On our own in Santa Margarita

Today the kids and I took a break from the group.  All of the kids have been fighting constantly and I think we needed a little bit of family time, just the three of us (we miss you Joshy!).  It was a good chance to refresh our batteries a bit and just chill out on our own schedule.  We decided to take a trip to Santa Margarita which is the ferry stop between here and Portofino.

Of course due to inclement (it's 80 and sunny...hmmm) weather the ferry wasn't running.  So we opted for the bus.  This is where I've grown in the last year and a half... in my "past" life when we first moved to Barcelona the bus was incredibly intimidating.  The idea of figuring out the schedule, the times, etc in a foreign language scared the life out of me.  But today I went right up to the ticket window and asked for three tickets to Santa Margarita.  The only thing I was unsure of was which bus to take - but then I saw the sign above us that listed Santa Margarita on it so we were all set. 

The bus ride was quick and scenic and in about 10 minutes we were there!!  Not quite as stunning as Portofino next door, it was still absolutely beautiful!  Since it was already close to 1, we immediately went to get lunch.  Sadly it was the worst meal we've had in Italy.  I really didn't think it was possible to have a bad meal here but I guess you can anywhere, right?  I ordered a salad and a pizza for myself and just a pizza for the boys.  The boys pizza and my salad came together (and their pizza wasn't all that great) and then 40 mins later my pizza still had not arrived.  Full enough I just asked for the check and then that's when they told me they had my pizza.  Figures right?  Anyways, out of all the things that have happened in the last week, this was minor.

On the bus to Santa Margarita

Santa Margarita in the background

Beauty shot

Brothers - getting along today... for once

Harbor again

Another view

Smiles :)

Love the boats

More boats

And more boats

Cool orange trees with lots of fruit

I LOVE that the gelato place gives bibs to the little kids.  Really didn't do much good as it was all down his arms, legs, shorts, etc - I think we'll keep sticking to the cups for now.

Though I have no desire to sail, I always love views with sailboats

One last beauty shot before we leave

We meandered around the town for a bit, grabbed a gelato and relaxed on a bench while watching the boats go by. All and all, a nice mellow day with my boys. We wanted to take the ferry back (I'm still trying to see those dolphins) but once again they weren't running due to inclement weather (so weird) so we took the bus back.

The kids wanted to head to the beach for a bit so we did just that - and they had such a great time. Liam even went in up to his waist! He's made such huge progress in the water in just a few weeks - such a courageous little kid! And Aidan was very happy snorkeling - he didn't see anything today he told me but it was still fun. I've already sent myself a reminder to make sure I don't forget to pack his goggles and snorkel (like I forgot on this trip and had to buy new ones) for our trip to Greece in a few weeks - he'll love the snorkeling there!!

Liam is loving the beach

Look!  He's up to his waist!!!

Searching for cool rocks.  Aidan started a sea glass collection today!

Dinner was a low key, easy affair tonight. A place right here in Rapallo and there was something for everyone. Everyone got along which was great and it was nice to just laugh at the dinner table rather than lecturing all the kids on getting along. A really nice way to end the Italian portion of our trip.

Liam with fork and napkin "man"

And now with bread and toothpick "man"... again, we'll likely be doing an entry just on Liam and his guys at some point.  This kid has a GREAT imagination!

The castle in Rapallo with the full moon - yes, this is a great way to end our time in Italy!

Tomorrow we are off to France again for another 3 days - the first in Nice and then the next two in Arles (where we stayed back in October with Josh).  We're having a really great time but after a month on the road (we left June 18th for the States and had just 1 1/2 days in BCN before heading on this trip), I definitely miss Josh and my bed...

Julie

Cranky and Car-less in Italy

I woke up at 8:30ish this morning to the annoying sound of what I thought was weed wackers...who weed wacks for an hour in a small city with little grass???  I looked out the window and to my mortification the entire street was devoid of cars and there was a street cleaner and people out with hand blowers.  Oh crap!!  This is not a good start.  I ran into Michelle and Kelly's room and had to sadly announce (before their usual 10 AM wakeup call) that I was pretty sure our car had been towed. 

Michelle ran out the door in her pajamas and yes, the car was in fact missing.  The ironic thing is that Michelle and Kelly went out last night to check on the car and noticed the street was pretty empty but yet made no connection to the fact that perhaps this might be some foreshadowing.  Even Michelle commented after the fact that she didn't really look at the signs and essentially we were all just waiting for something to happen.  Also ironic is the fact that they only clean this street on the second Wednesday of the month (we actually looked at the signs after the fact) - of course, the one Wednesday we were here. 

Now what to do.  We emailed the owner of the apartment and he very quickly responded that he would call the police station to find out where we needed to go to get the car.  Michelle and I ventured out and attempted to walk to the police station thinking we knew where we were.  We did not and eventually took an over priced cab to the tow lot.  I wish I'd taken some pictures but of course, hindsight is 20/20. 

The process to get the car out of the lot was fairly standard as it is in the US - you pay the tow bill (ours was 82 euros, just add that on to the cost of this trip) and then a fine (another 38 euros)... all stuff that Michelle as a Boston resident is all too familiar with.  Awwww it's just like being home, only in Italy.  We got the car out and headed back to the apartment. 

We probably should have avoided the apartment.  The kids were already in a cranky mood before we left to get the car and were even crankier upon our return.  In their defense, none have been to bed before 10 any night of this trip (and mine at least go to bed around 7:30 normally) and have been run ragged.  In our defense, we have done a ton of things to accomodate them which they of course don't agree with (yes, Kelly and I "wanted" to sit around at the lagoon yesterday to just watch the kids swim) and said that we should be doing more for them.  Ahhhh children... someday you'll get it. 

