Savages in Italia

Je voudrais aller en France.

2009-04-25T23:59:00.000-07:00

Hallelujah! Phin slept for 10 hours straight last night! I got my first uninterrupted night's sleep in 5 months. I thought it deserved a blog post. Actually this post is woefully overdue. It's been about 3 months since our last. Coincidentally, or not so coincidentally, Phin turned 3 months old yesterday.

All is well here. The last few months have been a bit of a roller coaster. The lack of sleep definitely took it's toll on us in the first couple of months after Phin's arrival. As my friend Sarah Drekmeier says, "There's a reason they use sleep deprivation as a form of torture". Too true. Eli took a bit of time to adjust as well. He hit the Terrible Twos about two months before Phin came along, but he seems to be coming out on the other side of it- thank goodness. Now he's entering a wonderfully fun Preschool phase. He's more articulate and curious than ever. He loves to say that his food is "Belicious!", and he's not fond of the rumbling noise made by the "washing macleaner". He's full of opinions. Phin is also doing well. At 16 lbs, he's an excellent sleeper. He's molto contento in his waking hours as well. He smiles all the time and is beginning to interact with us a bit. Of course we've eased into a nice routine with the boys just in time to move in six weeks. Such is life.

Our biggest news of late is our trip to France in early April. Sam's mom treated us to a week in Avignon and a week in Paris. She met Phin for the first time and got some quality time with Eli. Thanks to Mimi Lo, he can now Hokey Pokey with the best of them! France was incredible. Maybe it's because we're better traveled now, or because we're more design conscience, or because the kids open our eyes to things we wouldn't have otherwise noticed, but for whatever reason, France was more amazing than ever before. I now consider myself a Francophile.

Avignon is a beautiful town and the unofficial capital of Provence. We rented an apartment across the river in a sleepy little town called Villeneuve les Avignon. It was perfect for us. We did a bit of touring including trips to Nimes, Les Baux, St. Remy, Chateauneuf du Papes, and Gigondas as well as some lovely drives through the Provencal countryside. In the week we were in Avignon we happened upon two Michelin reviewed restaurants (no stars, but quality nonetheless). It makes me think they're around every corner in France, which they probably are. Anyway, they were both outstanding! Sam had a steak with bernaise sauce that was unforgettable. My mouth is watering as I recall it. We also grazed on sumptuous picnic lunches made from various selections at the town's market hall. The Roquefort and goat cheeses were unbelievable. The pates, the anchovies, and a puff-pastry-potpie deserve honorable mentions as well.

Paris was another matter altogether. At the risk of being cliche, Paris may just be my favorite city in the world. We didn't get to do much beyond strolling and taking in the atmosphere, but that was enough. At Eli's request, we rode the Batobus, the boat bus, up and down the Seine almost everyday. It was a great way to get around. We went to the Eiffel tower twice, also at Eli's request. Each morning, Lois went out in search of the best pastries in the neighborhood and brought them back to a happy jury of taste testers. We ate at some great places. Angelina's was a highlight, with their incredible hot chocolate and deserts, as was the steak frites at Relais des Entrecote. Sam and Lois feasted on Macaroons. Unfortunately, due to my allergy to almonds, I had to sit that one out. Yet another highlight was a visit to Berthillon, an amazing ice-creamery on Isle St. Louis. The caramel glace was right up there with the best gelato in Italy. (We are so spoiled- it's ridiculous.) Our best meal though, hands down, was at Le Comptoir. It's an unassuming little bistro, but there's a six month wait for a reservation. On a lark, we stopped in to see if there were any cancellations for the night, and, as luck would have it, there was one. Lois babysat for us so that we could have a romantic evening all to ourselves and celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary in style. We had a five course tasting menu that was to die for. A nice half-bottle of St. Emilion was a perfect complement. It was divine. We have a printed copy of the menu card. Perhaps we will post that in a later installment.

Now that we're back in Viterbo, it's time to start savoring all things Italian. We only have SIX WEEKS LEFT!!!

I'll write more soon. Sorry we don't have any photos with this one. Our iPhoto application is on the fritz. Until we find a fix, we'll leave you with a picture of Phin that we took with Photo Booth.

He's finally here!

2009-01-31T02:13:00.000-08:00

After our trip to Rome, we headed home to rest up for the arrival of the new baby. My due date was January 31st. Instead of waiting it out, we decided to induce because we live so far from the hospital. The trip takes an hour and fifteen minutes, and since this is our second baby, our doctor thought there was a chance we wouldn't make it there in time. Or at the very least, that we'd be in for several false and inconvenient trips to the hospital because we'd have to be so hyper-aware of labor starting. We were scheduled to induce on Wednesday, January 21st (the first full day of the Obama administration I might add). My mom was scheduled to arrive on the 19th. We were all set.

Then, with a week and a half left to go, Eli got sick. He had a fever and a head cold that lasted a full week. I caught the bug a few days later and the virus then spurred on a sinus infection. I was too sick to even go my doctor's appt that week. Finally when I was able to drag myself to an appt, two days before the induction date, it was obvious that I would be too sick to go ahead with the plan. We decided to ply me with antibiotics and delay the inducing until Saturday, January 24th (sigh of relief). It ended up working out well. My mom had more time to get her bearings, and Eli and I had more time to heal before the big event.

Saturday morning, Sam and I drove to the hospital at the crack of dawn. The doctor wanted us to get there early. It was a gorgeous drive on the Via Cassia and we got to watch the sunrise behind the Apennines. Once we got to the hospital, they started me on a Potocin drip, and so began the labor. All in all, I was in labor for 8 hours. It wasn't nearly as startling or painful as it had been with Eli. I was enjoying the controlled nature of it all actually. It was a lovely environment in which to have a baby. Dr. Trouve speaks English, as I've mentioned before, but the rest of the birthing team spoke only Italian. By the end of the day, my Italian was very good - blame it on hormones and Adrenalin. Not only that, I had the undivided attention of the birthing team for the entire day. My own doctor, midwife, anesthesiologist, pediatrician, and nurse - I had them all to myself for the entire eight hours. It was amazing.

I spent part of the day on Potocin and part of the day having my own natural contractions (spurred on by the initial dose of drugs). In the last hour of labor they started me on the Potocin again because the epidural I had was beginning to stall my labor. At this point the doctor and I made an agreement not to introduce more painkillers through the epidural so the Potocin could do it's job more efficiently. Because of this, I felt a great deal of the actual birth. It was the most painful and simultaneously wonderful experience I've ever had. How do you spell r-e-l-i-e-f! My God! And to top off our beautiful day, a double rainbow appeared in the window ending in a field just across the street just before Phin arrived.

And so Phineas Tevere Savage arrived at 5:37pm on Saturday January 24th.

The remaining three days in the hospital were heavenly, though, I admit, we would have liked to see a bit more of Phin during that time. The nuns that run the clinic kept him going to and from the nursery for hours at a time. They changed him, bathed him, weighed him, fed him sugar water, and cared for his every need. We almost had to beg them to see him. Even then we were told that Phin was on a schedule and would be returned to us in due time. A bit frustrating. Nonetheless, Sam and I both got some much needed rest.

Meanwhile Eli stayed in Viterbo with his Nana and great aunt (who was dubbed Big Nana by Eli upon their first meeting). We missed him a ton and were anxious to get back to him. He visited us once while were were in the hospital to meet his new baby brother. Eli was a bit nervous and shy at first. He hid behind my bed when the nuns wheeled in Phin's bassinet. But once Sam introduced them, Eli seemed very relieved. I believe his first words were "Ohh (I get it), it's a baby."

Now we're back home and nesting with our new addition. Phin is adjusting to life on the outside very well. Eli is still a bit "squirrely" (my friend Lisa's apt description) but slowly beginning to adjust to having a baby brother around. All is well in the Savage household tonight. It feels great to be a family of four.

Befana: Eli's last hurrah

2009-01-28T23:48:00.000-08:00

Above: Eli enjoying a ride on the carousel.
Below: Eli plays in the fire truck inside the Explora Museum.

Above & Below: Eli and Caroline at the Explora Museum.

Above & Below: Fantastic pics of the Pantheon courtesy of Sam.

Above & Below: Views from our apartment in Rome.

Above: The Befana Feste in Piazza Navona
Below: Eli and Sam and Caroline ride the carousel.

Here we are finally getting the chance to catch up on our blog entries. I thought I'd start with our trip to Rome at the beginning of January where we got to celebrate Befana with Eli. Befana is primarily a children's holiday for Italians. It's the twelfth day of Xmas, January 6th. Italians have traditionally exchanged gifts on this day instead of December 25th (but now the British/American holiday traditions of Santa, etc, are becoming more popular). The Befana story has it that the three wise men stopped at a good witch's house for a respite on their way to meet baby Jesus. After their stay, they invited the witch to come along on their journey, but she declined. Once they left, she immediately regretted her decision and set off to find the baby Jesus on her own. Since she didn't know how to recognize the baby Jesus, she gave gifts to every baby she met on her way in case he/she was "the One". So now the witch comes on the night of Jan 5th and leaves candy and gifts for all Italian children.

In Rome there's a large fair in Piazza Navona to celebrate Befana and we had fun taking in the scene. I must say I'm getting pretty good at finding us accommodations wherever we go. This three night stay in Rome may have been the best yet. We stayed in a very elegant apartment on the fifth floor of a building with a view of the Tevere toward St. Peters. The apartment had a beautiful wrap-around balcony to take in the view. With comfortable accommodations, it was easy to take it slow and concentrate on Eli's fun (his last hurrah before baby brother arrived).

The first day we ate at a restaurant called La Campana. Really great food! I had artichoke ravioli in a pink sauce and Sam had papperdelle with a rabbit meat sauce. Both very tasty. We each followed that up with a fried seafood mix with a fried artichoke on the side - both of which were as light and fluffy as can be.

That night, and every night of our stay, we headed to Piazza Navona for the fair. Eli fell in love with the carousel. We rode the horses three or four times every night. There was food and trinkets and street performers galore.

The next day we went to the Explora Children's Museum. It was a hit! We expected a bit of a shabby science museum, but instead we were treated to a very modern toddler's play space/museum that's on par with some of the larger Children's Museums in the states. Eli played to his heart's content and then we went out for some Neopolitan pizza at Pizza Re. Heavenly!

Our next morning was spent at the zoo in the Villa Borgese. The zoo was a bit shabby, as expected, but Eli happily got his first live glimpse of all the animals we've been reading about in his books. He had a blast. That night we went for a nice hearty meal a very neighborhoody place around the corner from Piazza Navona. After dinner I finally got to try the famous Tartufo dessert at Tre Scalini. It's shameful that I've been here a year and half and haven't tried one yet - especially considering the gelato buff that I've become. Delicious!

Our last day in Rome was spent in doctor's appointments, but it was nice to see the doctor again and get a 36 week update on the pregnancy. Tutto benisimo.

After we got home from Rome it was time to start nesting and getting ready for the new baby. More to come on that topic in our next post.

Love to all...
The Savages

Buone Feste!

2009-01-09T09:19:00.000-08:00

Above: Eli and Caroline play in the snow in Viterbo (and yes, we did not have mittens for Eli - who knew it would snow in Viterbo?)
Below: Our street covered in snow.

Above and below: Eli and Sam opening presents on Christmas day.

Happy Holidays or, as the Italians say, Buone Feste! It's been awhile since our last post and there's a lot to catch up on. The Savage 3 (and counting) had a great holiday here in Viterbo. We celebrated the season by cooking and baking up a storm. A few firsts included cupcakes and cookies for Sam's advisees and peppermint bark for friends and colleagues. I have to say that the peppermint bark turned out particularly well and will become a Savage Xmas tradition in the future. We experimented with lots of Italian dishes over the break and even hosted an Xmas Eve dinner for eight. Sam roasted an incredible Turkey with a pancetta-sage gravy (pancetta-sage butter was also used to keep the bird moist during the roasting process). The description alone is drool-worthy. It was a smash success! I made a delicious fresh wild mushroom soup (if I do say so myself) and our potato-gruyere pie was also a hit. Our guests rounded out the meal with some fantastic contributions as well. I had a strange hankering for pot pies all year so the next day I made turkey pot pies with the leftovers. It was a great Xmas day treat.

Anyway, enough about food and onto Xmas day. This year Eli started to catch-on to what Xmas and Babbo Natale mean in terms of presents. For days ahead of time he excitedly anticipated the big event. We had about 6 presents for him to open. The funny thing is that he took all day to open then. He wanted ample play time with each individual gift before moving on to the next. It made for a good day actually. His favorites included a Thomas train whistle and a Lego construction site. Sam got me a beautiful Max Mara scarf in addition to the Sculpture Studio workshop that I attended earlier in the month (big gift since it entailed the cost of the workshop and two full days of babysitting). My gift to him was a much-coveted leather messenger bag and an assortment of expat foods that kept the cooking trend alive for the rest of the vacation.

Besides the American food blitz, the rest of the week was a bit boring since all of Italy closes down for Xmas Day, Boxing Day, New Years Eve and New Years Day. In a fairly rare event we did get a bit of snow on the 28th which was great amusement for half the day. After the downtime that was forced upon us, we capped off Sam's vacation with a four day excursion to Rome. It was a fantastic trip! One for the books. I'll cover it in my next post. Until then, ciao belli!

Babbo Natale

2008-12-21T06:24:00.000-08:00

Above: Eli meeting Babbo Natale for the first time ever
Below: Eli was not quite enamored of him.

Above: Eli munching on some of the chocolate Babbo Natale gave to him.
Below: Eli checking out the man in red.

Above: Babbo Natale handing out some treats.
Below: Eli playing around before the big man arrived.

Above: Caroline and Sonata waiting for the event to begin.

Hey there. Not a ton to report, but I'll try to make it interesting.

School just finished yesterday, and now I am officially on Winter Vacation. Caroline is sick with a cold, and Eli is just getting up from a nap. We don't have too many plans for the vacation. Caroline is 34 weeks pregnant and doing fine. We canceled some of our travel plans because she is not too mobile these days. All for the best, I think. We all are pretty wiped out after a pretty hectic fall semester. We do have an apartment booked in Rome for three days after New Year's. That should be fun.

Eli's school had a Christmas event last weekend while Sonata was visiting us. One of the dads dressed up as Babbo Natale, a.k.a. Santa, and handed out presents. Needless to say the kids were a little skeptical of the jolly fellow dressed in red. There were many tears and even more cameras. It was truly an event to behold. The upshot is that Eli is getting into the Christmas spirit for the first time in his young life. By "getting into the Christmas spirit," I mean waking up every morning, grabbing a present from under the tree and saying, "Open it. Open it." All consumerism aside, this is a nice time of year here in Viterbo. The students families are here visiting, the town is decorated for the holidays, the christmas market is in full swing and people are crowding the streets every evening for the passeggiata. The weather has turned sunny again after about three weeks of on and off rain. It is great to be on vacation and have loads of time with the family.

We are having a few people over for a Christmas Eve dinner. I am cooking a turkey (covered in sage and pancetta) for the first time. (Wish me luck. Any advice is much appreciated.) Planning for that meal is a nice project for the first part of this break. Other than that we are just trying to relax and get some quality time in with Eli before his little brother arrives in four weeks or so.

We hope that you all are well and that you are enjoying the holiday season. We miss you all and are thinking of you. We are off to a cafe to grab some hot chocolate. Lots of love,

Sam

What Thanksgiving?

2008-11-30T01:04:00.001-08:00

Above and below: Caroline's first attempt at sculpture, and the fruit of her labor this weekend.

Below: The olive harvest at Pat's house. The little girl in the photo is our friend Emma's daughter. A great playmate for Eli.

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Below: Eli and Caroline check out some vintage planes.

I can't believe it has been a month since our last post. Tempus fugit.

All is well here. Eli is smack in the middle of his "terrible two's." He cries over spilled milk, literally, and he is pretty much a maniac most of of the time. We are slowly adjusting to the new reality and are hoping that we can make some headway before Eli's little brother comes on the scene in 8 weeks!!!!!

We have mostly stayed around Viterbo since we got back from Gaeta. Caroline, Eli and I have all had our bouts with sickness, and we are finally coming out the other end of that tunnel. We did manage a trip to a nearby aeronautical museum near Bracciano. Eli loved checking out all of the planes, and we had a fun time watching him. We also managed to fit in some olive harvesting at Pat's house (Pat is the director of the school and he has over 60 olive trees on his property outside of town.) and a short trip to Orvieto to eat pasta with fresh truffle shavings and do some shopping.

It has been pretty rainy over the last couple of weeks. We were awoken last night by a spectacular thunderstorm, although somehow at 3:30 am it was not that exciting. Caroline is in Rome this weekend doing a two day sculpture seminar. She is taking some pictures of the finished product today. Maybe I can convince her to post a few. Next weekend we head to Napoli for a three-day weekend. We are excited to eat lots pizza, drink some excellent Neapolitan coffee, visit the Museo Arcaeologico and do whatever else suits our fancy.

