Catching Olympic Fever!

It has been a quiet week.  We shipped Jacob off to Boy Scout camp on Saturday morning which might be the reason for the relative calm and peace in our house!  Sunday Katie played in another "football" tournament and her team took second place.  Not as exciting as first, but a well fought trophy nevertheless.

The weather in England is not the summer weather we are accustomed to in the U.S. so the rain and gray skies had me feeling blue rather than seeing blue, so we spent two days at home running errands.  With June flying by and the expected appearance of the sun or at least a hold off on rain for Wednesday, we took the opportunity to head to Legoland in Windsor.  We met up with friends and had fun on the rollercoasters for the morning.  But we had to get home to get ready for a two day outing to Nottingham!

As a good Scout parent, I felt the need to help out with summer camp in some way and going camping for a few nights was not really what I was hoping to do.  Consequently, when the request for drivers to and from camp came through, I jumped at that chance.  On Friday morning, we need to pick up 4 scouts from camp and drive them back to Surrey.  Unfortunately, the camp is 3 hours away from home and I did not fancy getting on the road by 6:30am for the drive up; so we found a hotel not far away in Nottigham that had a pool.  Remember the comments about the weather here! 

Katie, Cameron and I arrived into Nottingham at about 1pm after driving north through the rain and doing our best to avoid hydroplaning up the M1.  Frazzled by the one way streets and the tight spots in the parking garage, I was not excited to hear that the room would not be ready until 3pm.  They saw my panic and took me straight to the pool.  I read and the kids swam for two hours.  I felt bad for the guests trying to actually swim laps! But not that bad.  I was happy to have a chair to just watch.

The excitement was that the Olympic Torch Relay was entering Nottingham that evening!  I had no idea when I had volunteered to pick up the scouts or when we made the reservation.  It appears that there was a bonus for doing a good turn!  The powers that be continued to smile on our altruism by blowing away the clouds and bringing out the sun for the evening celebration.  By the time the kids and I made our way to the Old Market Square there was a blue sky overhead.  We found a spot along the railings just as the crowds were starting to fill in.  We would have to wait two hours for the torch, but the entertainment on the stage and the milkshakes I got the kids for "dinner" would help us through. 

We were rewarded by an amazing view of Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean (Ice Dancing Gold Medal winners 1984) as they ran into the square with the torch and lit the flame on stage.  Even the kids were getting Olympic Fever!

Here are the photos!

Waiting Patiently

Entertainment on the Stage

Keeping us Safe...and in the way for photos!  They moved!

Here come the Olympic Flame!

Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean!

My mother is always surprised how close I get for photos!

Lighting the Flame on Stage!  Party Time!  (or dinner for us...TGI Fridays)

School's Out!

School let out on June 6th for the kids at TASIS England.  The past two weeks have flown by!  The weather has dampened many days, but that is typical for England, so I guess I shouldn't complain.  However, after viewing so many sunny photos of friends back in the U.S. who post happy pictures on Facebook, I actually became a bit depressed by the first weekend with the kids at home.  How was I going to make it through the whole summer?!

End of Year Party

Music Award!

The end of school program at TASIS is a lot like school's back in the U.S.: choral concerts, instruments concerts, class parties, exams, and award ceremonies.  We were lucky to have Steve's parents, Aartje and Klaas, visiting us during some of those big events.  My cousin, Kaitlin, also got a little taste of the performances.  I was very fortunate to get to the Middle School award ceremony where Jacob received the 6th Grade Music Award.  I was thrilled!  The only blemish to that sunny Friday was when later that evening as we were heading out to the car to take Jacob and his two friends to the Middle School Semi-formal mixer, Jacob ended up putting his arm through the window of our front door.  I didn't see it happen, and it sounds like a crazy fluke accident.  Apparently the original glass from the 1960's when the house was built is not safety glass.  Jacob ended up in the emergency room rather than at the dance with his friends, but he will have a scar to always remember the day.  (The NHS doctors glued the wound, which two weeks later is still not healing.  I am thinking it really did need stitches, but what do I know, I'm an accountant.)

Our first big outing for the school holidays was a soccer tournament for Katie.  Her team actually was split in two to enter two girl's teams in the division.  The two teams ended playing each other for 1st and 2nd place!  It was very tough to watch the girls have to play against each other.  Steve missed this tournament because he had to fly to the Netherlands for his Oma's funeral.  As tough a time as I had watching Katie play against her mates, Steve had a much more trying weekend as he said good-bye to his Oma.  She will be truly missed.

