siamo arriavti

We made it!  The house and grounds of Ca'Lamma are remote, peaceful, lovely.  Thanks to a generous gift of pantry and fridge food from Gabriella, we were able to make dinner our first night and enjoy it on the terrazza.

il viaggio

The trip was long- a flight from Miami to Rome, then a quick transfer from Fiumicino airport to Roma Termini (the train station) and a 2.5 hour train ride to Bologna, where our landlady, Gabriella, met us, helped Gibbs get our rental car and showed us the way to Ca'Lamma (our new home) in Monterenzio.  Here's the kids dozing on the train to Bologna in 90 degree heat (the AC was out in the train and the windows didn't open :P)

arrivederci, Katy!

We said goodbye to Katy in Miami International Airport Thursday, July 31st.  She is off to her own adventures in Wisconsin at Beloit College Aug 14th.

prima di partire

We went to Chicago to try and get visas on Feb 25th.  Gibbs and I both took the whole day off and bought two round trip tickets to midway- within the first 30 seconds of our visa appointment at the Italian consulate Carlo, the king of bureauocrats, laughed at us and said 'No!'  here is a picture of us naively headed to the slaughter.  ps: we did eventually get visas for the whole family valid for the whole year- now we're on a quest for an elusive 'permesso di soggiorno,' stay tuned!

la casa

Here is the house.  We will have part of it.  our departure date from Minneapolis is July 24th, then we leave for Roma from Miami on July 31st after spending a week with Granny and Papa and Katy in West Palm Beach.