Italian American Family in Italy and the US

Where we live

2012-01-29T18:20:00.001+01:00

Yesterday Giovanni and I cleaned the leaves from the path down to the
back gate and the patios in the woods so I thought to take a few
pictures of the property in winter. It has been dry and cold here now
for weeks, not a fun winter.

Bomb Shelter

2012-01-29T15:16:00.001+01:00

At the edge of our property and partially under it there is a World
War II bomb shelter. Some time ago I found the entrance and have been
wanting to go in and take some pictures. So finally today Giovanni
and I went in; it was a bit of an adventure.

Gnocchi Con La Ricotta Fresca

2012-01-27T08:53:00.000+01:00

Gnocchi made with fresh ricotta, this is from the Cucina Bellunese cookbook. It's so good and so easy to make I feel obligated to share it. You need:

500 grams of fresh ricotta
150 g of flour
2 eggs
12 sage leaves
100 g butter
50 g grana padano, (parmigiana cheese)
salt

Combine/mix well the ricotta, flour, eggs and a bit of salt, then let it rest in the fridge for half an hour

Boil some water make large gnocchi using two table spoons and drop them into the water, when they rise up they are done.

Put the butter and sage leaves in a frying pan and cook tell the butter starts to turn brown. Take out the leaves and pour the butter over the gnocchi. Serve with lots of fresh grana grated over the top. You can also put the sage leaves on the plates and season with more salt and some pepper if you like. It's also good if you don't have the sage, just do the butter.

Next time I make it I'll take a picture.

Camper Parking

2012-01-13T09:55:00.001+01:00

We park in places like this often as they are free. This is in
Bresannone which is near Bolzano. I like the sign at the entrance
which says campers only cars will be towed away. These parking areas
don't look so inviting, but they are not a destination, just a place
to park with a close walk into town. The thing is that sometimes the
camper is kind of like being in an apartment attached to others, you
have your own little environment mostly inside and especially in the
Winter. From here we had a short walk into the nice little town all
decorated with Christmas lights and the little temporay huts for the
Christmas market which was still going on.

Photovoltaic on the Camper

2011-12-30T17:44:00.001+01:00

The panel 230 watts was too big put anywhere but up front..

The solar control unit that is compatible with the original electrical control box. It all fits under the passenger seat.

No exposed wires

The tempered glass on one of the panels on our photovoltaic plant got
shattered. So it had to be replaced but it still woks just fine. I
painted over the glass with two coats of liquid plastic which sort of
glued all the glass pieces togerther and put a protective layer over
it all. Then I installed it on the roof of our camper. It was a fun
project requiring some new skills and a lot of thinking to decide
where to put the wires, how to attach it to the roof and so on. It
will make us much more self sufficient on our next long trip.

Hemingway

2011-12-20T14:31:00.001+01:00

This is from an auction at Christies some years ago.

HEMINGWAY, ERNEST. Green Hills of Africa. New York: Scribners, 1953. 8vo, original cloth; dust jacket, panels defective. PRESENTATION COPY, inscribed by Hemingway on front free endpaper: "To Lou Jennings best always from his friend Ernest Hemingway." Additionally inscribed by Mary Hemingway on half-title: "and fun and fruitful enterprize, I hope Mary Hemingway," dated Sep. 8th 1955 on front free endpaper, below Hemingway's inscription -- [With:] 3 photographs, showing Hemingway posing with a large marlin. (4)

Ernest Hemingway

2011-12-20T14:17:00.000+01:00

Some pictures of my grandfather Lou Jennings with Ernest Hemingway, they are mostly from Cuba during the filming of the Old Man and the Sea.

He is there somewhere. This is Hemingways boat which has been preserved in Cuba

This picture is from Peru where they went to catch the big Marlin for the movie.

That is Lou next to Hemingway and I believe Mary Hemingway and then the others I'm not sure. Maybe they are other members of the film crew.

With Mary Hemingway

Pizza

2011-12-15T16:40:00.001+01:00

My home made pizza. I cook the dough a bit first then put the stuff
on it and then back in the oven.

Karate

2011-12-15T16:30:00.001+01:00

Giovanni thinks he has finally found his sport. He placed first and second with the two teams he was on his first time out.

American Design

2011-12-01T09:33:00.001+01:00

Do you live outside the US and wish there was someone who could help you with a project involving your living spaces that understood your desires, need for functional spaces, ideas about how kitchens and bathrooms should work, and just in general the way you would like to live. If so why not contact me, I have over 30 years of experience designing homes for the rich, the middle class and the poor. Even though I am in Italy most of the time I continue to do projects in the US and together with my wife who is an Italian architect we have done projects in the Czech Republic, Mexico and Switzerland as well as Italy. Most of the work we have done in these various countries is done over the internet so we can easily work with you even though we may not be able to meet face to face.

What is a Luxury

2011-11-30T13:13:00.001+01:00

Well after 6 years living in Italy, I went out this morning and bought a clothes dryer. Luisa is not that happy about it. She thinks the cost of running it is too much and told me it is quite a luxury. Of course we had one in California and she never questioned it.

Birtday party at McDonalds

2011-11-21T15:47:00.001+01:00

Our photovoltaic plant

2011-10-20T14:19:00.002+02:00

Wild Camping Spots

2011-09-06T12:20:00.001+02:00

France Part 1

2011-09-06T12:18:00.001+02:00

They Call it Wild Camping

2011-09-04T12:31:00.001+02:00

We don't usually that is almost never stay in campgrounds. They are too isolated and cost too much when only staying one night. We are independent. So there are places that are free or cost very little. Some of them can be quite interesting. In San Remo for example we parked with a sea view something rarely available in a camp ground. Of course we had to ignore a lot of unkempt ground between us and the sea. We arrived at the perfume factory in Grasse France in the evening when it was closed, so we just said to ourselves we are waiting for it to open, and spent the night in the bus parking area.

US and UK TV over the internet for Expats

2011-09-03T11:09:00.002+02:00

After messing around with various free VPN sites for 5 years or so I finally signed up for a pay site. I paid for the minimum one year account two cities the US and UK. The cost was about $55. It's been working great. I have a netflix account, you need a US adddress to sign up for netflix, and we watch movies by connecting the laptop to the tv. It's nice and keeps the kids watching tv in English. Last night we watched 4 episodes of Seinfeld on Crackle.com. My daughter in Switzerland is also using this same setup. It's easy to use once setup. Just two clicks and the internet thinks you are in NYC. Sorry if I sound like a commercial, it's just that after trying free sites this has been great, no commercials and no interruptions. And it’s fast.

