the people.....with the peace sign I might add.

OOPS - this is a picture of the inside of the Vatican and the ceiling details....which is what you really look at going through the whole thing. Also, you spend the time looking ahead of you and wondering if the hallway is ever going to end!

This is one of our favorite Pieta's that we saw. It is in St. Mark's.

Now, the last picture here is blurry I know, but the purpose was to show you how tall the building is on the inside. You can see the people at the base of the columns there and the columns are probably 40 feet tall. NOTE: YOU STILL CAN'T SEE THE CEILING!!! The detail inside the churches are extraordinary and we loved seeing it all. I must admit though that it is hard to appreciate it because there is so much going on that you really can't interpret all that your eyes are seeing. In American museums, there is a piece of art and then blank wall around it so that you can focus on the art. In Italy, the wall is the art and so is the stuff they hang on it and so is the buildings and the sculptures and the and the and the. It is just so hard to actually take it all in and try to remember what you saw and how you felt. Good thing we kept a journal of our trip.

Tomorrow - Pompeii and Kareoke

Rome Day 1

Well, after our early morning drive to the airport and the explosion on the way that made us all freak out and actually stop the car to see if a tire had blown (except we all knew the sound was too loud for that), we made it to Rome and spent an hour on the bus just to get to the train station! We never did find out what the explosion was, but really sounded like a car slammed into another car. It was freaky!

So, we rode on the bus for an hour, checked our bags at the train station and then quickly jumped on the metro to go the coluseum. We rode the metro for a while (like 10 minutes maybe) and walked up the stair and BAM!!!! This is what you see. It was so wierd that you don't actually see it from a distance and then work up to it. You just pop out of the ground and see what is around.
The view is amazing and it is truly awe inspiring just to notice the building. How did they make it? How did they have that technologoy to get the arches so perfectly fit together and in a perfect curve? How did they build things three stories tall in this grand of nature? we spent about 1 hour walking around the outside of it and also seeing the arches of Constatine and Titus. Also, the Roman forum is there and we got to see a lot of that, even though we couldn't go inside because it was closed for some odd reason. (We never did figure that out.) Anyways, we were able to go inside the Coluseum and got to see exactly the way things would have been done ther. It is so big that you just look and look and look, but never really can take it in. Then, when you think about what happened there, you just realize that this was a living tomb of history. Then, it is even more distrubing seeing people making out and having picnics or stuff inside! Do they not know what happened here and the seriousness of the lives lost here? Below are a few pictures of the surrounding area.

Arch of Constatine (who legalized Christianity in Rome)

This is by the Roman Forum (by the Coloseum). It is called the poor mans date. The story goes that a man when he had no maney would take his date for a walk around the Forum (free), a walk to Palantine Hill (also free and pictured in the background), and when done, would stop for a drink at this fountain (also free). You cover up the bottom hole where you can fill up bottles or wash your hands and then out shoots water from the top hole and it becomes a fountain. It is actually pretty clever, but there is no talk about conserving water here apparently because it runs all the time.

Pictured inside the Coloseum (yes, we were there!)

When we were done there, we went to the metro and took another 10 minute ride underground and shop up in a little piazza when we got off. You are in this tiny piazza and walk down a long alley and when you round the corner - BAM - there are the Spanish steps. Again, just odd that you don't walk up to it and be able to see it for a long time getting closer. We had gotten a couple gelatos and decided to sit on the steps and eat our ice cream and relax (this is after about 4 hours of walking)!

We did a few other things while in Rome on the first day, but there are too many pictures to post. We will show them to you in person if you really want to see them all. Tomorrow's post will be of the Vatican and of St. Marks Square.

Padua and Monticello

4/6/09

As we rounded out our time in Venice, we took the train to Padua or Padova as we spell it in English. Does anyone else think it is wierd that we spell city named differently on maps in English versus Italian? If the city name is Padua, then leave it Padua in the guide book because I will get off at the wrong stop if it really is something different that I am looking for. Anyways, just a wierd thing you learn when you go overseas.

Padua was just a little town by Vicenza where we could just spend the afternoon and get to see what we wanted to se. Here is the picture of us sitting on a park bench in the city.
While we were wandering around the city, we ran into this fountain and Leann had to have her picture taken with it. Of course, I didn't want to take the picture and look like a tourist, so I stook back and had her do a circle around the fountain and I just snapped several different pictures. I am sure that didn't make people notice her right? She just obliged my silly thought.

