IL Castello Estense in Ferrara

We visited the 15th century castle in the heart of Ferrara last week and were wowed by its ceilings, dungeons and artistry.  Hopefully you enjoy the photos as much as we enjoyed taking them.  Not all were as impressed with the artistry as we were.  Deep thinker thought the dungeons were cool with the four layers of prison bars on the four layered windows (think onion layers in a shaft...the poor saps in the cells had those four sets of bars a walk way, another window with a set of bars to get to the outer wall, and then traverse the 30 foot wide moat...not fun).  However, after looking at two floors of frescos (painted ceilings) he decided to lay down on the floor in protest.  Interestingly, I lay down as well...to get better pictures.    

Can you imagine painting this on the ceiling of your 20 foot vaulted ceiling? One of the artists working in the castle fell to his death from his scaffolding shortly after completing his "ceiling" masterpiece.

The castle had a number of famous artists whose names escape me right now.  Suffice it to say, the artists commissioned by the Este family had a huge influence in renaissance art across northern Italy.

Impressive ceiling art...painted not really 3D.  It appears they're doing some restorative work on this ceiling. There were many like this.  Ferrara had a huge earthquake in May of this year and some places are still working to repair cracks, etc. 

The 3D effect of the frescos painted in this room really blew me away...it really looks like there are intricate wood carvings but...

There are not wood carvings but rather intricate paintings.

Ferrara during Christmas!!

Christmas was so nice.  We enjoyed the excitement, togetherness and fun.  We're also having a really great time seeing some of the sites, sounds and tastes of Italy with visiting family.

Christmas tree in the heart of downtown Ferrara

The kids weren't entirely sure how to take the "Santa-ized" christmas ham.  

Church in Ferrara called San Giorgio.  Renovated recently though the tower leans a little.

Inside San Giorgio.  The organ pipes and ceiling are beautiful.

The pizza was good though we had a funny thing happen.  The Journalist ordered 4 cheese pizzas...However, what was brought to us was at least one pizza with four different cheeses.  I don't know about you but goat cheese on pizza is not my favorite.  The Net and Deep Thinker didn't really like it too much either.  

Ravenna visit #1

Last week, we trekked out to visit a few places with our holiday company.  Ravenna was one of the towns we visited.  After a quick train ride, we landed at the highly recommended restaurant "Ca' de vin" (www.cadeven.it).  They were very gracious with our 10-person group, seated us quickly, and had food on our table shortly after we arrived...It helped that we arrived shortly before closing and we had called in advance to try to set up a reservation, but my call dropped (blasted cell  phone gremlins).  I really liked the Piadina with prosciutto that many recommended.  The pasta was really good, the potatoes divine, and the ambiance awesome.  The 15th century beauty of the locale was so very neat to experience. 

Pianogurl and one of the ornate frescos in the "Ca de Vin"...good eating!

After our stomaches were filled, we made our way to the historic basilica Sant' Apollinare in classe (dating back to the 6th century).  In addition to its historical richness, this cathedral is also known for its mosaics tied to the Byzantine empire.  Super cool to see.  

Looking towards the altar in Sant' Apollinare in Classe in Ravenna

A section of the mosaics on the wall.  There are tons.  It's hard to believe all this was built with no "modern" technology.

Painting on the ceiling in Sant' Apollinare

A portion of the ceiling in Sant Apollinare

From there, we made our way to the local "Museo Arcivescovile." We weren't allowed to take photos inside the museum but there was a super cool mosaic inside (small cathedral).  I liked it more than Sant' Apollinare because it was smaller, I was much closer to the mosaics and could more easily admire the artistry of them. (www.webdiocesi.chiesacattolica.it/pls/cci_dioc_new/consultazione.mostra_pagina?id_pagina=28651).  It was about a 12 to 15 minute walk from Sant' Apollinare.  We didn't get all the time we wanted to have in Ravenna because it took us about 2 hours to get parked before we even got to the train station in Ferrara.  Nevertheless, we had fun living the adventure that is Italy and we found the good "free parking" area near the train station.  Among other things, Dante (the author of the famed "Inferno" is buried in Ravenna...we also walked past the theater named after him....three times.  

  

Happy Holidays!

The last two weeks have been kind of a blur...we've had some triumphant moments, as well as some bang-your-head-against the wall moments. Here's a quick update on our status:

OVEN - The oven element has been replaced and we can now bake without shutting down power to the house!

SINK - The expert plumbers came to our rescue and re-sealed the sink, cleverly holding it in place with...a piece of brick they found in the driveway. Yes, I'm serious!

