Saturday in Florence

Well, as you can see it's been nearly a week since our last post. Monday to Saturday. That's a long time and we are sorry for the break. Mainly, the break is due to the fact that both kids are having a hard time here. Sensory issues, tantrums, fussiness, fighting with each other, etc. It's hard to write an upbeat blog when the day is so difficult. So, we just left it blank. Here's a quick run-down of the week.

We were in Barcelona all day Tuesday and Wednesday and left early Thursday morning for Florence. We will be here until Monday, when we head to Cinque Terre.

Tuesday and Wednesday, we did some exploring in Barcelona. Tuesday we went to the aquarium, which was expensive and, while a good rainy-day activity, not spectacular (I prefer the one in Atlanta).

Wednesday we walked to Park Guell, a whimsical park on a mountain top overlooking the city. You can visit it here and learn more than we did while actually there. Quoting from Wikipedia: "Park Güell is skillfully designed and composed to bring the peace and calm that one would expect from a park." Not while we were there. Our kids can bring disruption to the most peaceful of parks. Afterward, we had an authentic Catalan lunch in a smoky diner. The tantrum that followed on the sidewalk has to be the best of the trip. A local passerby even 'shushed' her. (Another time a local said "Quit crying you baby" as he walked by.) Others have just stopped and starred. This blog is appropriately named. We truly are terrorizing Europe.

We found that Barcelona wasn't our favorite city. It was much more enormous than we expected. While we liked our residential neighborhood and the subway was clean and efficient, it wasn't very beautiful (maybe impacted by our recent visit to exquisite Paris). Oh, and the subway pickpocket who took a camera didn't help, either. We had dreary weather with a steady rain on Tuesday and parts of Wednesday, which affected our plans of mostly outdoor activities. After Paris, where we found the language barrier to be a challenge, I was looking forward to being able to communicate in Spanish. I didn't realize that Catalan, not Spanish, is the main language in this region of Spain.

Thursday was a travel day from Barcelona to Florence, with a bus ride to an airport an hour north of Barcelona and a flight to Bologna. Then it was an hour train ride into Florence and a long walk to the apartment at the PonteVecchio Bridge. Lots of travel for one day. We were tired when we finally arrived, and we were ready to put the kids to bed. That's when the landlady mentioned that the apartment was reported by previous guests to be noisy from construction below. She described it as scratching sound, slightly louder than the noises we were hearing at the time. It seemed quiet enough, and the alternate apartment was 20 blocks away. We decided to stay. It stayed quiet until 7:15 a.m.

That's when the "loud scratching sound" began. In the US, we call it a jackhammer. Right below our heads! Now, the kids had already awaken us, but that's beside the point. Jackhammers at 7:15? At least the workers were polite; they waved to me through the sheer bathroom curtains. We spent the rest of the morning exploring other lodging options and finally moved to the apartment 20 blocks away. That was most of Friday.

Today it's Saturday and we have had a great day (only 2 tantrums per child). The kids are, for the most part, behaving. We have discovered that music acts as a pacifier for Connor. Without it his mouth doesn't stop going. It's either talking, in song, or just making noise.....loudly. The louder the background noise, the louder he gets. So, we have learned to stick headphones/ipod on him. Today we just left them on him ALL day. It worked wonders. It also keeps Hope out of his business. Made for a great day. We all needed it after yesterday.

This morning, we heading out to find the market. After yummy pastries at an adorable little bakery near the Arno, we wandered through the old cobblestone of Florence. Hope and I stopped in a sewing notion store and bought some ribbon to make belts. We strolled the street market, looking at leather, silk and various Firenze souvenirs. The weather was warm and sunny, except for a quick shower that sent us into the indoor food market, where we had a wonderful lunch. On the walk home we found gelato! The kids are big fans. The four of us had a great day, a long walk, and fun times. Just what we needed after a tough week.

One of my favorite things to do is visit the grocery store. At home, it's a chore I don't enjoy (though the opening of the new Bloom makes it slightly more enjoyable). But here, every item is new and different. I find it a joy to see all the options and try to figure out what it is and what one might do with it. Now we are home and I'm cooking pasta in Italy. Sounds fancy, but it looks just like pasta I make at home. But I bet the locals don't open a jar and heat it in a pot. Oh well....

Jeanne and Larry, whose help with the kids has been invaluable, stayed at the apartment tonight and watched the kids while Allen and I ran (literally- to catch the right light) to the Arno river to take some photos of the nightlife at dusk. Beautiful!!!! Afterward, we wandered through the streets and piazzas and found interesting things to observe. Crowds gathered to listen to live ' jazz ' music in the piazza, tourists wandering the streets and sitting in cafes, kids riding a beautiful carousel....... We had a great dinner in a bar near the Uffitzi and Duomo. Too much wine (meaning 1/2 a glass for Ellen) and gelatto afterward made for a nice night out. We stopped in a party/open house for a neighborhood clothing store on our way home and drank some local liquor and treats served by the host. Now, its 12:30am and we are on our way to bed (as Hope and Connor sound the alarm at 7am).

We love you all and will write again soon.

Check out the new photos posted today (link to album below)!!!

Ellen & Allen