A little Old...A little New

As we were going to Rome with my sister and her family we looked out the train window and saw this ancient Roman aqueduct. It is beautiful and majestic after all these years.

Meanwhile, back in modern times...Here is my sister, Nancy, and her family.

Maggie decided Olivia's scarf was a cape so she zoomed up and down the train platform letting it billow out behind her...

Super Maggie!

Mother's Day 2010

The traditional breakfast in bed for Mother's Day. Eileen got up before six to make the cinnamon rolls. The night before Olivia made shrimp pasta with a great olive oil, lemon and peppercini sauce. The girls were most pleased that we do not have a garden here in Italy because I have a history of asking for 30 minutes of slave labor in the weeding of said garden as my Mother's Day gift. Instead we went up to the Palace at Casserta and wandered through their gardens. It was a perfect day...except Rick and Rachael were in different parts of the globe and not able to be with us. Olivia is making a video which she will post on her FB page. Check it out!

Missin' My Man Already!

See this cutie? Well we took him to the airport this morning. I am missing him already. Rick is flying to Texas to see his brother, Rob, who is leaving for a tour in Afghanistan in a few months. Rob is a chaplain in the army. Rick will join the rest of his family for a mini reunion. Hope they have a lot of fun but can't wait to have him back with us.

Rick and I at Castle San Angelo in Rome... I will tour anywhere with him. He can get us anywhere. He is great with map reading...I prefer to hail a cab.

Waiting for the wine!!! at a Rome restaurant... After trudging all over the city we rewarded ourselves with a great Roman meal. I think the walking tired him out and he is waiting for nourishment!

Here he is waiting at the train station after walking all over Rome. Love that smile! Too bad you can't see the long pony tail! I LOVE his long hair!

We love you Daddy Rick! Can't wait to see you next week!

Olivia's Trip To Berlin

Olivia's class took an architecture and art history trip to Berlin! She had a blast revisiting familiar sights. Here she is in front of the Brandenburg Gate...

Her old school...

The street we used to live on...

Leslie, this is for you! Ye Old Bio Gut containers!

Fishing on the Trani Breakwater

This is my sister, Nancy. She visited with her family and we did a lot of different things. One of them being to go fishing! Trani is a fishing port and there are boats that leave here in the evenings and return in the mornings full of fish from the Adriatic. Lots of local anglers fish from the shore too so we decided to join them. Nancy sat down and this cute kitty came out of the rocks on the breakwater to make friends.

Fredrick tried his hand at the sport. Lots of schools of fish but they didn't like the shrimp we used for bait.

Here is Bill giving it a try.

Ms. Maggie was busy making feline friends.

Under the red buoy is a guy searching the rocks for octopus. The buoy is so boats will see there is someone down there and not run them over.

Bikes Take Over Trani

This morning we heard this weird police whistle around 10:00 when we looked out the windows we saw the motorcycle police followed by these military guys in camouflage with large black feathers in berets leading a bike parade! This is what we saw from the window...

Bikes up the street as far as you can see...

Bikes down the street as far as you can see. They were mostly families, nothing professional.

Some wore the green hat of whatever organization was sponsoring the ride, some wore helmets and some wore nothing at all to protect their heads from the hot sun or the hard concrete!

Happy May Day - Flowers

Happy May Day! The schools are closed, the stores are closed, there will be parades and fireworks. It is a fun time to be alive. One of the things I love about May Day is the abundance of flowers that you see in the country. Spring is a special time of year.

You have seen this picture of the poppies before but as I drive back and forth to Corato to take the girls to school the olive orchards and road sides are covered in red. The poppies are everywhere. I love seeing them.

This was a field beside an old wall in Rome. It had three types of flowers that looked beautiful and soft against the old wall.

Here are the various colors of my lemon/lime tree.

And here is a lone flower from our beach hike. What a lovely surprise to stumble upon a dab of beauty.

From the Writer's Almanac May 1: Like many of our modern holidays, May Day has its roots in ancient, pagan celebrations.

Beginning in the third century B.C. in Rome, the festival Floralia, for the goddess Flora, was held in the days around May Day, April 28th to May 3rd. Flora was a goddess of flowers and fertility, and the festival was held to please her so that she protected flowers and other blossoming plants. There was a circus and theater performances, there were prostitutes and naked dancers, and a sacrifice to the goddess. Deer and goats were let loose to symbolize fertility, and beans and lupines were scattered for the same reason. Romans usually wore white tunics, but during Floralia, they got to wear bright colors. Although Floralia wasn't instituted until the third century B.C., it evolved from an ancient celebration of spring and fertility traditionally held at that time.