Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Tarot Garden

Before heading to Puglia this month, we had one very noteworthy day trip to a little town in southern Tuscany called Capalbio. It's a wealthy little town on the coast that's a bit of an Italian Communist retreat. We're not sure why this town is especially attractive to wealthy Italian Communists, but that's the town's niche market, and I must say Italian Communists have good taste.

We had a great meal there, followed by a nice walk around town. We ended the day by visiting a nearby sculpture park that was Niki de Saint Phalle's passion project. It's made up of enormous, interactive sculptures. She was obviously very inspired by Gaudi, but leans more toward sculpture than architecture. It was absolutely FANTASTIC! Definitely one of the most underrated sights this region has to offer (probably because Niki was French). Adrian, you would have loved it!










Monday, June 16, 2008

Nana & Jhaju

So, I'm finally getting to post about my parents visit. It was wonderful, horrible, and exhausting all at once.

It was absolutely wonderful to see my parents after such a long time away. It was especially nice seeing them with Eli. They are in full-on grandparent mode these days and are loving every minute they get to spend with him. They were the most playful and engaged audience Eli has had in months. Eli still calls for Nana and Jhaju with regularity.

My dad had never been to Rome or Florence so I thought it would be a great trip for him. I thought we'd have a great time showing him around as well. We had a few days in Rome, followed by a few days in Viterbo. My parents then headed up to the Cinque Terre for a few nights on their own. Eli and I met up with them in Florence for the weekend. However, my best laid plans were for naught. I quickly found out that my dad doesn't have much interest in travel anymore - or sightseeing, or eating, or spending money on anything. Oh, and Italy is run by the mob and tax evaders, therefore everyone here is dishonest and intentionally ripping you off. Though this statement, made by my dad often during the visit, is probably at least half true, it doesn't make for pleasant touring. Needless to say, it was a rough week. (My mom would want me to note though that she was a perfect angel during the trip, which she was.)

I'm looking forward to seeing them again soon... on their turf.


Above: Touring Cappranica during their Santa Maria festival. The town was blanketed in paper flowers. It was home spun beauty at it's best.
Below: My parents at the Villa Lante.



Above: My parents with Eli at the Boboli Gardens in Florence.
Below: Nana and Eli in the Boboli Gardens.



Above: A view of Tuscany.

f*ck, f*ck, f*ck... cock!

We are officially very behind in our blog posts. I still need to post about my parents' visit, several day trips, and our trip to Puglia. First though I want to give a little update on Eli.

Eli is a full on toddler now, complete with whining, tantrums, and constant demands. He's pretty darn cute though as well. He's been talking up a storm and his vocabulary is expanding everyday. He likes to point and label. He's still working on his pronunciation which is making for some hilarious situational comedy, especially in kitchen. He wants to use a fork for all his meals now, so he'll call for one whenever we sit down at the table. Trouble is, "fork, fork, fork, FORK!" comes out sounding like "f*ck, f*ck, f*ck, F*CK!". Luckily we're in a foreign country where this situation in a restaurant is not nearly as embarrassing as it would be in the states. The other great one is "clock", which comes out sounding like "cock". And I don't know if you've noticed but clocks are everywhere especially when you include wristwatches.

Here's the latest:


Finding his belly button







Playing in the curtains