Bella Italia

We had an amazing holiday in Italy. After leaving a chilly England at 5:55am, arriving in hot Pisa just after nine was wonderful!! I can't believe how much I missed the heat. It is quite a strange feeling, like I need to savour the heat - instead of fighting it and sweating I relished and felt very comfortable.

We weren't that comfortable driving on the right side road among the crazy italians though!! But the drive from Pisa to Florence was uneventful. Driving in Florence itself was hairraising - dodging people on bikes and scooters and trying to squeeze past parked cars was exciting to say the least. But when we found our apartment where we were spending our first two nights we were amazed - again. You can read about it on my review on Tripadvisor http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g187895-d653478-r19954789-Palazzo_Alfani-Florence_Tuscany.html

Needless to say we really loved it. Waking up in the mornings and just experiencing the smells and sounds of Florence when we opened the shutters and took our first steps outside was wonderful. Yes it was hot in the middle of the day, we stood in the queue for the Uffizi Gallery too long because we went too late, we probably could have seen and done more. But it was still wonderful and my two girls were so good and patient and played in the gravel in the Bobbolli Gardens and ate lots of gelato and ran around in the piazza and shopped for Pinnochio at the market and overall also had a great time.

It was also great to have Antoinette (granny) there to help with the girls and to babysit while Werner and I went for a wonderfully romantic meal in Florence.

After Florence we drove to our holiday house in Tuscany, close to Lucca in the village of Massaciucolli. Well now I know what a hairpin bend is!! The house is on the side of the mountain with beautiful views of Lake Massaciucolli, but to get there is eh challenging! But soon enough Werner got the hang of it and we were raring up and down the mountainside, hooting as we go along just like the locals. The house was wonderful, stone built, wonderfully cool inside and a nice outside patio and our own swimming pool between the olive groves with beautiful views. And the pool was great after a hot day of sight seeing - just the right temperature too cool off. We went cycling on the walls of Lucca, visited the spa at Montecatini Terme, went for a quick visit to Pisa to capture the leaning tower, played on the beach and ate ice cream in Viareggio, admired the art of Pietrasanta, birdwatched on the Lake, and had a wonderful time.

Antoinette went back to SA from Italy and a few days after we left Tuscany to drive up north towards Venice. The drive was beautiful - tunnel after tunnel going through lush green mountains with little hilltop towns here and there. The area closer to Venice is definitely not as beautiful as Tuscany, but Venice itself was amazing. We went to Venice for a day, driving from the holiday resort Pra delle Torri where we were staying. We then took a ferry to Venice. It was extremely hot and humid, but once you are inside and walking the little side streets of Venice it is much cooler. We found a mask for Mieke and a merano bead neckglass for me. Then we had lunch where Mieke again enjoyed her 'white spaghetti' which is plain spaghetti with cheese which she loves. We loved looking at the gondolas and strolling on St Mark's square and just walking and getting lost in Venice - amazing. Then when we wanted to get back to the ferry we got onto a waterbus and admired all the buildings next to the grande canal. But then Werner realized we were going the wrong way so we had to get onto another one!! Eventually we got back to the ferry point and bought tickets, Werner said we should get on the ferry so long as he is going to buy the girls a smally toy that they were after. Well the next moment the ferry takes off with us on board and Werner no where to be found (and he did not have any money with him)!! Mieke was crying and I was trying to communicate with an italian who only speaks - italian.

Anyway, we got off at the other side and eventually he also arrived, luckily only cross with himself!!

The rest of the time we just enjoyed the holiday resort - the beach, pools, slides, bouncy castles, kids movies, eating out - wonderful for kids and because they had fun we could also relax and enjoy. The best was having a glass of wine at the beach bar while watching the kids playing in the shallow sea - Bliss....

So that was Italy, the best holiday I've ever been on and since I've been back in England I long for it every day (I know its terrible I should get on with life and get back to reality).

