arts, crafts & games we

I actually wrote a post about the card games we played all summer---a good travel size game to fit into panniers while cycling Europe. Cards provided countless hours of fun and entertainment for our family.

But now we have landed in Florence, and have started to settle in. It seems to me that when you extract yourself from your life (in our case Seattle, WA), and plant yourself somewhere else (say Florence, Italy), you are armed with more down time. You have yet to ante up for volunteer at school, you don't know anyone so dinner dates and play dates are slow in coming. You don't attend as many meetings---because you aren't on committees. Carpools are gone (especially in our case, since we have no car); so is administering them. The boys now bike to and from school---and to and from soccer practice.

Beyond soccer, school and homework, the boys have some solid time off. Granted, we take them to tour museums, walk the bridges and visit outlying cities, but during the week when homework is done, they have some idle time. Time for their minds to linger and their creativity to be summoned.

It has been sheer joy to watch the boys organically come up with games. By virtue of the fact that they are tired of cards? Perhaps because we don't really have much in the way of gadgets or games (though Caleb bought an Italian glass chess set for Anthony's birthday---very cool).

Inspiration.
There are many street vendors here in Italy, usually with paintings or jewelry, a pile of sunglasses or mechanical cars. Every so often we see a gentleman making birds from reeds or bicycles from wire. The latter has served to provide countless hours of inspiration and ideas for the boys. We bought wire and pliers, and the boys formed bicycles. They cut up soda cans and added them for adornment. This recently morphed into wires and cans and wooden marbles and a rule-infused shooting/hockey type game. (Note: cans are either Coke, Sprite or Fanta. They are the tall skinny cans; these are the common soda options here---that or iced tea). The wooden marbles came from Sienna, each painted according to the neighborhood. Very cool souvenir.

Besides wire models and made-up games, [on our visit to Orvieto] we found hanging inside a pottery shop, a small pile of sling shots---easily our favorite purchase from Orvieto. They work well, and small white erasers (cut in two) make perfect 'bullets.' A few cardboard circles on the wall for targets, markers on the ground for distance... and the entryway for our apartment finally serves a function.

Then there are the army men. At the Euro store there are cheapish, plastic toys. One of these little bags hanging on the wall, is a mixed bag of red and green army men. We bought four (cheap entertainment: that is about $5). They have scaled books, formed ranks, strategized attacks and bombed troops (with a functioning catapult pencil sharpener/key chain---yes, really. Caleb bought two at a souvenir shop at the Tower of London).

Beyond the antics of new games and wire art, the boys also spend some of their spare time painting, sketching, walking to get gelato and scouring souvenir shops... for the next inspiration.

fabulous fridays, round 2.

A few things: there is no round 1 so don't bother look for it. Also, I considered titling this post 'Florentine Fridays' but am not sure the location of each given Friday will be, in fact, in Florence.

What are fabulous Fridays? Well, now that James and I are less likely to be standing in a line or sitting in a chair holding a number, or scooting to the third recommended building in a row---we figure we better get down to the business of soaking up Florence [and its nearby towns].

It is a priority to see as many paintings, famous statues, museums, churches, bridges, etc. as we possibly can. We have tours to take, markets to visit, sites to see. And because we need to spend a hunk of our time massaging our remotely managed writing/consulting/legal careers, we have appointed Friday as our official day to tour. Think of it as a self-imposed 4 day work week---and consequently a self-designed 3 day weekend.

Round 1 of 'fabulous fridays' was over a week ago, and included our serendipitous tour and lunch at Verrazzano winery in Greve (Greve is south of Florence by about half an hour). We were invited there after attending a field trip for Anthony's class (for a Q&A with the town mayor). It was amazing, the colors of Tuscany were brimming, the day sunny and the wine and company warm to the soul.

Round 2, then, was just this past Friday: our first official Friday in Florence. The boys have a long day at school that day (Caleb come home around 4pm, Anthony leaves school early and fits in soccer, which puts him home at around 6pm).

