Motorhoming

We just got back from our first adventure in the camper/motorhome, we took off in a rain storm not sure if we should go or not. First thing was the battery for the living area was dead, but luckily I was expecting it and I discoverd the problem before we left the yard. Quick trip to the local auto electrical repair shop near here and we were on our way. Weekend turned out great. Stopped the first night by a lake, parked with a good view, too close to the train tracks but who's complaining, rained off and on all night. Next morning had a little walk after breakfast, then discoverd that 2/3 or more of our water supply was gone, seems we were draing water the entire time we traveled as I forgot that when the battery is disconneted a little selonoid valve opens up and has to be closed manually. At first we couldn't believe how much water we had used in just one night. I filled it up whe we arrived at our final destination - Roverta. I was amazed to find out that driving something so big is not that hard and one can take it most places. In Italy they don't mind if you park in any car parking place and even stay the night. We visited a big WWI war museum in the morning and saw the biggest bell in the world in the afternoon. The bell is dedicated to peace and made from melted cannons. Camped in an open area Sat. night up on a mountain road with a nice view. Seemed to be a meeting place for teens with nothing to do so I was a little nervous sleeping there, all was fine. Today, we took a long hike to see some fossil footprints. Getting to the starting point was interesting as we drove the camper up this very narrow steep mountain road, good Fiat 2,8 l. truck didn't have a problem. Maybe the best part was lunch, one day a week the little restaurant at the end of the road opens. It's kind of a meeting place for ex Alpini, the Alpine Soldiers. Lunch was polenta and stewed beef with pees on the side, hardy mountain food, very good, table wine all you want, I didn't drink but a bit as I had to get the camper back down that narrow road - too bad, then home made struddle, coffee, and grappa all for 10 euro each, they even brought out an extra bit of polenta and stew as Julia and I must have looked like we were still hungry. In the after noon we visited a pretty famous museum of modern art back in town, designed by the architect Mario Botta. The trip back just two hours to Belluno.

Camper Notes

After searching the internet for weeks on end we finally stumbled upon the camper/motorhome of our dreams. Well campers are always a compromise, but we think this one will work for us. It almost fit within our budget. Why get one, well that's the big question. We found that even though we wanted to explore Italy and Europe we weren't doing it. Mainly because with two kids and various weekend commitments we were just not making the plans, reservations, etc. it takes to go away for a weekend. So in the end we stayed home. There is also the cost issue, though it's debatable as to which is cheaper. Now we hope to be able to take off at a moments notice. We will see. The last few days have been spent cleaning, and setting it up. It's pretty much like having a second home, needs all the fixings, plus I like tinkering with things so I've installed some extra 12 volt outlets for the dvd play, phone chargers, and computer, and put in a 240 volt inverter that we already had.

So I will hopefully be posting some tales and photos of fun adventures on the road in Italy and Europe.

Wedding, Airline Flights, Skiing, Spring & A Camper

The last few weeks have been busy. There has been work to do, a new associate architect in San Diego, my daughter Callie's wedding which involved a trip to San Diego and terrible airline connections. The wedding was beautiful as was my daughter, I'll post a reference to the pictures when she gives it to me. The trip home a mess, traffic jambs on the 5 from Carlsbad to LA, rush to the airport, Midway auto rental seems a great company, they drove me right to the airport when I told them I was late rather than make me wait for their shuttle also gave me an upgrade from the basic car I reserved to the top of the line Toyota Avalon, well actually they probably gave away my car, but hey I'm not complaining. Then of course the BA flight was way late in leaving so there was no need to rush. Arrived late in Heathrow had to take a bus to Gatwick, BA doesn't make it easy to find the right bus, you are pretty much left on your own to find your way. Then of course missed the next flight and had to stay over night in a hotel. BA paid for it and dinner and breakfast, and somehow I got upgraded to business class. I could have stayed all day in the business class lounge, very nice. In some ways the trip wasn't so bad it's just that I left on Wednesday and got home on Friday.

Now it's Spring here in Belluno, we had a big snow one morning last week, the whole town was covered with a few inches in the morning and by night time it was all gone. I want to make one last ski day or two so we will try tomorrow, no one wants to go but me. Oh well I'm making them go anyway. And finally we have committed to buying a camper, found a good deal and gave a deposit so we will pick it up this week. We have spent countless hours looking on the internet and were getting tired of it all, but finally the one we think is perfect for us turned up and we got a good deal on the price.