School has been a bit of a bear for me lately. I was acting director for a week or so while Pat was at a meeting in India (he got back two days before the events in Mumbai), and suffice it to say that all was not peaceful in his absence. This has been a pretty tough fall for a few reasons, not the least of which is that there have been no long weekends since school started. I got a bit of a break by staying home while the kids traveled to Torino for a four day trip a few weeks ago, but I am very much looking forward to the holiday break and recharging my batteries.

We missed you all very much on Thanksgiving. It was a normal school/workday for us here. We took out rotisserie chicken for dinner and watched an episode of Weeds or Gossip Girl or something like that. We feel lucky to have such great friends and family like you. We have a lot to be thankful for.

I hope that you all enjoy the pics and the post. We'll try to be better about posting more frequently in the next few weeks. Ciao! A presto,

Sam

three observations and a pipi in the potty

2008-11-02T03:13:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I had to get our annual smog check done. I took the car to the mechanic and asked him when I should pick it up. He said "Pick it up? This will only take a few minutes. Has your car been causing you any trouble?" I said no. He said "Ok then. Here's your certificate for 2008-2009." He never asked to see the car. This may be why Italy has an air pollution problem.

Last week we went for a walk one evening and saw that a fire truck pulled up to a small apartment building. Two firemen had climbed a ladder onto a second floor balcony and were breaking into a window. Presumably a rescue effort was in effect. A third fireman was at the foot of the ladder holding it for them - while having cigarette.

Yesterday, I found out that most Italian grocery stores provide a dedicated check-out line for pregnant women and the disabled. Brilliant idea, if I do say so.

In other news, Eli just made the move to a big-boy bed. The transition is smooth thus far because I don't think he realizes yet that he can get down from the bed by himself. It's only a matter of time before he figures it out so we're enjoying it while it lasts. He's also shown great interest in the potty lately. The other morning he got up and suddenly wanted to use it. He went pipi in the potty three times that morning like it was old hat. ...still waiting for a repeat performance.

Look, Ma! A marble elbow!

2008-10-23T01:17:00.000-07:00

Above: Eli learns the hard way that sand doesn't make for a good snack.
Below: Eli playing in the sand. If you look closely, you can see Tiberius' grotto in the upper left hand corner of the pic.

Above: Even our car enjoyed a great view in Sperlonga. Note pregnant Mama on the right.
Below: Sam and Eli exploring the ruins and ancient fish farms.

Above and Below: Inside the grotto (sculptures have been removed and are now displayed in a nearby museum).

Above: View of Sperlonga from the grotto
Below: Sam shows Eli Tiberius' digs.

Time for another blog post. All is well here. I've been feeling mighty pregnant these days. It's hard to believe that I still have 14 weeks to go. This pregnancy has definitely been more draining than the first, but I have a feeling that running around after our newly willful 2 year old might have something to do with it. We're still hot on the name game. Any suggestions out there?

Last weekend we had a wonderful couple of days in Gaeta and Sperlonga, two coastal towns between Rome and Naples. Both towns are really lovely and picturesque. Definitely internationally underrated places to keep in mind for a mediterranean vacation. Anyway, we had dinner at a cute little seafood restaurant in Gaeta on Friday night. I felt like I had taken some sort of translation syrum because I actually understood everything that the waitress said. For the language inept, such as myself, this is a very big deal. Makes me think the hard work in the Italian arena this year is paying off. Woohoo! However, I still sound mentally impaired when I try to speak. We can't have it all. The other day, an Italian asked me if I was Italian (though he did express some confusion over this idea). I thought it was a hilarious question. Did he think I had a speech impediment or that I was retarded?

Anyway, I'm digressing. Back to the weekend. Saturday we started the day exploring Tiberius' summer digs. Very impressive indeed. He built his compound next to a natural grotto which he transformed into an aquatic sculpture garden for outdoor dining and entertaining. The Roman elite definitely knew their luxury. I'm always impressed with what Roman imaginations came up with (of course, unlimited funds and slavery don't hurt in carrying out these dreams). Interesting fact: apparantly the compound wasn't "discovered" until the mid 1950s, though it's easily accessible from a very popular vacation spot. It's hilarious to think of Italians sunning themselves on the beach with kids running back and forth from the grotto, "Look Ma, I just found a marble hand!" "That's great dear. Throw it in the beach bag and we'll take it home." Seriously, this must have happened at least once or twice.

We also explored the town of Sperlonga, a very charming village overlooking the water. The weather was so nice that we even got some beach time in. We topped off the day by going to a great restaurant in Gaeta that night called "Ex Macelleria" (trans: "Ex-Butcher Shop") where I made great strides in rectifying my pregnancy-enduced anemia with a huge Tuscan steak. Success! (Sam was jealous.)

On Sunday we attempted to go to place called Ninfa, but it was closed. Ninfa is an old abandoned mideval village that is now a national garden. The cool thing about Italy is that no one is remotely concerned for your personal safety so apparantly you can roam in and out of the old buildings and gardens at will. Would have been great. Oh well, next time.

orientation

2008-10-09T08:18:00.000-07:00

Above: the SYA Viterbo class of 2008-2009
Below: Eli and Caroline outside of San Francesco in Arezzo

Above: Eli and Caroline in Piazza Grande in Arezzo
Below: Eli taking in the scene

Below: I did a candlemaking activity in Bevagna with the studens in a candlemaking workshop that has been active since at least the 13th century. The leader explained to us that in the middle ages people, especially tradesmen like carpenters, used wax as bandaids to seal wounds. I happened to have an annoying cut on my thumb and the guy let me dip my thumb into a vat of hot wax. It worked really well.

Sorry for not posting in a while. Here's some recent news.

All three of us traveled with the students on the orientation trip to Umbria. We visited Bevagna, Assisi, Perugia and Spoleto and spent some quality time with the SYA student body and faculty. We stayed in a big vacation type resort thing on the shore of Lago di Trasimeno, about 30 min from Perugia. The sunset over the lake was beautiful, and it was nice to spend some time with Eli out in the country. Eli was a hit with the students (of course he was), and we now have a list of about 12 babysitters thanks to Eli putting on the charm during the trip.

We spent the weekend after the trip in Arezzo in eastern Tuscany. We decided on Arezzo because that weekend they were having the semi-annual antique photography market. As it turns out the market was only photographic equipment and not prints like we had hoped. Nevertheless, Arezzo was well worth the visit, and we plan to go back in November for the famous Arezzo antiques fair which takes place once a month and is supposed to be the best in Italy. The antiques shops in Arezzo were certainly promising at any rate. They were filled with museum quality furniture and art. We are really looking forward to the market which apparently takes up most of the town with 1000 vendors. We'll be sure to take photos of the event. Arezzo had great stuff to offer besides the antiques. We visited Vasari's house, a really beautiful duomo, some wonderful piazzas, one of the most famous fresco cycles in Italy, and we stayed inside the walls of a quintessential (and almost revoltingly cute) Tuscan hill town, Anghiari. In that town we tried florentine steak for the first time, and it was pretty freaking awesome.

Since then we have been pretty much in the routine of school. Caroline is enjoying her Italian classes with the kids at SYA, and Eli is loving his time at school too. Caroline's tummy is getting bigger, and Eli is getting used to saying, "I'm going to have a baby brother," and "fratellino" which are about the cutest things ever. I am working hard trying to impart the wisdom of the ancients on the younger generation without making too many digressions about 70's rock music, Jainism, and Survivor.

That's gonna be it for now. Eli is getting restless, and I'd better get dinner going. I hope you all are well. A presto,

Sam

It's a ...

2008-09-21T08:11:00.000-07:00

boy!!!!! Yesterday the three of us went down to Prima Porta just north of Rome to have the 22 week ultrasound, and the doctor showed us some pretty definitive evidence that the soon-to-be younger sibling of Eli is in fact a boy. His words were, " E maschio... E molto maschio." Loosely translated that means, "He's a boy... very much a boy." As he said this, on the ultrasound monitor was the undeniable presence of an appendage that we can only assume was the newest jewel of this family. Needless to say we are all very excited even if Eli is still a little iffy on the whole idea. (One of the nuns at the clinic asked Eli, "Vuoi un fratellino?" I translated for him, " Do you want a little brother?" His answer was a swift, "No." The nuns response to that was, " E chiaro," or ,"He's very clear." Then again, if she had asked whether or not he wanted a million dollars, the answer and conviction would most likely have been the same. Such is his contrary nature these days.)

The clinic we went to for the ultrasound is the same place we are planning to have the baby in January (January 31 is the due date). It is a private clinic run by Catholic nuns. They were very welcoming, at least more so than your average health care worker. The place gets good recs from a person we know here in Viterbo and our O.B.Gyn., a french woman who speaks English and works out of an office on the Aventine in Rome. I'd be lying if I said all of the international intrigue of this whole ordeal isn't an added bonus. It's sort of like "Ozzie and Harriet" meets James Bond...at least to me. Anyway, we are very glad the the baby and mother are healthy and happy, and we are also glad to have nailed down all of the necessary infrastructure to have this baby boy here in Italy.

Now the name game begins. We are in the very preliminary stages/negotiations. It's time to dredge up all of those ridiculous attachments to various names (My favorite is Caroline's connection of the name Virgil to the chimp in Mathew Broderick's acting tour de force, "Project X."). I have my own absurd name associations that shall remain, well, nameless at this point. Suffice it to say that we are happy to have 4 plus months to deal with this aspect of Mr. Little Man #2.

All else is well here in Viterbo. School was crazy last week with all sorts of drama, none of which I can detail here unfortunately. All is well now, and my classes seem to be on track. I am teaching an extra section this year which is making my days a bit busier, but I am enjoying each one of the classes. Eli is more or less settled into his asilo nido (or "nursery asylum", a.k.a preschool). He is having a good time with the bambini in his class, and Caroline reports that the days of tearful goodbyes are over. He eats lunch there with the other kids, usually a three course affair. I don't how he (and the rest of us) are going to get over the gastronomy of this place. Caroline is going to start an art class in Rome this next week, and she has taken on several conversation partners here in Viterbo. Our lives here have taken on more of a routine than they did last year, and for this we are all thankful. Next week we are off to Perugia and other points in Umbria for the school's orientation trip. We will not return to Viterbo with the group, however, because we are going to spend the weekend in Tuscany in search of zuppa di funghi porcini (which are in season now) and attending the semi-annual antique photography open-air market in Arezzo.

That's it for now. We'll post again soon. Drop a line or log on skype if you get the chance. Until soon,

Sam

Second year, many firsts.

2008-09-07T01:32:00.000-07:00

We arrived only two days prior to the students this year so we hit the ground running. We arrived on Thursday and spent the weekend fighting jet lag. Sam was back to work on Friday with meetings and placement tests etc.

Monday was also Eli's first day at the asilo nido (Italian pre-school). It was a rough week. Much confusion and many tears were involved. By the end of the week Eli would cry if I even mentioned the word "kids". (I mentioned kids often because I thought would be a selling point for the whole experience, "There'll be lots of kids there....") Doh! By the end of the week though, there was less emotion behind the tears and I think (I hope) he was beginning to settle in. We're gradually working our way up to half days, 9 to 1pm, so I can take an Italian class in the mornings. I'm trying to keep a stiff upper lip, but any and all supportive messages would be much appreciated ;-)

Speaking of Italian class, I attended my first on Friday. I'm taking the class with the high school students at Sam's school. They're definitely a very professional bunch. I, however, have forgotten what it's like to hold a pencil. I have to spend some extra hours this next week getting my act together.

We also interviewed our first Italian ObGyn on Friday. Actually, she's French and speaks English which is a plus. In fact we love her. She doesn't have patience for Italian superstition nonsense, of which there is much surrounding pregnancy and birth. It'd be very Brangelina: French doctor, the birth in Rome... But we have to work out the insurance first. She might be off limits to us. Next up is an Italian doctor in Viterbo. It's rumored that they don't allow drugs during the birthing process at the hospital in Viterbo (example A of provincial beliefs). If that's true, it's going to be either Rome or Umbria! We'll keep you posted.

Even with all that going on, we managed to fit in the Santa Rosa festival on Wednesday and Thursday of last week. We also went to Orte last night to take part in a huge feast celebrating their patron saint. The food was fabulous. Both events hold up in our second year in attendance. All in all, a good start.

Summer Highlights

2008-09-06T00:07:00.001-07:00

Here are a few pictures of the highlights from our Summer spent stateside.

PS. One definite highlight to add to the list: Caroline is preggers again! The baby is due at the end of January. We're going to have an Italiano bambino!

The Savages visit more Savages in Phoenix

Above: Eli and Papa on Big Cheese. "Eli, do you love it?" "Love it!"

Below: Sam and Eli go for a ride in the roping arena as well.

Above: Eli and Big Papa read and play together.

Below: Eli splashes around at the water park at the Phoenix Zoo
(which was already scorching by 10am that morning)

Above: Eli explores at the Children's Museum

(highly recommended if you happen to be going to Phoenix)

Below: A little afternoon reading in Mimi's new kitchen

Cousin Cody's Birthday Party

Above: Auntie Debbie made a fabulous light saber cake out of Twinkies and Ho-Hos

Below: The cake was a huge hit with Eli and cousin Lexi

Eli Turns Two!

Above: Caroline made a truck cake (yes, the whole thing is edible!)
Below: The entire Savage family came to Walnut Creek to celebrate

Above & Below: We had a great time catching up with old friends and their new additions.

Stephanie & John get married!

Above: We were so lucky to be able to attend Stephanie and Jon's wedding in Napa. The occasion was definitely worth the wait!

The Savages' East Coast tour

Our tour included NYC, Mahopac, Long Beach, Fire Island, Skaneateles, and Deerfield, MA. With all that travel we didn't have time for much picture taking, but here are a few from the gorgeous days we spent in Fire Island. Eli and Ceci hit it off with flying colors.

Tarot Garden

2008-06-17T00:31:00.000-07:00

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!

Nana & Jhaju

2008-06-16T23:45:00.000-07:00

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.

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

2008-06-16T23:03:00.000-07:00

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

Montefalco

2008-05-29T01:27:00.000-07:00

Before I start, I want to let you know that we had a great visit with Caroline's parents. She will post about that soon. I'm going to skip ahead and write about last weekend.

Hey there, everybody. The school year is ending, and we are finding ways to get out and enjoy the nice weather and the countryside. Along those lines, this past weekend two of the American faculty who are my faithful cycling companions, Rolf and Chris, and I rode into Umbria to Montefalco where Caroline, Eli and Ashley, another American teacher here, met us. The ride was 108km through some of the most beautiful countryside that central Italy has to offer. For those who are curious to check out the route you can google map the directions from Viterbo to Montefalco and click the "avoid highways" box. We rode through several picturesque medieval hill towns, green valleys, vineyards, olive groves, etc. It was really incredible. This is the longest ride I have ever done, and I was pretty psyched when we rolled into Montefalco after 5+ hours on our bikes.

When we got to Montefalco, we showered and headed out to the town for an amazing lunch outside on the main piazza. Of course we sampled a bottle of the local DOCG red, Sagrantino. This is one of our favorite wines in Italy, and this bottle was especially good. After lunch we hung out on the piazza and took in some rays. A brief visit to the tourist office informed us that the following day was Umbria's "Cantine Aperte." Basically, wineries all over Umbria were opening their doors for tastings accompanied by food and in some cases entertainment. We all agreed that our fate was sealed for the following day and headed back to the inn to nap or in our case, watch Eli run around for three hours. Dinner that night was nice, but I was absolutely exhausted. We got to bed early having spent a truly spectacular day in Umbria.

After breakfast the next morning we headed out to check out what this Cantine Aperte thing was all about. The deal with the Cantine Aperte is that each person buys a glass for 5 euro, and the glass comes with a pouch for carrying it around your neck. That glass will get you tastings and food at any of the two or three dozen vineyards in Umbria that were participating in this event. The proceeds went to charity. Anyway, we headed to the first vineyard of the day (at 10:45 am), Perticaia, whose Sagrantino we had tried at lunch the day before. This was a beautiful place just outside of Montefalco. They were serving porchetta (a very tasty roasted pig, a regional specialty), local pecorino, local prosciutto, and crostini with local olive oil. They labeled each food with the appropriate wine pairing. Everything was incredible, the wine, the food, and the views. After an hour or so there we headed in the car for a brief tour of the area during which Eli fell asleep. We ended up at another Sagrantino vineyard outside of Gauldo Cattaneo. We successfully transfered the sleeping cherub into his stroller and proceeded to check out the scene at Scacciadiavoli.