INTERNET - Third time seems to be the charm. After waiting 2 weeks each on 2 different companies who showed up at the house only to tell us they couldn't service our house because it's too far from the city (it's 3 km out!), we have successful satellite installation as of Monday! And it's fast!

DISHWASHER - After all of the other difficulties, we were a little concerned when the dishwasher wouldn't work. Turns out it was an easy fix -- turn on the blue spigot under the sink. Not the yellow one --it's gas.

STINKY CLOSET - After gagging every time I walked by the closed door for 2 weeks I spent a goodly amount of time perusing anti-stink options at the PX. I came away with little beads that look like huge fish eggs. They claim to absorb stink. After just 2 hours in the hole, the stink is gone and hasn't returned in nearly a week. They're magic!

SEWER STENCH - Periodically we notice yuck smell from the bathroom/laundry area. It seems to come from different places at different times. We pulled the washer out just to check the connection and found an open hose to the drain line that was emitting said putrid smell. We thought about calling the owners so they could send the rock plumbers back, but it was Sunday night. We opted to plug the hole with a chunk of soap and then cap it off with a hairspray lid that we duct taped tightly into place. That should do the trick until we can find some sort of cap at the hardware store! Dad would be proud.

We were extremely pleased with ourselves until the same nasty smell started radiating from the bathtub the next night. We remedied that by pouring Liquid Plumber down the drain, rinsing it and then inserting the tub plug. We were smell free until early this morning when it was coming from the bidet...although running water down the drain seemed to help that.

Apparently they don't use the "S" curve in Italy. A friend explained to me that it's a simple process where you just curve the line a little so the last bit of water is never pushed all the way down, creating a plug of sorts that keeps noxious smells from coming up. We are missing it here!

FURNITURE - Is finally in place. I think I spent 2 weeks pushing it around trying to figure out how to fit everything and still be able to plug in appliances requiring electricity.

PLUGS - Unlike the U.S., in Italy plugs are few and far between, and just because you have one doesn't mean that it will work or that it won't shut off the power when you plug something in. Plugs are also more important since we only have 3 overhead lights in our whole house!

RUGS - We visited the rug man in Vicenza...or maybe I should say we got bamboozled by the rug man in Vicenza. The Linguist and I should not be allowed to shop in Italy. I am a pleaser, and he'll agree to anything to make the shopping experience end. Needless to say we spent a lot on rugs. The rug man said, "I give you Christmas, Lady. Is no deal for me, but is Christmas for you." He wasn't lying because now there is no money left for anything else for Christmas! That said, we really are pretty pleased with our purchases. Although I'm not sure that we got as good of a deal as he was making it out to be...The rugs look good from the front and back (one sign that it's quality) and they have certificates of authenticity. I'm trying to chalk it up to experience and just enjoy the rugs without remorse!

BATTERY - The same day we bought our rugs, it was The Linguist's turn to do the mail run. This entails driving to the NATO base, trading your POV for a military van and then driving the 1 1/2 hours to Vicenza to collect all mail and packages for Americans stationed in Ferrara. The added bonus is that while there, you can shop for groceries and use the PX (like a small, expensive Walmart) and bring your things home in the large van. Our van battery died twice before we made it to the area where you trade for the van, so we added a battery to our trip. The big, military van was so full coming home that I really don't think we could've fit anything else in there! We had 3 coolers, a set of tires, tons of Christmas boxes from the mail, 5 rugs, and all of our other shopping. Upon arriving at the base again a little after 10, we discovered that a diesel battery looks nothing like a regular one, so we couldn't jump our van and drive home. Instead, the Linguist changed out the battery using his cell phone for light while I unloaded and sorted all the mail. I'm grateful for a handy husband!

DRIVING - A friend made me drive her around town and practice round-abouts and turning around in the middle of roads while drivers are waiting and/or honking. She told me to remember that I'm bigger in my van, which means they'll probably get out of the way and they have no choice but to wait for me. I'm learning, but am not aggressive enough yet. I've lost my Miami edge! Hannah and I went into town yesterday and managed to get to the 2nd hand store without getting lost and then even found the free parking that was near the Christmas market/downtown area. Ferrara is a lot smaller than I pictured it.

PASTRIES - We found a pastry shop that is really cheap compared to the others we've purchased from. It all sits near a really cool church with beautiful ceilings and huge pipes for the organ. We took Claire inside and she took one look at a display that was there to honor a Bishop, I think, and proclaimed loudly "there's a mummy in here!"

SNOW - We had our first snowfall Friday night, and it was beautiful! Whenever I question what we're doing here, I look out the window and almost feel like I'm in MT...the mountains are smaller and further off...but trees and open spaces...it really is lovely out here.

