Lakeside Arona and Buona Pasqua.

This week went by very quickly. Thomas was off from school, so he and Ann did a lot of projects at home (puzzles, games, crafts, and studying Italian). They also did a little exploring during the week. John had to travel to the UK and the Netherlands, which made the week seem to go even faster. By the middle of the week, our neighborhood was fully ready for Easter. The local chruchbells rang out a different melody every night of the week, and there was an event at the church each day as well. Monday is a holiday here, although we were surprised that Friday was a regular work-day.

We're nearly finished with preparations for our short (one-week) trip back to the USA. We leave in less than a week, and we're really looking forward to it.

The weather was fantastic on Saturday, but we wanted to stick close to home. So, we went to lunch in the lakeside town of Arona, at the southern end of Lago Maggiore. The stroll was nice, we had a huge, multi-course Italian meal, and enjoyed some gelato in the afternoon.
Oh, and Thomas colored eggs. We couldn't find the American style egg-dying kits in the stores here (all of the eggs are brown anyway). So, Thomas used his colored markers to decorate his eggs.

Happy Sam

Bellagio

This weekend we took a trip to Bellagio. The weather was a little hazy, but the temperatures were spring-like. The famous city is located at a strategic and beautiful point on Lago di Como. We drove up the south shore of the lake, along a narrow and curvy road, which was a lot of fun and notably scenic. Bellagio itself is a tourist haven, but this is clearly the off-season. We did run into a number of Americans (as well as French and German tourists), but the streets were mostly empty. Still, the town is beautiful and presents an incredibly relaxed atmosphere. Later in the day we had a fantastic meal in Como. It was a good outing.

In the news department, this was Thomas' last week of school for several weeks. His school has a long spring (Easter) break. Sammy is still growing like mad. He's now a whopping 6.5 kilograms. He must grow in his sleep...he seems noticeably bigger every morning. John had a busy work-week, with a lot of colleagues from the USA visiting the office for a meeting. This past week was also John's birthday, and the Italian staff suprised him with a huge birthday cake. Lastly, as a sure sign that the winter is now behind us, we had to mow our lawn for the first time this season. And that's all the news that fit to blog.

Workaday Week and Stay-at-Home Weekend

This weekend we skipped our usual sightseeing excursion. John had to spend most of Saturday in the office, so we didn't have time to do any travelling. Cloudy, cool, and very damp, the weather this weekend wasn't great for travel either, so it was a fine time to have a relaxing weekend at home. Ann and the boys did a little walking around during the week, when the weather was very springlike. In fact, early in the week the weather was so nice that we spent some of it out on our patio (note the picture of Ann doing some writing outside).

All in all, we don't have much news to report. We are planning a trip back to the 'States at the end of the month. It will be the the first time that the whole family has been back the USA since early July.

Bedell Boys

Happy Sam

Cremona and Our Big Baby

This was a foggy week in northern Italy. Nearly every day the fog was so thick that we could barely see off our patio. Despite the weather, though, it was a good week. One of John's work colleagues visited from the USA, and brought something that John had been craving - A1 Steak Sauce (It's sort of strange...you can't predict the things that you miss). Sammy had a doctor appointment. This time it was a normal, everyday checkup with his regular pediatrician. He's doing great...perfectly healthy, but big. He's now almost 6 kilograms, which is very big for a 2 month old.

For our weekend trip, we drove to the other side of Milan to visit Cremona. This small city was the home of the famous violin maker Stradivari. It's still a center for hand-made violins. We had a great time, visiting the beautiful Duomo and Torrazzo, as well as the Stradivari museum. We also found a great local restaurant had a huge lunch of bollito, sausage, and gnocchi. The only difficulty that we had was finding parking...a Saturday morning market had taken nearly every spot in the city.