Roman blood sport

Posted by Leo. Gladiator fighting was a common thing for the Romans. At first they only had fights when one of their dads died and they sacrificed the dead Gladiator in his honor. Then, people liked the fights and wanted them to occur more often so they had fighting whenever anyone died. People would claim their dad died 20 years ago and they would have a fight. Then there uncle died and more fights.

Under the Coliseum floor

The women watched the fights and most people called them "devils from hell" because they would laugh at a man’s death. The gladiators were famous even though they were the lowest of low. They were slaves. Many the people loved the fights and they had signals for live or kill if a man was going to slay another. Not many children came but, when they did, their mothers and fathers would tell them to yell for the death of a man.

This was known as the Roman blood sport. Many people died in these games and some people entered just for fame and glory thinking it was going to be easy.

When I went to the Coliseum I was shocked by its size and the corridors underground for the Gladiators. I felt bad for the Gladiators fighting one another, you could even fight your best friend. They always wanted a fair fight, 1v1 man to man, with only helmets, shields and a weapon of their choice. That’s all they were allowed to have.

A perfect stay in the city of water

Posted by Elizabeth. After the first day of rain in Venice the sun came out and the water sparkled in full glory. We stayed in a sweet apartment next to the Giardini Bienielle (thank you Anna!) and enjoyed the neighborhood which was free of tourists and has a fun main street lined with shops, restaurants and bars full of locals. 

Venice has a familiar feeling. The water and air feel the same as Seattle. But the architecture, cobblestone streets and meandering canals are magical. 

The boys and I spent an afternoon at the Guggenheim (you can read Leo's post for his opinion of modern art). I love the museum for it's big open rooms and light filled spaces. It doesn't have the heavy feeling of the other palazzos. Yesterday we explored the city. The Jewish ghetto is fascinating. The Jewish people were kept within the small neighborhood for 200 years with guards at the two bridges.  There are four or five synoguogues within a couple blocks. It appears to still be home to an active Hasidic population who were enjoying the sabbath at the fantastic kosher eatery, Gam Gam (we, unfortunately had cranky kids so couldn't stay). 

This morning Griffin and I strolled along the water to the Doges Palace to see the Henri Rousseau exhibit. A very well done collection of his art and others influenced by his style. Frida Khalo, Diego Rivera, Cezanne, Picasso, and Klee were just some of the artists who admired his work. As we were leaving at noon a cacophony of church bells in St Mark's Square surrounded us. We topped the morning off with Italian cappuccino on a sidewalk looking out to the water. 

On the train to Rome now and looking forward to sandal weather. 

 

Even a baby could have done that

Posted by Leo. Here in Venice everything is pretty with canals all over and gondolas going by. Gondolas are skinny long boats that skim on the surface of the water. So far I’ve seen many great sights. At a bookstore there were gondolas used as bookshelves and the door at the back opened up to a canal where you could sit and read at the water side. But when a boat went by you got a little surprise.

We went to the Peggy Guggenheim museum yesterday. There were a few good pieces but I don’t really enjoy art as you know. Compared to the art in the Uffizi museum it was much more modern with just a bunch of splashes of paint. There was one painting with a background of red paint and up front there was blue paint. It was called Red and Blue. I think even a baby could have done that. The Jackson Pollack painting, called Alchemy, was pretty cool because he used a different style of painting than other people. He threw the paint on the canvas that he laid on the ground.

The views of the bridges are amazing and the Grand Canal is stunning but there are only two bridge crossings. That meant a lot more walking.

Food we love (and food we hate to love)

Posted by Elizabeth. Here's a list of the food we love most in Europe. This goes back to southern Spain. We are really loving our food.

