Summer camp at the Bioparco

How tired was everyone this morning? Very tired. Instead of feeling like summer vacation, it's back to business. Everyone had to be up early this morning for various activities. Charlotte had swim practice at 8:30am, and at the same time, Olivia and Avery needed to be at the Bioparco for their first day of camp. But this will only be our schedule for the next three days. After that, we'll really be on vacation, and with Avery's cooperation, we can all sleep in every day for six weeks! (Yeah; right!)

How many loads of laundry did I do today? Many. I think I did five loads throughout the day, and Morris did three more when he came in the evening. There is a reason those washing machines in the States are super-sized!

How much packing did we get done? Not much. Between driving the kids around, doctors appointments, grocery shopping, and dealing with the execution of a lease extension that the owner suddenly wanted TODAY, there were many distractions to the task at hand.

How much sun is Charlotte getting in the pool? Alot! Kids here, just like their parents, don't believe in sunblock. Italians turn all shades of dark, chocolatey brown in the summer to the point where people are almost unrecognizable. We are trying hard to keep Charlotte only carmel-colored -- but it's a struggle.

How much fun did Olivia and Avery have at Zoo camp today? Apparently, a lot of fun; the activities got great reviews. And did you know how big elephant poop is? Now, Avery does.

How much did my knee hurt today? It was at times excruciating. I hope this isn't going to ruin my summer fun. By the end of the day I could hardly walk. But 1oomg of Voltaren and three glasses of wine later, I was feeling better. Josh, on the other hand, has the opposite problem. His knee is feeling fine, but the incision has still not closed completely and at today's appointment with Dr. Ticca, he was advised to stay out of the water and off the sand. Not a good Rx for Sardegna. He will visit Ticca again on Friday to see if the Rx can be modified. Seriously though, this would set a record for follow-up appointments in the U.S.. Josh has seen the doctor six times since his surgery three weeks ago; Friday will make it seven! In Chicago, there was a much more do-it-yourself approach -- here's the gauze and dressings, and here's how you do it. Ticca wouldn't hear of it. He always wants to change the dressing himself. More sterile that way. So right now it's looking like I can't walk but I can swim; and Josh can't swim but he can walk. Together we make a fully-functioning person.

Tonight, after we had dinner and the kids were going to bed, Josh and I returned to the festival on the banks of the Tevere where we had been last Friday night. This time, we walked on Tiburina Island. They show outdoor movies there every night at 9:30. All around there are lounges and restaurants set up. We chose one where we could lie down on chaise lounges and look over the river rushing by. While the daytime temps are edging towards triple digits, the evenings are absolutely perfect and it's certainly the best time of day to be outside. We enjoyed the night air. The Ponte Roto was lit up and looked beautiful against the sky. Rome is a beautiful city by night. I will miss it.

Sabaudia - Day 2

We woke up to another beautiful day. With the shutters of our hotel rooms pulled closed everyone slept in. It was very nice having breakfast in the hotel's garden. Avery and Olivia ran around a bit; I downloaded my emails; Charlotte was doing Sudoku; and Josh read the paper. Soon enough, we changed into our swimsuits, and were off to the beach. Olivia obliged us by trying on the new "string bikini" that she'd received as a birthday gift, but she refused to wear it. Who knew she was such a modest girl? The bikini has hearts on it and looked super cute on her -- too bad.

We swam, we walked, we ate. We theorized about the weird guy running the beach club and food shack. We were getting our fill of strange people in Sabaudia; or more accurately, we are starting to see the non-functioning version of Italy. For instance, yesterday, we inquired about the specials hand-written on a large white-board behind the counter at the "food shack." The proprietor informed Josh that those were from the day before, but he had yet to erase them. But today, the same specials -- that are no longer available -- were still written on the white-board. Apparently, the proprietor has been so busy that he hasn't had time to erase the specials for two days now. In fact, when we arrived at the beach today, and the proprietor assigned us our lettinos, he mentioned to Josh that should he know what we'd like to eat for lunch ahead of time, that would be helpful because often at lunchtime he is busy. Can you even understand the nonsense of that statement? Maybe you had to be there, but trust me the guy is nutty.

As we settled in to our lettinos, we took notice that all the guests were crammed on one side of the beach while the other half remained empty. Why wouldn't the proprietor allow the guests to spread out instead of sitting on top of each other? Because the Italians like it that way -- the closer you are to your beach-chair neighbor, the better the people watching. Besides, in the summertime, with all the Italians on vacation at the beach, everyone is used to being three inches from their neighbor because that's the way it has to be.

In the afternoon, Charlotte and Olivia met some other girls from the Ambrit school in Rome. They are from Belgium, and good English speakers. Somehow Olivia becomes much less shy when English is spoken -- even though her Italian, when applied, is perfectly good.

When it was time to leave the beach, we showered and packed up at Il San Francesco. Just as Josh and I were heading downstairs to check out, Avery came running in with Olivia who reported that he had fallen into the Lake. Avery was soaking wet and one of his shoes was missing -- still swimming in the water while Charlotte was trying to rescue it (she succeeded and Avery got his shoe back).

We hit the road just past 5pm and, despite all the warnings about the terrible traffic we'd encounter if we tried to re-enter rome before 9pm, it wasn't bad. In fact, we made it home in two hours. Now, with a bare refrigerator, the question was what to do for dinner? I managed to put together some peas, caprese salad, pasta and a scrambled eggs with ricotta. Not bad. In fact, a lot better than last night's meal in Sabaudia!

Aside from the bizarre folks down there, I really liked the beach in Sabaudia and would go back in a minute. It'd be my "go-to" beach if I were a Roman.

Sabaudia

It's always a struggle to motive everyone to get out of the villa early. I announced that I wanted to leave by 9:30am, so that we could actually leave by 10. At least that was my plan. But in reality, we left at 10:45! It was a two-hour drive to Sabaudia and the Il San Francesco hotel. As soon as we arrived, we could see that this is a beautiful property. While Sabaudia is a "beach town" it also has a large lake. Il San Francesco is situated along the banks of the lake and has a beautiful, tranquil garden filled with teak garden furniture and white cushions, and with a few errant ducks roaming around. Our rooms weren't ready, but we changed into our swimsuits in the palestra so we could go to the beach.

There was some confusion at the reception desk. At first, we were told that hotel guests have free access to a private beach. Then, when the reception realized that one of the rooms had been donated to a charity event, we were informed that we would have to pay a fee for the chairs at the beach for the guests of that room. Our stay at Il Francesco was precipitated by the fact that we were the winning bidders at the silent auction during the AWAR Gala at Villa Taverna. The donated item was a one-night stay for two people. Since we wanted to bring the kids, we reserved a second room for which we were paying the hotel directly. Apart from the confusion about the beach fee, we were initially informed that the hotel will provide us with towels to take to the beach. Later, when he asked for the towels, they told Josh that there is a charge of 5 euros per towel per day. For 25 euros, we can use our own towels, thank you very much! We had thrown our own beach towels in the car, not knowing if they'd be needed or not.