We also stopped for lunch and this is a very typical lunch for us while we were on vacation. We would have a sandwich and a water usually. In America, you order and sandwich and tell them what you want on it. That is not the case in Italy. They make a specific sandwich and that is what you get. You can request to have things added but they often look at you like "how dare you" and may or may not put it on your sandwich. Also, European pop tastes different from US pop. Their pop has less carbonation we think. It just tastes a little different. It also comes in a different shape of a can too. They are taller and skinnier.

OK, on to the reason that we were here for. We wanted to see the Scrovegni Chapel which was similar to the Sistine Chapel in size. The walls are all painted with different scenes from Jesus life and death and resurrection. The chapel was built as an offering of pentenance to the Catholic church for a man's sins and his sons. The painting inside depicts the scene of them offering the church to Christ and he accepts it and lets them out of hell. Very interesting thought - even though you can't back that up with any Biblical teaching at all. Most of the art can't be backed up with Biblical fact, but more with Catholicism history. The chapel was nice, but you only got to spend 15 minutes in it and it wasn't really worth it, especially if you are going to see the Sistine chapel. It is much better by far.

Padua was actually one of our worst days in Italy. We couldn't get to where we wanted to go. We got lost - twice! We spent money on something that didn't really deserve it. We also got stalked through the museums that we went through and it made us feel like thieves or something by how closely we were being watched. Also, there were a ton of people out on the streets walking around and we constantly feel like we were being bumped into or prodded to move.

An interesting story is that I almost got arrested, I think. We got lost and so we walked back to the train station so that I could look at a map. Of course I couldn't find a map of just Padua. There were maps of Rome and all of Italy, but not Padua. So, I was going through all the map books which were on the bottom shelf of a shop trying to find a book that had a map of Padua in it. After the 4th or 5th book, I finally found a book with a map, mind you I was squatting down looking at them the whole time. I spent some time reading the map and tryin to figure out road names. (The reason we were lost was because the road had 2 names.....one on the map and a different one on the street signs. It isn't for several blocks that they finally match up.) So, I am reading this map and Leann is in the bathroom because she was anxious because we were lost. I think I get it all figured out and put the book back. I stand up and look down the isle and there is a police officer standing there watching me. We made eye contact and I kept it for about 3 seconds and then turned 90 degrees and faced the other shelf. I pulled my Rick Steve's book out of my pocket in my jacket and flipped it open to the map there and restudied it to see why the maps were different. The office continued to stand there and stare at me. After about 1 minute, he walked to the counter and just stood there. I finished reading my map and walked out of the store. I was sure I was going to be called in for questioning or something since he was staring at me. I started to get worried because Leann wasn't with me and I thought how great that would be if she came to find me and can't. She wouldn't know where I was or what happened because I would be in some room being questioned by the ITALIAN MAFIA!!! I was sure of it. Right then, Leann came out of the bathroom and I told her briefly what happened and we high tailed it out of the train station. We made it out of the building and about 1/2 block away when we heard sirens coming at us. A police car was coming from the opposite direction and pulled up right around us and got out. Leann and I didn't stop and they went into the train station. We just kept walking - and that is how we escaped certain death...or at least that will be the story when I am not able to remember what really happened! :)

The next day we all went for a car ride to Montecello (I think). This is the castle on a hill that beside another hill with a castle. Apparently, these are the two castles (or two families) that Shakespear got his inspiration for to write Romeo and Juliet (and their feuding families). You really couldn't see the castle very well and couldn't see the other one at all. It was kind of a dud but at least we got a picture of something right! Because of the dud, we got some gelato, loaded up in the car and headed back home.

Next up is our trip to Rome.

boy vs. girl prayers

These were the nighttime prayers of the children
Isabelle-
"Thank you for Mom and Dad, Thank you for my cousins, Thank you for Grandma and Grandpa and the animals...." etc.

Gideon-
"Thank you for Sydney to not take off her diaper and potty on the floor, Thank you for Isabelle to not throw up on her bed, Thank you for my stinky poop" I stopped him there and ended the prayer.

Lots of Love for Locks of Love

Well everyone, it was that time again and Leann has chopped her hair off. Once again she donated the hair to Locks of Love. Here is a blurb from their website:

WHAT IS LOCKS OF LOVE?
Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 18 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. We meet a unique need for children by using donated hair to create the highest quality hair prosthetics. Most of the children helped by Locks of Love have lost their hair due to a medical condition called alopecia areata, which has no known cause or cure. The prostheses we provide help to restore their self-esteem and their confidence, enabling them to face the world and their peers.
Mission Statement
Our mission is to return a sense of self, confidence and normalcy to children suffering from hair loss by utilizing donated ponytails to provide the highest quality hair prosthetics to financially disadvantaged children. The children receive hair prostheses free of charge or on a sliding scale, based on financial need.

