Friday, August 27, 2010

And finally to Mallorca

Mallorca provided the perfect end to our Grand Tour. Throughout our trip Matilde has asked "where do we fly to next?" And we would reply what our next port of call was and then went through the list of remaining places. When we listed Mallorca she would ask "and what about Spain?" Having been reassured that Mallorca was part of Spain her next comment was "oh this holiday is too short!!"

Indeed in no time at all our holiday in Mallorca is over. It was a wonderful week filled with some lovely meals and relaxing on the beach. On our last day we discovered the perfect beach  - hours of fun jumping the waves with beautiful sand underneath and clear blue waters. Grandpa Ross had promised the girls lots of fish - but they wanted to catch it themselves. Gregorio was aghast when they appeared with a fishing net each (a whopping 2 euros). However, he soon realised that a small investment provided many hours of fun. I am pleased to report (as Isabella will no doubt tell all) that they did catch a couple of fish (you might have needed a magnifying glass to see them) and several hermit crabs. Not to mention all the jelly fish. Talking of which, Matilde was stung once in Greece and Isabella twice - how she was stung on her face, we are not quite sure but maybe she'll learn that you don't need to inspect absolutely everything up so close.

We leave the warm (well very hot) mediterranean skies for a final day in London where we are told they are building up to a classic British bank holiday week-end - grey skies and cool weather! We will fly back to Washington tomorrow, Friday night. We are not sure how big the pile of post will be or the state of the jungle in the back garden, but we won't have long to find out. Saturday morning we are off for a 60th anniversary week-end with my office and on Monday school begins and so back to reality. 

We have had a truly memorable summer. The highlight has been the quality time we have spent together filled with new experiences and discoveries. Some of the obvious ones we have already mentioned but there were the entertaining ones too. The revelation that some public loos are little more than a hole in the ground led to new skills and lively debate about whether it was better behind a tree in the forest or the public loo surprise. What I love about children is the excitement and enthusiasm with which a new discovery is shared. I can't remember who saw the topless lady first on the beach but the scream "LOOK, a lady with naked boobies!" was heard by many.

We will have taken 7 flights, we have stayed in ten different homes/hotels, visited four countries. I dread to think how many miles we have covered or how many trees we should be planting to offset all the carbon footprint. But these statistics don't matter, we have enjoyed seeing our family and friends in Europe. We have enjoyed the slower pace of life, the sights, sounds and foods of the places we have visited. However, as we have reported, we have also missed some of our creature comforts - namely reliable air conditioning and services when you want them. We are so used to shopping (for food particularly) when you want it. And then there was the speed (or lack of) internet connection; not to mention the internet helpline who's advice over the phone was "if you go on-line you can add money to your internet account" They seemed to have failed to grasp that we were calling for help as we couldn't get on-line. These are really minor inconveniences but they have brought home to me that when (if....) we ever move back to Europe it will take some readjusting. Meanwhile we are on our way home and the villa in central Italy remains a dream....

I had hoped the girls would be writing more in the blogs but we were too busy finding snails, catching fish, eating gelato and so much more. They religiously kept their diaries for the first six weeks though they increasingly became a list of visits punctuated by a list of what we ate. We are certain though they have many happy memories that they will recall for years to come.

In terms of Isabella's health. She is looking great, her hair is thick and curly and bleached blond by the sun and sea. The next MRI will be in October and we will write more then.

Lots of love to you all,
Emma, Gregorio, Isabella and Matilde. xxx

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Mountains, polenta and chamois.

We are nearing the end of our stay in the Alps in Piedmont. We have had a very relaxing and refreshing time. If the month of July was off the charts in terms of heat in Italy, August was another story altogether - in northern Italy at least. As I mentioned, we landed in Milan to 20C - a pleasant respite from the heatwave in Athens. 

And in our two weeks  here we have seen all temperatures - hot sunny days, overcast days, pouring rain and on Monday, Gregorio, Janie and I were at 2,400 meters and not at all prepared for the wind, rain and even freezing rain. We swear it dropped below zero. We could not feel our hands, we walked as fast as we could. Never has a cup of hot chocolate been so appreciated when we returned to civilization!

We have wandered through mountain pastures filled with wild flowers, awe-inspiring alpine vistas and fields and fields of cows. The sounds of running water in a stream close by, or a waterfall beyond and cow bells ringing intermittently but little else. It has been idyllic. We have enjoyed some lovely walks and savoured picnics of local cheeses and salami while taking in the beautiful scenery, or pausing in a refuge for a rewarding bowl of polenta. The girls, much to Gregorio's pleasure have used their hiking boots and proved themselves good walkers. The 12km walk  above Mont Cenisio nearly finished them off though. They were fascinated by all the "Bonjour's" along the route, as many of the walkers were from just over the border. We did even go over to France one day and relived my youth and indulged in a chocolate liegois and a bottle of orangina.

We have seen marmot's but the highlight for Gregorio was spotting a chamois on our truly memorable walk up the Colle dell'Assietta on Monday. While for the girls it has been a relaxing couple of weeks, when they could play and run around. They enjoyed the company of Lala and Betta who came up with Lele and Marina from Rome, being spoilt by the grandparents and also searching for local wildlife. We had quite a colony of snails at one point!