The beach in Sabaudia is gorgeous -- beautiful sand dunes with natural scrub; clear, tranquil and shallow water. And, lots and lots of sand. This was the first beach of this type that I'd ever seen in Italy. Fregene has dark, almost muddy sand; and others are more of the pebble variety. Even in Positano, the sandy beach is small with the rocky coastline jutting up just behind it. The only one who was dissappointed was Josh. He still couldn't swim due to his surgery; and he certainly couldn't risk getting any sand in his wound so he kept his leg wrapped.

We spent quite a long and lanquid afternoon at the beach before returning to the hotel. As soon as I entered our rooms, I knew our luck of getting great hotel rooms during our year in Italy had run out. We had been given two tiny connecting rooms with a view overlooking the alley next to the back door of the kitchen. Upon further review, the entire hotel has only three rooms in this undesirable positon and we were in two of them. We asked to move, but the hotel was full. First Josh, then I, complained to owner. She gave us a load of bull about making our reservations late with these being the only rooms available at that time (there was no shortage of availability when we made our reservation); they'd made an exception to take our reservation for this holiday weekend for one night only, all the other guests were staying three nights (nothing of the sort was ever mentioned when we'd called to book our rooms); we'd requested connecting rooms and these are the only two in the hotel (if someone had informed us that by choosing connecting rooms they would be significantly smaller, we may have requested rooms next to, or across the hall from one another); oh, and yes these rooms rent for the same price as the rooms that are larger and overlooking the garden (good if you can get it, I guess). Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah....in the end we all enjoyed a complimentary spritz or lemon soda in the garden. The kids ran around and they were happy. Also, tomorrow we would have use of these rooms all day, and would not be subject to the 11am check out policy. Judging from the appearance of the shower at the beach, this concession would actually be extremely beneficial. As natural as the beach is, the facilities too are very rustic. There are no cabanas or changing rooms.

Sitting in the garden of the hotel was lovely, but we wanted a quick pizza dinner. We went just down the street to a funny local place with plastic play stuff for kids and picnic tables for seating. The food was not very good food at all - in fact it was bad. But the people-watching was very entertaining. There were locals of all kinds -- many of them just plain weird-looking.

It was 10pm before we got back and got to bed. For some reason, I can't remember feeling more tired.

Foro Italico and a dinner party

Charlotte had a poor race in the morning, swimming 100 Fly in the same time as last summer in Chicago. She was not in a good mood afterwards. To compound her frustration, her best race, the 100 Breast, which was cancelled last night due to weather, was now being moved to Monday evening -- instead of being swum today. We are taking everyone to the beach a couple hours south of Rome for Monday and Tuesday, and so she will not be in town Monday to compete. What a crazy idea to take two events and instead of fitting them into the line-up on Sunday, require everyone from all over the region, to drive back to Rome to contest these two events on a Monday. Charlotte was upset.

We all came home for lunch; I put together a platter of sandwiches and leftovers. It was a very hot day outside. Everyone scattered to nap or watch TV after lunch. For me, it felt like a more productive day since we managed to get some things into suitcases.

We returned to the pool for the afternoon session where Charlotte swam the 200 IM. Finally, her first PB (personal best) of the meet; and, she won her heat and came in 7th overall. This made it doubly sad that she would be unable to compete in the breaststroke race tomorrow.

We left the pool without Charlotte, and came home to prepare for our guests. We had invited the Hood's for dinner. Both of their boys go to RIS (Peter was in Olivia's class) and Gretchen has been so helpful to me throughout the year. Thankfully, it turned into a nice evening -- I was worried that another round of thunderstorms would roll in. Olivia played with Peter. Charlotte and Blair sat with the adults for part of the evening. And, Avery was absent because he was napping -- for five hours!

We started with zucchini flowers, followed by a pasta course, then pork cutlets and green beens. After the main course, Olivia announced she'd lost her tooth! I had baked a cake (two layers, can you imagine that?!?), and we sang happy birthday to Olivia and Peter (whose birthday had been yesterday) and to his Dad who celebrated another year last week. The cake was rich chocolate, with a layer of berry jam in the middle, and coconut and powdered sugar on top. I have to say it was a hit. We served it with an assortment of gelato.

Around 10pm, we heard something upstairs. It was Avery. He was up and he was hungry. Morris put together a plate for him and he sat on my lap and ate. I was glad he was up. He would have been so disappointed if he'd missed the entire dinner party -- he really likes Peter.

I think everyone enjoyed themselves.

Last swim meet in Rome

It was an earlier morning than we had wanted. Charlotte was swimming in the last meet of her season -- and her last in Rome. We were up early getting her breakfast and making snacks and drinks for her to take along. Josh dropped Charlotte off at Foro Italico for warm-ups; we would turn up later to cheer for her.

In the meantime, we had breakfast outside with Olivia and Avery, and then I went to the market. Charlotte called to say she had forgotten her tessera and could we please bring it. Also, a girl-scout friend of hers went to the meet, along with her grandmother, to route for Charlotte. As a result, Josh and I took Olivia and Avery to the meet much earlier than we would have. We arrived at 10:45am and Charlotte didn't swim until after noon. It was a very hot day; we did the best we could to stay in the shade, but the little kids were irritated. To top it all off, Charlotte didn't have a good swim. She swam the 200 Breast in a time 3 seconds slower than she'd done at the Spoleto meet two weeks ago. She was disappointed.

We invited Charlotte's friend, Flavia, and her grandmother over for an impromptu lunch. They are such nice people, and it was very kind of them to take an interest in Charlotte spend all morning at the meet waiting to see her race. After lunch, while everyone rested, I started the arduous task of packing by going through all the kids' toys and games, and stuff from school. Josh brought the boxes upstairs from the cantina. We are officially moving.

We returned to Foro Italico in the evening to see Charlotte swim her second race: the 100 Breast. She had been there since 4pm, but the meet had been delayed due to thunderstorms. Shortly after we arrived, it began raining again. Fortunately, this time, Olivia and Avery stayed home with Morris. In fact, due to the delay in the meet, Morris had already cooked dinner for all of us, and we ate in the kitchen before leaving. The meet directors allowed the event that was swimming to be concluded. But just before Charlotte's event, they decided to cancel the rest of the evening. It was communicated that they would make up the two remaining events tomorrow. So we drove home. Charlotte was very frustrated having spent five hours at the pool this afternoon, without getting to swim her race.