This vineyard had a very different feel and a lot more people. The food and the wine here did not let us down. We all sat around amazed at our good luck for happening upon this great wine tasting event, awed by the beauty of our surroundings, and generally ecstatic about being in Italy and doing things like this. The ride back was crowded (the three bikers were now in the car with Ashley, Caroline and Eli) but scenic. We retraced the route we had rode the day before and relived our feelings of euphoria as we remembered each hill, each field, and each town we passed on our bikes.

This was a truly memorable weekend, and if there are any bikers out there I highly recommend that you come here and do something like this. Preferably with me next year. Italy by bike is a phenomenal experience. I will miss sharing it with Chris and Rolf, but I hope that others will come to take part next year. Here are some pics:

Above: Caroline and Ashely at Scacciadiavoli in Gualdo Cattaneo. Notice the pouches for the wine glasses. Brilliant!
Below: the two of us at Scacciadiavoli

Above: Mother and son on the scene
Below: the view from Montefalco (the same as the view from the room at our inn).

Above: the Savage's at the Perticaia winery outside of Montefalco
Below: tasting Sagrantino

Above: Eli taking in the view at Perticaia

Eli's Italian girlfriend has competition

2008-05-26T07:29:00.000-07:00

We're way overdue for a post. As usual, things here happen in waves. We just had our last batch of visitors starting with Stacey and Andrew, friends from Oakland, and their daughter Maddie. It was great to catch up with them and they picked a beautiful week to visit. We stayed local due to some car troubles which then led to a shortage in funds. I think it was a welcome change in plans for everyone though.

The first day was spent decompressing more or less. The next day we toured Viterbo, had some gelato in Bagnaia, and took a nature walk by Lago di Vico. Maddie and Eli are 8 weeks apart in age and proved to be the perfect playmates. Midweek, the Gordons headed up to Florence for a couple of days while the Savages stayed in Viterbo dealing with the car. We've actually become good friends with our mechanics here, Mario and Georgio. They're a hilarous pair of brothers that are fascinated with our cultural differences. It's fun in indulge in their good-hearted exasperation with our ways..."Questi Americani!"

Sam had a long weekend when the Gordons returned and the car was back in action so we went for a drive around Lago di Bolsena. We had a wonderful lunch at an absolutely beautiful agriturismo between Bolsena and Orvieto. After a long, leisurely lunch we headed for the lake shore so the kiddies could romp around in the water for awhile. The weekend also included a visit to the Villa Farnese and an exhausting one day tour of Rome. The last day of their visit we went to the Terme dei Papi, Viterbo's hot, sulphur springs. The springs contribute to a large shallow pool at the Terme. The kids had a great time splashing about. A good time was had by all that week.

Above: Stacey and Maddie at Lago di Vico.
Below: Eli splashing around a Lago di Bolsena.

Above: The Gordons at Viterbo's annual flower festival.
Below: Everyone relaxing in the afternoon sun at Lago di Vico.

Above: Andrew and Maddie in Viterbo.
Below: Best buds in the tub.

oops

2008-04-14T04:24:00.001-07:00

Horror of horrors! The title of my last post should have read "One Last Cannolo." Cannoli is plural! Shame on me.

Anyway, life here is good. The weather is spotty, lots of rain with the occasional glorious day in between. We, especially Caroline and Eli, have taken some amazing hikes in the neighboring countryside. The wildflowers are in bloom, and the ancient ruins abound. Yesterday I took a bike ride with two American colleagues, Rolf and Chris. We passed by vineyards, olive groves, Etruscan tombs, and a medieval castle, all covered with various colorful blossoms. Caroline and Eli, along with Ashley, another American colleague, went on a hike and saw an abandoned medieval castle and a waterfall. In other words, it was an average Sunday here in Viterbo for the Savages.

In case you haven't heard, I did get an offer from Deerfield, and I accepted. I will start there in the fall of 2009. We are as excited as can be. We get one more year here, and then we are off to live in a beautiful setting in Western Massachusetts.

That's it for now. I would post pictures, but I am at school, and there are no pictures on my work computer. I hope that you all are well. Keep in touch. Ciao!

One last cannoli...

2008-03-31T05:53:00.000-07:00

Here it is- the final posting about our trip to Sicily a few weeks ago.

We left Agriturismo Savoca near Piazza Armerina and headed to Siracusa (Syracuse) via Caltagirone. Caltagirone is famous for its ceramics, especially tile. To be honest the town was nice, but not the tile paradise we envisioned. The highlight was a massive staircase just off the main piazza where the rise of every step was covered in a different artisan tile. Eli and I hiked up the entire way (I carried Eli for most of it), and we checked out a few ceramic shops on the way down. There was beautiful stuff, but alas it was not in our budget. We got back to the car, took in the view of Mt. Etna from the parking lot, and made our way to Siracusa through the rocky hills of southwestern Sicily.

One oddity relating to this leg of the trip- Caroline and I had been talking about the movie "Wonder Boys" with Michael Douglas and Tobey Maguire and how much we wanted to watch/buy it since the local video selection at Wonder Video in Viterbo is lacking to say the least. While we stopped for gas and panini out in the middle of no-man's land on the way to Siracusa, we found a rack of DVD's with, you guessed it, "Wonder Boys" for sale for all of 7euro. Not only was it odd that we found it in this of all places, but also it was cheaper than we ever could have hoped. As it turned out this was a harbinger of good things to come in Siracusa. We pulled into town, got a little lost, then settled into our last hotel of the trip.

Our hotel (really it was a mini-IKEA apartment) was located just off a main drag between two of the prettiest piazzas on Ortygia, an island and the oldest part of the town. One piazza contained the significant remains of the temple of Apollo (the oldest peripteral Doric temple in the world) and the other had a beautiful fountain and more exquisite buildings than you can shake a stick at. The more we explored this island, the more we fell in love with it. A lot of the island was destroyed in an earthquake in the 17th century, and it was rebuilt quickly in the Sicilian Baroque style which is very romantic and beautiful. We spent a lot of time wandering down the narrow streets and taking in the views of the water. Our three days there were relaxing and fun.

In terms of sites and highlights, we visited the duomo which has a beautiful baroque facade and two rows of massive columns on the inside that were once the outer part of a Roman temple to Minerva. This stands out as one of the most interesting and breathtaking churches we have seen in Italy. To make it more dramatic, the piazza outside is absolutely gorgeous. We spent a fair amount of time there letting Eli run around and taking in the atmosphere. We also took a small boat ride to see some of the natural grottoes just up the coast from Ortygia. The water was unbelievably clear, and we were out on a glassy morning which made the underwater view all the more dramatic. The last tourist note during our time there was a visit to the Archaeological Park which contains a Roman and Greek amphitheater (we only went to the Greek one), an ancient quarry where Athenian war captives were sentenced to labor, and lots of other stuff that we didn't visit. This was a great spot and it was a fitting end to our tour of ancient Greek history on Sicily.

As you might expect the real highlights for us in Siracusa were the food. First of all the pastries were amazing. Cannoli to die for, and fried foods like arancine (fried risotto balls filled with meat sauce or other stuff) and bombe (doughnuts stuffed with ricotta) that were the best we've tried. The real winner was a seafood restaurant we went to two times while we there. It was recommended by the manager of our hotel/apartment place, and we were skeptical at first. We have been burned with recommendations in the past, but this time the place was called a "cooking school." We have had good luck with cooking schools in the States, and we thought we'd give this one a try. We walk in, and they said that they were full. We pushed a little bit, and they moved a table or two and made room. To our surprise there were no menus. Food just started showing up...and it kept showing up. All in all our meal consisted of nine courses, eight of which were fresh seafood. Our jaws dropped and drool pooled as each new dish made it to the table. All told we were there for over two hours, and Eli made it through like the little champion he is.

Our meal there was so good that we decided to return the following day for our anniversary meal (the big 7!). This time there were only seven courses, but one was a lobster (that was still crawling when they took it to the kitchen) accented by a flambe. The wine was spectacular too (a Sicilia Rosso IGT called "Tripudium" that tasted like an amazing Zinfandel), and we left that meal feeling like we had been treated like royalty two days in a row. Almost too much...but not quite.

The last day we headed back to Palermo to the ferry. We stopped for Eli's first Happy Meal at a McDonald's in Caltanissetta. In Palermo we simply sat by the water, took in some sun, and waited for the time to board the ferry. The trip back to Civitavecchia was pleasant and uneventful. This ferry was not quite as nice as the previous one, but we enjoyed the view from our cabin and arrived home well rested and eager to stay put for the next several days.

The trip was a huge success, especially thanks to all of Caroline's careful planning. We definitely would like to get back to Sicily at some point. We'll see how things go. Here are some more pics:

Above: the view of Mt. Etna from our parking space in Caltagirone
Below: Eli and Dad climbing the tile steps in Caltagirone

Above: the facade of the duomo in Ortygia
Below: the piazza outside of the duomo

Above: Eli and Caroline on the boat tour of the grottoes
Below: the water view (the water was about 20 feet deep here, and amazingly clear)

Above: a heart formed by the waves along the coast
Below: Caroline and Eli walking through the archaeological park in Siracusa.

Above: Caroline and Eli at the Greek theather
Below: Caroline and Eli at the seafood restaurant (don't mind the toilet in the background)

Above: a hilarious sequence of road signs. Note the way to Siracusa on the one in the foreground, then look at the one in the background. Typical Italy.
Below: Caroline in Eli with a water view in Ortygia.

On the farm with Giovanni (and more Greek temples).

2008-03-27T05:28:00.000-07:00

So, I think Sam left off in Selinunte (which I kept pronouncing as Selunite annoying Sam to no end...so of course I kept on doing it). Next we headed to Agrigento. The site in Agrigento is Sicily's shining star in terms of Greek ruins. It is impressive. It's also more traveled and more guarded than the other sites we saw so it left me cold despite it's importance in terms of ancient remains.

Before I describe the ruins though, let me take a moment to rave about the B&B we stayed in. It was located right in the middle of the archeological site. We assume the house was grandfathered property, so it was allowed to remain privately owned. We had a beautiful view of the temples from the breakfast terrace. It was also a farm of sorts. There were peacocks, ducks, geese, dogs, cats, chickens, fish, and several exotic birds. Eli was in heaven. He really honed his animal sounds on this trip.

Anyhoo, back to the ruins. Three enormous temples line a ridge near the water and have been reconstructed or partially reconstructed. The most complete one was saved to serve as a church in the middle ages. This one was the most interesting for that reason. We found out that reusing temples in their original form was fairly unusual due Christian superstitions surrounding Pagan worship and rituals. That's why some temples are fairly easy to reconstruct (unless they're looted for building materials); they've been completely abandoned throughout Christian rule .

As I said the operation at Agrigento was pretty slick, so we saw the temples and the remains of the ancient forum without lingering for long. (I, Sam, am taking over writing the post at this point. Just to keep you all informed.) Eli was in quite a mood and showing the signs of travel frustration at this point in the trip. We were glad that our next stop was at an agriturismo in rural central Sicily with only one item on the sightseeing agenda.

Let me pause at this point to say that Caroline did an awesome job planning all the places we stayed on this trip. She has become an expert of sorts at researching various types of reasonably priced lodging in Italy, and this trip was in general a tour de force of trip planning. At some point we might compile a list of the places we stayed (that we would recommend) during our time here. Let us know if you are interested. Now back to the trip.

We high-tailed it from Agrigento to Piazza Armerina, or rather four km outside of Piazza Armerina, and got to Agriturismo Savoca to find a secluded farm with horses, peacocks, pigs, sheep, a goat, and a few dogs. The weather was nice, and Eli had a blast. The son of the owner of the place, a twenty-something guy named Giovanni, took a shining to Eli right away, and the two of them had a lot of fun playing with the horses and the various tractors and farm machinery. At times Giovanni would whisk Eli away for twenty minutes or more as they explored the wonders of the working farm. Eli had a blast, and Giovanni was a highlight of our stay at this place. On our first day there we got Eli a proper nap, poked around the grounds of the agriturismo, and had a marvelous meal at their restaurant. Everything we ate was grown on their farm. For the first time in a long time we had some green vegetables that weresubtly cooked and truly delicious.

The next day we set out to see the Villa Romana which is the main attraction in these parts. No one knows whose villa it was, but the mosaics there indicate that it must have been someone ridiculously wealthy, maybe even an emperor. The mosaics are almost perfectly preserved because the villa was destroyed by a mudslide before any real damage had come to them. I can't even begin to describe the extent of these mosaics. They were huge and everywhere. Unfortunately, the site is currently undergoing lots of restoration projects which meant that the entirety of the mosaics were covered in a coating of dust from the various sorts of work on the mosaics that were going on. Nevertheless, we could see the outlines and in a few cases the brilliance of the colors. Despite Eli's numerous melt-downs as we visited this site, it stands out as one of the best Roman remains I have ever seen. Truly extraordinary.

The rest of that day was taken up with Eli's nap and another round of family farm fun with Giovanni, the horses and the rest. Caroline cooked us a great dinner that night, and we got plenty of rest for the next day's trip to Siracusa, the final leg of the trip and the topic of the next blog entry. Ciao. Enjoy the pictures.

Above: the peacocks that greeted us as the B&B in Agrigento
Below: the view at breakfast

Above : the ridge with the temples at Agrigento
Below: the Savage family at Agrigento (Eli is on Daddy's back.)

Above: the best preserved temple at Agrigento
Below: Eli and Giovanni in the tractor at the agriturismo near Piazza Armerina

Above: Eli having fun at the agriturismo.
Below: Eli and Giovanni playing with the horses.

Above: Out for a walk at the agriturismo.
Below: A worker restoring the mosaics at the Villa Romana. You could imagine what this would look like if there weren't a thick layer of dust over the floor.

Greeks and Smurfs

2008-03-25T01:53:00.000-07:00

Here is the second installment of the Sicily trip recap.

We left Palermo in the pouring rain on day 4 and made our way through crazy traffic to Monreale a few kilometers outside of Palermo. (For those of you who have not driven a car in Italy, crazy traffic in Palermo is crazier than traffic in most of Italy, and traffic in Italy is generally like an exercise in social Darwinism using heavy machinery.) Monreale is small town up on a hillside with one of the most striking churches either of us had ever seen. The outside is standard enough, but the inside is crusted from floor to ceiling with gold mosaics. The beams of the ceiling are painted in gold as well. Several influences were at work, most clearly Byzantine, Roman, Norman. The church itself represents the time in Sicilian, specifically Paltermitan, history when the Normans ruled politically but welcomed the cultural exchange with their arabic predecessors in the area. The overall experience of being in this church was exceptional. With the rain coming down outside it had the added feel of a sanctuary, even for us not so religious folk. Also, while we were inside we were treated to a mini organ concert when a teacher who was leading a group of Italian students pulled up to the keyboards and pounded out some great songs, including that great thing that Captain Nemo plays in the movie of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

We left Monreale and got stuck in another traffic jam. This one was caused by a couple of people parked in illegal spots on a narrow road. As cars tried to move around each other they got stuck, and gridlock ensued. Everyone was honking their horns and shouting, but since it was pouring out, no one got out. Eventually someone took control, backed up the two dozen or so cars that had lined up and created the necessary space to alleviate the jam. A little flustered we pushed onward toward Segesta, the site of one of the finest examples of Greek temple architecture. The ride was wet and cold. We passed through all sorts of towns made up of ugly concrete block architecture, and we wondered when we were going to see the charming side of Sicily.

We got to Segesta and hopped out of the car. Segesta was one of the great Greek city-states in Sicily (although some suggest that the founders of Segesta were actually descendants of Trojans, maybe even Aeneas, and therefore not Greek.). They built but never finished a temple perched high on a hillside and did complete a theater perched even higher on the hillside. We didn't make it to the theater because the wind and rain were too heavy for us to invest the extra 5 euro ($65) to take the bus ride up to the theater. The temple, however, was truly spectacular. I was giddy as we walked around the site. The sun even made a brief appearance while we were there, but as the next storm rolled in we high-tailed it back to the car just in time to head for Marsala, safe from more intense rain.

On the way to Marsala Eli napped while Caroline and I got crankier and crankier, hungrier and hungrier. We didn't want Eli to wake up if we stopped, but we desperately needed food. We even tried to find a place in a small hill town near Segesta, but everything was closed and we got lost while trying to get out of the town. Needless to say that did not help our moods. Even as the storms passed and the sun came out, we became more and more desperate. We followed a few road signs for restaurants, but they were all closed. Finally as we approached Marsala, we couldn't take it any more, and we followed some fancy signs towards Donna Franca, an agriturismo and restaurant. The signs took us further and further away from the road to Marsala, and as we proceeded neither Caroline nor me wanted to consider the possibility that this place might be closed. We arrived to find it open and we settled into the restaurant which looked too fancy for the likes of the rain-drenched and travel-weary Savages. The food was AMAZING. Caroline had spaghetti with ricci (sea urchin), a sicilian specialty, and I had seafood ravioli with a sea urchin sauce. For the second course we I had tuna marsala, Caroline had a beef cutlet served with wine sauce. We drank a bottle of the house white wine and found out that the agriturismo was also a vineyard. The manager offered us a tour of the wine production facilities after lunch, and we gladly accepted. The highlight was barrel tasting a 40 year old Marsala wine that had been aging all those years in French oak. It was truly spectacular. The other highlight of that place was the slide and see-saw that they had set up in a courtyard. Eli had a blast playing in the sun. It was exactly what we needed after a tiring morning of sightseeing and driving in the rain.

