A Day in Mantova

One foggy weekend afternoon we decided to go see the town of Mantova. It is a town where one of the ruling families of Italy lived. They are called the “Gargonzola” family (or at least that’s how I kept confusing the name for: Gonzaga).

We jumped from one cement tower to the other in the parking lot:

We sat down to get warmed up with a cappuccino!



And we found this triangle:

Really, it's called an impossible triange:

It had rained so much the days just before our visit that the lake overflowed!

And this was awesome: an echo tunnel!!! But that's nothing compared to the place where you could stand 10 yards apart and whisper in a certain point and hear the other person PERFECTLY clearly - the sound parabolae.

And this is the amazing gyroscope wheel!!!

Of course we can't foget about the Mantovese swans!

We thought of Josh when we came upon the Firefighter's museum!

This car here can actually turn into a boat. It's called, appropriately, the Schwimm Wagen (Swim Wagon). Do you see both the shovel and the paddle on the side? Yes! And there's a propeller on the back!

And here below is an emergency helecopter for transporting injured patients. Pretty frightening ride if you ask me, but then, by the time you need to use this helecopter you wouldn't be very aware of your surroundings!

And finally we can't forget the fire motorbike! Josh, we think you should have one ( =

Cioccolato Caldo con PANNA!

There truly is nothing quite so marvelous as hot chocolate with whipped cream. YUMMY!

Especially since we have a professional whipped-creamer now. Thank you Dad and Mom!!!

Working on the Kitchen....

Well, as you may have heard, we have been gradually working on our kitchen – stripping, cementing, plastering and painting. Now we have completed three out of the four walls!!! The last one is soon to be completed we hope… Here is some of the project in action:

Sometimes we got so cought up in our work that we forgot about other things... like the sink! Here it is overflowing:

When we ran out of counter space due to the amount of tools and drape cloths going around the kitchen, no problem! We just used the floor. No, we didn't eat off of it ( = That will be next!

And then Zeno built us a mervelous set of shelves!!!

Zionsville 2008

In 2006 we spent our wedding night and Honeymoon weekend here in Zionsville. Whenever we come to Carmel to visit the family we like to return to Zionsville to see the places where we took our first steps as Husband and Wife. The older houses are lovely and we spent the day taking a walking tour of the village. It was really special!

Creation Museum 2008

The Creation Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio presents a unique and unparalleled experience, a walk through time portraying significant, life-altering events of the past, illuminating the effects of biblical history on our present and future world.

Mom, Zeno, Emily, Lydia, Jesse and I took a day to walk through the Creation Museum and glimplse the hand of God working in our lives and history since the beginning of time. It was an incredible day both of learning and fun.

Amanda's First Moon Rise

Not too long ago we had the chance to jump up and see Lago di Lecco (Lake Lecco) in Bellagio. In order to get there we had to go around skinny, winding roads. The one reason Zeno remembered how to arrive was because he’s gone up there to meet with Uncle Pete one time! So that was fun, we traced some of the places Zeno had seen with Uncle Pete.

In Bellagio there is a famous Villa (Melzi) with surrounding gardens that are just gorgeous!

Amanda enjoyed hiding in the bamboo!

Then, we saw the sunset over the lake...

But not only did we see the sunset!!!

We also had the priveledge of seeing the Moon Rise! For Amanda it was quite spectacular as it was her first moonrise...

Bella...

Our Friends the Santambrogios

From the first we arrived in Italy newly married as Mr and Mrs Z. Tutino, the Santambrogio family embraced us and welcomed us to their table and into their family. They are an incredible encouragement to us.

I remember our first dinner with them when I was meeting them for the first time. I spoke little to no Italian – at least, DEFINITELY not enough to sustain me for an Italian dinner! And dinner with the Santambrogio’s can’t be categorized a typical Italian dinner. Tiziana and Giovanni make meal presentation both and art in production and quantity. We’ll just say you’ll NEVER leave hungry.

Anyway, here we are at our first dinner with the Santambrogio’s and, knowing I don’t know Italian, they sit me between Giovanni (who is in the process of learning and brushing up his English) and Jacopo (Jacob) their older son who is studying medicine in university and secondary to that and a few trips he’s taken to the US, which have given him a good handle on English. At first it was a little strained as the conversation would flow in Italian and then, hesitantly, someone would venture a few English words in my direction, to which I would answer clearly and precisely. My answer was usually greeted by a polite response of smiles, nods and a few affirmative English words while all the while they eyes were looking quite surprised at the loooooonnnnng steam of English words I’d produced the first word coming seemingly so quickly after the other J But that first “polite” tension lasted only briefly, with Zeno’s help and once I’d stepped out and made a few fumbled Italian words around we all began conversing much more easily in whatever combination of language and hand-signs worked to get the message across. And that, was our first encounter with the family that has come to be such a source of blessing and support.

So, without further delay, let me introduce the Santambrogio family:
Giovanni & Tiziana and their three boys Jacapo (Jacob – unfortunately he wasn’t here this day. His studies combined with a flourishing social life leave him with very limited time), Niccolo (Nicholas – Nic) and Phillipo (Philip).

On this first weekend after we returned to Italy we ran 17k with Niccolo and Phillipo. On the far right is a good friend of theirs who is both a journalist and marathon runner. So, while I nearly feinted after the run and Zeno was going around with aching knees, he ran the whole Marathon and was going around just as if he'd done no type of physical excursion at all! We had a great time together.

From L to R Nic, Phillipo, Tiziana, Giovanni, Friend and Zeno

While we were out running, Giovanni and Tiziana put together a birthday party celebration for Phillipo's 17th birthday. And, since it was our first time together again since we'd been in the US, they pulled our all kinds of special decorations that Nic brought home after his visit to our family in the US this summer.




Tiziana went ALL out with Double Stuffed Oreo Cookies (which you can't find here in Italy) and the proper chef's apron: Chicago Bulls!



And the birthday table!!!

Buon Compleanno Phillipo!!!