Josh and I had planned to go out for our "last dinner" in Rome. But due to the rain (and also the temperature had dropped 20 degrees), and seeing that we'd already eaten, we decided to stay in. I felt a little depressed; it had been a lost day. Olivia and Avery were short-changed because we didn't do anything of interest to them at all; I didn't get any packing done; over the course of the entire day, Charlotte had swum only one event, and poorly. And then the evening was scuttled due to weather. It was a bummer all around.

Avery had had a long nap and wasn't tired for bed. Olivia was bothered by her loose tooth that was hanging by a thread. Everyone was grumpy for one reason or another. Well, there's always tomorrow.

Olivia's Birthday party

Today was the last day of school; and it was a half-day. Josh took the camera and took photos of the kids with their teachers. He wanted to do a class photo for Charlotte with her home-room, but she was too embarrassed.

We spent most of the morning getting ready for Olivia's birthday party this afternoon. We drove back to Mondi to pick up the cake -- and had another round of cappuccio and cornettos. Then I went to the market to buy the rest of the provisions for the party.

At 1 o'clock Josh and I went to RIS for the last time. Josh rode his bike so he could ride Avery home. I drove the car so I could bring all the girls home for the party. Charlotte was going to walk, or get a ride. But first she was busy with the ceremonial last-day-of school egg, flour and water-balloon throwing festivities. I squeezed all seven 3rd grade girls into the Peugot and drove home.

We had a luncheon for the girls in our garden. It was All-American cuisine: hot-dogs, potato chips, carrot sticks and watermelon. Never have I met such a group of high-maintenance 8 year-olds. They asked for a clean plate after the hot dog, and before the watermelon. Some didn't want aqua naturale but asked for frizzante instead. One only eats her carrot sticks with olive oil. Another wouldn't eat the hot dog because it was sliding out of the bun. Geez. It was a real eye-opener.

After lunch, we had sang "Tanti Auguri" to Olivia, as well as "Happy Birthday," and I served the cake. One girl doesn't eat cake, so she just had extra cookies (I served the chocolate pane e stelle per Olivia's request). While the cake looked lovely, I must admit I don't care for all that cream inside. In fact, there was hardly any cake at all; it was mostly gijanduja cream filling. Italians like their cream - think cannolis and profiteroles! Afterwards, Olivia opened her presents before we reloaded the car and headed to the bowling alley.

The bowling was a huge hit with all the girls. While Josh set all the girls up with shoes and registered them for two lanes, I returned home to pick up Charlotte and Avery so they could bowl too. Apparently more "high-maintenance" behavior was exhibited when some of the girls announced that they didn't want to carry their own shoes to the lane. No matter. It turns out, between Charlotte, Olivia and all her friends, and Avery -- Avery had the highest score. He bowled 113! Granted the bumpers were up so there were no gutter balls, but everyone had the same advantage. The girls all had a riot -- a few didn't want to leave. We let everyone play an arcade game before going home.

After bowling, Avery -- the bowling king-pin -- napped. Charlotte went to swim practice. Olivia played with one of her friends who returned to our house. Also, on very short notice, prospective tenants came to the villa for a visit. We allowed the showing as a favor to the real estate agent because they are clients of his and he wanted them to see several places. And, because they are interested in renting a place for September 1st, so their prospective tenancy would have no impact on us. The visitors turned out to be a lovely couple from New York City with two young children; and they are embarking on a year abroad much as we had. Coincidentally, the husband is a hedge fund manager and plans to work from Rome for the year.

In other real-estate related news, we also heard from the agent that the owner has now reluctantly agreed to amend our contract, granting us an extension until July 4. I wonder when we'll get that in writing -- or not?

Later, we all ate burgers at home (it's really been an all-American day), and then Josh and I went out for a passeggiatta along the Tevere. During the summer months, near Isola Tiburina, the Tiber's banks fill up with restaurants, bars, and stalls selling all kinds of authentic merchandise. There is also entertainment -- if you want to call it that. Not only was it fun to check out, but it became a productive shopping expedition as well. We strolled, bought some leather goods, strolled, had a freshly-made limonata, bought some straw goods and strolled some more. Some of the food and restaurants on offer looked good and we thought we ought to return for dinner tomorrow night.

An accident at school, and a heart-to-heart at home

Today it was Olivia's turn. The grade 3 classes were performing by singing AND dancing -- since their recent unit of inquiry was global dance. Apparently, Olivia confessed to Miss Ivana yesterday, that she had butterflies in her stomach and was nervous about forgetting some of her dance steps. Yet today, she performed brilliantly (although with a keen eye towards the teacher/choreographer). Avery joined us for the recital, and while I thought we'd see Charlotte as well, she seemed to have vanished within the walls of the school. The performance was held in the garden again, and it was another absolutely gorgeous day.

Before the show, I had gone upstairs to Miss Ivana's classroom to thank her for her amazing contribution to our children's lives this year, and to give her a parting gift. I expected to see Charlotte there for her lesson but she didn't turn up (that's what I mean about vanishing). Ivana shared some stories with me about Olivia (including the one from yesterday with the butterflies in her tummy) and showed me two letters Charlotte had written about her experience in Italy and at the Rome International School with Miss Ivana. We both had a good cry and a hug together. She truly loves our girls (Avery was not her student), and thinks we are so blessed. I'll have to keep remindng myself of this. Ivana is such an outstanding person in every way. We will all truly miss her.

After the performance, Josh and I drove to Ponte Milvio to research some birthday cake options. To me, this incapsulates the Italian experience. Living in this country is such a joy if you are not working and have time on your hands to a) really enjoy it, and b) deal with it. Most business must be conducted in person -- from paying bills, to buying clothes, to ordering a cake. In the States, busy, overscheduled people can accomplish most tasks on-line, or at a minimum, over the phone. Not here. There is no "free-shipping, free returns," nor even paid shipping if you don't show up to choose the items yourself. In the American view, this makes Italy truly inefficient. In the Italian view, this builds relationships, and communities.

Back to the cake, we surveyed the offerings at two pasticcerias, and selected a torta from the latter -- Mondi, where we also enjoyed a second breakfast of their renowned cappuccino and cornettos. In fact, the cornettos were so good (and hot out of the oven) that we shared another one, chocolate, between us. The cake ordering too, is not so simple. Italians don't do layer cakes like we do. Two layers of chocolate cake, with berries and jam in-between and a butter cream frosting -- never heard of it! It's entertaining speaking to the bakers and hearing their opinions: "Too much cake makes your mouth dry; your mouth will be tacky from eating it. You must have more moisture inside from Spanish cream." "No, it's too hot for that type of cake; you need a more refreshing cake, a lighter cake for the season." Some of it actually makes sense. In fact, even the Italian attitudes towards eating pasta (not in the summer, or when it's over 70 degrees) and gelato (not when the temps drop below 70 degrees) makes some sense. We don't feel like eating hot food when it's hot, and we don't crave ice cream in the winter-time. But, we still make fun of the Italians for all of their rigid customs surrounding food!