We got to our place in Marsala shortly after lunch. The Villa Favorita was a place I had come across in a magazing at the dentist's office here in Viterbo. The had a picture of these pods that you can rent, and Caroline found the place and incorporated it into the itinerary of our trip. The pods were cool, and the grounds of the hotel were beautiful. After an hour or so stretching our legs and playing with Eli we got back in the car and went into Marsala to see the museum that contains the scant remains of a Carthaginian ship that was sunk of the coast of the port in the massive naval battle that concluded the First Punic War with the Romans. The museum was very cool, actually. It had tons of amphorae found in the local waters and all sorts of Greek, Carthaginian and Roman artifacts. After picking up some pizza to go we headed back to the pod, ate dinner, and crashed hard.

The next day we had an amazing breakfast at the hotel and headed out of Marsala towards Selinunte. Selinunte was another powerful Greek city-state that was a rival of Segesta in ancient times. All of Selinunte was destroyed in the 5th century b.c.e. when Segesta enlisted the help of the Carthaginians to attack their rival. The temples were destroyed and the town deserted. Two of the temples have been reconstructed and the others are still piles of rubble that were left behind 2500 years ago. It was a fanstastic site. The wildflowers were in bloom, and we were allowed to roam everywhere. Pretty awesome. We had another great meal with a view of the ocean in the town of Selinunte. Eli played on a pier with his cars. Then we headed to Agrigento for some more Greek ruins and some quality time with peacocks. More in the next post.

For now, here are some pics from this leg of the trip:

Above: Eli and Caroline dining at Donna Franca outside of Marsala
Below: Eli and Caroline on the see-saw at the agriturismo

Above: the view from Donna Franca, the agriturismo/vineyard outside of Marsala.
Below: the sea of pods at Villa Favorita in Marsala

Above: Caroline and Eli in our smurf house.
Below: an actual smurf house.

Above: Eli in the middle of an impressive rant with his cars on the pier at Selinunte.
Below: Eli and Caroline at the reconstructed temple in Selinunte.

Above: Eli and Caroline next to a column.
Below: Eli and Dad checking out the view from the temple.

Above: Eli and Dad amid the rubble in Selinunte.
Below: a glimpse of the duomo at Monreale.

Above: the mosaic in the apse of Monreale's duomo.
Below: the unfinished temple at Segesta.

Above: Eli playing in the puddles in Segesta
Below: Eli and Caroline in the temple. Note the view in the background. That's the "bad" side of the view. The more dramatic view is the other way.

The Mob Rules

2008-03-22T08:16:00.000-07:00

Just returned from the motherland of italian pastries, frutti di mari, and, of course, the mafia. Sicily was a winner. We started our trip by driving down to Naples to catch a ferry to Palermo. Our plan was to eat some of the best pizza in the world and then walk it off by taking in the sights. The pizza search was a success. We sought out a pizzeria that was a finalist in the international World's Best Pizza competition (4 of the finalists and the winner are located in Naples). We did some diligent research and found out that the contest winner only serves their award winning pizza once a year so we settled for a finalist instead. The best pizza of our lives. I should actually let Sam recap the meal because he makes it sound like epic poetry the way he tells it. The pizzeria was very modest in appearance: floor to ceiling white tile with white formica tables. There was also a light dusting of sawdust on the floors. There were only three types of pizza, tomato sauce with cheese, with extra cheese, and without cheese. It was pizza in it's purist and most unadulterated form. Then there was the crust. Incredibly, it was something close to naan - but better than the best naan I've ever had. It was ultra thin and soft without being soggy. The edges of the dough were just crispy enough to offer some contrast and give the pizza structure. The rest of the afternoon was literally a wash since it was pouring out, so we don't have any pictures from that day. But we did love Naples despite the weather, and we highly recommend Pizzeria di San Michele to anyone planning on making the trip.

The ferry trip that night was a lot of fun. We think that the ferry companies may use old cruise ships for their overnight trips because our boat was bigger than expected and looked like something out of The Loveboat. We rode in dated style and relative comfort. I was impressed. Eli had a blast with the new mode of transportation.

We arrived in Palermo in the morning. We had heard that Sicily was poor, and the ruling mafia could care less about civic pride, but the historic center of Palermo was crumbling away. In fact, I would say the old city is practically gone. There are a few beautiful sights, such as the Duomo and the Teatro Massimo, but much of Palermo's population live in condemnable slums right next to these beautiful monuments. It was a bit of a downer to say the least. You could tell though that Palermo was once a beautiful and fascinating mix of Greek, Arab, Norman, and Spanish influences. There are only traces left.

Hate to end on a downer, but I don't want to overwhelm. We stayed in Palermo for two days and then moved on the western coast of the island. From there the sights got more impressive, and the surroundings more pleasant. We'll include that portion of our trip in the next post.

Above: The ferry lounge.
Below: The fam hanging out in our cabin.

Above: Sam and Eli on the ferry.
Below: Eli is taken in by the gold and glitter of the flashy Italian soccer shoes.

Above: Door within a door construction. We posted this one for Blake. Hobbit doors galore in Sicily.
Below: The fish markets were fantastic. We checked out whole swordfish, moray eels, sea urchin, tubs full of roe and so on.

Above: A sightseeing break at the port.
Below: The Teatro Massimo. There was a seen from Godfather III that was shot inside. It was closed for the two days we were there so we didn't get to go inside. It's supposed to be one of the best theaters in Italy though.

Above: The streets of Palermo were paved with marble.
Below: The Duomo.

Above: An example of the buildings that are crumbling away in the city center.
Below: This is the best English sign we've found in Italy. What makes it even better is that the awning for a nightclub.

John and Blake and Sarah Oh My

2008-03-07T11:25:00.000-08:00

Just thought I'd make a quick post to report on our latest visitors before we head down to Sicily tomorrow. We started February with a visit from my brother John. He was with us on and off for three weeks while he toured central and northern Italy. He was an enthusiastic tourist and therefore a great guest. Among other things he took us to the Villa Farnese. It's only 20 minutes away from us and a sight we hadn't seen. It is a beautiful building, but unfortunately they didn't allow pictures so we couldn't document the trip.

Sarah and Blake arrived the day before John left so we all met up in Rome for the night. Sam and Eli stayed behind in Viterbo and met up with us the next day. It was my first night away from Eli, which seems hard to believe as I'm writing it now but I'm pretty sure it's true. Anyway, we had a great time. John was exited for a last hurrah in Rome, and Sarah and Blake were very good sports considering they'd been up for 30 hours and lost their luggage in route.

Sarah and Blake spent a week with us all told. The weather was great and we saw some new sights with them as well. We went to Sutri, Bracciano, and Perugia (all new) along with some favorite haunts of Sam and mine. We had a great time catching up. It was like we picked up right where we left off (almost 15 years ago - yikes!). Anyway, we had a fantastic time. Here are a few pics from both trips. (By the way, John, you need to send me your pictures. I don't have many from your trip).

2008-03-06T06:12:00.000-08:00

Above: Eli chasing bubbles while we had a picnic in the park outside Villa Lante in Bagnaia.
Below: The family unit at the Etruscan amphitheater in Sutri.

Above: the Etruscan amphitheater in Sutri as viewed from above.
Below: Eli contemplating his realm in Valle Faul here in Viterbo.

Above: Sarah and Sam taking in the view in Pienza.
Below: Blake and Eli in Perugia

Above: the family unit in Assisi.
Below: Eli playing with his cars in Montepulciano

Above: two Savage men in Villa Lante in Bagnaia.
Below: Eli and a bubble.

about that...

2008-03-06T04:05:00.000-08:00

In my last post I mentioned that the depths of winter had passed. Never assume, children. As I was mumbling something or other about fate, religion, and the fear of death, a student in my first period Virgil class notified the rest of us that it had started to snow outside. (That's how enthralled she was with the class.) Nothing accumulated and the rest of the day has been cold with the occasional rain shower and some sun. We are really hoping that this cold weather passes before we head down to Sicily on Saturday.

While I'm here I guess I can tell you a bit about our plans for Sicily. We are taking the ferry (more like an overnight cruise on which we have a cabin) from Naples to Palermo on Saturday. We hope to get to Naples in time for lunch and a visit to the archaeological museum there which is supposed to be on of the best in the world. I have been doing some research on pizzerias in Naples, and I think we might try one called La Sorrentina which got voted the best pizza in the world in some competition in 2006. I read about it on Chowhound, and we are pretty curious. Whether or not we make it there, we have heard that it is hard to have anyhting other than the best pizza in the world in Naples.

On Sicily we are spending two nights in Palermo, one night near Marsala, one night near Agrigento, two nights near Piazza Armerina, and three nights in Siracusa. Then we high-tail it back to Palermo for the ferry to Civitavecchia. WE will see lots of Greek and Roman ruins, some baroque towns, the coast, the mountains, and whatever else we can manage to fit in. We are honestly most excited about the food which we hear is amazing. Great seafood, great pastries, and great wines.

When we get back, we look forward to meeting up with some friends from our days at Groton, the Capen's. John will be here running the Rome Marathon, and we are looking forward to seeing the whole family. I don't have to go back to work again until April 2nd, and I am very excited about this long vacation. I'm sure we'll go to Rome a few times in the last days of March when there is a week during which all of the state-run museums are free. Mostly we are looking forward to spending some down time around here taking hikes, going to the lake, and generally relaxing. Still no word from Deerfield, it looks like I should know more by the time school starts up again, i.e. early April. \

I hope you all are well. I'd post new pics, but I am here at work. I don't have any pics on this computer. I'll try to post some soon. In the meantime, take care. Skype us if you get the chance (elicarolinesam). Ciao,
Sam

p.s. Eli can now say "car", "star", "meow", "moo", and make the sound of a plane which I would spell if I knew how. He's a cutie.

On a roll...

2008-02-21T04:17:00.001-08:00

I can't believe it has been a month since our last post. Sorry about that. We'll, my family's visit was busy and awesome. We saw a lot of Rome, ate very well, spent loads of q.t. with the family unit. Caroline's brother John arrived shortly after they left, and he leaves tomorrow. Sarah and Blake arrive from San Francisco today. We're on quite a roll as far as visitors coming through. It's great to see everyone, but I'd be lying if I said all this hosting wasn't tiring. On a different note we have just planned our next two trips for just the three of us. In two weeks we are headed to Sicily for 10 days, and we are wicked psyched about that. In June we are going to send 8 or so days down in Puglia (the heel of the Boot) at the beach. Life isn't so rough here. Tomorrow I am going on a school fieldtrip to the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill. We'll see what we feel like this weekend. Maybe lunch in Umbria or an archaeological site or two. (suckas)

A few highlights in the last few weeks include:1) a fresh truffle pasta dish in Orvieto that was absolutely out of this world, 2) Eli now says "car", "doggie", "bowbow" (that's what dogs say here in Italy), and "Daddy" consistently (we're working on "Mommy" but he is stubborn about that one), 3) the Villa Farnese in Caprarola which John told us about; it is 10km away and pretty impressive, 4) I took a trip to the States to interview at Deerfield Academy in MA, and I am waiting to hear from them about whether they will offer me the job, 5) Eli and I went to a kids' Carnevale party on the Saturday before Fat Tuesday where Eli dressed as a Roman; it took him a while to warm up, but when he did he had a blast running around and playing with the other kids, and 6) our apartment building has turned into a massive construction zone since they decided to replace some damaged stucco work and found a massive water issue that deteriorated the water and gas lines to the point where they need to be redone. I also went on a nice bike ride last weekend with Rolf and Chris, fellow American teachers here, to Monte Romano and then through Blera and back to Viterbo. It was a 65k ride with a 35mph headwind for the last 35k. It was the best I have felt on a bike in a long time, and I am looking forward to getting out more now that the depths of winter have passed.

There are some other great stories to tell, but I will leave them for Caroline since she's got the first person account. I have to run off to a calcetto (small field soccer) tournament to play in the first game of the playoffs. My team is in first place after the round-robin, and I am getting pumped up to do some more damage. The teams are made up of American students, Italian students from local schools, and three of us older guys who work/teach at the school. There are only four teams in the tournament, but it has been fun to get into some competitive sports after a long break from anything like this.

I hope you all are well. Alla prossima,
Sam

Roman Holiday

2008-01-21T01:16:00.000-08:00

So we just got back from a week long getaway in Rome with Sam's family. His parents, his brother, sister-in-law, and their two daughters, and his sister and her husband. All told, it was a party of eleven. Poor Sam was commuting from Rome to Viterbo most of the week, but we still made the most of it. I'll let him fill you on visit in his next post. For now, here are a few pictures/highlights:

The entire Savage clan out to lunch. (From left to right: Steve, Lois, Sam, Will, Sean, Meredith, Baby Sally, and Jess. Eli and Emily are hiding away in the back watching a video.)

Mimi Lo and Eli reading together.

Sally is 10 months old and looks like the perfect cupi doll.

Eli followed Emily around like a puppy all week. She took it in stride and they ended up being great playmates.

Sam lead us all on a fantastic tour of the Forum.

We stole away a few moments alone time here and there. This is Sam and Eli splashing around at a water spout in Campo di Fiori, close to where we stayed.

No trip to Rome is complete without a visit to the Trevi Fountain.

We had hopes of being blessed by the Pope on Sunday, but the kiddies were restless so we had to move on before he made an appearance. The crowd in front of St. Peter's was a spectacle in itself.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-03T10:40:00.000-08:00

Hope you had great holiday celebrations filled with friends and family. We were definitely missing everyone this holiday season, but in lieu of loved ones, save each other of course, we ventured off to Germany and Switzerland for some holiday cheer. A family friend (Luca's mom for those of you who know her) was kind enough to lend us her house in Ehingen so we had our Christmas there. We did plenty of day-tripping and dropped in on Sam's friend Luca in Zurich on our way to and fro. The photo essay:

Ok, so this one was actually taken before the trip, but I thought it was so cute I couldn't resist.

Here are Sam and Eli in Lugano, Switzerland. It was our first stop. We only stayed for a night, but it was a great night. The city was beautifully decked out for xmas. We came upon a Christmas pagent in the main piazza of the town. It was really fun because after the kids completed their nativity scene, the pagent goers were led to another piazza by light of a star (see below). Carollers (sp?) took over from there and so on. Luca later told us that it's a German tradition to do pagents this way. I thought it was wonderful.

Just a little taste of Switzerland as we drove through...

We stopped in on Luca in Zurich. Luca was visiting his brother's family for the holidays. Zurich was very wealthy, as expected, but very quaint and charming too. Luca took us on a culinary tour of sorts which was a welcome break from Italian food.

We arrived in Ehingen late that night. The next day was Xmas Eve. Ehingen is a cute little town. On Xmas Eve it had a market going and, despite the cold, a band filling the marktplatz with music all morning. We just walked around and took it all in. Note Eli in his snow suit ala Christmas Story... "Can't put my arms down"... it was COLD.

Xmas morning we opened presents...

Boxing Day (still a holiday in Germany, so not much was open) we headed to Munich. Munich was beautiful. We toured the old royal palace and took in some other sights around town. We had a great meal and, of course, we stopped in at the Haufbrau House for a beer before day's end.

The next few days were local jaunts to Ulm, Tubingen, and some smaller hamlets around southern Germany. Ulm was especially interesting. The town is a wonderfully harmonious mix of old and new. This is the modern stadthaus (a Richard Meier design) next to the medieval munsterkirsch. The town is full of interesting juxtapositions like this one.

Tubingen is a beautiful college town. We had a fantastic meal here at a restaurant that specializes in a sort of ravioli typical of southern Germany - very different from the Italian variety - and delicious!

Finally it snowed enough for Eli to take notice of the white stuff on the ground. He discovered snow in one of the smaller hamlets we visited along the Danube. Here he is in front of one of the monasteries we visited.

We finished up the trip by spending New Years Eve in Zurich with Luca and his family. His brother generously extended us an invite to his NYE bash. It was a great party and a good time was had by all, especially Eli who probably literally had the time of his life with all the other kids at the party. Happy New Year everyone!

wine recs

2007-12-16T05:20:00.000-08:00

If you are not that into wines you probably should not read this post. But before you leave... Did you check out Caroline's paintings in the post before this one? She is really good. She clearly has a talent for this, and she is having a lot of fun doing it. Brava, Carolina!

