Buongiorno, USA!

We are a week into our return, and slowly adjusting to our reentry. Some initial observations upon returning:

• It really does take about “a day per hour of time difference” to shift jet lag back to the local time zone. So, we should be fully on Portland time by Monday. But based on the customs of Italian-time, everything tends to be delayed -- thus we’re giving ourselves until next weekend!

• We're also giving ourselves hell for how much we stored away, as we unpack box after box after box. As George Carlin put it, "a house is just a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get more stuff." A year of living out of suitcases taught us a lot of valuable lessons, including how much stuff we don't need! 

• Speaking of excess, our first trip to the grocery store threw us into a catatonic state: 64 choices of granola?!!

• We've also had many encounters with the kind of super-friendly folks who make Portland "famous", such as when checking out from the grocery store: Hi there! Oh wow, I see you picked up some of that totally killer granola. I just had some this morning with fresh organic blueberries, a dollop of raw goat milk yogurt, and a drizzle of Manuka honey. It was so good, and it is sooooooooooooo good for you! That dose of exuberance reminded us of conversations with European friends, who often commented about "excessive American optimism." We would cheerily respond that we didn't really understand what they meant...but we do now!   

• As for our own sense of optimism, it has been bolstered by many sweet reunions: starting at the airport, and continuing with both friends and felines:

Much as we miss our Italian friends and adopted home of Genoa, it also feels good to be home!

Arrivederci, Europa!

Dear C & T:

You are sleeping on our flight home, our 13-month adventure having come to an end. We hope this blog provides you with many fun moments, revisiting where we’ve been and what we’ve experienced. And although these 90+ posts are mostly about the highlights and the times we were thriving, we will all remember this year equally for simply getting through the tough times.

So, while we are sure to post a few reflections about our return in the coming days/weeks, for now it's worth taking a moment to capture a few of the "life lessons" that are now part of your life experience. Plus, we are incredibly proud of the ways in which you have flourished and grown over the year. (For the friends and family also reading this blog, thanks for indulging us in this post to our girls, and for tolerating a bit of unrestrained parental gushing that is likely to follow!)


     - Leaving Portland last summer was traumatic and tearful, and none of our promises about life in Genoa offered any comfort. Flash-forward a year, to our long layover in Charles de Gaulle airport this week, and you are both fantasizing about a quick afternoon round-trip flight to Genoa (before our evening flight to the US): just so we can see friends, enjoy the city, and maybe get some fresh-from-the-oven Genovese focaccia!

     - You not only made friends, you also made yourselves fully part of the community at school. This wasn't easy: remember the many weepy nights in the first few months of school? Or, the many challenging situations with shouting teachers or rebellious kids in your classrooms? But, you did it.

     - Living without a car, in a city with minimal (although adequate) public transportation. Hopefully we can maintain the fitness level nurtured by all the walking, climbing of stairs and hiking up steep salitas.

     - Learning to live with (or perhaps just tolerate) all of the changes in food. Who would have ever thought children could utter the phrase, "Nooooo, pasta and pizza again?!"

     - Also adjusting to all of the cultural changes, including developing a new appreciation for the relative efficiency and ease of our life at home. We will never again complain about a 15 minute wait in line!

     - You can share a car backseat, a bedroom, and often even a bed without killing each other. Of course the precisely measured and monitored "borders" helped to keep the peace! Yet you've proven your ability to get along with each other with less space, and also with less stuff. 

     - In fact, you can do fine with a couple dozen items of clothing in total (and even without a clothes dryer). That’s even more impressive when in Italy, since every corner offers the temptation of that next great pair of shoes, fashionable shirt, or high-heeled leather boots. That last one hopefully won't happen until you're 18'ish anyway! :-) 

     - And, you overcame perhaps the biggest hurdle of all by learning a new language, so quickly. Meanwhile, dad's Italian is still mostly limited to comparing your remarkable spugna (sponge) brains to his vecchio (old) gray matter!

In all of these ways (and many more), you are bravissime! You have proven yourselves courageous and capable in ways both surprising and wonderful. We also hope this experience deepens your reserves of adaptability and resilience, to tap into whenever life hands you challenges. And mostly, even if this year wasn't always la dolce vita, we hope all of us will remember this time as part of the bella vita we are fortunate to enjoy together.

Vi vogliamo bene!

London Last

We came back to London, just like when we started everything last year. This time we are with friends from Genoa. My big sister and I are having fun.

Going on kids' paddle boats at Regents Park. That was really fun (we kept bumping into each other), and there were also cool birds around the pond.

Hiking up a big hill to see a nice view of London.

Riding on double-decker buses and the Tube.

Seeing the musical of Matilda, and now practicing the songs.