So now we will enter the world of camper touring, autocaravans, they call them here. It's funny in some ways I've wanted one since I was about 14 taking a vacation with my family up through the Owen's Valley in California with a small travel trailer. The first motor homes which were really just a trailer mounted on a truck bed, were going by us and I thought that must be the totally perfect way to go. I've found out that in Italy and France there is an organization that has gathered a list of farms which let campers stay free for one night. I'm anxious to try that, as it seems an inexpensive way to get more in touch with the countryside.

Blog Links

I will put a link on this blog to anyone who links to here, unless it's totally offensive. Mostly I'm just returning a favor. I don't tend to read other blogs that much, just don't have the time. But it does seem that there is a wealth of good stuff written on many of them. Maybe if I had more time, but then one tends to get too buried in the internet, too connected online and not enough offline. Probably my two little ones are getting to know the back of my head better than the front. Random thoughts I guess.

Finally, if you link to me and I don't link to you then send me your link and I will link it. Or send me an email and I will link you. One good link deserves another.

Birthdays

Today is my wife Luisa's birthday. What has happened to birthdays, they used to be so important and what a difference between the way they seem to Italians vs Americans. Even on my birthday many of the Italian relatives, all mine only by marriage, call me some even give gifts. But on the American side, it seems most people are too caught up in the day to day struggle to remember. What makes the difference, I don't know. Are Americans more self centered or is life just that much harder there, or is it the difference in attitudes about family in general.

Today a Message

Today, Luisa and I went skiing, the weather was perfect, the snow ok. I think I'm a good skiier which at the end of the day today almost proved my downfall. Luisa was tired so she rested while I took one more run. I went down a black run, the snow was slushy and full of bumps, things were great, my skiis love this kind of snow. I sit back and a let the tips ride up a bit just do nice turns through the slush and mush. At some point I'm going pretty fast along the edge of a narrow run, I'm having a good time. When all of a sudden something goes wrong. I loose it, I can't turn, I'm heading towards the edge of the run out of control. There is only one thing left to do that's sit down and hope for the best. I see a big orange fence with a smaller one in front of it. I think ok, I'll just crash into it. I do. I stop. Then I look down I'm over the edge of a very steep hill full of big trees. My skiis tangled in the two fences, my body a few feet down the steep slope. I can't get up, I'm stuck in the fence and on the edge. Someone stops, asks if I'm ok, yes I say but HELP! I hand him the end of my ski pole ask him to pull me up, another guy arrives, one of the workers skiing down with a shovel. He grabs my other arm and the two of them pull me up. Then the nice guy who works there takes off my skiis and gets them out of the fence. I finally get up and thank everybody put on my skis feeling embarassed about the whole episode and ski on down.

I tell Luisa the story when I see her, she's a bit angry with me saying I take too many chances. I say you're right, and maybe God sent me a little message, a warning to watch what I'm doing.

Tonight I'm working at the computer, Luisa brings me a glass of wine. I think that's such a simple pleasure and so nice.

Bruschetta Salad

Here's a quick idea invented by Luisa tonight. Make a nice salad, her's had lettace, a few odds and ends some boiled egg, chunks of cheese, and tuna. And she made a dressing of prepared pesto thined down with olive oil. Toast a large slice of fresh bread. Rub the toasted bread with a clove of garlic, drizzle olive oil on the bread add a little salt. Then top with the salad, more olive oil and the some of the pesto sauce. Salt and Pepper to taste. Good!!

Giovanni's Frist Ski Race

Up until Friday he insisted he didn't want to race, but then he changed his mind. So this was the last one of the season for his ski club. After the races they put on a nice BBQ for the families.

Pictures and more pictures

Here is where we post pictures of some of our activities mostly in Italy. Have a look http://picasaweb.google.com/home

The New Catholic Confession system

Well I think it's funny. So have a look. A friend sent it to me.

