Sammy's Birthday and Christmas Day

Christmas Eve has been a special day for the Bedells for years (John proposed to Ann on this day). Last year, though, was an extra special Christmas Eve: Samuel was born. So, it's now one year later and we celebrated Sammy's birthday. Grandma's visit was great enough, but he also enjoyed a few gifts and a proper chocolate birthday cake!

Christmas day was equally special for Sammy, not to mention Thomas. We enjoyed watching them open their presents, and had a wonderful quiet day at home. A nice roasted dinner, too much chocolate, and a relaxing evening made it a nearly perfect day. Also, although we had a mix of sun and showers on Christmas day, the ground was covered in deep snow the following morning!

Happy Holidays to all of our freinds and family!

Grandma comes to Visit

We're happy to announce that we have another visitor to our home in Italy.  Ann's mother, Louise, (otherwise known as Grandma) has come for a 10 day visit.  She'll spend Christmas with us, and we'll then do several days of sightseeing.  We're enjoying her company, and she's had the chance to see a little of our neighborhood and life in Italy.  So far, she's said that the food is better than expected, and the climate is rearkable (with sunny warmth in the day, but snow at night).  

Christmastime Sunday

We spent this Sunday preparing for the arrival of Grandma Harder, who will be spending nearly two weeks visiting us in Italy. It will be great to have a guest for Christmas, which we'll spend at our home. We then plan to take a trip and do some sightseeing.

Since today's weather was beautiful (sunny and unseasonably warm), we also made a short outing to the Christmas Market in Varese. The streets were full of people, and countless stands sold traditional Christmas gifts, along with local foods and treats. There was an ice-skating rink, vin brule and chestnuts, and plenty of Santas. The city's gardens were also decorated, and carols played on the PA system. The day really put us in the spirit of the season.

Lastly, we had to post a photo of one of the notorious 'Hanging Santas'. These are undeniably the most popular Christmas decoration in northern Italy. They are outside of many homes and businesses, and their oddness (not to mention ubiquity) is just a little creepy.

The Return of Beautiful Weather

After nearly a month of rain, sleet, snow, fog, drizzle, and generally sloppy weather, we're all glad that the sun has returned.  It's been warm, clear, and absolutely beautiful here for the past two days.  We couldn't resist posting a photo of the sunset.

Seasons Greetings

Here's our little family holiday portrait.

Christmas Market

Today Thomas' school had a Christmas market where all the classes make things to sell. To start off the market the classes all gather and sing Christmas songs. Thomas was looking forward to this as he wanted Ann to hear him sing and also to buy lots of stuff. Unfortunately, the weather for this event did not cooperate. It was rainy, cold, foggy and overall just dismal. But the Christmas market was quite nice. There was a plethora of hot food to eat, soda and water to drink. And for the parents there was copious amounts of hot spiced wine to keep them warm as the market took place outside under the shelter of one of the building overhangs. Ann found some books written in English and Thomas found lots of chocolate to buy (see above picture of Ann and Thomas' loot). They had a great time.

Snow Day for Thomas

Thanksgiving

This was our second Thanksgiving in Italy.  Of course, this isn't a European holiday, so it was a completely normal work-day and school-day for our family.  At the end of the day, though, we came together for something of a 'traditional' Thanksgiving feast, giving thanks for our health, family, and many friends.  Okay, so we didn't get a turkey.  Ann did go to the butcher to get a nice chicken, which we roasted in the oven.  Accompanied by mashed potatoes, and the other appropriate fixins', we had a very nice dinner.  Later in the evening, we called our families back in the 'states.  So, despite the typical-day routine, it was a nice 'family-day'.

In the weather department, it is still quite cold here.  In fact, the wintery weather has continued, including another proper snowstorm!

First Snowfall of the Season

We've been in Italy now for nearly 17 months, and we can only remember one snowfall during the entire time.  One snowfall, that is, until we woke up this morning.  It was snowing!  Thomas was so excited, and it actually seemed good to see the white stuff covering the grass and trees.  Okay, we realize that it was barely a dusting, but we're no longer used to the meter-deep drifts of snow that we'd see during a regular nor'easter in Pennyslvania.  

We don't have much other news to report.  Little Sammy was sick with a head and chest cold all weekend.  So we cancelled our usual weekend excitement.  He had a really rough few days, but he's doing a lot better now.  

Sammy Loves Daddy

Beautiful Sunset

Good Week and Quiet Weekend

We had another week of solid rain in Italy this week.  At least the weekends have been nice - beautiful, in fact.  Instead of going on our usual travels, we stayed home this weekend.  One of Thomas' classmates had a birthday party, so we needed to stay close to home so that he could attend the festivities.  

The party that Thomas attended was a 'Fancy Dress Party'.  In other words, a costume party (Thomas went as Zorro).  It's amusing to us that Thomas is picking up British English expressions, like 'fancy dress' for 'costume' or 'rubber' for 'eraser'.  At school, he studies 'the maths' instead of 'mathematics'.  The list could go on and on, but he's becoming more familiar with British English expressions than those of American English. 

Since the weather was beautiful on Saturday, we went for another long walk along the lake.  