If you are into wines, I thought this would be a good time to share with you all some of our good finds here in Italy. See what you can get at your local wine shops, and let us know what you like. The ideas to post this came to me because Caroline forgot to mention Montefalco in the list of destinations in Umbria we saw while Frankie was here. Montefalco, as it turns out, is the home of the Sagrantino di Montefalco DOCG red wine. At dinner there we sampled a bottle of the aforementioned wine and it was marvelous. There was also a certain novelty factor because the wine was served in glasses that looked more like hurricane lanterns. They were HUGE. You could almost fit your whole head in the glass.

Anyway, I thought this might be a good chance to fill you in on some of our good wine finds here in Italy. Bring a bottle to that holiday party and park yourself next to the host so that you can get a taste when they open it. I am learning a lot, and it is pretty complicated. I will spare you the lesson and get to the recs. We are still totally ignorant in terms of the big picture of Italian wines, but these are the types of wine we have had so far that we look for when we go to the market.

DOCG Reds (Denominazione di Origine Controlata e Garantita, which means pricier, usually anywhere from 8 to 60 euro or more depending on the vintage and the producer. We don't buy these on a regular basis, but they are certainly some of the best we have tasted here)
1) Sagrantino di Montefalco- lighter than a cabernet, brunello, or a chianti, but complex and tasty
2) Vino Nobile di Montepulciano- sort of like a pinot noir but a bit more complex and a little heavier
3) Chianti Classico- it's everywhere and for good reason in my opinion.
4) Brunello di Montalcino- one of the more famous reds from Italy. We tasted a bunch of these with Lisa and Jer while we were in Montalcino (in a wine bar that is inside the medieval fortress), and they were all pretty good. One or two were exceptional. Personally, this is my least favorite of the DOCG's we have tried (which is sort of like saying its the least talented of the Rockettes), but I suspect that if you shell out the big bucks ($50 plus) you won't be disappointed. I also suspect that this wine will age very well if you have a cellar going.

DOC Reds (Denominzione di Origine Controlata. These range in price from 4 euro to 30 or more. You can most likely pick these up for less than $20 in the US)
1) Rosso di Montefalco- the poorer cousin of the Sagrantino. a bit less complex, but very tasty.
2) Rosso di Montepulciano- poorer cousin of the Vino Nobile. tasty.
3) Barbera d'Asti- we found a bottle of this for less than 10 euro that rivals the best wines we have had here. Others are pretty ordinary, but still good and a good value.
4) Barbera d'Alba- I had an awesome one at Trimani (a reputable wine bar) in Rome.
5) Teroldego Rotaliano- we have only had one bottle of this, but it was very good.

IGT Reds (Indicazione Geografica Tipica. Usually cheaper than the other two, i.e. DOCG and DOC, but not always.)
1) Toscana -a solid Tuscan red wine. Cheaper than the "big" ones. Huge differences from producer to producer and from town to town. If you find a good one, it can be a great value.
2) Umbria (usually a Merlot from what I can tell). These have all been very tasty so far. The "Falesco" label is one that we have liked (and the only one I can remember).

DOC Whites
1) Orvieto Classico- a nice balance of light and sweet. definitely something to try if you are getting sick of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.

White Varietals (these ones aren't classified in the Italian system, but they are readily available here. I have definitely seen them in the states too.)
Arneis- this is a very interesting white that tastes sort of like a Viognier as far as I can recall. If you are sick of the same old white wine flavors, give this one a try.
Falanghina- a dry wine that is great when it is hot out. Sort of like a pinot grigio, but I like this a lot more than Pinot Grigio.

That's it. Let me know if you find a good bottle. Ciao tutti!

Lazy weekend

2007-12-15T23:25:00.000-08:00

I'll take advantage of this lazy weekend to make another blog entry. My mom was in town recently for a nice 12 day visit. It was perfect timing for us because Sam was busy with the end of his semester and I was busy finishing paintings for my class. She got plenty of quality time with Eli and I think they both loved every minute of it. We did manage to get in some nice day trips and a weekend in Umbria while she was here. The trip's itinerary included Orvieto, Civita de Bagnoregio, Tuscania, Rome, Assisi, and Spoleto. We have only a meager assortment of photos from the trip because it was so cold and rainy for most of the time.

Civita: My mom is the speck in the white jacket on the bridge.

Orvieto: The Duomo and Eli running around on the grass next to it.

Spoletto: The weather was too bad to take any outdoor photos that day, but here's one of a roman home that was excavated from under Spoleto's regional gov. offices. We didn't get any pictures from Assisi because of the damp and foggy weather, but the town was absolutely amazing. I think the church of St Francis is my favorite so far - a definite "must see" if you come to Italy. The fresco cycle within was beautiful and the church has a warm glow that's lacking in most Italian cathedrals.

This was the view from our room at the agriturismo in downtown Gaglioli. Gaglioli is a tiny speck of a town between Assisi and Spoleto.

Here are a couple of the paintings that I did for my class this semester.
The aim of the class was realism.

Today's ride

2007-12-15T05:07:00.001-08:00

Ciao ragazzi. Just a short update about my bike ride today.

I was supposed to meet Pat, the director of school, at the piazzetta where the cycling group gathers at 8:30 this morning. Pat and I were going to say hi to the group and go for a nice leisurely ride of 40 to 50 km. I got there to find that Pat had bailed.

It was wicked cold this morning. One of the Italian men in the group (there were only 6 of us today) said that it was around -2 degrees Celsius as we started up the first hill towards Bagnaia. We headed off on what they had said was a ride to Bassano in Teverina and back, about 50 km. For these guys this sort of ride is more like a stretch. It is certainly manageable for me too, but I always worry that the Italians are going to outpace me. Little did I know that at some point on the ride the decision was made to extend the ride to Orte. This added about 25 km and a long, steady climb at the furthest point. By the time I figured this out we were almost in Orte, and there was no going back. The climb went reasonably well, but it took a lot out of me. By the end of the ride the Italians had to slow their pace on the last two hills to let me catch up. It was very humbling, especially since the closest in age to me in the group was about 50 years old.

My feet had gone numb in the first ten minutes on the bike, and I quickly realized that those goofy neoprene cycling booties are actually really important when you ride in freezing weather. At various points I felt like I was getting some feeling back in my toes, but as the ride went on I gave up hope of sensation and focused on getting home. When I did get here it took my toes about an hour and a half to warm back up.

Now I am fully warmed up. Caroline and Eli are napping (they are both pretty sick), and we are excited to have a lazy weekend here in Viterbo. Tomorrow is the Host Family Holiday Party at the school. By all accounts this is a noisy, crowded affair with copious amounts of food. Very Italiano. One week from today we are headed off to Germany to stay in Luca's mom's house in Ehingen where I spent a summer back in college. We are excited for a cold and cozy Christmas, and we are planning a few outings to Ulm, Munich, Tubingen, and lots of castles. On the way there we are going to visit with Luca in Zurich. On the way back we might stop in Austria and in Northern Italy, maybe Mantua. We hope that you all are well and are having a great holiday season. We'll try to post again before we leave for Germany. Ciao e Buone Feste!

Istanbul

2007-11-29T23:13:00.001-08:00

To add to Sam's post about our fantastic stay in Istanbul, I thought I would record the visit with a little photo essay. By the way, hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! The school where I'm taking the art classes held a grand dinner for everyone. Although we had to wait until 8pm to eat (very Italian), it was an absolutely delicious meal. Apparently an American-chef-turn-Italian-farmer lives amongst the people of Tuscania and was aching to cook a traditional holiday meal. Deliziosissimo!

We arrived in Istanbul after dark on Wednesday. Due to the plane ride Eli missed his nap that day so he was a bit cranky to say the least. We found a great little cafe for dinner, but since Eli had timed out before we even got there, we were weary and the meal was hurried. I'm sure Adrian was panicking about her decision to travel with a one year old in tow. So we decided to cut our losses and call in an early night. This picture, taken around the corner from our hotel, was our first impression of Istanbul.

The next morning we rushed off to the Ayasofia (what the Turks call it). Eli commemorated the occasion by sticking his finger up Sam's nose the minute we crossed the threshold. The building was amazing.

Later that afternoon we hit the Grand Bazaar. Adrian and I were quite the bargaining team. She came away with some great loot at rock bottom prices. The guy she robbed blind agreed to pose for a pic anyway. Sam and I picked up an awesome antique "miniature" of the whirling dervishes.

Dinner that night was at a great place where we had our own private room. They didn't serve alcohol but we sneaked in a flask of raki, the very potent national drink. Since we sat on the floor, Eli had a ball with the heaps and heaps of pillows around the table.

Sam and Eli hanging out on the roof deck after breakfast. Our hotel overlooked the Bosphorus, the Ayasofia and the Blue Mosque.

I was obsessed with the Harem at the Topkapi Palace. If anyone wants a brief history on Sultans, their mothers, their sex slaves, and their eunuch servants, I'm your girl.

Here we are at the Spice Bazaar. Adrian made some good friends here too and was a good guide through the miles and miles of spices to choose from.

While we were in the Bazaar, it began to rain so we took refuge in a bar on the bridge spanning the Golden Horn. We had a great view of old Istanbul and some comfy bean bag chairs to sit in. Though the pictures from our dinner that night didn't turn out very well, it's well worth a mention. We went to a restaurant at the fish market where we had to haggle for the price of our meals. We ate a salt encrusted sea bass. When I say encrusted, I mean encrusted - the fish was under 3 inches of salt. For the final presentation they lit the salt shell on fire and chiseled their way down to the fish to serve. It was delicious!

The next morning we were off to the Blue Mosque. It was impressive. It was the perfect opportunity for Adrian to sport her new muslim-chic look. Mahvelous dahling!

Later that day, a Roman Cistern. This was very cool. It was a former basilica. Three hundred Roman columns were created the structure for this huge ancient well - complete with mutated fish.

That afternoon we headed to the Asian shore and took in the local scene. Sam's third continent. The views of Old Istanbul were beautiful. That night, Sam volunteered to babysit while Adrian and I had a girls night out in Beyolou. Itstanbul 's nightlife is incredible. A great way to end the trip.

They defintely were giants...

2007-11-20T11:03:00.000-08:00

Hey there. It's Sam again. I am sneaking in a post while Caroline is putting Eli to bed. Today is Tuesday, and we just got back from Istanbul two days ago. I still can't even come up with the words to describe how cool that place is. I'll do my best, and I'm sure my better third will chime in with her two Euro cents soon. For those of you not keeping track, two euro cents is now worth three hundred American dollars.

The flight to Istanbul was just over two hours, and we arrived at our hotel before dark. The hotel was located in Sultanhamet (just a block away from the Four Seasons in Istanbul) which basically seems to have been the center of the Byzantine and Ottoman empires. Within a three minute walk from our room we visited the Hagia Sofia, the Blue Mosque, an ancient cistern and the Topkapi Palace. All of these places were breathtaking. Check out the pics at the end of the post.

Other than the amazing monuments, the city had a lot to offer. First, Eli was like some sort of infant rock star over there. Perhaps it was his blond hair and blue eyes, but people literally stopped in their tracks when they saw him. Then they would come over and kiss him, pinch him, pick him up, and in one case even sing to him. I have never experienced anything like it. People we extremely friendly, and we loved all the attention as did Eli. This gave us a great in with any group of people, and in general Eli's popularity was an awesome part of the trip. Second, Istanbul is hip. There are all sorts of new, stylish cafes, boutiques and bars everywhere, and they are not the same cookie cutter stuff that you see elsewhere. The city has a very interesting blend of East and West, as you would expect, but the vibrancy and pulse was something that took us by surprise. We explored one particularly cool neighborhood a few times, and we only felt like we had just scratched the surface. In short, Istanbul, in our estimation, has every right to be considered one of the great cities of the world. We want to go back and see more of it, but alas, so much to do, so little time.

Some personal highlights: 1) we took the ferry across the Bosphorus to the Asian shore, and I set foot on my third continent as did Eli; 2) this was my first time in a mosque, and I felt the burden of face to face diplomacy as I tried to be sensitive to Muslim culture. In other words, despite my general moral turpitude and past history, I actively tried to avoid desecrating any holy sites; and 3) I managed to eat three doner kebaps in one day with only minimal intestinal dysfunction.

Here are some basic pics. Caroline will post soon with more info and more pics.

1) the Blue Mosque at night, 2) a mosaic in the Hagia Sofia, 3) inside the Hagia Sofia, 4) Eli and Dad inside the Harem's Quarters of the Topkapi Palace of the Sultans, and 5) the Basilica Cistern

When in Rome

2007-11-20T05:48:00.000-08:00

We've had quite the November with visitors coming through. Adrian and the Savage three just parted ways in Istanbul on Sunday. The city was unbelievable! We all ended up being great travel partners as well. There's too much to show and tell for one blog post so I'll tell our travel tale in two parts: the western and eastern empires respectively.

First, a photo tour of the western capital...

We started touring immediately upon Adrian's arrival. She was a trooper having arrived after a red eye flight. Ostia Antica, an ancient Rome city comparable to Pompeii, is just minutes from the airport so we stopped there for a morning stroll. The site is less traveled than Pompeii so they let you climb all over the ruins and do as you will. This first pic is taken from the top of an ancient staircase that's still intact.

Those of you that know Eli know that he's quite the orator. He had a bit of stage fright on this occasion however. Here he is trying to escape center stage at the ancient theater.
Chillin' out in the Roman baths...
Saturday night we ended the day by eating some huge and glorious pizzas at a"pizza farm" or agritourismo in Viterbo.

The next day we drove into Rome to tour the Roman Forum and the Collosseum. Sam gave us a great tour and filled us in on the history of the Roman Republic and Empire - all in one afternoon.

We lunched in the Jewish Quarter at a restaurant that was touted as having the "most authentic" Roman-Jewish food in the city. Perhaps, but both pork and shellfish were spotted on the menu. The food was great though and we decided to sample a bit of the pork "when in Rome..." since Romans seem to have discovered a loophole to the rule. This was taken after lunch at a nearby temple... it's no longer in use.

The next day, Monday, Adrian ventured into Rome on her own since I had class. On Tuesday we went to Baniaia and the Villa Lante for the morning. Here are a few shots from our impromptu jaunt through the gardens.

Wednesday we set off for Istanbul...

Vino Country

2007-11-07T07:16:00.001-08:00

The Arno

Fall colors in Tuscany

So, last weekend we had the first of our visitors. Lisa and Jeremy came for a visit all the way from Oaktown with their eight month old Zach (correction to the 9 mos I quoted prior to their visit). We had a nice relaxing time in Tuscany with a quick trip to Florence to boot. A good time was had by all even when the kiddies prevented us from doing too much sightseeing. We did see many a good view on our countryside drives though. We hit the height of the fall colors. Catching up with friends and the excellent food and wine we had were reason enough for the trip.
Unfortunately, our camera is quickly crapping out so our picture taking is getting less frequent. A new and improved one is on the way however, so we'll be back in full effect in no time.

Eli, Sam and Lisa hanging out in Piazza Santa Croce in Florence

A couple of the sunsets we witnessed in Tuscany

This was taken at the agriturismo where we stayed (agriturismi are working farms that also offer accommodations for tourists)

Jer and Zach chilling out at our place in Viterbo

the Middle Ages

2007-10-27T10:27:00.000-07:00

pics: 1) the Savages at the agriturismo Fattoria Collepina, 2) the olive grove at the agriturismo, 3) the view of southern Umbria from the agriturismo with Amelia on the hilltop in the distance, 4) the view from inside the walls of Macchie, 5) Eli and Dad at the soccer game, and 6) Eli trying to drink from a hose.

Read the post below for the story behind the pics. Except for the hose one. That's just cute.

Today was the first of the two Faculty/Host Family vs. Student soccer matches that will happen this year, and in case you were wondering, we kicked their butts. The final score was something like 9 -2, and I even managed to put one past the keeper. It was a beautiful day, and we all had fun. The next match is in April, and it just might take me that long to recover. My back more or less went out in the warmups before the game, and in true weekend warrior fashion I ignored the pain, played on, and really screwed up my back. Hence the title of this post. Now I do have somewhat of an excuse, mind you. The bike I have been riding (including a 50k ride this morning before the game) has a stem that is 2cm longer than the stem on my bike at home. What that means for you non-cyclists reading this is that I am stretched out a bit further as I rest my hands on the handlebars. This is putting extra stress on my lower back. And in case you aren't reading between the lines, I am getting old it seems.

