Happy Sunday!

Some Sundays are good... some are GREAT! Today was GREAT!
First of all it was a glorious day! Warm and sunny!


Vitti and I decided that we wanted to go and take some photos of some of the towns near here.
Ok.. Vitti didn't really decied that. She didn't even know anything about it but I was just dying to try my new TOM TOM in extreme conditions. Small Tuscan towns is EXTREME CONDITION. LOL


So, I bribed Vitti with a picnic of prosciutto sandwiches and off we went.
But then I had a brain wave... (I don't have them often) and I called Elena and asked if her son Giordy wanted to come with us. He likes taking pics... almost as much as Vittoria. Ok, not true but he can be bribed with a prosciutto sandwich just like Vittoria.


We then drove to Elena's and picked up Giordy. Elena had some silly stuff to do such as housework or such some nonsense so we left her to it.


We drove to Gello. A VERY small... TINY... town.. VILLAGE... three houses and a cow....about 8 km from me.
When we got there though there were three or four German cars parked outside the walls and it looked very private. Well, ok.. there were HERKIN (copyright Donna 2010) PRIVATE PROPERTY signs all over the place so we decided NOT to take photo's... the BEWARE of DOG sign also scared the kids (Sissies).


While I was planning our next stop... (fighting with Tom Tom) the kids decided to eat their sandwiches.

After thinking long and hard... I decided to go to the town that we could actually SEE from where we were! LOL. I did not remember the name of it so the Tom Tom was no use at all. (they need to invent an app where you take a picture of what's in front of you, show it to the Tom Tom and have him give you the route).


So, we got there the old fashioned way...and the Tom Tom kept yapping at me to turn around.. turn around...


The town was CASAGLIA and I had actually been there before. Numerous times even. I just did not remember that. Then again I don't remember a lot of things lately.


We drove into the town and parked outside the walls.
We then walked around and took lot's of nice photos! The kids had fun as I was sure to bring them each a camera as well.

The kids started getting bored. They take very fast photos so we decided to head back home.


When we got to Elena's house she had prepared lunch for us! 
It was such a nice day that we sat outside and ate.


A lovely, relaxing Sunday! Like all Bloody Sundays should be!

Vitti in Austria

Some of you may know that Vitti left for a school trip to Austria on Wednesday at 4:30 a.m. I remember the 4:30 a.m. part very well. Don't really remember much else. 


I did take a pic of Viit all ready for the trip. Notice her new purse is bigger then she is...

They drove first to Innsbruck and visited the historical centre before leaving for Salzburg.
They arrived in Salzburg pretty late and got settled in the hotel and had dinner.
She called me saying they had messed up the rooms and she was not with her best friend but that the hotel would sort it out the next day.


Yesterday morning I received a text that she was visiting the old part of Salzburg.


Vitti also texted me last night while we were out for dinner and said that she had eaten Mozart Balls...

Now, for those of you who don't know what they are...trust me, it's nothing bad. It's actually a good thing! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozartkugel

I doubt she will bring any home.

This morning they left Salzburg and are on their way to SALZKAMMERGUT (sounds scary, huh?).

On the way they are stopping at the salt mines in Hallein. This includes a 1 km walk 80m underground. Sounds like fun. I wonder if she will take pics.

They will have lunch in a restaurant (Vitti's favorite part) and then head to SALZKAMMERGUT... which I see is on a lake.. (you can see too.. it's right there on the map)

Uh, you might need a magnifying glass for the map. If I put it any bigger it seems to fly off the page! Now, if this was a map of Italy it would not be a problem as Italy is nice and LONG whereas Austria seems to be too wide for blogs....

They will sleep in Salzkammergut tonight.

I know all this because I have Vitti's itinerary...

She has just texted me that they have arrived at the salt mines.... 

Will keep you posted!

Oh wait... while I am here I want to post a photo of dinner last night... 

Not a great photo (I really am not impressed with the iPhone 4 camera)

I'm so PRETTY!

YAY! It's my birthday today! I don't know about you but I LOVE my birthday! Reminds me that I am still alive every year..LOL


Today I woke up at 7 a.m. as per usual seeing it is a school day (I do prefer my birtdhays on weekends). Romano and the kids sang Happy Birthday to me.. along with "I'm so Pretty" from Westside Story. (It's kind of like my birthday theme song... I sing it all day on my birthday.)


At 9 a.m. I went and had my haircut! I did not do it to be pretty, because I already am, but I just really needed one. 40 Euros later I was even prettier then before!


