Plant Guns

We were on our way to Pisa.  Suddenly, without any warning, the bus pulled off of the highway.  We stopped at a gas station.  I thought perhaps the bus needed fuel.  However, the driver had just stopped to let us stretch our legs.

My mom told me to get off the bus with the noisy kids.  They were running around like crazy.  My nephew picked up a stalk with a seed pod on the top.  He quickly wrapped the stalk around the end near the tip, pulled and shot the seed pod at one of his cousins.  Take a look at his technique and the mayhem.

Secondi (Largo) Notte

EOur second night in Firenze; the whole family was united for a dinner out.  The only thing louder than Italians or Americans are Italian-Americans!

The journey begins with all of is leaving the apartment.  Five families (with a total of nine children) heading down the street.

The streets of FirenE are narrow and we are practically in a single file line!

We pause for moment to capture a shot of my father and my youngest son in front of a shop of their namesake!

At the restaurant, things start to get loud!  Six bottles of wine across three tables.  Everybody orders.  

I make sure the kids try something new.  Number one son has ravioli stuffed with potato and a procini mushroom sauce.  My daughter has the same pasta with red sauce.  Number two son has carabonara with a fresh spaghetti almost 1/8th inch in diameter!  My youngest has whote pasta (butter and no sauce) - tagliatelle.

My wife and I order tre zuppe.  Firenze is known for soups so we each sample the trio of soups.

The party starts getting really loud.  People are changing tables and tasting each other's dishes.  My nephew plays a song on the recorder that sounds straight out of a renaissance faire.  The while restaurant gives him applause.

Everybody has a drink of their choice.  Here are some pictures of the fun!

 

Sharing some sausage

The kiids were drawing on the placemats.  The adults were talking and laughing.  Did you ever notice that when a restaurant us loud it can attract a lot of patrons?  Let's hope we brought them lots of business!

Here's my father explaining the Amora della Casa http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amaro_%28liqueur%29 provided by the restaurant (gratis).  We all had quite a bit!

No night is complete without gellato!

Gnomes!

My son and my father were sculpting a few weeks ago at my father's house.  They were working on a gnome about 18 in high.  My wife bought a book to share with my father.

Upon close inspection of the apartment in Firenze, my son and my nephew became alarmed!

It appeared as though a possible gnome entrance had been sealed up.  My nephew spotted a small hole that was covered by a screen.  Maybe a gnome hack it open!

My son went outside to take a look.  He could not find the area that was sealed off.  He did find the place with a screen!  Should Nonno be worried about gnomes?

Uffizi!

What a museum!  We were worried because we had heard that the line to get in was very long.  So my wife bought tickets before we left for Italy.

When we arrived, we began to realize that people, Italians and tourists, do not get up early.  We had found our advantage!  My wife had bought tickets for 8:15 am.  It was cooler than it had been in Venenze.  We easily strolled down the street, uncrowded, for about 15 min.

Uffizi is a U shaped museum with a courtyard down the center filled with statues.  Amerigo Vespucci caught our eye.  We hustled off to convert our eTicket into bona fide tickets.

The museum consisted of two main floors each with two wings.  We started on the second floor, as most visitors do.  The main hallways were lined with marble sculptures.  Many were of Greek mythology.  My children all enjoy Greek mythology so they were pleased to recognize them and describe the stories of Hercules, Athena, Apollo, Hermes, Zeus, and Ares.

Interestingly, some rooms had no air conditioning while others were refreshingly cool.  Fortunately, there were many benches to rest ourselves.

There were several striking themes.  Statues were mostly Greek mythology with a few rich people "in portrait."  Paintings were mostly Christian with some portraits and very few still life paintings.  The Christian paintings were dominated by the beheading of John the Baptist, the Annunciation, and various saints either at critical moments in their personal history or in the background with modern figures.

There were a few mysteries.

A.  Why two big pantings of the Massacres of the Innocents?  This was combined with Apollo and Artemis assassinated 14 mortals, the sons and daughters of a woman who thought she was better than the gods for having so many beautiful children.

B.  A pope had banned the tre cheraphim (three heads of God) and instead had a painter cover the. With a pyramid with a solitary eye (a la Illuminati).

C.  A room filled with gruesome paintings, including a beheading of Medusa.

I was very proud of my children and my brother's family, we were vividly entertained for six hours!

Let the party begin - prima notte

With mom and dad's flight delayed, we decided to fend for ourselves.  Two pounds of pasta, sauce, several foccacia's, and red / white wine!

We begin with a big embarrassment as I send my brother and his family to "13" instead of "63".  Sorry!

Here's a montage of pictures from the party!

Smart Car!

Why is a smart car so smart?  Check out this series of photos.  This driver pulls into a tiny spot and easily parks!  You can get an appreciation of the difference in size between his car and a regular car as somebody drives by.

Driver begins to park

Another car drives by (for comparison)

Driver completes parking and chats with his friend!