Oct 2
I first became aware of the phenomenon of love locks during our trip to Paris in 4th grade (spring break 2013.) A “love lock” is any kind of padlock that two people write their names on. They lock the padlock to the bridge and throw the key into the river as a sign of their love’s permanence. Here is my brother and I on the Pont des Arts, a bridge with a ton of locks.
There’s something so user friendly about Florence, I think we were all a little sad to leave our nice apartment right around the corner from Gelateria Vivoli (not an accident) and the big square in front of Santa Croce where we could play a little frisbee in the evening after the tour groups had dispersed. We went to the Uffizi Gallery, of course, and the silly Da Vinci museum, which has a lot of big models built from his sketches and was right up Miles’s alley with all the gears, levers and cranks. (“Da Vinci was a genius!” he noted in his journal that night) Read more
What a difference a few weeks make! When we arrived in Barcelona in the last few lazy days of August the beaches were packed well into evening and there was a constant parade of languid, tan people up and down our street. By the time we left, the beaches were emptier and there was a back to business feeling in the air. In Rome we started to feel the first cool breezes of fall and this morning here, in Florence, I wished for long sleeves. A few weeks but a world of difference in so many ways. Read more
We decided “When in Rome, cook like the Romans do!” so my mom signed us up for a cooking class with Chef Andrea at Cooking Classes in Rome. (Miles and my dad went to the Explora kids museum for the day instead.) Read more
Barcelona was a great place to start. The kids were wowed by the quirks of Gaudi’s architecture, the down and out zaniness of the Dali museum in Figueres, the piles of octopus and squid at the Mercat de la Boqueria. (Can I tell you how grateful I am when my kids respond with excitement to the things we drag them to see?) We got over our jet lag, played frisbee at the beach and the park, and got into the rhythm of a few hours of school work in the afternoon. Three out of four of us were pretty excited by Spanish food, and ate some excellent tapas and paella.
We're back home (for the time being!) Click map to see some of the places we've visited. | jhitchcox on Sri Lanka Days |
 | Rebecca on Sri Lanka Days |
 | dellasquiggles on A Book Party with Big Brother… |
 | Grammie & Grampi… on The End |
 | Julie Hannan on African road trip, part 2 |
 | Amy on African road trip, part 2 |
 | Kirsten Frits on African road trip, part 2 |
 | Nancy Reed on African road trip, part 2 |
 | Mark on African road trip, part 2 |
 | Aunt Jackie on A Book Party with Big Brother… |