FIRE - The Linguist has successfully conquered fire in the fire place without the billowing smoke. The kids love lounging around on our really expensive rug next to the fire. The owners have an almost endless supply of wood that they're hoping we'll burn through.

LAUNDRY - It's hopeless. It took all day to wash sheets for our company and after doing that for 2 days, we're so far behind that The Linguist is going to have to make a laundry run to the base where there are 4 washers that can run at the same time without shutting off power!

POWER - Speaking of power...I should have known something was up when they included the breaker as part of our house orientation. If you run too many appliances in Italy, the breaker trips. Thank goodness it isn't a fuse that has to be replaced each time! I think we've tripped the power at least 6 times in the last few days. Someone told me the other night that we can have the amount that is available increased, so we'll try that! Hopefully it hasn't already been done.

CHRISTMAS!!! - We are so excited to have the Linguist's mom and my brother and sister-in-law coming to join us for the holidays! We are planning to day trip from Ferrara to places like Florence, Venice and Milan, and then we'll head to Rome for a few days! Among this the kids have also requested a Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas dinner, fudge, reindeer cookies, sugar cookies and the usual stories and movies we love at Christmas.

GRATITUDE - We are truly blessed in so many different ways that it is overwhelming to me. And of course, at Christmas, our thoughts turn to what a blessing it is that Christ lives and loves us -- even though we are far away from the people and things that are most comforting.

3 Little Pigs Revisited

We've realized over the last few days that there are several bits of information the author of the 3 Little Pigs neglected to include. For your benefit, we've listed them below:

1. Share with your brother. If the first 2 pigs had taken what they had to the 3rd brother's house, everyone would have been a little warmer and a little safer. Read on...

2. Brick houses in Italy are insulated (if you can call it that) with straw!!! When the straw shifts, the ceilings crack. So far no straw on our heads. Just cracks.

3. Bricks are cold. We are literally living in a brick house. Nothing else. No insulation...just brick...except for the straw over our heads.

4. The reason you always have a pot of boiling water going is to keep the cold air from flowing down the chimney, not just to keep the wolf out! We speculate that it should also keep out birds, bats, bugs, etc...so far we have no experience birds or bats in the house. But the bug population is something to be reckoned with!

This little pig is starting a fire...

5. Speaking of the pot of boiling water...the 3 Little Pigs were much better versed in the whole indoor fire thing. We attempted our first cozy fire in our new house today. Ha! Ha! Most of the smoke went up the chimney...the rest created an indoor fog that we're still smelling. After googling for info on it, we think perhaps the chimney hasn't been cleaned for a number of years? We also learned that we don't seem to have a flue...or if we do, it's hiding admirably. So I guess you can add indoor smoke to our rapidly growing list of adventures in Italy...

Happy? Thanksgiving

I want to begin by saying that we are truly grateful for our blessings! And we have many of them! Getting into our house this week is one. Being reunited with my memory foam is another! We're also truly grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and for the wonderful family and friends who love and support us.

This year, however, our Thanksgiving was a little different than the norm...

Normally, we host Thanksgiving dinner. We realized a number of years ago that we all feel happier when we gather a "family" around us to celebrate the day, so that's what we do. Surprise, surprise, I even have a checklist -- refined over the last 5 years that tells me exactly when to do what so that the day is pretty restful. 

In Ferrara all of the Americans gather for Thanksgiving dinner, and this year it was at the commander's house. They did a fabulous job and there was loads of food that was really tasty! We had a good time laughing and talking with our friends and the kids had a great time playing. It was all the rest of the stuff that wasn't quite normal.

We received our big shipment of household goods Monday.  

Truck #1 of 3 on Monday

We had 9 crates packed "tetris" style

Half of Tuesday was spent trying to get our stuff out of the hotel and into the house.

You can accumulate a lot of stuff in 6 or 7 weeks -- including 2 semesters of school books. These pix are both part of our third and final trip to the house.

Needless to say, by Wednesday afternoon we were still tripping over lots of boxes and trying to figure out where to put things.

The entryway. Ironic, I know...since it's impassable!

Our living room

Standing in the dining room looking toward the living room

Rosa's job. She worked really hard at packing papers down -- while sitting on her throne, as she called it.

Normally, I make lemon meringue pie (and a bunch of others, but that's the unusual one) for Thanksgiving. But when The Linguist tried to make dinner Wednesday night and pre-heating the oven shut down the power to the whole house, I begged out of making dessert. We were able to re-set the power fairly easily. It was the heat that wouldn't come back on. Finally, I figured out (or thought I did) how to re-set the water heater (yes, we have radiators here!) and the heat started. Whew!

