Cuneo

Took H and ML to visit Max's hood. Last time H missed out because her time in Italy was so limited. The Saturday we were so tired from the night before, we got into Cuneo late. We ended up eating lunch at the Parisi's and then going out for a little tour around downtown. Had to stop by the yarn store and get some more yarn to finish my poncho. H got some too.





Then it was a windy drive thru the mountains to the house in S. Giacomo. Sophia got to play with her Nonno. And of course he was

happy about that.








H helped Irene make her famous lasagne. And we all sat down to help eat it!

Then H and I got down and started crocheting. I'm teachin her how to do flowers. They are fun and easy and fast. By Sunday night we were packed up again and heading back to Milan. H and I sang old girl scout tunes to help Sophia go to sleep but then even after she passed out, we kept singing them, we were on to 80s tunes by the time we reached Milan and passed out 5 mintues before getting home! Poor Max, I'm sure he just wanted to kill himself after about the 10th scout song!!!

Last Day in Venice

Last day in Venice. We werent going to leave to early afternoon to get back in time for to get Sophia from pre-school. So once again Alessandro suggested our itinerary for the day: frari church. It's a really lovely church about a 5 minutes from the hotel. There are really amazing sculptures in black and white marble and paintings in there. Of course it starts pouring rain as soon as we get in, and it's pouring buckets by the time we leave and we get lost and soaked on our way back which makes us late to the train station and of course all the self-service machines are broken and so we have to stand in line, hence missing the earlier train. Luckily Ethel was my savior and went to get Sophia.
We got home, the girls played a little and then it was off to get ready for dinner. Went to the little restaurant in town. Usually they are soooo nice, but this time they were kind of cold. It took a loooooong time for our dinners to come out. Luckily they had put cartoons on the tv, so Sophia just watched tv and ate breadsticks.







Then it was off to the metro to catch the train to Mauro and Khatia's to celebrate Khatia's 25th birthday (her bday is actually the 30th).
























Alice and Sophia got rides in the chair. Max came to get us after work and then it was home again and time to get ready to go to Cuneo.

Murano

Alessandro (the hot concierge) told us that a free boat to murano could be arranged as well as a tour of a factory and how glass is blown. So that's exactly what we did our second day on the island.











It's amazing how hot the oven looks, and the fact that no one wears gloves. Wonder if this guys is bald due to fashion, genetics or just the intensity of the heat.









We were so lucky it didnt rain this second day. It was really nice and quite warm and everybody spent their souvenir budget while wandering the streets.

Richard Gere

Well once again we were late for the train. Got there just minutes before a EuroStar departed, so we ended up missing that. Instead there was a second IC train, that was to leave soon after. We made a mad dash up the stairs, only to see that it was 10 minutes late according to the board. It ended up being over a 1/2 hour late. And then it ended up breaking down in Mestre so we had to catch another train and we didnt end up at the hotel until after lunch. We were tired and starving by the time we got there.
If you are planning to go to Venice, I highly recommend the Hotel Antiche Figure. It is located across from the train station so you don't have to drag your luggage through the crowded streets and over the many bridges. And besides that, the concierge is HOT! As if there werent enough magnificent sites in Venice, Alessandro just added to the beauty! Plus he is really nice. He looks like a better looking Richard Gere. He's a native of Venice and so he gave us little tips on making good use of our time there. He even recommended places to eat - off the beaten path, not to be found in typical traveling books. Went to go get sandwiches from around the corner - i think we were the only non natives in there. Had the porchetta, gorgonzola and radicchio panino - to die for!! And the Alessandro suggested we get some tickets for the vaporetto (the 1 or 82 leave from nearby) and get on from the first stop of the 1 - so that not only would we be the first ones on the boat, but if we got off one stop after san marco, we could see a view of all the main sites from the water. And since it was late afternoon the Doges Palace would be opened but not crowded. So that's exactly what we

did. We met some other tourists on the boat. There was a cute little older couple that had the Rick Steves book and read play by play action of what was going on around us. She read and directed her husband to take the pictures. They were funny and cute! It was a nice ride, we got seats up front and had a view of everything, and it wasnt crowded at all.