After my haircut I went for coffee with Elena. That's pretty normal as we do that every morning. The only difference was me singing "I'm So Pretty" in the coffee shop. Elena was impressed... the other patrons not so much. Their loss. 


In the afternoon Elena took me, Vitti and Giordy to the lil zoo near us. Tommy followed on his motorbike. He wanted to be able to make a quick getaway if things got boring. 


During the ride there I made sure "I'm So Pretty" was blaring from the speakers. Elena laughed but the kids sort of hid in the backseat.
I also made sure to shout to every person that I saw along the way that it was my birthday and that I was going to the zoo! I scared a cyclist half to death.


The zoo is very small. It started out as a family farm. The owner, Ceppatelli, a true animal lover, wanted to create a place where children could get to know animals better. So, he started out with a few farm animals in 2001. He had mostly birds up until 2006 when he added lots of other animals. 
You can see some of the animals here:
http://www.parcogallorose.it/photogallery/animali.php

I took lot's of pics at the zoo!

As you can see from the photos there were many strange animals there!


It took us 2 and a half hours to do the whole tour of the zoo so I guess it is not that small.


There was no ice cream though as it is still low season and the snack stand was closed. This made me sad....


In the evening we had dinner at home and I got my gifts and roses from Romano and the kids!
My gift this year is really cool! I finally got a gas ventilated oven! Well, a coupon for one...
I have been wanting one for years. I actually gave up hope on that one.
My current gas oven does not work well. It does not heat up properly and since it is not ventilated it only heats from the bottom up. Not great for baking.
So, now, all I have to do is go and choose my new oven! I am happy!
Can you imagine though.. what if my baking still sucks once I have the new oven? I won't have anymore excuses.. Hmmm.....

Happy Birthday Italy!

Ok, so I am late in posting. I must really try to do better.


Today we celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Unification Of Italy!
And let me tell you, it's not as much fun as St. Patricks Day. Oh, well.


Vitti had to be in the Town Hall in Montescudaio, along with all her classmates, to "celebrate" (hear the mayor talk forever) and sing the national anthem. Oh, joy!
The room was so small that not everybody fit in so I just shoved Vitti in there with her classmates and I went outside to take photos! 
The whole town was adorned with Italian flags! Quite nice actually and a great photo op!
I walked around town and kept taking photos until I heard the last national anthem sung.


Here are some of the photos I took.

Afterwards I took the kids for a very patriotic lunch of sushi at the little restaurant in Cecina. Hey, the sushi was red, white and green so it all worked out.


Oh, and of course some pics of sushi!

Floppy Bread

I though Floppy Bread was a pretty cute title for this entry. Not that I want to write about the floppy bread I made. 
Romano just walked in and said "Goodness, that bread is ugly!"
I just looked at him and said nothing.
He quickly added "But, I bet it tastes GREAT!"
Smart man.


I'll show you the bread but you must promise not to laugh.

Floppy Bread

Ok, you laughed.. I saw you! 

Today I had a rather quiet day. I only had to babysit Nina. The lil pooper. Who knew a small rabbit could poop so much!

She is very clean around the house but man, oh man, all she does in her cage is eat and poop. Actually, I know a few people like that.. hmmm

Tommy started his sort of Spring Break today. I say "sort of" because Italy really does not have Spring breaks. The kids usually get a week off around Easter and then have a few days off during the year by having long weekends and stuff. But this year there are no holidays to add the long weekend on to. 

It seems all the holidays land on a Sunday or otherwise non school day so they are screwed. 

Well, I know you would love to hear more about my SUPER EXCITING life but I must put the focaccia in the oven! Yep, a regular Martha Stewart! That's me!

I promise that as of tomorrow I will write more exciting and specific things in my blog! Really!

Oh! Wait! I might post pics of Nina later on.. so you might want to check back. I mean, what else were you doing today anyway?

Vitti's Birthday

It was Vitti's birthday yesterday!
It is hard to believe she is now 13! She doesn't look 13. Well, at least not to me.
When she woke up yesterday she came downstairs and found the table all set for breakfast. We usually don't do this so she was quite surprised.
I made waffles for everybody. No, I did not make them from scratch. They come in a lil package that you just toss in the toaster. But we did have herkin' expensive maple syrup with it! Steve's Maple Syrup. Original Canadian. A 250 ml bottle costs more then a steak! Never heard of the stuff while I was living in Canada. Oh, well....
She enjoyed her breakfast and then Tommy gave her her present from him. LIME perfume from Taffi. She loved it! She almost bathed in the stuff. She does love her perfume! Good choice, Tommy! (Ok, it was me who picked it out really..)

