Ciao amici (Hello friends)!
One of the definite perks of being in Europe is the ability to travel to different countries (at a much more reasonable cost)! Recently, Sophia and Michael had fall break at their prospective schools and we decided to spend the week traveling to Italy. We flew on Easy Jet airlines which is known for its reasonable flight rates ...and quickly learned one reason why as we attempted to board the airplane for our flight to Milan, Italy. We were aware of the one carry-on bag rule the airline had, however, we assumed that meant a carry-on plus our purse/backpack. But no---one bag was ONE bag! So, just as we are about to get on the plane. . .the girls and I looked at each other and are thinking how in the world are we going to get our purses in our already BULGING carry-ons??!! Where there is a will there is a way, and we stuffed and transferred items from one bag to another and somehow got everything to fit. . .barely! Some pre-flight excitement right there.
We flew to Milan, rented a car and drove to an apartment that we rented in a beautiful lakeside resort city called Densanzano, situated on the south end of Lake Garda in northern Italy. The next day, we traveled to the city of Verona, the home of Romeo and Gulietta (as the Italians would say) and it was the highlight of our day to see the infamous balcony, and all the padlocks and love notes visitors/sight-seers had written on anything and everything in the vicinity of Juliet's home! We picked up some great souvenirs, had our first gelato since arriving in Italy, watched a beautiful sunset atop the coliseum in the middle of the city and got a bit lost driving home in the dark (having to drive on countless round-a-bouts will do that to you!)
 |
| The girls posing with Juliet. |
 |
| Juliet's balcony in Verona, Italy. |
 |
| Coliseum in Verona--used today as a concert venue. (Girls know it from the Lizzie McGuire movie. :) |
The following day we traveled by train to Venice, Italy----a unique and beautiful city with water canals for 'streets' with many gondola boats passing by, and seemingly endless narrow streets (felt more like little alleyways) that got us lost within ten minutes of being there. One word to aptly describe it is A-maze-ing! We literally felt like we were little mice trying to find our way through a maze at times. The maps we had were not much help and so decided to just follow the narrow streets and see where we would end up! We eventually made our way to a very large piazza that opened up to a large water canal where we saw the gondola boats. We wanted the full 'Venice experience' and went on a relaxing gondola ride through parts of the city; seeing where Mozart lived when he was a child, where Marco Polo lived, where Napoleon lived, where Casanova lived--just to name a few points of interest. It was a beautiful day spent in a unique city!
 |
| An example of one of the narrow walkways! |
After visiting Verona and Venice, we decided to explore the area around Lake Garda and took a day trip drive with lake on one side of us, and the mountains on the other. The mountains were filled with very tall and majestic cypress trees, pine, as well as palm trees. Words cannot describe God's beauty that we saw all around us! We happened to stop off at a roadside restaurant for lunch and we were pleasantly surprised by the spectacular views of the lake as we sat outside and enjoyed our pasta meals. We lingered for some time at the restaurant, just taking it all in.
We then continued our road trip, traveling just a short distance to the resort town of Limone, suitably named for its many lemon and orange groves in the area. :)
The next day we traveled up the OTHER side of the lake, stopping at a town where we were able to ride a cable car up to the mountaintop for the day (brrr. . .it was chilly up there!) It wasn't a clear day unfortunately, but nevertheless we were able to see some beautiful sites of snow-capped mountains through the clouds (but not captured well on camera). We ate lunch at the top of the mountain, hiked around a bit, and watched many para-gliders run and take-off from the side of the mountain which was quite entertaining!
Girls doing a mountain top photo shoot
while Mike and I did a little hiking.
Hang-gliders
We ended our week long trip traveling back to Milan, staying near the airport and so we decided on an impromptu trip to the city center to see for ourselves the fashion capitol of the world! The girls took in a bit of shopping, finding some great deals on some European fashions, all the while, Mike sat outside the store (s) waiting patiently while they shopped. What an understanding and thoughtful dad/husband! All too soon our week in Italy came to an end and we flew back to Copenhagen, thankful to be 'home' once again.
 |
| Il Duomo cathedral in Milan--one of the world's largest cathedrals that took over six centuries to build. |
 |
| Prada and Gucci stores, just to name a few. |
 |
| Train to Milan. |
 |
| Leah and Anna at Tivoli amusement park Copenhagen |
Lastly, I would like to share about an event that was held at Sophia's school last week. It was the annual U.N. Day, a time when they celebrate the diversity that is represented in the school, in the form of a meal. Each family at the school was to bring one dish from their home country to share. I helped out with the event and was amazed at the variety of foods represented. Flags from different countries decorated the halls and rooms where the kids ate. It was overwhelming to see the variety foods families brought in---talk about a smorgasbord! What a great opportunity it was to meet other parents from all over the world. It made for very interesting conversations as we learned from each other a bit about our different backgrounds/where we came from and the foods we each made for the event.
 |
| Sophia's favorite. .Flodeboller :) |
