Postcards from Rome

On the "to do" list for our next trip. Get a better camera. Matthew took some breathtaking photos and here are a few to share. Beautiful!

Back to Reality ...

Here's an update since we've been home. Last week, Gracie woke up at 2:30 am two nights, then 3:50, 4:10, now she's at 5:30 am. She's been hitting the hay early too, which means Mom is also asleep by 8:30. Today, Sunday she seems back to normal. All in all, not a bad week. We missed our gelato fix so we went to an Italian Gelato place near our house on Saturday and indulged.

I posted a picture we took from our apartment balcony. On our last night in Italy, around sunset we saw a huge amount of small black birds, sort of swirling around our apartment. Doing all sorts of formations, sort of like a school of fish. More flew over head, we can hear their wings. David finally grabbed the video and we got a few minutes of this incredible sight. We couldn't get over this flock of birds and it wasn't until my mother said, oh, are you sure they were birds -- could they have been bats. Yes, come to think of it they were, they were tiny and very black. David snapped this picture of the giant winged bat, or monster...

Here are some reminders for myself for our next big trip.

1. Carry on. Take a small rolling carry-on, pack clothes and toiletries for all of us, in case of missed connection. This can also double as back up clothes for Gracie, or ourselves, for any mid-flight accidents or spills. Put it up in overhead and if we are lucky, never open it. This would've lessened the stress during that tight connection.

2. Purse carry on: Now that the clothes and emergency stuff is in the overhead, the carry on purse will fit under the seat in front of me which has important stuff such as snacks, lollipops and pepto.

3. Sippy cups. In order to reach said bag in front of me, I need to avoid spilling open containers filled with liquid that seem to multiply during the flight. Next time, remember to bring small thermos or water bottle for beverages for all of us. We had a sippy cup for Gracie on this flight and it was great and wished we had brought one for each of us.

4. I - Touch. Worth its weight in gold in keeping Gracie and therefore Mommy happy on plane.

5. Lollipops: Make sure we have a variety.

6. Packing. I think we packed fairly light, and I believe there was still stuff I could've left out, in terms of clothes for me.

7. Things I'm glad I brought: Gracie's air mattress, (came in handy for child proofing the apartment, as it turned out - Gracie ended up on a triple folded comforter on the floor). Zip Ties - (Gracie used them as a toy - she called them "fly catchers") Cotton Balls - (Gracie's favorite toy). Sample sized laundry detergent- (We could wash clothes right away).

8. Things I wish we had when we needed them: a few compact rain ponchos and a umbrella that lasts more than 5 minutes.

9. What people wear in Italy : Women - good leather shoes or boots, tight jeans, a smart, designer leather bag, and bring along a few scarves. If winter: elegant coat. Men: Tighter jeans then what you are used to, good leather shoes and a scarves as well. Cool sunglasses for both are a must. Be prepared to walk, walk, walk.

10. Resolution: Learn more Italian for next time. Ciao!

We are Home

It's 3:39 am Saturday, October 17th. We got home around 8pm Friday night. The flights were fine on the way home, with turbulence the last few hours before we landed in NYC. We had to circle the airport for about 45 minutes, so we thought we would miss our connection which was already tight being just over 2 hours. But we made it with minutes to spare after rushing through security and running to our gate. (Customs was fast, it was getting our luggage off the carousel that took FOREVER!). Gracie slept for a few hours on the flight from Rome to NYC, but immediately fell asleep when we got on the plane in NYC to home. It would've been a peaceful flight but we had a plane full of German/NYC tourists all excited to visit Las Vegas, and they were a bit rowdy. The flight was incredibly smooth, but the pilot put on the "seatbelts" sign on a few times, just to settle them down. Mom and Dad picked us up and had left us eggs, milk, bananas, bagels and cream cheese in the frig, a perfect snack to have upon arriving at home. (Toddler international travel tip #47 - Have your own capsule recovery team to feed you and watch your kid upon splash down.) When we came home we had the fire alarm chirping that we needed to change the battery in a very high part of the ceiling requiring the monster huge ladder and David was faced with doing that otherwise we would hear "chirp" all night. Gracie went to sleep around 10 pm, and the last thing I remember is her complaining that I was falling asleep as I was singing her "Jingle Bells" -- "MOM, finish the words! ." Anyway, she woke up again at 2:30 am. The chirping is gone so David must've gotten to it, or it just gave up. Grace is now playing with Thomas train set, and now making up a story, as I transcribe: "There once was a girl named Gracie. There was a dragon. There was a baby bird. All the birds were going to the beach. There was Gracie watching the duck. Then there was a mean dragon who was afraid of the duck. Then there were tiny birds..." I had a few hours sleep so I feel a bit human. I warned Mom and Dad that I will be dropping her off to their house at 6am ish, so we can get a few hours sleep. David is catching some zz's now. We had a very good trip. We are planning to return for another trip soon.

Janiculum, Trastevere and finally, Pizza!

Today we went for a long walk. We started off, heading across the river, from the traffic bridge from Victor Emmanuael Road, but we came upon a car accident. A car had run into several pedestrians on the bridge and the car had slammed into the concrete pillars. We saw two people on the ground, and a crowd around the injured. It must have just happened. We immediately turned around. All around us sirens were blaring as ambulances tried to get to the site. It looked as if the people on the ground were not moving and there were people around trying to help them. We figured it was best to not to try going through the crowd so we went the opposite direction and headed to Janiculum hill. (We checked later online and found this photo, 4 people were injured. They were still working on getting the car off the bridge when we returned 4 hours later - traffic was a mess. Travel Tip #1 - never drive in Rome).