1. Coffee. It's way way better here. Even at the train station and bus stops you can get better coffee than in Seattle. We've learned to make Italian coffee in a little metal pot that you screw together. Even Griffin is drinking coffee daily.
2. Pastries. Sad to say but the pastries here are amazing. Spain was the best by far but Italy has some good ones particularly the cookies with almonds. Plus there is a bakery every other shop so it's easy to get a daily fix.
3. Blood oranges. Yum. Juicy and sweet and amazing. These are an Italian thing.
4. Cheese. A special shout out to mozzarella and ricotta which are a completely different breed than those in the US. The other cheeses are amazing too. Definitely no cheddar. Cheese shops are as common as bakeries.
5. Olive oil. Need I say more? We use it on everything, even breakfast.
6. Homemade fresh pasta. They sell it everywhere in Italy, even the supermarket. The best comes from special pasta shops which seem to be in every neighborhood. It's light and delicate and nothing like boxed dried pasta.
7. Chianti wine. No comment.

I'm trying hard to walk off my calories but I think the culinary goodness is winning. I'm hoping the food in Turkey is terrible.

Locked in a bathroom

Climbed out this window

Posted by Leo. As soon as we got to Venice we took a boat bus to an island. When we arrived I was feeling really bad because I get motion sick. The boat rocked back and forth the entire time. We ran in the pouring rain to the apartment where half way through we met the person who was running to meet us to show us the apartment. When we arrived I was relieved -- soaking wet and pretty mad but for me that’s normal. The apartment is nice.

I really had to go to the bathroom and I saw a key on a table so I picked it up and went to the bathroom. I locked the door and the when I tried to unlock it did nothing. I called out and I could hear people talking about what to do on the other side of the door. I heard my brother laughing. That really got under my skin and I yelled at him to shut up. I was really desperate at this time so I went out the window and I could see the kitchen window but in between was about 7 feet and a 10 foot drop. I ended up jumping out the window to the roof next door and throwing the key to my mom and then they unlocked it from the other side.

Choppy waters on the boat

 

Leaving Florence

Posted by Elizabeth. We're on the train to Venice and so sad to leave Firenze. A beautiful city and a wonderful family as our hosts. Anna and Doreen, thank you for everything and we hope to see you again. Your home and family are beautiful and we felt part of the family. 

We're on the fast train to Venice. Not sure it's very fast since it is stopping quite a bit but it's the most comfortable train I've ever been on. Plush seats, power, high tech lighting and lots of room. Amtrak could learn a thing or two. I'm a big fan of trains and this one tops the list. 

A few days ago Beth, Leo and I went to the Stibbert museum near our apartment in the hills above Florence. The Stibbert family lived in a lovely villa just off Via Bolognese and amassed a vast collection of armory. When the last of the family died they left the home, garden and collection to the city as a museum. We had the extra treat of walking there from our own villa down windy ancient roads. 

I've included some photos of the collection but I'm not sure they do it justice. There were rooms and rooms of Knights in armor and a massive hall full of Knights on horseback, all fully clad in stunning metallic gear. Such a different concept of warfare than our own which seems so crude and ugly in comparison. 

They also collected swords and guns and other weapons which had their own artistic beauty. 

On to the city of water...

Knights and fresh air

Stibbert Museum Florence

Posted by Leo. Yesterday when we went to the Stibbert Museum I was expecting it to enrage me. I enjoyed the first half of the museum where it was a collection of knight’s armor and weapons. There were spears to muskets. I got to try on some chain mail and it was really heavy. After this part it went to paintings and that just ticked me off. From awesome to dullness. I was hoping for more stuff.

One suit of armor stood out to me. It was all black with chain mail inside and on the outside it was shiny and had design on the helmet with a slit for eye holes. It was shaped like a lion’s head.

There was also a garden there that looked really pretty. If you didn't know, gardens are one of the few things from the past that I enjoy. It’s so nice in gardens with a fresh smell and dirt on the ground. Many people might be surprised about this but I love fresh air, nature and anything like this. Once in Barcelona there was a museum and there was a massive garden with a pond with fish, flowers, bushes, trees and much more. I liked the garden.

Street art

Florence has amazing street art. Blub is the artist above and Clet the stickers on street signs. We snapped a lot of shots on our walk around town today. 