So instead of going to Pisa as planned (now planned for tomorrow instead of a return to the Cinque Terre), we laid low in the apartment.  Our internet was pretty much down which made working pretty difficult for me and of course, I had rush orders to do.  The kids went to the park with Kelly and then again later on with Michelle.  Finally in the late afternoon we decided to take a drive to Sestri Levante, a beach town just south of us.

And it was such a cute beach town!!  Of course we arrived there and I realized that when Liam fell asleep in the car, he also managed to poop himself (sorry Liam as you read this years later and suffer horrible humiliation for that) and I didn't bring extra clothes or wipes.  Let's just add that in as one more thing today.  Off Aidan and I went to the pharmacy for wipes and the undies hit the trash. 

Center of town

Center in the other direction

Center in front of me

The beach - it wasn't pebbles like ours in Rapallo but it was kind of dirty... however the view was spectacular!

Michelle was a good sport and went on the roller coaster with the boys

Waiting

We wandered around for a little bit and found a cute little artisan market. The kids all got new journals and pencils that were handmade. They were pricey but they kept them entertained and not complaining thru dinner and so it was well worth the investment. We finally found a restaurant for dinner - Polpo Mario. The food was phenominal and everyone finally was relieved of their moodiness. Maybe we were all just hungry or perhaps the adults hadn't had enough wine (but more than enough whine) to drink during the day.

I like the green building - ALL of the details have been PAINTED on which is very traditional for this area

Market area

Liam at dinner

After dinner was gelato - yummy.  However, Liam had to pee, of course, right after we left the restaurant.  I tried to take him into an inconspicuous corner of the street and had him pee on a planter rather than the wall.  I somehow figured if he was contributing to nature in a way, it was ok.  However, as he peed I realized that the plant looked more like rosemary and became pretty mortified that he perhaps was peeing on someone's future freshly spiced potatoes.  Hmmmm, we left that area pretty quickly.

Gelato was great and we took the scenic road back home (which had it not been dark would have been even more amazing than it already was).  Aidan and Haley fell asleep on the way home which just reinforced that it was just one of those tired, cranky days.  Tomorrow, Pisa and Tirrenia where it looks like there is a nice beach.

Julie 

Escape to Portofino

Today we decided it was time to truly start our Italian adventure and the first stop was Portofino.  A quick 20 minute ferry ride (and that included one stop - it was so close!) away, it was easy to get to with the kids and the timing worked out given our once again late start (what has become of the early rising Marcus clan??). 

View of the port in Rapallo

Rapallo as we pull out of the harbor - beautiful isn't it?

Zach having a great time on the ferry

Michelle's new Facebook profile picture...

View to the south of Rapallo

Near Santa Margarita (our only stop on the ferry other than Portofino)

Santa Margarita

More of Santa Margarita

Portofino is a small town that was founded around 900AD that has become very popular with the rich and famous. When we pulled into port the size of the boats certainly made that clear!! Portofino was founded by the Romans and named Portus Delphini, or Port of the Dolphin, because of the large number of dolphins that inhabited the nearby Gulf. I was disappointed that we did not see any dolphins on this journey (I have yet to see a live dolphin outside an aquarium) but hope to see some on the next ferry we take! 

Some of the "tiny" boats that were near the harbor entrance to Portofino

Beautiful sailboat near the harbor

Welcome to the harbor of Portofino

Amazing!!!!

And even more amazing!!!

Aidan and Liam posing by the port

After getting off the ferry our immediate goal was to feed the children (ok and us too because we were pretty hungry by then as well).  Aidan decided it was up to him to pick a place because technically it was his day to choose what we would do (must have given him that option when I was a few martinis in).  The restaurant itself was decent though not the best but good for lunch.  If only it wasn't in the blazing 100 degree sun!!  But we all felt much better after some cold drinks and food!!! 

Aidan, Liam and Haley waiting patiently for their food 

Cool view with the sun and the church bells

The kids (all getting along for the moment)

One of my favorite pictures today which is why it's so large... you likely will see a few blown up like this one...

After lunch we decided to do some exploring. We had seen a castle (Castle Brown) upon arriving in the port and figured that would be a good direction to go in. Of course, that direction was also UP and Liam was in his stroller. Well, at least I'll have buns of steel from all that pushing uphill!!

Castle Brown in distance

Aidan and Zach

Yup another favorite... 

Small monkeys that we call children

I need to get back to the gym... at least the background looks great!

View from the walkway on the way to the castle - aren't those boats so tiny????

Liam with the port behind him

Aidan wanted to climb this tree but it was a straight drop down behind him... I don't think so!

The kids found several geckos that they "played" with

Self portrait of Aidan and mommy

Liam "smiles" Marcus

The one decent shot of the boys together

Love him!!!

One last shot of the port before we leave

We finally headed out of town around 5.  Right before that Liam had a final meltdown of the day regarding the ice cream that I was about to buy him but didn't because he threw a tantrum in the line.  To me that was a sign that not only was it time to go but also meant that tonight would be a night of dinner in and an early/reasonable bedtime.  In the end we all stayed in and Kelly made us a fabulous meal of a salad (my contribution - who says I can't cook?), chicken with rosemary and potatoes that were seared in olive oil and rosemary.  All sooo delicious!  The kids were in bed by 9:30 and we're hoping tomorrow to hit the ground running early and head down to Cinque Terre which is about 40 mins south of us.  If Portofino was amazing, I hear Cinque Terre is stunning and I can't wait to see this area!!!

Julie