It wasn't long before we came to the first part of the hill and began walking towards the top. The walking was easy with Gracie in the carrier on my back instead of her in the stroller. It didn't take long to begin climbing in altitude and you could turn around and see much of Rome. The day was cool also and perfect for walking. We came to a hill with a huge building and gate. On the building was the sign "North American College", we knew we were heading in the right direction because our friend said the college was near the Janiculum Hill. There was very little sidewalk and all I could think of was seeing the people on the ground at the accident and how fast people were driving up and down the hill.

We continued walking and came to a fantastic view of the city. I took a few photos and we took a chance for a short break. Gracie then saw a small beach ball with Bugs Bunny on it at a vendor's stand and had to have it. She asked nicely so we bought it for her. We forged on and had to climb a few steps before coming to another great view of Rome and an old lighthouse. A few photos and a sort rest and we were on our way again and after a few short minutes we reached the top. At the top was a huge statue of Garibaldi and there were several snack stands and it looked as if someone was filming a movie. We found out from an English family you can walk down the other side of Janiculum hill. I bought a couple of paninis and waters and we sat down for a picnic. A short time later we were heading down Janiculum Hill and came upon of all things, a comic book shop. I made a couple of purchases, Batman in Italian and off we went. About half an hour later we arrived at the souvenir shop near our apartment and purchased several items. Arriving back at the apartment around 5 pm, Gracie watched her cartoons, Marie relaxed and I had a couple of cigars.

At 6:30 pm we headed out to the Le MonteCarlo where we had delicious pizza and Gnocchi Pomodoro. Gracie fell asleep before the food arrived and slept in Marie's arms as we ate and drank Nastro Azzuro Birra, the national Beer of Italy. Gracie woke up as we were leaving in a pretty foul mood and didn't even want to go for gelato. So we headed back to the apartment where Marie made Gracie pasta. We are packing as I type, getting ready to head out early tomorrow morning. We won't arrive in Vegas until 8 pm., a very long day.

Trevi Fountain, Pantheon and the Catacombes of Priscilla - Plus, trying to dine at a "locals only" restaurant.

This morning, we slept in longer than we expected, so we didn't head out until around noon. The Catacombes were closed from noon to 2:30, so after breakfast, we went down to the taxi stop at the Piazza Chiesa Nouva and took a cab to the Trevi fountain. It is either 1/2 hour walk from the apartment, or a 20 minute cab ride. With all the crazy, narrow streets, it takes a while to get anywhere. But we made it, and it is an amazing sight, sort of an incredible fountain stuffed behind a building in a small piazza, surrounded by Pizza shops and stores. And alot of tourists. Gracie and I threw a coin in for good luck. Gracie had pizza and pear juice. We then took out the map and decided to walk back toward our apartment, toward the Piazza Navona. Carefully following the map, we stumbled upon the Pantheon, now a church. It also holds the coffin of the painter Raphael. Incredible. Its huge and surrounded by outdoor eating places. By this time, it was around 2:30, so we grabbed a cab and headed to the Catacombes di Priscilla, a few miles away. Gracie fell asleep in the cab, but we soon arrived at the church, which is run by Benedictine nuns. A small nun behind a desk asked if we speak English (In Italian) and another told us to catch up with an English speaking tour. So we ended up trotting down a maze of underground caves, dark and a bit scary, until we caught up with the group. These catacombes have some of the oldest known pictures of Madonna and Child and still had graves from 1875 years years ago. Gracie woke up and she thought it was pretty neat and asking if there were bears in the cave. After the tour, we asked the guide to call us a cab, and the nun cooed over Gracie, and also warned us to be careful of the buses, which have many pick pockets.

We then made it home, rested a bit, ate all the rest of the salami, and more cheese, tomatoes; made pasta for Gracie. Matthew came over and we decided to get something to eat. We all dressed up nicely - men in Jackets, I in a skirt and Gracie in a dress - so we looked pretty spiffy for Americans. We had three restuarants in mind. Tre Archi, Montevecchio and Osteria del Pegno. I had been looking for Tre Archi for several days, which I heard was a great "locals' place, and we found it again, and we read the menu posted outside and said great. We opened the door and it was half filled and the room stopped talking. We didn't see anyone to seat us, so we headed to a table. (Mind you we looked nice and didn't say a word in English. ) The owner approached us and said "reserved", Matthew said basically, OK in Italian and we turned and left. We then noticed a sign that said something like "locale climatize", like "local climate." We thought it meant "locals only", so we thought they didn't want us, . So basically we thought were kicked out for being tourists. I guess if they don't know you they don't want you then. But the next day, Matthew called us, from the airport, saying that the sign was just meaning it was climate controlled, not locals only. (So maybe they did require reservations, or it could've been we had Gracie (it looked nice, but not fancy), or maybe it was locals only. But its a good story and we're sticking to it. )

Anyway, being all dressed up and hungry, we trooped over to Montevecchio, (Recommended by Rick Steves) and got instantly seated by a cordial host. We had fried anchovies, fried Italian "tempura", a bottle of great wine, pasta with tuna and the guys had leg of lamb. We topped it off with a shared Tiramisu. Yum. Off we went to Gelateria de Teatro. Our 3rd trip. We then headed off to show Matthew the Piazza Navona, in a roundabout way. (It's easy to get lost, you have to backtrack to a place you know, then go from there). Matthew is leaving tomorrow, so we walked over to the cab stop at Chiesa Nouva -- said our goodbyes. Tomorrow David wants to walk over to Janiculum, for the views. We may get Pizza for lunch, but probably will end up packing. We also sent a message to our rental agent, asking him to confirm return car service, but he sent a curt email back telling us to contact Alina. Nice. More on our apartment agency after we get back. The apartment is fine, and its a fantastic location, and incredible views . But we will go with a more friendly rental service next time - and an apartment that has an elevator.

