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| FUN IN ISRAEL WITH COUSIN SIVAN |
We left Thailand for Israel and had a fantastic 2 weeks with family and friends. Eating amazing food, playing in the sun and relaxing while Safta (Itay's mom) took great care of us. From Israel we flew to Rome. Knowing we had only 5 days in Rome, it was quite the whirlwind experience for a family who is used to taking it super sloooowwwww. After being in Asia for 7 months and living out of one duffle bag- our clothes are torn, mismatched, out-of-season and totally unacceptable for Italy. What to do? Nothing. We are accepting that we seem to stand out a bit, we look like a bunch of vagabonds- but not to despair- WE ARE LOVING ITALY! Finding all sorts of new ways to cure our self esteem issues.
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| WITH POPPY IN ISRAEL |
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| WITH COUSINS IN ISRAEL |
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| WITH SAFTA. AVIGAIL TURNS THREE! |
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| ON THE TRAIN IN ROME |
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| PARK BORGHESE- ROME |
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| METRO -ROME. LOVING ALL THE ESCALATORS |
On our first day- the girls screamed "temple!" at every Church. That opened the door to the concept of Christianity. When Avigail saw a picture of the new Pope- she pointed and squealed "Poppy!" (My father.) Naia and Amit were hysterical at that. And the grand finale of funny first moments in Europe was that they all thought the Colliseum was Angkor Wat! So much explaining to do. Poor little souls - so confused by the world. We realized after a few days in Rome, that there was no way we were staring in any more lines and we would experience all the sights from the lovely piazzas in front of the sights. Hopefully none of these places plan to dissapear any time soon. Please do not question us on any sights in italy- probably we just saw them from the outside while we sat in the sun outside and ate pizza.
Oh and so much for being a Vegan. We cannot seem to get enough of gelato, cheese, pizza, pasta, cappuccinos and my newest addiction- CANNOLI. It is not fair- every day I vow to stay away from it all and then inevitably I lose the battle. Practically scarfing it all down at once. I need Vegans Anonymous.
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| PIZZA! |
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| COLLISEUM |
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| HOW WE ROLL |
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| PANTHEON |
Tuscany was a DREAM. Spring time brings a sea of gold, yellow, purples and blues to the rolling hills. Hay stacks and sheep dotting the hillsides, bright sun and the bluest sky. Oh and all those ancient villages are pretty sweet with mazey streets, cutesy shops, grand piazzas, beautiful churches and did I mention they all have fantastic gelato. We were driving around looking at villas for my May 2014 Tuscany Retreat and were able to visit many farms, driving on windy back roads, all around the countryside. We did stop a few times at some amazing hot springs.
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| TUSCANY |
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| PLAYGROUND FUN |
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| SAN GIMNIANO |
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| SAN GIMNIANO |
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| SAN GIMNIANO |
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| LOVING EACH OTHER |
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| HOW CUTE ARE THEY? |
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| TWO HEADED SHEEP |
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| BEAUTIFUL TUSCANY |
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| ANOTHER WONDERFUL HAMLET IN TUSCANY |
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| PLAYGROUND FUN |
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| THE HOUSE THAT WE RENTED- CIRCA 1100 |
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| MONTEPULCIANO |
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| MONTEPULCIANO |
Once again, I am blown away by the wonder of being with my family. People keep asking if it is hard. Hard? We are completely bonded, close, connected and in love. The girls are a tight team and play together all the time, caring for each other, laughing, rolling around, and playing in the piazzas on the scooters that we found. They say hello to everyone, smile at strangers (horrors!), and are in the purest space.
We are heading to the Cinque Terre tomorrow. Five villages cropped on the side of the mountain in north west Italy. We will then make our way to France.
Love and Light to all of our friends!
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| MEDIEVAL WINE CELLAR! MONTEPULCIANO |
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| MONTEPULCIANO |
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| SCOOTER FUN |