 

A boy's best friend

Posted by Elizabeth. One of the hardest parts of traveling for six months is being away from our pets. We know they are well loved by Betsy, Loree and Duke but we miss them. This week we get some pet time at our lovely Italian villa. Leo likes to run and throw the ball with Xara in the olive trees. She's just a puppy and she and Leo are well matched in energy.

Today we head to the Academy in Florence for a look at David. Leo has been studying street art so we'll go from there to the studio of Clet who is the Florentine street artist of the moment. He creates stickers that he puts on street signs with humorous and political statements. It's illegal and they're removed but people love to try to spot them around the city. 

We have a few more days here then we are headed to Venice. Italy feels so different than Spain. Spain was incredibly vibrant and alive. Florence feels historical--the powerful things that happened here hundreds of years ago still seep into every day life. It's a more subdued feeling  than passionate Spain but just as beautiful. 

The Uffizi

Posted by Griffin. This week we went to the Uffizi. The Uffizi is largely considered to be the most important collection of Italian Renaissance art in Europe, so this was very exciting. It's an architecturally stunning building, construction began in 1560 under Giorgio Vasari and was completed under Alfonso Parigi and Bernardo Bountalenti in 1581. While the exterior design is in the style of 16th Italian palaces, most notably displayed in the Piti Palace in Florence, the interior design is largely that of 19th century European museum architecture. As you enter, you are greeted by hushed voices that reverberate in the colossal entrance hall. The collection of paintings that greet you in the first few rooms are amazing, they range from the international Gothic style to the quintessential early Italian Renaissance works of Botticelli. The Botticelli room was one of the definite highlights of the Uffizi. This room featured his "Birth of Venus" as well as "Primavera", these works go beyond what words could ever accomplish and whisk you away from the crowds in the Uffizi to a different world. As you gaze at the "Birth of Venus" you can no longer see the crowds of people clamoring to get a look, and instead all that is visible is the vulnerability of the young goddess, and the strength of the zephyrs. Needless to see I loved this museum.

In 1993, in an act of terrorism, the Sicilian mafia detonated a car bomb in front of the Uffizi. This killed five people and damaged the extensive collection. Now 22 years later the museum has not yet recovered from this horrific act. A large collection of classical marbles in the Niobe room were damaged, as well as this room's Neoclassical interior. Finally after a long struggle, the Uffizi was able to completely restore these figures, however the frescos on the walls were irreversibly damaged. The Uffizi is one of the greatest art museums in Europe, and not only stands for the beauty that humans can create but also for the resiliency and strength shown by the art community in Florence.

Niobe Room Uffizi

 

Museums make me mad and scared for my life

Leo at the Uffizi

 Posted by Leo. This week we went to the Uffizi and we saw a bunch of art there. Personally I do not care for art and it ticked me off (like many things that tick me off). While my family was enjoying the art and stopping at each piece for two minutes I was rushing towards the exit. It was dull there and there were so many statues that looked alike. They were all of gods that were buff with no clothes. The paintings mostly had the same picture as Jesus was crucified on a cross with two other people to either side. The paintings went on and on. Finally when my mom said I could leave I had to walk through the entire museum to get down to street level. It was a pain. Everything thing there just reminded me that museums aren’t meant for me and all they do is make me mad and scared for my life.

Hedgehogs and WiFi

Posted by Leo. The Wi-Fi everywhere we go isn’t very good, our computers either have a problem or can’t connect and so on. Today I am typing this days before it will get out and I apologize I cannot post every day.

Where we are staying is very nice and the family we are renting from is also nice. It’s their family villa and this house and the other 3-4 houses have been passed down by generations. They also own a full 11 acres of land and I love walking in the olive groves. It’s nice with a cool breeze and with the smell of fresh air. They have a dog named Xarra who is a German Shepard who is still a puppy but she is pretty big. She is really playful and follows me around whenever I go walking in the groves. When I find her and she starts following me is when we are walking past the chicken coop. She is standing there watching them. I have really been wanting to see a hedgehog. The people we are renting from say that they are 3 feet big! It would very much please me to be able to see one.