In other news, last weekend we went with another American teacher, Ashley from Houston who teaches math, to an agriturismo outside of Amelia on the way to Macchie. Check the location out on googlemaps (search for Amelia Umbria Italy). This is rural Italy. Last week was cold in general, and we were looking for a way to get out of the apartment and see some pretty countryside. We thought we might see some leaves changing, but the lack of rain seems to have affected to changing of the seasons. The agriturismo (basically an inn that is part of a farm of one sort or another) was one we found online, and we had called ahead to make a reservation. When we walked in the door, we saw that there was no table in the restaurant with less than 15 people . 3 or 4 of these giant tables were multi-generational family affairs, and one was a group of youngish graduate student types. Then there was our table of four. We settled in for a fantastic meal that included many products produced on the farm, including the wine, olives, and now that I think of it, just about everything we ate. The winner was a dish that Ashley ordered, a ricotta ravioli with a taleggio radicchio cream sauce. It was one of the best dishes we have tasted since we have been in Italy. The real excitement of the meal, however, came when Eli was playing with a bunch of kids from the big family tables I mentioned earlier. He was having a blast with them; that is until he fell over. This fall was particularly notable because he put out his arms to absorb the blow, but his arms fell on either side of the rim of a giant ceramic planter. The edge hit him squarely between the eyes, and he had a bump there for four days.

On the way back we drove to Macchie, more or less just to say we have been there. The town is one of the smallest we have seen. We drove up to the walled section which consists of about 10 or so medieval houses at the crest of a hill. The local gentry were seated outside as we drove by, and we were the recipients of a good, long stare. I think our drive-by may be the annual total of tourist activity for this remote town. On the way back to Viterbo we had to make a stop because we thought that Eli soiled his diaper. It turns out it was just a big fart.

Enjoy the pictures!

Midterms

2007-10-18T05:29:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been so long since our last post. Sam has been bogged down with grading midterms and I've been bogged down with taking them. Well, I guess I haven't really "taken" any midterms, but I had to turn in a few midterm projects this week so that counts. There's been a flurry of trip planning since getting back from Sonata's wedding as well. Our friends Jer and Lisa and their 9 mo old, Zach, are visiting at the end of the month. We're heading up to Tuscany with them. I'm really looking forward to it. We've been avoiding Tuscany a bit so as not to spoil the freshness of the experience. We've done our fair share of wine research though to make sure we're well versed for the trip... very well versed. Adrian, one of my roommates from Columbia, and the Savage three have also just made plans to go to Istanbul in mid-November. I've been yearning to go to Istanbul for the past 12 years so you can imagine my excitement!

As for more local news, Sam and I are just getting underway with the conversation partners that we found. Mine is an architect here in Viterbo. His name is Fausto. We meet twice a week and do an Italian/English exchange. He speaks a bit of English but I think he wants to improve upon it 1) because his girlfriend is American, though they converse in Italian, and 2) because his business is about to hit it big. He just won a young architect's competition in the states. He's designing an international art institute called OMI up in Hudson, NY. Anyway, makes for good conversation. He has all sorts of interesting artist friends that drop by his studio while we talk - very fun. Sam is about start with his conversation partner next week, so I'll fill you in on her once I get the low down.

I've also had my first Italian "girls" night. I think they'll be quite educational. First lession: make sure you pronounce "penne" properly and use it in context.

penne = a type of pasta
pene = penis

Very wily, those Italians.

No pictures today, but I'll work on getting more this weekend. In lieu of pictures I'm attaching a link to wood shop we found on our last trip to Orvieto. A whole section of town is devoted to his impressive work. His work is really folksy, and whimsical, and beautiful. Here's a link if you want to check it out. www.michelangeli.it/bottega/arredo_urbano.htm (double click on the images for a better look).

Happy Landing

2007-10-12T09:44:00.000-07:00

Yes, Eli and I did land safe and sound back in Viterbo. The trip was great. It was so nice seeing the Columbia gang. We rented a house for the week so the fourteen of us had plenty time to catch up. I thought I'd post some pictures of us at the beach.

Eli and me

Eli enjoying the sand

Eli and Nana

The happily wedded couple

Just a few of the friends with whom we shared a house

They're back...

2007-10-11T11:38:00.000-07:00

and not in that scary Poltergeist way.

Caroline and Eli landed safely at Fiumicino on Tuesday, and I am wicked glad that they are home. All reports suggest that Sonata's wedding was a grand event and that a good time was had by all. I am sorry to have missed the Crew on Fripp, but alas, someone has to bring home the pancetta. Miraculously both Caroline and Eli made the trip both ways relatively unscathed. At the tender young age of 13-ish months Eli has traveled to Europe twice, visited at least 7 states, seen two oceans, and is working on becoming bilingual. Not bad for a kid who still, you know, soils himself several times day.

Work has been really busy lately, and I am ready for a break of some sort. We hope to get into Rome this weekend for a change of scene. Caroline and Eli are settling right back in to the rhythm of things except for the fact the Eli's jet-lag has kept us up for the last two nights. We are hoping tonight he can make it through so that we can get our rest too. Tomorrow we are off to Orvieto to meet a Head Royce colleague who happens to be visiting Italy, and I look forward to getting away, even if it is only for lunch.

That's about it for now. I have to get back to grading a set of Intensive Latin Grammar tests (jealous?). We apologize for the lack of posts lately, and we will try to get back into the groove so to speak. Go Diamondbacks!

just like that movie...

2007-10-01T10:00:00.000-07:00

Caroline and Eli are back in the States for Sonata's wedding in South Carolina, and I am here in Viterbo partying it up like a bachelor, just like Adrian Zmed in that movie "Bachelor Party." In my version there are fewer donkeys and the hilarious hijinks are really quite more tame in general. Anyway, they left on Friday morning, and I spent the day in Rome visiting a Groton classmate, Annabel Briger, who has lived in Rome for the last 9 years, and checking out the Capitoline Museums as well as the Museo Barroco, a small collection of ancient art from Mesopotamia, Assyria, Greece, and Rome. I will spare you all the lengthy historical lecture since you all probably got nauseous after my loggorrhea-tastic entry on Etruscan burial monuments. In short both museums were spectacular, and I can't even begin to list all of the cool things I saw. I will post some pics, but they are really the tip of the iceberg. On Saturday I went back to Rome to see more museums and sites. Basically I am trying to take advantage of the fact that Eli's 13 month old attention span and penchant for ranting at raised volumes are not presently in the country. Saturday's visits included: the Musei Nazionali Romani at Palazzo Massimo and Terme di Diocleziano, Santa Maria Maggiore, Palazzo Barberini and an extended walk through some streets on the Esquiline Hill. Again I can't even begin to list all of the mindblowing things I saw, but one true highlight was the Summer Triclinium fresco from Livia's (the wife of Augustus) Villa. It is exhibited in a room that is probably 20 feet by 40 feet and generally dark except for the fiber optic lights that illuminate just enough of the fresco to make out the extraordinary details and the vibrance of the colors. The fresco is about 8 feet tall and completely intact as it stretches around the entire room I described above. Looking at it I felt giddy and overwhelmed like the first time I saw the Water Lilies at MOMA or the Guernica in Madrid. It was a truly exceptional experience, and I recommend that anyone who comes to Rome not miss this room and generally the entire 2nd (3rd by American standards) floor of the Museo Nazionale Romano Palazzo Massimo. And then there was the food...

Annabel and I met at the statue in the middle of Campo dei Fiori where there was an active outdoor market of mostly food vendors, and she took me to a reliable (according to her) spot nearby where I had what was probably the best Spaghetti alla Matriciana of my life. I was a little worried when we got there because I had purposefully spoiled my appetite an hour or so before we met. By purposefully I mean that I have no will power when it comes to food (most of you know this about me), and the mere proximity to an eating destination dictates my behavior. And it just so happens I planned my walking route towards Campo dei Fiori so that it would take me past a particular destination. The site of this pre-lunch indulgence was Alberto Pica, a phenomenal gelateria off of Via Arenula near the Largo Argentina. Going on the advice of a wise friend (grazie for the tip, Jan!) I tried the riso alla canella (sort of a rice, cream, and cinnamon type flavor) and the cioccolato, and it was extraordinary. Despite this highly caloric peccadillo, I was able to down the pasta at lunch like Homer Simpson after a fast, and I even considered another trip to Alberto Pico to try two different flavors. But that was Friday, and I knew I had one more day in Rome to go. Pace myself, I thought, as I considered options for the next day's meals.

Saturday was no let down either. I ate lunch at an enoteca called Trimani which is bascially the wine bar sister of a reputable wine shop near Termini train station of all places. This was the sort of place our food guide (Great Eats Italy by Sandra Gustafson. We have used this here and also her Paris edition, and we are very pleased with her recommendations. Plus the reviews are just fun to read.) led me to believe is not the sort of place that welcomes extremely cute and boisterous toddlers. With the kid out of the picture I thought this was my chance. (Sorry, Caroline. Maybe one of the nice people reading this will come visit and babysit for us while we go there together.) What followed was probably the best meal I have had so far in Italy. The first course was a spaghetti with salted cod (baccala) and shrimp that was truly divine. The second course was a steak tartare served on endive (?I think?) with some sort of gorgonzola sauce that brought down the house, so to speak. After ordering these dishes I asked my waitress to recommend a wine to accompany them, and she delivered with a truly delicious Barbera d'Alba. I wrote down the name of the bottle and hope to head back to the wine shop next to the restaurant to pick up a few bottles. Any of the aforementioned babysitters might just find themselves enjoying said wine while watching the cutest baby in the world and listening to him explore vocal ranges previously known only to castrati and warthogs respectively.

Of course no day in Italy is complete without gelato, and the scene of Saturday's crime was the oldest gelateria in Rome, Palazzo dello Freddo. Here I sampled their riso, crema caramel, and nocciolato (a hazelnut/chocolate flavor), and I was not let down. Now that I have tried most of the gelaterias in Rome that have been recommended to me, I have to say that each one has it's own thing going for it. For those Bostonians in the house it's kind of like the difference between Herrel's, Toscanini's, J.P. Lick's, Emack and Bolio's and Kimball's in Westford. Each one has it's own particular strength whether it is the intensity of the flavors, the creaminess, or the overall experience. In short, I like them all, and I hope to make repeat visits to each and every one.

Sorry for the long post, but I am here alone and writing in this blog is more appealing to me than watching an Italian infomercial or some weird Sam Neil television series from Australia dubbed in Italian that always seems to be on. Hope you all are well. Skype me if you get the chance. I'd love to chat if you have a few free minutes. Here are some pics of stuff I saw on Friday and Saturday.

p.s. If there is stuff we are leaving out that you are curious about, let us know, and we will be happy to post on the subject.

"Ciao!" says Eli

2007-09-26T00:07:00.000-07:00

Eli the master mind...

The snuggler...

Eli on the go...

I've noticed that our pics have been a little light on our favorite subject, Eli, so I thought I'd post a few now. Eli's doing really well. He's loving his babysitting situation with his host mom, Patrizia. Patrizia has a fifteen month old daughter, Sarah, and two older children that are school age. Eli and Sarah are great playmates. I think they've got a bit of a crush on one another. Apparently, Sarah only says two words to date, "Mama" and "Ee-i". Unfortunately, they're both sick this week. I think they may have caught a bug from one of Sarah's older siblings. Then Eli and I are off to South Carolina this Friday for Sonata and Drew's wedding, so they won't get to see each other for awhile. I already can't wait to see the smiles and hugs when they're reunited. I'll try to get a picture of them together.

In other Eli news, I think we can officially say that "Ciao" is Eli's first word. It's certainly understandable. Since ciao's used for hello and goodbye, he hears it about 5o times a day. People love saying ciao to babies! He said it to a couple of shopkeepers on Saturday, and then to Patrizia and Sarah on Monday. We haven't been out and about much since then due to his cold. Very exciting news though.

It's been hard to get pictures of Eli lately. Now that he's walking, he won't stay still. Some of the blurry shots illustrate my point. When he's not on the go, he's spending a lot of time trying to figure out what things are and how they work. Not too many smiles this week, due to the cold, but still as cute as ever. Watching him grow gets better and better...

Tumuli and a sore butt

2007-09-22T09:38:00.000-07:00

Nice title, right?

Anyway, Friday was the first field trip with the students, and it was great. Caroline and Eli met us there, and I took the bus with the kids and other faculty who came along. As it turns out none of the field trips are mandatory for the American faculty, but we (including Caroline and Eli!) are welcome to come along if there is room on the bus. The school will even cover our admission on most of the trips. The educational content is provided by the ancient history and ancient art history teachers. I am allowed to add content if I feel so moved. In short, Caroline, Eli and I get to go to these great places and listen to lectures and tour guides who explain to us what we are seeing, and we we don't have to pay a cent. Pretty sweet deal. This time we went to Cerveteri where there is an ancient Etruscan necropolis (lit. city of the dead) that has burial monuments dating from the 9th to the 2nd century b.c.e. It was awesome. Once you enter, the site is spread out along a hillside, and you can basically wander anywhere you want. There are no fences or barriers; just walk into a tomb, take a look, and move on to the next one.

A brief history lesson from a poorly informed and likely entirely inaccurate source:
Basically there were four types of funerary monuments at this site. The Iron Age/Villanovan (i.e. 9th and 8th centuries b.c.e) types which at first were simply large stone urns for ashes and then were trench tombs (i.e. graves like we know them). This change in funerary practices from cremation to burial leads some people to believe that the Etruscans migrated somewhere else, probably Lydia. Others believe that the Etruscans were autochthonous and that this change simply represents the adaptation of new cultural practices discovered through trade with other cultures, namely the Phoenicians and the Greeks. The next type of tomb was called a tumulus (pl. tumuli) which was an artificial mound created by piling up tufa (a volcanic stone found in abundance in this part of Italy) on top of a chamber tomb, most of which seem to have consisted of 3 or 4 rooms. They sort of look like big huts with an entrance cut out facing the northwest. Some of these were really extraordinary with detailed molding on the outside and detailed stone work on the inside.

These tumuli represent the period in Etruscan history where established trade ties led to more wealth and a stratified class system. The wealthiest families built these tumuli for themselves and their descendants. The site in Cerveteri lies in between the ancient town and the port. We walked on the same ancient roads that the Etruscans would have used daily to bring goods to and from the sea. In fact, we saw the grooves the wagons had worn in the stone pavings. All by way of saying that this burial complex was integrated into the daily life of this town. These tumuli would have commanded respect on a daily basis. Relatives would come by and make offerings, and the rest of the people would have visual proof of the importance of certain families. These tombs would have been painted brightly and filled with treasures. The paint is gone because they used no adhesive to bond the paint to the stone, and the treasures were either stolen by grave robbers or are sitting somewhere in the Vatican Museums.

The next phase in the burial customs of the Etruscans were the tombs built into the walls of the hills and often punctuated by squared tufa brick facades. These were aligned in streets, and the theory is that as urban planning developed, the burial customs literally created a "city of the dead" modeled after their own city. In this part of the site you can see entrances to tombs lined up along roads like shops on a busy street.

Above are some pictures for you to look at. One is Eli at the entrance to a tumulus. Another is me in front of a few tumuli. Then Caroline in front of some tumuli. Then a tumulus. The last one is a picture of the later kind of tomb that was modeled after the contemporary urban planning. These are just the tip of the iceberg at this site. It was truly amazing, and I can't wait to learn more about the Etruscans.

And now...just a quick report on my bike ride yesterday (Saturday). We met at the piazzetta again, but this time the group left without us because we were waiting for Pat. Renato, a very nice man and friend of Pat and Rolf (another American teacher), waited with us, and when Pat arrived he said that the day's ride was to Amelia, in Umbria. I was ready for the challenge and off we went. We got to Orte, the furthest point in last week's ride, and rode on, crossing the Tiber and up the hills on the far side of the Tiber Valley. I have to admit I still get a chill when I see the Tiber. In Orte it is really nothing much to look at, but I am in awe of the history that river has seen and the peoples and cultures it has helped feed. Anyway, on the long and steady climb to Amelia we crossed into Umbria with it's wooded hills dotted with olive groves and vineyards. A lot of people were harvesting their grapes, and this meant that around several turns we were greeted with the smell of the crush as the farmers got started producing their next vintages of wine. I have smelled this before up in Napa, but this was certainly a special experience. We were on a tiny road within feet of the farmers cutting the grapes off of the vines. The views were spectacular, and the ride was pleasant. That is until we leveled off, and I thought we were just moments from Amelia. We actually had one more climb to get to Amelia, and that one hurt really badly...and not in a good way.

In Amelia we stopped for a caffe macchiato and some caloric intake, and while we were at the bar we saw the other riders from the group who had taken the other route from Orte to Amelia. We hopped back in the saddle and headed out on that other route back which despite the rules of geography is also uphill. "How can that be?" I thought as my legs began to feel deadened, and I began to worry because we were only half way. We had 50 kilometers left to ride, including the hill coming out of Orte that destroyed me last week. To make a long story short. It hurt, something awful, but I made it. This was the hardest ride I have ever done, and I am glad that it is now a gilded memory. Caroline, Eli and I celebrated this triumph with gelato followed by pizza at a great place out in the country with the American faculty, Dave, Roberta, and Daniel (pictures coming soon), and now I can start to worry about next week's ride.

