Week in Begramo!

Gelato's

2nd Gelato:Fragola:Strawberry(Cecilias favorite)

3rd/4th Gelato:Menta & Cannella: Mint & Cinnamon, the front runners!!!

5th Gelato: Menta, Cannella, Niccola: Mint, Cinnamon & Hazelnut

6,7,8,9 & 10th Gelato: stracciatella, caffe, bacio, cioccoiato bianco, & liquirizia: white chocolate, coffee, chocolate hazelnut combination & licorice.(We bought 1 kilo of gelato and had to choose 5 flavors, it was hard to choose but so fun!)

So these are all of the gelato's that I have had so far and loving evey minute of eating them.

Cristina and Gianmarco are on vacation for their anniversary, so the kids and I are in Bergamo spending time with the grandparents. I have been spending the day with the kids and then staying the night at the apartment. Cristina's sister, Mara, and brother in law, Massimo, have taken me out to dinner a couple of nights.

On Sunday, Mara, Massimo and I went to Lago dei Lecco. The landscape was to die for. On a map, the lakes look like a wishbone; Lecco is on the right and Como is on the left. (Lake Como is where George Clooney has a villa)

And a friend, Lia, took me to the upper city of Bergamo on Monday. It was beautiful. And then the kids, grandparents and I went to the zoo. I forgot how much I love going to the zoo!

I went to Milan on Tuesday. Toured the Duomo and walked around the city center. I did the audio tour guide of the Duomo and learned a lot of great facts.

On Saturday, we are going to a birthday party for Massimo. It should be a lot of fun. Then we will head back to Padova Sunday but not before stopping at the beach.

So here are some pictures from my travels of this week.

Upper city of Bergamo
Upper city of Bergamo
Lago dei Lecco

Lago dei Lecco

Zoo in Bergamo-feels like home seeing this longhorn

Federico and Cecilia at the zoo

Beach

Belgrano, Italy for the Weekend!

CIAO!! Have lots to share from the weekend!

Friday we traveled to Belgrano, about a hour and half away. The family used to live there and still has their apartment. It has more city feel to me and what I am used to. But there is still a small city feel to it like Padova.

We went to his brothers house, which is absolutley beautiful! It is up on a hill that looks over the entire city. He built it 2 years ago. I am sad I did not get any pictures but I think we will go back another weekend. We went there to drop the chicks off because he has some already and lives on land. He also grows strawberries, raspberries and blackberries. Then we went to Gianmarco's parents house. They are very nice, Julia and Julio. I ate rabbit!! It was actually really good. Julio, the grandfather, raised the rabbits himself. We also had polenta, which is starting to become a favorite/standard! We had it with cheese in it which I was told is unique to the region of Italy we were in. Finally, we arrived at the apartment and went to sleep.

Saturday: we woke and relaxed around the house. Today I was going to be shown Belgrano. It was very pretty. Had the cobblestone streets like Padova with shops on either side, with people walking all around. For lunch, we went to Cristina's parents apartment. They were also very nice, Ana and Palo. Reminded me of Nani and Papa. The grandfather dressed like Papa with suspenders and everything. Made me a little homesick. And I discover that my Sandone family and I have been eating pasta scriutto our whole lives, which is the name for pasta with sauce. Later that evening, Gianmarco's family came over to celebrate his birthday. He has two brothers and one sister. This also reminded me of my family and when we get together to celebrate a birthday! It was very fun and everyone was very nice and interesting.

Sunday: today was the day of the festival of Belgrano. Local famers would display their products and animals. Gianmarco's brother, Fabio, had a stand that displayed his berries made into jam. Each type, strawberry, raspberry and blackberry were very delicious. I hope to bring some home. To get to the festival we biked from the house, it was 10 miles total!! The route was very beautiful and the scenery was breath taking. Once we arrived, we walked from each stand and tried the local farmers items: cheese, salami, wine and of course jam. We were at the festival for most of the day and then biked back home. Although it was a relaxing day, everyone was exhausted. We left later in the evening to return to Padova. Cecilia became ill while at the festival, so she will stay home with me on Monday.

Here are some pictures from the weekend. Enjoy!

Stands at the festival
Cecilia-so precious!
Federico laying in the hay



The family and I biking to the festival

Countryside for the Weekend

Today was really exciting! A friend of the families is hosting a girl from Holland. Her name is Japke and she is 19. I went over to her house today and we hung out this morning. She is very nice to talk to and we want to do a lot of the same things while we are being hosted. We plan to go the museums together, explore Padova. She wants to go to Venice and the sea and I can't wait to visit those places either. It's great that I met someone who I can hang out with during the morning time while the children are at school.