Normally, I make mom's delicious cranberry salad for Thanksgiving, and this year was to be no exception. Except that we didn't have a working transformer in which to plug the blender on Wednesday night. Whoops! I called a friend and we set off to make the salad at her house. Whoops! The GPS took as all over the countryside, but not to our friend's house. We learned in Texas that you can't always trust the Garmin, but in Italy it's more a rule than an occasional occurrence. The main purpose of the GPS is for marking your location AFTER you've driven all over the place (or followed someone else) and figured out how to get there -- not for finding a destination in the first place. After an hour, I called her and told her we wouldn't be having cranberry salad after all.

Normally, I mix the rolls first thing Thursday morning. And that I actually did accomplish. However, I couldn't get the oven to come on. Right about that time, the electrician stopped by to pick up his ladder, and I dragged him into the house to look at the oven. He explained to me (in English) why there are 10 different settings on the oven and what each one does (info not in the oven booklet). He then showed me which button was in the wrong place and was keeping the oven from lighting. Before he could get to the front door, the power for the whole house turned off again. It was good to have a witness! He isolated the problem as the oven. Kind of a necessity for baking 5 dozen rolls. I called my friend who said not to come to her house since they had turned on one appliance too many and now had no electricity at all! This is also a fairly common occurrence in Italy. Just because you have 3 ovens, doesn't mean you can run them all at the same time. Apparently you can get the amount of electricity you are allotted bumped up, but we haven't figured all of that out yet. So far, we can run the washer, dryer, refrigerator and vacuum at the same time! Just no oven...

So I texted another gal and went to her house to make rolls. When Jeremy came to pick me up he was not happy. The heat was off again and wouldn't re-set, and he'd learned the hard way that my keys don't actually open the house. So our Thanksgiving celebration was marred slightly by the fact that we knew we were locked out of the house that had a broken oven and no heat!

Long story not longer...we got back in, figured out that there are 2 places you have to re-set the heat after losing power (we just happened to hit them simultaneously the night before!) and someone will come about the oven next week.

But tonight there was water dripping all over from underneath the sink...so the saga continues! 

We've made stellar progress on the unpacking and are almost out of boxes. Despite my best efforts, we've already done a total room rearrange and so have already taken nearly all of the beds apart and reassembled them. Everything fits much better this way...I just wish we couldn't gotten it right when the movers were doing the moving. 

The washer and dryer have been running almost nonstop for 5 days, and I'm finally caught up on the laundry. It takes an 1:40 minutes to wash a load of clothes and between 3-4 hours to dry them with my new European appliances. I think Jeremy's going to be doing the laundry at work...he can do it all in about 4 or 5 hours.

6 Nations, 3 Languages, 2 Days

We're trying to impress upon the kids how unique this experience is. I'm not sure they fully appreciate that they are doing things as a daily part of their lives that some people never get to do.

Take this weekend, for example. The girls had a stake youth activity...in Venice! Our stake is large and includes Aviano in Northern Italy and Bologna, which is south of Ferrara. Our stake center is located in Mestre, which is on the outskirts of Venice. The building is beautiful. Unfortunately, when we arrived to pick them up, it was dark, so no photos of this one yet. There's a patio with columns on the outside of the building and the chapel/cultural hall is located upstairs. It had 6 big chandeliers that reminded me of the rock formations called curtains that you see in caves.

To get them to the activity, we met up with the YW's president from the English-speaking branch in Vicenza at the Ikea store in Padova, Italy. We were in desperate need of lights since we'll be leaving the hotel Tuesday morning (hooray!) and there are almost no light fixtures in the whole house! I'm kicking myself for not checking the electrical specifications on the lamps because apparently they're relatively easy to use over here -- change the light bulb and add an adapter. Alas! Ours are in storage, and so we're spending lots of money on lamps I don't love that we really, really need. It feels a bit like buying tires -- no satisfaction! One of my pet peeves is spending money on things that don't provide satisfaction. However, I'm sure I'll be more than satisfied when we aren't sitting in the dark Tuesday night!

Our plan was to check the other kids into the Ikea play area so that we could take a good look at options for several different things we need at the house. That didn't turn out so well...we learned that The Net is too tall for the play area, and Deep Thinker refused to go in because he didn't want his hand stamped. Rosa, who had been begging to go there since we arrived at the store, bounded in by herself and literally had to be dragged out kicking and screaming an hour and a half later. The lady running it told us that Rosa talked and talked and talked and no one could understand a word she said, but she still kept talking! The woman also remarked on the fact that even though they provided Rosa with socks, she kept stripping them off. She prefers to go barefoot, which has earned us some hard stares in the marketplace as she rides around barefoot in her stroller, while everyone else is wearing coats. In our defense, it was only about 60 degrees F!