Misson accomplished, cake ordered, we headed for home where we had not much to do before afternoon pick up. Or, so we thought. But then Josh got a call from the school doctor. Olivia had been involved in an accident with another classmate, and her finger was sliced by a pair of scissors. It was a large cut and may need stitches. It was recommended that we take her to be evaluated. Josh and I both hopped in the car to drive to the school to see Olivia. In fact, Josh had just been at the school picking up Charlotte to take her to the 2:30pm swim practice. This time we collected Olivia from the doctor's office, and Avery from his classroom.

Without a clue of where to go or what to do, Josh had already called his orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Ticca, and asked if he could do us a favor and look at Olivia's finger. Ticca said he was out of Rome, but that Olivia should be taken to the clinic and he will arrange for his assistant to see her. So Josh took Olivia to Clinica Sanatrix. And I walked home with Avery.

It turns out, the doctor who saw Olivia determined she did not need stitches. He cleaned and sanitized the wound, and taped her up. As for Avery, on the way home, we stopped at the barber shop on Viale Bruno Buozzi so he could get his hair cut. I love to go with Avery for his haircuts, he is very patient and cute in the chair.

Later, I would get a phone call from Miss Ivana who was checking to see how Olivia was doing. The following day too, Miss Petiffer and many others asked about Olivia. Apparently there was much blood and everyone was worried!

Tonight, we had a few things planned. First, we dropped Charlotte off at the middle school year-end barbeque. Then, we walked over to the apartment of Avery's classmate where we'd been invited to dinner. But we didn't stay for dinner. We had a glass or two of prosecco and bid our hostess good-bye, and headed back to the school barbeque -- even though the food was certainly much better at Alessia's place. We set Avery and Olivia up with hot dogs, and then had a chance to speak to many of the parents we'd become friendly with this year. Charlotte seemed to be having a very good time with all of her friends as well.

By 9pm it was time to get the kids home. We still had plans to attend an art opening -- an installation at the Pyramide followed by a late dinner. But somehow, despite the fact that Morris was already at our place ready to babysit, the act of getting the kids ready took quite some doing.

Meanwhile, Charlotte seemed a bit emotional. It's clear she has her own mixed feelings about returning to Chicago. She will miss Rome and her friends here. Yet, at the same time, she confided to me that some of the girls had distanced themselves from her in recent weeks -- a proctective mechanism perhaps. But Charlotte didn't understand this. Charlotte is a straight up, give a lot of love, type-of-girl. It also became clear that, despite our struggles this year, Charlotte does in fact seek my approval. Due to my frustration with Charlotte and her lack of communication, in recent weeks -- whether subconscioulsy or consciously -- I have redirected much of my attention towards Olivia. Charlotte has noticed this and it bothers her. We had a good chat; a healthy conversation pertaining to all sorts of issues. And afterwards, I felt satisfied that balance might actually be restored -- that Charlotte and I might actually reconnect and that our relationship will improve.

Certainly by this point in the evening -- it was almost 10pm, afterall -- Josh was tired from being out late the night before, and this along with my own inertia conspired to dissuade us from venturing out again. So we did not make it to the art opening event. I was disappointed, but talking to Charlotte was more important.

Lunches, and dinners, and parties

We spent part of the morning in the RIS garden, listening to Avery sing with his class in their year-end musical performance. Needless to say, it was quite dear. Not only did he do a wonderful job, but I think he really had a good time too.

Afterwards, Josh dropped me off at the gym and went to see Dr. Ticca. The outcome of the visit was one stitch (without anesthesia), and the go-ahead to walk without the crutches. He will see the doctor again next week -- hopefully for the last time. Josh then met me at AquAniene and we sat down in the newly opened outdoor cafe for lunch. The food is top quality, and the salads there are really great. Josh was supposed to meet with Luca, Charlotte's swim coach, to discuss his interest in coming to the States to work with a U.S. coach. Unfortunately, for one reason or another, the meeting was rescheduled -- for the third time.

Life in Rome is very fluid. Nothing is set in stone. Invitations, meetings, appointments can all be made or rescheduled at the very last minute. And, no one takes it personally. Just this morning, during the concert, a parent of a girl in Avery's class invited us to a dinner party at her house for tomorrow. At the same time (still during the recital), I received a phone call from a mom of a girl in the other 3rd grade class, inviting Olivia to her daughter's birthday party tomorrow. The party is in the countryside to the south of Rome, and she is providing a bus to transport the kids to and from school. Ultimately, we accepted the first invitation, acknowledging that we will be "double-booked," and declined the latter (later in the day when Olivia expressed she was not interested in attending since she doesn't know the birthday girl well). This evening, I was double-booked as well due to last minute changes in plans.

In the afternoon, when Josh went to pick the kids up from school, I rode my bike into town to meet a friend, and one of my former business partners in Chicago. He is in Rome for two days for a global sales conference hosted by the parent company, and we were getting together for a drink during his break. We met in Piazza del Popolo, and I was able to show him the Caravaggio paintings in Santa Maria del Popolo before we walked down Via del Corso to Ciampini. We each ordered a spritz cocktail, and spent some time catching up. Then, I gave him a map and sent him off in the direction of the Pantheon, and the Roman Forum. I had to ride back home in order to take Olivia to her class's year-end pizza party.

The party was organized for both of the Grade 3 classes by one of the moms, for the kids and the mothers. In the end a few dads showed up as well. The restaurant that was chosen had a beautiful garden and had a small playground for the kids. The only problem was that it wasn't in the neighborhood, and especially during rush hour, it took a long time to get there -- that is, if you could find it. The address was unknown by Lola (our GPS gal), and the place was located, literally next to a bus depot, at the end of nowhere. Fortunately, Gretchen, the other American mom guided me in. But many of the Italian ladies were driving in circles for a while looking for it.

Meanwhile, my Chicago-friend, Ron, had cancelled his business dinner, so Josh and I were going to met him for dinner later. As such, my time at the class pizza-party was limited; such a shame since the moms are so nice and it was clearly going to be a really lovely evening. Olivia wanted to stay past the hour or so that I'd allotted, and Gretchen offered to bring her home.

So, after a class of wine and a bit of pizza bianca, I got back in the car to drive home, leaving Olivia at the party, and picking Charlotte up from swim practice along the way. As opposed to the drive out to the restaurant (almost 30 minutes), the drive home was quick, easy, and ten minutes. Once at home, I took two minutes to change, and then Josh and I were off to meet Ron for a late dinner. The truly strange part is that the restaurant we had chosen, was also the very same restaurant chosen by the parent-company for the business dinner that he was not attending. In all of Rome --what are the odds?!? When Ron saw that some of his colleagues were dining there, we changed course and drove to another place.