Heavenly Food At Cul De Sac

St. Peters Basilica with a Wiggly 3 year old

I forgot to add is that our day started out with Alina showing up at 8 am at the apartment. She apparently rang the bell but since we were asleep, I startled her, and myself when I turned the corner because I heard a key in the lock. I yelped, she was on the stairs. She was returning our 430 dollar security deposit, saying she won't be seeing us when we leave. She didn't even inspect the apartment, so I guess we are OK. I think we scared the *** out of each other. So with that awakening, I was up for the morning.

Today we walked over to St. Peters Basilica di Pietro, over the Ponte San Angelo Bridge, with the angels overlooking the Tiber River. We step out of our apartment walk a few short blocks, go over the bridge to Castel San Angelo then turn left and walk down the Via Della Conciliazone --heading right into St. Peters Square. We knew we couldn't bring a stroller into St. Peters so we walked or carried Gracie. She really likes St. Peters square -- it's filled with pigeons which she likes to chase. So, St. Peters -- Impressive is an understatement. It is beyond amazing and huge, the statues of St. Peters, A Pope preserved under glass, and of course the Pieta by Michaelangleo. We could've spent the whole day there. Gracie was very wiggly and wanted a lollipop, so we stayed as long as we could. (We also ran into the couple from Canada we chatted with in the cafe near the colesseum yesterday when we fled the rain). When we left, we saw Swiss Guard, who try to stand at attention, but spend most of their time answering questions from tourists and telling them they cannot pose for pictures with them.

After a stop at the Vatican gift shop, and a few souveiner shops for that long awaited lollipop - where we also scored apple juice "Mela suca", we (ahem, I was) were determined to go to one of the restuarants I had "mapped" for lunch. So we headed to Piazza Navona to Cul De Sac. (We tried getting there the other day, too crowded). It was after 3pm, and worried they were not serving, but they sat us down anyway, and we had olives, cheese, Broccoli and Pasta with Pecorini cheese, Rolladi (Braciole), "Meatballs" with mashed potatoes. The "meatballs" were patties, not round. Delicious! David had his new favorite beer, "Nasturo Azzuro", and I had a Pinot Gris. A wonderful meal, the "best so far" in Rome. (Cul De Sac is one of those places that get rave reviews in Rome). Gracie had great time leaning over into the street and feeding Piegons. Anyway, we headed back, and found ourselves in a Di Per Di, very close to our apartment. (We had been going to the Di Per Di, across the busy street) this was even closer, and bigger. They have Cherrios! As we were shopping for milk, salami, water, and Nasturo Azzuro, a young priest said Hello ya'all. I said, OK, with that accent - where are YOU from. (Thinking this would be the 5th person from Oklahoma we met here, but no, the young Deacon (not priest- yet) is from Tyler, Texas and his 4th year of seminary here in Rome. He is a Deacon now, and will soon be a priest. He looks like he could be say, 22 years old, at the most. So we chatted a long time, and he walked with us back toward our apartment, and we were very very close to the the apartment (We had been turning the opposite way all this time, missing this section of the neighborhood). As Matthew said, its way easy to get lost around here, so you sort of stick to the roads you know -- you may never get out. So its taken us around 5 days, but were are beginning to figure things out.

At home, we collapsed, ate more cookies, ate more cheese, took a nap, Gracie watched her cartoons (switching now to Disney in English), and is now having graham crackers and milk. She has lined up all the fruit, 2 tangerines, 2 pears, 2 apples and one banana and is counting them over and over. After we rest from all this eating, we might take an evening stroll over to St. Peters and San Angelo Bridge, check out the view at night. I don't think we'll go out to eat again today, but there's always gelato. (By the way, we have been carrying Gracie through all the streets of Rome and burning off lots of calories -- so we don't think we'll gain too much weight on this trip. UPDATE: Nah, we stayed in tonight, skipped Gelato and working munching down all the groceries we've been buying. Gracie loves this cartoon in Italian called La familia Barrabara or something like that. She sings the theme song. We watched "Dora" in Italian (who teaches English, not Spanish, in the Italian version), so I learned Ponte was bridge and Barca was boat today. Tomorrow: Catacombes di Priscilla (cab ride) and Trevi Fountain, which Matthew says "Don't Miss", then dinner with Matthew. That's the plan at least.

