Aperitivo Under the Grape Arbor...

Our first day full day in Orta included a lovely stroll around the lake and appetizers, Italian style, under a massive grape arbor.  Yet again, everything around us was beautiful!!  As previously mentioned, Giovanni has been wonderful guide & friend & the Wright kids can't wait for him to come visit us in Colorado!

Every amazing bottle of Italian wine begins with amazing grapes!

Buon Giorno con Amore Dall' Italia!!

Landing in Milan was a very warm welcome!! We had been cold in London & the temperature was like an Italian kiss as we got off the plane!

Our dear JD Edwards friend, Denise Comoli, greeted us at the airport with bottled frizzante & grapes & drove us 45 minutes outside of Milan to a wonderful storybook fairyland called Lago d'Orta.  Orta, for short.  Our apartment is tucked in along a road that seems as old as time & leads to a lovely piazza with cafes & shops & leaves you truly wanting more, even 2 weeks later!   

After settling into our homey apartment, & allowing our ecstatic excitement of actually being here to truly begin to settle in,  Denise & her engaging 13 year old son Giovanni met us in the piazza & led us to their beautiful home for aperitivos on their terraza that offers stunning views of the lake & Isola San Giulio that you see there in the middle.  Construction on the basilica & convent on that island began in the 6th century! Construction in the village, where we are, began in the 12th century!  I could not stop feeling like I was on a movie set...we walked in and around beautifully cobbled paths that lapped the edges of golden terracotta stucco walls with pots of fire red geraniums, and these lead to more paths, and the old never changed, and it felt like history breathing.  

Giovanni was, and still is, our trusty guide.  We could have wandered for hours & never tired!  Well, we did tire a bit, but only because Orta is a village of  hills.  Don't think there were too many land surveyors in the Middle Ages, so they just cobbled up and over all of it!  Lucky for them it's not at Denver's altitude; it'd be a wicked walk home for the Comoli's!

Roman grainary wheel...actually Roman.  We ARE in Italy, so Roman things here are not necessarily surprising, but Roman things are not the wallpaper of my life, not my normal backdrop, so it was wonderfully surprising & so old!!  Not surprising that it's still there I suppose....way too heavy to be moved!      

We had had an amazing time and as the first evening stars signaled the day's close, with the ever ringing church bells soon after, lights began to twinkle on the far side of the lake and like a gem in its sterling setting, Isola San Giulio does not disappoint and holds the gaze of anyone who stops long enough to appreciate her colors & to drink in the still contentment she offers...  

Not Exactly the Harrod's Experience I was Hoping For...But the Kids Loved Hamley's!

Her Majesty....in Legos!

Paddington Bear!!  Loved these stories!

They wasted no time in this Lego creation!!

Yep.  Telephone Booth is all Legos too!!

If ever there were children who loved Playmobil, it's these 3!!

Compliments of Andrew...

Andrew says:  "I took this picture because it was so big and  made out of really smooth stone.  It doesn't look like the Egyptians I usually see, but I think he was an important one."

Andrew says: "I took this picture because I thought it was a very cool weapon that the Egyptians used.   I have a Playmobil dagger just like it for my pyramid set.  I think that to have a job at Playmobil you have to really know history stuff."

Andrew says: "most people would only see this as a really big fist, but at CC we would call this a really big independent clause!!  Nobody would get that except for CC kids though."  Andrew's referring to one of the hand motions he learned to distinguish the grammatical difference between a dependent &  independent clauses!  This one was for you Mrs. Dornbrier!!   

Through these doors were remarkable panels brought back to the UK from temples, palaces and the like...

There is nothing small about being in this amazing museum!

"Even pillars!  They even have pillars!"

Andrew says: "I thought these were so cool; they're so old and so many interesting designs....patterns too and the Egyptians knew exactly what they said!  Just like on my Playmobil Pyramid set!"

A Most Remarkable Inventory!

Just walking along the rod iron gates surrounding the British Museum, you feel the magnanimity of it all.  The Brits, presumably to the regret of many countries throughout the world, did an amazing job keeping track of all their countless pillages!  I think it's worth noting that the English certainly do not have a monopoly on pillaging; even someone as relatively unread as I can read just a few of ancient history's pages to know that the British only did what every civilization has done since the beginning of time when they were victorious in battle.  The primary difference is that they built a massive & fantastic museum to house it all & invited their public, & all others, in for viewing & learning.  Or at least, this is the case today & has been for much of the modern age.  Perhaps the fact that they were so dominant for so long & so typically victorious in pillaging the very best of what so many cultures produced, has not aided their long term public relations among the international community, but no one can deny that they've certainly done so with compelling style.  And did I mention that admission is free?!  At the risk of sounding Anglo-centric, the reality is that had it not been for the British, the treasures & gems of the world's civilizations would be lost to the world today & most of what we know of our world's history would be lost as well.  There is much to mourn in the suffering & persecution that came as a result of the colonization period, & the above is not intended to dismiss it, but it would be foolish to overlook & miss the world's good fortune that so many of man's collective treasures have been preserved & are available for those who care to seek them out.

On a much lighter note:  Fish & Chips!!  It would be a shame, & foolish on my part to head into the British Museum on grumbling stomachs, so we stopped at this spot on the way & picked up 3 boxes to go, to enjoy on site in the gardens outside the museum.  Kids thought these tables were the coolest: "can we get Union Jack tables for the backyard at our house?!"  