Here are the before and after pictures of the cut. Isn't she just darling!!!

Here are some before and after pictures of people who have received hair donations.

http://www.locksoflove.org/recipient.html

Another blurb from their website telling you how you too can get involved.

Please Note: Anyone can cut your hair as long as the guidelines listed below are followed. We encourage all of our donors to go to a salon they are already familiar with to ensure their comfort when donating.
GUIDELINES FOR ACCEPTABLE DONATIONS
Hair that is colored or permed is acceptable.
Hair cut years ago is usable if it has been stored in a ponytail or braid.
Hair that has been bleached (usually this refers to highlighted hair) is not usable. If unsure, ask your stylist.
Hair that is swept off of the floor is not usable.
Hair that is shaved off and not in a ponytail or braid is not usable.
We cannot accept dreadlocks. Our manufacturer is not able to use them in our children's hairpieces. We also cannot accept wigs, falls, hair extensions or synthetic hair.
Layered hair is acceptable if the longest layer is 10 inches.
Layered hair may be divided into multiple ponytails.
Curly hair may be pulled straight to measure the minimum 10 inches.
10 inches measured tip to tip is the minimum length needed for a hairpiece.
Please Note: Shorter hair will be separated from the ponytails and sold to offset the manufacturing costs. Although the shorter hair cannot be used in the hairpieces, it still greatly helps to reduce costs.
Gray hair will be accepted and sold to offset the manufacturing costs.
HOW TO DONATE
10 inches measured tip to tip is the minimum length needed for a hairpiece.
Hair must be in a ponytail or braid before it is cut.
Hair must be clean and completely dry before it is mailed in.
Place the ponytail or braid inside of a plastic bag, and then inside of a padded envelope.
Fill out the hair donation form, or write your name and address on a separate sheet of paper and include inside the envelope.
All hair donations must be mailed to Locks of Love at:234 Southern Blvd.West Palm Beach, FL 33405Please be sure to use the entire zip code when mailing. Thank you!

The Sinking City

Well, over the weekend, we ended up going to attend the church in Vicenza. There were about 70 people there the day we attended because they have a combined service once a quarter with the Ghanian church. Usually there are about 40 Italians at the service. (It is good to know that Titus is helping out two different cultures and sets of people with the money people are using to support him over there.) Anyways, right after church, we went for a very brief walk (about 10 minutes) and we only made it across the street actually. We didn't want to walk too far because there was a protest going on that day against the American military base there in Vicenza. We thought it best to stay close to the church. So, right across the street, literally, was this gem. This is the very first indoor theater in Italy. The picture displays the courtyard and in the far building is the actual theater. We were mozying around looking at the statues when all of the sudden, Leann says "I need to go home." I was a little shocked because we had been there all of 7 minutes or so, but she explained that jet lag had really hit hard and she was nauseous from being so tired. So, I took a quick picture and we headed home for an afternoon nap.
We spent most of the day just resting up and didn't really do anything. We knew that the next day would be the most frantic of our trip - VENICE! Ok, well, we knew that Venice would not be frantic, but we wouldn't have an interpreter like we would for all the other cities we visited. We were nervous and tried to read up some on our Italian skills, which really didn't matter. Why? When we got there and I didn't know how to say something, I just always said "Parle Inglese?" and of course they all said, "Yes. How can I help you?" I couldn't believe it!!! There were several places in Italy that we heard people switch from English, to Italian, to German, and sometimes Spanish - all by 1 person!!! Now that quickly makes you not so confident in our education system here in America! Anyways, this is the view almost as soon as you walk out of the train station in Venice. On one side of the station it is all concrete and walkways and normal city stuff. Oh the other side of the station, you walk out to a miriad of ancient buildings and a canal system that just instantly takes your breath away. The boat that you see on the left side of the screen is the "bus" that you take up and down the main canal. We are standing on the dock looking south going towards St. Mark's Square.

