in the last couple of days we've:
wednesday:
we explored stroncone on our own, taking lots of pictures of cool doors, walls, and so much more! it is so much fun to see what the kids "see". carlee is excited by rocks, plants, and animals. kyle, allora (well), ANIMALS!! he has more pictures of cats, dogs, chickens, pigeons...i worry that when we get home, he won't remember what ITALY looks like...LOL! me, i'm drawn to old people. i love the fact that the older women are still so dressed up...heels, stockings, beautiful jewelry...and they walk everywhere with their bags of groceries, or other things. it is what i imagine italy to be.
later that day we spent time with max, cris, and fedi. the kids are so funny to watch. fedi speaks little english, my kids speak MINIMAL italian, yet they are able to play and communicate very well! playing is the same in any language!
to end our night, cristiana took us into terni to shop. sis was in her 'happy place'...she ended up with beautiful italian boots, many outfits, and jewelry. she loves cristiana so much, she wants to be just like her...so the outfits she bought reflect cris' style. max is kyle's 'style role model', liking his zip sweatshirts and boots, so, his purchases were of the same look. i decided that i like fedi's look...sweatshirts and sweatpants, but no one would let me dress like that! instead i ended up with a couple of pairs of pants and a nice sweater.
thursday:
the day started with working on homework with the kids. it's hard to keep them focused with the excitement of the town around us, but, we are pushing slowly through the many assignments that were sent with us. after an hour of homework, we met max in the square, and we took off for our adventures for the day.
we headed to the top of the mountain...to where marmore falls begins. this is a manmade falls (we will see the falls in action next week), that was built by the romans. the reason they 'split the mountain' was because one valley was always being flooded, and the other valley was very dry. they diverted the path of the river to change the conditions to be more equal on each side of the mountain. the falls are 'turned on' certain days, and we will see that next weekend.
on to piediluco, a small village on a lake. we stopped and took pictures there, and ate a nice lunch of peppery prosciutto ham and crusty bread sandwiches. sis couldn't get the sandwich in her mouth, so max had to squash it flat for her. the proprietor of the shop had ALOT to say in italian to max, and we later found out that he was quite intoxicated and just rambling...it was really quite funny.
off to labro to see a 'real castle'. honestly, if i could have lived in any time period, it would have been the time of the renaissance! so, to satisfy me, max took us to see a real castle with a prince that still lives in it. i love the protectant walls, the huge doors, the square, then the interior door. max was explaining that the reason for the double doors was if the invaders were able to permeate the first set of doors, the villagers could 'trap' the invaders in the square with the second set of doors. once they were trapped, then the villagers were able to pour hot oil on them or throw stones, or whatever else they could at the invaders. another good reason to not be an invador during the renaissance!! more pictures, exploring, and enjoying the beauty that is italy...
next we headed to the narni underground. narni is a medieval village that battled with stroncone for almost 500 years. narni has a wonderful treasure...the narni underground! 20 or so years ago, roberto and his friends were just teenagers and they discovered a crack in the ground that gave them a glimpse of something special inside. that discovery changed their lives forever! they have been excavating this site and have discovered a dominican church that had been buried for centuries. thanks to max and his connections, we were able to tour the underground with roberto! once inside, we were able to go in the small church, where it is an active 'dig', saw bones that have been discovered, as well as the altar and the stunning frescos that time has preserved. farther into the underground is another room that houses the invention 'gamba' which is a device that helped the romans make straight lines as well as 90 degree angles. this instrument aided in the creation of aquaducts, intersections, and building of walls that would protect the cities. yet deeper into the underground we came to one of the sites of the Holy Inquisition..the torture room. within this room is a 'rack' used to stretch it's victims, stock's, and other devices of torture. the kids were in shock that the dominicans used these when questioning people accused of crimes and heresy.
suddenly...mom didn't seem so mean in their eyes!! LOL. Then we were shown the prison with the stories of those held there carved into the wall for eternity. such a cool moment for the kids to see that things occurred in the 1700's could still exist. the history of this and so many other places is simply AMAZING!
we ended the evening by heading to a wonderful pizzeria, run by a man from napoli (naples). we had a variety of different pizza's. i am so proud of kyle...he tried everything that was brought to the table: octopus, clams, EVERYTHING! he is such a great 'explorer' and i was very very proud of him.
OH, and the most exciting thing for carlee was...
SHE LOST A TOOTH IN ITALY! she left her tooth in a glass by her bed, and in the morning a little mouse will leave her money...we'll have to see if the story is true..
another wonderful day!
h,k,c
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