If you want to sign up for it send me a pm with your email address and I will have them send you a message. Yes if you sign up I will get a credit towards my next years subscription. That's not enough to make me promote them. I just think it's a good solution for anyone with a fast internet connection. Works best if you have a lap top or computer with an HDMI connection to HDMI on your TV. Or you can just watch on your computer or even your smart phone with wifi.

That Secret Diet Technique Discovered in Southern France

2011-09-03T10:28:00.000+02:00

After nearly three weeks of traveling in our camper mostly in Southern France I returned about 4 pounds lighter than when I left. You might say that's no miracle weight loss, but don't forget that most of us gain weight on vacation.

We made our way down from Switzerland to Grenoble and into Provence stopping usually for just one night in many of those cute little French villages. And then down towards Nice and into Italy for a final stop at San Remo and then a tour of the aquarium in Genoa. We did do a fare share of walking but also a lot of sitting while on the road.

In a small city called Quinson in France we visited the prehistoric museum located there because the area is rich in prehistoric history. The museum is very impressive both in it's content and it's architecture. It was designed by the British architect Foster. It's somewhat built into the side of a hill so as not to impose itself on the beauty and context of the local architecture. The oval shape leads one on a path through history starting some 400 million years ago.

One thing that is obvious when we look at reproductions of ancient people is that we never see them over weight. Of course you imagine them doing a lot of running away from wild animals and having a poor diet. But then if we think about more recent people those of say a couple hundred years ago they too tend to be of moderate weight. We then tell ourselves that they too worked harder doing manual tasks like farming and didn't sit around watching tv or playing video games. However we forget for example those long cold winters when there was not much to do but stay inside in order to survive. Cramped into small homes I doubt anyone got a lot of exercise.

By chance and through a not so happy circumstance we were forced in a way to live like more ancient people on our trip. Simply put the refrigerator in our camper quit working. In order to "survive" we were forced to eat only that which did not need refrigeration. So there were few meats eaten, only that which could be consumed the day purchased, no leftovers stored for later. We bought just enough for a normal meal. But mostly we ate fresh vegetable, salads, tomatoes, a bit of bread and so on. It wasn't like we thought about it so much but that we just ate what we could under the circumstances.

One of the first things I did when I got home was weigh myself because in fact I have been trying to lose a few pounds lately. I was hoping I hadn't gained too much. To my surprise I had lost weight rather than gained it while on vacation.

Thinking about this I have realized that it was the lack of cold storage that made the difference. Without giving it any real thought I had been forced to live like those ancient people. Of course in our modern world we aren't going to throw away our refrigerator, but perhaps one might unplug it for a week or two and see what happens. Or at least think about what we put in there. So that's the secret weight loss program I discovered in Southern France.

Trani

2011-07-06T10:58:00.000+02:00

Trani is a cute port city with a complex history. Read about in the guide books. We arrived in the late afternoon in our camper looking for a parking area listed in Camper Stop 2010. I have most of their listings entered as points of interest in a map using Microsoft's Autoroute 2010. Then I have a gps unit plugged into a laptop computer so we get real time mapping and directions. Of course the directions sometimes take us down some un-manageable roads. So there is always a bit of fear when we start passing through an area that seems unfit for a large vehicle. As in this case the map took us along the port through a narrow street filled with restaurants tourists and vacationers. The street only seemed to get smaller as we moved along. But finally it opened up into the parking area which you can see in the pictures. We were able to park there nearly in the middle of the city free overnight. In the evening we had a nice walk around the city and one of our few dinners out - seafood of course.

Day Two Trani

2011-07-03T20:00:00.001+02:00

A beautiful port city. We had one of our few dinners out.

Two Girls

2011-07-03T19:39:00.001+02:00

Two of my beautiful girls.

So. Italy by Camper day 1 Fano

2011-06-22T10:06:00.001+02:00

This was just an overnight stop to breakup the trip.

Happy Travelers

2011-06-14T09:21:00.001+02:00

Picture of the Trulli - Alberobello

2011-06-14T09:16:00.001+02:00

Organic Farming

2011-05-12T08:28:00.000+02:00

Had a conversation with Luisa's uncle on Sunday who farms around 1,000 acres (400 hectares). One crop he grows is corn, which is mostly used for animal feed here. And he keeps up on all the chemicals and other stuff found on the corn. The list is regularly published in Italian agriculture magazines. Italy is maybe the most heavily regulated country in the EU. Anyway, he told me that unless organic corn is grown in a desert climate it will have mold on it all the way to the final product. And he believes that it is unhealthy. So in any country that has a wet or humid climate, dew on the plants in the morning, including most of the US and Europe organic corn would not be a good idea.

Another note is the each country has it's rules regarding organic farming. Italy is very strict about it. According to him countries such as Germany, Belgium, the UK, and Austria allow animals to be feed most anything that is organic, that even includes chicken droppings. Whereas for example the milk and cheese from say Switzerland where the cows graze on natural grass is quite healthy. His list of good organic farming countries includes, Ireland, Italy, Switzerland, Poland and to some extent France. Now I have a better idea of why the milk we buy at the Lidil, from Germany, costs half as much as the local Italian product.

I guess for me the bottom line is that one can't just fallow some mantra that everything labeled organic is healthier than stuff grown with good old fashioned chemicals. We must be more informed than that in our decisions.

Giovanni's Day

2011-05-08T21:53:00.000+02:00

Easter Pictures

2011-05-07T15:55:00.001+02:00

Just call me English - Home made fish and chips.

2011-05-07T15:51:00.001+02:00

Girl scouts you gotta love the boots

2011-05-07T15:47:00.001+02:00

Customer Service in Italy

2011-05-06T15:29:00.002+02:00

I bet you thought I was going to complain about it. Well sorry to disappoint you. I have read a lot about how bad it is in Italy. It's true that it's not all smiley faced like the US but my experience is that if you need something done or you have a problem with something you've bought, and you approach the issue in a logical way being polite and sometimes insistent you will usually get the service you need. Generally you can't get a refund except from some major stores or perhaps in a special situation. So you can't really wear that party dress once and return it pretending that the deodorant stains at the armpits were there when you bought it. But generally you can exchange something or get a credit for future use.

I had a good experience this morning that prompted me to write this. A couple of weeks ago I went to the local Bricko, a major hardware chain, to buy a portable gazebo sort of thing they had on sale. I thought it would be great to use with our camper. But they didn't have them yet. The guy told me to come back after May first. Well I went today the 6th. Now they were not on sale, and the price was much higher. So I asked and told the cashier my story. At first she was hesitant but I think she realized that I wasn't going to give up easily so she called a manager, I told him that I tired to buy it when it was on sale. He asked if I had something like a raincheck. I said no that the sales person I spoke to before told me to come back in a week or two and it wouldn't be a problem and if I had been told to I would have asked for the raincheck. So in the end they sold it to me for the sales price.