Rain over the next few days kept us close to home, only heading to the park to walk the dog.  When we saw that the sun would make an appearance on Wednesday, my friend Anita and I quick rearranged our schedules to get the kids to Chessington World of Adventure, an amusement park not far from us.  The day was perfect: warm, sunny and crowd free!  The British kids are still in school until mid July, so the park was almost empty.  The kids found their favorite roller coaster and went on 12 times!!!  Fortunately for Anita and I, they were all tall enough to ride without an adult with them! 

The BEST rollercoaster!

Friday morning, I picked up our babysitter, Elaine.  She had agreed to come and stay for the weekend so Steve and I could get away to Wales.  Our plan was to climb Mount Snowdon, the tallest peak in Great Britain south of the Scottish Highlands.  The forecast for the weekend was making that plan a bit problematic.  Saturday was set to be a complete rainout and Sunday was looking questionable.  We tried to keep positive.  After a great pub dinner on Friday night and then an amazing breakfast cooked by Tim, the B&B owner, we were ready for an assault on the mountain.  Dressed as best we could for the rain from hats down to waterproof boots, pants and jackets, we made our way over to the base of the mountain trail that we had chosen as our route.  There are several ways to go, and we had actually chosen an easier since it was our first time to the mountain.  As we drove through the valleys of the Snowdonia mountains, we were aware that the rain that was falling as we ate breakfast had not let up but had actually seemed to strengthen.  The roads were lakes in some places and you could see ribbons of white cursing down the sides of the mountains around us as the rain streamed down the rocky slopes.  We laughed out loud at the absurdity of our adventure, but continued to reamin optimistic even as we paid the parking fee and the attendant told us that the steam train was not running because of the weather which included 60mph wind gusts.  Still optimistic, we felt we were properly "kitted out" and we made out way to the base.  Around us you could hear the rushing water of the full river near the road.  There were a few other people who also thought this wasn't the most foolish decision that could ever be made who were on the trail ahead of us and behind us.  The rain continued and dripped off the brim of my baseball cap.  Water just ran down the sleeves of my coat and then dripped from the tips of my fingers.  Steve and I would hesitate and ask each other if we should go on any further.  We kept thinking that the rain had to let up a bit and we could go just a little further.  Unfortunately, after about a mile, the rain had not subsided and we were only getting wetter.  The winds and the overwhelming amount of rain seemed to penetrate our jackets.  After agreeing we were not having fun, we turned and made our way back down.  We didn't let ourselves feel defeated; we were smart to turn back and try again when the climb would be fun and I would actually be able to photograph mountains rather than rain and clouds.  It was also nice to just relax for the afternoon with our books and hot tea to recover.  As we headed out for dinner, we found that there were emergency vehicles in the road that were only just clearing away as a kayaker who had perished in the rough waters had just been retrieved and taken to the morgue while his two buddies had to watch nearby.  It was not a day for high adventure. 

A very full, river

Near our hotel, a rainy walk in a copse of Douglas Fir trees

Sunday morning the sun warmed the conservatory where Tim served us a great breakfast on our final day in Wales.  The weather reports all smiled on us for a chance to attempt Mount Snowdon again.  We packed up our car, stopped to pick up sandwiches for lunch and drove back to the base.  We were wowed by the views before us.  We could actually see the mountains and the roads were dry.  Our smiles broadened.  Our second try was a complete success.  We saw some families and groups making their way along with us.  The trail is well maintained and easy to follow, especially in the glorious sun.  As we made our way the clouds were burning off; however, as we reached the top, the summit was still foggy.  I did turn around as we made our way back down to photograph it out of the clouds.  We made it up and back in exactly four hours, which I think is pretty good for a first attempt.  We were lucky to not have to cajole the kids as we went!  If only our legs weren't so sore for that long drive home!

Photo of the same river on Sunday morning

Snowdon in the clouds behind us

The summit!

After resting on Monday with only an outing to the park with the dog, we had to take advantage of the sun in England.  I piled the kids and the dog into the car and we drove to the beach! I found a beach maintained by the National Trust that allowed dogs, so that's where we headed.  As we got closer, I suddenly found myself in a lane to get on a ferry.  A ferry?!  It was actually a chain link ferry across a small inlet and it was totally fun.  We found the beach and set ourselves up for some relaxing in the sun.  It wasn't warm enough to go in the water, but the kids enjoyed playing at the water's edge and in the sand.  Rupert was not such a good beach dog.  He drank the water (I really tried to stop him, but at 110 pounds, I sometimes lose the tug-o-war game we play) and ended up a bit intestinally challenged (the easiest way I could put it...).  After almost three hours we packed up our things and threw them in the car.  Then we took Rupert on a long walk to help clear him out.  I think that was helpful!  My car is thanking me, I'm sure.  The kids were tired and since it was summer, we found ice cream at the National Trust shop on the beach. 