I've attached a few photos and also attached a link to the rest of them - enjoy...

Its sooo late but I'm online again - Jay!!

My broadband and telephone was off most of this week (BT problem) but nobody phones me anyway so this was not a huge problem! But I did miss the Internet, and checking up on my (non-existing) Ebay sales. I made a huge profit for a few weeks selling 'Acrostic teacher poems' as teacher gifts for the last day of school, but school is out now and business quiet. Which is just as well as I have to entertain my 2 girls and today was not a good example of how to keep kids busy on summer holidays:

1. I try to sleep a little longer as I don't have to take Mieke to school. This is interrupted at 2:00 am when Silke wants to bf (breastfeed - I know she is two and much to old but what can I do). I get up and make her another bottle of milk. At 5:00am she wakes up again (just as Werner gets up to go to work) and wants to bf, which she does, we sleep a little bit and then she is up again. I tell her to go wake her sister so that they can go watch tv. This helps a bit but at around 8:00 am Silke jumps on me demanding a biscuit. I get up and get her some cereal and make toast for Mieke.

2. I realize there is no milk so I mix some baby formula for Silke's cereal and my morning coffee. It's a beautiful day and I decide to take them to the park and then go to Sainsbury's for my weekly shop even though I have both of them with me. But we are out of milk, fruit, bread and most important - biscuits.

3. I made the beds and packed the dishwasher and get us all dressed and brushed and organise hats and shoes for everybody. We drive to the park and have a nice time especially on the new swing which is like a huge rope seat where both kiddies can lie on and relax while I swing them - this nearly put them in a trance for 10 minutes which was also nice for me. But it got really hot (probably only like 25 degrees but I am acclimatising so this was too much for me). So I loaded them in the car and drove across the road to Sainsburys - which was extremely busy - why people were shopping on such a nice day in the middle of the week is beyond me.

4. I put Silke in one of their wandering trolleys (all the uk trolleys are uncontrollable - wandering all over the place instead of where you want to go) and she is already moaning because her feet are sore because of the shoes she had on at the park (we always wear shoes here - bare feet are not allowed!!). I won't elaborate but the shopping expedition was long and hard with fighting, crying, and consuming half a tub of meringues.

5. At checkout Silke insisted on getting out of the trolley so I let her get out, while I packed my stuff (yes isn't it unfair - after an hour loading everything in my trolley, I have to unpack it all and then pack it into bags myself only to unpack it all again at home - what type of country is this - terribly cruel!!) Anyway she noticed one of the ladies who worked at Sainsburys who has Downs Syndrome - well she was so scared of her she literally climbed under my dress! Don't know why, maybe just because she looked different - at least it kept her in one place for a while.

6. Oh yes, I forgot I still had to pack the stuff in my boot and by now Silke definitely did not want to get back into the trolley and refused to hold my hand so I had to carry a screaming two year old while manoeuvring my wandering trolley and directing my sulking six year old to pull the £$%$% thing in the right direction.

7. We got home and I unpacked the car, carried everything to the house, unpacked everything, made a picnic lunch for the kids, sat on my little piece of lawn and had a picnic. At last a little bit of peace - except for Silke who only ate the cupcakes, strawberries and crisps and not even a bite of the sandwiches I made - as usual.

8. I thought after all this fun I would get Silke off to sleep in no time but alas, she ran around until around four pm when she finally fell asleep while bf. By this time I was so exhausted the rest of the day was a bit of a blur.... Mieke made Halloween decorations and drew pictures of parachutes and planes. I ate the other half of the meringues. Mieke used the tub to make an insect catching thingy - very creative she is...

Well that's what I did today - fun wasn't it? And this was the first day of our summer holidays. Wonder what's in store tomorrow.....

Mieke's Acrostic Poems

Mieke learnt about Acrostic poems at school (Acrostic poems is where you write a word down the side and then make a sentence beginning with each of the letters and staying within the theme of your word). I only learnt this recently from Mieke! Anyway the other day she was writing something and then showed me the 2 Acrostic Poems she had written - we have a poet in our midst!!