The Best Way to Visit Italy

2011-05-03T18:52:00.002+02:00

I'm just having some rambling thoughts on what to advise people who want to visit Italy. Lately it seems the fashion is slow food and slow travel. I read a lot about how it's best to select a couple of spots you want to stay in and just stay in them and do your traveling in day trips. That way you can really get to know an area and get a real feeling for the Italian way of life and for Italians. Well that sounds good, but really it's probably just the latest fashion BS. I mean really I've been living in Italy almost six years now and visiting it around fifteen before that. My Italian wife still tells me I don't really understand the Italian mentality or how things are done in Italy. I don't completely agree with her but she has a point.

Say you spend two weeks and stay in just a couple of spots, you are probably going to stay in some B&B run by an American or English expat. They will make you comfortable in their restored old Italian farm house with the swimming pool and the maid service. They will introduce you to some great Italian food and maybe help you find the local tourist spots and tell you how the life in Italy is all about food and drink. It's a fantasy picture of Italy, kind of a trip to Disneyland with real buildings not scaled down models and real people not actors - well many of the Italians you will meet may well be putting on an act for the tourists. I will write more about the real life in Italy in another post - it's not negative just different from the myth perpetuated by the blogger owners of B&B's.

Now the slow food travel kind of trip is nice for those who can afford to come back often. But lets say you are not so rich. It's your once or twice in a lifetime trip. What do you want to go home with, a bunch of pictures of the rolling hills of Tuscany or some memories of the most famous sights in Italy, some which are the most famous in the World. I'm guessing a lot of people maybe most would rather say they saw the leaning tower of Pisa, Rome, the Vatican, Florence, Milan, Venice and a bunch of other things along the way. Yeah you will get tired on this trip, it's not going to be that relaxing, but you will go home with lots of memories, lots of pictures and maybe a better picture of the real Italy. You will see the traffic, the crazy drivers, the crowded trains, the dirty restrooms. You will have to buy a coffee just so you can go pee. But you will also see the beauty of Italy, you will see it's heritage, it's landscape, it's texture, it's art and it's architecture. You will see it's people living their real lives, you might get helped in difficult situations, or you might have to push your way onto a crowded train, if you happen to have a baby in a stroller you will get helped down the subway stairs in Rome, you will get hassled by beggars, you will see students going back and forth to school in the trains, you will see the blank faces on the subway in Milan and you might just get a glimpse of a fashion model in photo shut. In the end you probably won't have a neutral picture of Italy you will probably love or hate it.

By the way I love Italy.

The Mediterranean Diet

2011-04-02T09:10:00.002+02:00

Some time ago I got into a somewhat heated discussion on Facebook when I said that the Mediterranean Diet was mostly a figment of the imagination of travel writers. Here is an article that somewhat supports my view. I'm not saying the diet is bad.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/03/magazine/mag-03YouRHere-t.html?_r=2&hpw

Tips for Driving in Italy

2011-03-31T09:38:00.002+02:00

Here is a good summary of tips for driving in Italy by a former tour guide fallowed by some of my own comments: http://www.italybeyondtheobvious.com/2011/03/italy-driving-tips.html

Click on her post about Italian driving habits these comments pertain to them:

1. Drive with confidence, yes drive as if you know where you are going even though you probably don't.

2. The left lane is generally for passing only, in fact Italian law states you must drive in the far right lane if possible. However, the biggest danger I find on the Autostrada is that when it is crowded with trucks, the trucks have a nasty habit of changing lanes without a lot of warning and if you change from the far left lane to the center lane you need to keep a close watch on them. The other thing is that if every time a faster car comes up on you and you pull over you may get stuck behind slow moving cars or trucks and not able to move over to pass them. So sometimes you just have to make the typical driver going way over the speed limit wait a few minutes until you have passed all the slower moving cars and trucks to your right, then move over to let him pass. They may not like it but you have some rights as well. Also I sometimes find it safer to just drive faster than I might want to and stay in the far left lane as much as possible just to avoid the danger of the trucks and also to avoid a lot of lane changes which have their own risk.

The closer you get to cities like Milan the more likely you will find all the lanes full and in this case some drivers that can't wait will also pass on the right, just like they do on the US freeways, so keep your eyes open.

5. Horns, there are laws against using them in the city so be careful, I can't imagine ever getting a ticket for this but you never know.

6. Watch your front; Use your peripheral vision to watch the other cars but also don't be afraid to turn your head you never know what else might be coming your way. I had a scare the other day when a kid on a bike while I was stopped waiting for a car to pass at an intersection - just the one by our house. The kid was behind a building so I don't see him until he was in front of the car. I came way to close to hitting him.

Sometimes it's a good idea to pretend you don't see the other car that also wants the right of way. Italians don't want to have an accident any more than you do so if they think you don't see them they may back off.

8. One thing that seems to bother Italian drivers is if you don't use your turn signal before making a turn. I think it comes from their habit of driving too close, they need the warning that you are going to turn. Also use your turn signal when waiting for someone to pull out of a parking spot. It saves an argument later if someone else also wants the space.

Finally, don't be afraid to drive in Italy. Italians may seem to drive in a dangerous way but in fact most of them are very good drivers and they probably pay more attention to their driving than drivers in some other countries. We have done a lot of driving here both in the car and in our camper. In spite of the public transport system it is still the fastest and most flexible way to get around everywhere except in the middle of the big cities. Yes it is a good idea to avoid the centers of historical cities, but you don't always have to. Watch for signs and look at where the other cars are going. I am always surprised to see those giant tour buses in the middle of an area I thought was way off limits. So it may be that if they can do it so can you. I'm also amazed at where we have even taken our camper. Parallel parking a vehicle that is almost 8 meters long with the bikes on the back is great fun and provides a real sense of satisfaction when accomplished.

What is it about Venice

2011-03-22T08:18:00.002+01:00

The thing about Venice other than the obvious is that it's so full. No matter how many times you go there you can always find something you never saw before. Luisa has been going there all her life and yet this last weekend we walked down several streets that she has never been on. Actually they were the streets that many tourists see first, as they are the streets with the most expensive hotels and also the most expensive Italian designer stores. Wouldn't it be something to have so much money that you could buy 2,000€ purses without even thinking about it.