This is a rather tragic picture in my opinion; nonetheless, it is THEE Rosetta Stone!  The real one!!  It's heavily cased of course & there was no way to get a picture without multiple reflections, or at least not for this amateur!  This was also the point when my camera battery was dying, so the camera was acting up too.  Heading into this museum is really a bad time to realize that one's battery won't last!  Such is life.

How in the world does something like this get loaded onto carts, hauled down to a ship, loaded, & then sailed to London, then unloaded, then put on display in their museum, & actually make it through all that in seemingly one piece?!  Impressive.  Just flat out impressive.  The statuary & artifacts seemed endless & all of it is part of the timeline that the kids are learning with their Classical Conversations friends this semester, so it was especially exciting for them to see items made by Egyptians, Minoans, Myceneans, Babylonians, Hittites, those in Nineveh, Kush, the Assyrians, Israelites, Caainites, Phoenicians & countless others!

This is simply one of hundreds on display of course; it's also the last picture my camera took before the battery went completely dead!  It's hard enough for me to pull it together to simply mail domestic packages; how does one send something like this home??!!

Lord Nelson is perched atop the 150 ft. column in the center of Trafalgar Square...last year we enjoyed reading all about how he defeated Napoleon in the sea battle of Trafalgar which ultimately lead to Napoleon's downfall & brought Europe to the end of a defining era.

                   

The National Gallery was fantastic, of course!  Their collections of paintings from so many time periods begged for more of our time, but like so many other wonderful destinations on our list, we were there long enough to be teased & want more!  The kids were especially entertained by the square mimes who followed unsuspecting tourists & put on a show for the rest of us!  Very funny!

Since I wasn't ever driving in it, I loved watching London traffic....taxis & buses, of course, were my favorites.  As an American I know I'm easily entertained: British accents & driving on the wrong side of the road kept me fascinated throughout!!

Goodbye UK!

The Walshes took such good care of us while we were visiting & we loved our time there!  Last Friday Chris drove us to Gatwick airport from where they live in Richmond & knowing how much we'd appreciate it, he drove us by way of the former royal hunting grounds.  Watching from the car window as we wound through this spacious park watching deer & appreciating the open grounds (so unlike London!),  it was fantastic to consider monarchs like Henry the VIII, and Elizabeth I with their entrouge in tow, riding horses in their hunting chases.  It was our last site to see in the UK; we were eager to get to Italy, but truly hope to return to London!  

Goodbye London!!

Ooops!  As I'm about to send these pics to post, I just remembered a separate set of London downloads that are not yet posted....so this is not yet the last London post!!  I'm eager to get current with what we're doing now, but don't have wi-fi access for long enough chunks of time so far.  We'll get there!    

Something Blue...

Couple of chaps headed to the Chapel!  Picture these cuties on a full subway (several of them in fact!) - they got a lot of looks & smiles too. Had to wait on a kind wedding guest to help with the ties - never have learned to do it myself! We took 3 subways & 2 above ground trains & then a taxi to make it to the church on time!  That's a whole lot of travel in suits & dresses!   

Such a beautiful & holy setting to celebrate such a beautiful love, and for me,
such a beautiful reunion...it's been many years since I've had the chance to be with Jessica and her endearing smile and laugh & my heart has been smiling since the day I knew I our logistics would bring us to her wedding!  

For those who don't know Jessica personally (which is most of you!), this picture (though so beautiful of her with handsome groom, Mark) fails to fully capture the heart and soul of this lovely young woman whom I had the delightful pleasure of meeting when she was but a giggling 14 year old!  She was a promising student at the Shalimar Teen Center many more years ago than I care to realize!  And she continued to be a promising student when she set off, the very first in her family, as an undergrad student at UCSB, & then on to complete her MSW (masters degree in social work), & then on to take a job in London, for which I was privileged to write a recommendation.  It was as true then as it is now, that regardless of circumstance, all I have to do is think of Jessica & I cannot keep from smiling!  She is dear to my heart & it is a lavish kindness of the Lord that I was able to be present for her wedding & to celebrate at her reception.  I was thrilled to be with her family; her "little sister" Aura can be seen to Jessica's left in the picture above - she was about 8 when I first met her, and not surprisingly, has grown up to be as lovely a person as her older sister & I'm humbled & happy to have known them both.  Jessica blazed a challenging trail with her life goals & education and Aura & her brother Eric have wisely followed.  Their family is an inspiration & Jessica, your wedding will forever be among my most treasured experiences!

Besides his Daddy, Andrew is my all time favorite dance partner!

Forever the reader!  She found this fading patch of sunshine while the wedding party was busy with pictures, & she soaked it for all it was worth!

Being Seven....

When you're the mother of a seven year old (& most of the ages leading up to it, of course), it's important, & endearing too, to remember to check all pockets before doing laundry....the day's treasures are kept close in such places and it's the dearest way to see into a youngest's growing heart & mind.  His imagination is kept safe there, & it's ready at a moment's notice when being traipsed all over London to see this old place, that old building, this amazing painting, that historic setting...

"Mom, we're good walkers..."

"Mom!!  Pretend I'm calling you!!  You have to answer with your hand...make it look like you answered me!!"

"Look Mom!  It's a chestnut pod - there's chestnuts inside!  I have to save this for my
collection with my acorns!"

"Mom, did you get my picture?  We're wearing the same color jackets, can you see
that in the picture?"

"Mom, they should make a statue of me...London has a big collection of statues..."