From there, I wasn't ready to go home.  I didn't tell the kids, but set the GPS (SatNav) for Corfe Castle.  This ruin is managed by the National Trust and allows dogs!  It would be Rupert's first castle!  As we pulled into the parking lot, I heard a lot of negative comments from the back of the mini-van.  I pulled the "I'm the Mom and I want to go!" card and made them all get out and climp up the road to the entrance of the castle.  The village of Corfe is the sweetest little place and I will have to go back and explore it sometime without the dog!  Katie was the only one who actually wanted to see the castle of the three and eagerly took on the kids challenge offered by the guard.  As we entered the grassy outskirts there were a few tents set up and one of them had some dress up clothes.  Before I knew it the boys were deep in battle.  They actually didn't want to go any further!  They were actually having fun!  Don't remind them, they don't like being wrong (I have no idea where they get that trait from).  We did go on and prowl through the ruins.  There were a few school groups on field trips.  The kids liked seeing Rupert!  After the castle we found some cold drinks in the village and made our way back to the road for our two hour ride home...we still had to get Katie to soccer practice by 6:30!  She napped in the car for extra energy.

This morning was the start of another sunny day and a bit of craziness for me!  I had to get Katie to the other side of Surrey to go to Chessington with one of her soccer mates.  Then I had to get the boys to Ascot to meet up with our friends, the Catao's, to see the Queen!  Surprisingly, we managed to all of that driving (even though my fuel light went on as we were on our way to Katie's friend's house) done with time to spare.  I picked up the Catao's and we got to a small parking lot in Ascot from where we walked into Windsor Great park to see the Royal Procession.  The Queen take a carriage ride from the park to the racetrack at Royal Ascot before each day's meeting.  After getting the scoop on where to go, we made our way up the road and found other TASIS friends already picnicing.  We joined them and were not disappointed with our view as the Queen came by about an hour later in her carriage.  Jacob was able to get a great video of the whole thing.  She even waved at us!  Or maybe she was waving at Rupert!  Yep, he saw the Queen too.  After that excitement, we actually headed further into the park for some geocaching.  We found two caches and walked too many miles.  By the time I got Jacob to soccer practice at 6:30, he was complaining that his legs were sore!  Bah!  I climed Mount Snowdon on Sunday and I didn't have sore legs.  Young kids today!

Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday in Italy - April 18 - 20, 2012
After a few crazy days in Rome, we rented a car and drove south to explore more of Italy.  Our first stop was to climb Mount Vesuvius!  You actually take a very windy, somewhat scary and precarious road most of the way up the volcano and into the national park.  As we navigated our way past buses going up and some going down, we parked our car on the side of the road and prayed there would be no damage when we returned.  We paid the entrance fee and started our climb to the rim of the volcano.  As we climbed our view became more and more obscured by the clouds settling over us.  After much cajoling, we managed to get the kids up to the rim where we peered over the edge into the crater.  Although we could only see clouds, we could definitely smell the sulphurous belching from the abyss.  The kids were not thrilled that this is what we dragged them up to see.  Oh, well, at least the walk down was quicker and easier.

At the Rim of Vesuvius

Climbing up the Volcano!

Another pizza lunch at a cafe down the volcano and then to Pompeii.  Here we again had Rick Steves giving us a tour of the ruins.  The audio was very interesting and even the kids were learning something.  One thing that stuck with us is that you often see these shops opening to the street that have a counter covered in mosaic tiles.  The counter has four to six holes in it which would have been to hold pots of food being kept warm by coals below.  You see these places every other block or so.  Apparently, this is where the people of Pompeii would have come to buy their dinner, a sort of fast food establishment.  After they learned this, the kids used their cameras to make short videos of themselves coming to the McDonald's of Pompeii to order dinner.  They were happy, which made me happy.  From the theaters to the colosseums, we really had a great time exploring Pompeii.  The only negative thing was that we did not stop for gelato on our way out.  We still had an hour drive to get to our hotel. 

On Stage!

