Sunday: Arrived
Monday: Makena beach
Tuesday: Hyatt bird show and beach
Wednesday: La perusa wildlife preserve snorkeling, saw a spotted eagle ray
Thursday: Aquarium
Friday: Whale watching, Lahaina
Saturday: Farmers market
Christmas Card
We are two days from Christmas and although getting Christmas Cards out has been on my mind, it just hasn’t happened. So for this year, we are doing it by email.
Happy Holidays! or as they say in Italy “Buone Feste”! We are thoroughly enjoying our time here in Italy and cannot believe how fast it seems to be going by. This year for Christmas we will be staying home, so if you have Skype, turn it on and give us a call! We’d love to hear from everyone.
(Click on photo to see it bigger, cuz you know you want to see us closer!)
A quick review of our year:
* Jen and Jonah made a trip to Utah/Idaho to visit family before the big move
* Moved from Fort Meade Maryland to Vicenza Italy in April
* Jonah turned two in May
* Trip to Rome
* Jen and Jonah went to Ukraine to see Elder Woodbury before he headed home
* Trip to Germany
* Jen’s cousin Aneesa comes to visit for three months, lot’s of traveling with her including Switzerland, Tuscany, Germany and local towns like Venice, Verona and many many more.
* Trip to Monaco to see the world’s best fireworks
* Got a pet bird at the market and named him Charley
* Stayed home in December due to unexpected car troubles
But the best part of our year has been learning so much about the Italian language, culture and of course, food. Sometimes we get a little homesick for familiar things but then we start planning our next outing and we feel much better. We have realized that three years really is a very short amount of time and it is flying by!
Adventures in tune up land
This December, fate has decided that we get to spend our time quietly at home. No grand adventures this month due to our previously reliable car being in the shop, the shop making it worse and paying for a rental car for us while they made it better. Hopefully it’s better now. Meanwhile, we made no plans due to uncertainty.
But it has been nice to spend some time at home. We got a Christmas tree from a local garden store and put it in a pot with soil (instead of using a tree stand) just like the locals.
Sexy and he knows it
Jonah’s sexy and he knows it. This video is the proof. Grandparents, be warned, there’s graphic child cuteness coupled with slightly inappropriate music. If anyone’s seen the music video for LMFAO’s Sexy & I Know It you’ll know exactly why this is so funny.
Bonamini Olive Oil
Not too long ago, Jen, Jonah and I all got to go to an olive grove / olive oil factory. Bonamini oil is a very fine olive oil company that deals solely in extra virgin (meaning oil from the first pressing of the olives). The tour was extremely interesting. They waste absolutely nothing. After the pressing is finished, the olive waste and natural by-products are used as fertilizer. Even the pits get used as fuel to heat the homes of the workers. After we toured the factory we got to taste test. Usually at the markets, to taste test oils you put it on pieces of bread, but here they had us taste it out of tiny cups to really get the flavor. Both Jen and I had to work hard not to gag. Jonah though loved it and wanted more after every tasting. The lady who was giving us the samples was rather astonished. Anyway, all around it was quite a good time!
Making faces
Nice & Moncao
Last weekend we headed to Monaco for the world’s best fireworks set to music. Monaco is a micro country of only 33,000 people. Most of them are very wealthy. It is built on a horseshoe shaped bay along the French Riviera that is filled with beautiful yachts. The Monte Carlo casino is in Monaco, where the rich go to gamble. The fireworks are for Monaco’s independence day, they have a competition over the summer and whoever wins gets to do the display in November.
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| Monte Carlo Casino |
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| Carnival in Monaco |
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| Even the little boats are HUGE |
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| “we are the champions…..” |
Monaco is extremely expensive so we stayed in Nice, France. It’s just a short bus ride to Monaco from there so it worked really well. Nice is also along the French riviera and is home to the famous Promenade D’Anglais (walk of the English). A lovely walking path along the beach. We walked aaaaall day exploring Nice, it was nice. We took the touristy train tour to get a feel for the layout and main sights and then we just soaked it all in and ended the day with some yummy buttery French food and Creme Brulee.
Giving Padova a second chance
We live in the province of Padova, near the city of Padova. I’ve only been there once though and it was a total failure. In fact I’m pretty sure we got a ticket there for entering the “zona traffico limitato” which is basically a downtown area where only local cars and buses are allowed. The tickets take about 6 months to catch up with you though so you don’t know until you’ve pretty much forgotten about it. We just got our first one the other day…hoping there aren’t too many more. This place is a little confusing at first. Anyways…Aneesa wanted to go to Padova, so I gave it a second chance. We took the train since driving there is super confusing. And you know, I was pleasantly surprised. I might actually like Padova…
They have a pretty cool church and some neat squares. It definitely has a more industrial feel to it overall, but there are still some pretty parts.
Padova is famous for their food markets. Every morning in the vegetable square and the fruit square there is lot’s of veggies and fruits for sale. There is also a hallway with a meat market.
Padova is home to the oldest University in the world. Instead of having big graduation ceremonies they pop them out one at a time. After they graduate they get to come outside the school and put on an outfit of their friends’ choosing and do lot’s of silly embarrassing things while reading off their “life accomplishments” from a poster. Periodically everyone will burst out in a catchy little song (even Jonah was singing it after awhile). It basically says “Doctor, Doctor, you’re just a doctor of the butt”. The whole thing is pretty entertaining and I might have to come back to Padova just to see it again.
My little bug
Jonah was a bug for Halloween this year. He was adorable, he really understood the concept of trick or treating this year too (no they don’t trick or treat in Italy, we went on base to do that 🙂 He ran from house to house and ate candy in between. By the time we got home he was in a sugar coma I think.
Random festivals
I love Europe and their festivals. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Nick and I were downtown having some family photos taken and happened to wander through the mains square only to find a “Eurofest” with booths representing all different countries. We bought a cheesy pretzel from the Germany booth and continued on our way. So wonderful.