We had dinner at Grano -- a place where Josh and I had dined with friends before, and the food was very good. For the first time since we arrived in Italy, I ordered a tuna tartar and it was delicious. We opted out of dessert in favor of a stroll through Piazza Navona and a visit to a gelateria there. By now, it was midnight. We gave Ron a lift to his hotel and bid him farewell. It had been great to see him.

Once at home, Morris informed us that the kids had quite an evening too. Olivia arrived home at 10:30pm, and both Charlotte and Avery had wanted to wait up for her. Getting them up tomorrow morning will be interesting.

Shrek and friends

Today was the big day; it was the RIS Middle School play that Charlotte had been preparing for endlessly these past few weeks. But first, math. Josh took her to school with Olivia and Avery so she could spend 30 minutes with her math teacher. Bravo. Then, I had to return to school to pick her up and drive her over to the theater.

Shamefully, I didn't get too much done today. I picked up a gift for Miss Ivana. I did some yoga. I went on a bike ride to buy another gift at Villa Giulia -- and found it closed -- just for today. I continued by bike into centro to go to the Italian version of the "dollar store" which is called "Euro Village." Everything is a euro! I needed some party favors for Olivia's birthday bash. It was such a pleasant day. Overcast and not too hot! Centro did not seem too crowded either.

Josh went to visit his orthopedist for a follow-up appointment. Unfortunately, after waiting 30 minutes past his appointed time, he had to reschedule because....what else? It was time for the school play: Shrek and Friends. Olivia was picked up, along with one of her classmates, and brought to the theater. I picked up Avery and took him over by bike. Josh had the car and met us there.

I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised by the production. It was well-written, funny, and well-executed. Some of Charlotte's classmates are quite talented, and I particularly liked their Italian accents! Charlotte played the donkey (quite a large role) and did a great job. Avery sat through the entire show without a peep or complaint of any kind -- it's as if he were in a trance. We didn't see Olivia until afterwards as she was sitting with her friend. There was a brief reception afterwards before we were free to go home. I don't know about Charlotte, but I'm glad it's over!

Too bad it was sprinkling tonight; we ate in the kitchen. Avery was tired and went to bed early. Josh and I watched some of the early round Wimbledon matches and David Letterman.

School meeting

This morning, I took Olivia and Avery to school; Charlotte had a full day of rehearsal for the school play (Shrek) and didn't have to meet her class at the theater until 10:30am (can you imagine a school in the States informing the parent body that school will start an hour and forty-five minutes late for two days in a row, in order for the students to skip all their classes and rehearse a play for five hours a day?!?).

At RIS, I had scheduled a meeting with the assistant head of the middle and high school, who will become the principal of both schools next year (the current head is leaving...). I was encouraged by several faculty and parents to share my feelings about the experience we'd had as Americans, and in fact, she was very eager to meet with me to hear the same. The following were the main points I made:

1. The Italian language teacher is one-of-a-kind; a true treasure. As such they should acknoweldge her efforts and do whatever it takes to keep her happy.

2. There should be more coordination between the upper and lower school as many parents have children in both programs ie. why on earth is the play scheduled for 3pm tomorrow when lower school pick up is at 3:30pm?

3. The fact that we are in Rome and the 8th grade had only two (lame) field trips the entire year: one to see the Edward Hopper exhibit, and the other to visit a public library, is a real shame.

4. The academic program was not nearly challenging enough, and the homework load was extremely light -- two papers written for English class in an entire year is not what I would call honing your writing skills.

5. The methodology of some teachers, reading to the students from a book during class time, is not inspiring and actually a pathetic example of teaching. Efforts should be undertaken to hire teachers who are passionate about teaching and can engage the students.

6. Most disappointing of all, has been the lack of response from the Math teacher. In fact, the lack of professionalism by him has been appalling.

She agreed with each and every one of my points, and was only surprised by #6. This seems so unlike him, she said. She immediately looked at the Math teacher's schedule for tomorrow and offered his time to Charlotte at 9am. I guess meeting with the head of the school is the way to go. Just this morning, Mr. Murray had texted Josh, stating that he had "other commitments" and that meeting with Charlotte would have to wait until Wednesday when the school play had concluded. Truthfully, all this emphasis on drama is a bit sickening. Charlotte will not fail out of drama next year, but she could very well fail out of math. Priorities seem a bit skewed here.

In any event, after my meeting I came home to take take Charlotte and her friend (whose mom had to go to work this morning like many others) to the theater for their 10:30am rehearsal.

Then, I went to work out. No knee pain; that's a positive.

Later in the day, I did the marketing and laundry (Maria was sick today), had a conference call, cooked dinner, and organized for Olivia's birthday party which will be this coming Friday.

Josh picked the kids up from school, and the theater respectively, and then took all of them to Charlotte's orthodontist's office to have their teeth cleaned. That is how today went by in an instant; and we now have less than two weeks left to our life in Rome.

Father's Day with Monsters - Bomarzo

As much as we wanted to sleep in this morning, Avery was intent on not allowing us to do so. He and I came downstairs to get everything ready for a Father's Day breakfast. We set the table outside, prepared the pancake batter (with fresh squeezed lemon and ricotta), sliced fruit and made coffee. Just as everything was set, it began to rain. So we pulled in all the cushions and dishes and reset the table inside.

Fifteen minutes later, when Josh came downstairs, it had stopped raining and he asked if we could sit outside. So, we reset the table again -- this time with better luck. We had planned, weather permitting, to visit Bomarzo today with another family and their boys. It looked sketchy, but we decided to go for it.

Bomarzo is a town in Umbria -- about an hour's drive north from Rome -- but it is most well-known for its Parco dei Monstri. The park was designed by architect Pirro Ligorio, the same man who built the Villa d'Este, and who also took part in the completion of the Basilica San Pietro. Prince Pier Franceso Orsino, nicknamed Vicino, commissioned the design of the park to commemorate the passing of his beloved wife, Giula Farnese, and it was completed in 1552 as a "Villa of Wonders." The Park fell into disrepair until the grounds were purchased by Giovanni Bettini in 1954 and restored.

Upon arrival, we had a picnic lunch while waiting for our friends. Unfortunately, we ate our sandwiches in the parking lot because we didn't bring enough cash to purchase the entrance tickets. Once inside the gates, 24 characters, and structures carved from the rock can be discovered. The kids could wander and run around. Josh took it slowly. We strolled in the park for about an hour or so, and then still had time to let the kids play in the playground located by the entrance gate, while the adults sat and chatted at the picnic tables (the ones we would have used for our picnic if we'd had enough money to buy our tickest when we arrived).