Pompeii Colosseum

The hotel that we stayed as is a bed and breakfast on the outskirts of Sorrento and is called Villa Oriana.  Another family from the kids' school had recommended it and it was perfect.  As we drove through the gates we landed in an oasis with lemon and orange trees leading us down the drive (which honestly seemed more like a walkway and our minivan was a giant crushing it!).  The owner was there to welcome us with fresh lemonade and apple cake just out of the oven.  The kids made themselves at home with a checkerboard as Steve and I checked us in and brought in the bags.  We had two rooms next to each other where the kids were safe in one and Steve and I had the other.  We weren't sure we were going to want to leave in the morning to go sightseeing it was so comfortable to just be there relaxing.

On Thursday morning, we made our way to the main room for breakfast.  The owner's wife asked me to run down and get my camera for a surprise.  I knew what must be up their sleeve.  When I returned, they came out of the kitchen with a small chocolate torte dusted in powdered sugar and cocoa with candles and they were singing Happy Birthday to Katie!  She had mentioned to the owner's wife the evening before that it was her birthday the next day so they made it special.  I had no idea how I was going to get her a cake and my prayers were answered!  Everything was so nice!  The other guests also took a moment to wish her a happy birthday as well.  It was a good start to the day.  Then again, how could it not be with chocolate cake for breakfast!

We walked to town to catch a train to Herculaneum for some sightseeing.  This city was also destroyed in the same volcanic eruption in 79AD as Pompeii, but because it was buried in a mud slide, it is actually even better preserved.  The kids had more fun making videos here even after the rain started.  We made our way back to the hotel for happy hour.  Steve and I got a bottle of wine and the kids had the rest of Katie's cake to eat!  We sat in the lemon grove while the kids made some more silly videos.  Steve was surely thinking, "why can't our vacations be more like this...sitting in a lemon grove drinking wine all day rather than getting all this silly culture?"  Well, Steve, that's because no one wants to read about us sitting and drinking wine all day!  Gotta give the folks something to read!  So...more sightseeing!

Amazing frescoes after almost 2000 years.

Herculaeum McDonalds

smiling in spite of the rain!

Friday we had a guide pick us up in his van and take us along the Amalfi coast.  The road is precarious along a cliff and the parking in the villages is even more questionable.  Our guide told us about the sights and knew where to stop for photos.  Our first long stop was in Positano for an hour.  Here we wound our way to a beach where the kids just wanted to play in the water.  They would chase the waves and taunt them.  Really.  Of course, because it is my vacation, the rain started, so we headed back into the village with our umbrellas.  Steve and I found a piece of pottery which was one of the things on the list I wanted to be sure to get.  We found snacks for the kids and then back to the van. 

From there we headed further south to the town of Amalfi.  There is a Cathedral to Sant Andrea which is an amazing bit of architecture combining Sicilian and Arabic-Norman influences.  What was really great was that there was a wedding going on and tourists were milling about.  We were able to see the happy couple down the steps to their waiting car.  As they rode off to their big party, we sat down to some well deserved gelato!  Of course.  Just as we were about to amble through the town, it started to rain, but not a drizzle, a torential downpour!  We were soaked and the umbrellas were being blown inside out!  We found cover in a shop, but it wasn't letting up so we had to make our way out to find our guide.  Looking like a family of drowned rats we climbed into the van and our guide remarked on how the weather is NEVER like this and we must have the worst luck.  Yep, that about sums it up. 

Gelato, just minutes before the downpour

We continued along and the rain subsided as we made our way to Ravello.  Just as we were getting out of the van, our bad luck pounced again and the heavens again opened upon us.  The two closest restaurants were not suitable for our children's discerning palettes (I hope you read into that...no pizza).  We had to brave the weather and head up the road into town.  The main piazza was just about empty.  People were tucking in wherever possible.  That also meant we were having a terrible time finding someplace with an open table for lunch.  Finally, down a back road, we found a nice little restaurant with pasta on the menu.  The only table was right by the door and we were constantly getting up to close the door when thoughtless patrons came in or out and did not pull it closed.  Beside the rain, a cold wind was assaulting us.  Really bad luck.  But the waitress was very friendly and even brought out seconds of the pasta for Jacob and Steve!  Gotta love the Italians.  The sun was peeking through the clouds as we left the restaurant and we were able to take advantage of the break to explore Villa Rufolo and its garden. 

Gardens at Villa Rufolo

We made it back up the coast to Sorrento in time to change and go to dinner.  It was our last evening in Italy.  Dinner and our last gelato.  We would be heading back to Rome and the airport in the morning.  It was a great trip in spite of the rain!  Steve and I are trying to plan how to go back to Villa Oriana without the kids for a weekend.  We would recommend it to everyone.

Ciao, Italia!

Rome with Friends!