Despite the pouring rain and pretty awful weather this past week-end we also had fun taking Peter and Janie around the local napoleonic forts, abbeys, towns  and picturesque scenery of the valley. Thankfully our final day was picture perfect. We even got Peter to do a bit of walking - it was probably the promise of a glass of red wine and some cheese at the end of it!

And in no time at all we have packed up our bags and are onto our final destination - Mallorca to visit Grandpa Ross for our final week. We will return to DC via London next Friday and back to school on Monday. Gregorio claims he could continue this trip, but I am mentally ready to return  - the emails about the start of school are streaming in and I am already looking at September after school activities and ordering new school uniform on-line. The power of the internet, if only it were a bit faster here in the mountains.

Hope you are all continuing to enjoy your summer. 

Love,
Emma, Gregorio, Isabella and Matilde. xxx

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Kalimera, kalispera, kali-whatever!


Isabella wanted to see the Acropolis and so we worked an EasyJet Rome-Athens flight into our itinerary and arrived last Friday afternoon. As we were driving in the taxi from the airport to Athens, Gregorio and I were watching the dry, barren landscape and wondering if we would have the energy to visit the acropolis in this heat. Isabella, ever the wise older sister announces “I think I will have to ask Eleni to explain the Greek alphabet to me”. Little Mati, sucking her thumb, pipes up “but there are some letters the same. Look, there’s an M, but what’s that O with legs?!”

We visited the Acropolis on Saturday morning, and I know I have said it before on this holiday, but it was hot and I mean seriously hot in Athens. We hopped from one spot of shade to another, walking at the pace of snails. Each time our dear friend Eleni, an expert on all things Ancient Greek, talked about the Acropolis, how it was built and told the girls about Greek gods and goddesses. Isabella knew all the myths Eleni mentioned. I was impressed. Despite the heat, Isabella seemed to be loving every minute. It was an absolute pleasure to see her enjoying the visit. Matilde did not seem to be taking so much in, or so we thought. But later in the Acropolis Museum, when we were watching a film about the Parthenon she said “we saw that this morning with Eleni, pointing at the metatope corner friezes.” Isabella’s comment on the film “why are we watching this, Eleni already told us all this?!”

Not only were we restored in the museum with food and air conditioning but we had fun meeting up with friends from Washington DC. After the museum, we quickly slipped into the Greek way of life and returned to our hotel for a siesta and remerged about 6 pm for a swim prior to going out for dinner. We found a delightful taverna in the plaka area and collapsed into a deep slumber around midnight.

On Sunday we took the ferry from Piraeus to Aegina, to visit Eleni and Themis’ family home. The port is filled with fishing boats and lined with tavernas and small shops and stalls, many selling the staple crop of the island, pistachios. It is not a big tourist island, but rather a retreat for the Athenians, very relaxed and simple. Nonno Themis (a big italophile) met us at the port with his ‘Bentley’ and took us through the pistachio and olive groves into the hills above the port to their delightful home that he has created. Here we spent four very relaxing days.

Eleni and Themis were quickly adopted by the girls as their Greek grandparents; the girls played with the dogs, picking up Greek phrases very quickly to call them or using greetings such as kalimera (or ‘kali - whatever’ said Matilde). They spent an afternoon learning the Greek alphabet with Eleni and even told me to put the volume back up on a Disney DVD they were watching – even though it was in Greek.

We enjoyed the fruits and vegetables from the garden – plums, figs, zucchini and of course olive oil.  It is amazing how delicious a tomato can taste with a little oregano, olive oil and feta cheese. Not to mention the octopus and fresh fish.  We also dined at lovely tavernas, one was literally on the beach and another in a beautiful tree filled courtyard – both filled with local Greek people. Eleni and Themis, the perfect tour organizers, (I work with them when sending groups to Greece) knew exactly what to order so that we tasted the best dishes.

Eleni gave us a tour of the island of Aegina. We saw the Temple of Aphaia and discovered the best beaches , needless to say they were filled with crystal blue waters. Isabella and Gregorio enjoyed jumping into the sea from the rocks, Matilde and I are more sandy types; me, so I can slowly wade out to deeper water while Matilde likes to sit on the shore and create a mermaid castle.

If Athens had been hot, it is hard to find a word to describe the heat in Aegina.  It must have been at least 40C. The cicadas were singing all day long. Gregorio commented, "how do they have the energy to make that noise all day long?!" Thankfully the evening provided a little breeze. We retreated indoors for siestas in the afternoon and ate dinner around 10 pm.  We slept, ate and swam. What more could we ask for? It was a truly relaxing week. We are now back in Italy in the mountains in Piedmont.  When we landed in Milan it was 20 C. Quite a change.

Overall it seems to have been a very successful week in Greece, though Isabella did comment that she was disappointed there weren’t a few more ruins everywhere. Perhaps she is right, but we also decided that the acropolis in Athens was the highlight and we weren’t going to push their energy too far by trying to see more. We will return.

On arrival in Italy, we drove to Susa, where Gregorio’s father’s family is from, yesterday evening. Gregorio spent many summers as a child here and has happy memories. Yesterday was the Feast of the Madonna di Rocciamelone. There was a big procession through the streets to the Cathedral last night followed by fireworks. The girls were asleep but we sat on the hill outside the house and enjoyed a wonderful welcome back to Italy.

Tune in next week to hear about our walks in the mountains.