Past as Present

     Although we're trying to stay put as much as possible during our final weeks in Genoa, we were tempted away by an invitation to spend a weekend in the Umbrian hill town of Gubbio - considered to be Italy's best-preserved medieval village. This also gave us easy access to surrounding towns, such as Assisi and Spello.  Once again we were struck by the depth of living history in Italy, including the highlights below.

Palazzo Ranghiasci 

     We were invited to stay in a palace in Gubbio, passed down over many generations and now as much a burden as a blessing for the family members who maintain it. The stone structure of the palazzo dates back to the 1300's, and we wished the walls could talk as we imagined what might have transpired over the last 700 years. Instead, the girls got to imagine their own noble status while exploring the palace and gardens.

Palio della Balestra

     Our visit coincided with a traditional crossbow competition, between the archers of Gubbio and nearby Sansepolcro. 
     We were woken by the early morning proclamation announcing the competition, which has taken place in the palace square since at least the 15th century.  

Video Clip Here

Early Saints
     Our visit also followed the steps of Saint Francis, Santa Chiara, and Saint Ubaldo. Admittedly, we cheated a little by taking a funivia up the hill to the Basilica of Saint Ubaldo (where his 900 year old mummified body is visible for all to venerate)! But walking the streets and hillsides of the medieval towns was breathtaking, both for the beauty and the sense that very little has changed about these places for hundreds of years.

Truly Ancient History
     Our wonderful hosts took us to the K–T boundary at the end of our stay. Gubbio happens to be the location where geologists first noticed the sudden change from fossil-rich white layers of stone (from the Cretaceous period), to the brownish/red Tertiary beds which are surprisingly depleted in fossils. Further study of these rocks (and others around the world) lead to the realization that this boundary line marks the mass extinction of dinosaurs, likely from asteroid or meteorite impacts. The impact for us was to conclude our trip by adding about 65 million years to the timeline we retraced!

Memorial / Memory Day

As Memorial Day approaches in the U.S. we are reminded of the immediacy of war and conflict for most Italians. This was especially true during Memory Day observances earlier this year – specifically referring to the Holocaust and subsequent genocides.  

The main entryway of the girls' school was decorated by the children with Il Giorno della Memoria artwork, poems and crafts, and these have remained in place for many months.  

It is a strange feeling to be confronted with these intense images every day, but also important in a time of rising antisemitism, racism and repression in so many parts of the world.  As written in Italian on the piece depicting the concentration camp uniform: 

Impossible to Comprehend; Necessary to Understand. 

Conversion

We are suddenly into our last 8 weeks in Italy. How did that happen?! 

As we strive to maximize these final weeks (after which we'll travel around Europe for a month), we also find ourselves increasingly thinking about what this experience has taught us. Thus our blog may take on a more reflective tone in future posts, as we try to capture some of the lessons learned – starting with the topic of US/European conversion.  

Lesson 1:  Do not convert Euros to Dollars.

     Early on we were told our lives would be less stressful if we just pretended that the prices listed in Euro were actually in US Dollars. That sounded absurd at the time, but it has proven to be the best strategy to take the sting out of the weak exchange rate. So, for example, the price on the substandard grocery store can opener seemed only semi-exploitative when thinking of it as a $7 purchase. But had we taken the actual 7 Euro price and converted it to the nearly $10 equivalent, we’d have opened up a whole can of worms which feed on $tre$$!


Lesson 2: Do convert Weights and Measures.

The metric system makes everything simpler, but there are times when it’s important to convert. Such as when your daughters are ogling the marzipan sweets, perfectly formed into fruits and vegetables, but you fail to realize that the price equates to $1.80 per ounce!  (Next time their treat will be the marzipan cherry instead of the pineapple.)

Or, when taking your visiting friend for a Cinque Terre hike, only to discover that the seaside trails are still closed due to landslides. The park ranger tells you that “the hillside routes are an intense but manageable 320 in elevation.” Somehow that sounded reassuring, especially when ignoring the conversion to 1,000 feet, both up and down!   

Lesson 3: Some things just don't convert.

Take clothing sizes, for example.  The white t-shirt is a US purchase, size Small. The gray t-shirt is an Italian purchase, size Large.  

What's remarkable isn't just that the Italian Large is actually smaller, but also that Italian style would dictate getting an Italian Small to comply with local fashion: assuming you’re okay with the world knowing if you have an innie or an outie.

Kids' Perspective

Sure, it was cool to see Pompei (even with piove - rain), and also Parmesan production (except the putrid parts - pee-yoo!)...



…but my sister and I also like Parrots and Playgrounds (especially with pigs)!

Riding in the car was kinda boring…but riding in a floating log was awesome!  

Mini-Pisa was peculiar…but petite Paris was pretty.

And one thing the prior parental post got right...pelosi (furry) puppies are perfetto! 

Mezzogiorno Tour

We completed our “spring sprint” of travel, taking advantage of school breaks (even May Day is a holiday here) for a 2,000km tour that included the Mezzogiorno – the southern Italian regions . (The Italian term for “midday” or “noon” is mezzogiorno, which describes the intensity of sunshine in these regions at midday.) The girls are likely to share their own perspectives from this culinary and cultural expedition, but here are a few lessons from the parental perspective:

Touring a Parmigiano-Reggiano factory (not in the Mezzogiorno, for the geographers among you;-) is an amazing experience, especially when your host is the Willy Wonka of cheese!  But beware: he’ll impart his passion for cheese by offering chunks of belly-busting warm curd from the still-churning vats, handing you cups of the bitter enzyme brew, and turning you into a mouse-magnet by infusing all of your clothing with the heady scent of Parmesan. 

Video clip here.

Touring a goat farm is equally amazing, although here the brew offered is a homemade concoction of fermented root mash.  (Note that we tried to stall drinking the obligatory - and huge - straight shot by taking a second photo…but the gregarious farmer was already planning refills!)

Unfortunately, refills of aged balsamic vinegar were not offered by our guide and 3rd generation expert in the time consuming practice of slowly passing the vinegar through seven different barrels over a 25-year period. But we can offer this sweet tip: try a drizzle of balsamic over ice cream.

Visiting ancestral villages provides thrills when reuniting with distant cousins, chills for the family genealogist (when being handed a monk’s 16th century book of local records), and of course, more opportunities for drinking Peroni beer with the locals!

You can reward your kids' patience with "boring villages" by stopping at a theme park, like Italia in Miniatura. In addition to miniature versions of Italy’s major sites, there's a miniature driver's ed course (complete with a simulator) that allows them to drive Italian-style - thankfully, not at Italian speed!

Video clip here.

During real, multi-hour car trips, be sure to enjoy the moments when the backseat bickering stops. That typically means it’s nap time…or that boredom has lead them to discover new uses for a discarded nylon net!

Roman roads and elevated crosswalk systems were put to the test during a spring rainstorm in Pompeii (which we visited with Uncle D). The whole “mezzogiorno” sunshine notion was noticeably absent for much of this trip, but we saw that Roman construction functioned perfectly after over 2,000 years - frozen in time like much of the city.

In contrast, the modern laundromat was far less functional. Okay, so maybe it was an issue of not understanding which one was the soap dispenser. Fortunately, a young translator came to the rescue!

And a final lesson from this trip: even if you can’t resist the lure of a basket of "Cuccioli Gratis!" (free puppies), it will take all of your powers of resistance to fend off the “puppy, per favore!” pleas that follow!