Venice Tourist Photos

2011-03-21T09:50:00.001+01:00

Left the kids with the grandparents and took the camper to Punta
Sabioni where we can park for free. With our Venice cards it's 1.20€
each way to use the Vaporetto which takes about 30 minutes to arrive
at St. Marks.

150 Years

2011-03-17T17:57:00.001+01:00

Today Italy is celebrating 150 years since the unification of the
country. Before comeing here I had thought that Italy had been a
country almost forever. I mean there were the Romans. But in fact
after the Romans there were many invading nations and various rulers.
The country was divided into small city states and regions each with
it's own government of one sort or another, or the various areas were
ruled by foreign powers.

Today the feeling of unification is not universal, but it seemed that
today at least everyone was celebrating Italy. Our town had it's own
raising of the flag and a long winded speach by the mayor and there
are lots of flags hanging around.

Luisa made lunch with a pasts of the three colors of the flag, tomatoe
sauce, pesto and gargonzola. All were good.

Two Italys

2011-02-22T09:15:00.002+01:00

The first is the one that people want to see on vacation and the one they want to remember. It is that Italy of small villages perched on hilltops where everyone is happy, drinking an umbra (a shadow or small glass of wine) in the piazza, shopping for fresh seasonable vegetables everyday, squeezing their own olive oil, and doing most of what they have to do without a car. There are people in Italy who actually do live like this. For some it's a life style decision and for others it's just the way their life has always been.

But I see most Italians living a much different life, a life not so different from the life one would find in the US. We for example live in a city of 35,000 which is rated one of the best in Italy to raise children and has one of the best records for environmental issues. There are many physical differences from the US, people live mostly in apartments, roads are narrow, parking is difficult, walking is an acknowledged means of transportation, etc. But otherwise life is very similar. The soccer mom is predominant, kids are expected to participate in at least one sport while taking lessons in another, they take after school music lessons and generally keep their parents busy driving them to and fro. Major grocery shopping is done in the supermarket, clothes are bought in malls at department stores, people drive to work and go out of town to find better prices if they can. And there are outlet malls. I'm telling you there are some huge ones that funny as it may seem have the same pseudo Italian style architecture as the ones in the US. The biggest I've seen is in Tuscany the heart of the picturesque Italian country side.

It's a Beautiful Day

2011-02-19T09:25:00.002+01:00

It's a beautiful sunny day here in Belluno and the temperature is already a warm 5 deg. C. Some might not call that warm but it's all relative. Tomorrow Giovanni has a race at Allege so I think this afternoon we will drive the camper up there and spend the night. At least this time the race is in the area where we have our ski passes so we can all ski together after the race. And finally it seems that we are all more or less well. It's been a rough winter since before Christmas with a cycle of viruses hitting us all. Luisa and I had a cough like I've never had in my life. I suspect some new virus that no one wants to talk about.

It's The Simple Life

2011-02-18T13:01:00.002+01:00

Well I read a long post on a Facebook friends blog today which is the kind of stuff that most people love to read about life in Italy. It's all about how a person can give up the fast paced life in the US and move to Italy a country where people live a much simpler, back to real values kind of life style. I have to say that from my point of view this is really a crock. What it is really about is giving up the lifestyle that most people around the world aspire to and living like a poor person. Being poor is not necessarily a bad thing if one has at least the basics and a good attitude about it. That is if one can accept the simpler things in life and be happy then it's fine.

But I can assure you that most Italians would happily give up the wonders of the simple life if they could afford it. What is it that makes someone think the people of Italy are any different from others in the world. Italy does offer a lot of things that make living simply easier but you don't have to move here to give up a faced paced life style. Just buy yourself a little place in the foothills of Arizona or some such place and raise chickens and goats tell your heart is content.

I am in the north of Italy so maybe I see things differently. People here work hard some at more than one job just to survive. They live in small apartments, very small by US standards and to me their lives don't seem so different from the lives of people I know in the US. Except that they do have more days off for holidays and vacations and they often have parents available to take care of young kids while they work. Most families have at least one car, well in fact if they both work they generally have two. They don't go shopping every day for fresh vegetables, they shop at the super market once a week. They shop in the malls, they buy wide screen tvs and spend too much on high priced clothing - sound familiar. I could go on.

Don't get me wrong, Italy is a beautiful country and I like living here. But all this hype I read about the beautiful and simple life style in Italy just tends to rub me the wrong way.

Beautiful day for a Race

2011-02-06T18:48:00.001+01:00

It was almost like Spring today. Lots of sun and after the races the
kids all had fun playing in on the snow and eating.

Around Christmas

2011-01-13T11:27:00.001+01:00

A big branch fell off of a very tall pine tree in our little forest so
I decided to recycle it as our Christmass tree.

Giovanni getting ready for a night time ski race. There was lots of
ice and several kids fell. He didn't. It is amazing to see the
effort/money put into these little racers by their parents.

Living In Italy

2011-01-13T10:55:00.002+01:00

Italy is not paradise on earth as depicted in many books and by some who post on Facebook and other sites and have their own reasons for doing so. Many people who promote Italy as such have some financial or maybe personal reason for doing so in spite of the reality of living here. The reality is that Italy can be a wonderful place to live under the right circumstances; mainly one needs to have an income as in any other place and one needs to live in a decent area. It also helps to have a family support network and friends.

So what are some of the things I like about living here. Well, I like the school system and it's small class sizes. There are 18 in Julia's middle school class as opposed to around 48 in the classes my brother teaches in So. Cal. I love the medical system which has been very good to me and costs me essentially nothing. I like that fact that things and people here are very accessible. We can walk to most everything we really need and big markets, are just a few minutes away by car. Friends seem easier to connect with, I'm not sure why, partly it's the physical closeness and I suppose partly a different attitude. I like the fact that people are more concentrated as in living in mid rise apartments so that the country side is left open and green. And I love the vistas, the open spaces, the access to sports and the closeness to the rest of Europe. More to come.

What's New

2011-01-11T17:24:00.002+01:00

There must be something new. Not really, I haven't been posting lately, not that I've been too busy, probably just too lazy. We had a nice Christmas but I was a bit disappointed that we didn't go anywhere. There were too many other things going on, some work, relatives in residence, Julia had an accident and broke her big toe - nothing serious but she couldn't go anywhere least of all skiing. Then there were the ski lessons for Giovanni in his new ski club. All in all just normal life.

I've been thinking about life in Italy compared to the US again lately and need to write some thoughts about it soon. I note that a lot of expats who fallow the expats in Italy web site seem to think that Italy is quite a mess. I would only agree to some extent. For us the life here is pretty darn good.