Japke and I walked around the palazzo today, went to a book store because I have now finished two books since arriving, went shopping and ate lunch. Here are some pictures from lunch!

We are going to the countryside this weekend. The house is in Belgrano, which is about a hour and half away from Padova. I will take lots of notes and pictures for everyone to see.

Talk to you when I get back on Sunday!

Living Quarters!

Buongiomo!(Good Morning!)

I took some pictures of the house in Padova, my room, living room, etc. Enjoy!

Front of the house

Right side of the Terrace

Left side of the Terrace
Living Room
Entry way/Hall way
My Room
Kitchen

Went Exploring!

First Gelato in Italy: Pistachio! Molto Buena!!

Today, I went exploring near the house. Cristina asked me to go to the market near the house and pick up some zucchini for dinner. The markets in Padova are open markets just like our farmers market but here there are 2 to 3 markets in different piazza's, which is square. I went to Piazza delle Erbe. After that I walked around and looked at the different shops. I took some pictures of beautiful buildings, churches and the market.

Many people in the city ride Vespa's or bicycles to get around. It makes me what to get a bike when I return home, actually I am rethinking and now I was a Vespa :)

Around 3:30pm, Cristina and I will ride bicycles to the kiddos school to pick them up. On the way back there are cute shops that I am going to go to tomorrow and sit outside for lunch.

Street view from the house

Name of the street the house is on

Palazzo del Bo-the first building

of the University of Padova ever built

Palazzo Moroni-Palace of the City

Entrance to main gate of the square

Palazzo della Ragione-old palace that was used by the government to conduct business.

Open market w/fresh

vegetables and herbs

Fountain in Piazza delle Erbe

Weekend Adventures!

My weekend has come to an end....Sunday was a great day! There is a high school in Padova that children ages 14-19 go to that learn how to farm and agriculture. It was fascinated that there is a whole school dedicated to this.

The family left in the morning while I was sleeping, trying to get on the right time zone, and bought to chicks from the school. There is a special chicken that is native to Padova that is actually becoming extinct. Gianmarco, the dad, has a brother that lives about 1 hour away and the family will take the chicks to him eventually.

Around lunch time, Gianmarco came back to the house to pick me up and we went to the school for lunch. We walked around and saw the flowers being grown there.

Federico has a couple of loose teeth and lost one while we were out. It was a monumental day!

Once we all returned to the house, everyone was tired. We took a short nap and then had dinner. Dinner was great, Cristina is a great cook. It was a simple pasta dish of sauteed onion and a can of tomatoes chopped and fresh basil that simmered while the pasta cooked. Im going to write the name down of the tomatoes (pomodoro) and see if Jimmy's carries it. We then had bread and cheese and melon.

When I am getting ready for bed, is when I call home and talk to everyone. But my sleeping schedule was not on course last night. I woke up around 4am, it was a little warm for my liking but eventually the temperature dropped and I went back to sleep around 5am.

Monday the children return to school and around 3:30, Cristina and I, will go to pick them up.

Ciao!

I'm Here!!

I finally made it!!

I left Dallas around 6pm to fly to Madrid. I watched a couple of movies, "When In Rome" and "Invictus". Slept the whole way and woke up to breakfast on my table. Once I got to the Madrid airport, I was beyond confused. There are elevators and escalators and your gate number has three letters. Well least to say I made it, obviously!

The mom, Crisitina and her friend Vittoria(who Veronica and Gabe know), picked me up. They were so sweet, brought be flowers! We then took Vitto home. Her house is so cute, it looks like it belongs in the mountains.

The kids were at a child activity center for the church and were doing arts and crafts. The little girl Cecila is precious. She is already attached to my hip.

The driving is very different here. Kinda of scary.

The house is very nice. I have my own room with plenty of space. I have put everything away. It has a huge terrace. The weather today is misty and raining.

We are going to dinner on the square for pizza. It is not far from the house. Cristina was telling me that they live in the city, so there is city life.

We went and ate pizza. It was Napoleon style pizza. Very delicious. I had one with buffalo cheese one it, it was so creamy. We walked from the house to the pizzeria. There are 3 squares that have markets of fresh food and different items. I cannot wait to go and explore and also go in the cute shops that I saw. That is when I will take pictures and post them.

Arrivederci until next time.