Afterwards, we drove back to Rome where we dropped Charlotte off at a year-end Italian language class party for the middle schoolers at a friend's house. It was a pool party and despite the clouds the kids played in the pool before cooking Italian recipes with Miss Ivana, and then watching La Bella Vita. When I picked Charlotte up I told Ivana that I had just seen Roberto Benigni who I knew was from her home town in Tuscany.

Once I had Charlotte in the car, we swung by the villa to get the rest of the gang and then headed over to meet Jules, Carol and their boys again -- this time for a pizza dinner in Testaccio. (We'd been together earlier at Bomarzo). It was a very casual place, and fortunately we weren't there too long because, once again, the Indians were getting restless -- literally, our kids were unable to sit still for a moment. Still, we pressed on to Gracchi for gelato after dinner before calling it a night. Unfortunately, Avery's behavior lost him gelato privileges, and that caused a disturbance all its own. It had been a full weekend for everyone.

Fregene

Everyone sat down to a nice breakfast outside this morning -- a full table. Then, we were off to the beach! Kathy and Jack played in the water and collected rocks (?) for an hour before it was time for them to say good-bye. Josh drove them to the airport. It had been a really nice visit, and I hope a trip that Jack will remember.

While we had planned the outing to the Med to coincide with Kathy's departure (so they could see the beach, and we'd be close to the airport), we had the added bonus that Olivia's friend and classmate, Federica was there with her family, as well as another classmate, Vittoria and her family. Federica's family has a house just across from the beach club, and they invited all of us for lunch. The girls went ahead and I waited on the beach for Josh to return (with Avery) from Fiumicino.

When Josh returned, we walked over and were treated to a very nice, Italian lunch ie. multiple courses. We really like both of these couples and so enjoyed the conversation as well as the food. Meanwhile, the kids were having a ball in this house made for kids. There was a ping-pong table, a trampoline, a tetherball, a hammock, and a swimming pool! Avery played with all the 3rd grade girls, while Charlotte befriended Federica's sister, Flaminia, who is fourteen. Later, Avery would say "I love this whole house!" and that was before the four kinds of gelato were served.

It really couldn't have been any better. Especially since later, when I went to retrieve our belongings from the beach, I discovered that while we had been sheltered at Federica's house, there was a sand storm at the beach. It was gusty and the beach had emptied out. By the time we left to drive home at 6 o'clock, everyone was super tired, and the kids were a bit cranky (remember Charlotte came home late last night). As we were leaving Fregene, we stopped at fruit and vegetable stand -- I felt like I was in the beautiful countryside of the Hamptons.

Upon arriving in Rome, I made a quick dinner of pasta, we cleaned everyone up, and put the kids to bed. Then, tired as we were, Josh and I went to The Tree Bar -- a place in the next-door neighborhood that we'd been meaning to check out. It had cooled off and it wasn't as crowded as we'd seen it. But, we spent a pleasant hour having a cocktail.

Sightseeing with Kathy, Jack and Olivia

Olivia and Jack played so nicely together all week long. Last night, they asked if they could have a "sleepover," meaning that they would sleep together in the basement, and Kathy would sleep upstairs in Olivia's bed. Since we were allowing Olivia to skip school today, we agreed. Being out of the fray of getting ready for school upstairs, it would actually allow her to sleep in. It was really so very cute. They were like an old married couple.

After a quick appointment at 9am to get my legs waxed, we set off on our day of exploration.

First, I drove Kathy, Jack and Olivia to Santa Maria della Concezione, or the "Bone Church"as it is better-known. The bones of four thousand friars interred here, are used to decorate the cave-like tombs in interesting ways -- it's always a child-pleaser, but Kathy really liked it too. Then we went to the Basilica of San Clemente. We visited the excavations of the 4th century church, and the 1st century Roman houses and Temple of Mithras below the 11th century church that is in use today. It's a virtual time machine where you can walk down underground and visit 2000 years of history. I think everyone enjoyed the visit.

When we left San Clemente, it was time for lunch. We walked across the street with the intention of getting a slice of pizza for the kids; but the place was run by an Egyptian and the schwarma sandwiches he was making for all the local workers looked so good, that Kathy and I each ordered one as well. We walked back to the car, and brought the sandwiches home to share with Josh for lunch.

Soon, it was time for our afternoon outing. I'd made 3pm reservations at the Galleria Borghese. I was excited to show Olivia as well as our guests from Toronto, the beautiful rooms and the amazing Bernini sculptures inside. Olivia loved hearing the stories of what was happening to the mythological greek gods sculpted by Bernini; she also wanted me to tell her stories about what was happenning in the paintings. It was such a treat to enjoy art through the eyes of children this way.

Josh picked us up on the way back from his doctor's appointment. He had taken Avery who apparently behaved himself nicely in the doctors office; especially since Dr. Ticca had put Josh in the hurt locker by squeezing fluids out of his leg. He also decided not to remove all the staples today as planned, because the wound was still not closed. Sounds like it was not the most pleasant experience.

Once back at home, we waited for Charlotte to be dropped off -- she had gone home with a friend after school today. Then, we took our guests to Gracchi for gelato - everyone agreed it's the best in Rome.

When we returned to our villa, we hung out with the kids a bit before Josh and I headed off to the last wine and cheese evening of the AWAR season. Kathy decided to stay home and pack for her flight back to Toronto tomorrow. I had wanted to go to this AWAR event, not only because it would be my last, but because of the location. It was a spectacular drive to the San Sebastiano area in the evening with the sun low on the Palatino and Terme di Caracalla. The hostess lives in a house just off the Appia Antica with a beautiful and vast garden. Despite being located just outside the ancient walls on this side of Rome, the feeling is immediately one of being in the country. I was disappointed not to see some of the ladies I'd bcome friends with this year. It was definitely a different, and older crowd tonight. But the antipasti were plentiful -- not just cheese, but all kinds of interesting dishes including homemade hummus, a spinach pie, a rice dish with salami and olives, and more. Once Josh and I felt like we'd eaten enough for dinner, there were various types of homemade desserts to choose from, including the best cannolis I've ever tasted. One was big enough for two to share.

We came home to take Kathy to dinner, but since we were full and she was in her PJs, we decided to stay in. Kathy cooked up a burger, and we sat outside in the garden and finished a bottle of Prosecco. Together, we waited for Charlotte to come home from her "elegante" party. Tonight she had skipped swimming in order to go to a year-end farewell party held by one of her friends in the middle-school. She borrowed a fancy dress and had spent a long time getting ready earlier this evening. Now, once Josh brought her home (at 11:30pm) we were able to hear about her soiree.

