Julia ballet

At the end of the year they have a little test to graduate to the next level. HERE are some pictures.

Lago di Caldonazzo

About an hour from Belluno almost to Trento there
is this nice lake. It has camping and nice beaches.
PICTURES We took our bikes and road around
some then started off on a bike trail that runs
along a river for some 40k. We only did a bit of
it. But in all we including Giovanni who is only 5
did about 22k for the day.

BBQ with friends

In mid June some friends, mostly parents from Julia's school invited us for a BBQ HERE are more photos. Those Italians can get a bit wild especially the three woment siting in the sun.

Camping Bibione

Here a few pictures, our camp was one of the more primitive, we left home in a hurry.

Italian Beaches

We took a short break and did some camping at Bibione Pineda, the beach is long and clean, the water warm, and clean but murky. The location is on the Adriatic about 30 miles or so north of Venice. I've never been a fan of this type of beach as there is no surf and not a lot to do. But I am starting to like them. They are good for the kids as they can play in the water without getting buried in the waves and the warm water makes it comfortable for them. The camp areas are full of pine trees, the one we stayed in has a nice restaurant, clean restrooms that have toilets with actual seats and hot showers. There is a big grocery store and most every night they some sort of entertainment. One of the nicest things is the long boardwalk that connects the city of Bibione with all the camps and resort hotels. It makes a great bike ride.

The week was a full one as we left on Tuesday morning after spending 3 hours packing up all the camping stuff arrived in the early after noon and put up our tent in the wrong place, we mistook a weird looking 3 for a 5, but it worked out and we had a better spot because of it even if we had to leave a day early as the site was reserved by someone else last February. We went to Pradipozzo Saturday. Unpacked the camping stuff and took off for Milan on Sunday with Julia for her orthodontist appointment on Monday. Then on Monday it was back to Pradi, a long drive as there was an hour delay in traffic. Spent another night there and then today back to Belluno. Overall though it was nice, we had some fun at the beach, some good family time both at the beach and in Pradi, and discovered a cheap Chinese restaurant in Milan where the food is good and the portions generous enough.

Now there is the mess to clean up. I have to admit that I'm a bit burned out on camping. The actual camping is fine, it's more the time it takes to pack up, unpack, setup, repack to leave (another 3 hours) and then the unpacking and cleanup at home. We are thinking about buying a travel trailer.

4th of July & Italian Healthcare

We pretty much missed it in fact it was totally ignored here. Were we are we only know of one other American a young mom married to an Italian. So it was hard to get into the spirit. I was hoping we could take the kids to Aviano the big US air force base not far from here as they put on an airshow and some good ol American activities. But I was disappointed to find out that only people with a DOD id card and their guests were allowed in. Seems totally unfair. Someone who happens to work in the kitchen can bring in any person of any nationality, but a US citizen with a US passport represents a danger to the US military. What happeded here.

I've also been absent a bit lately as I found out I have one of those diseases everyone fears, but the good news is that it's at a maybe, hopefully, probably totally curable stage. I'll be having some surgery the first week of September. It's been a couple of weeks of a lot of ups and downs. Living in Italy healthcare is very accessable, but it seems that it also helps to have friends and relatives who work in the system. I thank God for my extended Italian family.