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.

How to Survive the Louvre with Kids

In college, I majored in the Arts and Humanities...which they told me I could use for any job, but which meant job prospects with a degree in the humanities were nil. I eventually figured out how to use it to my advantage professionally, but one of the things I took from my degree was the beauty of art, music, and literature. I looked forward to the day I could share that beauty with my own children...and what better place to do that then at the Louvre?

Fast forward 15 years, and I've taken my boys to several art museums. However, one thing I didn't realize 15 years ago, is how I'd feel about showing my own sons all the nudity there is in art. 15 years ago, I probably looked past it all, and I get it...the painting and sculpting masters considered the human body God's most perfect creation, so replicating it was the highest form of artistic creation one could achieve. But in today's world of immorality, and being a father of 4 boys, I must admit that I don't like the display of the human body in art--which is probably why I've always been more of a fan of the impressionist works of Monet and Van Gogh, who focused less on the body.

Taking all of this into account, I was both ecstatic and hesitant to take my boys to the Louvre in Paris.  If you've ever been there, the museum itself is more than a gallery, it's a virtual department store of the history of art. Taking it all in requires an entire day...something that even the most artistic youth would tire of.

Plus, with only a day or so in Paris, who wants to spend the whole time in an underground museum? So here's what we did:

1. Find the most memorable art pieces and only see those. I know what you're thinking...isn't that a waste of money? Well, not so. Kids under 18 are free, and you're only paying 13 euro per adult. Our choices? The Mona Lisa (which is so small, it's actually quite underwhelming) was top on our list

2. Celebrate the art that isn't undressed. The Winged Victory is a nice piece for that, as were pieces depicting the Last Supper, the Crowning of Napoleon, and Artemis.

3. When necessary, use a censor.

 Lord Byron was happy to help censor Venus Di Milo

Lord Byron's first trip in Italy

         Our first trip in Italy was Padua. Its over 500 years old! Did you know they have 2 cathedrals in Padua. My favorite is the St. Anthony's cathedral. It's so big and beautiful! I can't wait to go to Venice and Milan.
                       

Proof

Someday, many years from now, we’re going to need proof for our kids. Proof that we actually did all these crazy trips in a 3-month span. Proof that the whole experience was as rewarding as it was challenging. Proof that this world has so much excitement to offer.

What I’m finding though, is a different kind of proof, one that I wasn’t expecting:  Proof that being away from our everyday lives and going on an adventure like this leads to closer family ties.  Now, it’s not totally true that I wasn’t expecting this…I hoped being together in a foreign country would bring us all closer, and, especially, would further build a bond between the brothers. But for all I knew, the extra close, non-stop contact might also burn us all out.

Now, of course there have been battles, and it hasn’t been all roses, and sometimes you need proof that things were hard, people were grumpy, and everything wasn’t perfect:

 

But in spite of the difficulties, every once in a while you see something like this:

or this:

or this: 

And you say to yourself, there’s proof that this was all worth it.

What to Bring on a Trip: Kids Perspective

Whenever anybody goes on a trip, the first thing that they think about is clothes and of course, money and passports. Our family was going to be staying in Italy for three months so the first thing we, the kids,  thought of was: Entertainment

For us the main entertainment is of course the traveling, but what about when we have down time? For this specific time we brought four main things to do:

The first thing that we brought was card games/deck building games. We brought three of them in a card box so we could fit dominion along. Our personal favorites include: Love letter, Dominion, Guillotine, Curses, Farkle.

The second thing we brought was Kindles to read on. Everyone in our family enjoys reading so we of course brought an easy way to read books on long travels.

The third thing we brought was DS and iPads. What kid doesn't love video games? Although we don't get to use them that often due to not having enough adapters.

The last thing that we brought was the main thing that none of us like to do. Can you guess what it is? That's right (if you guessed correct. If not.. well,you're wrong). It's homework. Our parents didn't want us to fall behind in our schooling so we brought along workbooks and online passwords for the textbooks. We try as hard as we can to keep up with the lessons as we can. The main problem with that is we were using our school emails to communicate and they took those away so we cant rely on those. But otherwise, our homework and study habits have stayed under control.

Mozart and Mozart Balls: Salzburg is Mozart Crazy!

In Austria people are crazy about Mozart...and even crazier about Mozart balls. Mozart balls are creamy chocolate delight with a flavorsome inside. They have Mozart balls in all different packages. But Mozart balls are very expensive in the main stores. If you go to the market near the cathedral they sell Mozart balls 3 for 10 Euros. But if you go to a Hofer (which is Aldi in the US), you can get a packet of 10 for 3 Euros. Personally, I think the Mozart balls are delicious. They're not overrated just because they have Mozart on them. My younger brother wanted them so bad on the way there he was singing about Mozart balls. My brother thought Mozart balls make the world go round.  

