Ethan:LAST DAY OF SCHOOL

On the last day of school I went to gym. And I got to watch a video too. And it was about gym, and school. I was sad to leave school. And my parents got to watch too.

This is my class.

Ben:Going home

We are going home already.
 It has been so long since I have seen you.
But I am going back right now I am In Munich.
We will be home tomorrow. I hope to see you soon. We had first class in the train to munic.

Ethan:soccer

I do 2 scrimmages in a soccer practice. We play so fun games! I like to play with my friend Eric.

I crawl on the ground and I get dirty.

I am the one getting tripped.

I am yellow.

I am the one on the right.

Ben:Soccer

Guess what. I got to play in a game with my Italian team.
It was very fun. I loved it.
One of the players on my team was very good. He could dribble past everybody.

My team was the red team

I did not score at all. But I had a very good assist. I was the captain in the game. I got to wear the captain band.
The captains band kept falling off my arm. It was very annoying. It was not a very good arm belt.

Buon Compleanno, Ethan!

In pajamas for the
video call with his class

Ethan's birthday actually started the evening before when we had a video call with his class back home. They sang him Happy Birthday in Italian and showed him the huge banner they had made for him. He loved it- though he was really, really tired and not very talkative. Thanks to Mrs. Stone's class!!!

There is no denying that our boys have been spoiled on this trip. I cringe when I think about how much gelato and soda they've had. There are days that they play video games or watch shows because we don't have a yard or neighborhood friends for them to hang out with. They've grown accustomed to travel, seeing sights, and picking up souvenirs. So naturally, Ethan's birthday request was to return to Prague for the day.

Ben 'helped' Ethan
open his presents.

April 25, his birthday, is a national holiday here. It's the celebration of liberation from the Nazis at the conclusion of WWII. This year, it was the last day of his spring break. He knew he wouldn't have school. His friend, Brynn, had celebrated her birthday here with a trip to Venice. To him, a trip to Prague seemed like a reasonable request, but we had to explain to him that it was a little far to travel for the day. We settled on visiting Venezia again.

After opening his presents, we caught an early train into Venice. We weren't sure how crowded it would be for the holiday. All of us were starving by the time we reached the city, because we had no groceries for breakfast at home and were running late to catch the train. We found the first restaurant outside of the train station to eat at, and all of us were much less grumpy after that.

Pancakes- though Dave still
owes him his birthday '7'.

Ethan requested a gondola ride for his birthday, and he wanted to find the same gondoliers that we got to ride with for Brynn's birthday. Sadly, nobody was at their stop when we arrived. Dave's colleague, Ricardo, and his wife were meeting us to walk around a bit, so we had to wait until later to take his ride. We met Ricardo in Cannaregio, on the north side of the Grand Canal. We took a walk, and they showed us some quieter areas, the hospital, and a gorgeous church. We had a snack in the sunshine of a piazza before they set off on their way for lunch with family.

As Ethan's seven-year-old patience was wearing thin at this point, we found the first gondolier available to take us for a ride. He was nowhere near as entertaining or accommodating as the first gentlemen we rode with- I think he was upset that we interrupted his game on his telephone. It was a gorgeous ride, anyway. The canals are extremely tranquil and quiet in comparison to the packed areas of the city. I was able to sit back and enjoy this ride more than the first. Despite my initial skepticism and feeling that gondolas, and Venice in general, are tourist traps, I do recommend adding a gondola ride to your bucket list.

Scala Contarini
del Bovolo

Dave chose a seafood restaurant for lunch. As he pointed out, the majority of our food decisions have been made to accommodate the kids (back to the point about them being spoiled). He ordered the seafood he wanted, I got pasta with shrimp, and the boys had pasta with octopus. They survived. They were not fans.

Since we had seen most of the big attractions in the city on previous visits, we spent most of our time walking areas that were less traveled. One thing that was on our list was to see the staircase that resembles the leaning tower in Pisa. They were tucked away, back in a neighborhood, so we hadn't happened on them before. Eventually we made our way back toward the train station and had one last aperitivo in Venice before heading home to Padova.

Ciao, Venezia!

My seven-year-old.

After dinner at our favorite pizzeria and an ice cream cake from our favorite pastry shop, the day was complete. Ethan didn't celebrate his birthday with his class here until yesterday. They did have school last Friday, but his teacher and many of his friends were absent. We couldn't get treats to bring in until Monday afternoon, because many of the pastry shops are closed Monday morning, if not all day. He chose a fruit torta and cookies to bring, and we also got juice. He reported that everyone enjoyed the treats. As is the Italian tradition, his teacher did pull his ears seven times.

Ethan is looking forward to celebrating again at home with family and friends. Because he's spoiled... I mean an extremely, extremely lucky kid.

Spring Break #2: Lago di Garda

The bridge in Bassano del Grappa
is being repaired.

Easter started off quietly for us. I had been picking up small things for the boys' baskets during our travels. The Easter Bunny brought larger chocolate eggs with toys inside them for the boys- that's apparently what happens here. Dave hard boiled some eggs and helped the boys hunt for them in the garden, which they thoroughly enjoyed.

