The Week in London

For one of our last big trips before returning to the USA, we decided to visit London. We spent five full days in the city, and got to see a lot of the city. First, besides the language differences, it is interesting to us to see the differences in culture between Italy, Britain, and the USA. They're each unique, and very different. London really has a rougher, more urban feel than anywhere that we've visited in Italy. It's a fantastic city to visit, and we really packed in the sights.

To list just a few of the sites that we'd visited, we should mention the London Eye, St. Paul's Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, The British Museum, Trafalgar Square, and Shakespeare's Globe theater. Also, Thomas absolutely loved the natural history museum and all of the Dinosaurs. Sammy liked looking at fish in the London Aquarium. John and Ann were amazed by the history in Westminster Abby. We took a cruise on the River Thames and also took a tour of the Tower Bridge. One of the best sites, however, was the Tower of London, complete with the crown jewels and beefeaters. We also ate fish and chips, rode the 'Tube', and had a generally great time.

As an added bonus, Ann's sister and her boyfriend were also visiting London during our trip, so we got to have a few wonderful dinners with them.

We're now safely back in Italy, where our upcoming task will be to begin thinking about packing for our not-too-distant return.

Quite Weekend at Home

Just a quiet weekend at home for the Bedells.  Next weekend we're off to the UK for some sightseeing, so this weekend was for lawn maintenance and chores around the house. 

Visiting a New Lake and Otherworldly Rocks

This weekend was Ann's birthday, so she chose our destination. We went to Lago Iseo, a pretty little lake that's less than two hours East of our home. The lake has a number of small villages tucked along it's shores, and a huge mountainous island in its center. For her birthday, we had an incredible multi-course meal at a small and very fine ristorante. After the long lunch, we took a hike in the natural park at Zone, where we saw the incredibly strange Piramidi di Zone. These strange geologic formations are tall pillars of rock, capped by huge boulders. They're absolutely fascinating, and look like something from another world.

Other than our trip, we had a pretty good week. The moving company came to our home to do a survey. They had to measure and count our belongings for this summer's move back to the 'States. We'll keep you informed as the move date draws near.

Happy Sam and Homework Thomas

Thomas doesn't like doing homework when the sun is shining...

And Sammy is still Happy!

Museums in Mantova

May first is a holiday in Italy, as it is in most of Europe. So, Both John and Thomas were home. We just did chores around the house, cut the grass, and enjoyed the warm weather while sitting out on our patio.

Saturday, however, was our day to do some exploring. Mantova is a beautiful, and quite famous, small city at the other end of Lombardy. We left home early in the morning and spent the whole day wandering around this fascinating city. It's situated near large lakes, and is nearly surrounded by a beautiful park that stretches along the shorelines. The city is home to a great astronomical clock-tower, a huge basilica, and the Palazzo Ducale. The Palazzo is a mammoth, maze-like museum that houses some incredible art and historical artifacts. It was a day well spent.

Impossible Triangle

An Impossible Triangle at the Science Park in Mantova.

Swimming in Balls

Last weekend we went to a huge birthday party for one of Thomas' classmates. It was held at an indoor play-gym, complete with every type of climbing, sliding, and swinging aparatus imaginable. Of course, they also had those big bins of colored balls. Sammy was enthralled.