Campo Fiori and Colosseum in a Rainstorm

We started out early today, around 10:15 to the famous Campo Fiori, the open air market, which turned out to be much closer to the apartment than I expected. It is "where the Pope buys his asparagus" and the first clue we were in the vicinity of the Campo market were two nuns crossing the street with a suitcase full of produce. Excellent produce, all sorts of wonderful things to buy - we ended up with a 10 euro enormous hunk of cheese, 3 bags of cookies, pears, radishes, apples, grapes the size of golf balls, strawberries (which Gracie asked for), some trinkets, flowers (again, which Gracie asked for), a sample bottle of limochello, but no umbrella...as the weather was beautiful, but by the time we got home, it was sprinkling a little. The sprinkles stopped, we had some lunch in the apartment (salami sandwiches, cheese, fruit), Gracie had an egg (barely) and strawberries. At 2pm, we headed to the taxi stand for our Ancient Rome tour, and as we found our tour group, huddled in the Metro station below, the heavens opened up and it began to pour. Matthew joined us (soaking wet), from taping a TV interview with ETWN. We then purchased for 4.50 euro some very cheap umbrellas after the one I brought from home broke, then another of the new umbrellas immediately broke. Gracie was in a backpack on David's back in her yellow slicker, but it still got very wet, We ended up in the hallway of the colosseum, shielded from the rain, which then ended, for now. So by the time we toured this amazing, historical, unbelievable place, it was quite nice, in a really terrible place, in a place where people were fed to bears (rarely lions) alive, and your average gladitor had an 80 percent chance of not making through his first fight. So, it is just strange to be here as a tourist, keeping Gracie occupied with lollipops and she used the tour headset as her cell phone and then placed a very long call to someone during the tour. Our camera battery went dead at this point so Mathew has the pics from that point on. David snapped some on the Iphone which came out better than the camera we've been using. Afterward we went to Palatine hill, which was amazing - includes the house of Augustus, the views of ruins and we turned the corner, and uh oh - we saw the storm coming. (Should've known - there was a group of people from Oklahoma on the tour, plus the tour guide's boyfriend was from Oklahoma as well. ) The sky was black, and a cold wind started blowing. We only had a half hour of the tour left so when our guide asked if anyone wanted to leave, as she was about to move on, because the top of a hill was no place to be during this storm. I practically threw the headset at her and took off down the hill with Gracie, with David, Matthew, following There was no place to hide, we were in a bunch of ruins. Just as we hit the street, all heck broke loose, with signs blowing down and Gracie began to say she had hay hit her in the face and that it was raining, Mommy. We pushed on down the street and dove into the nearest cafe, where we dried off, ordered a snack for all of us and Mommy a well deserved beer. It poured for about an hour-- the rain, not the beer. We shared a cab and dropped off Matthew at his dinner meeting (soaking wet, in a suit, probably with muddy shoes too). We are now home. Gracie is watching her cartoons in Italian. (Same cartoons at home - one in English, then the next in Italian). I'm eating cheese, David is napping. Depending if Gracie remains awake, we are planning to go out to eat again, and top it off with more gelato. PS, We went out tonight to find Tre Archi, which by golly we had passed by the other day on the Via Del Cornari, but after walking up and down, could not find the dang place (there are no signs around here). So we ended up again at Alfredo Da Ada, where we were welcomed and then the owner returned a wind-up dinosaur which Gracie had left behind. We sat down, they fed us, but they were beginning to close so no cookies, but we did get alot of attention from the owner, and a friendly wave from Ada who was working in the kitchen. Gracie ate an entire plate of rigatoni and sauce. Gelato again and because the wind was blowing, Gracie and I were covered with ice cream (Crema) by the time we got home. Its much much colder, with around 52 degrees outside. So the warm clothes we brought will come in handy tomorrow. Tomorrow's agenda: St. Peter's (on our own). We plan on meeting Matthew again for dinner on Wednesday.

Buying produce at Campo

A day at Piazza Navona

Today was an easy day and we didn't start out until about 1 pm. after I had made Italian coffee for Marie and I. I think I have it down now and it turned out very good and dark just the way I like it. We then headed out and we made our way to the Piazza Navona. It was full of crowds of people from all over, Germans, Belgians, East Indians, English, Irish, Americans and of course Italians. The fountains are all so interesting to look at and of course were the center of attention. Restaurants abound in the area and are all supposed to be very good. We walked around the Piazza for awhile until Gracie decided she was thirsty and hungry. Our search for a restaurant began and they were all full of customers, everyone wanting to sit outside. We finally decided to eat at Osteria dell Anima but we had to sit inside because we didn't want to wait for a table outside, that was decided by Gracie repeating over and over that she was hungry. We started out with Bruschetta and Deep fried Zucchinni blossoms which were delicous. I had a beer and that was delicious too. Marie ordered salad and Lasagna and I ordered Rigationi Carbonera with a salad. Gracie shared what we had and it was great meal satisfying all of us. Afterward we ordered Strawberry Gelato for Gracie and well, Marie and I had some too. There was plenty for all of us. The staff here was very courteous which made the meal even better. Done with our meal we headed out again visiting a beautiful church nearby. The name of the church was Santa Maria dell Anima and it was a sight to behold. Huge paintings all around and sculpture that belongs in a museum. We decided to pick up a few postcards here due to it's beauty.

We then headed back to the apartment for a much needed rest and after Gracie had a short nap we made a few phone calls and about 9:30 pm headed back towards the Piazza Narvona stopping by for Gelato first. The shop owner blew Gracie a kiss as we decided what to order and she blew one back causing him to break into a big smile. Gracie had a small cone with vanilla, Marie had a large cone with baked ricotta and almond and I had milk chocolate. Yummy! The shop was called Gelato de Teatro and I am sure we will stop by again. We sat outside enjoying our gelato and snapping pictures.