Visiting the Rosetta Stone, which was much better than Italian lessons using Rosetta Stone before we left for Italy!

Playing with the "Panda Cat" that lives next door to our friends' place. My friend had met this cat just before we came to London, and she gave him some fish so the cat would keep coming back. 

And also getting a handmade gift from our friends, for when we go back to Portland on Friday. It is awesome!

ABCs

The last part of our car trip was an A-B-C, and our parents added some fun stops along the way.

A
Apeldoorn, Amsterdam, Antwerp
     We went to an Awesome Ape (and monkey) park in Holland called Apenheul, where many of the Animals are allowed to run around in the open! (Jumping on strollers, trying to steal food, etc.)
Howler monkeys were one of the animals not allowed to run around. That was a good thing, since they have one of the loudest calls in the animal kingdom -- check out this video clip.


     We then drove to Amsterdam, where we saw the Anne Frank Huis ("House"). I had just finished reading the book, so that made it especially neat to go there, even if her story is sad.

     We also did a canal paddle boat trip, with my sister playing Captain, and all of us freaking out bumping into things and avoiding the tour boats!

Video clip here.

     The last "A" stop was Antwerp, to see a museum about how people got to America and their stories. This is even where some of our own Ancestors left for America.

Arrivederci!

B
Bruges (Belgium)
     This was a Beautiful stop, and also where we had the Best chocolate ever!!

Buona Giornata!

C

Calais, Chunnel
     Finally, we dropped off our rental Car in Calais, France, after it had taken us safely through 2,000 miles of travel. The Channel Tunnel took us to London. That meant looking out the window on nothing but darkness for the 30 mile tunnel, even if my Dad found all of the facts about the Chunnel to be pretty Cool.

Ciao!

Fun Foods

Like my little sister's blog post on crazy creatures, this is another way we're thinking about this last year: we have seen (and tasted!) some very unusual foods. Here are some things we have noticed…

     Any kind of meat and every part of the animal is considered okay to eat (not only in Italy, but in many other places we are visiting). You also can't get grossed out if you want to go to the markets in Italy - sorry about some of these pictures! And you have to get used to not having things neatly cut up or organized or put into packages for you.

If you like all kinds of breads, Italy is the place for you!

This is a Genovese specialty we will miss a lot: farinata, just out from the oven!

Because Genoa is on the sea, every type of seafood can be found. Octopus is a popular dish, but not popular with me or my sister or my mom!

Also there are some really strange foods. We even found dog food shaped like pasta!

And the best part (saving the best for last of course) is dolce – dessert – of every kind you can think of. We even found gelato shaped like sushi, but fortunately made with ice cream.  

It is hard to decide on a favorite dessert, but granita is one that we will really, really miss having.  

It was soooo good we even had it in wintertime!

Kids’ View

The richness of this roadtrip experience is undeniable, but doesn't always enthrall the girls. As we've said in prior posts, they often help us remember that the most enjoyable and entertaining parts of life can also be the simplest. Recent examples:

     When asked for the most memorable part of their action-packed sightseeing day, responding with, "having my first Starbucks treat since last summer!"





(Oh the shame, even after a year of taking them to Italian coffee shops!)




     Noticing that the solemn statue of the founder of the University of Bergen - when viewed from the side - seems to suggest the college has a healthy "endowment."

     Strolling down a German street and hearing the girls giggle and then ask, “Dad, how do you think that sign is pronounced?!”







Or, in Norway:
“Take a picture if us under this sign!”












     They both also display incredible “playground radar”: able to locate the nearest swing set or play structure, no matter how many tourist or historical sites stand in their way!

Video clip here.  
(Don't worry, grandparents, it wasn't quite as dangerous as it looks!)

     Even (or perhaps especially?!) our frequent bathroom stops can be a source of silliness.

     And here's a typical exchange:
“Kids, what do you think of this remarkable artistic (or cultural, or
historic) landmark?”
“Yeah, that's okay, mom and dad. But check out this BUG!!”  

(Or snail, or any other creepy crawling critter!)

    Finally, passing the many hours in the car by taking photos not of the dramatic scenery, but of each other! 

Bergen Beauty

A stop in Norway was a return to familiar weather (rain!), as well as an eye-popping tour of incredible natural beauty. We toured the Hordaland region, which includes Bergen and the surrounding countryside: home to fjords, fish, ‘falls…and trolls.

Video clip here.

Our magnificent hosts included a real, live, working anthropologist, and that also meant behind-the-scenes access to the local cultural and natural history museum. 

(We hope these photos don't get him into any trouble with the museum!!)

We will return to our EU travels refreshed and ready for more roadtrip adventures!