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****I finally completed my post on Florence so if you are interested, you can scroll back and check it out. It is sixteen posts back!****

 

        August 16th around 8:30 pm

        after a canceled flight, night 

        at an airport hotel, an added

        flight, headache ...

I don't know if there is anyone still out there reading.  I hear crickets!  As I am sure you noticed, there was a sharp increase in posting over the final days.  I tried to fit it all in before we left because I knew that once we were home, our trip would feel a world away.  And boy does it.  It is really impossible to recreate our experience back home.  In fact, when we all woke up at 4:30 am on the first morning back - jet lagged and disoriented - I asked the kids if they wanted to take the light rail into downtown Portland to look at the "sights".  That was Brad's solution to jet lag during our first early morning in London.  They laughed and I have to say it was comical to think of us following a map to City Hall and explaining the history of the early settlers here in Portland.

What a gift this trip was - a truly unique experience for our family and I am incredibly grateful on so many levels.  It is very special to look back and realize that we lived those two months together and shared each experience minute to minute.  Yes - sometimes it felt unnatural not to have some kind of pause from each other.  The kids missed many things about home and especially their friends.  But it was never a deal breaker - we had each other and we built up a whole trove of memories.

It was time to come home but I have to say, it is a little shocking how much it has felt like a return to our routine - and school has not even started yet!  I sit here wondering how to carry the way we lived in Europe in our pockets - to pull out that time together and admire it the way we did our 50 pence coins when we arrived in London on the first day.  There was such a thrill of discovery and a sense of freedom!  It was even more exciting it see it all through the eyes of our children.

We are somewhat changed from this though and I think the experience of the donkey trek is very symbolic of the entire trip - we didn't know if we could do it - we did it - and now what is next?  Probably not a trip like this for a long time but certainly a hike in the Gorge, taking the kids to one of our Ethiopian Restaurants for the first time, and yes -even just appreciating when we all land at the dinner table at the same time during the week. 

Thank you friends and family for reading!  It was fun to have you along the way.  I have been inspired by many ways in which you live your lives so thank you for that too.

Happy Trails and until the next time,
Nancy

Handstands around the World

After a long absence, it is back!

              Punta Volpe Handstand

            Nuraghic Ruins Handstand

                 Duomo Handstand

            Ponte Vecchio Handstand

             Pitti Palace Handstand 

             Donkey Trek Handstand

               Pantheon Handstand

          Piazza St Pietro Handstand

              Colosseum Handstand 

           Piazza Navona Handstand

One Word Wednesday: Roma

We spent three nights and two days in Rome. I am not going to lie - it was all we could take. Rome in August = throngs of tourists and a noticeable absence of Romans. In fact most Italian cities are vacant in August as people flock to the beaches and mountains. 

Luckily we had a very tranquil Air BnB apartment.  it was the perfect refuge at the end of the day. And when you slip away onto a deserted Roman street it, almost feels like yours. 

Here goes:

    

     The multiple layers at the Forum

   are described as what kind of pasta:

                       Lasagna

         Who our tour guide looks like:

                Susan (right Bruce?)

    Most of the marble from the Forum

            is now somewhere in the:

                         Vatican

               What once was Pagan

                 eventually became:

                         Christian

            A visit to the Collesseum:

                         Classic

     Will we use this for an X-mas card?

                             No

         The humor of our guide at the             

      Colosseum could be described as:

                 Crude! (But hilarious)

         Number of wild animals killed 

                 at the Colesseum:

                     (Over) a million :(

              The animals were lifted

                 into the arena by:

                   Elevator (Shafts)

            Temperature in the sun:

                            36

          Temperature in the shade:

                              30

      The busts at the Vatican Museum:

                       Understated

          The gold that used to adorn

     the Pantheon can be found where:

                         St. Peter's 

           Building a structure like the 

             Pantheon today would be:

                       Impossible

              Photo at Piazza Navona:

                        Obligatory

                  The Trevi Fountain:

                         Unpopular

     The amount of time it took to elbow

        our way down to the fountain:

                        5 minutes

                            

          The kids are thinking about

                 their wishes coming:

                             true.