Once done with our Dolce it was time to head to the Piazza Narvona and upon arriving it was still crowded and even more beautiful at night. The fountains were all lit up and there were children running through the Piazza. Gracie decided to run to and began playing with two little Italian children who had been running around when we arrived. They ran around at times holding hands and jumping, laughing and having a great time. We let her play for about half an hour and looking at my watch and seeing it was close to 11 pm we figured it was time to head back to the apartment. Arriving at the apartment Marie and I decided it wasn't such an easy day after all and we were hoping since Gracie took an early nap maybe she would fall asleep earlier. We were hoping too since we let her play so much she would be tired. Here I sit typing at 12:50 am and she is still awake but looks as if she will be asleep in a few minutes, the earliest she has settled down since we have been here. I am crossing my fingers hoping she will be asleep in the next 15 minutes. I am tired too and think I will end here so, Buona Nottae from wonderful Rome, Italy.

Waking to rain in Rome

Marie and I woke to a heavy thunderstorm this morning and hearing the rain hitting the tile roof. I was just praying there were no leaks, I mean this building was built back in the 17th century. I was happy to see however that it has been updated and there were no leaks. We had planned to go grocery shopping in the morning before our Sistine Chapel tour. Grocery shopping was out so we let Gracie sleep since she is still on Nevada time and doesn't fall asleep until 3 in the morning, sometimes 4. Now we hoped that the rain would stop before we had to head out for our tour and meet our guide. We were in luck, the rain stopped at about 10 am here and we didn't have to leave until 1 pm.

We woke Gracie up at about 11 to get her ready and set out on our 30 minute walk to meet our guide for our tour. Marie, Gracie and I set out at about 12:15 and upon reaching our destination we were met by Anthony, our guide. Again we lucked out and we were the only ones on the tour. Anthony is from Pennsylvania and is studying Theology here in Rome and has been here for four years. Anthony we also found is very knowledgeable in art and theology. Gracie being the great traveller she is just soaked up the sights making her own comments along the way. We started out at the Vatican museum. You really should have a guide when seeing this due to a lot of the descriptions being in Italian at the museum and Anthony knew the layout like the back of his hand. There are works here by Caravaggio, Michelangelo, Raphael and Leonardo Da Vinci, just to name a few. They are large works of art and words cannot describe them. We started by seeing a lot of religious art that was painted before the use of perspective, flat but a wonder to see anyway.

Anthony was very specific in his descriptions and you could see he really enjoyed being here as did we. To think of what many of these artists did and probably not realizing that some day millions of people would flock to this museum to see and study their works of art. It was all overwhelming to say the least.

About two hours into the tour it was time for a break so we went to the museum cafe and of course Gracie had to have french fries or in Italian, Patate Frittes. I had to try and hunt down ketchup for her and being unsuccessful our resilient guide found some for her making her very happy. Gracie shared her fries with Anthony and we all had a refreshing repast. Sitting at the table next to us, Anthony recognized the U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican and went over to speak with him. Anthony told us that his future father in law was one of the ambassador's professors at Notre Dame. After this we continued the tour stopping at the gift shop where we made a few small purchases and then it was on to the Sistine Chapel.

Walking in it was very crowded and we folded up the stroller and carried Gracie into the chapel. Our breath was taken away at our first glimpse of the master works of Michelangelo. The colors were still vibrant and Anthony explained how Michelangelo worked. He even told us how when Michelangelo was asked to paint the Sistine Chapel he told them that he was not a painter but was commissioned to do the job anyway. His first painting was smaller than the others because it is hard to tell when you are laying on your back painting what it looks like from the floor. As Michelangelo worked however his compositions and painting got better and better. I cannot use one word to sum the works up but if I did I would say... Astounding!

It was quite funny too how the staff would clap their hands in the Chapel every few minutes and yell silence. Can you imagine trying to get a Chapel painted by one of the most famous artists in history and the world , stuffed with people from all over the world to be quiet. Also many people could not understand that there was no picture taking and video allowed in the Sistine Chapel.

After this Anthony helped us find our way out and said our thank yous and good byes and headed back to the apartment for a rest. Gracie had two bowls of pasta with formaggio. Three hours later we made our way out for dinner at Trattoria Da Luigi. It was a great choice but Gracie fell asleep just after we were seated and Marie and I took turns holding her during the meal. Our waiter was very friendly and made some suggestions for Marie for her meal. We started off with vino rosso(red wine) and Aqua. Marie ordered stuffed Zucchini blossoms and they were delicious. We also both had Insalate Caprese, and for the main course I had Lamb with potatoes which of course was delicious and Marie had pork chops. No pasta at this meal, we have plenty of time for that later. For Dolce, Marie had panne cotta, baked cream pudding and I had tiramisu with caffe. A delicious and filling meal. Gracie began to wake up at the end of the meal and we headed back home first stopping at a souvenir shop and we made a few more small purchases. I of course had to have the black Legionairre T-shirt with the familiar SPQR. Then it was back to the apartment where we sit now at 12:35 am and of course Gracie is still awake. She had to have her chocolate pudding with cream I bought her at the grocery store earlier and graham crackers and milk before trying to settle down but the settling down part took a while to kick in. Oh well, we really have no plans for tomorrow but I know we will venture out. Buona Nottae for now.