By the way I've changed my email address and in the next few days will close down the old one. So anyone legitimate who wants the new one write me at the old one and I will send it to you.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2010-12-24T20:52:00.001+01:00

Merry Christmas everyone.

Our First Real Snow

2010-12-01T13:22:00.001+01:00

Here are a few pictures from our house and yard. This is our first
real decent snow.

A Good and Safe Investment

2010-11-27T09:28:00.002+01:00

After some months of bureaucratic processing and as soon as the land dries out a bit we will start the construction of our 100kw photovoltaic plant. This is a ground based project, a good contribution to clean and safe energy. The thing that is really interesting about this is that it is such a good investment. Briefly it will have an internal rate of return of around 21% over a 20 to 30 year life span, when done on land already owned. And the income is guaranteed by the Italian government and ENEL a large European power company. A big portion of the income comes from incentives. There is a positive cash flow from day one and the initial investment will be paid back in around four years. The incentive is for 20 years and the life of the panels is around 30 years or more. So power can be sold even after the incentive ends. This also based upon 30% equity and a loan for 15 years.

Our role in all of this has been to be the architects of the project for clients who are family members. We will manage the plant over its lifespan, assuming ours is the same. Through this process we have become pretty much experts in the overall picture. We have done the paper work, the overall plans, the hiring of the contractor/supplier, and the electrical engineer. Now we will oversee the construction.

We now know that this is a good opportunity as an investment, but at the same time it is not so easy to implement. We realize that our knowledge could be of use to others and though it is not exactly architecture it is the kind of service that we could offer as architects based upon our own experience not just in this project but in all phases of dealing with government agencies and taking something from the idea to the final construction. This after all what we do as architects. So contact us if you any interest in such a project anywhere in Italy.

What's He Going to do Now?

2010-11-04T07:33:00.002+01:00

He doesn't understand that American is way past the time of moving forward in a civil manner. He can't work with people who's stated goal is to run him out of office - make him a one term president. So his only hope is to re-evaluate what it was that got him elected and then act in what ever way he can as president without the help of congress. He might start by ordering the troops home from those wars that only serve to take the lives of our troops and do nothing for American security. But the sad truth is that in spite of being beat up, lied about and kicked in the face he won't stand up and fight back. He will continue to live in the fantasy that there is such a thing as real honest politics - too bad. The American people had a chance to have a real president who was for them, the common man that makes up the majority, and now I fear it's completely lost.

Oh well, I think it's time I learned to Tango, and just put on a happy face.

The Election

2010-11-03T15:35:00.002+01:00

Truly amazing that's all I can say. The republicans completely screwed up the country, but the dems couldn't fix it fast enough so the people want the republicans back for more of what they got before. Have Americans completely lost their minds?

Holloween in Switzerland

2010-11-02T09:42:00.001+01:00

It's not really clebrated in Italy or Switzerland so this was the
first time the kids had a chance to cut some pumpkins in years.

Prostate Cancer

2010-10-25T09:28:00.000+02:00

One of my neighbors recently came back from his prostate cancer surgery and I'm reminded that prostate cancer is a curable disease if caught early. He is only 52 and I've a feeling that his was not found as early as mine was and that his prognosis may not be as good. The thing that bothers me is that I still read that testing ( psa, free psa and rectal exams) is still not fully recognized as statistically saving lives. It is true that most men, something like 80% will get prostate cancer at some point in their lives and for most they will die of something else before the cancer gets them. I guess I don't care much about statistics. I'd rather see lives saved and suffering reduced even if it means that some needless biopsies will be done and there will be some added costs to the medical system.

Men get tested after age 40 and women make your men do it. For me I'm still prostate cancer free after 3 years and living a totally normal life and glad I asked my doctor to prescribe the tests.

The Beach at Cecina

2010-10-16T09:30:00.001+02:00

Just going through some pictures. Somehow this reminds me a bit of California.

Our tenth anniversary trip in 08.

2010-10-13T18:29:00.001+02:00

Posting these pictures of our trip and stay at Fattoria Poggio Alloro
for my Facebook friend Leslie.

The kitchen redo is finished

2010-10-13T10:16:00.001+02:00

We have finished the redo of our kitchen. It's still not up to
American kitchen standards but for us it's a big improvement. We
moved the frig into the bathroom that is at the end of the kitchen and
now use that area for a pantry/storage area. New wood counter tops
and finally an oven have made it all come together.

Our little kitchen remodel

2010-10-07T21:21:00.001+02:00

It's not really a remodel just some changes to make it more
serviceable. We bought new counter tops and moved the frig to the
little storage/bathroom, moved in one cabinet from the other apartment
we occupy and the whole area just got much bigger as far as useability
goes. One challenge was creating a small eating area in the kitchen
which it seems Italians can't live without. After a lot of thought
and some compromise I came up with this extension to the counter that
rolls out to make a place big enough for two. The chairs will get
replaced with some small stools.

Tommorow I hope to do the counter at the sink area, then add an oven
which we have never had and one more of those white shelves on the
wall.

Julia at 11 years old

2010-09-22T18:39:00.001+02:00

Just a few pictures from the little party we had for her. All these
big girls had pizza alone at a nearby restaurant and came here for
presents and cake.

Some famous paintings

2010-09-18T08:46:00.001+02:00

Don't look if you are offended by nudes. My young children have seen
these and others as they walked through the museums of Europe.
Actually these are from only one in Vienna. But they are
representitive of a cultural attitude.

Details from the collection

2010-09-18T08:32:00.001+02:00

I just started looking through my collection of pictures taken by me
and Luisa at various times and places over the last five years and
decided I need to make a collection of the good ones. These are just
few that we think are good or at least fun to look at.

Back to school

2010-09-15T18:29:00.002+02:00

The first day of school after our long summer vacation, in which we
didn't really get to vacation much. At least we could sleep in.

Blog update

2010-09-15T18:06:00.000+02:00

I haven't been inspired lately to update the blog, not sure why. It's partly that I'm spending too much time on Facebook and partly that I'm not sure where I want to go with it. I'm tending to lately be more interested in politics than talking about how wonderful Italy is. Anyway I think I will get back to it. Below is a little note about a kind of computer miracle I experienced lately.