Ski Lessons

Well Giovanni is back at the ski lessons. He's 6 remember. It's dry here, out our window we can see the slope he is skiing on, too far away to see him. We arrive at the parking lot at 1:15, it's warm for here, clear sky. A couple other cars are there with kids waiting for the bus. Ours is all decked out in his very professional looking ski suit, it's mostly bright orange which I thought was a great color for him, very visible kind of like these vests they make you put on if your car breaks down on the road here. When we ski together my greatest fear is that he will get hit by another skier so I think the suit helps.

We wait I'm sitting on the open back of our car, other kids arrvive, some of the girls are in a racing class so they have on these tight racing suits with baggy shorts over them. They are cute and very serious looking. Eventually the bus arrives, Giovanni's friend from school is sick so he gets on the big bus by himself, probably he's the youngest on the bus. We stand back and watch the bus leave, thinking he looks so small on such a big bus. Luisa wonders if he isn't too young to go off like that by himself. But I think back to the day before when I picked him up after the lesson, he was proud of himself for having bought and received the proper change for a small box of candy from a vendor who parks at the ski area selling stuff to all the kids. He seems to return with more confidence in himself than when he left. Says his instructor calls him by his last name Helm, it's cute. I can just hear it, "hey Helm, move your butt, Helm stop going off the edge of the run, hey Helm ---

Polenta

Here is the way I make it:

Mix at a ratio of 1 cup of polenta (corn meal) to 3 cups of cold water in a pot like you would use to boil pasta. I find mixing in cold water avoids the lumps as most receipes tell you to put the polenta into boiling water. Bring the mix to a boil, then that's right stir for half an hour or so, if you are adept you can do other things along the way. The polenta is done when you have a nice think mixture that pulls away easily from the side of the pot. When almost done ad some butter, salt and some gratted cheese. You can serve as is or top with lots of things, like a nice meat and gravy. Or fry up some sausages with some sauteed onions, pour the polenta onto a big round platter, put the sausage and onions and all the greasy drippings on the middle of the polenta, top with grated cheese, meat eaters love this. Save the left over polenta in a square dish put it in the fridge and it will firm up then you can slice it and grill it.

Here there often these little festivals they call Sagras, they are usually at a church or some other organization. The main thing they do is serve food. Polenta in always on the menu along with grilled pork chops, sausages, and sausage patties and sometimes a type of stu or goolash made with deer meat. And of course beer and wine. They cook the polenta in huge copper pots set on a wood burning device. Somehow it always tastes better that way.

Winter

It's a bright sunny day here, and even though the mountains all around us are full of snow, we don't have any. Maybe it's a false break but it seems like Winter is ending all ready. I'm a little frustrated because we haven't gotten any good use out of our ski passes. First there was no snow, then Christmas and New Years, then various bouts of sicknesses. Now we are almost well, and hoping to get in some Winter activities before it's too late. At least Giovanni is back in his ski class today. He missed last week. Seems he really enjoyed being of school a week even if he had to get the flu to do it. I was a struggle getting him to go yesterday.

Being Sick

Wow, we got zapped, the whole family has been sick for a week now and it seems we have at least a few more days of it. It's never really happened before that we were all down at the same time. Of course Luisa and I have not really been down, with kids to tend and work to do we've been stumbling around trying to keep up. We had a project to finish and one to get started on as the first had been waiting for a while and the later was getting nervous. This thing we have is I think the worse I've had since moving here, that all over achy feeling, fever, runny stuffy nose, sore throat and a dry cough. Only Julia has had the vomiting, that lasted 2 or 3 days, she is now ahead a bit on getting better.

The weather has been bad along with our health this last week, cold rainy, overcast. Misery loves company so I don't mind at least we don't feel the urge to be outside. This is a 4 day weekend and we had made reservations to go skiing part of the time, well obviously that got cancelled.

We are thinking of buying a motorhome/camper. It's been a big debate, the idea is to use it to tour around Europe and Italy and even take some extended time away wherever we can be in contact by the internet and keep up with our work. All we really need is the internet and a computer, so we might be anywere and keep working. Sounds good in theory at least. European motorhomes if you don't know are much more compact than the US variety, though the cost of fuel is still a big issue.