Vitti putting on her new perfume!

Once Vitti left for school I got out the old hamster cage I had in the garage. I cleaned it and set it up for our new bunny! Man, those pellets stink!
I then went to the pet store in Cecina and picked up the bunny. Oh, I found out its a female bunny.
We surprised vitti with a sushi lunch that Romano picked up from Tokyo Japanese restaurant in Cecina. She liked that! We all liked that!
Then it was cake and present time! We gave Vitti her presents; 2 books and Mario Bros game for the wii. Oh, I also gave her a little wooden box that I had decoupaged for her. It came out rather nice but it doesn't open. I must have done something wrong. Bummer....

The box I made for Vitti.

We saved the best for last! I had gift wrapped the bunny's hay... or grass, or whatever it's called. It was a big package!
I gave it to her and told her it was the sweatshirts she had asked for.
She opened the package and just stared at it. Took a few seconds for it to sink in and then she started jumping up and down!
I brought out the cage with the bunny and she was just so happy!
She said she NEVER would have imagined getting a rabbit. Especially after all the time Romano had said NO!


After lunch Romano drove Tommy to the train station as he was going to Rome with a friend for two days. That's a whole other entry I guess. My lil baby boy going to Rome with friends.. Sheesh! Where does the time go?
I drove Vitti into town at 3 pm. She met up with her friends and they walked around Cecina for a few hours. They were supposed to go to the movies but there was no mattinee...
They went to the chocolate fair and bought, well, chocolate. LOL
At 5:30 pm I got a phone call that the girls wanted to be picked up because it was raining.


The girls were spending the night here...
I picked them all up and home we came. They played with the wii for a bit and then had hot dogs in burger buns that Romano bought. Romano is not savy with American fast food...

The girls enjoying their hybrid hotdog/hamburgers

The girls then grabbed ice cream, chips, candies, drinks and board games and retired to the loft for the evening! LOL
I could here them talking till about midnight....
This morning they came down at about 9 a.m. and I made them waffles!
Right now the girls are sitting on the floor in the livingroom playing with Nina... Yes, they named the bunny Nina.
I like that name. Hope the bunny does too.  

The Bunny Saga Begins

venerdì 11 marzo 2011

12.46

Vitti really wants a dwarf rabbit for her birthday. We always said she could not have one. Well, actually Romano always said she could not have one. We finally found out why: when he was a boy in Arezzo back in the 30's he had to take care of thirty rabbits for his mom every day. He had to clean out the cages, change water and give them fresh grass. He hated doing it as he says they smell and they bite. He calls them "Little monsters!" I managed to convince Romano that one small dwarf rabbit in a cage will not haunt him for the rest of his life. He finally agreed.

So, last week I went to the local pet store in Cecina to see if they had any. They had some but it was much to early to buy one and bring it home as I wanted it to be a surprise for Vitti on her birthday which is March 12th.

I went back on Tuesday and there were none left except one but the lady in the store said she was getting more in on Thursday or Friday. I looked at the one that was left. He was a sorry looking little guy. The fur was missing off his back. The lady told me that there were some guinea pigs in the cage with him and they scratched his fur off. I guess bullying goes on in the animal world too.

I went back this morning (Friday) and she only had the one rabbit (now with a bit of fur on his back). She said her supplier had no rabbits. That's a first for me as I always thought rabbits were highly reproductive creatures.

I looked at the lil guy that was left. Actually, I have no idea if he is male or female. The lady said I could have him and if Vitti does not like him I could bring him back. She also said the same thing happened to his brother but she sold him and his fur is growing in just fine.

I had to think long and hard. This rabbit was bullied and beaten. Well, scratched. After having dealt with Mac I am very cautious about getting an animal with unstable mental health. I asked the lady if he had any psycological problems due to the bulluying. Blank stare.

I looked in the cage at the bunny. The lady said I could hold him if I wanted so I did.

I spent about 30 mins bonding with my future family pet. I talked to him in a gentle calm voice and he smiled at me.

Heaven knows I need to nip any psycological problems in the bud.

I mean, I would not even know where to find a "bunny shrink".

I bought all the supplies and I go back and pick him up tomorrow morning.

I am sure he/she will fit into this family just fine. :)