I got a suggestion from a UK camper web site I fallow to buy a usb data box to hold a 2.5" hard drive in order to save the info on a dead laptop. I bought one and proceeded to take the hard drives out of the three dead laptops I have here. One of the laptops a Toshiba which had been given to me by my wife's brother and a bit old was put away because the cursor kept wandering all over the screen and it was often shutting itself off. Anyway I saved the pictures and stuff on it's hard drive then formatted it. In the process I found the hard drive had a virus. So I had the inspiration to turn on the computer and see if it switched itself off without the hard drive in. No it kept on working, so I put back the hard drive, still working, then I installed windows 7, still working. End result, I have a fully working laptop with the latest version of windows, that so far seems to be working just fine. My daughter is happy as I already bought a new one and she gets access to the old one

Our latest adventure.

2010-08-21T14:54:00.001+02:00

We are in Sesto which is pretty close to the border with Austria. We
did a nice long hike yesterday all up hill about 700 meters worth.
Had a great lunch in one of those restaurants somewhat unique to
Italy. Great food and incredable view. Then hiked up to the outdoor
WWI museum which is of course always open. Then all the way back
down to the camper. Most people are smart enough to take the gondola
up to the restaurant area but not us.

New TV generation

2010-07-19T11:28:00.000+02:00

So we finally upgraded our tv to a Samsung LE40C650. It's not state of the art but a good middle of the road you might say. It is really a big leap for us. It has all the connections, including internet and our local network. Se we can see all of the photos stored on my PC in large format without hooking anything else up to the tv, we can watch netflix movies from the US by connecting my laptop and using Hotspot shield to disguise the fact that we are not in the US. A really great thing that I hadn't thought about before is that it accepts all the various broadcast formats including PAL and NTSC, which means that we can now see all the old videos that were made with our video camera that only outputs in the US format NTSC, that is cool. The thing missing right now is that even though it is HD capable we don't have any HD devices or on air broadcasts. That is the next project.

John & Rockie's Big Night

2010-06-25T12:31:00.003+02:00

So we came in second amongst 54 teams. We knew that we had something
going when the judges kept coming back for more and telling the others
to try it. This was our first time and it was not an easy victory.
We spent the week before researching and getting ideas from others.
Luisa and Poerachna helped prepare everything and advised us on the
recipe. And we made a trial run on the sauce.

Griglie Roventi

2010-06-17T17:42:00.001+02:00

Here are a few pictures from the BBQ competition two years ago. I
missed the one last year. They give us 4 steaks and a bottle of wine
as well as the gas grill and some utensils the hat and apron. The
rest is up to us to bring, I'm guessing we may need more than one
bottle of wine for starters.

Due Carrarae5

2010-05-31T09:14:00.001+02:00

The camping club of Padova was invited by the city to attend their 4
days of ivents. So we went. They tried but it was pretty much a
disappointment. Not many people attending. One of the big events was
an antique tractor plowing race of sorts. What else can I say.

Apple Fritters

2010-05-31T09:09:00.001+02:00

Julia and I made apple frittes for her class report.

Due Carrare

2010-05-29T11:41:00.000+02:00

Here we are in Due Carrare at little two south of Padova. They invited people with campers to come and enjoy the festivities on this long weekend. We got treated to a free breakfast and some goodies including a polo shirt with the town logo on it and a speech from the mayor. There are only about 12 campers here so far, more on the way. It's a nice town, very old; not so different from a lot of similar ones. We are about to take a tour on bikes and later will ride an open English bus to see an old villa, then tomorrow the kids will enjoy and medieval jousting competition. I will post some pictures.

Political Rant

2010-05-25T09:07:00.000+02:00

I spent some time writing this on Facebook and thought I might as well give it a little more coverage. It started as an answer as to why it is in the minds of some ok to criticize Bush but not Obama. Keep in mind that I am not opposed to legitimate criticism of the President whoever he is. Don't worry happy pictures coming next.

In order to understand this one must step back and take an unbiased look at the overall picture. Really take a hard look at what is being done to try and destroy the effectiveness of the government for the sole purpose of getting back in power. Ask yourself some questions, did Obama start two wars, did he take us from a budget surplus to a huge deficit, would you now give up your ability to have health insurance even if you get cancer, would you have preferred that the country went into a massive depression instead of getting on the road to recovery, will you be happy if the Tea Party gives the country back to the big corporations, the health insurance industry, etc. Are you a member of the rich ruling class that profited most under Bush or are you a member of the middle class that Obama struggles to help. Do you know that the average tax paid by Americans is only 9% of their income. Who would more tax cuts help? Do you know that the percentage of Americans who have before tax TOTAL family income of around 100,000 is only about 10 or 15 percent. Do you think the US is morally justified in invading two countries and starting wars that have resulted in the loss of tens of thousands of lives including many thousands of Americans and the displacement of millions from their homes, all done under the justification of the 9/11 attack and the so called war on terrorism. By the way where is Ben Laden?

Ask yourself where is all this hate directed at the President really coming form. Is it really coming from all the people out of work because of the Bush administration policies or is it being promoted by rich talk show hosts standing on the backs of their listeners and others who stand to profit the most from a Republican administration.

No Comment

2010-05-21T11:28:00.000+02:00

Jealousy

2010-05-20T16:02:00.001+02:00

Some recent events have made it more clear than ever that we should not be envious or jealous of those who seem to have more or appear to have the perfect life. They can be kicked in the gut at any moment just like anyone else. Their world can come crashing down around them in moments as can everyone's.

American Indians

2010-05-19T16:14:00.000+02:00

So the school had a nice program for the 4th and 5th grades. It was
about traveling around the World and appreciationg all the various
cultures. I thought it was interesting that they protrayed Americans
as Indians, that is Native Americans. Not a great picture but you can
get the idea.

Verona part 1

2010-04-22T13:00:00.000+02:00

Outside the Roman theater on this day there were people dressed in the
old fashion demonstrating some of the old crafts, making silk thread,
wool, spinning wheels, rope and paper from the skin of animals. It
was educational for the kids and me as well.

Soave

2010-04-20T18:59:00.001+02:00

First night stop on a weekend journey to Verona and Sirmione.

At the beach near Cecina

2010-04-19T13:27:00.001+02:00

The last bit of our Easter trip. The beach reminded me a little of
California, cold water and there were some waves the first day that
had been generated by the rain and wind.

Degrading Women in Italy

2010-04-19T12:46:00.000+02:00

Last night we, Luisa and I, were channel surfing and started watching this terrible show on Mediaset 1. They paired nerdy smart guys with beautiful stupid young women. The women, all young and very nice looking were dressed to the sexual max and the guys probably dressed themselves. Then they put the girls on a table in front of the guys one couple at a time and asked the girls to identify some pictures of famous Italians, like an ex president for example. It would have been in the US like asking someone to recognize a picture of Gerald Ford or even Bill Clinton. They did not recognize any of them and the host gave them a bunch of hints until they finally sort of sounded out the names. Then they had to do a sexy dance on top of the table in front of the guys who couldn't decide if they should look up their skirts or not. We kept it on too long hoping that at least one of the girls would answer at least one question, but none did. Well I have to admit I don't mind looking at the girls, but how degrading can these TV producers get. We turned it off before really understanding what the point was if there was one.