So we plan our tours, take a long lunch and do what we mean to do this year abroad: soak it up.

This last Friday we visited the Duomo floor (we saved the climb to the top with all its terraces for another time when we tour with the grandparents and boys). We also visited the Duomo Museum, a beautiful museum with original [Duomo] works including Michelangelo's Florentine Pieta (he did 3 Pieta's in his life, the most famous of which is in Rome), extensive works by Luca and Andrea della Robbia, models and drawings by Brunelleschi and bronze and marble sculptures and reliefs by Donatello.

I recommend a visit, if you come to Florence. The artists and sculptures represented in this well-appointed museum are worth the euros. It is also where you purchase tickets to climb the stairs to the top of the dome and campanile (in case you wanted to know).

We were tuckered out from absorbing great art, and took a 2-block leave to a rooftop cafe. In a previous post, I told you to visit this cafe. It is on top of a Rinascente department store. You access the store in the Piazza Repubblica. Go all the way to the top floor (home section: linens and dishes), walk through all the seasonal paraphernalia toward the registers, and there you will see nondescript stairs that lead to the cafe. Once in the cafe, look again for stairs leading up. Aha: you found the roof and views of the Duomo, Piazza Repubblica, the hills across the Arno and more. We bought just a pastry and espressos, since the views are figured into the price, but it was worth it.

(Okay, we actually went to the museum first, then coffee on the roof, then back to the Duomo floor). After our visit to the Duomo it was time for lunch; we picked a wine bar called Frescobaldi, a name not uncommon to this region. Frescobaldi is a large stretch of land through Tuscany, including 9 properties and countless wines; if you type it into Google, the listings are piled high with reviews from wine magazines and options to purchase their wine online. They have done well for themselves and with good reason.

I ordered rabbit, that had been seared then braised; James ordered pasta with boar sauce (I made this at home last week, so we consider this research for future homemade boar sauce). They were both lovely, as was the company.

Next Friday? We haven't firmed up plans, but have a scheduled tour of Vasari's corridor---the 'secret' passage above the famous Ponte Vecchio bridge---used by the Medici's for safe, unadulterated passage. Oh, and stay tuned for our road trip on Wednesday (Mercoledi); James and I plan a day of driving and touring since I have an interview for a writing job in Castellina in Chianti (a town about an hour south of Florence). Better hit some wineries along the way, don't you think? Before or after the interview? Hopefully not in lieu of it...

random details of this past week.

I have been meaning to write. It amazes me how time whizzes by, and it makes me cringe to think of all the details and memories that I fail to capture. Granted, life cannot be one big archive of each puny little event, BUT when you want to remember special walks with your kids or a serendipitously discovered market or romping in the rain... well, it might be nice to reflect on it some day in the future.

For the last week, James has been a bit sick. And even Caleb has had a head cold. Which means James and I didn't go out on our usual morning routine 'walk, chapel & macchiato.' We have been more home bound, which if you like your home really isn't a bad thing.

From our last week, this is what pops into my mind:

• Buying new drinking glasses for our kitchen (I adore kitchen ceramics and tools and accouterments... so yes this made me happy), from COIN a very nice department store downtown Florence.
• Many trips to the grocers and euro store (daily trips in fact, since my means of transportation is my feet and my means of carrying is my two arms). We love the Euro store, it is full of all sorts of things that you need to buy anyway: snacks, paper towels, pencils, detergent and clothespins... the other day I bought a wooden rolling pin for a euro!
• Oh: stopping by the butcher. There is a great butcher one long block from us, and James and I stopped there to buy chicken and veal and a package of amazing looking herbs.
  
