Schwartz's on Sabbatical...the usual havoc ensues: Party Animals

Our week spent in Perugia has been a whirlwind to say the least. Our dance card was full everyday and we often pulled into the long and curvy driveway of our B and B at around midnight. In retrospect, we should have chosen accommodations closer to the action but we wanted our Umbrian farmhouse experience (see Blog post "Martha and Fred" which somehow loaded below the last "One Word Wednesday" entry).

The kids really got to sink their teeth into the experience of living abroad - not just being a tourist. They picked up more Italian from Emanuele and his children, Frederico and Leo, in one week than during the two weeks in Sardegna. Nothing like needing a real life intervention to get some Italian under the belt (aka: "Mom, tell me how to say "knock it off" in Italian right now!!!"). It was so great to see the bonding that took place and even some more complex play (ask Elliot about the trap he and Frederico set up in Frederico's bedroom along with help from a neighbor boy).

And of course, Emanuele is as entertaining as ever and the kids seemed to "get" him pretty quickly. Needless to see, we laughed a lot!

Anyway - here is an overview of some of our adventures.

If you're visiting Perugia, you're bound to end up at Umbria's largest lake - Lake Trasimeno. We went there on a Sunday with Emanuele's family.

E with Leo

E, Frederico, and Leo

The Pack

We rented bikes and did a few laps on the dirt pathway around the island.

And had a good game of Nascondino (hide and seek) in a castle.

On Monday night we hit one of the area's epic "Sagres". Sagres take place in small villages throughout Italy and usually feature a special regional dish that is served al fresco in the middle of town. They were a favorite summer activity of mine when I lived here and it was great to share it with the family. We ended up in the charming village of Bettona at the Sagre dell'Oca (basically - Festival of the Goose).

Nadia and Frederico waiting

for their tagliatelle with Goose

sauce (we told the kids it was

chicken). Shhhhh.

The busy cook volunteers

In their makeshift kitchen.

General chaos

Listening to a shalmtzy Italian band

On Wednesday we hit up St Francis's hometown of Assisi. We arrived late in the day after spending the afternoon at Emanuele's house doing laundry and lounging.

When we arrived at the entrance of the famous Basilica, I had Emanuele tell the kids about the story of St Francis while I translated in English. Just as he was getting to the part about St Francis talking to the wolf - click - they locked the front door of the church. It was closed for the night.