Some favorite pictures...

Ok - I'm feeling lazy about writing. I wish I could remember all the silliness and funny things that happened.

Lia reminded me yesterday of what we said each time we saw a Smart car:
"Blue (or appropriate color) smart car, no smart alecky comebacks!" and you got to punch the person next to you. (Guess you had to be there)...

We all loved the small cars - cinquecento's and api especially.

From Abruzzo

It was great to watch the kids playing with other kids who spoke no english too. One night I remember was in Laureana - around 10:00 at night, and the small square had about 7 Italian kids, and Elena, Phillip and Celina and even Lia were playing an Italian version of hide and seek. It was great to watch.

Also in that square - Roger asking the man overlooking the action another night - Faciamo troppo amore? And Lidia quickly correcting him with RUMORE! Translated as: Are we making too much love? NOISE! The man replied that he was happy to have life in the town.

That square was such a magical place. Encircled by houses that looked over the square. It seemed like all the town's people would watch over you there and protect you. You could imagine growing up there and knowing everyone. Of course as a young person, that is probably why you would want to escape as soon as you could. And there were very few younger adults there in the town.

I also loved spending lots of time with Lidia and Phillip. Elena and Phillip are so different, but so similar. Even though Lidia made Phillip slave over his summer homework - that soon tapered off! I think they learned plenty this summer even without the worksheets.

From Poppi

The audio books were fun too - some so bad they made for some great bad lines to repeat throughout the rest of the trip. The one about he nuclear power plant in the woods. My brain is so bad - I can't remember the bad lines that we kept repeating now! But it made the bad books as good as the good ones. I do remember the "Hottie ghost" from another century book. A definite favorite to mock!

I loved seeing Lia, Jacob and the girls with Alessandro too:

From La Chaux de Fonds

From La Chaux de Fonds