Leaving Sommariva

Country Life

Today we rested, even though it was not Sunday, it was a Sunny day, which made it a little warmer, we do not notice it much, but both Aunties are very cold. Leopoldoangelo says that they are not allowed to have heat on here after April 1. So since the weather had been unusually cold here this May, both Aunties are freezing. But today was sunny and we stayed home. Gogi found a sheltered place where the sun could fund us, but the wind could not, so we read a book and enjoyed the scenery.
In the afternoon, Gogi and Auntie took us to town, where we sat in the car for a very long time waiting for Auntie to work on the blog. Then we to the grocery store where Auntie bought some mortedella (the italian version of bologna), some Swiss cheese, and some more Coke zero for Gogi and bottled water.
We were all hungry so we went back to a little Pizza place where we liked the pizza, well, really Auntie, because they put truffles on the pizza, Truffles are like mushrooms, but very very tasty, and she said "Wow, this is very good Pizza!" Auntie found a photograph of a truffle for you to see, do you think it looks like a mushroom?, NO? What do you think it looks like? do you think it tastes like that too?

Pinocchio again, whats up with this guy?

Today we got on a train and went to Florence, at least that is what Gogi and Auntie were calling it, but we heard the people there calling it Firenze. Auntie says that that is the difference between English and Italian, that we call Torino - Turin, and Milano - Milan. But Auntie also says to remember the Way we call Paris - Paree! We rode the train, because Auntie says driving in Fireneze is very hard, the streets are narrow, and there are places only the people who live in Firenze may drive. If you do not live there and do so anyway, you get a big fat ticket in the mail which costs a lot of money.
Fllorence is a big city with lots of interesting things to see and do. First we did Aunties favorite and found a place to eat and use the toilette, what ever that is. They had cappucino and an apple treat for Auntie and Cafe Latte and a corenetto for Gogi. Gogi says they crapped it up with honey on top and that she likes the ones Auntie makes better!
Then they went to see "The David" David is a big statue in a place called the Accedemia, where he stays behind a glass wall all around him, because some man took a hammer to his foot and tried to break him. The David is an important work of art from the 1500's and he was made by Michelangelo, who was a great artist at that time. He is very nice don't you think? Do you know the story from the bible of David?
Next we saw a very very big church, which is very old. Here the baptistries are a separate building, because it was believed you could not enter the church until you were baptized, so it had to ba a separate place to go to get that done first. The church did not have a dome over art of the church for a long time, because no one could figure out how to do it. But finally a guy named Brunelleschi, came up with a plan and did it! Today you can see the Dome (Duomo) of Florence from very far away.
Then we went with Auntie and Gogi shopping in the market where we found a new purse and sandals for Auntie. The market was very crowded and very busy with many people trying to sell things. We were kind of glad to leave, because when you are little it is hard to see over all the big people.
Then we went for lunch at a restaurant called Pinocchio's! Auntie said her food was very good, she had ravioli, Gogi had vegetables.
After lunch we went to the Uffizi gallery, where there are many famous works of art. Aunties favorite are Botticelli, Auntie often says that Ghianna is a Botticelli angel, and now we all know what Botticelli painted like! The Uffizi gallery is VERY big! We were there a very long time! Then we saw the Ponte Vecchio, it means old bridge, and it is a bridge that has houses and shops on it, can you imagine living in a house on a bridge? Auntis and Gogi had some gelato, it the Italian version of ice cream, and Gogi had chocolate, while Auntie tried pistachio, which she said was very delicious.
We were all very tired so we went back to Certaldo, to the cottage by the train.
It sure felt good to be home!

