Allison's New Playground: Rome

Tuesday, Dan & Allison took the grandparents to Rome. It was a day trip for Dan and Allison, whereas Papa and Gega spent the night. Allison did wonderful considering she caught an early morning train, went without a nap, and walked to all of the major sites without the help of a stroller.

Allison held Gega's hand most of the day, showing her the colorful fruit on display in Campo Dei Fiori, posing for great pictures in Piazza Navona, tossing good luck coins in Trevi Fountain, and skipping around the Coliseum. At the end of the busy day, Dan and Allison caught an evening train to get home to an eagerly awaiting Ethan, who missed his big sister...and dad.

Perugia & Assisi

Next we explored Perugia and Assisi. Perugia is the capital of Umbria, but make no mistake, by being so it hasn't shed its medieval hill town clothing. Sure, Umbria boasts frescoes from Raphael, awesome views of rolling green hills, and ornate facades, but the real reason we went there was for their world-renowned chocolate!






Just east of Perugia is Assisi, another beautiful hill town that is known for the Basilica di San Francesco. The basilica is amazing; unlike many others we've seen in Europe, this one has several levels, each more elaborate than the next, that make up this stunning complex of chambers illuminated by colorful stained glass and chapels adorned with frescoes. We knew Assisi would be special immediately when we entered the city via a gate in its original medieval wall and saw quaint streets and inviting alleys.






Unfortunately we woke up on Sunday morning to find Tuscany blanketed in snow. We decided to drive home early, but quickly questioned that decision when we got stuck in the snow on a rural road. Thankfully, Margaret's Italian convinced a nearby Italian to leave the warm comfort of his home to help us free the Odyssey. After much drama, we were on the Autostrade heading south.

Villa in Tuscany

After Orvieto we checked into our villa in Tuscany to unwind and get ready for the next day. Here are a few pictures of the villa and the incredible view from the top rooms...

Orvieto

Today we stopped in Orvieto, a small medieval hill town north of Rome. Unfortunately, it was December 26th (San Stefano), as significant a holiday as December 25th in Italy. Many of the shops and even the Duomo (church) were closed. Nevertheless, the nonni (grandparents) immediately fell in love with the quaint streets and amazing views - check out the picture of the castle below. After lunching at a cafe we continued the drive north, through Umbria nad into Tuscany!

Ravello on the Amalfi Coast

The elder Bleichers flew out from South Florida to visit us in Southern Italy for a couple of weeks. After touring Pompeii yesterday, we went for the easy home run by driving to Ravello. As you know from our previous trip to Ravello, it's a gorgeous town nestled high above the Mediterranean on the world-renowned Amalfi Coast.

"Papa" and "Geiga" were in heaven, walking hand-in-hand with Allison and Ethan along the cobblestone paths with breathtaking views. A colorful variety of giant paninis stuffed with fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced ham, basil leaves, and eggplant capped the day before taking the winding road down to reality, in this case, our apartment.

Sledding

Today we (Allison and Dan) took a quick 2-hour drive up to nearby ski resort Roccaraso to go sledding with our good friend Chris and his son Oliver (or "Olibur" as Allison would say). The drive was incredibly scenic, with quaint Italian villages and sweeping alpine landscapes. At the base of the mountain was a great little cafe, where we stopped and had pastries and hot chocolate (more like chocolate soup it was so thick).

Once we got up the mountain, Allison and I spent time making a gigantic snowman while Chris and Oliver sledded down the hills. After a great meal of fresh pasta and lasagna in the restaurant at the base of the lifts we had an epic snow ball fight. Needless to say, 10 minutes into the drive back home Allison was in a deep sleep.

Naples' Waterfront

This morning we headed down to the aquarium and waterfront in downtown Naples. By chance we found an impromptu market where local fishermen were coming ashore to sell their fresh catch. Along the 'sea theme' we headed to the local aquarium where we ironically paid a few euro to see many of the same fish in tanks that we had just seen at the market. Allison loved seeing the star fish, sea horses, and colorful fish in the aquarium. Ethan simply loved running around like a wild banshee.

As you can see it is a beautiful day today here in Napoli! The past several days have seen heavy storms which dropped rain in our neck of the woods, but snow in the surrounding mountains. It's very scenic driving around with snow capped mountains in the background, although the temperatures here are still in the 50's.

Prague

We just got back from a wonderful 4 days in Prague (Czech Republic). Many call Prague the "Paris of Eastern Europe" and we could not agree more; what an amazing city! Spared from the destruction of WWII, Prague is a beautiful example of what European cities looked like over the past several centuries: ornate buildings, winding cobblestone streets, medieval bridges, and breathtaking castles. Although the weather was cold, it was clear and sunny. We bundled up and drank plenty of hot chocolate and hot mulled wine, which only added to the wonderful holiday cheer.

We rented an apartment (so much easier than a hotel when traveling with kids!) steps away from Old Town Square and the renowned St. Charles Bridge. This time of year, Old Town Square is home to a huge Christmas Market. Kiosks bake delicious goodies such as Czech pastires, gingerbread, all kinds of roasted nuts, and lots of sausage and other roasted meats. Allison particularly loved the "spinning bread" called trdlo, a traditional sweet cinnamon-sugar roll. There were also gift items and handmade Czech crafts, as well as lots of things for the kids to do, such as a petting zoo, Czech dancing performances, an arts and crafts area, and a nightly puppet show.

