For Marty (and Lisa)

Last for awhile

This is the last post for awhile. We are a jumble of emotions right now. We will very much miss Sardinia and Cagliari in particular, but we (especially Daniel and Christopher) are excited to be starting back home. We will spend the next week in Alghero leading up a conference for Michael and Stephanie and then we will fly home on Friday June 8th.

Grazie e arrivederci!

La piccola marina a Cagliari

Steph's Purse Stolen

It was stolen from the back of our vehicle. While we (Meme plus the usual crowd) were at a beach on the southeastern coast, someone broke the back window and took Steph's purse. Inside were 3 credit cards, her NY state driver's license, Michael & Stephanie's International Drivers licenses, some cash, our digital camera, the registration & insurance information for the car. We managed to cancel the credit cards with little trouble and we filed a police report on Sunday. We had bought a new camera before we left but it broke so we sent it home with Pop-Pop. It got fixed and Meme brought it with her. So we'll still have some pictures to take and upload.

No one was hurt. We didn't lose any passports. We'll muddle through the next 10 days. 10 days. That is just crazy for us. We will miss this place.

Cagliari v. Roma match

Sunday, Carly, Daniel and Michael went to a soccer match. It was Cagliari (Il Rossoblu) our team fighting to avoid relegation (moving down) against Roma (one of the powers of Italian soccer and in second place this season). There were 7 teams roughly tied for the last spot to move down. Cagliari need to win one of its two remaining games, including this one to avoid moving down. Roma had just won the Italian Cup (championship of Italian club teams - I think - on Thursday). I wrote earlier about a different match that we attended in March. This was nothing like that.

First, we got there about 20 minutes before the start to find zero parking (the first time we could have any spot in the lot). This was a sign. It was to be different. We parked and hustled through security which required us to show passports and to pass through a gated turnstile individually. Daniel had to do this alone. We made it. We got to our seats which this time were visible because they were 3 of 6 empty in the whole section. The place was rocking.

Early it was clear that Roma was better but that Cagliari had momentum. Typically in a match like this it means that Roma needs to control the match for the first 10 or 15 minutes and then the momentum will swing. In about the 10th minute some Roma fans set off M80's and Carly put on her riot gear. This was gonna be exciting.

Unfortunately for Roma, Cagliari scored in about the 12th minute.
David Suazo (who may move to Inter Milan next year and is the fastest soccer player I've ever seen) got behind the defense and past the keeper for an early goal. Now the place was nuts.
Cagliari was holding their own and had the lead but there was a long way to go.

Roma got a free kick a few minutes later and their shot went wide but then the ref whistled for a penalty kick for no apparent reason. The place went balistic. Thank god Daniel only knows a little Italian. He could have learned a lot of new words in the next 5 minutes. Roma scored on their penalty kick. It went back and forth for the rest of the half until Cagliari scoreed with about 10 minutes to go in the half on a sweet series of passes.

This whole time Michael had been sitting behind a lovely old Italian man who was so sweet. He knew the game well and he was making all the gestures (praying and shaking his hands) and constantly watching the scoreboard. When Suazo scored he gave Michael two high fives.

Halftime and we need liquids. We left to go get food. Carly says that the concessions at an Italian soccer game are like a mosh pit of testoterone. There is no line, a woman is likely to get groped and it is just he who yells and pushes the loudest gets food. (It's a lot like Italian driving) She refuses to even enter. I (Michael) went in there trying to get water and some food. I came out with Pepsi's and popcorn. I just missed water by about 5 orders. Daniel wouldn't touch the Pepsi's but he ate plenty of corn. Back to our seats. We were ecstatic to be up by a goal (2-1) at half. At tie would be huge for Cagliari since next week they were playing a much worse team but on the road.

The game went back and forth but Cagliari was getting chances. Suazo was getting open. It went this way until the 70th minute when Cagliari scored. 3-1 and the place exploded. Forza Cagliari! Forza Cagliari! (Onward Cagliari! Onward Cagliari) . Now we waited for Roma to attack and attack they did. Cagliari is not a team used to killing the clock with a lead and it showed. In the 85th minute Roma scored (the 200th goal for Totti who is build like a Penn State linebacker/safety). We held our breath and held our breath and then....

the final whistle: 3-2.

Cagliari wins, Cagliari stays in the first division (Serie A) and all was good. We got out fast fearing a riot but it appears that is was just a joyous celebration. Here are some highlights....

