Not for Wimps

If you ever go to Florence, you might want to bypass the Galileo museum.  There are 4 floors in this museum and within that space there are really only 5 items from Galileo himself (but that isn't the reason to bypass this museum). The rest of the museum is dedicated to Galileo's peers and future scientists (but that isn't the reason to bypass this museum). The real reason is that you will feel overwhelmed about being mentally inadequate. Astrolab's, ptolemy's mechanical earth, archimedes water screw, geeez.  I can barely get my mental lightbulb lit let alone figure out how to tie my shoe.  

911 for Peyton!

Hey everyone!  Peyton has a funny survey on his blog that I think some of you will find amusing.  If you get a chance, go on Peyton's blog and answer his survey!

www.peytonzaugg.blogspot.com

Pictures!

The Boring Stuff

Key Learning Objectives :Score card

Many parents have asked us: do you think that your kids are too young? what will they get out of this? Prior to the trip, and in fact 9 months prior to actually taking this trip, Callie and I discussed the possiblity that our kids might not get a lot out of this trip. We were convinced that they are too young to understand the nuances of art, the political underpinnings of art, or to be able to truly understand the great minds that catapulted our world from the dark ages into the Renaissance. However, because my parents had take me overseas as a young child, I knew what they could gain from this experience. So, there were some key things that we did want them to learn (and none of them are reciting historical dates and the "blurred line from impressionistic painters into water colors (no pun intended). 

1. Prepare them for their independence ( we tell them "at 18, you are outta here!!)
2. Situational awareness:  interpreting hand gestures, body language, traffic , how things work in the bathroom, at restaurants at train stations. Landmarks for finding your way in a big city. Scavenger hunt.
3. Independent thought
4. Pushing into Fabric of life: Anyting can be done. Closing the gap from dream to reality.  Courage to do something different. But more than words, what most people will never see (but our kids did) was the 12 months of Planning, sacrifice (money, time, friendships (between preparing my work schedule to make this happen and making this happen, my time for friends has been non-existent in 2011), commitment, flexibility to the plan. 
5. The value of things (and then the price to pay for making that a reality) If you value family and education, what are your actions? Prove it by how you live!!  also, the monetary value of things: should we spend our money on this rstrnt that charges more or go back to the "cheap alley" rstrnts (Paris) to save money for next week. and, by the way, Mom and Dad will always be buying wine no matter what the budget!!!!
6. Good citizens
7. Productive citizens
8. Global citizens (What do the Europeans value versus Americans
9. Swiss people (even from one city or canton to the next: geneva versus lucerne)tolerate refuge for people being religiously and politically oppressed, but  they are intolerant of inefficiency; and the Swiss don not believe in celebrity idol worshipping (Federer).  Connecting with other cultures. Not bad, not good. Just is. There are nice people,  and rude people are everywhere (Chancellor had a Parisian lady take our chair at a Gelato place). Better way or another way of solving problems: electricity, plumbing, trains, taxis. Having other people in your space (close quarters everywhere and sitting next to strangers at rstrnts in which your elbow is touching a strangers in a cramped but incredible rstrnt). Struggling and exploring with different foods: ox tail, ox cheek, etc (we didn't explore)
10. Learning about yourself (strengths and weaknesses). including How do you learn? I'm always prepping them before a historic site, downloading after the historic site (what did you get out of that?). i'm sure they will hate me for it. ......but repetition is the mother of education. 
11. Do not take what you have for granted (seeing gypsy's, panhandlers, etc.)
12. Don't be naive (gypsy scams) 
13. Articulate your perceptions in a fun and logical process. (Peyton struggling with different foods (after sampling baby octupus, like calamari but smaller, he said "dad, if i wanted to mix sand with insects, then that i would want to eat that!!!!)
14. How to have fun without technology 
15. Anticipate and compensate (when life collides with plans)

yes, this seems like an exhaustive list. But it is being done. slowly and with focus. but if you don't plan for having   a "learning event", then you Plan to Fail. Boring but Important.

Love the One You're With!

Yes, Todd is the only one I love, and the only one I'm with!!  That's not what I am talking about.  I'm talking about the fact that I love each place we've been!  Each place I'm like, this is my favorite place.  Yes, yes this is my favorite city, my favorite apartment, my favorite restaurant.  I've said it for each city we have been in!  Of course, Italy is my favorite (happens to be where I am right now!).  What's not to love about Italy.  Surely, there is some part of my heritage that's Italian!