We saw all the major sights in the city and were able to walk everywhere. Over our 3 full days, we went to the Jewish Quarter and saw some beautiful synagogues and the cemetary which has over 20,000 graves packed into a small parcel of land. We visited the Prague Castle with the St. Vitus Cathedral and its breathtaking stained glass windows. Several mornings, we made the surreal walk over the Charles Bridge. There was also the Loreto Palace, Wenceslas Square, and Old Town. On our last day, we took a horse-drawn carriage tour of the Old Town area with the kids, as a special treat. They loved it!

Here's a sampling of the pictures we took over our time in Prague...

To see more of our pics, click here: Prague Pictures

Prague House Signs

Dan's "new" car

A couple of weeks ago Dan bought a car. With the crazy driving conditions here in Naples, coupled with high gas prices, most people buy sub-compact cars. Here is a comparison of his new car versus his car in OKC:

	Infiniti G35	Nissan Micra
Horsepower	306 hp	75 hp
MPG	20 mpg	48 mpg
Sound system	Bose premium	no radio - just Dan humming
Tires	17 inch alloys	14 inch'ers baby!
Interior	Leather & African wood	uh, not so much

Here are some pictures:

So much to be thankful for....

Sibling love....

Uniforms and drawing....

The kid's nursery school prefers that they wear uniforms each day and Allison and Ethan recently received their winter uniforms. Today was the first day of wearing them! They weren't thrilled but they looked so cute.... and Italian!


Allison has started wanting to draw all the time. She is finally starting to make recognizable figures! You can see the 2 people at the bottom left and there is also a big balloon with a face on the right. It's so neat to see how she is developing into a little girl....she's not a baby anymore!

Vietri Sul Mare

Today Dan stayed home with the kids and I went with my friend Caroline to a cute little town on the Amalfi Coast called Vietri Sul Mare. Vietri is known for producing handmade ceramics (ceramiche) and there are little shops all over the town filled with pottery.

You can also go to the largest factory in Vietri, Ceramiche Solimene. The main pattern the town is famous for has pastel colors with animals (chickens, frogs, snails, pigs, etc.) around the border.

Vietri is on the coast with beautiful sea views as well! Caroline and I had fun strolling along the streets, eating an uninterrupted lunch, getting fresh local ingredients to make dinner, and picking up some yummy cookies and candy for dessert!

Pompei Scavi

Today we took the kids to school as usual, but since it is a US holiday Dan was off work. So we decided to do an adults-only sightseeing day and went down to Pompei.

The ruins are absolutely incredible. The small city is enormous and could take days to see it all - supposedly it takes an hour to walk the length of the city! We rented an audio guide so we could get a good understanding of what we were seeing, otherwise you just seem to be looking at one ruined building after another. Seeing the town as it was in the 2nd century B.C. to 79 AD, when Vesuvius erupted and covered the city, was amazing.

The society was very organized and many of the tools used during that time (wood fired ovens, sundials to tell time, the innovation of the calendar to the lunar phases) are still in use by the modern world today. Seeing the casts made of the victims was very interesting - they were literally "frozen in time" at the time of the eruption and you can see how many were trying to escape the ashes as they fell upon this town.

The "Villa Dei Misteri" (House of the mysteries) was very beautiful as well. It is a large villa with many frescoes still intact and it was amazing to see the colors still bright after so much time has passed. Even neater is that this villa is on the outskirts of Pompei and almost surrounding it are modern houses where people currently live. Imagine waking up each day and having this famous sight right outside your window!

To see more of our Pompei pictures: Click here

Capri

Saturday we went to the nearby Island of Capri by way of a 45 minute catamaran ride. Capri is known for sweeping views of the aquamarine Mediterranean, ultra-ritzy shops (think Gucci, Tod's, and Rolex), and boutique hotels catering to the jet set - or in this case, a prissy 3 1/2 year-old girl and bullish (almost) 2 year-old boy.

Luckily for us, November is the off season which meant relatively quiet streets and no lines. From the port (Marina Grande) we took a funicular up to the town of Capri where we strolled along the narrow pedestrian roads. Allison and Ethan tired themselves by running wild in La Piazzetta, Capri's main square that overlooks the Bay of Naples.

Somehow, we negotiated a great deal for a suite in a hotel overlooking the ocean (Hotel Bristol). Allison and Ethan enjoyed lounging on the terrace and devouring breakfast croissants, although they tended to get more of the powdered sugar on their faces than in their mouths.

Sunday we went up to Anacapri, a village sitting above the town of Capri with incredible views of Naples, Mount Vesuvius, and the Amalfi Coast. Dan took a one-person chairlift up to the top of Monte Solaro where he took some amazing pictures. We capped our time in Capri by catching a local bus back down to the harbor where we ate lunch before catching the 'fast ferry' back to Naples.

Overall, we had a blast in Capri. The weather was gorgeous and the kids cooperated, although the promise of fragola e limone (strawberry and lemon) gelato helped convince them to "chill out", as Allison would say!

To see our Capri pictures, click here: Capri Pictures