Flat Stanley Left Us

on the bus to Pisa

 We returned from our vacation almost two weeks ago, and I still miss him.  Flat Stanley had been with us since Kyra's second grade year.  He went to Afghanistan with Kyle.  He traveled with Kyra's Grandma and Grandpa Reeves.  He has been to several states, England, Canada, Mexico,  Luxembourg, Afghanistan, the Netherlands, Panama, France, Belgium, Germany and Italy.

He got to Pisa, Italy and decided to stay.  As much as I miss him, I can't blame him.  The weather there was lovely -the air temperate, the sky blue, the sun was shining.

Maybe he was just tired of traveling and wanted to settle down.  Perhaps he was tired on being folded and slotted into a backpack only to be squashed by our water bottles.  Whatever his reasons he joined us on our excursion to Pisa but did not travel back with us.  I hope the other tourists are kind to him.  

Kyra and I have resolved that another Stanley is in order.  I have already found similar looking template.  He will look as much as possible like our original Flat Stanley but it won't quite be the same.  Our thoughts are that a Flat Stanley 2 is better than no Flat Stanley.  Flat Stanley 2 will have our email address and mailing label on him.

In your travels if you see a Flat Stanley with "Kyra" written in second grade cursive on the back - he's ours and he's welcome home anytime.

Trevi Fountain

Our first stop in Rome was Trevi Fountain.  The fountain is lovely.  It is big.  People throw coins in.

Tradition says if you throw a coin in, you are guaranteed to return to Rome.  I'll have to take my chances.

Why didn't I throw a coin in?

A number of reasons -

3.  It was really crowded - the square is small and people are everywhere!

2.  Kyra wanted a gelato

1.  The bathroom opportunity preceding this one was at a rest stop with a line 40 women deep and only 15 minutes before the bus would leave again.  A bathroom was available and there was no line.

So no coin for me.  I'd like to return to Rome, but we'll have to see.  In the meantime, I'll point out that there is a Trevi fountain not far from you at EPCOT.  If you throw a coin in there, I don't know what that means - do you get to go to Rome? or just back to Walt Disney World?

The "Restaurant"

One of the better preserved/restored buildings in the city of Pompeii is the brothel.  This makes it a "must see" when touring this archaeological site. It also makes it a bit difficult to provide a family friendly guided tour appropriate for all ages.

The adults in our group quite enjoyed listening to our guide tell us about this site while in the presence of several elementary aged students.

Our guide started by pointing out that Pompeii was a port city.  As such, many sailors visited it on a regular basis.  When in port, the sailors were "hungry" and often were in search of a good "restaurant."

When they arrived at the "restaurant" they could choose their level of service.  If they didn't have a lot of money or time to spend they could choose to remain on the first floor for "fast food."  If they wanted to linger over a "gourmet meal" they could head up to the second floor where there was better "service" and the "food" was more expensive.

As he led us into the building (only the first floor was available for viewing), he pointed out the menus above each door.   The patron could look at the menu options and then choose the room that matched what they wanted.  The frescos were in incredibly good condition considering how old they are.  Some were more graphic than others.  I thought this one to be fairly tame.

Anyways, our guide went on to explain that the patrons of the "restaurant" didn't get to choose their "servers" they only got to choose their menu item.

He then explained about the rooms.  Each room had a "table."  He said that people were often surprised that the "tables" were made of stone and not wood.   Our guide asked us to consider how busy the "restaurant" probably was and how quickly wood would wear out or be damaged.

Later in the tour, our guide showed us markings in the street that helped the sailors find the "restaurant."  These markings were as old as the city and worn by much foot traffic.  Kyra looked at the marking and saw an arrow.  The rest of us looked and saw something more phallic in nature.

So if you are ever in need of giving a family friendly tour, just remember the "restaurant."

Vesuvius

The photo isn't all that picturesque.  The industrial port of Naples isn't gorgeous.  But in the background you can see Vesuvius.  Up until the eruption of 79 AD, this was one mountain peak not two.  With your imagination draw an inverted V between the two peaks and you'll have a rough idea of the mountain the Romans saw.

On our first excursion day we had the choice of going into Naples, driving along the Amalfi coast, visiting Capri and other such activities.  The "strenuous" excursion was a climb of Vesuvius followed by a visit to Pompeii. With two active children and bodies that aren't letting us down (yet) we opted to climb Vesuvius.

The day was cool so the climbing was pleasant.  The bus took us over halfway up, our feet took us the rest of the way.  Our guide told us of the two eruptions - 79 and 1944.  He described the changes to the volcano and how it affected the cities below. We peered into the crater and looked out over the population below.

If/when Vesuvius (which is still considered active) erupts again, many people will need to move quickly to safety lest they become the newest Pompeii.

Ice Skating on the Ocean

 Yes there was an ice rink on the cruise ship.

It was about a quarter of the size of a competition rink.

Our first cruise day was "at sea."  That afternoon we attended the ice show.  Given the size of the rink, I was impressed with what the skaters were able to do in terms of jumps and lifts.  We managed to get second row seats so we saw it all up close.  Neat experience.

After dinner the rink was opened up for the teens to skate.  Allen isn't a huge fan of ice skating (he prefers inline skates and ramps) but he is good at it.  He wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to say he ice skated in the middle of the ocean - or more accurately the Mediterranean Sea.

Kyra enjoys ice skating and looked forward to strapping on skates.  As there weren't many teens on the cruise, they only had to share the space with about four other kids.

The rink was open a few more evenings, but it coincided with our dinner time.  This meant I never got a chance to ice skate on the ocean.  Maybe next time....

Our European Vacation

Disclaimer - It is my intent to share information, my thoughts and in general let you know about my life here in Belgium.  I wish to share not brag.

Over the next few days, I'll be blogging about our recent family vacation.  In many ways it was similar to vacations we have taken in the US, except this time what is close to us is Europe.  So - if this is coming off as bragging, I kindly request that you don't read this blog for a few days.  In case you think life is glamorous here, I'll remind you I do not have a garbage disposal, the toilet lid falls down on me every time I sit, it is cloudy most days and because my washing machine is small, I'll be doing laundry continuously for three days to recover from this vacation.

And now on with the show..

All Saints' Day is observed in most of Europe as a holiday.  In the kids' case, as a week break from school.  So with a week off of school, our choice was to travel.

Allen's cross country season finished with the European championships held in Heidelburg Germany on Saturday, October 30th.  He traveled there on the team bus and Kyle, Kyra and I followed in the car Friday evening.

Allen competed Saturday afternoon (separate blog).  We then started our drive to Barcelona which was our cruise port.

We did a week long Mediterranean cruise which stopped in Naples, Rome (sort of), Pisa (sort of) and two small towns in France.

The picture is of our cruise ship taken through a window of a fortification in southern France.

We docked again on Sunday morning and then drove for over 13 hours to get home in time for the kids to return to school on Monday.

We had a great time and made some wonderful memories.  The most remarkable things weren't so much what we saw but what we did together.