During the week, Sammy had a regularly scheduled visit with the doctor.  He's doing great, and is very nearly walking.  The doctor said that he'll surely be walking with ease by Christmas. 

Speaking of the holidays, nearly every store here is completely decorated for Christmas.  This week seems to mark the beginning of the season.  At mid-week, lights, trees, and Santas were everywhere. 

Alba Tartufo Festival

We had read a lot about the famous White Truffles of Alba. To celebrate these rare truffles, there's a famous festival held each year from the end of October through early November in Alba. We had wanted to attend, but the weather has been abysmal the past few weeks. Until, that is, this weekend. So, we decided to make the drive to Alba, the home of great italian wine and mushrooms.  When we arrived, we first spent some time wandering through the huge outdoor urban market in Alba. The city is quite small, but has a bustling vibrancy that's infectious.  By late morning, we were ready to hit the festival, which is held in a large convention center. The first thing that you notice on entry is the aroma. It smells like you walked into a wall of truffle, cheese, and porcini. The smell is so intense that you'll carry it with you long after exiting. Of course, it's also so delicious a smell, that you immediately want to eat.
We had a great time at the festival, visiting vendors, and sampling salami, food, and wine. (The Dolcetto and Barolo were fantastic.) We ended up buying two white truffles. They were relatively small, and were probably the most expensive food product (by weight) that we've every bought. We ended up eating the truffle as shavings on a marvelous pasta later in the day.
All in all, we really enjoyed Alba. It was a great little trip.

Walk Along the Lake

We've had a solid week of rain here in Italy.  It started raining last Sunday night, and didn't let up until today.  Friday was Halloween, although no children came to our door.  This isn't really a suprise, since Halloweeen isn't really celebrated here (the first and second of November are significant religous holidays).  We think, though, that the rain played a big part in keeping people inside.

Anyway, after a solid week of rain, we needed to get out of the house.  We visited Lago di Varese, a quaint little lake near our home.  It's (of course) located near the city of Varese, and has a paved walking path that circles the entire lake.  

Ann's visited the path before, but this was the first time that we took a long walk along the lake as a family.  The weather was a little cool and damp, but at least it wasn't downpouring.  

Happy Halloween

Farm Outting

Today Ann, Thomas (who is on vacation from school this week) and Sammy took a trip to Farm Pasque. Thomas has visited this farm before on a class trip when he was in the Materna last year. It's a large petting farm with a variety of animals and activities for kids. A few of the activities are making cheese, feeding the animals and collecting eggs. They saw lots of chickens, cows, horses, geese, sheep, pigs, rabbits and one lonely Llama with blue eyes (see photo). They saw boars and baby boars. There were some horses and fawns as well. They also befriended a goat on the loose that seemed quite intent on going home with them.

Besides being a petting farm and a major attraction for school trips, it also has quite a nice restaurant and a very large selection of gelato. Of course they had to sample the home-made gelato, Thomas getting the lemon which is his favorite and Ann tried the castagna gelato which was excellent.

Unfortunately, the weather was not that great but the rain held off long enough for Thomas to explore their fairly large playground and to run off some of the ice cream energy.    

A Day in Bologna

Bologna is a great mid-sized city that we'd wanted to visit for a while. Althought it's a few hours drive from our home, we picked this weekend to make the trek. Honestly, until we researched its history, we didn't know much about Bologna (except for the lunch meat).

What started as a seriously overcast and foggy day turned out to be moderately warm and partly sunny. It was a great day to walk around the historic city.

We got to visit the cathedral: a half-finished piece of history. San Petronio is a mammoth church that is only partially covered in marble. It's filled with beautiful and historic artifacts, including a facinating meridian line. Also, we saw more security at this church than any that we've ever visited in Italy.

The city's true landmarks are the two towers. One is leaning so far to one side that it makes you a little nervous to walk around it. We also visited a fantastic museum (Thomas loved the Egyptian artifacts).

Of course, Bologna is known for food. We had a great meal at a fantastic little family resturant that caters to both kids and adults. John and Ann had a full, multi-course Italian meal, while the kids enjoyed more fun foods. They say that you can't find a bad meal in Bologna, and we sure didn't.

All in all, it was a fun and worthwhile trip.

We don't have much else to report. We sent in our absentee ballots for the US election this week. We also decided not to watch our stocks anymore (ugh). Thomas had a great birthday, and Sammy is getting really close to taking his first true step.

Buon Compleanno!

We've just celebrated Thomas' birthday.  It's his second B-day in Italy, and he made out pretty well in the gift department.  Of course, they had a little celebration for him at school too, complete with the 'happy birthday' song.  His favorite present is his remote control Wall-E toy.  It's a fun little robot that he immediately learned to control with intricate precision (chasing dad around the house).  Happy Birthday Thomas!

Critter Redux

October of last year, Ann had a scary run-in with a notorious Critter.  This year, the creepy crawler has returned!  Although they're not really dangerous, these scorpions are a little frightening.  We ran into one in our kitchen last night, near the door that exits onto our patio.  It was particularly cold outside, and the little guy snuck inside for some warmth.  This time we grabbed the camera before the squashing!