Friday Afternoon - St. Peters, Spanish Steps and Helpful Taxi Drivers

Around 2pm, Gracie finally woke up, had poached eggs and grapes and off we went to find Matthew's hotel, by the way of Vatican City. We left the stroller in the apartment, headed over the bridge to Castle San Angelo, turned right and there was the Vatican. Wow. It was a I can't believe we are here. It is so impressive and it is all set up for the canonization this Sunday. We strolled through St. Peters, then realizing I forgot my map but had jotted down street names, after walking with Gracie in arms, or in back pack, finally found Matthew's hotel (Amalia), using the only word in Italian I know "Do' ve" (where) and Grazie tante (Thanks alot) we then had lunch at a little cafe next door. Matthews room is about the size of my bathroom at home. It is indeed the smallest room I have ever seen, but very neat and a great location and view. Plus it has a an elevator probably used by Julius Caesar, it is so very old. Matthew had to do some errands near the Spanish steps so we headed out to find a taxi, and found ourselves back at St. Peters square. It was late afternoon, saw the lines were non-existent to get into the basilica and decided to go in, but David was carrying a small pocketknife, so Gracie and I decided to stay back and play near the Historic Fountain near the Egyptian Obliesk; while we waited a nun came over and asked if Gracie was Italian and her name, at least that's what I think she said. Anyway, we turned around and there was Matthew and David. David had been turned away this time because of a cigar cutter he carried. So we grabbed a cab and Matthew spoke to the driver in Italian, who was so charmed at Matthews Italian, cut the quoted rate to 15 Euro. We were dropped off at via Conditti and walked the most famous shopping road to Spanish steps where we joined the international hordes and did what one does in Rome, we sat on the Spanish steps. Nice view. We then headed off to Matthew's destination, Basilico S. Andrea della Fratte. David and I either walked carrying Gracie or once in a while she was put in the backpack. We then hailed a cab, and once again, Matthew charmed the cab driver who gave him helpful grammatical tips but also pulled out a map to find our little alley (Vicolo della Campellena). Gracie fell asleep in the cab so we carried her up the 4 flights of stairs and now she is asleep in her little bed. Did I mention it is around 7:30 pm? We may be in for a long night (again). We didn't make it to Campo Fiori or Piazza Navona, which is very close by, but I did catch of glimpse of another place I want to eat Cul De Sac, and we did drive by Piazza Navona. Matthew and David are down looking for some take-out to eat here and I'm sitting on the balcony having a beer.

BTW, the weather is much warmer than I expected. There are some Americans, but there are alot of Germans and scandinavians here as well.

Jet Lagged In Rome

Gracie was up until, say 4 am, last night. We were so tired. I finally moved her into the living room on her portable bed and I think we both eventually passed out. It is around 11:30? am now. We called Dr. Miss Alina to have her help us get the TV going, and we got it figured out. So we turned on Go Diego Go and have it playing as we try to wake Gracie up. The weather is beautiful but we are slow getting going. We did make an international phone call on my iphone (can't figure out how to get the Devil's Network on David's Sprint phone to work) and we found Matthew checking into his hotel. So now the plan is to get Gracie awake.

More on last night. David forgot to mention that Alfredo Da Ada was full of Germans, including two priests and a nun having a few beers. I also butchered my first conversation in Italian but we did successfully ordered pasta bianco for Gracie and vino rosso no bianco, Gracie. "Mom" Ada came by the table a few times to smile at Gracie and then step out into the street to have a cig.

BTW, the apartment is sort of growing on us. The bed was comfy and we got water boiling this am. You have to throw a big switch above the stove to turn the gas on and then light the burner. The tap water is yellow, however, but tastes fine and we boiled it anyway. There's some strong dish soap on the sink (Alina said it was for washing), but I suspect its either dishwasher soap or something to clean the floors. The translation on the bottle is "mother goose" some sort of brand. It's concentrated something and it cleans the dishes fine but my hands are chapped.

We are in Rome

We are here in Rome. David is out exchanging dollars for euro as we speak. Yes, the apartment is dangerous for the 3 year old. The flights up inside the apartment are concrete, but we did find a dryer rack to block the entry. The wifi works. The washing machine is actually washer AND drier. I tested one electrical appliance and it worked. Yes, it is a very old old apartment. The sheets on the bed are ours to use, and they look pretty dingy but I looked at the mattress and its brand new, so I figure its just rustic. It takes 4 flights of stairs to get up here and the alleyway is hard to get down with a stroller. The car had to park down down the street. But the view is spectacular. Blogger is in Italian, so is Ni-Hao Ki-Lan and Yo Gabba Gabba. Gracie did great on the flight and slept most of the way. The flight over the pond was rough with lots of turbulence. Gracie was the only child on the plane. UPDATE: We did make it to DiPerDi market. Its sort of hard to believe we are actually here and already had a glimpse of the sites- on the way in. We found the car services with no problem and yes, they did have a child seat. It is now 7:30 at night and we took brief naps and Gracie ate a whole pile of graham crackers. We found Da Ada and we are going to go there for dinner. Good thing we brought flashlights.