Of course, there is more to Salzburg than Mozart balls. The old town is breathtaking.  There are so many places you can see. My favorite is the Mozart house. I love the Mozart house because it has some of his personal things. They had his wallet, his violin when he was 6, his personal pictures, and even a piece of his hair! 

Hellbrunn Palace: An Amazingly Wet Experience

Of all the places we visited in Salzburg, Austria, my favorite sight was Hellbrunn Palace. After seeing so many serious (yet enjoyable) places, Hellbrunn was surprisingly fun. 

The Hellbrunn Palace was built for Salzburg's Prince Archbishop Markus Sittikus von Hohenems. He used the place as a summer palace and as a way to entertain and house parties for the guests, especially those who had what they referred to as the "trendy illness": Melancholy. 

The whole site is today is a nice break from the normal site seeing in Salzburg—the tour guides make sure you get your money’s worth, especially with the trick fountains.  Now you might think, “Oh this is just like a water park where you can play in fountains coming up from the ground.” Not with these fountains. The tour guide controls the water to spray unsuspecting tourists. My advice? If the ground is wet where you’re walking, then protect your camera!

Another piece of advice, pay close attention to the parts of the tour where the sites are the most beautiful. It’s an easy trap: Tourists whip out their cameras and snap pictures while the tour guide turns on the fountains unnoticed! Here's one where the tour guide set me and my brothers up. She said to pay close attention to the mechanical show in front of us (a song from Mozart's Don Giovanni), and while we were paying attention, she blasted us. You'll notice that I planned ahead and wore my rain jacket!

Not to worry though, the guides usually save their hijinks for unsuspecting kids, rather than adults with expensive cameras.  My siblings and I were the only ones that wanted to get wet in our tour group so at each station, the tour guide targeted us!

Overall the experience was amazing, even if we did end up drying off for the next hour.

When you give a kid a camera

1. Everything is a photo opp. And I mean EVERYTHING. Cars. Sidewalks. Trees. The Back of Dad’s Head. A Brother’s Thumb. It didn’t take long to implement the “Only Get Your Camera Out and Take Pictures When We’ve Reached Our Destination” rule.

2. Every picture you take, your child has to take as well. Yep. We saw a lot of THIS in Padova today. I expect to see a LOT more. 

Padova: Look Ma! No TomTom!

In our world of readily available maps, GPS devices, and directions, I have to say I was a little scared at the thought of navigating around without a GPS here in Italy.  But I forced myself to accept the challenge of reading a map again, and go exploring. Of course, that didn’t mean I couldn’t start small either. Trip numero uno: Padova. About 45 minutes from where we are in Paderno.

Now, I have to admit, I wasn’t completely without GPS help. With the help of my iPhone and a little WIFI trick, we were able to activate the map and get our GPS location. When we traveled outside of the WIFI service, the direction capabilities may have been gone, but the phone would still keep track of my location. This worked for the first half of the trip down, though I lost all reception about 15 minutes outside of Padova.

So, trick numero due: Follow the street signs. The first thing I’ve learned about driving in Italy is that you can find your way around fairly simply thanks to all the street signs in and around the cities (the 2^ndthing I learned was how crazy driving is here, but more on that in a moment). If you don’t know the exact address, you can just follow signs to the city and make your way there as you go. This second method worked ok, though it did eventually lead us to making our 1^st official site visit in Italy at an Ikea.  And Ikea in Italy has gelato, so we got another 1^st in, Behold!

From there, we were able to get basic directions back into the center of town by asking an associate (knowing some Italian is definitely recommended…thank you Duolingo). From there, we enjoyed the old town tour of Padova, including the largest cathedral I have ever been in (no pictures allowed…not even drawing was allowed! One too many art students, I guess).

Now, as promised earlier, a word on driving in Italy. The driving guide we got from the program that we’re teaching in here has an appropriate description of the driving experience, one that I learned in the first few minutes of driving: “Driving in Italy (and Europe, in general) demands that you are a ‘mature’ driver. By mature, we mean that you have the ability to drive anywhere without experiencing extreme irritation, frustration, and trouble”. I would add: the bigger the city, the more “mature” you need to be. 

After day 1 of driving here, I can only report: I love it here. Anyone who knows my driving will know that I fit right in with frustrating and irritating driving. Back home, people drive at (or even slightly below) the speed limit. Not here. The speed limit is only a suggestion! Heck, so are no tailgaiting and 3 seconds distance rules! This is my kind of driving experience.