Iron Window

Autumn Walk

Saturday was an overcast and cool autumn day, so we decided to return to the Sacro Monte di Varese for a vigorous morning stroll.  Samuel had a cold all week, so we didn't want to take a long trip.  Instead, we bundled him up and headed for the hill.  It was also another opportunity for Sammy to ride in his backpack.  The contraption is comfortable for him (no comment from Daddy), and gives him a great view.  Anyway, we had a great walk, enjoyed the fresh fall air, changing leaves, and beautiful views.  We also ran into some acquaintances and an army of Italian schoolchildren on a school-trip (they were enthralled with Samuel).  

Speaking of the schoolchildren, it's interesting to note the different schedule of their week 

compared to Thomas'.  Thomas attend a European school, full of expatriate kids, which is on a 5 day schedule.  The Italian schools have a six day schedule, attending class also on Saturdays.  

We don't have much other news.  Sammy's cold seems to be improving, and the rest of us are doing fine. 

Chestnut Season

Autumn in Italy, especially in our area, is clearly Castagna (Chestnut) season.   The trees are everywhere in the hills around our home, and every weekend from late-September through mid-October, there seems to be a Castagna festival somewhere nearby.  At school, Thomas' class visits the woods to hunt for the nuts.  They then have a big party, roasting and eating the nutmeat.   This year we did a little castgna roasting at home too.  

Happy Sam (in the Sun)

Santa Caterina del Sasso

It's been a heck of a week!  All that anyone seems to talk about, even here in Italy, is the economic and financial situation.  The economy isn't great, and banks here have their share of problems (just like everywhere now), but we've heard many Italian's comment that they feel that Italy's credit system is more secure than elsewhere.  Anyway, it's a beautiful weekend here (much better than last week's German weather!), so we took a short road-trip to a little hermitage that's tucked into the side of a steep cliff.   Santa Caterina del Sasso was founded at the end of the twelfth century by a local merchant, and has been a local and religious landmark ever since.  It was a great little trip, and a good way to get our minds off our IRA's and 401K's.  

Other than that, we had a very nice, although busy, week.  Sammy wants to try walking so badly that he'll pull himself up to a standing position on anything nearby.  His balance is quite good, but that didn't stop him from taking a painful fall (onto our tile floor!) this week.  He's okay, though, and it didn't slow his determination.

We're going to try to make another short trip tomorrow.  Ciao until the next post!

Oktoberfest

We've written a few times about Dan and Marybeth, our close friends (and fellow ex-pats) in Munich.  Recently they invited us to visit them again, and to come during the famous Oktoberfest that's held every year in Munich.  We couldn't pass-up the opportunity, especially since it's a relatively easy drive.  So, we left home after Thomas finished school on Friday, and spent the weekend in Munich.

Before we comment on the festival, we have to write that it was fascinating to see the changes in the weather.  At our home in Italy, it seems like late summer or early autumn.  Munich, however, was fully immersed in the season.  At night the weather was below freezing, and all of the trees are covered in beautifully colored leaves (that are also in the process of falling).  Also, we had to contend with driving through some snow as we crossed the alps.  

We had a great time at Oktoberfest, althought the weather was unfortunately wet and cold.  Since we had three children with us (Sammy, Thomas, and Dan & Marybeth's baby, Benjamin), we visited the fest in the morning and early afternoon, before it bacame too crowded and rowdy.  We had the traditional Bavarian breakfast of weiswurst.  We also had to have a mas, the big mugs of german beer.  

It's hard to comment on how many people attend Octoberfest.  The grounds are large, and absolutely packed with people.  Something that suprised us was the number of people that we saw in traditional dress.  It seemed like all of the locals wear lederhosen and dirndls.  We thought that they were only costumes that would be worn by employees, but that wasn't the case at all.  

The event is a lot like we imagined, though, with brass bands, pretzels, sausages, rides, and Bavarian beer.  In the morning there were quite a few kids and families.  In many ways, it has the feel of a huge county or state fair, except for the beautiful big tents.  These tents are run by the breweries, and are enormous buildings that are fantastically decorated.  

In the afternoon we went into downtown Munich for some exploring and to go to a resturant.  We then drove back home on Sunday, and the weather improved for our return drive.

Thanks again to Dan and Marybeth for their hospitality.  We really enjoyed ourselves.   

Busy Week

We haven't posted much in the past two weeks, but we have an excuse.  It's been insanely busy here.  Ann's club for English speaking women has kept her week filled with lots to do.  She walks and has joined the 'Mom's and Tot's' group.  

Thomas is in the full-swing of primary school.  Every day he has some story to tell us about someone's lost pencil case or silly first-grade joke.  He's making a little progress in  his French class, and told us about French colors and greetings today.  

We didn't go exploring this week because John had a business trip that started during the weekend.  He travelled to Monte Carlo for some meetings, which was something of an experience in itself.  So many cars that are worth more than our house.....

Finally, last week was the World Road Cycling Championships in our area.  Varese, which is the largest town near our home, hosted this years event.  It got a lot of press coverage here, and much of the city was shut-down for the events.  

Happy Sam