I love Florence, Italy!  It's a beautiful city that has art and architecture on every corner, literally.  To give you an example of a bad day in Florence, it was a rainy day, so we spent the morning in the apartment doing work and school work.  Finally at lunch we decided to get our umbrellas and head out.  The rain stopped during lunch, so we took a walk after lunch.  We ended up at Santa Croce church.  We went in the church, and it happens to be where Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, and Dante are all buried.  Crazy huh?  It was beautiful!

We ended a fantastic week in Florence with the kids taking an art class from a guy who actually used to work for Disney.  Of course the children didn't really want to do it, but I made them!  And they loved it!  It was a 3 hour class.  They walked and drew around the city. Kind of neat taking an art class in Florence, Italy!  They said the 3 hrs. flew by, and they weren't ready for it to be over.  This school work is killing me!

So, it's time to say good-bye Florence!  Good-bye David's buns of steel!  Good-bye Tuscany!  Good-bye to some of the best food I've ever had in my life!  I'm sure I'll have another list of good-byes after next week!

Off to Rome now!  Looking forward to an action packed week in the eternal city!  October is big birthday month for our family and friends!  Happy "big" birthday Dianne Wade!  Happy birthday Nanny, Patty, Brad (big one!), Bobo, and Fran!  And there are even more to come!

Miss all of you!  I'm having trouble putting pictures on the blog for some reason.  So, when I have a second, I'll try to figure it out! 

Hugs and kisses to all of you!

Callie and Todd

Things that go "bump" in your trip

Shout Out: HAPPY BIRTHDAY Dianne Wade

Prayers to Patty and Scott Chaffin (Patty's Father is ill)

Planning and Chaos: Snapshots from The Trip

Things you can’t plan for……….things that go "bump" in your trip

Yes, Callie is the real writer in the house. I just thought I'd throw my amateur 2 cents into the mix:

The following names have not been changed to convict the guilty:

Peyton got stuck in a women’s bathroom and was pounding on the door for help (but it was in the basement of a non-busy ,classically small ,restaurant).  Meanwhile, his family was upstairs (we were one of the few tables sitting down…..because Americans eat early (6:45pm) compared to the Europeans (8pm)) and laughing about the day, completely unaware of his plight. Fortunately for Peyton, Chancellor came down to wash his hands and heard the pounding. Chancellor said “Peyton?”. After a second of silence, an emotionally exhausted voice responded almost in a whisper…..”yeeeeeees”. Together they freed Peyton from his personal hell. How did this happen? European restaurants have a unique and efficient set up. Both men and women use a common area for the sink and soap and then there is a door for the men’s commode and a separate door for the women’s commode.  How he mistook the women’s for the men’s is still under investigation.

Rainey.

This is one of the things we didn’t plan for……….being sensitive to the  R rated content of the sculptures and paintings (and I’m not talking about the violence or profanity).  With Rainey having two older brothers, we probably didn’t consider the impact of so many naked sculptures and paintings in the different museums. While the kids have been great with our dragging them to important museums, they finally had a break down one day (they told us that they were just going to sit on the bench after only  23 minutes inside the Musee D’Orsay). Later, when we were discussing the day, Chancellor informed us that Rainey had commented  to her brothers “thank goodness we get to sit, if I have to see one more “ding dong” I’m going to throw up”. I’m assuming I don’t need to translate that one for you.

Chancellor

It doesn’t matter what continent that you are on, the parenting dialogue is still the same. After a few weeks of looking at Chancellor’s attempt at letting his hair grow long, and after daily “get your hair cut” squabbles, Chancellor relented to getting a trim. We walked into a little side alley barber shop in Florence and I proceeded to explain to the barber exactly what we wanted. “Trim the sides, trim the back, keep it long on top but give the whole thing some structure”. Chancellor was clear that he didn’t want a buzz cut for the next couple of months. The barber didn’t understand a lick of English but kept nodding and was using hand gestures (on Chancellor’s head) to indicate that he knew what we were saying. At the end of my explanation, I stopped , and with a smile on my face said, “and, also, feel free to be Da Vinci and make this your masterpiece”. I now believe that this was where the wheels came off. Because it was only 4 minutes later, as I was speaking to another American that was waiting for their haircut, I heard a “buzz sound” from the groomer device and I looked up to see “half of Chancellor’s left side of his hair “ now on the ground and then looked up to see Chancellor’s wide eyes of terror in the mirror. At that point, nothing could be done to save him. Ultimately, it ended up being a great cut (although the first day was tenuous because the barber “gel coated” a tuff of hair at the top of his head that made him look like he was a rooster…….and matching 90% of the other Italian male haircuts (below the age of 21).