Math woes, MAXXI, and an expected unknown guest

I was so annoyed that Charlotte's math teacher never called me last night, that I took the kids to school this morning in order to go and pay him another visit. As soon as he saw me, and finished taking attendance, he came out and said he was meaning to call me. I told him that I was hoping he could spend a bit of time with Charlotte before school is out in order to go over the Algebra problems that she had been given. He promised to make some arrangements with her today.

After returning home, we set Kathy and Jack off on today's excursion. Then, since my knee was feeling a little better, I went to have a workout at the gym. It had been a week and I was going a little stir-crazy -- in sympathy with Josh perhaps. Afterwards, I did the marketing before going to pick my cousin up in front of the Synagogue. Together, we all drove to RIS to pick up the kids.

When Charlotte emerged and informed me that math class had been cancelled today due to special meeting, and that she never saw Mr. Murray despite looking for him, I was furious. Apparently, he was now in a meeting, and so we decided to wait around a while to see if he would emerge. Once it was clear we couldn't wait any longer, I left a note for him in his mailbox asking him to call me. He never did.

This evening, we were going to serve cocktails to a woman whom we'd never met before, but who was visiting Rome from Chicago. A few weeks ago, I received an email from "Karen" who goes to the same esthetician I use in Chicago. She was coming to Italy with her boyfriend and wanted to get some insights. She also offered to bring something over from Chicago, if we needed. Well, it turns out, Josh had inadvertently shipped some shirts from Banana Republic to our apartment in Chicago (instead of to my friend's house in Boston to bring back from my Boston visit). It was Josh's lucky day. Karen agreed to swing by our apartment in Chicago and pick up Josh's shirts. Today, she was delivering his shirts, over cocktails, at our villa in Rome. Funny what kind of encounters a visit to the esthetician can bring about...

It turned out that Karen is a lovely lady. Although after her vacation here in Italy, she is not returning to Chicago. Instead, she will move to LA to be with her boyfriend. We had a fun chat over drinks in our garden, and then we invited her to join us to see MAXXI. Thursday evenings, the new Contemporary Art Museum of Rome which is called MAXXI (Museo Nazionale delle Arte di XXI Secolo) is open late and we had been meaning to check it out. Tonight, we'd planned to take Kathy before going out to dinner. And, Karen came along.

When we arrived, it was clear there was an event going on -- people spilled out into the street and a line formed into the courtyard. Everyone seemed to be holding an invitation of some sort. When Josh and Kathy approached the front gate, they learned that indeed there was an MTV party being held at the Museum tonight. But somehow, we were permitted to enter. Better still was the fact that we were allowed to go to the front of the line because Josh was on crutches! Guests still needed to buy admission into the museum. But later, there would be a live performance in the courtyard of some band none of us had ever heard of.

The Museum, designed by Iraqi born Zaha Hadid, just opened earlier this year in the Flaminia neighborhood. It's another controversial structure in Rome, and in walking through, none of us much cared for it. Nor, did we care for the artwork. By way of comparison, the Punta della Dogana in Venice along with the Palazzo Grassi, were both much more intelligently laid out, and had much greater impact both in terms of their collection as well as the architecture built to showcase it. The layout at MAXXI is intentionally left unstructured, and oftentimes the space did not make the most of the artwork on exhibit.

Anyways, after walking through MAXXI, it was time for dinner. Karen was meeting her boyfriend in Piazza Navona, around the corner from where we would be having dinner, so we gave her a ride. When we dropped her off, we told her to come by Ristorante Montevecchio so we could meet her significant other. As it turns out, they ended up joining Josh, Kathy and I for dinner. Her boyfriend, a documentary film-maker, had just participated in a film festival in Bologna earlier in the week. His most well-known work was a film called The USA vs. John Lennon about America's attempt to have Lennon deported. It was a very enjoyable dinner, and was made all the more interesting when Roberto Benigni walked in with his wife for dinner. Now I can leave Rome -- I've seen Benigni and my experience is now complete! He was so friendly, tipping his baseball cap "buona sera."

It turned out to be quite a long evening too; it took quite some time before our meals were served (not surprisingly, we noticed that Roberto and his wife who came in after us, were served right away). In the end, the owner apologized and offered us coffee, after dinner drinks, and dessert...but it was late, and there weren't many takers. We still had to walk over to Piazza Navona to show Kathy the beauty of this Piazza lit up at night. It was midnight by the time we got home.

Renter woes

Our real estate agent had scheduled a meeting this morning to come by and go over the final bills. Late last night, we found out the owner would be accompanying him.

As soon as she set foot in the villa, it was clear she had a head of steam on. She made a bee-line for the basement. I asked her not to go downstairs as we had guests who were still asleep in the guest room there. She had a fit; "it's my house, and I never rented the basement. I can go there whenever I want." Needless to say, the rest of the meeting did not go well.

After we settled on the amounts owed for gas and electric, the issue of our departure came up. La Signora insisted that regardless of how much money we offer her, she wants us out on June 30th. It was clear that a) she was upset that we did not agree to leave on the 27th, so that she could get a new contract (for six weeks), and b) she was upset that we used the security deposit (not held in an escrow account as we'd requested) toward the final rent payments. All of the events that have since transpired have only proved to make us feel relieved that she was no longer holding ANY of our money. She clearly has some cash flow issues, and it has become clear to us throughout our stay, that she is not quick to pay her bills. How would we have ever gotten her to return the security deposit to us?!?

So the day did not start off well. At the conclusion of the "meeting," we hopped in the car in order to drop Kathy and Jack off near the Ara Pacis so they could catch the "Red Bus" tour. When we picked them up in the afternoon, after they'd been to La Boca della Verita, The Trevi Fountain, Terme di Diocleziano, and St. Peter's, Kathy reported that it was an excellent tour and a fun way to spend the day. She told us about her dash to buy a scarf to cover her shoulders so she would be allowed in to the Church. We asked if Jack had seen any of the Swiss guards specific to the Vatican? Kathy said they hadn't but there were some very bizarrely-dressed jester-looking guys just outside the Church !!!

Back at the villa, Josh wanted to try his legs out on a bike ride. The doctor told him that cycling would be fine and in fact a good way to maintain movement in his knee. As we rode into the Villa Borghese, it became clear the doctor didn't know what he was talking about in this regards. Pedaling a bike caused Josh' knee to bend too much -- this is not good if you want the incision to heal properly. So Josh turned around and headed home while I rode into town. I had wanted to stop by a marble store to research a souvenir, in marble, of our year in Rome.