Hope you all are well. All prossima.

A tall glass of water

2007-09-20T05:05:00.000-07:00

So we're really getting settled in now. Eli is teething and has a fever today, but other than that, we've finally had a fairly routine week.

I just got back from my sketchbook class in Tuscania. Shamefully, I still haven't taken any decent pictures of this absolutely beautiful town, but I did manage to get a quick snapshot of the vista that we sketched in class this morning. It's not the most picturesque vista Tuscania has to offer by any means, but I think the teacher liked it for the "structural challenges" it presented. We spent the rest of the morning sketching a colossal set of warped stairs. My drawing left something to be desired. Despite my frustration, I'm enjoying the class quite a bit.

The painting class is the one I'm really excited about though. I've attached my first two paintings so you can say you knew me when... ha ha. The slightly wonky cup at the top of the canvas was my first effort, and the glass of water was my second. Sam's already sick of hearing about the glass of water, but I have to say I'm quite proud of it. I feel like I've found a new passion. Next week get out of the putty realm and start mixing more colors so I can't wait see how that goes.

Otherwise, nothing much new to report. I've decided I'm going to try and swim regularly while I'm here. I had to have a physical yesterday to be permitted to enter a pool. It's a funny law that Italy has - they won't let you swim unless you receive a clean bill of health from a doctor. Of course my "physical" consisted of the doctor looking me up and down and saying "You look healthy" so it seems like a bunch of nonesense. Also, apparently you're only allowed to swim for one hour at a time. They brand you with a colored wristband when you go in. When you're color times out, you have to leave.

There's a school field trip to an Etruscan excavation site tomorrow. I'm hoping Eli will be feeling better so we can tag along. We also have some day trips planned for this weekend, so we'll have more to report very soon.

Ciao for now!

Bringin' home the pancetta

2007-09-16T09:46:00.000-07:00

Hey there. It's Sunday afternoon, and we just got back from the Host Family picnic which took place in a sort of park-like place in a neighboring town. It had a great view of alto Lazio (the area we live in), and we had a fun time. It was a pot-luck affair where each host family contributed, and as you could imagine, the food did not disappoint. One student was celebrating her birthday today, and her host family brought enough homemade tiramisu for everone (over 120 people). I stuffed myself to the gills as I am wont to do at such occasions, and then I played volleyball for an hour or so with some kids. Overall it was a nice event, but to some degree I still felt like I was working on a Sunday.

Eli and Caroline have been a bit under the weather lately, and we have heard that there is some sort of bug going around. They are feeling a bit better after some long sleeps, and I suspect that they are on the mend. Despite their condition we took a short trip yesterday to a neighboring town (Tuscania, where Caroline's classes are) for lunch and some playtime in a local park. The town is beautiful, and we had a very nice meal that included a quail egg frittata with porcini and truffles. The grassy park just inside the walls had an amazing view (you will have to take our word since we forgot to bring the camera), and Eli walked to his heart's content as we chilled out in the shade.

On Saturday morning as Caroline and Eli slept in I went for my first bike ride the local cycling club which I hope to join soon. They are a pretty hilarious group of guys. We met at a local "piazzetta" which was really just a parking lot. After some brief discussion they decided on the day's route, to Orte and back (about 65 kilometers with two mild climbs). They took off with a shot, and Pat, my boss here, assured me that they had started faster than the usual pace. A few of the riders in the group are clearly very serious cyclists, and I only saw them for 30 seconds or so before they glided up the first hill. The rest of the group pretty much took over the road (there were about 30 of us) and many were yelling at cars and/or pedestrians as we made our way through the first two towns. In Bagnaia a bunch of us got stopped at a train crossing, and there was a lot more yelling this time mixed with a lot of laughing. When the train came by, the conductor gave us a few shorts blasts, and Pat leaned over to me and said, "The conductor... he's in the group too." I have never been on a social ride before, but this was a blast. The guys were yelling and laughing all the way up and down the hills, and they were joking with me, the new American. After separating from them, the 4 americans on the ride (Pat, me, and two other faculty members) went on our own to Orte. The way back starts with a slow and steady climb that really broke me down (for the cyclists reading this: I had to switch to a compact double because they just don't do triples here. I am feeling the lack of the "granny" gears, but I am determined to make the best of it), but I regrouped and made it back to Viterbo safe and sound if not a bit tired. I am hopeful to join this group soon. This was my first significant ride since I went up to Tomales Bay in early June, and I really felt the time off. Nevertheless, I am hopeful that after a few more warmups I can hang with the ragazzi.

That's it for now. We'll try to write again soon and post some pictures. Keep logging in to skype. We hope to chat with more of you!

Let the year begin!

2007-09-09T23:32:00.000-07:00

Birthday dinner on Friday night

Serfs and wenches running to and fro.

The scene at the underground Taverna.

We even squeezed in a quick trip to Rome Saturday night. This is Eli and me in front of the Trevi fountain.

Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes. I had a great day on Friday. One of the host families hosted a dinner at a restaurant in Orte to celebrate the start of the new school year. The restaurant was fantastic. It's set underground in caves that were once used to store food/drink, and who-knows-what back in the day. The wait staff were dressed as medieval wenches and serfs. Anyhoo, the night was fun, but it's been hard getting ourselves on the Italian schedule. Italians have siestas like the Spanish, so everything shuts down from 1pm to 4:30pm. People don't eat dinner until 9pm. Difficult to adapt to with a one year old. Italians train their babies to sleep anywhere - just dump them in the stroller. Stay out til midnight? No problem. Unfortunately, Eli seems to be resisting this particular aspect of the Italian lifestyle. We're working on it, but I think it will take some time and willpower to accomplish.

Friday's high was followed by a weekend low. I'm suddenly missing home and everyone there. I had a horrible bout of homesickness and a "what are we doing here" feeling prevailed. It was compounded by my anxiety about transitioning to being a full-time mom... in a foreign country no less. It's going to be awhile before I can converse with Italian moms, so I'm resigned to having a lonely go of it for awhile. Also, Italians don't seem to take they're babies out for entertainment until they're older. Eli's consistently the youngest one at the playground/park/ etc. I'm going to look into some music or swimming classes, but I think the idea of taking a one year old to these types of activities is completely unheard of here. We'll see what I can scrounge up for us.

I'm feeling upbeat again today so I'm hoping my low point over the weekend was a momentary lapse. Sam is starting his first official day of classes. For Sam, last week was full of placement exams, abbreviated schedules, and long hours (ironic isn't it?) so today is finally the start of his regular schedule. I'm off to painting class this morning. If all goes well by the end of the day my cylinder of mud should be looking like a plastic cup. And I think Eli is quite enjoying his host family (as we affectionately call them). His first day with them on Thursday was a great success. We'll start with three days a week this week.

So all is well with the Savages.

Santa Rosa Hang Over

2007-09-05T06:01:00.000-07:00

So, the biggest festival of the year is officially over. We ate, we drank, we saw 100 men carry a huge "thing" lit up with candles.

Now we're back to the nitty-gritty of everyday life in Viterbo. However, we're yet to see what that means for us. Sam had his first day of classes today which, he reports, went very well. He's busy at school assessing placement exams now. I had my first painting class on Monday and I have my first sketching class tomorrow. The classes are in an absolutely gorgeous town about a half hour from here (I'll post pics soon). We're still trying to nail down the daycare situation for Eli, but one of the host family mothers offered to babysit for us in the meantime, so at least we're covered for now.

I'll report more about the classes I'm taking in Tuscania on Friday, but the one on Monday was great. I used to draw all the time, but this was the very first time I'd had a brush in hand. The results were interesting. The assignment was to paint a plastic cup. My painting, thus far, looks like a cylinder of mud. Luckily, 15% of my grade is based on overall improvement - plenty of room for that. There are two other girls in my class who are very nice and don't seem to mind having an older post grad hanging around. They asked me how old I am. When I said thirty, they were stunned and said I didn't look a day over 25. Ah, vanity! They've made my year already.

il Trasporto di Santa Rosa

2007-09-04T05:12:00.000-07:00

Alright, people. Here it is. The video of the main event. The second clip is a bit long, but hang in there because the end is the best part.

In order: 1) the Facchini march towards the Macchina. 2) The Macchina comes into Piazza Fontana Grande. 3) The Macchina passes the school. 4) The Macchina dances down Via Cavour. Enjoy!

pics

2007-09-03T03:28:00.003-07:00

Read the previous entry before checking out these pics.

Photos:
-the Sagra di la Bistecca
-a few of the corteo storico
-another cute one of Eli sitting on my shoulders
-the mini facchini
-the facchini
-the ceiling of the main room (the salone) of the school

Santa Rosa

2007-09-03T02:55:00.000-07:00

Buon giorno, ragazzi.

Santa Rosa is here. After much hullabaloo what with the tornado, the leaning macchina of Santa Rosa, and many days of doubt as to whether or not there would be a procession this year, the day of the trasporto (the procession where 100 men, called facchini, carry the gigantic "thing" topped with a statue of Santa Rosa) is here. Last night we watched the corteo storico or historical parade with people wearing costumes dating from the 12th to the 19 centuries. Also in the parade were the facchini (and the mini-facchini, i.e. the kids who carried the mini-macchina around town a few days ago in another of the many events that are part of this celebration) and the relic of Santa Rosa , her heart, which resides here in town. The heart was enclosed in an ornate box covered with flowers, people, so no, we didn't get a look. The whole event was rather somber, but there was some applause for the facchini who will take part in the main event tonight. At a special dinner after the parade they all receive last rights from a local priest which is pretty intense, I think. It's about noon here on Monday and the streets are already filling with people who are staking out a good spot to watch the trasporto which happens at 9:30pm. When I went out at 9am I already saw a hundred or so people laying claim to a patch of sidewalk.

Tonight there is a pot luck dinner at school so that a few faculty and friends can watch the macchina pass by the front of the school from our windows on the second and third floor and a loggia off of the main room. I usually don't get to jazzed for things like this, but the buildup to this is impossible to ignore. I am eager to see this spectacle, and I wish you all could too. We'll try to snap a photo or take some video so that we can give you a glimpse, but I am pretty sure that this is one of those things that won't quite come off in pictures.

Anyway, Caroline is off at her first painting class in Tuscania (a nearby town), and I am waiting for Eli to wake up from his nap so that I can get out and see what's going on in town. I hope that you all are having a wonderful Labor Day. We'll try to write again soon. In the meantime look at the next post for some pics. Ciao.

p.s. Last night we went to a local festival called the "Sagra di la bistecca". Basically it was a huge bar-b-q with local beef. We had a good time, but we had to make a swift exit when Eli started getting fussy and ranting like a bum at a bus stop.

Match day

2007-08-30T13:20:00.000-07:00

Ciao!

Just a quick note today because it's getting late. All of the kids arrived today. They were paired off with Italian families, with whom they will live for the next nine months! I never could have done this as a teenager so I'm in awe of them. The school had a very cute ceremony this afternoon for the student/family match up. All of the students seem great! We're really excited for this year to get underway.

PS. Italian can be a tricky language. We just found out that one slip of the tongue can make all the difference:

"Eli ha uno anno." = Eli is one year old.
"Eli ha uno ano." = Eli has one asshole.

Don't worry, we've got it down now...

Peculiar smells

2007-08-28T12:53:00.001-07:00

Here's Eli in his new "gelato-mobile". He loves it! We've found that it keeps him entertained long enough for us to squeeze in two scoops of gelato without him noticing.

So far Italy is much more like America than we expected. The people in the streets all look American at first glance. There are a few gold-clad, ultra-tan, ultra-skinny types walking about, and we have seen a few seven year old boys with enough style to put Johnny Depp to shame, but, for the most part, small-town-Italy is similar to small-town-America. American songs and American movies seem to dominate pop culture here. Maybe it's also so familiar because Italian food, wine, and design are so prominent in American culture. However, there's one sure-fire, day-to-day sensual reminder that we are in a foreign country: Italy smells different. As I've mentioned in past postings, everything here has a very distinct scent. Some scents are glorious. Every afternoon from our bedroom we can smell the wood burning oven of the pizzeria down the street. When we're on an evening walk in the back alleys of town we take in the delicious smells of home-cooked Italian meals from just about every window. The smell of espresso wafting from cafes on every block is heavenly. Even the lava stone of the medieval buildings in town has a wonderfully old and earthy smell. However, the more purposeful scents of the products we buy here are down right bizarre. This is where I notice our most obvious cultural differences. Why do Italians want everything scented, yet so many of them don't wear deodorant? Why do they want bathroom cleanser to smell like Alka-Seltzer? Dish detergent like Tang? Clothes detergent like perfume? Ok, that last one's not so weird, but when the perfume scent is strong enough to make your eyes water that is weird. The hand soap that was left in the apartment for us has a grapefruit/potpurri blended scent (not kidding). It's for these reasons that I'm glad we came. I'm excited to find the answers to these questions.

PS. Sam's birthday was yesterday! We had a great night out on the town to celebrate.

carried off by a twooster

2007-08-23T10:16:00.000-07:00

In other news, the Macchina di Santa Rosa, the big statue thing that 100 men will carry around the city in two weeks (stay tuned), and the scaffolding surrounding it was blown over today when a freak storm passed through town. I am not sure if there was a tornado or anything like one, but at around 2pm today the wind suddenly picked up to what must have been 60 or 70 miles an hour. We had to shut all of the windows as soon as we could so that they wouldn't get blown off the hinges. It took about 10 minutes to pass, and when it did, we walked down the street to stop by the school. When we got to the end of the street we looked towards the Porta Romana where the Macchina resides until the procession happens on the 3rd of September, and we saw the whole huge thing (about 100 feet high) blown over and leaning against the city wall. It was still raining out, and only a handful of people had seen this. Men were running to and fro, and I can only assume they were assembling the people who could do something about this. It was very exciting, and we felt cool that we could pass on the news to the people at school who knew nothing about it. Since then (now five hours later) they have brought a crane in and are starting to right the giant thing. A massive crowd of people has gathered to watch, and for all we can tell this is the craziest thing to happen since "Wargames" got snubbed at the Academy Awards. Here's a pic:

Roma di nuovo (Rome again)

2007-08-23T08:54:00.000-07:00

Eli and Mom at the trattoria in Trastevere, and Eli and Dad at the Theater of Marcellus.

So we made another trip to Rome yesterday, and I would basically characterize the trip as moments of euphoria punctuated by profuse amounts of sweat and the occasional moment of utter desperation. It was muggy hot. I have never traveled to the deep South in summer, but I imagine that this is what it feels like in New Orleans or Georgia or wherever the deep South is at this time of year. The hordes of tourists have subsided somewhat. I figure the lions share must have had respiratory failure after breathing in the scooter fumes and gone home to convalesce. In the major tourist center we visited, around Piazza Venezia and the Forum Romanum, the tourists still outnumbered the layperson about 50 to 1, but this was a major improvement over our last visit when I don't think we saw a single person who wasn't holding a map and/or a guidebook and ogling some monument. It's great that so many people come to see these wonderful sights, but I am eager to go back and visit the sights when the words throng, horde, nauseating, and dehydration will no longer directly apply to our experience in this great city.

This was the first time any of us had ever been to see the Theater of Marcellus (started by Julius Caesar and finished by Augustus around 13 B.C. It was dedicated to the latter's would-be heir, Marcellus, who died prematurely at age 19. see the last few hundred lines of Book VI of Virgil's "Aeneid" for a poignant tribute to him. Then guess who's writing this post) which was the first permanent theather built in Rome. We also stumbled upon the Jewish Quarter which was nice. We will definitely go back there since some of the best vittles in Rome are supposedly hidden there. A brief jaunt around the Capitoline Hill brought us to the Forum Romanum. On the way we stopped to let Eli practice walking on the grass in front of the Wedding Cake (a.k.a. the monument to Vittorio Emanuele II). Our descent into the Forum lasted about 2 minutes. Eli started to melt down and the stroller couldn't hack it on the rough surface of the paths. We'll be back there for sure. By the time we leave here I want Eli to be reciting the dimensions of the Curia in Oscan.

We managed to eat a great meal outside under a shaded umbrella at a trattoria in Trastevere. Caroline had spaghetti alla matriciana and I had the spaghetti alla carbonara. Loads of pancetta...game on. We drove in this time which was a whole new adventure, t00. Despite the fact that we didn't know where we were 90 percent of the time, we managed to navigate the streets without really making a wrong turn. I'll credit the superior navigation skills and refined geo-spatial intuition of my better half, but I want credit for not killing or maiming any living beings while behind the wheel.

Eli is up from his nap now, and I need to go. Until soon. Ciao.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELI!

2007-08-22T13:20:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was Eli's first birthday! We had a small but media heavy party for our little man. We took pictures for the blog, video for Sam's parents and grandfather, and my parents were in attendance live via skype... there was a lot going on. Eli took it in stride. As you can see from the photos, he was very excited about his presents and very serious about his food. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree...

