Spring Break 2017

We've been busy in Italy over the past few weeks leading up to Spring Break. Girls are still enjoying and doing well in school. LC has learned all her Kindergarten grade sight words and is now working on her first grade list.  We decided to head to Amsterdam for LC's spring break. Ellis' break was the following week. Overall, we had a great time on the trip!  Here are some pix.

We drove up an hour and a half north near Gaeta and visited Tiberius' beach house.  The ruins were the only thing remaining along with a pool and a grotto. 

It was a gorgeous day with sun and blue skies. 

The girls helped me pick some of the lemons off the tree. We picked 228 lemons... but really didn't have anything to do with them, so we just threw them away. There are still about 75 left... and it is going grow lemons again in the summer.  We did make lemonade and lemon bars.

Inside the grotto looking out towards the ocean. 

The ruins. 

Since we were so close to the beach and because it was so nice, we decided to make a day out of it.  We were very impressed how clean and beautiful the beaches and water were. We really have only see the beaches and waters in the Naples area and it is kind of gross.  So it is nice to know there are nice beaches close by. 

The water was still a little chilly but that didn't keep the girls from wading and falling in. 

So our first trip out of the country via airplane was to Amsterdam.  

It was a really neat city with lots to see. Easily walkable and stuff to see at every corner. It was a tad bit chilly the first few days but that didn't keep us from exploring. 

There were canals all over the city. And because there is not much more room to build houses, people live on houseboats on the canals. 

Getting around was super easy. We just used the trains and trams to get from place to place. It was super clean and convenient. 

Dam Square. All the pretty buildings in the square were covered up by carnival rides and booths though. 

I didn't think there would be that many tourists there yet, but we were wrong. The tulip season is in the spring and people were visiting to see the tulips. 

A wrong turn through the red light district... 

We went to the Nemo Science Museum where the kids had a ball playing with all the hands-on experiments and stuff. 

Outside the Nemo Science museum. 

We read in all the travel books about the number of bikes in the city. We really didn't expect to see that many.... but they were everywhere. 

Wooden shoes. 

We booked a trip out to the tulip fields in Keukenhopf. I think we were a few weeks too early, but we saw a lot of flowers none-the-less. 

The girls thought all the flowers were cool for the first 12 seconds and then they wanted to go. 

Luckily they had a petting zoo and a playground that kept them somewhat interested. 

This is kind of what we were expecting to see... large fields painted in all sorts of colors. There were a few fields that were like that, but again, we were a bit early. 

Back in the city and checking out the outside of the Rijkes Museum 

Outside the Van Gogh museum. 

LC wanted to take a picture at this photo booth.

And then we went on a canal cruise. 

And saw Anne Frank's house... where there was a massive line...

The cruise went up and down a lot of the canals and pointed out a lot of the sites around the city.  

 We also spent one afternoon at the Zoo. E was our tour guide .

 But most of our days were filled with park hopping around the city parks. Out apartment that we rented was right next to the "central park" of Amsterdam. There was tons of people there all throughout the day running, riding bikes, working out, and relaxing. 

 I mentioned that it was a little on the chilly side most of the days... however we had one gorgeous day in the 70's. We rented bikes for the day and just rode around the city with no maps or no agenda. We ended up hitting a lot of parks and hanging out as the kids played. The bike that I rented was awesome! It was a little hard at first to drive but I got the hang of it. The bike scene in Amsterdam was quite impressive. Not only are there tons of bikes, but everyone follows traffic and follows rules.

 Most of the roads had bike lanes on the side. And at every intersection there was always three traffic lights. One for cars/trains, one for bikes and one for people. It seemed chaotic at first but it all made sense and was smooth when we were in it all. The girls loved being driven around on the "cargo bike." These things cost 2,000-3,000 Euros a piece! But if you don't own a car and bike everywhere, its cheap transportation. And all the parents had these bikes too, so they were everywhere. 

On the nice day when we parked hopped we would see all the locals out in the parks as well soaking up the sun and relaxing. Overall, it was a great trip and we would love to go back! 

Capua, Italy

My work schedule of 4-days on and 4-days off gives Shannon and I some kid-free time to get out and see the places that the girls wouldn't be too fond of. Last week we drove up to Capua to see the sights and retrace Spartacus' steps. We walked around the amphitheater for a bit and then walked to another museum down the road. 

E's school studied the country of Italy this month so naturally they made pizzas one day. She was very proud of her creation and even shared with LC. 

The Amphitheater in Capua

I want to say this was the second largest in its time, next to Rome's amphitheater. 

I think we had the place to ourselves so we were able to check it out with having to weave through tourists. 

Underneath was pretty neat. All the rooms where they kept the animals and gladiators were still intact. 

It was a bit creepy walking around underneath because who knows what all happened down here back in the day. 

You could see the false floors where people and animals came up through the floor. 

These two arches are the only two that remain of the outer layer/level of the amphitheater. They have heads of divinities on the tops of the arches. 

Maybe this led down to the restrooms.... or the concessions?

Weekend Trip to Ischia Island

We see the island of Ischia every day from our house and have heard great things about going there. It is sometimes referred to the forgotten island because everyone tends to go to the more-famous island of Capri. I had a 4-day weekend for Presidents Day and the kids had it off as well so we decided to take the ferry over to Ischia to see what it as all about.

This was Valentines day and all the loot the girls made out with. They loved the day and had fun writing valentines day wishes to their friends. E got a flower from a boy in her class, Nate, and she thought that was really cool. Dad had other thoughts....

LC showing off her candy (and her two missing front teeth that she lost recently)

I don't know why these pix got compressed like this.... but this was us boarding our ferry to Ischia. 

All loaded up and ready to set sail.

So you know that Boy i mentioned that gave E a rose for valentines day? He happened to be on the boat ride over.... i wonder if E and Nate planned this all along.

The first ferry stop was in Procida Island. The waterfront was pretty awesome looking.

It was only an hour to get to Ischia, even with the stop in Procida.

We had the restaurant all to ourselves because everything was pretty dead due to it being February. The food we had was pretty delicious, but the big hit of the night was the squid. Out of everything we ordered, naturally, the kids ate the squid first.

"This tentacle is going in my mouth!"

They have thermal pools that we didn't really believe existed.... of course we were the only ones there that morning. It was a chilly morning and we really didn't think the water could possibly be warm.

But as we got down to the water, we saw the steam rising up from the water...

The water was seeping up and out from the ground and ran into the ocean.... still a little hesitant that it was going to be warm, we dipped our toes in and.... it burned!! It was very hot and felt good in the cool temps.... so we waded around in the Med sea... in February. The cool water from the sea was cooling the water down enough to make it bearable. 

The view from the apartment we rented was pretty great too.

We relied on the public bus to get around the island... here we are waiting for the bus to arrive. 

We fueled up frequently on Italian sweets..... I think Ellis picked the one with rum in it... we didn't realize it until she let us have a taste. She's a smart one and knows how to pick em!

As we checked out the Argonese castle on Ischia which was pretty awesome and built in 474 BC. 

The weather was great and views from the top were pretty sweet...

But the more interesting thing was the cat that followed us around..... who needs a sweet view when you befriend a cat?The girls named it Noodle.

Usually we see the sunset from our house over the Island, but we had a chance to look to the west for the sunrise.

And it was back on the ferry a few days later to head back to Pozzuoli. However, Nate wasn't on the boat this time (thank God).