We are all Family

Auntie works at a hospital that is called St Francis. Long ago there was a man named Francis who became a saint and now he is called St. Francis. Francis was a wealthy young man who one day heard God say, "Francis you need to rebuild my church." Well Francis thought God meant to fix the place up he was praying in. So Francis started doing just that, but he realized that God really wanted him to help the people love God better. SO he gave everything away and worshipped God all the time. This happened in a place called Assisi. SInce Auntie works at St. Francis Hospital the people she works for talk a lot about St. Francis and Assisi, so Auntie wanted to see it. We really liked it, it was beautiful and there was lot's to see.
St Francis, loved the animals and wrote poems to the beautiful nature that God has made. He wrote about brother sun and sister moon. We think that sounds funny, but Auntie that we are all related in God's creation, and it makes sense to her. It is also believed that St Francis had the first nativity scene with Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus in the manger, and with animals there too. That is where we get our nativity scenes, our Christmas scenes of the birth of Baby Jesus.
Assisi sits high on a hill too but it was much easier to drive to. It was very windy on the mountain, and Auntie had on a hat, that kept trying to fly away! We went to see the St Francis Basilica, where St Francis is buried, and the church of St. Clare, who was a friend of St. Francis. She is buried in her church too! Wow, can you imagine having a church named after you? We walked a LOT in this town, up many hills, can you see Auntie and Gogi in this photograph?
The roses by the Basilica San Francesco (that is Italian for St. Francis) were beautiful and Auntie just had to stop and have a smell! While we were walking we saw this Pinocchio, do you know that story? If you don't maybe Gogi, Auntie, Mimi or Mommy or Daddy can tell you, but Auntie just said that Pinocchio lied and his nose grew! Just look at his nose, he must have lied a LOT
Just look at these cute little sheep candies, don't they look delicious? Auntie and Gogi were cold and hungry so they stopped for a coffee and goodie, Gogi found something that she thinks is too sweet, but Auntie thought it was o.k.

Our First day with the Aunties

Today we went to Voltera, for Mimi. Voltera is very high in the mountains in Italy, and it was a little scarey getting there, many sharp turns, hight hills and no guardrails on the mountains, but it was worth this all because it was beautiful! We parked in an underground garage and then rode the elevator up to the city. We went to a museum called the Etruscan museum, the Etruscans are the name of the people in Italy who lived here a very long time ago, even before Jesus! Can you see the box a person would be buried in, after they were cremated, in those times? They did not burry people like we do now. Since they did not have cameras, instead of a picture, they would have their face carved, do that people in the future could know what they looked like. This is called an effigy and some people would have it done when they were young so that their effigy would be cute. This one is called the lovers, but Auntie thinks they look mad at each other! What do you think?
Gogi and Auntie walked a lot so Poppy and Pippa had to have a break, here they are resting on a bench behind the museum. We stopped for coffee and a goodie, and look at Aunties beautiful heart on her Capuccino! We wanted Aunties goodie but she had to think about it a while, but she eventually shared with us, like a good girl! She even told us a secret, which I can not tell, or it would not be a secret. What is the secret? Well, she said if we were very good, we could have a goodie every day! It is o.k. to tell you the secret because Auntie says secrets are not good things. We should always be able to tell some one bigger than us that we trust. As we left town, there were all these people who live in Voltera here visiting in the evening before dinner. Look at Auntie being silly in the elevator on the way down.
We had to scold Auntie at dinner, because she was being silly rather than eating her dinner. Gogi had a Margarita (that is what they call cheese pizza here) pizza and Auntie had ham and mushroom, pizza and a glass of wine to drink which they shared with us, it was all very yummy!
When we got home we took a ride on the swing, both of them, the big girl swing and the little girl swing!

The Joy of New Sisters!

Well Molly Dolly and Molly Brown who was just born May 5, adopted sisters today. Their names are Pippa and Poppy, and they were born in San Gimignano, Italy. The first thing Pippa and Poppi did with Gogi and Auntie was to get a bite of lunch, Gogi and Auntie had salad and bruchetta. Bruchetta is bread with a yummy tomato mixture on it. Pippa and Poppi made sure Auntie and Gogi ate every bite! Pippa, Poppi and Gogi really liked dessert, which was a custard with caramel sauce over it.
Then Pippa and Poppi went to the top of a very tall tower to say good bye to their old home. It was very beautiful there and they liked that Gogi let them have their picture taken with the view in the background. They said "Ciao" to the olive trees, the grape vines and the beautiful scenery to go home to live with Molly and Molly B. As we left the city this little doggie whose name is Pierro came to the window to say good bye us. We waited in the car with Gogi while Auntie figured out how to pay for the parking. You should have seen Gogi! The car beside the drivers door was too close for Auntie to get in the car, so Gogi climbed right in the passenger side, put us on the dash so we cold watch and she climbed in and over the gear shifter (PRINDL) and pulled out the car for Auntie. She was quite a sight! We giggled, but very quietly because we did not want to hurt Gogis feelings. We waved good bye to San Gimignano as we drove to the cottage where Gogi and Auntie are staying. You would love it here, there is a swing and a swimming pool! They drove by this cool place where the cat was staring out of the widow of an old house! Auntie and Gogi were too late to find a restaurant open, so Gogi has these cute little pizzas and Auntie had ham, salami, cheese and bread, followed by this luscious strawberry pie! It was just your size1. Then we cuddled in with Aunti and Gogi, night night new sisters, love you miss you already, see you at the teddy bears picnic!