Update: We ate at Alfredo e Ada, (No English, no menu, no coffee, no credit cards) It was very simple but very good. The staff loved Gracie and at the end of the meal they brought us these delicious cookies and kept bringing more for Gracie. They let you sit and talk for a long while before bringing the check. We loved it. After we walked around and found other very busy restaurants not far away. We are getting our bearings in the neighborhood already after only a day. It is not too difficult but you have to watch for traffic(as Gracie says) down the alleys, which are actually roadways. Smart cars are in abundance here as are fat guys on Vespas. It is a beautiful night out and I am having my cigar on the terrace. No Marie has not taken up cigar smoking it is me, David writing this part. I can see how people fall in love with this place. Rustic, yes but you have to appreciate the beautiful view. Gracie is a fantastic traveller and loves and is loved everywhere we go. Tomorrow is shopping, groceries and most likely Cuban Cigars. Well Buona Nottae for now.

Getting Ready for Rome

We are heading to Rome this Fall for a family trip. Are we experienced world travelers? Noooo. Has Gracie's skipped the "Obstinate threes? Nooo. Do we speak Italian...noooo. So far it looks like we have a great place in "Centro Storico" with a tempermental rental agent, 4 flights up without an elevator, and a very dangerous staircase. But did I mention it has its own rooftop terrace and a balcony? Wifi? A washer? (No dryer, that's why people hang laundry in Rome, it cost 9 Euros to dry laundry I hear). It's A few hundred yards from Campo di Fiori and a ten minute walk to Vatican City. There's no logic here. We are going because our friend is going there on business with the Vatican and we thought it would be a good time to go. From here, it's farther than China. Wish us luck. We'll be blogging in a few weeks.

Gracies' 3rd Birthday

This years theme was "Thomas the Tank Engine". We had sandwiches, cupcakes, good friends, balloons, and of course, lots of lots of presents. We had a great time. Thank you all for celebrating our special day!

CDC allows Harper to come home

Good News - the adopted daughter left behind in China has been allowed to come back to the United States. She is apparently home. Washington Post and NPR have been covering the story and there are some updates coming tomorrow (Thursday, August 27). Not many details yet, but I think the newsmedia began to show the State Department pointing fingers at the CDC and vice versa. The TB rule by the CDC still stands, though. But Harper is home.

Another Family's Sad Situation ! Please help

There is a family who recently travelled to China to adopt their 4 year old daughter. While getting her medicals in GZ, she tested positive for TB which is not contagious, and she has been treated for during the last two months. CDC is forcing the family to leave the child behind until the TB clears up, which I guess is six months. If their child was born in China, the CDC would allow her to enter the US. The sad thing this is a rule that was just enacted on July 1st and had the family travelled a month ago, this rule would not apply. So you know its messed up. I am not sure what is going to happen to the child, I think someone said on Rumor Queen website that the daughter, Harper (named after the author of "To Kill a Mockingbird") is going to stay with an American family living in GZ. This whole situation took the family unawares, and of course, this now could happen to any one who is adopting from China. Why the CDC is not allowing the non-contaigious child to travel - even by private plane - there are plenty of child organizations that could arrange for private transport, we have no idea. The State department, who can overturn this ruling, appears to be standing idly by, as well as the news media which is more preoccupied by a stupid bumpy ride on a plane for Demi and Aston than this situation. I didn't watch the farewell video, apparently it is too sad, but it is linked to the website of the parents. The International Adoption community is pretty upset by this, as well as should most Americans. Someone needs to send Bill Clinton to clean up this mess.

The family just updated their blog a few hours ago....

The Scruggs are home without Harper, but confirmed she is indeed with a family. They will be in touch with her daily. They are imploring people to sign the petition, contact news media and spread the word to family and friends. There is an organized effort to overturn this ruling. They have an interview with the Washington Post tomorrow. Please click on the links below.


The family's name is Scruggs. I still can't believe this isn't a "story" with the news media.
http://jayscruggs.livejournal.com

(be sure to check the date for the latest update)
Discussion:
http://chinaadopttalk.com

A petition to sign.
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/build-families-not-barriers.html

New York! New York!

We went to New York City in June for a wedding in Central Park.   New York was fabulous, the  ceremony was great, the bride and groom perfect, families were wonderful.  We saw the Natural History Museum, Central Park, the Statue of Liberty, and ate like royalty. Really, is there any bad food in The City? I think not.   Gracie had a great time and this is a photo of Gracie and Daddy at the wedding.   It rained all the day before, and the day of the wedding, of course, we had perfect weather.   The wedding party and guests then boarded a big double decker tour bus and we toured the bride and groom's neighborhood and then made our way through times square and then to the reception.  Gracie sat on top with everyone else, napping the entire time, leaving her refreshed and rested to party like only a toddler can at a wedding  BTW,  We took Virgin air round trip, and even though we were on the plane for 7 1/2 hours on the way back,  due to weather delays, Gracie was great, sleeping alot of the time and enjoying playing games on Mommy's ipod, which disappeared (on purpose) after we got back. The pilot was terrific, announcing every time we would move an inch on the runway, then shutting the engines off so we can dash away to the loo and pee.    

Speaking of which, we have been potty trained. Ta dah!

Laguna Beach and San Juan Capistrano

Vacations. We went to Laguna back in the beginning of March. It was cool, but great. We had a chance to visit San Juan Capistrano and David took this picture of Gracie looking at the Mission Bells.