We met a man in the Ikea dining area who spoke a little English, and he was very proud to introduce us to his 2-year-old son who can count to 10 in English. The man reminded me a little of the Linguist, who used to talk loudly to me in Spanish at the grocery store, hoping someone who spoke Spanish would hear and he could start a conversation!

Then this morning we drove to Padova to visit the Italian Ward (congregation) there. We rehearsed Christmas carols with the choir for a performance at a hospital sometime in the future, and they sounded really good. I thought it unusual that the whole choir practice was done standing up. Maybe Americans just need to stand up more? Italians rarely sit down -- they drink their cappuccino standing up, they rehearse choir music standing up, they walk everywhere instead of sitting in cars. Lots of standing in Italy...and lots of fit people!

After choir practice, they invited us to stay for a few refreshments...I'm learning to be wary of that phrase. They brought out a spread of food and began filling our plates for us! Two or three plates of food later, I had to gratefully decline anything else! We had several interesting dishes -- one was a rice that had garbanzo beans, carrots, green olives and a bunch of other veggies chunked up in it. She served it with pickles that were a cross between dill and sweet, and sprinkled small croutons on top. Another was a sweet pasta that was made with prugna (plums). We also sampled meatballs and potato puree (mashed potatoes), some kind of baked cauliflower dish, a mushroom risotto, some kind of lasagna-looking dish, a soup that had beans and spaghetti in it, and some sort of spinach quiche. I had to refuse all of the desserts -- even though they looked good -- some sort of apple pie, another pie and cake. I guess it was considered "refreshments" and not a meal because they didn't bring out 4 different kinds of meat?!

The woman next to me was from Colombia and has lived in Italy for some time. Her husband, the Bishop, is from the Armenian part of Iran. I found myself talking to her in a mixture of Spanish and Italian, with everything getting jumbled in my brain again! There was also a couple visiting the branch who currently reside in France. He's Swiss and spent 16 years working at the Swiss Temple. She's French and joined the church while living in Boston. They are between places right now, and spending a few weeks touring around. The members were so happy to see us, and I don't know how many asked us if we'd be returning next week. There were a few shy stares, but for the most part people were bounding off of their chairs to speak to us and help us --whether or not they spoke English.

The boys hooked up with a couple of the Italian youth and played fussball and ping pong, hardly stopping to eat. Rosa captured a girl who looked about 7, and played upstairs in the nursery for most of the time. It was really a good experience and the kids would like to go back. We love our branch here in Ferrara, but there are no youth. Three hours of adult Italian church is really hard for the kids to enjoy and they are really missing all of the friends we spent so much time with homeschooling.

But it is a sad thing for me to think of leaving the branch (small congregation) here in Ferrara. We thought the timing would work out so that The Linguist and I could go to an hour of meetings in Ferrara and then pick up the kids and drive to Padova for church, but unfortunately, it isn't so. We're going to have to choose one place or the other to be on Sundays. I actually directed the music in Relief Society (the women's meeting) this morning in Italian, and this week we're getting together to make biscotti at one of the sister's homes. They said I'm still welcome to come to their activities if we choose to go to the Padova branch, but I'm feeling a bit like a deserter...I'm sure we'll get it all figured out eventually.

So as I said -- what unique opportunities! In just a weekend, we've had the opportunity to interact with people from at least 6 different nations and converse in 3 languages --not something I've ever done before. I was telling Songbird that at her age I think I'd visited a few states in the Western U.S. and Texas and never spoken anything but English...and maybe Pig Latin! What amazing times for our family!

Can you do 10-point turns?

Ciao to one and all.  Just wanted to send out a quick instructive missive on parking in Italy.  It can be challenging.  Example #1: We have a large vehicle by European standards (Honda Odyssey).  Driving down roads can be nerve racking especially when there are bikers, pedestrians, car mirrors, and people opening car doors to name a few.  Therefore, space is limited.  Last night we arrived late back to the hotel because of a church youth activity (the Journalist is covering this in another post).  After threading the veritable needle (the van) through the small tunnel leading to the "parking lot," we found there was one spot left.  Awesome!  The not so awesome part was it took a while to get the van in the lone spot.  I believe it was my first 10-point turn (moving at times a few inches back and forth)!  This has happened twice so far.  Example #2: We went to Ikea to get a few things  yesterday and found parking there to be quite tight as well.  I didn't want the nose of the van to stick out in the parking lot lanes so I backed up as close as possible to the vehicle behind me.  The pictures below witness to just how close we ended up.  If you look close on the second picture, there's about 1 centimeter between the back of our van and the front of the other vehicle.  Whew...that's close.

       

These photos are so very cool...

