Sunday, February 7, 2010
Let the Sun Shine In!
After many weeks, or maybe even months, of colds dreary foggy cloudy rainy snowy and generally weather that gets you down…we had a truly sunny day. It was, I would dare say, even slightly warm. The first of the month market was in town so we had a great time, along with the rest of the city I think, getting out of the house and soaking up some Vitamin D.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
You Don’t See That Every Day.
I have noticed something odd, well I have noticed a lot of odd things but this is just another specific, farmers in Italy don’t seem to drive trucks. I always assumed that a truck was the modern day version of a horse or an ox, but not so here. Mostly farmers in Italy drive their tractors, although not often on the road as you might see in rural America. Sometimes they also drive small, beat up Fiat Pandas…usually in an ugly green or weird blue color. Yesterday, I saw a truck for the first time outside of the American military bases being driven by Italians instead of crazy Americans. Today I saw a second truck, same model (Dodge ¾ ton 4 door 4 wheel drive diesel). Both where shiny and didn’t have a scratch or a bit of dirt…so much like most trucks in America.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Style Tips
Now some may say that just because Trav lives in Porter he is not cultured, but I am here to tell you that is false. We all saw that with the right hat and scarf (and amount of wine) he can become a true man of the world. But I have noticed something since his travels here that has changed; he has actually changed Italian fashion. What most people may or may not know is that Trav has, in his past, experimented with various hairstyles including a very large fro. As I drove to work the other day I spotted an Italian guy, about 20ish, sporting a fro as well. Not thinking too much about it, I continued on my day…until I saw a different guy a few days later with the same look…following in Trav’s trendsetting-world traveling-man with no limits footsteps. Trav, you my friend, have started something great…the I-FRO. So, all you who want to be on the trend bandwagon, join Trav and two other guys and grow an I-FRO.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Guest Blogger, Edition II- And a Good Time Was Had by All
by Pops and Grammy
Just to reassure everyone, Italy has survived the Dietz family vacation. The entire trip was quite surreal. To walk into the castle of the Este family in Ferrara and imagine the royal daughters Isabella and Beatrice there, to look out your hotel window in Florence and think these are the streets Michelangelo and Leonardo traveled, standing in the Coliseum where Christians were martyred and gladiators triumphed, or traveling the same places as some of Jesus’ apostles. It is truly amazing!
A few of our highlights: The floodwaters of Venice receded and we embarked on our first journey. Matt, the ever vigilant tour guide, got all 14 people on a bus, then a train, and even a boat without any mishaps. Venice is a marvel! After our return to Ferrara, we rented some bicycles and rode the wall of Ferrara, nothing in Ferrara was broken nor in the Dietz family (despite Travis sliding rear end first down a flight of stairs, bicycle in hand) so we called that a very successful outing. Off we go to Florence and Pisa. Michelangelo’s’ David is a sight to behold as is the Medici Palace, but I think everyone who ventured to the top of the Duomo, loved that adventure the most. Jeffrey did not have the utmost confidence in climbing to the top of a building hundreds of years old with only a small railing between you and a plunge of hundreds of feet. He even told some unknown Italian lady, “Lady seriously move away from that rail.” The Leaning Tower of Pisa still stands, in spite of our attempts to push it over, and was a truly wonderful addition to our tour. We rang in the New Year with fireworks at the Ferrara castle and dancing in the streets, it was amazing! We decided this would be a great way to bring in every New Year! A day trip to Verona proved to be another delightful outing, the city is truly picturesque. Juliette’s balcony, Roman ruins, surrounded by snow capped mountains as the Adige River flows through town. And finally a trip to Rome, the ancient city sits amid the bustle of today’s busy streets but you are still able to journey back in time. The artwork in St. Peter’s Cathedral, the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican is like nothing you can imagine.
The Italian people were very gracious with us and our attempts to speak Italian. Travis discovered that with the correct hat and scarf (the wine may also help) your knowledge of the Italian language improves. Although we felt we mastered several Italian phrases, we all agree the most commonly used phrase during the trip was “where’s Pops?” We had some great food, but everyone agreed that the café Dietz had the best food. And I think the most amazing part of the trip was the fact that we got ten adults, three children, two of whom are two year olds, numerous purses, backpacks, diaper bags, snack bags, sometimes even luggage, various assundry cameras, iPods, cell phones, fourteen coats, hats & scarf’s, twenty-eight gloves, and two strollers in and out of trains, buses, boats, museums, castles, & cathedrals and never lost anyone or anything, well maybe Travis & Jennifer briefly but not really.