• An interview. I had an interview with a travel company here (actually 3 in 1), where I would be in charge of a lot of content (online and off). My day today was a rewrite of a brochure, my means to giving a sample of my work. Jury is still out.
• Making focaccia. I have made focaccia 4 times this week. It is one of my goals to get really good at making focaccia, pasta, pizza dough and polenta (I am already adept at making risotto, otherwise that would be on the list too). All in good time.
• Cycling in the torrential rain. Oh man: James normally takes on these tasks because he is a lovely man---but he was sick so I took one for the team. On Mondays, the boys have to go from school directly to soccer practice. Since our only mode of transportation is a bike, this particular event is logistic heavy. Monday morning we pack them up with 1. their backpacks for school (super heavy by the way), and 2. their soccer bags (plus all belongings as they shower at the club). One of those bags goes on their back, the other in a pannier. When they leave school at the end of the day, they put on just their soccer backpacks and leave their school bags at school. Then a token parent cycles to school, pops the 2 [backpack filled] panniers on their bike and cycle home. This dispatch in particular was sopping wet... to a degree of hilarity.
  
• Laundry: I do it every day, and since it is getting colder my drying options (no dryer, quite typical) have moved from an outside line to all of our indoor radiators. Clothes are stretched over radiators in every room of our home---now a part of our daily landscape.
  
• Standing in bureaucratic lines. Yep, still some of that going on. But moving in the right direction!
• Last Friday was phenomenal: we went with Anthony's class on a field trip to Greve in Chianti where they met the mayor. Then James and I were fortunate to be treated to a tour and lunch at Verrazzano, an incredible winery and vineyard nearby. Easily one of our favorite memories so far; the hospitality was humbling, the boar prosciutto and Vin Santo memorable and the grounds in autumn were downright poetic. (the estate is the original home of Giovanni da Verrazzano, an early explorer of America's east coast, including New York).
  
• Saturday market at Santa Croce. A lovely walk with James on Saturday morning. We like to peak into the varying piazzas, to see what markets have appeared. Often we find artisan markets, full of cheese and meat, wines and some art. One time a few weeks back I found an artists market, full of everything from soap to baskets and wine to ceramics, jewelry, wood toys and paintings. I actually bought one print of Pinocchio. This week's market was smallish, but heavenly: just pressed olive oil. We walked around and tried a few, ultimately falling in love with one vendor's 'home brew.' (I went back the next day and bought another large bottle: I may never see them again!?!?). We also bought green olive tapenade, salami, wine and cipollini jam.
  
• Sunday walks. On Sunday James was still recovering, so I took a turn going on a walk with each of my sons. Caleb and I walked north of our apartment, exploring artistic shops with modern clocks and gadgets, and peered into windows; we landed at the Euro store (this is the second time Caleb and I emptied our coin container at the house and went to the Euro store... a fun emerging tradition). He bought army men and I bought paper towels and milk.

Anthony and I walked all over the Oltrarno. The south side of the Arno, over the Ponte Vecchio bridge. On the bridge, which is full of gold smiths, we peered into windows and looked at crucifixes, walked almost to the Porto Romano and peered at the outside of Santo Spirito. He enjoyed his Belgian waffle from a street vendor (it had large chunks of sugar inserted in the dough). For us, that particular treat is reminiscent of Maastricht, Holland. Oh, and Anthony and I returned to the outdoor market to buy olive oil, Vin Santo (from Lucca) and saffron honey. It is so fun to sample!

• Haircuts. Well we are on a budget and I am not too bad with a clippers and scissors... even though it is a bit daring with two junior high boys. They were super patient and gracious.
• I feel like I am starting to focus on cooking again: a new chicken recipe, my first round of veal with lemon and capers, pasta with boar sauce, chicken cordon bleu and tonight Branzino baked in salt.
• Paying homage to Talk of Tomatoes (right up there with 'my other car is a Porsche---my other blog is a food blog, and has been around much longer than family frolics); I had warned readers I would only have posts sporadically all summer, due to our cycling trip. I actually kept up pretty well, right up until August. So it was time to give it the attention it was due. I just put up a post on 'my italian kitchen' and one called 'sangria---and the pitchers they live in.' And I have a few more in the oven...

Okay, that covers the quick update of miscellaneous, random events from the past week. But still, enough to jog one's memory years down the line...