Last week I posted some of the Net's best photos.  He took a few more this week that I couldn't help but share since they are so good.  Enjoy!  fyi...the Net says: "The red thing is a pepper! It was pretty easy.  I just went outside and took pictures of things I liked."  

Friday...meeting our landlord

We officially met our landlord and his daughter when we signed the contract. I wasn't quite sure what to make of him. The daughter was very warm and chatty, but her father didn't say anything in English or hardly make eye contact. He's a lawyer, and when we asked the workers about something out at the house, their reply was, "He's a lawyer" as if that explained everything. Yesterday he was at the house, puffing on a big pipe. When we arrived, he literally bounded to my van door, smiling and saying "Buon Giorno!" (typical greeting like Ciao in Italian). He wanted to know all of the names of the children and kept exclaiming over how bella (beautiful) Rosa is. His name is Andrea (On DRAY uh).

Chiara told me Thursday that they had an extra chandelier that we could hang in the kitchen (remember in Italy, there are usually dangling wires, but no fixtures!). I was totally excited, having seen the baroque-style chandeliers at a friend's house! They aren't really my style, but so Italian! The kitchen is really the only option for placement, since there's no ceiling fixtures in the living room or dining room. But when we arrived today, her husband had told her it was too bruto for me and she kept saying it was "grande" (big). We finally went over to their house and got to go in the shed next to the house to look. It's jammed full of old stuff. I could've spent hours in there just looking! Maybe I'll have the chance later? From the very back on a huge pile of stuff there was a rusty, old chandelier. I love it! Chiara said it's ancient, and it looks it. It's extremely simple with fishhook-shaped pieces coming off of the common center. Each fishhook has a candle fixture on the end that will hold a light. Andrea kept asking if I was sure I liked it...but it's rusty...you sure? I think it's totally cool...I'm going to find a long string of clear crystal beads and drape them around it. He said he'd have the cleaning crew wipe it down and the electrician will hang it up for us!

Their "country" house is very rustic. Built in the 1940s, it has a lot of stone and tile -- cool in the summer, I'm sure. It's larger than ours, but not ridiculously large. The kitchen even has a stone fireplace in the corner for cooking! They have a kiwi tree and a grape arbor there, as well as a picnic area and just a lot of trees and pretty grounds. We are free to wander all around in there. The decoration inside is very comfortable and warm feeling -- very different from the baroque, elaborate things we've seen in the city. When I was calling my kitchen cabinets "bruto," Andrea said something like, "it's good here...we call it...country."

Pianogurl's photo of the well

So once again I can see Heavenly Father's hand -- rather than just landlords, we seem to have acquired Italian grandparents.

Thursday...Vicenza furniture

Thursday, the furniture from Vicenza was delivered. They loan us wardrobes for the time we're here (8 total since there are no closets), several kitchen cabinets, a washer and dryer, and 2 refrigerators (one is supposed to be a freezer!). They brought a few other pieces, as well, but those will have to be returned within 90 days. I learned the word for ugly from the driver. Now I can tell everyone who comes over that the furniture is "bruto," but with a smile, since we really are happy to have it! The wardrobes were a foot shorter than we expected, which has already resulted in some moving, and the kitchen cabinets are longer...so more moving. I'm sure it won't be the last!

The washer/dryer situation should be interesting. We have 7 kilo European appliances...which meant nothing to me until I looked inside. The washer I had in the U.S. was about 3-4 times bigger. We hear, though, that you stuff these full and that since the washer heats its own water, the whites will actually be white (without bleach) after we wash them! The electrician told us to make sure we don't run too many appliances at the same time. The dryer, especially, sucks electricity, and if I run the vacuum and the washer/dryer at the same time, it's likely we'll trip the breaker, which will sound an alarm, and the lack of electricity will also cause the house alarm to go off...should be quite the experience the first few times that happens! Notice I'm saying when, not if...

The best part of Thursday was that our landlord's wife was at the house -- we think to make sure the folks working were actually working. She is wonderful! She speaks a little English, but is very patient with my Italian. She drove me into the little town that is beyond the really little town we live in and showed me the salumeria (meat shop), paneteria (bakery) and the mini mercado. Next we went for coffee. Most places have chocolata calda (hot chocolate that is so thick it's almost like pudding), but this place didn't...something about the son who runs the restaurant didn't make it yet because it's not cold enough...next she offered me cappuccino. It's still hard for me to find any words in Italian -- let alone the ones to explain the drinks we don't drink for religious reasons! I settled on "No, grazie," in lieu of a more detailed answer and had juice instead. We drank standing up at the counter because that's what you do in Italy.