As for Italian traditions, aside from the Easter Bunny's chocolate eggs, there are few. Holidays, in general, are much less commercialized here. Valentine's Day, for example, is only for romantic love. There were no parties or treats passed out at school. Ben did make an Easter craft at school, and the boys both brought home cards for us. Religious holidays are celebrated in church and with family here.

Another good brother
moment.

We got on the road toward Bassano del Grappa in time to stop there for lunch. Dave had heard from three people recently that it is a beautiful city. Our first stop was a park with a fun playground for the boys. We are trying to get them some unstructured time here and there, but they are really missing the freedom of being at home. They more or less have the run of the neighborhood, and our house has more options for them to self-select activities to occupy their time with.

The city itself was much like many others. Not that it wasn't beautiful, but I can tell that I'm 'ooh'ing and 'ahhh'ing less as time goes on. I was even quoted as saying, "We've seen enough castles," so we skipped going inside this one and walked the grounds instead. Now that the vistas here are so normal to me, I'm interested to see to what extent I notice the surroundings and the differences at home.

Weekend Close to Home: Vicenza and Movies

Mapping our route in Vicenza

*This post is about a weekend in late February/early March... as I try to catch up, I may back-date posts later.*

After living here for a few months, Dave and I agree that of its many charms, the absolute best thing about being here is our central location. Padova is located in the Veneto region, which stretches from Venezia (Venice) north to the Dolomiti and west to the lake district. Within forty-five minutes, we can reach a diverse group of sites and cities.

After traveling last weekend, we decided to stay closer to home, exploring one of the closer cities, Vicenza. This off again, on again travel schedule may be something that we continue- I appreciate having a few days away from our apartment, but every weekend would be too much.

Entering central Vicenza

I didn't take the time to do much research before our trip started- I was too busy figuring out the logistics of leaving home. We accumulated three guide books about the Veneto (the region of Italy that Padova and Venezia are in) during our preparations for the trip. I must have still believed that 'Venezia isn't that special', so I hadn't really looked at them. (I was also pretty busy preparing for the trip itself.)

Teatro Olimpico

In all of the guidebooks I looked at, there weren't that many places that made me think, 'Wow, I really need to go there!' As I glanced through one of the guidebooks, Teatro Olimpico caught my eye. I can't really explain why. I think it was the combination of its age, the sculpture, and its prominent listing as a 'must-see'. When we got to the ticket office, I balked a bit at spending 30 euro for the entrance fee, but knew that I'd be sad to miss it.

Teatro Olimpico

I was right! Even the boys thought that the theater was cool. It is very small, and the ceiling, while painted to look like clouds, is still pretty close overhead. There are statues lining the outer walls, so you feel as though the important people in the past are looking over your shoulder. The set there is permanent, and through the doors of the set they've made backstage look as though it continues off into the distance. The perspective it gives is pretty remarkable, even when you don't think about the fact it was built in the 1580s.

Nothing special. I just
like this picture!

Similar to most Italian cities, there is a main piazza (courtyard) area in Vicenza. I liked this one because while traveling around one of the buildings, you traveled up and down stairs, so it was just a pedestrian area. It felt as though it were similar to how it was traveled when it was built. There was also a street musician performing as we entered the area. The echoes of the violin music were reverberating off of the walls and through the passages.

As usual, Dave took a few minutes to find the restaurant he wanted to have lunch at. I eat to live, while he really, really enjoys food. We found a neat little restaurant adjacent to a library. The man working there was the only employee, so he was cooking, serving, and running the bar. The meal was amazing- Dave would remember more details than I do- there were only a couple of lunch choices, which is normal at smaller restaurants. He was extremely nice, and offered us an after lunch drink on the house.

"Mom, I'm so excited, I don't
even care if the movie is
in Italian!"

To continue our laid back weekend, we decided to see a movie. The boys absolutely love the How to Train Your Dragon movies and shows, so we decided to see #3. Here it was just called 'Dragon Trainer'. It's been a pretty big deal, with stuffed animals available at the grocery stories to promote the movie. When we bought our tickets, the person at the ticket counter asked where we wanted to sit. I know that some of the luxury theaters in the States will sell particular seats, but we weren't expecting the question and it took us a minute to figure out what she was asking. Ben said before the movie started that he was 'so excited, he didn't even care if it was in Italian'. Which, of course, it was. I was happy to understand a large amount of the movie. Dave said that he understood pretty much everything, except for some of the jokes.

Ben:Teaching

Ciao=hello-goodbye
cane=dog
gatto=cat
cavallo=horse
mela=apple
pera=pear
ananas=pineapple
arancia=orange
dai=come on
gli=the
il=the
no=no
sì=yes
cappuccino=cappuccino
amarena=sour Cherry
melone=watermelon
Torta=cake
gelato=ice cream.
molto bene= good day
bonanote=good night

Ben:Ethan Birthday.

Today was Ethan's birthday. We went to Venezia. It was very fun we saw my dads boss. We were together for lunch.It was fun to be with them. After they left we got to go on a gondola.
I thick that we had a great time in Venezia. I loved Venezia .It was very fun. I loved the gandola.

Ethan: on my BIRTHDAY

On my BIRTHDAY I went to Venice it was crowded.  We went on a gondola! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Gondola. 

Gondola.

Gondola.