Finding Valenza
On our last outing in the city of Torin Italy, it was only fitting to do what any true Italian family would do… Look for your family name wherever you can find it! So we punched in Valenza to our GPS and came up with two quick finds. A jewelry store named Valenza’s Gold and a 2 block street named Valenza Ave. Ah, the pride!
Bath and Bubbles!
On my last night in Torin with Grandma gave me a fun bath. She gave me many baths at her house. It was always so fun. She would blow bubbles while I was in the tub! I love my Grandma!
A Day In The Park
What a great way to end our time with Paulo’s parents in Torin. We spent our last day wondering this huge beautiful park full of grassy fields and colorful flowers. The four of us attempted to peddle our way up windy hills in a monster bike that allowed for all of us to ride. Amira took advantage of running freely, walking in the streams, and watching the duckies. We all had a great day relaxing and enjoying the sun along with each others company. All this made for some fantastic pictures!
So Much More To Torino
After resting up from our family road trip, we thought it might be a good idea to take advantage of what Torino has to offer. We gotta admit, at first neither of us were really impressed with the city. After all it was known for being a factory city. We kept asking how could this be a city where the Winter Olympics visited? But after a day exploring, that opinion quickly changed.
First we checked out the National Cinema Museum. Truly amazing. It was built inside the tall dome looking building (the one in the picture above), which Torino is known for. What’s so incredible about this dome is that it is completely hallow. The museum surrounds the outer walls of the building and then the a glass elevator with no shaft takes you up the center to the top for a birds eye view of the city. This elevator ride and the view is just as impressive as the museum itself.
Next we visited the Egyptian Museum, which my mom was real excited to see. Great place but they really need a/c throughout the place. The rest of the day we wandered the streets and took photos of all the amazing building and plazas. Definitely a nice day.
All Roads Lead To Rome
So if you know Paulo at all by now, you will know that it is impossible for him to be in close proximity to any major historical city without attempting to convince everyone to continue on for a visit. When we were 200 km from Cairo he just had to press on - and so with Rome. But who can blame him. As it turns out, it felt right for everyone as well.
We pulled in with the goal to see as much as we could in one evening. So, right after parking the car we grab a sight seeing bus that gave us a quick look at the major sights in Rome. Karin and Amira listened to the history lesson provided by the buss while Frank and Paulo took as many pictures as they could. What a fascinating city. It was so worth the quick glance.
After leaving the city we drove back to Torino. At 3:30am with two hours left in our journey, we were blessed with a flat tire. Gotta love road trip!
Art Center of Italy - Florence
After leaving Pisa, we headed to Florence. At first I’m not sure if any of us were that impressed with the city. It seemed to simply be a tourist trap and an expensive one at that. While the ladies all stayed back at the hotel, the men decided to wonder the streets of Florence at night. This changed everything. To our surprise, the city center just lit up with lights, life, and live music.
We enjoyed taking pictures of the great architecture and incredible statues which surrounded the city. Artist drew perfect replicas of Mona Lisa on the sidewalks and orchestras performed free concerts for the public. carousels gave children rides and opera singers sung arias as if they had just been written.
While we did walk through the famous art museum, we really were not that impressed. If you are into seeing two stories of art with Mary in it, than it’s the place for you.
And how could we leave out one of the greatest moments in the city was being able to hook up with Geoff and Erica Moulton once again. We went out to a great Mexican restaurant. Unfortunately after our night with them in Florence we ended our stalking of the Moultons.
Leaning Towards Pisa
After enjoying a bit of nature, we were on the road for Florence. So how could we not make a quick stop by the famouse Leaning Tower of Pisa. And guess what? They are right. It’s leaning!
Anyways, were are some great pictures from this sight.
The Coastline of Cinque Terra
Starting of our road trip with our parents, we decided to head south-east from Turino straight to an area called Cinque Terra. It’s a scenic coastline of 5 little towns connected by train or nature paths for hiking. We mainly did the train for riding up and down the coastline but between two of the towns we decided to walk. What an amazing view!
If you are ever in Italy, make sure you check this place out. Especially if you enjoy being out around nature. What made the leg of this trip real special was that we were able to hook up with our friends Erika and Geoff Moulton, former teachers at ASK in Kuwait. They now are in Hong Kong and love it. While Paulo was in London, he was able to hook up with them for dinner while they were traveling through Europe. During the dinner, they discovered that Italy and Cinque Terra were both on the couples agendas, so why not hook up! What a great time! We are hoping to stock them a bit more along the trip, maybe we can meet up in Florance.
Geoff kept saying how impressed he was with my Mom and how she could walk so well with just haveing had a dual hip replacement this year! And she did. She can put some speed on those things!
Cooking Italian
After Karin and Amira arrived in Torino, my parents arranged for some Italian friends of theirs to come over and cook Italian food for us. Karin helped out in the kitchen trying to pick up on some of the secrets of the trade. We had some food with all proper Italian courses: Antipasti of wine, cheese, sausage and crackers along with figs; Primo course was a great pasta; Secondo of rabbit, (which Paulo had a real hard time with considering he has had 2 pet rabbits sorry Thumper and Floppy); and a light Dolce of fresh watermelon, the reddest we have ever seen, along with a sweet digestive (after drink commonly served).
Antonelo and his girlfriend, Donatella, were so kind to us. They bought all the food and wine and stayed past midnight chatting with us.
Visiting my Grandparents in Italy
Yesterday mommy and I arrived in Torino, Italy to spend some time with my grandparents. This was a good day ’cause I also got to be with my daddy again after two weeks of him being gone in London. Actually, I don’t really remember my grandpa even though I guess he visited me in Kuwait when I was just a couple of months old. But this was a special week because I was meeting my grandma for the very first time! She’s really nice to me.
Today Grandpa and Grandma gave me two gifts. A big yellow tent with a tiger on it and a tape player with two microphones attached. I love playing with both. It took me a while to figure out how to use the tent and that I can put all of my other toys in it. And I love singing into my mics. It’s fun being at my grandparent’s place.
Postcards of Italia
Romance, pizza, and gelatto ice cream… and we’ll add Karin’s favorite - shopping! These are just a few of the fond memories we had while staying in Venice for our fifth anniversary.
Five days of pure relaxation. Roaming the city, laying out on the beach at Lido, and taking an expresso break here and there was basically the sum of our vacation.
Never did the feeling end that maybe we were really stuck in postcard of Venice.
The Magic of Venice
Romance, pizza, and gelatto ice cream… and we’ll add Karin’s favorite - shopping! These are just a few of the fond memories we had while staying in Venice for our fifth anniversary.
Five days of pure relaxation. Roaming the city, laying out on the beach at Lido, and taking an expresso break here and there was basically the sum of our vacation.
Never did the feeling end that maybe we were really stuck in postcard of Venice.