While riding the bus down the canal to get to our bed and breakfast, we snapped a few shots of diffrerent alley's in the city. Almost always there would be a sign that told you whether you could enter it from this direction or not. I like this picture because of the window on the left (you don't see those too often in US architecture) and also for the trees on the right side. I thought that since it was build on the water, there really wouldn't be vegetation growing there. There wasn't a lot, but the parks that they did have were all very hardy.

We went through many things while in Venice including the Accademia (museum) and the Peggy Gugenheim museum as well - where we saw art by Picasso and others. (It was a highlight for both of us to see Picasso work in the place that he actually created it!!!) We walked some back streets and crossed over little bridges and big bridges and went down alleys that only 1 person could walk through at a time just exploring the city. It was surreal that you were in a foreign city and felt no fear or worry about not knowing where you were or how to get to where you were going. We simply just walked and walked until we found a sign or something we recognized and then started walking again. The picture here is off of the Accademia Bridge looking north over the Grand Canal. The bus is on the left at the dock and the other two or three boats are a taxi in the middle (much more expensive than the bus) and then a UPS boat on the right. We love to just look at all the buildings and wonder how they really got this all built!

While wandering through those alleys, there were little shops that you could go in for souveniers and stuff. You can see the carnival masks hanging onthe wall and being displayed behind Leann along with glass jewelry as Murano (an island by Venice) is close by and is famous for its glass blowing. Leann is actually holding a glass fountain pen that she wanted to get for someone for a souvenier. Right before or after this, we stopped at a bar (which means cafe in English) and grabbed our first lunch out on our own. Leann ordered because I was a pansy and she is better with languages than I am. We had a sandwich and also a dessert cake. The sandwich was great and the dessert was atrocious!! We threw it away after only one bite - luckily it was only $1.20. That is one thing good about Italy. They have tons of dessert things or brioches (croisants) that can be purchased very inexpensively so you can try a lot of different things while you are there.

Here is just a simple pictures of Gondolier drivers standing around asking people if they wanted a ride. I was waiting for Leann while she was shopping at this time and so I watched them for about 20 minutes (at least it seemed that long)! What was great about the wait was that I was able to watch them ask tourists if they wanted a ride and then see the faces they made and the comments they made after the tourist had walked by. Lets just say that sometimes they are very funny and sometimes not. Most of the time, the didn't do anything though but seek out the next person they would ask. At one point, one of them wasn't getting the responses that he wanted so he started singing as he was asking people if they wanted a ride. It was quite commical because he was very dramatic about it - the best description I give for it is what you would expect from an Italian man trying to woo a female to go on a date with him.

The alleyways for shopping are great. There are little shops everywhere and I mean little. The average shop in Venice was about 10 feet wide by maybe 15 feet deep and man did they cram stuff in there! This is me walking through the alley looking at the different shops that were around. We did a lot of glass shopping here and picked up many souveniers here for family and friends.

This is St. Mark's Square, the central square of Vencie - except it is not central at all. I guess a better discription would be the most popular square in Venice. This is where the government of Venice meets. The square is pretty big, but not the biggest we saw in Italy. On the left is the bell tower that shoots up into the sky. On the right forfront is Doge's palace. Doge was an over-the-top ruler that was all about impressing people, and he sure did us. There were many rooms in the palace that actually were bigger than our whole house!!! The painting on the walls that were hung wouldn't fit on a single wall in our house because most of them were about 15 feet tall. The ceilings had gold leaf designs and lots and lots of marble throughout the whole building.
The dome and th building right beside it to the left is the church there (St. Mark's). The church was impressive and worth it since it is free, but not too much to comment on. The building on the left center part of the picture is a clock tower and the entry in the bottom actually takes you into the alleyway system behing St. Mark's square - where all the shopping is.

This is a picture of the walkway coming into Doge's Palace. The marble is white and salmon color. We were surprised at how much color there was in everything there. You would think that for being so old, the colors would have faded. That is not the case. Oh, a not about the picture above - notice all the people on the right? They are feeding the pigeons. THIS IS STUPID! Ok, everyone likes to feed the birds, but pigeons are 1 - nasty, 2 - the most infested species of birds on the planet, and 3 - not afraid to come up behind you and steal your bread off your sandwich that is sitting by your hip. THE WHOLE TOP BUN!!! So, watch your food when you go!

Here is the view right by our B & B on the little bridge to go over the canal. The yellow building on the right and closest to you is the B&B. It was lovely and fine. We liked it, but it was way too cold. Actually, we were cold almost the whole time in Italy because they didn't turn on the heat until 10 p.m. or so. So, you were frozen all day in the cold buildings with no carpet and didn't get warm until about midnight everyday! Oh well, that was a simple price to pay. This was one of the last sights that we got to see when we were leaving Venice.