When I returned home, Josh and I had lunch together in the garden before I left to get the kids at school. At my request, the math teacher at Latin had forwarded to me the tests and quizzes her current Chicago class had been given during the second semester. We've been concerned because Charlotte was covering the same math concepts at RIS this year that she'd learned in sixth grade last year at The Latin School -- that she would be ill-prepared for her return to Latin. Her current RIS math teacher offered to help her. But it had now been 8 days since I'd given him the materials and he had yet to set aside time to go over it with Charlotte. When Charlotte reported, yet again today, that Mr. Murray promised to give her something tomorrow, I decided it was time to speak to him myself. I went up to his classroom where he was tutoring another student. We agreed that if I gave him my phone number, he would call me later. Turns out, he never did.

This evening, the plan was for everyone to eat together, and then for the adults go out for a passegiata in Campo di Fiori. This was (allegedly) one piazza Kathy hadn't hit on the "Red Bus" tour today. Unfortunately, we left the house late, and just as we arrived at Campo di Fiori, a) Kathy informed us that she had in fact been in this very Piazza today for lunch with Jack, and b) we received the call from Charlotte informing us that she was ready to be picked up from AquAniene. Kathy thought she'd been in Piazza Navona today, but we now realized that it was Piazza Navona that she had yet to see. But not tonight. Instead of a passeggiata, we had a drive around town as we headed back to AquAniene for Charlotte.

Gianicolo and Pizza at the Pantheon

After the kids left for school, Josh and I took Kathy and Jack to Trastevere and then up to Gianicolo. We showed them Bramante's Tempietto in the cloister of the Church of St. Peter in Montorio. Then we took photos at the Fontanelle. Finally, for the grand finale, we watched as the howitzer cannon was wheeled out and set off to mark the noon hour. Jack loved it, as all kids do.

Afterwards, we drove home where Kathy made sandwiches before she and Jack headed out to the Zoo. Josh and I ate in the garden, and then, believe it or not, I was so tired I tried to take a nap. I was not too successful but it was nice to just have a rest. It was extremely humid today with overcast skies and some sprinkles. I am waiting for the thunderstorm to break up the heat.

Shortly after I returned to the villa after school with the kids, Kathy and Jack returned from the Zoo. They'd been gone for nearly 4 hours! and apparently Jack had a ball. Kathy and I couldn't decide between a coffee and a cocktail; so we had both -- coffee first. I made dinner for Charlotte (and Olivia) and then we all set off to drop Charlotte at Aniene. Josh stayed home since Avery was napping -- a much needed nap!

We watched Charlotte swim for a little bit, and then drove into centro. I wanted to take Kathy, Jack, and Olivia out for pizza in a typical Roman piazza. I chose the Pantheon. In fact, I drove right into the Piazza del Pantheon. I was tempted to park right there but thought that was a bit too audacious, even for me, so I ended up going around the corner. We took a brief walk and then settled in for some pizza. Afterwards, we had gelato from Fiochi dei Neve. It had been sprinkling on and off this evening, but we were lucky in that there were no downpours.

A pony party, and a visit from La Signora

Charlotte did not want to get out of bed this morning. She was exhausted and wanted to sleep in. I was not in favor of the idea; it was in part her own fault for getting to bed late last night when she was home by 9:30. But, in the end, it was hardly worth a yelling match.

I took Olivia and Avery to school. Later, I drove Charlotte part of the way to school -- even after I said that if she was going late, she would have to walk. By then, Kathy and Jack were ready for their first true Roman excursion. I drove them to Capitoline Hill, where I tried to give them an brief introduction, and get them oriented. They ended up joining a guided tour at the Colosseum, which also then covered the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill.

I drove home to check in with Josh who had been dealing with domestic issues all morning. The electricity in the villa had partially gone out, and was affecting the operation of the gate. He also had to get the houseman to re-install the air-conditioning so the unit wouldn't fall off the ledge and kill someone. Then, we discovered that our housekeeper, who showed up at 8:30am but couldn't get in the gate (because of the failed electricity), went to her next job -- outside of Rome and didn't know if she could return in time to help us. Finally there was the issue of the unexpected prospective tenants that showed up last Saturday morning during our absence, and Josh was trying to get to the bottom of who authorized the houseman to let them in. It's Italy. Someone is always passing the buck. In any case, it was highly burdensome morning.

I felt the need to stretch out somehow -- my right knee was bothering me again, so I couldn't get on the elliptical machine. I decided -- for the first time since I can remember -- to swim. What a novel concept: swimming for exercize. I should do it more often. The outdoor 50 meter pool at AquAniene is really nice.

As I was leaving AquAniene, Josh called. He was able to get an earlier appointment to see the doctor so I went straight home to pick him up and take him to Clinica Sanatrix. Dr. Ticca unwrapped the bandages and I was surprised to see a part of the incision that looked open. It looked to me like Josh had busted through a stitch again -- since this had happenned the last time. But Dr. Ticca was reassuring, said it all looked normal, and that he would see Josh again on Friday. He also gave me a quick examination and concluded that it was my meniscus that was bothering me. Good to know.

We returned home for a late lunch. It was very hot and I wasn't too hungry. Josh ate the left-over curry. Then, I picked Olivia and Avery up from school and brought them home -- not realizing that Avery had one more lesson of calcio (I thought the session concluded last week). Well, it was all the same, since Avery had been invited to a birthday party today in the pony park at Villa Glori -- if he'd stayed for calcio, he certainly would've been too tired to go to a party.

When we got home, Olivia accompanied me to pick up Kathy and Jack in the Villa Borghese. They had taken the subway and a bus and made it almost all the way home on their own. Charlotte got a ride home from school with a friend.

We all changed and went to the party. The kids were thrilled to go on pony rides (yes, plural, they each had a few turns). The heat dissipated and it turned into a lovely evening. The kids played and became extremely dirty. Charlotte, who came with us to the party, was dropped off for swim practice midway through. There were lots of snacks at the party, and everyone was happy.

Once we returned home, we were paid a visit by our landlord. She had returned from Paris and we weren't sure why she was coming by. It turns out, she wanted to discuss with us whether we could vacate the villa early because she has new tenants that would like to take occupancy on the 27th of June. She offered to put us up in a hotel. When I explained that we had a lot going on until the very day of our departure and that we didn't want to have to pack up and move into a hotel, she continued to ask if we could do it. By the 8th time, I became irritated. In the meantime, I was trying to cook dinner for the kids who had to go to bed soon. All I can say is this lady is a real piece of work. Furthermore, she had no recollection of Josh's conversation with her when he told her that we would not be vacating on the 30th of June but rather at the end of that week. She is now insisting that we vacate on the 30th. This is all going to get very interesting -- and not in a good way.

We were finally able to all sit down, although not surprisingly, the kids were not very hungry. Once Avery was in bed, Kathy, Josh and I could sit peacefully and have dinner. But, that too was interrupted when Charlotte needed a ride home from swimming and Olivia needed to go to bed.

It had been a long full day for everyone!