YABB (Yet Another Beautiful Beach)

We have just looked over the blog and realized that we have not truly done justice to all the beaches we have been to. It is hard to fathom, but most sunny days go like this. M, S, D and Ch to work/school at 8am. M and S to pick up D and Ch at school between 3:30 and 4. Back to the house where M, S, D, Ch, Ca and G all head to a beach. The waters have been crystal clear (yesterday M and S snorkeled and saw 1000's of fish, mostly muted colors) and it has gotten warm. D and Ch go in regardless of the weather. G has started to just walk right into the sea. She goes up to her neck and just walks around. Sometimes she'll head back to the shore and lie with her head just out of the water and let the waves crash on her body. At right is Chia (Key-a) which is a famous beach that is on the most southern tip of Sardinia about an hour to the southwest of Cagliari. (Did you know you can click on the pics to get larger versions of them?)


At right, Christo is looking cool with his swim googles on.







At left, Carly is swimming in the sea (no really she is in there)

Venice and home again

More Venice pictures.....


The view from the tower that overlooks Piazza San Marco. All the pics below are from that tower.












To get home from Venice we took a waterbus (in Venice) to a train (Venice to Florence) to a train (Venice to Pisa) to a taxi (Pisa to Pisa airport) to a plane (Pisa to Cagliari) to our car (Cagliari to Via Enrico Tazzoli, 63) and nobody, nobody, not once threw up. It is now known as The Miracle of St. Stephanie of Canton and it broke Michael's Rule of 5 which limits travel to five forms of transportation per day.

Feeding the pigeons (Piazza San Marco)

Our Gondola Ride

Some pics from the gondola ride....


Looking back toward the Bridge of Sighs (left) and Daniel wearing the gondoliero's hat (right).













Views from the Grand Canal (left) and from a small canal (right)

To Venice

There is not much to say about Venice that will do it justice. We had a two-bedroom apartment (with kitchen) less than 5 minutes from Piazza San Marco. We walked there every morning to take in the scene, to watch the pigeons, to look for crabs on the steps of the Grande Canal and to each fresh warm muffins and apple turnovers. At left is Daniel relaxing in Piazza San Marco. In the mornings (before 9) we had the piazza almost all to ourselves. Later in the day there would be as many as 2000 people there.



Here Dad and the boys search for crabs (at left). At right, the view of the Grande Canal from Piazza San Marco on a hazy morning. It was very hot and humid when we were in Venice (about 85).

Bologna (and the Caffe' Zamboni)

Sunday was supposed to be rainy (it never did) so we planned to go to Bologna and walk around. In particular, some of us wanted to actually seem some art while in Italy. We had done some in Naples but some wanted more. We walked from the train station (through a park) to a museum (La pinacoteca nazionale). It was nice but it was tough on the kids. It was in Christopher's words "Another Jesus Museum." We then walked along the Via Zamboni (how Daniel loved that) to the Caffe' Zamboni and we had lunch there. After some outstanding gelato (Bologna has a reputation among Italians for producing large human beings), we walked around the Piazza Maggiore and saw a street performance (at right above) who did some nice tricks including puting fire down his pants to put it out. The boys loved that. He also juggled axes and rode a unicycle. At one point before juggling the axes, he had a boy (maybe 7) come up and help him with the axes. He kept asking the boy which arm he liked better, insinuating that he might lose the other one. Even our boys understood this in Italian. He also took away the cell phone of a woman who was talking on it and not paying attention to him. He talked on it for awhile then handed it to Steph saying in effect 'They want to talk to you.'









At left, the boys sword fight beside a famous fountain of Neptune just outside the Piazza Maggiore. At right is our movie star in the arms of her publicist on the train back to Cesena.

On travels and Ferrari's

It seems a long time now but we took a trip at the start of May to visit some colleagues and to see some other parts of Italy. We started by going to Cesena, near Bologna since we wanted to change hotels as little as possible. (As Lisa's Father-in-law says, "travelling with kids is like moving your house"). The tower left is from La Rocca (The Rock) in Cesena and it sits on top of a small hill and has a beautiful view of the surrounding area.



We got to Cesena on Friday (after flying from Cagliari to Pisa, then taking a train from Pisa to Florence then another from Florence to Bologna and yet another from Bologna to Cesena).
It was a hectic day but we met some very nice people. We had a fabulous and timely meal
at train station near Florence. The ride to Cesena was brightened by a grandmother who wanted to know all about the kids and a young woman was had just finished her degree in mechanical engineering.