She told the woman behind the counter than I had 5 children and that stopped traffic for awhile. The man behind me started exclaiming, the woman behind the counter threw her hands up in disbelief! It seems to be a combination of the number and my age. Italy has a negative birth rate, and more than 2 children is really uncommon. They also marry and have children later (like mid-30s), so the idea that I could have that many children and be so young is startling to them! I don't mind...it's kind of nice to hear over and over, "But you're so young!" -- especially now that I'm getting a wrinkly neck, a wrinkle above my mouth and wrinkly eyelids! Maybe I'll starting taking all 5 kids to the grocery store for an ego boost every week!

Rosa took one look at the landlady and asked if she would be our Italian grandmother because we don't have one in Italy. That tickled Chiara, who already thought it was so cute that Rosa had a broom and was helping me sweep the floor. "Brava! Brava, Mama!" was what she said (basically, good work, Mom). Then Rosa dragged her around by the hand and introduced the boys to "nonna." (grandmother). I love that about kids! They could care less whether they speak the same language. Rosa just liked the look of nonna and that was that.

We spoke in Italian for 4 or 5 hours, and my head felt 12 sizes bigger when I got home. I hope that she'll visit often and we can both improve our language skills. I can't tell you about my funny mistakes, since I don't recognize them yet, but Chiara was trying to tell me about a drawer (casseti), and when I would say "drawer?" she would say no and describe a drawer. It finally dawned on her that I was saying "drawer," not "door." I never realized how similar they are! At one point she also said, "Let's go down to the chicken" when she meant "kitchen." She caught that mistake quickly and corrected it, but laughed anyway. It's funny how I can catch those words myself in Italian and Spanish (kitchen in Italian is almost identical to pig in Spanish and pig in Spanish is about the same in pronunciation as cousin in Italian), but I've never thought about door and drawer or kitchen and chicken in English.

Wednesday...fast shipment!

Our fast shipment was delivered Wednesday to the house. When I saw the house hadn't even been swept since we first saw it, I started to worry that no one was planning to clean before Monday and trying to figure out how to squeeze that in between everything else...but we've been assured there will be a cleaning crew! Hooray! I'm not sure how long the house has been empty -- a year, at least. So it is in need of some love in the form of a mop! And the spiders living in the the corners must go!

The more time we spend at the house the more I just love it. It was built in the 1920s -- so it's new! I've decided it's Willow Cottage, rather than house, because it's going to be cozy, but the grounds are amazing. Our house sits on 1/2 an acre with lots of different kinds of trees. In the summer we'll have plums, apricots and figs! The fig tree grows close to the ground and is perfect as a bench for the kids! The Net is going crazy building weapons with the bamboo!

The Net with one of his bamboo creations. He's standing in front of the old building that houses the "garage," extra rooms and the pizza oven.

There's a large pine tree in the front of the house that is covered with LED Christmas lights. The electrician said they're fairly inexpensive to run, and he'll set it all up and show us how in time for the holiday season! We also noticed that they've installed a sink in one of the outdoor rooms...not sure why, but I figured the kids can wash their feet out there if nothing else!

In addition, we found that there is a whole floor above the huge room that will be the equivalent of our garage (we hope the van will fit in there!). Unfortunately, it probably isn't safe, so the kids will have to forego using the area for a play space. That was a little disappointing, but I'm sure we'll survive somehow.

Beyond our house are fields in each direction. I don't know if they plant them in the summer or just mow them, but they said we are welcome to roam. From the front of our driveway we found a path that has bushes and trees sheltering it (so it's like a secret path!) It leads to a private road (closed off with a gate from traffic) that leads down a broad lane that has tall trees on either side. They're beautiful even in the fall with most of the leaves gone! I can't imagine what it will be like in the summer! At the end of that lane, if we turn left, the road goes down to the landlord's country house and then takes another left and comes around eventually to our house...so we'll have our beautiful walking trail, after all!

Our tree-lined lane

The back of our house...the door on the right leads to the kitchen and the one on the left leads to the dining room.

Deep Thinker with his bamboo walking stick

Tuesday...Vicenza

We picked up our van Tuesday! Much to my chagrin, I had to drive it back from Vicenza on the Autostrada. It was way past rush hour, so really no different than driving on any freeway and much less stressful than Miami! Whew! My real concern is the in-town driving with bikes and pedestrians behaving like maniacs and then there are the roundabouts. Don't get me wrong, I like roundabouts -- but these are really small and have 2 lanes. In theory, you're supposed to be on the inside lane until it's time to get off...but there's really not much time in a roundabout. Picture get in, get over, and move back to exit all happening with 2 lanes of traffic and bikes weaving in and out. Often, the drivers don't bother with the getting over and you never know who's going to come around the circle and who's getting off until the last second or whether someone is gong to whip around on the right to pass and get off just as you're trying to move to the outer lane to get off. I've been scouting areas to park on the edge of town by the wall and figure we'll just walk in! That will solve the parking problem, too! I've gotta hand it to folks here -- they get the park-it-in-a-small space award hands down!

