Five Things I Learned From Our Trip

I watched this and found it very inspiring.  I feared taking a baby travelling for that long in fact fear almost drove me to not do the trip.  I am so happy outside sources and energy allowed me to still continue to move forward and travel.  It honestly wasn't as hard as people thought it was going to be. I mean yes it's harder than going just the two of us but Finn allowed us to see things differently.  We appreciated parks that much more.  We sat on the ground and just people watched more.  We stopped and met more people that had children.  We connected with families because Finn introduced us to them.  I thoroughly enjoyed travelling with Finn.  

1. I don't use my bike enough as transportation.  I only ride my bike for fun and exercise but here in Europe a bike is used to get you places.  I hope I can do that more in Kelowna.

2. Don't travel without your essentials.  My essential is Jenn.  We have two complete different personalities and without that person to ground me, carry me, and know when I need help I wouldn't have been able to do this.  At all.  I would not have been able to travel.  Finn requires so much of my attention that with her I was able to see, smell, and even admire the roses.

3. Every trip I go on I learn more about myself.  This trip was no different in the sense that I learned more about my weaknesses and strengths as a person.

4.  I think the more I travelled and the more places I saw the more I more I am able to appreciate where we live.  We are so lucky to live in the Okanagan.  I love where we live.  Just allows us to appreciate the good life we have.

5. Eat slow.  Appreciate every taste.  Talk with your company over food at a table.  Make time for sit down meals where you can all enjoy it together.  Food is under appreciated and therefore mindlessly ate.  If we bring our awareness to what we are eating we eat less and appreciate the food we make.

We're Back and Safe!

I am so sorry to all the people following my blog that I abandoned you for a bit there.  We arrived thankfully safe and sound from Paris.  We didn't have internet in our new home until today so I wasn't able to blog until today.  However, I am so excited to be back at it.  I wanted to pick up where we left off and that is saying goodbye to Paris and Europe for that matter.  

 The love wall in Montmartre. 

  We spent one full day admiring the street artists, eating crepes, and taking in all Paris has to offer.  I had to say goodbye to the Eiffel tower.  It was sure bittersweet leaving Paris because I wasn't quite ready to say goodbye to Europe but at the same time I was ready to go home and see my family.  I missed them way too much to ever stay any longer.  It's sort of crazy to think that I finally completed the things I have been dreaming of doing and seeing.  I finally did it!  It brought tears to my eyes to think that it was all ending but happy tears that we were so fortunate and lucky to have the opportunity to do it.  This trip was dreamy and something I will never forget.  Europe holds a special place in my heart and I will be back to see more.  

Thank you Karen for coming on this trip with us and helping us with Finn.  I appreciated your confidence, your travelling skills (it's a thing), your good sense of direction, your appreciation of the arts and most importantly your company.  

Thank you Jenn for being the best wife and partner in crime.  I am so lucky to have you as my co-pilot in life.  We are a great team and you are one amazing Mom (Maddy) to Finn.  Without you I could not have done this trip and even though you weren't too interested in the "history" and "sights" I appreciated your calm and grounding energy.  I love you!

Thank you to everyone following us on here.  This is only one chapter in a huge novel series in our lives.  So keep reading because we are just getting into the fun stuff.  Let's the new adventure begin!

Venice

It was quite exciting coming to Venice from Reggio Emilia.  We had been in a small town where there weren't as many sites and then to come to Venice and see all the canals, the people, and boats it really stirred things up!  Venice is beautiful and a very unique city in Italy.  It is unique because this city is basically here just for tourists.  No Italian residents live on this island (unless maybe the business owners and even then I question whether they live outside of the island as well).  This is the only city I swear in Italy that doesn't do siesta hours during the day (1pm-3pm).  Again, because tourists don't have siestas so I am assuming they just stay open.  It was great for us tourists because we could walk during the day and not worry about most places being closed.

