Taking it easy...

After all the excitement of the last few days, today was a welcome change. Several of us got up and had breakfast when Joy delivered it to our room. She brings a variety of interesting things. The first two mornings it was eggs, bacon, yogurt, warm milk and pastries. Yesterday was hot dogs that had decorations cut into them to make them look fancy with deep-fried veggies in a cornbread batter, along with the yogurt, warm milk and pastries. This morning it was limpia (she’s from the Philipines) and French fries, along with our yogurt, milk and pastries. The only thing most of us aren’t crazy about is a little cake that looks kind of like a cross between a chocolate twinky and the crème wafer cookies with all of the layers. The middle part seems to have an orange flavor, and I think the chocolate has mint in it. Deep Thinker was seriously disappointed that they weren't the brownies he was expecting. The Linguist eats most of those!

After breakfast, The Linguist put a movie on for the kids who were awake and we went back to bed until a little after noon! Then we meandered down to the park, where the kids made friends. Rosa played for an hour or so with two little girls. The Linguist spoke a little to their father. The Net invited a boy his age to play football with him and asked him his name and age in Italian. Pianogurl, Songbird and I wandered around on all of the trails. The weather was beautiful and the park is an oasis of green in the middle of all the buildings and city bustle. I especially liked the trees that had branches arching toward the ground that created little “houses” underneath. The trees in our yard in Montana did that to some extent, and we loved to play under there. I think I could be happy in the city with a park like that to wander in! I've managed to include some photos below:

A Cedar of Lebanon!

We finally tasted our first gelato at a little shop across the road, much to Songbird’s delight. The man behind the counter was patient with our attempts at Italian and I was impressed that the kids pretty much ordered in Italian. We like gelato! (go figure!)  It tastes a lot like really creamy ice cream, but it’s much more filling. Either that or we’re just starting to fill up from all the pastries and pasta!

Our first gelato! 

More gelato...I included this one because you can see the Piazza in the background.

Rosa wore a lot of hers!

Pianogurl, The Net and The Linguist wandered around downtown at the Antiques and Craft Market, while the rest of us waited here for an American friend who dropped off some toys for the kids. They returned around 6, ready for dinner, but most restaurants here don’t open again until 7:30 or 8 p.m., so we watched the morning session of conference while we waited…the time zone thing is still a little weird. Sitting here typing this, my computer shows that it’s 2:53 in the afternoon, and we’re getting ready for bed!

The Net inside the Cathedral downtown

Dinner was good…although really expensive at 74 euro (is that word plural or does it need an “s”?) We had two different appetizers (a tray of thinly-sliced meats and a salad with a balsamic dressing), along with twisted bread that Rosa thought looked like goat horns. This was followed by four pasta dishes that we shared --gnocchi with cream and zucchini, tortellini stuffed with sausage, tagliatelle ragu (which is a really thin noodle with meat sauce) and the local specialty that’s called cappellacci zucca (big ravioli that are shaped like hats filled with sweet pumpkin sauce). This time we had them with butter and sage instead of ragu. They’re quite delicious! Our waiter asked me where we were from and when I told him Montana he wanted to know what professional sport’s team was from my city in Montana. I told him none and that my town was closer to what they call a village here and that it had animals. I really need to learn some more Italian vocabulary!

At the Ariosteria

Deep Thinker lost his second tooth during dinner. Now both his bottom teeth are gone. He wasn’t pleased, and sat with his hand over his mouth for the rest of dinner. That was actually a big improvement over the day he lost the first one and cried for at least 30 minutes and demanded that I put it back. After discussing options like glue, tape or perhaps small nails, he decided it could stay out. He really doesn’t like things he can’t control. I asked him tonight if he thought the Tooth Fairy would bring dollars or euro for gelato...that made him smile!