A great Day Out with the kids in London

Why is it called a 'DAY OUT'?

Days Out are like an institution here - its something you plan beforehand with great detail and then it normally rains on the day.

So our days out are planned on the day depending on the weather (we are getting a bit smarter with time).

The other day we went to London again, we enjoy just getting off the train and Waterloo and then wandering up the South Bank. There's a merry go round, play ground and lots of mime artists and musicians which entertain the girls (and us). And its beside the river so there are also boats to look at.

Then we went to the London Borough Market which is a huge food market with anything you can think of - its busy but wonderful - fruit, veg, the weirdest mushrooms, fresh fish and meat, wine, beer, bread, cakes and lots of places making sandwiches and take away food. We bought some baklava and strawberries and bought rolls with lamb and mint for lunch. Then we walked across a bridge (which we later realized is the Millenium Bridge) and then stumbled across St Pauls Cathedral. Cool...

A really great day out!!

Surrey County Show & picnic in the countryside

Yelloh Summer!!

We have been having some beautiful days so we have been finding nice places to picnic - this was at a little lake at Loseley Park - lots of ducks and fish and white people - I mean very fair skinned people either laying about turning red or with backpacks assertively walking somewhere. But overall still nice and quiet and empty.

We also went to our neighbours two year old girls birthday party which the girls enjoyed and also the Surrey County Show which reminded me to never book and pay for anything which will take place outdoors here - especially not on a bank holiday! It rained, it poured, the wind blew our umbrellas inside out... and just as we exited the refreshments tent where we sat just to get out of the torrential rain, someone said 'Looks like its clearing up' (NOT). Well it was funny on the day...

But we saw pigs and cows and a huge bull and some sheep and Mieke had her face painted like a tiger (quite impressive) and we watched a Punch and Judy Show (oh that's what a Punch and Judy Show is). Anyway - great fun. Well would've been on any other day....

Scarecrow Walk Guildford

Guildford in Bloom - Spring 2008:

Mieke's school took party in the Scarecrow Walk in Guildford Town Center to celebrate Guildford in Bloom (don't ask - don't know - something about Guildford competing with other towns in being the most beautiful town in summer).

So with Werner being at home a bit inbetween jobs I could go with Mieke and walk down the High Street with 100's of little children dressed as Scarecrows!! Well at least Mieke was happy that I was there and I could take some cute photos.

But it was 'flaming' as Mieke would say - hot hot hot. Proof - it does get hot in England - even if its only three days a year.

The Best of England ...

We went to Leeds Castle again a few weeks ago. It's nice because if you pay once you can go as many times as you want in a year.

The grounds are beautiful with lakes, birds, aviary, huge playground, dog collar museum?, gardens - and that's not even the castle itself.

The pictures of the ugly castle is Corfe Castle in Dorset (where we went last weekend), its used to be a huge castle on a hill destroyed in some battle. Gorgeous scenery, especially the cows on the way!

The glass window and the building the hotel we stayed at, the Durley Hall Hotel, built in 1891 (which is quite young here). The kids also enjoyed swimming and at night we locked them in the room and tried to have romantic dinners in the hotel. This was just slightly disturbed by Mieke phoning me at reception the whole time (Silke is playing with glasses (only my sunglasses) )and then by the old people next door telling us our kids were running around on the landing (why do we always end up with old snooty neighbours wherever we go?). But we still had lovely three course meals with wine which were great!!

We also visited Monkey World, a monkey sanctuary, which the kids enjoyed very much.

Today (weekend at home) was a really beautiful day, we went for a walk and a picnic at the river, then just came home and sat outside in our garden with the children running around and playing while its still light at 7pm.

No fear. No what ifs. Just the beautiful light and the birds singing and freedom and safety.

Which at the end of the day is most important - isn't it?