Ciao China, Hello Wait

Call us crazy, and yep, we are old (and grumpy), but what the heck, we might be DTC for Second Daughter on Friday. ("DTC") means "Dossier to China", which means in a few weeks we will get a "Log In Date" (LID) which will be our "official date" for starting the wait. BUT WAIT, you say, Isn't it about a hundred year wait now for adorable Chinese daughters these days? Yes, we are gambling on a wait of around 2 or 3 years. The best we can say is that we are getting in line, and we have plenty of time to come to our senses and, well, simply not renew paperwork and back out. But we'd rather be in line and having this discussion, rather than deciding we do want to adopt, only for it to be totally out of the question. Our DTC "freezes" our ages, So for China, I will always be 40...something.

Everyone has says, "Well, it should be easier now, right?" Wrong! It has even gotten more complicated. There's some new rules, and since our homestudy "expires" each year, we have to start all over. Seems strange when we went with the same agencies, huh? We went back to our old agency, because, hey, we love our social worker and she had been in touch with us for Gracies China reports, and she had the complicated requirements for Homestudy for China down cold.

Here is a very abbreviated version of What You Have to Do for A Homestudy: First of all, pat yourself on the back for never going to jail, or getting a DUI, or going on drugs, and for staying out of trouble during your teen years, because all of it has to be confessed during your background checks during this process. If you don't have any of these troubles in your past, and you are patient and a high tolerance for waiting, you can expect to have ultimate approval of your homestudy, so it all starts by getting fingerprinted. Then you submit request for background clearance in 8 states between us. We then sent and submitted new birth certificates. (China requires "new" birth certificates, issued within the last six months) Got Police letters. Notarized. 25 or so questionnaire, completed separately from each of us, making sure we haven't remarried anyone else, or committed crimes or started down the road to tranquilizers and booze, which you well deserve after all this.... 2 sets of financial statements- one for each agency - local and China. Both Notarized. Copies of 2 years of tax returns. Marriage Certificate. Employment letters. Notarized. Power of attorney forms. 10 hours of Online study and plus 4 test of parenting classes. Copies of everything, passports, insurance cards,social security cards. Medical check up (Notarzied) Letter of application to China --this changed from last time, we had to add wording and delete other things we had included last time (notarized) . Authorization for background checks. Power of attorney forms. Passport photos to include in the Dossier. (Mine was so bad, it drew a gasp if despair from a friend of mine -- my other picture for Gracie was really bad too -- it has no bearing on the lovely daughter outcome, since I think the folks in China matching office use it to measure eye distance and face shape anyway) . Guardianship forms in case you kick the bucket. Submit 5 names for letters of reference. Basically, you are working on two sets of documents. One is for the State Homestudy so we use a local homestudy agency. The other is for China Only agency. Once the local agency gets all your paperwork, you get a home visit and they write up your homestudy. Only then you can proceed to step #2.

On to step #2: Everything put together in a packet, with a new set of immigration forms--similar but different from a few years ago --and gets sent to a new immigration agency in Chicago (not local, which is good, because I think I burned my good will bridges by nagging the local office here last time). Then you wait for a few weeks, you get a couple of official looking letters from the government inviting you to get fingerprinted again for CIS in a few weeks. So we went down to CIS fingerprinting, said hello to some of the staff who fingerprinted us a few times before, went to breakfast, and then we waited, about 25 more days, and the lovely form 797H or something, comes from the government, basically granting you permission to adopt a child from China, then this and another pile of docs go to your China agency. (This part was alot quicker than last time - which took around 3 months to complete). China Only agency then sends the whole dossier and get it "authenicated", to make sure your notary (yes Notary) is in good standing and hasn't committed any crimes, and then the Chinese consulate then puts a bunch of stamps on it, (not sure what they are looking for there) and off it goes to China. Where it sits. By the way, you actually never see your China Dossier in its total packaged completed form. Actually, never see your Homestudy either (according to the laws of this state), unless your China Only agency, which is in a different state, shows it to you.

Hang on, it gets better: In China, your dossier stands in line and basically you don't have to update that - except your immigration papers expire every 18 months, but the fingerprints expire in 15 months and the State homestudy expires each YEAR. So while your dossier sits in China, you have to keep the US paperwork alive and current. So, since the wait gets so long, expirations get all mixed up and you are renewing stuff all the time. Because you do need a current approved homestudy to get that immigration paper for your child. And while you wait, you pay; in this state - the homestudy has to be renewed at a cost of over a thousand dollars or so each year. (Yikes!) And every year, you have to re-do, well, everything. Fingerprints, physicals, employment letters, police check.

This summary is really a very brief summary, skipping some of the hassle involved, but here's a sample of a typical ordeal of getting paperwork: When David went to his employer's HR office to get the same letter he got twice before, the new clerk said they did not provide those letters and insisted that they simply will not issue the letter according to the specifications needed by the State. David had to get several people involved and had to make a phone call to this--clerk--saying, that if the letter isn't written, he won't be able to adopt, and after two wrong versions, he finally got the letter we needed for the Dossier and Homestudy. This took a week to get. The clerk was very annoyed by the whole process. Wait until he finds out he needs to do this letter for us, every year while our Dossier is in China. By the way, we started this process around November 1st, when our application was sent to China Only agency and no matter how fast you are, it takes around 7 or 8 months to complete.

But as you can see, our Gracie was well worth it. And, when we got to China, everything went great. So we will keep our expectations low and pain tolerance high, and see if we can wait long enough for daughter 2. So the fun begins (again).