Carnivale

Today was a gorgeous day. Like the calm after the storm. Even if it did start out a bit briskly, by 2 or 3 in the afternoon it was a sunny 50 degrees. Josh was able to go riding on his newly re-constructed Colnago C-50. I was able to get outside with Avery. And we had a terrific lunch of tagliatelle bolognese which Josh thought rivaled any that we'd tasted in Bologna.

Since Charlotte has a swim meet this weekend, we aren't leaving for our ski trip until Monday. So this afternoon, after we dropped her off at the pool for warm-ups, we took Olivia and Avery to Piazza del Popolo for some Carnivale festivities. There were plenty of people and plenty of kids taking in a comedic/stunt show. Many of the kids were dressed in costumes -- some more adorable than others. There had been pony riding earlier in the day, but unfortunately we'd missed it. There is a lot about Carnivale to do with horses; and as such, there were several stallions positions around the Piazza in various forms of regal dress. There was to be a horse show of some sort, but we wouldn't be able to stick around for it. Sponsors were giving out swag. Of course, the kids liked the hand-clappers from McItaly (Mc Donalds!) Confetti littered the ground and everyone was in high spirits.

Upon returning home, Morris made dinner for Olivia and Avery and we went to the pool. Charlotte swam her best times in both events: the 100 Fly and the 100 Free. Afterwards, we took her to dinner at our favorite Parioli pizzeria -- Pariolina. We had pizza -- yes -- but we also sampled quite a few other dishes. It was a veritable feast. Both Charlotte and Josh and exercised vigorously this day. Me -- I had absolutely no excuse for eating as much as I did; except for the fact that it all tasted so good.