Needless to say, this has been the perfect vacation; Matt & Lauren are the ideal host and hostess. We highly recommend this area of Italy. However it may take them a while to recover from our visit, so give them and few weeks, months, years, to recover and visit Italia! Grazie & Ciao.
Just to reassure everyone, Italy has survived the Dietz family vacation. The entire trip was quite surreal. To walk into the castle of the Este family in Ferrara and imagine the royal daughters Isabella and Beatrice there, to look out your hotel window in Florence and think these are the streets Michelangelo and Leonardo traveled, standing in the Coliseum where Christians were martyred and gladiators triumphed, or traveling the same places as some of Jesus’ apostles. It is truly amazing!
A few of our highlights: The floodwaters of Venice receded and we embarked on our first journey. Matt, the ever vigilant tour guide, got all 14 people on a bus, then a train, and even a boat without any mishaps. Venice is a marvel! After our return to Ferrara, we rented some bicycles and rode the wall of Ferrara, nothing in Ferrara was broken nor in the Dietz family (despite Travis sliding rear end first down a flight of stairs, bicycle in hand) so we called that a very successful outing. Off we go to Florence and Pisa. Michelangelo’s’ David is a sight to behold as is the Medici Palace, but I think everyone who ventured to the top of the Duomo, loved that adventure the most. Jeffrey did not have the utmost confidence in climbing to the top of a building hundreds of years old with only a small railing between you and a plunge of hundreds of feet. He even told some unknown Italian lady, “Lady seriously move away from that rail.” The Leaning Tower of Pisa still stands, in spite of our attempts to push it over, and was a truly wonderful addition to our tour. We rang in the New Year with fireworks at the Ferrara castle and dancing in the streets, it was amazing! We decided this would be a great way to bring in every New Year! A day trip to Verona proved to be another delightful outing, the city is truly picturesque. Juliette’s balcony, Roman ruins, surrounded by snow capped mountains as the Adige River flows through town. And finally a trip to Rome, the ancient city sits amid the bustle of today’s busy streets but you are still able to journey back in time. The artwork in St. Peter’s Cathedral, the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican is like nothing you can imagine.
The Italian people were very gracious with us and our attempts to speak Italian. Travis discovered that with the correct hat and scarf (the wine may also help) your knowledge of the Italian language improves. Although we felt we mastered several Italian phrases, we all agree the most commonly used phrase during the trip was “where’s Pops?” We had some great food, but everyone agreed that the café Dietz had the best food. And I think the most amazing part of the trip was the fact that we got ten adults, three children, two of whom are two year olds, numerous purses, backpacks, diaper bags, snack bags, sometimes even luggage, various assundry cameras, iPods, cell phones, fourteen coats, hats & scarf’s, twenty-eight gloves, and two strollers in and out of trains, buses, boats, museums, castles, & cathedrals and never lost anyone or anything, well maybe Travis & Jennifer briefly but not really.
Needless to say, this has been the perfect vacation; Matt & Lauren are the ideal host and hostess. We highly recommend this area of Italy. However it may take them a while to recover from our visit, so give them and few weeks, months, years, to recover and visit Italia! Grazie & Ciao.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
"It's About Pretty Things"
Check out Lauren's new blog about our Italian experiences.
http://www.anothercappuccinoplease.blogspot.com/
http://www.anothercappuccinoplease.blogspot.com/
Frozen Fog
Ferrara, in fact this whole region of Italy, is famous for its fog. This fog is of the scary movie/ biblical apocalypse variety that blocks out the sun and reduce vision down to mere feet. Today brought a whole new phenomenon to the fog however…frozen fog. Since it has been below or only slightly above freezing the last few days and the air is dense with a thick layer of fog, everything is covered with frost. Interestingly, however, the fog also freezes in mid-air, leaving small ice crystals floating about, kind of like snow but smaller. Also the frozen air makes little spider web patterns extending from door handles and across and between the links of chain link fences. It almost defies explanation and I wish I had a picture. It is quite interesting and beautiful.
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