Room with a view

Ponte Vecchio

Posted by Elizabeth. We love Tuscany. We have found our favorite place so far. Our home here is a peaceful villa high above Florence with an invigorating bus ride down windy narrow streets into Piazza San Marco. We love the food -- fresh mozzarella, rich green pesto, bread right from the baker -- and the feeling of being part of a rich, layered civilization. 

We are staying with an extraordinary family of three generations, a dog who barks at hedgehogs and takes clothes hanging to dry, and an assortment of chickens with one very happy rooster. They have an olive tree grove which didn't bear fruit this year due to an overactive mosquito population. Good news for California maybe. 

Lots of art and culture while we're here and Leo is reading Pinocchio who came to life in this town. We're slowly learning a few words in Itallian although Griffin is already ordering food and asking questions like a native. He and my mom went to the Florence opera last night in a stunning modern cube. 



Griffin and Grandma

Outside the Uffizi

Window shopping

Posted by Elizabeth. Fashion in Italy truly is like nowhere else. And we haven't yet been to Milan and Rome. While known for leather and gold, Florence has a lovely, quieter sense of fashion. The spring wear is patterned, pastel and gorgeous.

We're in Florence

Our home in Florence

Posted by Leo. Everything in Florence is the same as Barcelona, just smaller. The thing I love most about Florence is our house. It's big and there are trails all around that lead to olive groves. I have not seen the groves yet but I am planning to spend an evening there watching the sunset.

Yesterday we saw the Duomo. It felt odd and strange. It was weird. It was not the biggest church I have seen but it was pretty big. My brother and mom kept scaring me about the statues moving. They got a laugh out of that one.

Well that's all I have to say.

The Florence Duomo

Recamper

 

Posted by Elizabeth. Those of you who are Camper shoe fans will understand this story. We discovered that the only Recamper store in the world is just outside of Barcelona. It's an outlet store for the greatest shoes ever. Sort of a cult trip and, as you can imagine, we had to go.

I found a dedicated "shopping bus" that leaves from downtown Barcelona every hour and goes to the outlet mall about a half hour away. Griffin and I got up early and hoofed it down to the stop (getting lost on the way and running up to the stop just as the bus was about to leave). Along with dozens of Japanese tourists we got off the bus at the Spanish outlet mall and headed right to Recamper. 

Wow! We had made it to Mecca. Discount Camper shoes from this season and last. We spent a couple hours trying on every pair in the store and came home very happy.

City bikes

City bikes in Barcelona



City bikes in Seville



City bikes in Seville

Posted by Elizabeth. There's a lot I love in Europe but one of my favorite things (after the bakery on every block) is the city provided bike service that exists in every city. All kinds of people from businessmen to students to elderly use them to get around. We used them in Seville and look forward to riding around other cities on the continent. 

It really makes sense in these packed cities with so many people. The traffic is crazy and parking even worse. I know we have city bikes in Seattle and I hope they become as well used as they are here. 

Comunication

Posted by Leo. It's hard being here without my friends and without a daily routine. I miss seeing my friends every day and I miss my class and even the most annoying people that brought laughter and humor to the class. The hardiest thing is the time difference. Whenever I want to text my friend it's always late at night or early in the morning. Every now and then I stay up untill 1:00-1:30 waiting until school is done to text my friends. Those are the best times and they make my day. The weekends are easy because I can text them around 3-4pm here. Also so far once I have Skyped with my class and hope to continue this and Skype in every now and then. I really enjoy seeing you guy :D.

Parc Guell

Posted by Beth. We had a fun day at Parc Guell. It is home to several Gaudi masterpieces. The house he lived in for 20 years is located in the park. It was very magical, ginger bread houses and fairy tales. Gaudi befriended Guell and Guell funded many of Gaudi's projects. They were friends in politics, religion and art. Originally the park was intended as homes for wealthy people. When that didn't work out Gaudi moved in and the rest became a park.