The weather was slated to be bad on Saturday so we decided to do something indoors: La Galleria Ferrari (The Ferrari Museum) in Modena, near Bologna. You can imagine who was most excited about that. We toured the museum and got to seem so many cars. There was a special exhibit on Ferrari's in film so we got to see many of them 'in action.' Some pictures from the museum below. Carly had brought back from her visit to Milan, 1/18th scale replicas of Ferrari's for the boys but we HAD to get each of them another (and one for Gabriella) after our visit.


The picture with Daniel and Carly is of the real version of the scale model that Carly got him.
There is a test track next to the museum (which is next to the factory but you only get in the factory if you work there or if you own one). No cars were running the day we went but we did see 4 Ferrari's on the streets of Modena while we wandered

Quick Update

We were out of town (out of Cagliari) last week visiting a research lab outside Bologna (Cesena) and then we took three days and nights in Venice. It was a wonderful trip (Venice is not to be underestimated). Now we are back and Steph and Michael are teaching a short course at the University of Cagliari (and, of course, we're not prepped). So we're busy. Anyway a couple of quick pics and a promise of more later. At left, all of us in Cesena outside the old city walls.











Carly looking fabulous on the Rialto Bridge with the kids. This is one of the bridges over the Grand Canal so that is the body of water in the background.












Daniel, the newest gondaliero. Venice is now his favorite place in the world. Christopher still says that Miss Renee's and the house on Pine Street in Canton are his favorite places.
















Piazza San Marco and all it's pigeons.

Festa di Sant'Efisio

Tuesday was the Feast of Saint Efisio. He was a Roman General who was beheaded for converting to Christianity around 300 A.D. During one of the plagues the people of Cagliari paid special homage to him to save the city and the plague ended. Thus, this year was the 351 st year of the feast and it is the biggest thing on the Sardinian social calendar. (Think of it as the Dairy Princess Parade for the whole island.) Each town puts together a group of marchers and they dress in the traditional dress of their town.












The procession began with many bulls pulling carriages. All were dressed up like those in this picture. Not the smartest way to order things, but who knows. All that follow have to walk through the 'path' created by the bulls.















Here's an example of the type of carriage that the bulls pulled. Everything was this ornate and this beautifully designed. Quite a spectacle. Turned out to be a beautiful day. About 75-80 with some clouds. We went down to Via Roma after the procession and we bought t-shirts for the kids(and Dad) and got gelati.













Lastly, here is a picture of Carly and the boys after we left the parade. Doesn't the hair on those boys look long. Time for Steph the hairdresser (she cut Michael's hair a couple weeks ago) to get clipping.

Kids school was canceled on Monday and Tuesday for the Feast of Saint Efisio (Festa di Sant'Efisio). We found out on Friday when we picked the kids up from school. Not the first time we have learned about a holiday at the last minute.

Monday we went to the largest Nuraghe site on the island. Unfortunately it was a rainy day. The picture at left is from the Nuraghe looking at old castle remnants on the top of the cone in the center of the picture. This Nuraghe (at Barumini) is distinguished because it's entrance is about 20 feet of the ground.







At Barumini, the kids found lots of animals. In the picture here, Gabriella (Buddha to some) is holding a snail that she found which could not be more than 1/3 inch in size, but she noticed it and had to show it to her brothers. The boys were busy collecting too. At one point Daniel was holding 8 snails and Christopher was holding a 12 inch worm, a grasshopper, and four snails (he had four more snails in his pocket).

Nora and Pula

So we find out that last week there was the 62nd anniversary of the end of WWII. As a colleague described it,
we celebrate the day that the Americans liberated us from fascism. I don't remember too many Italians wanted to be liberated in 1941...

Anyway, no school, no work so we visited an old (3000 years) settlement that was Punic, then Phoenician, then Roman. It was on a spit of land that allowed ships to land regardless of the wind, there are three bays connected by the spit. The picture at left is the remnants of a Spanish tower near the site.



















Here is a view of the remnants of the Roman town with two of the three bays visible. The third bay is to the left of this photo.









Here is a view of the mosaic from an old patrician home in the Roman village of Nora. Amazing that the mosaic is still so intact. Workers were restoring another mosaic while we were there. Apparently subsequent inhabitants had plastered over the mosaic and so they were breaking up the plaster and then reassembling the mosaic by hand. Sounds like a good job for a archeology grad student.