And there is STILL MORE of ROME!!!
We were very lucky to find that two other famies from our Expat community were also in Rome.  To keep the kids a bit more interested in all of the history, we decided to meet up for some guided touring.  The Barnes family has three children the same ages as ours just they reversed things by having a 6th grade Girl, a 4th grade Boy and a 2nd grade Girl!  The Catao family has a fourth grade girl and a seventh grade boy who is involved in scouts with Jacob.  It was a great balance.

Monday
Monday morning, our tour guide collected each of us in a large van for a driving tour of Rome which would include a stop at the Colosseum.  A stop at the very quiet, since it was still before 10am, Spanish steps for some photos before driving across Rome as our guide told us more about the history of the city and pointed out various buildings.  Our first destination was the Colosseum.  We made our way into the most iconic building in Rome and had the advantage of our guide to lead us through and explain what we were seeing.  The kids were even paying attention. 

Family Photo

Ready for the Gladiators

After our tour of the Colosseum, we continued our driving tour of Rome which included a trip up to the highest point to catch the noon cannon firing.  From here you were able to look across Rome.  From there we went back down to the Capitoline Hill.  Our guide showed us the Roman Forum and helped us try to understand even more history of this amazing city. 

Our group parted now that it was lunchtime, setting off to see more of the city in further detail.  Some had not yet been to the Parthenon and others were looking forward to a trip to the top of the Victor Emmanuel Monument.  We headed off to find lunch! 

Self Portrait!

Cameron angle...

After lunch, we went back to the ancient ruins of Rome to explore the Roman Forums.  Armed with audio tours by Rick Steves on our ipods, we walked through the ruins trying our best to understand the meaning of all the rubble.  Cameron was armed with a camera and actually took some really great photos of the rubble that actually included family members!  Something that I often don't manage to do.  The sun was warm which meant that we would soon need some gelato too.

After the Forum, we made our way over to the Castel Sant Angelo.  First we stopped at San Ignazio.  This church has a trompe l'oeil ceiling that makes it appear it has a dome when it really does not.  Cameron sat there looking at it and refused to believe that it was not a real dome.  There was no way to convince him otherwise, so we continued on our way armed with gelato to help us get to the castle! 

The Castel Sant Angelo was fun to explore and because it was Cultural Week our entry was free!  Bonus! 

From there we had to continue walking around Rome.  Stuck in a van for most of the morning, we had to step it up if we wanted to walk seven miles again!  We wound our way to Piazza del Popolo and rested our weary feet.

I was quickly being worn down by complaining from four of the family members.  From there we agreed to find an early dinner.  A restaurant near the Spanish Steps fit the bill.  Of course we still had to walk back to our apartment, but pizza and pasta fortification made it a bit easier.  93 steps up and we crashed into bed.

Tuesday
The kids were thrilled that we just had to walk a block and a half up the road to a taxi stand to catch a ride over to our early morning tour!  We met up with the Barnes and Catao families in front of Saint Peter's Basilica.  From there we met our guide at the Vatican Museums.  She did a great job of keeping the kids interested in what we were seeing and showing us some great connections between the art in the museum and the painting on the Sistine Chapel ceiling.  We had met early so that we could get into the chapel in an early group at 8:30am.  It was nice to be able to sit and reflect on what we were seeing without large crowds.  After the chapel and the museum, our guide led us to the basilica and we had the opportunity to see St. Peter's.  It was amazing, of course! 

Saint Peter's Square...empty at 7:45am!

Vatican Museums with our group

The Dome in Saint Peter's Basilica

At this point, we went our separate ways.  Our family was ready for lunch.  Hmmm, what should we have for lunch today?  Pizza!  of course! and beer!

 After so much walking over the previous three days, my family made me promise not to drag them all over Rome again in the afternoon!  From Vatican City, we made our way back across the river and through Piazza Navona.  We found some gelato to keep us going and then up the Grand Staircase by Michaelangelo to the Capitoline Museum.  From this museum (free entrance since it was Culture Week) we had an amazing view of the Roman Forum.

Gelato...mmmm what flavor today?!

And I thought Jacob had a Big Head!

Jacob with Sophocles in the room of Busts! (had to write that...)

From here we agreed we had seen A LOT of Rome and that we felt sated with history.  We actually headed back to our apartment for a short siesta before dinner.  After all of the sightseeing we had done, it was much deserved.  After that we found dinner at a really nice restaurant near there that had a notably Tuscan menu besides pizza and pasta for the kids!  Steve and I enjoyed roasted potatoes and an amazing roasted chicken.  It was a great way to end our stay in Rome.  We would be heading south in the morning.