You learn from history that you can’t learn from history (Nietzsche)

Peyton needed a hair trim for his ears and the back of hairline. Because of the location, the fact that we now had a relationship with the barber, we decided to take Peyton into the same place (3 hours later after the initial event with Chancellor). This time I was VERY specific (pretending to hold the grooming machine in my hand) and showed the spots to be cut. Again, the same barber smiled, nodded, and was excited to get started.  AND, you guessed it, we now had 2 roosters in our nest.

Pictures!

I Can't Wait!

I can't stand it!  I had to blog and we have only been in Florence for 2 days!  It's been a fun and fast 2 days.  We got here on Sunday with the rental car and remember how I said that it appeared that all had gone well......NOT!  There was the big dent and scrape along the top of the Fiat!  BUT, when you don't succeed, try again.  We got the extra insurance this time!!  Anyway, we got to our apartment which is wonderful.  Three bedrooms, so we have plenty of room.  Our first day in Florence (Monday) we took a day long cooking class.  Trust me when I say that I have hung over all of their heads that this is the least they can do for me!  I did some major praying all the way to the meeting spot.  At the meeting spot, we met a cute girl from Australia (Chancellor got interested at this point), got on the bus where 2 great couples were, rode to a beautiful villa outside of Florence, and proceeded to have a blast for the next 5 hrs.!  Our chef was Luciano who was great.  He wants to come to Memphis!  I knew Todd was in when he opened the first bottle of wine at 1:00, and we were off to the races!  Rainey jumped right in was making Tiramisu, pasta, and risotto.  Peyton had a blast making "funny pasta men" out of the pasta dough.  And at the end of the day, we broke bread with some wonderful people that we had spent the day with!  The Food was fantastic.  The experience was even better.  Can't wait to show you pictures.  The kitchen was unbelievable!
And then there was David............do I need to say anymore?  Michelangelo's David could be one of the most incredible things that I have ever seen!  It's magnificent and that's all there is to say about it.  Our friend, Joe Wade...again, said that he saw pictures that showed people seeing something.  Does that make sense?  And he knew immediately the picture that was showing peoples faces that were seeing David for the first time.  I get it!  And when you think about the story, a small boy that faces the giant and wins!!!  That's a success story right there.  Interesting that there are so many great stories and life lessons in the bible.  I'll let you ponder on that one for a while!
 Italy is absolutely fantastic.  We ate at the most incredible restaurant our first night here.  Thank you Cyndy Taylor for that recommendation!  The place is Il Latini, and it was the closest thing to a mosh pit I have ever been in.  We got there and there were all these people crowded around the front door.  I got seperated from Todd and couldn't get to him!  The restaurant people had to "part the sea" so I could get through!  They were people begging for a table!  You sit in this cool place and they just bring you food for days.  Of course, a huge jug of wine was on the table waiting for us.  No menus, just great Italian food.  We liked it so much that we made reservations again!
We do miss all of you!  Still having a great time.  Seeing life differently and definitely at a different pace!  We've already been in a ton of churches, and we usually sit and pray and even lite a candle or two for all of you.  So, with that in mind, I've got to report on a true miracle.  I got the greatest e-mail today.  My cousin Shannon found out she is going to have a baby!  Now, you've got to know, let's go back to the bible.  Remember Sarah that was so old she couldn't have a baby but really wanted one?  Well, Shannon is not quite as old as Sarah but close not to mention that she has had many challenges with trying to have a baby for years.  Actually, I think she had given up.  God's timing?  It's perfect!  I'm so excited for Shannon and Dan.  As a matter of fact, after hearing the news we went straight to the church, lite candles, and prayed!  Shannon and Dan, we love you and we are praying for that baby and you!!!!
Lot's of love and hugs!!!!!

Callie and Todd
trying to post pictures but seems a little challenging right now!

Pinch me!!

Pinch me!  Is this real?  That’s exactly what my children said when they saw the Tuscan country side.  We left Venice and went to Florence where we got another rental car (will report on that later), and we went to a hillside town called San Gimignano.  It’s a mid-evil walled city that is amazing.  Our hotel  room has a balcony that overlooks the panoramic scenic side of the city.  All by chance, we had no idea that we would have this view.  And, truly the children said it didn’t look real.  Rolling hills of vineyards, villas, and cypress trees.   Everything looks like it has been touched by the sun.  the colors are rich and vibrant.   Breathtaking!!!  So much so that we have had a hard time leaving our “village”!  We did get in the car and make the trip to Pisa.  The “leaning Tower of Pisa” was a must even though Todd and I have already seen it.  I think it is such a cool structure.  Out of nowhere this tower just appears in front of you.  And, yes, it is leaning!  The children actually walked to the top.  Todd and I opted to lie on the steps and look up and take pictures as they made it to each level.  Right decision for sure!  We were going to do some more day trips, but we decided we wanted to kick back and enjoy San Gimignano.  The rental car situation did go a little better,  at least there were no flat tires this time.  But, there were a few screams and quick turns!  When we were in Pisa we rented one of those buggy bikes that we could all fit in.    Now that didn’t go so well!  Lots of screaming, people running off the road,  and a few side mirrors skimmed!  Bottom line, if it has wheels and Todd is driving……..look out!  The kids were laughing hysterically, me, not so much!  I had visions of being in a police car in Italy not just a tow truck in France!