I swear we got 100 photos of the canal.  Can one have too many photos of the canal?  Karen was very determined to get shots of reflections in the canal.  So lots of photos were taken by Karen this trip.  I will make sure to state the photo credit for her.  I loved all the colour here in Venice.

Jenn captured the happy pair strolling the streets.

Karen took these photos of us in sort of an abandoned store.  We were searching for an art exhibit but I think we found one better!

(Karen's photo)  I love this one of us!

Finn not smiling, it doesn't happen often, and I sort of like the serious look he is giving us.

Lunch on some steps with beer of course.  Beer is cheaper than water, so if you are thirsty you drink beer!

Again, pigeons are fierce here in Venice.  They are hungry and they are not that scared of people.  Finn and I were sitting here enjoying some crawling time and this man bent down with bread and just had a swarm of bird around us in 5 seconds.  Karen was able to capture the moment just before I ran away haha.

Every street is lined with souvenir shops like these ones. 

Jenn's photo of a gondola traffic jam.  Everything is shipped in by boat and then transported around by dollies.  There are lots of steps and bridges so getting things into Venice isn't easy.

Not sure if Jenn or Karen took this one but nonetheless it's a great shot.  To answer the question I know you all asking no we didn't take a gondola ride.  It was 80 euro ($120 Canadian) for a 30 minute ride and we just didn't have that big of a desire.

Another great photo Karen took.

Pizza, pizza, pizza.  It was everywhere!  We didn't eat out that often but when we did eat out we usually ate pizza!  So good and something we didn't get sick of.

I love this photo because I put it in front of Finn's eyes to take the photo.  So this is Finn's view from the carrier.  Not a bad view to stare at hey?

We took the public boat to see another island called Murano.  This island is famous for it's glass making.

 A public glass sculpture.

Finn was fed some spaghetti and meat.  He was taking in all Italy had to offer!

When we were eating our lunch the pigeons came swarming in and literally were at our feet pecking.  It was insane!  So Jenn took a bun and sacrificed herself for us.  Karen captured the moment the pigeons came on too strong for her. haha.

 We also toured this other island called Burano.  They are known to have all these colourful buildings (which made for some great shots).

Notice the reflections in this one!  I had to lay on the ground and put the camera close to the water to capture this one.

This photo was post nursing.  We find all these neat street spots to sit because of Finn.  Love the colour of the building we are against (didn't notice it until I looked at this photo).

 This was taken on the ferry ride back.  I was quite bitter because someone took my rail spot however this one I took in the air over his head.  Not bad hey?

 Karen was able to capture the sunset.  It was a beauty!

More reflections!  I saw this one and thought one more photo of the canal couldn't hurt!

Our lunch!  Yes, we were full afterwards haha.

Some of the streets are a tad narrow!

Our trip has changed a lot now that Finn is crawling more.  He likes lots of time to move and groove and we like it too.  

Some streets are narrow and some streets are short (if that makes sense).  

Always laundry out on the lines.  The clothes just add to the photos!

 Ciao Italy this month of getting to know you has been splendid.  You have taught me to use more oil when cooking, eat more pasta, take more siestas, and sit and enjoy your coffee.

 We are now hitting the last leg of our journey.  We are flying to Paris and in six days we will be home! 

Happy Halloween (From Venice)!

We didn't want to miss out on Finn's first Halloween so we just looked in our luggage and what-do-ya-know we have costumes!  We dressed up in our Oktoberfest outfits!  So we are Canadians, dressed up as Germans in Italy (very multicultural).

Happy Halloween Everyone!  Prost!

Reggio Emilia

It sure has been nice to stay put for a little while.  We were in Reggio for eight days and it was very relaxing and enjoyable.  A big dream of mine was to visit the Loris Malaguzzi Centre and I am still in awe that I was able to complete that wish.  If you haven't read the post about our visit here it is.

For the remainder of our stay we took in all that Reggio has to offer.  I bought this book at the LMC and it was a City Guide of Reggio written by the local kids.  So we used their knowledge to tour the city.  We visited the many piazza's, markets, and sites to see.