The fixings...

The presents...

The cake...

Eli is a hominid after all (a.k.a. Eli's 1st steps)

2007-08-16T11:17:00.000-07:00

Yes. Eli has continued his rapid ascent on his way towards becoming a full-fledged, upright walking member of our species. Today was a wicked hot day here in Viterbo, and Eli was cranky from the get-go. He took an increasingly rare morning nap, but that did little to soothe the little Savage. A brief trip to school (where I will be teaching) helped cheer him up as he got the chance to play with two kids of staff members. After that we found ourselves back at the apartment waiting for him tire enough for a second nap. He spent another hour or so in dreamland (not to be confused with Dreamscape, that fabulous Dennis Quaid/Max von Sydow film), and we promptly exited the premises afterwards for some refreshing gelato. From there we went on to our favorite (and the only) playground inside the city walls where we watched Eli enjoy the marvels of gravity in his bucket swing. It was actually a pretty cool scene. Three or four older Italian women were sitting around chatting. An older man showed up, chatted for a while, then went into the corner of the little park and grabbed a pick-axe type thing. As the women chatted he did some minor weeding. Then he put back the axe and sat down to chat again. He was clearly not a city worker, just a guy who decided to pull a few weeds in between conversations. Not that this was a big deal in any way, but it did remind us that life just moves at a different pace here. Even though every three year old has a cell phone and Vespa, people really do seem to take time for lots of little things. Maybe this has something to do with the Italians living longer on average despite the fact that they smoke like chimneys and have never heard of hand sanitizer.

Anyway, on to Eli's first steps. It was afternoon. Hot. The kind of hot that is, you know, really...hot. Caroline and I sat on the grass opposite one another and led Eli towards one another holding his hands until he would let go. The first few times the result was the same as it has been for the last few weeks. As soon as we let go he would get a worried look on his face and then buckle down to the ground. Then, instead of falling to his butt he tried to move forward. A first. After a couple more tries he managed to put one foot in front of the other and then buckle. Finally, he managed to put as many as three or four steps in a row as he walked, yes walked across to Caroline. Somewhat confused as to whether or not we could call those his first steps we tried again, and this time he added a few steps for show. It's official. Eli took his first steps. Like any good parents we pushed him and pushed him until he refused to walk anymore. His crowning achievement was probably 6 or so consecutive steps, and we are quite proud of our little walkin' man. Of course there are no pictures or video to prove or commemorate this event. I am not even sure the old ladies and the man know that they witnessed history.

Alla prossima.

Copulating Etruscans

2007-08-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

I'm on fire this afternoon. This is my second post of the day. I thought I'd report on our latest sightseeing ventures in addition to my last post about Eli. Our sightseeing ventures have been good on the whole so far, with the exception of Orvieto, but I'll explain our Orvieto debacle later. First, Tarquinia, where we saw a bunch of Etruscan ruins. (FYI, Etruscans were a pre-Roman society in these parts for those of you that aren't up on your ancient history).

I found our day studying Etruscan civilization so fascinating that I'm now reading book about it... no kidding... the things you'll resort to without TV. Anyhoo, Tarquinia is southwest from here, very close to the coast. It's on top of a huge hill overlooking the water. The highlight of our day was the enclave of Etruscan tombs that were open to tourists to oggle. Each one comprised of a doorway that led to a steep stairwell. At the bottom of the stairs was a window or a door that allowed a glimpse into the tomb. They were very interesting indeed. Each one had it's own theme, Burial Procession, Farming and Feasting, Earth and Sky, etc. But one stood out to us more than the rest. As we were perusing our map and the audio tour booklet we rented, we noticed a tomb entitled "Flogging Rights". Well this obviously stood out amongst the group, so we made a bee-line for tomb #10. It was hilarious! Some guy wanted to be burried in an S&M chamber - and now we're studying it in great detail... Ah, those wily Etruscans. Here's a pic of Sam and Eli out front.
The other day trip we made was to Orvieto. A gorgeous town that I highly recommend. Again another dramatic hill town, but this one's in Umbria, which is definitely more scenic than Lazio somehow. A visit to the town even includes a funicular ride to the Piazza. All would have been well if I hadn't had wicked allergies over the previous few days. I finally went to the pharmacy the night before we went to Orvieto and they gave me Zirtec right over the counter (love Europe!). Well I've never taken it before, but they didn't seem to carry the lightweight stuff, such as Benedryl, so I gave it a try. Our day in Orvieto went something like this... Caroline is hungry and needs food NOW, Caroline is cranky and needs to yell at Sam NOW, Caroline is tired and needs to sit down NOW, cranky, tired, cranky, hungry, cranky, cranky, cranky! Before I put two and two together about the Zirtec, I thought for sure I was pregnant. YIKES! You can see from the strained smile on Sam's face (dagger eyes actually) that this day wore on us a bit.

Other than those two trips, we've been going to a lake called Lago di Vico everyday. All of Italy is shut down this week due to the Ascension of Mary holiday today, so there's not much else we can do. Lago di Vico is a lake that is inside the crater of an inactive volcano which is pretty cool. It's about ten minutes away, so we can hurry back for Eli's naps when needed.
Keep in touch everybody!

Eli Update

2007-08-15T06:27:00.001-07:00

We thought it was time to report on how Eli's adjusting to his experience on The Continent. He seems to be taking everything in stride, though he still refuses to walk. We think he's waiting until he has the strength to walk clear across the room by himself before he ventures out without a helping hand. It's getting a bit frustrating for us but we're trying our best not to push him. Grassy crawling terrain is harder to come by in these parts so traveling would just be a lot easier if he could stretch his legs from time to time no matter where we are. Also, some progress on the talking front. He says Mama and Dada now, but with both words he sometimes loses his train of thought. It goes something like "Mama!(with an acknowledging smile, then on to-)... mam...mamabababa...babagadadagaga.... and so on. He's said "Ciao!" on cue a couple of times as well, but not with any consistency. He's cute as a button though, and we're thoroughly enjoying all of his new tricks. We'd love to see some pics of the babes back home!

For those parents out there, when did you start to momentarily dunk your bambino underwater? Eli seems to be begging for it, but I've been too chicken thus far. Enjoying a dip in the lake...

Sated and sticky after demolishing a enormous nectarine...

We found a bucket swing in town. Yippee!...

Enjoying the train ride to Rome...

Life in Viterbo

2007-08-11T04:00:00.001-07:00

We're getting to know our way around town a bit now, s0 we've post some pictures of our apartment, Viterbo and the local haunts we've found thus far...

Our Apartment

The front door to our building .

The front door to our apartment on the third floor (walk-up).

The living and dining rooms face the street. They're pretty much one big room. A skinny wall divides the far sides of the room between the media stand in the living room and the desk in the dining. (There are ridiculously ugly light fixtures in every room - check them out!)

A crude panorama of the view from our living room window.

Local Haunts

Sam at the fruit market across the street.

This very cute meat and cheese market is across the street as well.

The cafe where we get our caffe espresso in the mornings.

The pharmacy where we get all our toiletries etc. BTW, it's curious how there's no such thing as unscented here. It simply doesn't exist for detergents, lotions, soaps, etc. The closest thing we've found are items that "contain no serious fragrance"... hhm... Allergies are practically unheard of as well - but I get a lot of sympathy from pharmacists when I tell them that Eli and I have skin allergies. We're interesting projects for them.

A park and playground for Eli.

A gorgeous little wine bar (or enoteca) for Sam and me.

Viterbo

Street scene in the historic medieval district.

In front of a papal palace of the 13th century.

Hard to tell from this photo, but this is a fairly high-end little shopping district in town.

Residential gardens, such as these, and are peppered throughout town.

two things.

2007-08-09T13:56:00.000-07:00

1) The program totally screwed up the formatting of all the pictures in the last post. The table I mention is at the bottom.

2) In the previous post, the tile, Due Euro Carlo (i.e. two buck Chuck) was intended to have a section on wine, but I got distracted and now it's late. Stay tuned for tales of booze.

pics: Rome and Bagnaia/Villa Lante

2007-08-09T13:09:00.000-07:00

Rome

Bagnaia/Villa Lante

This table to the left is actually an outdoor dining table that the popes and their guests used. Water runs down the middle of it and through the face at the end pictured here. At the other end is the fountain with Neptune reclining pictured above.

Due euro Carlo

2007-08-09T12:15:00.000-07:00

We have passed the one week mark, and we are feeling more and more settled each day. There are definitely still some misadventures here and there. For instance, I wanted to check out a new supermarket today. This one, called Lidl, is part of German chain, and apparently they may have some of the staples that we are having a hard time locating. Anyway, after some very successful navigation (If I do say so myself) of the circuitous route to this place, I saw the sign like a beacon of freedom in the southwestern Asian desert. Unfortunately under that sign was a less welcoming (and surprisingly common) graffiti image of a swastika. Anyway, despite missing the turn into the parking lot on the first try, I finally got there and found it completely empty. If there was an Italian version of tumbleweed (tumble prosciutto perhaps?...mmm prosciutto), it would have found a happy home in this lot. A quick check of the orario showed that they close at 1pm on Thursdays. It was 4:00pm. They stay open to 8pm on all other nights except Sundays when they are closed all day. Good to know. I'll be back. "Oh well," I thought and drove on to the closer if not boring Emme Piu. They also close early on Thursdays, at 2pm. Am I missing something about Italian culture? What is the big deal with supermarkets and Thursdays? Alas, defeated and feeling like a loser for not knowing where to buy a lightbulb, eggs, tea, a nightlight for Eli, dishwasher detergent, and bread on a Thursday at 4pm, I went on at last to the already familiar IperCoop, the grandfather of all supermarkets in the area. This place is so great (apparently) that we have seen roadside ads for it as far as 50 kilometers away. It is basically a Costco type of place that is in the middle of a mini mall. It has most of the basics, and it is a good place to stock up on stuff. Apparently they also have the monopoly on the Thursday afternoon shoppers. Nevertheless, I was surprised that this was the least busy I have seen the SuperHyperMegaWonderMarket of the three or four times we have been there in the past week. I guess Italians, at least Viterbesi, don't shop for crap on Thursday afternoons. Despite feeling some pride at having succeeded (...for the most part. I didn't get the tea. ), I still felt like an outsider for leaving these necessary errands until Thursday afternoon. Live and learn, I guess.

As far as other things are going, we have taken some more trips including a ridiculous trip to Rome to buy toys for Eli. I had head stories about Rome in August, but didn't really believe the hype. Holy shnit was I wrong. We got off the train near St. Peter's, and from the moment we got near the cathedral to the moment we got back to the train station the tourists must have outnumbered the locals 100 to 1. I'm not kidding. Of course we did walk the Bermuda Triangle of Roman tourism, St. Peter's through Piazza Navona to the Piazza della Rotonda (where the Pantheon sits), up to the Piazza d'Espange (i.e. the Spanish Steps), and back to St. Peter's. Why did we go to these sunburned, map-toting, overcrowded, and overpriced havens of scoundrels and photo-ops? As Clooney so eloquently put it in that finest cinematic achievement about the foolhardy Gloucestermen who so bravely gave their lives so you could eat your swordfish steak at Outback Steakhouse, "...because that's where the fish are." In this case, of course, the "fish" were toys for Eli and the American Express office. As it turns out, the toy stores were a huge hit. We got lots of great stuff, and the prices were not far from what we would have to pay in the states. The AMEX office, on the other hand, totally sucked. We walked way out of our way to get there because they don't charge a commission, but the exchange rated was abysmal. We realized we are doing much better paying the fees our bank and credit cards charge us for transactions . Anyhoo, I lugged a huge bag of toys all the way back to Viterbo (see picture in next post), and it was totally worth it because Eli is happy as a clam with the new goodies. He is finally set up properly here in the apartment. This trip to Rome was all business, hopefully the next one will be more leisurely.

The other trips in the last few days included on to a private pool with some folks who work at the school and their son, Daniel. Today we went to a nearby town, Bagnaia, to see the grounds of two palazzos the popes used to frequent when they lived in Viterbo. There is a park adjacent to the gardens and the buildings. Eli had a romp in the grass, and the gardens outside of the palazzos were incredible. Some of the best fountains and landscaping that I have ever seen. See pictures in the next post.

In other news, Eli loves watermelon (cocomero, in Italian). He loves it so much that he stuffs three or four chunks in his mouth at once. It's really a sight to see. The juice starts gushing out of his mouth then he unfailingly tries to point out the light and utter something from his nearly distended cheeks. That's when the chunks come back out with the rest of the juice. It's really a sight to see. I am taking some video and will try to post a movie soon.

Sorry for the long post. The next post is all pics. Hope you all are well. Ciao!

Day Tripping

2007-08-06T12:56:00.001-07:00

Well we're starting to feel a bit more settled at the start of our second week. We've made a couple of trips to the super merchado which were fun and interesting, and we've managed a few day trips of sight-seeing as well.

First, a note about groceries here. In certain respects, they're awesome. Sam's in heaven with the array of pork products available (like the good jew he is). The only catch seems to be in the baby food department. All of it looks and sounds disgusting. Most of it is a whitish grey color, and they actually offer pureed horse meat! (I thought Jen would particularly appreciate that). Luckily, Eli's quickly phasing out of the jarred stuff. Otherwise, we're thoroughly enjoying our culinary adventure so far. Unfortunately we haven't been able to eat out yet because Eli can't stay up late enough. Restaurants don't start serving dinner until 7:30pm so we're trying to slowly adjust Eli's schedule so he's more of a night owl.

Our day trips have been great! We went up to Lake Bolsena and the town of Civita on Saturday. Eli loves the water. Civita was awesome as well. It's on it's own little perch surround by steep cliffs on all sides. The only way to get there is by a bridge from the next closest town. It has a population of 15 people year round.

We went to a beach in Tuscany today but forgot to bring the camera of course. I've posted some pics from our Lake & Civita adventure. Off to Rome tomorrow...

Ciao,
the Savages

We made it!

2007-08-03T07:39:00.000-07:00

Buona Sera!

Finally we’ve arrived in Viterbo! It was definitely worth all of the headache and stress we experienced while preparing to leave. The trip was relatively uneventful thank goodness, though Eli only slept for 3 hours of the 24 hour epic journey. We’re all in a jet-lagged fog this week, but, ironically, Eli’s handling it better than Sam and me.

Due to the jet-lag we haven’t ventured out much yet, just around town a bit. Viterbo, though an ordinary Italian town by local standards, is beautiful, interesting, and thoroughly authentic to us. The older part of town is considered to have some of the best-preserved medieval architecture in Italy. The rest of the town is still just as picturesque and seems to be mostly of the Renaissance era. Though there is the occasional post-war utilitarian ugliness, which is almost a buzz-kill, is also a nice reminder that this is still a thriving little town.

We live in a beautiful building. It’s definitely old, but we’re not sure how old. No one seems to care how old buildings are around here. When asked, they just answer, “I don’t know… it’s old”. Anyway, our apartment is HUGE - at least when compared to our little bungalow in Rockridge. The ceilings are about twelve feet high, and we have three bedrooms and two baths - plenty of room for visitors (hint, hint). Who would have thought we’d have bigger digs in Italy than America. Go figure. The main rooms overlook the street, and the bedrooms and kitchen overlook the back allies of the medieval section of town.

We’ll take more pictures over the weekend. In the meantime, enjoy these pics of Eli having his first pizza. He loved it!

contact info and skype

2007-07-26T20:39:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Here is our first post on the blog that we hope to keep going while we are abroad. We are still in Oakland, and we just returned from a 4 day trip to Phoenix. Eli said goodbye to his aunt and uncle, his grandparents, and his great grandfather. We leave for Rome on Tuesday. In advance of our trip I wanted to give you all the best ways to reach us while we are in Italia. Our mailing address is: School Year Abroad/ Sam and Caroline Savage/ Via Cavour 77/ 01100 Viterbo (VT)/ Italia. We will be checking our Yahoo! mail accounts (shsavage@yahoo.com, savagecaroline@yahoo.com) , and we will be using skype with anyone and everyone who wants to chat.

For those who aren't seasoned skypers, skype is a voice over internet protocol (VOIP) that allows users to instant message, talk to one another, and even video conference live online. It is a free download, it's free to use, and it's mac and windows compatible. We would love for all of you to sign up. I've included a link below. Follow the link , download the program, get a screen name and keep in touch with us over the next year. For the voice and video connections you need a computer that is equipped with a microphone and a video camera. Our screen name is "elicarolinesam". Just search for us once you are set up and add us to your contact list. FYI: you can also pay to use skype as a long distance phone service to call any phone on the planet (more or less) from your computer. We don't plan on using it this way, but I have heard that they have great rates. See you online!

for windows users: http://www.skype.com/download/skype/windows/
for mac users: http://www.skype.com/download/skype/macosx/

Ciao!
the Savages