Ok ok Here is the beginning

Well, everyone who has patiently been waiting, and I guess to those of you who have not been so patient, here are the beginning pictures of our trip. These were taken the first couple days while we there and didn't have anything planned except getting over jet lag...which took Leann about 3 days and took me 1 night. (Awesome for me, except I was tied down by Leann's nausea from being so tired!) This is the flight from Wichita to Atlanta, and believe me, Leann and I were not smiling this big on our flight from Atlanta to Paris!

The flight from Atlanta to Paris took a long time. It was from about 5 pm to 3 am our time, which was all overnight since we were changing time zones. We were able to see a couple times Greenland or Iceland from outside our window, but not too many times because of the weather and distance. We ended up landing in Paris about 8 a.m. local time. We booked it through the airport as we only had about 100 minutes to get to our next flight. We were pretty worried about it since it was in an airport that we didn't know. We had to go out of customs and then go back through security which was crazy!!! Oh well, we got to see the whole airport and buy a magnet. This is the wing of the airport where we caught our flight. It was shaped like a big football almost and was really interesting to be in (not plain and boring like most of our airports).

We made it pretty quickly across the airport and had time to pick up some newspapers along the way! (Leann did the 5 finger lift on these becuase she couldn't find anyone to pay and saw other people just take them and leave. When she got back and told me they were free, I pointed out that the top of the paper had a label on it as to how much it cost! OOPS) Anyways, I was here reading it and it was amazing how much we could pick up even though neither of us took French. Oh, and an interesting thing was that Kathleen Sebelius (the governor of Kansas) was in the paper in Paris! I know she is considered for the cabinet of Obama, but still!

So, we boarded the plane and took off for Cavazale (which is where Titus and Angie live). It was a two and a half hour drive and neither Leann or I made it all the way without sleeping. Leann was out in about 20 minutes of the drive and got a couple hours of sleep almost. I ended up getting 15 minutes because when Leann woke up, she decided she needed to wake me up so that we could sleep that night. Aparently she thought I was asleep the whole time she was. This is the view out of their dining room window at the Swiss Alps!!! It was a beautiful sight and we got tons more pictures of them. There is just something about mountains that is calming and wonderful.

This view is also outside the same window shooting down the street. As you can see, all the satelite dishes are on the balconies, but what you can't see is that everyone puts their laundry out to dry on their balcony. Most people in Italy do not have dryers as there isn't a ventilation system to handle it in most buildings. Basically, if you get a drying and have it inside, it shoots all the moisture into the air of your house and things start dripping. (CRAZY!)

On Saturday in town, there is a market which is just a traveling band of merchants that go to different cities selling their goods. On every corner of the market there were bicycles lined up as everyone bikes places and doesn't drive, not to mention that this town is small enough that you can walk around it in an afternoon just for a stroll.

One of the wonderful things there was the fresh flowers. They were so cheap!!! Things that would have ended up costing $5o or more in the US was only $10 at the market. I ended up buying some flowers as Sunday was "Women's Day" in Italy. This is just the simple holiday where men go out and buy flowers for the women in their lives. Don't freak out too much ladies at saying how awesome that is becuase the typical flower that you buy is this weed looking thing kind of like dandylions (but really really small). The cost of it is $1 so it isn't that great, but the thought is there - right?
Here is the stand where you could buy fresh cheese (Formaggi) and Salami (Salumi). Everything was ready to eat there if you so wanted. The cheese is soooooo cheap there as well. we did end up buying some for our stay there because it was so cheap and we love cheese.

Fresh fruit was also everywhere and here was just a simple picture of the blood oranges on display.

One last thing we got from the market that day was fried seafood. It was a mixture of many different kinds of sea creatures like calamari and octopus and more things. It was very interesting and both Leann and I tried to Octopus. I didn't put the picture on here of the octopus, but it was a baby one where you could put the whole thing in your mouth in one bite. It was so wierd becuase you could count the legs on it before you popped it into your mouth, chewed as quickly as possible and swallowed in hopes it wouldn't revisit you later. It actually didn't taste bad as it was fried, so we weren't too worried.

All in all, the first few days were amazing and relaxing and full of a lot of sleep. I wish we could have done a little more exploring the town those first few days but it was better to get rested up so that we could be prepared for Venice on Monday!