TV in Italia

While not traveling in Europe we end up having down time to kill. Most of the time in the morning or while Curls is making dinner we decide to watch tv.

Most of our favorite shows are only available in Italian. It is really fun to watch Phineas and Ferb, Kung Fu Panda, Johnny Test and many others in Italian. Most of the time we just try to use context clues to figure out what is going on, or if we have seen the episode in English, try to remember the plot.

There is one show we can watch in Italy that's still in English: Mr. Bean (the cartoon). Because Mr. Bean only mumbles, they don't bother to translate it. This means they also don't translate the other English speaking characters. It feels like a little slice of home! We love Mr. Bean.

We're also able to watch some shows online still. Our personal favorite is Studio C on BYUTV. Every week we look forward to a new set of skit comedy sketches.

Bell Towers

Right outside the window of our apartment we have a big bell tower.  It is beautiful.  Each hour and half hour it rings.  And at 7 a.m. we get a full on song plus 7 rings--the Doctor counted, it rings 117 times.  At noon and six, we also get a full-on song.

Why don't we have more clock towers in America?   They simply are iconic of Europe.  I am going to miss bell towers.  I hardly ever have to wear a watch or wonder what time it is.

I Love Dogs!

I Love Dogs. They are so cute.  In Italy you can take dogs to restaurants with you.  Every time we go out to eat there is a dog.  At first this seemed weird because in America dogs are not allowed inside restaurants, store, or shopping malls.  I love dogs and I love seeing dogs everywhere.  Most people keep their dogs on a leash at all times in the restaurant, but they will let me pet the dogs if  I ask.  (My mom and dad learned the word in Italian: Accarezziare). I love dogs.

- Amadeus

Pula, Croatia: Roman Empire meets Urban Sprawl

Sometimes promotional photos don't completely portray a location. We originally booked 4 days in Pula Croatia based on photos that showed it as a pristine beach community with a historic old town complete with Roman ruins. When we got there, we found a little more urban sprawl than beach beauty, though Pula certainly had some of the latter.

Pula, however, did have its high points, though not enough to spend more than a day there. The sites we thought were most worth the visit were:

1) The Roman Coliseum: A fully-intact coliseum that has its nice views. For our family of 6, it was about $20 to see it, which we thought was a good enough deal, until we went in. You can see everything inside the coliseum for free outside the coliseum.

Of course, if you pay to go in, you can climb the ruins and even act like you're watching a gladiator battle...

They also have an underground area with a very small smattering of ancient pottery and a security guard who appears to be paid to stare down visitors and make sure they're not breathing on the artifacts wrong.

2) The city ruin walk + downtown market: The more we see of Europe, the more we realize that local markets are the hidden gem. With so many diverse foods and local products, we've quite enjoyed finding markets like the one in Pula, whose market is a 10 minute walk from the coliseum through a handful of Roman ruins surrounded by business buildings.

3) The rocky sea shore. The Pula "beach" is a few minutes outside of the main city. It is surrounded by hotels, a camping area, and some areas of somewhat destitute living. The overall view was nice, but the shore was incredibly rocky. We were grateful we brought our crocks and sandals. The best part, though, was swimming with the fish. Unlike many of the beaches we've enjoyed in the US, beaches in Croatia are full of diverse fish life.

All in all, Pula was nice enough, but the real draw of being in Pula is the town 20 minutes up the coast: Rovinj (which will be the subject of another post).

Gelato: The Best Ice Cream Ever

When we travel we usually stop at some of the gelaterias that we go to. We have found many flavors that we are wanting to try again and some, not so much. Here is a list of some of our favorite flavors and where we got them:

Cannela (Cinnamon) - Cinque Terre, Monterosso

Sicilian Wedding Cake - Crespano del Grappa

Fig with Cinnamon - Crespano del Grappa

Nocciola (Hazelnut) - Practically everywhere

Pistachio - Practically everywhere
Straciatella (Cookies and cream) - Most places

Banana - Rovinj, Croatia 

Fragola (Strawberry) - Everywhere (Amadeus gives two thumbs up)

Amarena (Cherry) - 

Cremino (Hazelnut with Cream and Chocolate) - Cinque Terre, Monterosso
Meringlase (Mering)-Crespano del Grappa

Our Favorite Gelato Place (so far)

Funny what you can find in your own backyard. After traveling every weekend to a new place, we found our favorite gelato place right around the corner from us in Crespano.

This little town also happens to be the place where we like to do our drawing lessons.

Sunday Excursions

With the plethora of cultural and historic experiences available here in Europe, one of our favorites has been attending Church on Sundays. In the last 6 weeks, not only have we attended a different Ward or Branch (LDS-lingo for a congregation) each week, but we've attended in a different country each week as well.

Despite the differences in culture, language, and history of each place we have visited, the gospel message in each congregation has been the same.

It has also been fun for the boys to see that it doesn't matter where you meet, the Gospel is still the same. Some branches have met in an apartment building, others in a  business building, and very few in a stand-alone chapel.

Salzburg, Austria

Paris, France

Rijeka, Croatia

Rijeka, Croatia

One of our favorite experiences was in Croatia, where we attended during a fast and testimony meeting--the LDS meeting where members share their beliefs. The Branch was extremely small, but it made for an even more intimate and enjoyable experience. When the meeting started, one of the missionaries said he would translate for us if we wanted to share our testimonies. So we did. After the meeting, the missionary told us that it was the longest testimony meeting they had ever had :)

We've also enjoyed the openness of the small branches we've visited. Coming in with our party of 6  can be a sight to behold, but every time we come to a new branch, we're welcomed with open arms and accepted as part of the branch almost immediately. In fact, today we went to church in La Spezia, Italy, and one of the leaders had Parker fulfill his Bishop's messenger duty as a Deacon.

La Spezia, Italy