Colle di Val d'Elsa

2010-04-15T16:53:00.001+02:00

One of those Medevial Tuscan villages. We were looking for a place to
attend mass on Easter Sunday so we saw the church and a place to park
the camper and there we were.

Siena

2010-04-14T18:35:00.001+02:00

Part of our Easter trip,

Loss of a Friend

2010-04-10T10:46:00.000+02:00

Last night we got the overwhelmingly sad news that a dear friend Steve Tanaka passed away. He was on vacation with his family in Costa Rica and he drowned or maybe had a heart attack while swimming. He was only 50, maybe a bit younger I'm not sure of his age. But he was not someone that one would imagine leaving us so soon. He had a beautiful family, his wife Kathy and their 10 year old son Christopher and his life seemed so perfect aside from the stress of his job. That job, chief information officer at Palomar Hospital, though stressful was a part of who he was in the sense that it was a mark of his success not just as very competent in his work but a person who was liked by all and had a way of getting along with everyone. For me he was a person that I connected with on many levels. He and his family were a kind of fixture at our family events in California, and we at his, we went sailing on his boat, made trips to the beach, did a bit of surfing together and the occasional dinner out. After we moved to Italy they came to visit us on their trip to Europe to celebrate Kathy's 50th birthday. And on our trips back to California we stayed in his home and borrowed his car. We have kept in touch always by email though most of the conversations were through Katy as he was always so busy working. But mostly it is just that feeling of connection that makes his loss so hard.

I leave you with his last note to me:

John,

Great to hear from you. Kathy's out in Colorado on a Skiing trip with a friend which means that I'm picking up Christopher from school. So, right now I'm sitting out in front of Nativity responding to emails on my Blackberry.

Life is crazy busy for me as usual. I'm trying to get my mind wrapped around the notion that's it's really a matter of choice in terms of how I choose to create and deal with the stresses I feel but can't seemed to get past the current reality of having 14hrs of work to do each day. But enough of that...We're all doing well here, your description of Julia entering that "tween" phase of development exactly describes where Christopher is. Pretty sure he already know the Birds and Bees thing...but someday soon, I'll have to have that conversation with him to make it "Oh-fficial"

Sports wise he's gotten into baseball in a big way. I'll email you the link to his Catching and Batting videos. He's also gotten into running gates this ski season. At Keystone on the Nastar course I was running the course next to him and near the finish was shocked to see out of the corner of my eye a green streak which was Christopher who finishing 0.01 second behind me. He got the Gold, I got the Silver. Next season - expect that he'll finish ahead but by a bigger margin.

Well, he's coming out so I gotta go!

Stay in touch and send our love to Luisa, Julia and Giovanni!!

We will miss you Steve.

Easter in Tuscany

2010-04-09T09:46:00.001+02:00

We had some nice lamb cooked in the camper.

Santa Margherita Cortona

2010-04-05T20:27:00.001+02:00

Piazza in Cortona

2010-04-05T14:17:00.001+02:00

Notice all the locals in the piazza - not. Just a bunch of tourists
like we were. But it is a beautiful city to visit.

Franco's Farm

2010-04-05T14:13:00.001+02:00

Just 410 hectares in the country near Ferarra. The house is something
he bought recently and is fixing up.

Nice Place for a Wedding

2010-03-31T16:22:00.001+02:00

On a recent trip not far from Belluno we explored this old castel
which has been restored and made into an hotel. Let me know if you
want to know where it is.

Fathers Day

2010-03-31T12:36:00.001+02:00

Fathers Day was a while back here, this was my present from Luisa.

First Ski Race

2010-02-28T17:13:00.000+01:00

Yes today at my age I did my first giant slalom. Well actually it wasn't that giant just a social race in the club that Giovanni belongs to, but it really was the first time I've ever done such a thing. It was fun and interesting to get a tiny bit of insight into what racing is about. My sponsor already quit me, says I don't have much of a future - just a friend kidding around.

Fear of What and totally Ass Backwards?

2010-02-06T10:27:00.002+01:00

The US a country isolated from the rest of the World by geography and very friendly with it's only physical neighbors spends just slightly less on military defense than the rest of the World combined. What are we so afraid of - underbombers. Are Americans really just a bunch of cowards so fearful that we are willing to give up our constitutional rights and spend half of our GDP on defense against enemies that put bombs in their underwear. Are we really defending American interests around the world with at least one US military base in nearly every country. Defending them against what? The US, which is still the largest economy in the World, spends 48% of GDP on defense while China spends 8%. (http://www.visualeconomics.com/military-spending-worldwide/). I can't help but ask the question, which country seems to be doing better around the World when it comes to national economic interests? Which country got the oil deals in Iraq and which country, the one that invaded it, got left out of the deals. Which country spends billions on foreign invasions and propping up corrupt governments while not being able to afford health care for it's poor or the rebuilding of it's infrastructure. And finally which country is loaning the US the money it doesn't have to finance it's foreign adventures. Frankly I just don't get it. I just can't understand why the citizens of the United States don't stand up and say wait a minute things are just totally ass backwards.

Kids That Ski Race

2010-02-05T14:57:00.000+01:00

I take Giovanni down to the bus at 1:30. The other kids arrive driven there by grandparents or parents on their lunch break. They arrive with skis way taller than they are some are wearing ski pants that seem more like tights and some have a kind of pair of shorts over them. They have their helmets and goggles, tall stiff boots, and ski poles that have a curve in them and snaps that connect them to their gloves. Giovanni is already on the bus as I put his skis in the luggage compartment and when I give him a last look and attempt to say goodbye he's already gone into his world leaving mine behind. They go off and the parents go home or back to work. A few hours later they are back with bright red cheeks from the cold and wind and happy tired faces. But if we parents ask them questions about what they did or how it was the answers must be dragged out of them for it was their world they were in not ours.

On weekends they arrive at 7:30 am for the bus ride to lessons or races. On race days they may ride in the bus sometimes for hours, then spend a little time warming up. When the races begin they wait in freezing cold temperatures at the top of the run until their moment, which is 40 some seconds or so speeding down a run in a way that would frighten the pants off of most adults.

