Quite a few parents have been craving flavors other than the delicious pasta, pizza, and traditional Tuscan food we’re surrounded by, so on Friday they organized a “Fiesta Potluck.” Guillermo made beans, which were gone in minutes, and Melissa made horchata which was a mild success (in competition with juice boxes for the kids and…

It was an eventful weekend! On Friday afternoon we took the kids out of school early, and drove north to the Dolomites – the southern Alps in Italy. We had intended to take the train, but there was a national rail strike (at least they warned us) so Guillermo put his newly minted International Drivers…

We’re officially on the back-half of our time in Italy, and packing in as much adventure as we can! On Tuesday, we joined a Boundless-organized truffle-hunt in the Tuscan hills where 2 adorable Italian poodles found 3 truffles, and ended with a 3-course lunch covered in fresh truffles and local wine. On Thursday, we joined…

After a (too) leisurely lunch in Florence on Thursday, where we ate tableside affogato made with liquid nitrogen, we rushed to Firenze Santa Maria Novella for our train to Venice – made it! Venice is beautiful, and although we’re rained out of our boat tour, we enjoy exploring the narrow alleyways and canals. When we…

Wednesday was racecar day. Guille and his abuelo share a love for cars that go vroom, so we set out to the Museo Ferrari in Maranello. We learned about Ferrari’s history, and saw a lot of sleek red cars. In the afternoon, we rush over to Autodromo di Modena where Guillermo and his dad Bill…

This week is the mid-cohort break at school, so Guillermo’s parents flew into Rome, and on Saturday we took the high-speed train down to meet them. Pam did an amazing job of finding fun tours for us and the kids! The more history-heavy ones were a bit hard for the kids; it turns out our…

The kids went on a field trip to the Pistoia Zoo today – and I got to tag along as a chaperone. It was so fun to spend Vivi’s 2nd birthday with her and her friends! But boy, 24 2-5 year olds is a lot of energy with very little impulse control. Their teachers are…

On Friday, we tried to go to Pisa, but our first train was so delayed that we would have missed our second train, making what was meant to be a quick day-trip into an ordeal. It turned out that half of Florence was heading to the coast for the long weekend, so maybe it was…

Incredibly, the kids have engaged in some really deep art movements this week. Well, we think it’s deep; they think it’s colors and circles and sploches. But I guess that unless you’re an art historian, we’re all on the same page! Vivi dabbled in impressionism, while Guille experienced the range of post-impressionism, expressionism, and surrealism.…

Today we went to Lucca, a 45min train ride to opera composer Giacomo Puccini’s hometown, and a former French “statelet” that Napoleon Bonaparte gifted to his sister Elisa Bonaparte. Well, we missed our intended train at 9:44am, and ran into some friends who had the same plan – so their 3 kids (2 of whom…