Happy Halloween!

Charmed and Soggy in Venice

John took Friday off from work, and our family headed to Venice for the weekend. We rented a hotel room for a few days and made the most of this fabulous city. This was likely our last real vacation until the baby is born, so we were really looking forward to it. Also, it was our first trip to this amazing city.

Unfortunately, Friday was a water-logged day. The weather fluctuated between slight drizzles and inundating downpours. We drove straight to the Tronchetto, a huge island parking lot, and took a water-bus down the grand canal. We got off at one of the stops and had a lot of fun navigating the narrow little streets and bridges. We had a rough time keeping our bearings. It's easy to make a wrong turn and get lost (but that's half the fun). We saw the Ponte Rialto (the famous bridge), fed the birds in St. Mark's Square, toured the richly adorned Basilica, and went through the Palazzo Ducale. We were tired, hungry, and cold by dinner time, so we found a nice little restaurant for dinner. Venice is amazing at night, and we had a lot of fun walking off dinner. We even stopped into the historic Harry's Bar for a nightcap (fizzy water for Ann and Thomas).

After a good night's sleep in the hotel, we started our next day at the Piazzale Roma and quickly proceeded to get lost in the streets and waterways of Santa Croce, San Polo, and Dorsoduro. We bought a pass to tour Churches, and had a great time going through the historic buildings. The weather was much nicer on Saturday, and city was much more inviting and charming without the rain. We walked all over, and especially loved the bridges. Naturally, we also took lots of rest stops, sitting a little cafes and watching the people pass (Thomas loves the hot chocolate over here). Also, with the improved weather, we took a gondola ride. It lasted for about 40 minutes, and went through lots of little water alleys and under bridges. We thought that we'd be underwhelmed, but the experience was truly charming. Thomas couldn't wait to go back to St. Mark's to see the pigeons. He loved feeding the birds, and the way they flock all over you. We saw the Rialto Bridge at sunset, which was a beautiful sight. After dinner and some more night-time sight-seeing, we were ready to get back to the hotel and sleep (we're thankful that water buses are fast).

We really loved our trip to Venice. We met more Americans here than anywhere else in Italy, which goes to show that it's a huge tourist draw. Also, the food in Venice was probably the worst that we've had in Italy...not bad, just not as good as the little little towns we've visited. Still, Venice was a truly unique and beautiful city. It was an unforgettable and wonderful trip!

Birthday!

We recently celebrated Thomas' birthday. It's the first birthday that we've celebrated since moving to Italy. The birthday-boy received a huge Lego castle, and he soon had it put together (with a little help from Mom and Dad). It's a gift that he really wanted, especially since we've been visiting so many real castles on our little weekend trips. He also received a variety of other toys, but the Lego's are tops. At school he got to blow out candles and have a little party. All in all, it was a great b-day!

Return to Sasso del Ferro

It was another crazy week for the Bedells in Italy, with lots of work and running around. Ann had prescriptions to get from the pharmacy, several meetings of her club, and we all started preparing for Thomas' birthday.

At the end of the week, we went back to Laveno for a trip on the Funivia. It was Ann & Thomas' second trip, and they really wanted John to experience the little cable-lift buckets. Plus, it was an absolutely clear day, so the views were stunning!

Brescia Adventure

This was another week that streaked by without any chance for rest or reflection. Ann had doctor appointments, administrative issues, her club meeting, and lots of miscellaneous work. John had a long week at work, staying at the office very late nearly every day. He also had a short, one-day business trip to Rome. Thomas' class gathered, roasted, and ate chestnuts. In fact, chestnuts are a huge thing around here. They're everywhere and many towns hold chestnut festivals. Lastly, this week we learned that John's nephew and his wife had a little baby girl. Congratulations and good wishes to them and their families.

For our regular Saturday day-trip, we drove about two hours to the west to visit the town of Brescia. There was a huge street market in progress when we arrived, which made parking nearly impossible. So, we found a parking garage some distance from the sights of the city, and had to walk through a seedy area (through a drug-deal in action). We survived, and had a fantastic time walking through the market and visiting the historic city center. A mammoth castle sits on a hill that overlooks the city. The castle contains an interesting museum of medieval armor, but the views from the castle towers are the real draw. We also visited the city's duomos and ancient Roman ruins. They were amazing. For lunch, we ate outdoors at a small restaurant, where we had some local dishes. By the end of the day we were exhausted, but quite happy.

Baby Update

Ann had a doctor appointment this week to review the progress of the pregnancy. We thought that our family and friends would like to see the latest ultrasound picture. Unlike Ann's experience in the States, it seems like they do an ultrasound with every office visit here in Italy. Everything's going very well, and Ann's starting to look into local hospitals now. We'll need to choose a hospital for the delivery.

Critters - Part 2

We have a new critter to add to our Italian animal experiences. This time it's even more creepy and disconcerting than the spiders and centipedes.
Last night Ann hopped out of bed and stepped on something strange. She looked down and let out a shriek. It was a Scorpion! Having spent our lives in the American Northeast, we'd never seen one of these creatures up close, and they certainly are frightening little buggers. John quickly squashed it with a shoe. We'd have taken a photo to post on the blog, but there wasn't much left after the squashing.
After we determined that Ann wasn't stung, we did some research. Apparently scorpions are not common in our part of Italy, but they're not rare either. When the weather starts to get cool, they'll often try to come inside homes because of the heat. Luckily, these ones rarely sting, and are pretty harmless if they do. Regardless of their reported benignity, they're darn ugly and scary!
We'll be wearing shoes around the house for a while, for sure.

Cheese Time

It's been a little while since we've written anything about John's adventures in the world of Italian Cheese. He's still at it, trying a new cheese every week.

Here's a few photos and comments from two recent samples. Salva cheese is a very white and very mild cheese from Lombardy. Made from cow milk, it has a very delicate flavor, along with a slight acidity.

Everyone's heard of Gorgonzola, which is a standby cheese here. It's simply everywhere. Most of it is young and pretty soft. John prefers the aged, mature Gorgonzola, which is significantly sharper and more pungent. It's a little crumbly, and is great stuff.

Varallo and a Busy Week

It's been an exhaustingly busy week for the Bedells. John's had to work late every day this week, and Ann attended a book club meeting and an outing with her club. Meanwhile, Thomas has been really enjoying school. He says that his favorite parts of the school day are singing (which they do at the end of the day), gym class, and riding the bus.

With such a busy week, we were ready for a day off. We also decided to stay relatively close to home for our weekend day-trip. So, this week we travelled about an hour to the pretty little town of Varallo. It's a beautiful and well-kept city that's in a historic valley. Unfortunately, while it wasn't raining at home, it was downpouring in Varallo when we arrived. We decided to tough-out the weather, though, and walked around the city before lunch. We're glad for our choice, because after we finished lunch, there were breaks in the clouds and periodic streaks of sunlight for the rest of the day.

We had lunch at a great little hotel restaurant. The food was fantastic. Mushrooms are hugely popular in Italy at this time of year, and Asparagus is big in Varallo, so nearly every meal featured mushrooms and/or asparagus. The food was delicious.

Varallo is another town that's famous for its Sacro Monte. This one has a series of over 40 chapels, and many are located in a beautiful wooded area. The rest overlook the town and valley. It was another great short trip.

Ciao!