Eventually we made our way to the Doge's Palace, where if you are going to stay for a while, ask for the package tickets, it lets you into the palace, and 12 museums and churches. Most of the Churches have an entrance fee. Talk about

good luck, upon entering the palace its starts down pouring, so we missed getting soaked. It was still raining when we got out, so we walked around a bit and then did some window shopping. Got pictures of San Marco Square, wet but empty! And then went to go find somewhere to eat. Fortunately we immediately got distracted by some jewelery shops and by the time we exited, the rain had stopped. Found a nice place to eat, the a ride on the vaporetto back to the hotel to see a night view of the Grande Canal.

22,206

Grandma Mary Lou came out Sunday. She arrived all nice and lookin' refreshed. You couldnt even tell she just got off a plane. It was incredible. Max broke out the BBQ and we grilled some steak, chicken, sausage and some fish. It was really yummy. My man, the gourmet chef! Today we went to the city center and walked around the duomo. Poor Holly, all she has talked about are the panzerotti (my best kept secret, i hope rick steves doesnt come and ruin it for me!) and gelato. Max went and got us gelato last night, so that got satisfied, but the panzerotti store was closed! I hope we get a chance to go back or H may go postal on us! H and ML went to the roof of the Duomo, Sophia and i had a walk around. We had a little snack and then went to look at the inside of the cathedral. After that went to the Galleria and a quick peek at la Scala, then over Panino Giusto for some sandwiches. We walked over to Castello Sforzesco, which of course all the museums were closed because it was monday. So we had a walk around the park instead. S was such a good girl and she needed to stretch her legs and run a little bit. There is a 'art show' of painted cows/bulls around the city by various artists. In the park there was a kids show, where kids had decorated baby cows (vitellini) and the were displayed in the park. The cows were so darn cute, we had to get S to go in the middle and pose with the cows. Unbeknown to us the little cows were not nailed down to the ground. The pictures tell the rest of the story...

After that it started to rain. We risked going over to St Maria Della Grazie to see if there was any way to get in to see the last supper in case of cancellation. Of course being monday that was closed to... Got back home and Super H and ML helped set the table, clean up, do the laundry so there was plenty of time to write tonight. PS had the pedometer on 22,206 steps!

Lago Maggiore

Drove out to Lago Maggiore and had some lunch in Stresa with Holly and Mike.



Took a little boat to Isola Bella, as usual Sophia is not happy to be in a picture with her mom and dad...




Got to the island and ran into Mom and her Posse. Unfortunately I dont have a pictures of that and someone will send me one! I knew that they were staying in Stresa, but I thought that they had already visited the islands. We didnt get to chat much as they were leaving and we were just arriving. Max is such a good Daddy, he played with Sophia and carried her around the island there isnt much room for a stroller and there are too many steps. Note to self, bring the baby wrap instead of leaving it in the car. Luckily the museum was nice and they held onto the stroller at the entrance until we finished walking around. Unfortunately we arrived late and so poor Max had to cut his garden tour short and run back to the front and get the stroller.

Auntie Holly's Here

M surprised H with a stop-over from Dubai to Italy! Hooray! Been fighting a cold and allergies so ive been drinkin lots of vitamin C and water...was a long trip to Malpensa. Ran in, went potty and saw that H's flight was delayed. (Lucky for us, cuz we were late!). Ran back out, we parked the car and found sophia was kind of stinky. Murphy's law, thought she pooped. Luckily it was early enough to go to the pharmacy and i could get some diapers (used the emergency diaper in the car last time and i forgot to replace it!). I was afraid to let her sit on the counter, because her diaper was pretty full, i didnt want to leave any trails and the pharmacist was not that friendly/compassionate. Back to the bathroom again, and i didnt notice the first time, but there was no changing station, and since she was already leaking and fussy i didnt want to drag her and find one. so i just dried off some counter space, and changed her. luckily she was just full of pee (she did a little vomit from coughing, hence the stinky smell). Cleaned her up and we waited for H. S was so excited to see her! Well i suppose M was too, not sure who was happiest. And as usual H is too smart for her own good, she already had an inkling M was comin! But she was happy anyways! Good thing we got the diapers because after that another one was needed, and this time it was the real deal.