Waiting to see who gets the nods on super Tuesday, seems Obama is picking up a lot of steam and may take it for the Dems. He got my vote. On the Republican side I always thought they were supposed to be conservatives, but I don't see a conservative candidate other than Ron Paul who has a lot of appeal, but no chance. We shall see it's going to be an iteresting year for politics in the US, it can go in a new drection or follow the same path to self destruction that it has been following these last years.

Taking the kids to school

The best way we have found to get them out of bed in the morning is to turn on the tv to one of the kids programs. I turn it on at 6:45 after getting up myself. I first turn on the heat, the computer and start making our daily pot of American style coffee. We buy beans and grind them fresh every morning, a habit we formed in California. It's just the we can't really find the quality of coffee we like here. We have settled on Lavaza gold, it's 100% arrabica. I prefer Colombian. Julia who is 8 comes stomping up the stairs like a lumberjack as soon as she hears the tv and Giovanni 6 usually takes a bit of mommy time to get out of bed. At 7:20 the tv goes off and by then they are supposed to also be dressed. We really have a routine, every morning I wonder how long I can keep it up, it just seems so boring to do the same thing everyday and also to be obligated to do it. I've become spoiled over the years working independently and not having a fixed schedule. Now that the kids are both in regular school things have changed.

Luisa has the pleasure of a few minutes extra sleep and often gets hot coffee delivered to her in bed. While the coffee brews I begin to check the email and read some news on the Internet, usually starting with antiwar.com. Don't know what I'll do if the war in Iraq ever ends. Once she is up Luisa pays the price for having had a bit of extra bed time. She gets the kids dressed and fed and puts up with all the typical morning stress. In the meantime I get myself dressed, always wondering if I should actually put on real clothes or not since I'll be working at home all day. At 7:45 I get myself downstairs, our apartment is on two levels, and start telling the kids that we are late and why aren't they ready. So I wait while Julia gets her hair brushed, puts in her lip bumper, finally gets her shoes on and then the coat, Giovanni is usually ready as Luisa is still getting him dressed.

Finally we head out the door, now if by some slim chance we are out in time we can walk, however it's usually too late so we have to take the car. We descend down three flights of stairs into an underground garage. It's big and dark and always cold. A little creepy. The automatic light doesn't come on until we reach the far end. The one at the entrance has not been working for a while. Getting out of the garage is always a challenge, Italian parking lots, and garages are just barely big enough to function. I've tried the two directions to turn when backing out and have finally gotten it down to 4 turns if I go to the left on the first one. We drive up the ramp and then to the electric gate which opens shall I say slowly. Driving down the private street to the main road I always think someone should put up some no parking signs as they have turned a two way street into one way by parking on one side. So if we happen to meet an oncoming car someone has to back up so the other can pass. At least people seem pretty friendly about it and whomever has the easiest back up possibility usually backs up. When we reach the main road which actually leads directly the school there is usually a line of cars waiting for the stop light that is two blocks away, but once again people are pretty nice and we enter the line after someone lets us in.

Arriving at the school once again we are dealing with the typical Italian parking situation. Some parents just let their kids out the door and then move on turning around a sort of circular drive. While others me included like to park and escort the kids inside. So of course it takes a bit of maneuvering to find a place and then park. The school building is a semicircular structure, with I think 6 floors. The upper levels are mostly empty and contain small dorm rooms as the school was originally a live in school for boys only. It seems they use the rooms in the summer for groups and also there are a few residents. I met one and gave him ride one morning. His sad story is that he attends a high school about 15 minutes away and lives in the dorm. He had missed the bus that morning. Only problem is that I see him begging rides almost every morning so it seems he doesn't make much effort to catch the bus. An interesting bit about the school, it's a private catholic school, is that it is named after a first cousin, 4 or 5 times removed of Luisa's. Seems the ol girl who had no children of her own donated all of her money to the church in her dying days. This was much to the disappointment of her close relatives who might have wished to have the money and property.