Our other Tuesday highlight was our conversation with the rug man in Vicenza. He has a little shop in the PX. In Italian, it's very respectful to address a woman as "Signora" -- similar to the way we use "ma'am" in English. It was a little startling, though, when he began with, "Lady, I will teach you about thee rugs." (This is all in heavily accented English.) "Lady, thees rug eez good quality. Lady, eez not like the one you buy een market." It came out sounding like "Look here, lady, I'll give you a piece of my mind about rugs," which wasn't the way it was intended, so it was cute and charming. He told us his family has been in business for 148 years, I think. He had a sample of a rug someone picked up in the market and showed us how it didn't have the label on the back and how the material felt cheap. He did a great job of explaining about the knots and the difference between quality of materials and hand-tied vs. machine tied. He said the quality is the same, but with hand tied, you pay the salary of the man who tied the knots for a year. He has a warehouse full of hand-tied rugs that he offered to drive to Ferrara. A few months ago, several of the ladies bought rugs when he did that, but the difference in price is about 3800 euro on the rug I want. Not much for the knot tier, but a lot for me right now. The amazing thing is that they're made of silk and they fold into a small square that you can put in the washer and dryer! Crazy!

The rug we picked out for our livingroom!

Monday...laundry

I never sleep much when there's a lot going on. It's kind of obnoxious, really. I'm exhausted, but after about 5 hours of sleep, I'm awake and thinking, thinking, thinking about things like where to put the furniture and how to translate my thoughts into Italian. I wrote a gigantic post going over this week, but it's really a little overwhelming, so I'm going to chop it up and post it on the days it happened in an effort not to bore you to death!

Monday, Jeremy took 4 suitcases to work to do the laundry that accumulated while he was in Germany last week. He feels like hauling the laundry to work (where there are 4 washers and dryers) is a small price to pay for living in Italy. I view it as a huge bonus -- especially since he brings it all back folded! It's good he doesn't mind since I don't think getting into our house is going to change that much...more on that Thursday...

The kids and I did school and tried to contain our excitement...we are really ready to leave hotel living behind!

Good Food in Ferrara

I was going to title this post "Fall in Ferrara," but realized that you'd expect a bunch of stunning leaf photos if I did. Although the stunning leaf photos are out there, I am not! It's just a little chilly out there without a coat, and ours are still in Vicenza waiting to be delivered Wednesday!

So instead, we'll regale you with tales and a picture of Italian homecooking! Today was our Branch Conference (the little congregation we attend here is called a branch -- although with such small numbers, it's more like a twig! Ha! Ha!) Anyway, with the extra leadership in attendance our numbers were nearly double. Since our numbers are so small, after the meetings, the whole branch went to the Relief Society President's house (she's in charge of the women's organization) and had dinner!  They told us it would be something like lunch...

After the blessing, we got in line and filled our plates with lasagna, salad and cold green bean-potato salad. It was delicious! But when I got up to get a drink of water, there was a sausage dish and mashed potatoes and 2 other kinds of meat...and then another roast...and 3 cakes...and a huge box of chocolates.

There was a woman there from Padova who explained to me that this is what Italian luncheons look like every day! First is the Primo Piatto (First Plate) or Primo (This consists of pasta or lasagna. Then it's Secondo --the meat and potatoes, followed by Contorno, which is salad. Then you finish up with Dolce -- sweets like cakes or cookies. I asked her how Italians eat like this every luncheon (following the pastries for breakfast) and all stay thin. Unfortunately, we were interrupted before I heard the secret.

It was all positively fantastic, and I hope to worm my way into some Italian cooking lessons before we leave here. The missionaries were telling us that the sister who hosted, makes her own noodles for the lasagna...yum!

Another interesting bit of news we heard is that there is an Italian-speaking congregation in Padova, which is only 1/2 an hour from here. They have all of the youth programs and have the translation sound system in their building. They were recruiting us pretty hard! They told us to let them know when we were coming, and they would conduct their services in English for us! We are considering it seriously, because it is so much closer than Vicenza, but would still allow the kids to have the Sunday School classes, etc. It's hard to decide what to do. We are starting to feel close to the people from our branch here in Ferrara, but 3 hours of church all in Italian is really hard for the kids.

Artistic eyes

The Net has always had an artistic eye.  He took a number of photos recently that I found amazing for a 9 yr old.  What do you think??