The "pigeon" piazza.  There are lots of pigeons at this one.  Finn loved it! haha.

 The "tree" piazza.  If you haven't noticed we have come up with our own lingo for where we go and the sites we see.  If you can believe it, Finn loved this piazza too.  This one had leaves and pigeons... (double bonus) well and trees duh!

 When we left on this adventure Finn had one tooth and now he has six teeth!

 I was very scared Finn was going to catch a pigeon... then what?

 Anyone who knows me, knows I have a HUGE fear of birds.  I told Jenn she just needs to lock me up in a room with birds so I can get over this fear!  However, I took a big leap this day and fed the birds.

The "lion" piazza.  

The kids of Reggio said they built these lions just for kids to play on.  I thought that was pretty cute.  It makes sense that these big lions were built for kids!  It was written in this book that generation after generation of children have been playing on these lions.  So the teachers of these Reggio students talk about playing on them as well.  I think when a city has so much history it's hard to fathom how old everything is (if that makes sense at all).

The park near our house.  We came here almost everyday!

"Look, I'm standing!" "Look, I'm falling."  

 So I had the best day ever visiting the LMC and I was lucky enough to go back there not once but twice afterwards!  We came on the Sunday for the Ray of Light Atelier playtime.  Going through this exhibit again was such a neat experience.

Finn is in this picture.  He has the green mask on!

Then the next day, we headed there again for me to do some more reading and more learning.  If I only take one thing (which isn't possible) from observing the exhibition it is that we do not use good enough art supplies with our students.  I know I buy the cheapest and crappiest supplies because I have so many students and not a lot of money.  But honestly looking at the work these kids produce it is amazing and worth it.  The kids were using paint pens to colour!  Watercolour pencils to add shading.  They were using the cream of the crop and I wanted it all! haha.

I would like to take credit for this photo but I can't.  It's a photo on a wall in Reggio Emilia (and I couldn't see a name to give credit).  However, I have noticed the people of Reggio are so friendly.  They are such a welcoming community and I always felt very comfortable here.  I think this photo is just beautiful.  The romance is alive here in Italy!

Oh weird Finn found a swing here in Reggio too!  I also noticed that Italians love babies!  Like beyond the normal person.  We were walking down the street and a garbage man stopped unloading the trash cans to make babbling sounds at Finn.  He then proceeded to smile at him and say in Italian how adorable and pudgy he is (I am guessing on the last part).  Another time a group of ladies having coffee got up (all three of them) and crouched on the floor to adore Finn.  They kept saying how beautiful he is (that time it was in English so I am not making it up).  I'm biased and think our kid is the cutest kid in the world but here in Italy they are confirming it.

We found this delightful coffee shop near the "tree" piazza.  Notice how Finn is a blur well get used to it folks because this kid is a mover and a shaker.  It's hard to capture him lately!

^^ I am contemplating this one in black and white.  Thoughts?

The "tree" piazza.  Can you guess why we call it that?

We were the only ones at the park today.  It was raining but it didn't stop us!

We found it very helpful to put Finn in the swing and feed him.  He sits still and he thinks we are going to swing him so he is happy haha (little does he know).  So cute when he eats (not all the time but sometimes) he will say, "mmm" afterward each bite.

He got a new coat in Italy!  When we lost our luggage in Rome we bought him a coat.

Karen made us this amazing dinner for our last night.  She was inspired from the Expo which was all about food to make us a cuisine.  We had spinach and pumpkin (which tastes like squash) ravioli and Ragu!  It was absolutely delicious!!  Karen went and visited the Expo in Milan.  I think she enjoyed the experience however the poor woman had to wait in a line-up for 5 hours to see one pavilion.  

It's been a slice Reggio but we are off to Venice.  This will be our last stop in Italy before we head back to Paris.  I can't believe our trip is nearing it's end already!