The wine has been amazing!  All local and dirt cheap, so it’s fitting in our budget!!!  A great 3 days, completely different than the last week.  As a matter of fact, Todd and the children are playing hide-in-go-seek in the village and the castle ramparts right now.  Me, I’m sitting on our balcony with a glass of wine, thinking, laughing and typing!

Off to Florence tomorrow.  “David” is waiting on me!  We are there for a week and staying in an apartment.  I will probably try to cook a few meals, so it will be a normal week just like home.  We’ve got some fun things planned other than seeing David and the Uffizi.  We are all taking a cooking class together.  I’m forcing them all and using the card that I don’t ask for much.  I’m very excited!  And, the children are taking an art class.  It should be fun.  Todd hopes to get lots of work done.  He is never without his notebook and pen.  We have to stop all the time for him to write!   Somehow he has managed to put in about  8 hours of work a day and go and see all that we have.  We call him “superman” for a reason (and you thought it was because he looked like superman!).

I personally think that San Gimignano is a must stop on an Italy trip.  See you in Florence!!!

The Todd Zauggs want to send a huge “HAPPY 50^TH BIRTHDAY BRAD”!  Today is Todd’s brothers 50^th!

Hugs and kisses to all of you!  I will try to get some pictures up.  For some reason, it's difficult to do now.  Error in the (me) I'm sure!

Callie and Todd

Mamma Mia!!!

Buon giorno!  Italy…..il dolce far niente which is the sweetness of doing nothing.  That’s their motto.  Although we have lots to do and can’t do nothing, the laid back attitude is there.  We’ve laughed, joked with waiters and locals, said ciao, and played classical music off our balcony.  Mamma is home!!! 

Venice!  Venice was amazing.  I’m like a kid in a candy store.  Arriving into Venice by train was so exciting.  Todd and I have never been to Venice, so I could hardly contain myself.  We took a long train ride from Luzern (7 ½ hrs).  The children and Todd watched movies, worked and did some school work, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the window.  I didn’t want to miss one thing.  The train ride was a blast.  We had a fantastic lunch in the restaurant car, and the time flew by.  The children said it seemed much quicker than our plane ride over to Europe!  Arriving into Venice made my heart race!  We got off the train, and we were met by Francesco who took us to our apartment.  Thank goodness for Francesco!  We would have never found our way.  Venice is something to see.  No cars, not one, just boats!  Our apartment was awesome.  Our favorite so far.  We were on the corner of the building, so we had canals on 2 sides.  We had a small balcony patio that ended up being the card and game place and Todd’s office.  We had plenty of room and a washing machine, thank heavens!  How do you describe Venice?  Words can’t.  It’s a must see and should be on everyone’s list. They say that in 2 decades Venice the city will be more of a museum.  Yes, it’s supposedly sinking, but they are working on that.  The problem is that it is so expensive for the locals that they are having to move.   The people were very nice and helpful.  Italy is such a fun country!  I am  so thankful that we made it a part of our trip.  We had great food, listened to Vivaldi (he is from Venice), rode in a gondola, took a taxi (that’s in a boat) around the grand canal, saw St Mark’s square.  I could go on and on!  St. Mark’s bascilica was beautiful.  And, being near Mark the apostle was overwhelming.  Knowing that he walked with Jesus was so powerful.  Of course we sat and prayed!

We are on the way to San Gigimanano for 3 days.  We’ve got a rental car (help us!), so we are going to make day trips to Siena, Pisa, Assisi, and Lucca.  And then we go to Florence for a week.  And now, for  one of the funny stories of Venice:  apparently there was a school across the canal from our apartment.  Chancellor discovered this the first morning when he saw all these cute Italian girls in the window.  Chancellor quickly brushed up on his Italian and started yelling out the window.   Within 10 minutes they asked in very broken English if he had a facebook!  He has spent the last few days continuing to try to learn Italian (such a surprise to learn what motivates a 16 year old boy to learn a new language…..much like the Rosetta stone magazine ads).  Eventually, the school teachers began monitoring his activities and limiting his cross canal cultural exchange program. Like I said, same story just a different country!

Miss all of you and hope you are all well!

Love,

Callie and Todd