But now we are entering the school, there is an outer door, with a paper note asking people to keep the door closed, because the facility is heated, attached to the glass panel in one of the doors. Inside the entry a nice lady is usually there greeting the kids and keeping an eye on things. In this little lobby there is a bank of telephone booths now abandoned which I suppose were used in the past by the resident students to call home and their friends. We say good morning to the nice lady and pass through the second door into a large semicircular hallway, with a very high ceiling. At one end of the hall is the school chapel. At the other are the stairs and hallway going to the various classrooms. Giovanni is on the first level above, Julia the next above that. In the hallways outside the classrooms each room has a row of benches and above the benches are hooks with the names of each student. They put their little bags of extra clothes on the hooks and also their coats and hats. Under the benches are their cubby holes where they keep their slippers. Each child at the beginning of school brings in a pair of slippers which they put on before entering the class room. We usually arrive at the last minute as the classes are heading upstairs, so my kids go charging off hardly saying good bye unless I grab them for a last minute kiss. On the rare occasion that we are there early, they meet their friends and chat or show off some little thing or toy they are smuggling into class. The parents too have a moment to chat and complain about the weather or tell stories about which kids are disrupting the class or what the latest thing is that they don't like about the school.

Some days we actually walk to school. Of course this happens more in the warm months. The walk follows the same path as the car. The kids usually complain if they have to walk but once they start they seem to have fun, running to the next intersection to wait for me or skipping and jumping along the side walk. I always remind them to watch out for the dog poop along the edge of the sidewalk, and tell myself I really need to post some signs telling people how bad it is to take their dogs there to dirty the place where we all walk. We get to the main intersection and push the button for the pedestrian signal on the stop lights. We wait, then when the pedestrian sign goes on I grab Giovanni to make sure he doesn't charge out into the street as there will often be a late right turning car. We walk along past shops and apartment buildings. We pass a ceramics studio which seems to be dedicated to classes for the handicapped. Usually outside a 30 something man waits to be let in. Sometimes I say good morning to him but he never replies, just stares at us as we pass. We arrive at the school and thread ourselves through the maze of the parking and drive through area. We enter, say good morning to the nice lady and the kids go running up the stairs, late as usual.

The Pencil

Is this an Italian trait, I don't know. But this is how it goes. My Italian wife, and architecture partner has a habit of grabbing the pencil out of my hand whenever she wants to talk when we are having a joint design session. Now for me if I have a pencil or any other object in my hand no one has permission to take it away from me. In fact I get really irritated if they do.

So we are doing an addition for her brother who lives in Canada, he has been here in Italy and we have had several design sessions with the three of us. What I noticed is that he and his sister grab the pencil back and forth from each other as each starts to talk or point to something in a sketch. This is in spite of the fact that I made several sharpened pencils available sitting there on the table. It seems that symbolically the pencil determines who has the floor for the moment.

Westward In The USA

I've started a new blog where I will be posting bits and pieces, stories, from the history of my family in the US. It starts around the time of the Mayflower and continues moving on Westward to California. I think it's interesting in that those little pieces give a picture of the common man, in the history of the US.

Sometimes I feel that my moving to Italy is in a way a continuation of that Westward movement. We went as far West as we could, so I had to finally go somewhere.



http://westwardintheusa.blogspot.com/



Have a look and let me know what you think.



John

Switzerland Holiday with Erin

School Christmas Program

I've put up a little Youtube video of the kids singing and here are a couple of pictures. I've seen a lot of these Christmas programs over the years and these here are pretty typical of the ones in the US.

Life in Italy

What is it like living here. Maybe I should write a little about our life in general here, and also compare it to how our life was in the US. To a great degree it's not so different. In part because the daily routine wherever one lives has certain common elements, kids off to school, work, preparing meals, making order in the home, etc. One major difference here from San Diego of course is the weather. There the temperature did not vary that much from month to month but here of course it does, we have real seasons here. Another big difference is the amount of time we spend in the car. We have carried some of our California habits with us, so we tend to take the car and go to the grocery store for example that is 10 minutes away where they have a bigger selections and lower prices than the store we can walk to. And we buy for a week rather than going every day like Luisa's mom does. However, even so a tank of gas lasts us 2 or 3 weeks at least where as on our recent trip to San Diego we filled up the gas tank 4 times in two weeks.

Where we live the city, Belluno, is nice but it is not one of the prettiest of Italian cities. What makes it beautiful here are the surroundings, we are surrounded by mountains, forests, rivers and beautiful valleys. In every direction from here there are lots of outdoor activities. Of course in Winter the sport is skiing.

I will make this a bit of a running commentary, so I'll write more later.