One of the World's best places to eat lunch

2010-02-04T19:30:00.000+01:00

I've written about this before, but having just finished another tour of the Sellaronda I have to comment again. I'm talking about skiing. I did the tour today with 4 other men. It takes around 4 hours or so depending on how fast and how many stops one makes. It's a tour around a group of mountains where one goes through 4 big mountain passes and through I'm sure maybe eight different ski resorts that are all connected. It's a lot of fun and pretty much all intermediate skiing. It's a tour of the Dolomites on skis, the views are just the best in the world, beautiful mountains and valleys covered in snow.

What does it have to do with lunch. Well the thing is, which I think is somewhat unique in Italy, scattered throughout the mountains at various stopping points are refugios, places of refuge, which in days past and in some cases today serve as resting places for hikers. In many one can eat and spend the night. But in reality most are great little restaurants. Today we stopped high up on the mountain, the restaurant has a large deck outside full of tables. The food is Italian, and it's true that Italians don't stand for bad food. The service is remarkably fast, almost too fast. I mean as soon as we sat down the waitress arrived took our orders which were all served in the time it took me to go to the bathroom. And we are not talking about fast food, though much is pre-prepared. But what makes it so fantastic is just sitting there in the sun after having skied hard for a couple of hours surrounded by one of the most beautiful views in the World.

Giovanni's first ski race

2010-01-31T21:46:00.001+01:00

He really isn't in the race class yet so this was kind of a test to
see if he could move up into it. He did well. His time was not great
but his two instructors told me they were pleased and he will start
training with the older kids. Next problem is that he doesn't want to
be the youngest in the group.

I'm Too Sentimental

2010-01-28T10:12:00.000+01:00

I have decided to take Julia skiing every Wednesday after school instead of giving her formal lessons. It's also meant to be a kind of father daughter time. But yesterday we invited a girlfriend of hers to come along. We all had a great time skiing for just a couple of hours. My sentimental moment came as I watched the two of them skiing along on a pretty flat area ahead of me. They were laughing and talking about silly stuff that only a 10 and 12 year old can enjoy; I began to imagine them some years in the future as adults doing the same thing, but having new things to talk about, children, work, husbands, boy friends, good times and bad. I became sad thinking I wouldn't be there to see that but also happy to think and hope that they might still be friends able to enjoy something together partly because I gave them this little experience.

Grow Big Breasts

2010-01-26T19:02:00.000+01:00

Catchy title isn't it. My 10 year old daughter and 8 year old son where looking at each other the other day when he told her that she needed to drink a lot of milk so her breasts would grow big. He is a very logical thinker and so one can see how he made the connection.

How Italians Use Cell Phones

2010-01-25T20:50:00.000+01:00

I read a study on how people in various countries use their cell phones. The comment they had about Italians was that they expect to be able to use them on the ski slopes. Funny thing is I never really thought about it until I read the article. I guess I'm becoming more Italian as I just assume that it will work and it generally does. We use them to meet up with friends, check up on each other and all the normal stuff people use them for. Texting is a bit difficult while going down a run. We give Giovanni one to take with him during his ski lesson in case of problems.

Nice Weekend Skiing

2010-01-25T20:44:00.000+01:00

We took the camper up to Pecol which is about an hour by car and a little more in the camper. For the last 100 meters I had to put on the chains which is not so much fun on those big wheels but I'm getting better at it. The reward was being able to park right next to the ski run that connects a chair lift with a gondola. So we were really just a couple of meters from it. On Sunday I actually skied right up to our door. Anyway we all skied on Saturday all day from about 9:30 to 4:00 just stopping for lunch back at the camper. It was really a perfect day full of sun and great snow. Skiing in Italy is really a treat for those of us who don't have a desire to kill ourselves doing moguls on the supper step. There are some steep runs but they are generally nicely groomed.

Sunday the kids decided that they would rather play in the snow so I just went out for a couple of hours. Having a season pass takes a lot of the pressure off. That is one can go for a short time without having to buy an all day ticket then feeling guilty for not using it. I've used it 10 times so far so a few more and the rest is free.

Child Labor in Switzerland

2009-12-21T17:58:00.001+01:00

Yes it all looks innocent but if you study those sad faces you might
understand that they've been working rolling out little pastries on
those white boards for over 12 hours. It's a shame.

Motor Homes Are Eco Friendly

2009-12-21T09:30:00.001+01:00

I copied this from the UK motorhomefacts.com site. I'm thinking that now I don't have to feel guilty driving the big thing around like a turtle with his home on his back.

"Travelling 600 miles by motorhome only produces a fraction of carbon emission compared to traveling by plane (I read somewhere it's only 1/6th. of what's attributed to one person on a European flight)
Living in a motorhome uses only a fraction of the water and electricity compared to home/apartment/hotel.
If studied, living/travelling in a mh could possibly turn out to be more overall eco friendly than just staying at home."

The thoughts that hide in waiting in the day

2009-12-19T09:13:00.000+01:00

I have to post this from my niece Sherrie Vigil, she posted it as a status update on Facebook and I think it's too beautiful to be lost.

"They tell you when you are little that there are no monsters under the bed and darkness holds nothing scarier than the absence of light. Though this is true when I’m lying in bed at night a different kind of monster rears it ugly head. The thoughts that hide in waiting in the day, plague me in the dark. I wish for the moment that the knight in shining armor, Sleep, will rescue me from the fortress of conscious thought into the warm cradle of dreamland where I can finally be at peace"

Skiing in Italy - The Dolomites

2009-12-10T15:39:00.002+01:00

Here are a few random shots from various ski areas in the Dolomites,
just to give you a feeling for it. View the whole Sella Ronda tour HERE.

Kid, Grandkids and a Turkey

2009-12-09T21:45:00.000+01:00

Just some shots from our four days at Erin's house.

The Latest

2009-12-09T17:29:00.000+01:00

We had a nice visit with Erin and her family in Switzerland. She cooked a great turkey for a late Thanksgiving dinner with a little help from Luisa and me. And we did our Christmas bit together. Pictures to fallow.

Kids feet that grow too fast

2009-11-27T16:33:00.002+01:00

Julia's ski boots that should have lasted two years don't fit. Going tonight to get Giovanni fitted out for skiing this year and check on boots for Julia. Good news is a deal for Giovanni, a rental for the season 129€ and we can change the skis if he gets good at racing and needs a step up. He says he wants to race but I'm not pushing it. Gives me the same feeling as I had with a daughter that jumps horses - fear for their safety. But we can't hold them back.

Giovanni Does His Clown Act

2009-11-25T09:35:00.001+01:00

He provided his own entertainment at the party. His friends all
seemed to like it a lot. He surely doesn't take after me in this
regard.