          Photo on the Spanish Steps:

                    (Also) Obligatory

         Our neighborhood in Trastevere:

                          Peaceful

      Finding an authentic Sicilian Bakery:

                            Sweet!!

Ciao e Baci

Nancy

What was done after the trek

The donkeys were rewarded with carrots.

The kids were rewarded with Fantas. 

The Chamber of Secrets was finished in our own "Great Hall" - where we dined during our two day stay at an Agriturismo outside of Sellano. 

The (frigid) pool was jumped into multiple times. 

We were visited by Emanuele and another Sagra was attended. 

The tagliatelle di tartufo was enjoyed with molto gusto. 

The Italian symbol for " molto buono" was enthusiastically used by Elliot. 

A fond farewell was said to dear Emanuele and a few tears were shed. 

Our suitcases were packed (again) and we headed to where all roads lead:  Roma. 

Ciao e Baci

Nancy

What we know

                         Mozart

Spending five days with the donkeys definitely was not a lifetime but we did get to know some of their traits and quirks. Mozart, for example, fancies himself a stallion and enjoyed being with his lady friends, Luna and Judith. Strictly platonic however!

                           Judith

Judith is a bit of a mischief maker. She likes to topple over buckets of water with her right front foot. She also got loose once while we were out of sight and went on a little walk-about to find greener pastures. 

                  Mozart and Luna

Luna is all business and made a great team with Brad. She is a leader for sure and knows how to put her nose to the grindstone. 

She can be a bit competitive though. She wants to be first to the water trough, first through the gate, and first to get fed. 

 

                    Team Mozart

Luna was happy to share the lead with Mozart though. Which was a good thing because guess who just has to be first while descending a hill? You guessed it. Amadeus Mozart. He basically transformed into a locomotive down the hills. And boy could he multi-task. You try stealing mouthfuls of grass while negotiating steep and slippery rocks. It's not easy!

But he was perfect for Nadia and Lucas to share. He never played favorites and loved it when they snuck him bits of human food. 

                      Team Judith

Judith was as sweet as sugar. Even though she liked to rub her head on your back when you came to a halt (almost knocking you over), it was just because she loved all of the scratches and loving she got all week. 

We sure will miss you Judith, Mozart, and Luna. Grazie Mille for the ride!

Paparazzi!!

We discover early on during this trek that people are enamored of donkeys. They are like magnets. The cameras immediately come out and the questions start flowing: "Mules or Donkeys?"  "Are they yours?"  "How did you find out about the trek?"

We've seen people screech on the breaks to take a picture of the donkeys grazing in their pasture. We've heard children yell for their parents to come and look at the "horses" as we've walked under their windows. We've met people from all over - these animals just drop everyone's walls and it is very refreshing. 

I have to say that the most amusing example of their celeb status has to be while we were staying in our hotel in Norcia. Our stay there happened to coincide with an Italian soccer team who was using the nearby training facilities. The team, Ternana FC, from a small Umbrian city named Terni, is a Seria B team. I have heard they are quite good. 

The team was packing up at the exact same time we were prepping the donkeys to leave. A crowd of players stood around and watched our every move. At the same time, a group of American chefs showed up and circled us as well. They were from a cooking school in Memphis, in town for a week long Italian cooking class. They took pictures and videos of the donkeys and asked a ton of questions. Meanwhile the entire Ternana Soccer Team went completely unnoticed by them - even with the tour bus parked right next to us and the players standing around in their shiny uniforms.   The chefs moved on after awhile to return to their class. One of them had even asked if we were offering rides. 

Just before the soccer team pulled out of the  driveway, I asked for their autograph and told them I have a friend who is a huge fan (Frazer - if you are reading this then that would be you). 

They happily obliged and filled a half a page with autographs.  Whew! It sure is hard being a celebrity. Just ask Judith, Mozart, and Luna!