Family Time, More Family, and Preggo update

 Weeks 17 and 18 brought a lot of family time and some interesting new pregnancy experiences. It's interesting how each week things change during pregnancy. But first, the past two weeks have given Josh and I lots of time with our familes. The weekend after Easter we headed up to northern MN to spend time with Josh's family. His brother Casey married his high school sweetheart Leslie, and it was a great time to catch up with everyone and have some fun. In Milan before we flew to MN we found a chocolate egg for Easter with Pooh on it and we had to buy it for Josh's cousin Amy. She is in LOVE with Pooh. She was so excited because inside the egg was a coin purse with all of the characters pictured. These eggs are the typical candy given to kids in Italy on Easter.

Cousin Amy and her Pooh Bear coin purse

 After our trip to MN, we flew back to Milan just in time for the arrival of my Uncle Ted and his wife Alice. They have been on a two and a half month (or maybe longer?) road trip of Europe. They started in Paris, drove down to Spain, then across the coastline of the Mediterranean to Italy. We were able to spend some time with them for a few days in Milan and show them all of our favorite spots. Including the city center with the Duomo, Galleria, Castello Sforzesco, and Pizzeria Spontini. We were also able to get tickets to see DaVinci's "Last Supper" after many months of trying. We also brought them up to Lake Como to Bellagio and Villa Carlotta (more on that and "The Last Supper" later). Overall, we had a great time with them and it was great to see more family in Milan.

Bellagio, Lake Como

Outside Castello Sforzesco

In addition to the family fun, weeks 17 and 18 of pregnancy have been pretty good. The flight back to Milan was a little uncomfortable (mainly because my back was sore from the uncomfortable seat), and my feet seriously swelled!! After being in heels all day on Saturday for Casey and Leslie's wedding, then getting on a plane the next day, my ankles balooned. I had some serious kankles for a few days. But thankfully they have gone back to normal!! Now I understand when people say how good it feels to put their feet up! I could almost feel the swelling go down instantly!

This morning I had an ultrasound and it was so much fun!! Everything looks good and I was able to see little Bambino moving up a storm! I could see the heart beating, the stomach, and the legs and arms moving. I could also see the bones that have formed in the arms/legs. He/she was even nodding his head! It was pretty amazing. I'm not able to feel the movement yet, but hopefully soon!

Pizzeria Spontini with the Pizza Nazi, Alessandro

Cannoli for their anniversary

Right now, Josh has the camera (and our pictures from Como) in Belgium. Next weekend we'll be in Amsterdam for Laura Lew's birthday and Queens Day. I'm so excited!!! I'll post more updates with pictures after that. Ci vediamo! Ciao!

Andiamo a San Siro a vedere l'Inter!

IE: Let's go to San Siro to see Inter!

About a week and a half ago Josh, Andrea, Marina and I went to the Inter Milano soccer game at the world famous San Siro Stadium. Josh and I were so excited to finally see what a soccer game is like in Europe. We are huge sports fans and really enjoy seeing professional sporting events. Before moving here to Italy, we had season tickets to see the MN Vikings and I miss going to the games every Sunday! It seems like something is missing without that! Well, this was our chance to get a piece of the sporting action here in Italy.

Our view of the field

San Siro is HUGE!! It holds about 80,000 people (a lot more than the 65,000 of the Metrodome), and it looks like a huge parking ramp when you walk up to it. On the outside there are these tall ramps (like the exit out of a parking ramp) that just wind their way up the corners of the stadium. They look like a big corkscrew. The interesting part was that we could only go in one entrance for our section; we had to walk up about 4 flights of stairs, then give them our ticket to get to our seats. We had to use the restroom right away... and that was an experience!! It was probably the WORST bathroom I have seen yet in Italy (and I've seen some doosies). The smell was awful, and it was a hole in the ground with no toilet paper and no soap to wash your hands. Talk about wanting hand sanitizer!! Mental note: next time at San Siro, hold it!

The seats

We entered the stadium and noticed our seats were really dirty. They were muddy, and it looked like pigeons were living right above them. This was surprising to me, but I guess I'm spoiled by the indoor seating at the Dome. Everyone was sitting on newspaper, so we followed suit. The game was great and Inter won 2-1 vs. Lazio (a team from Rome). It was fun to see the crowd go crazy every time they scored, then sing the team chant. All in all, it was a great experience! We got to see a European soccer match (crossing that off the bucket list!) and Inter won! Andrea was super excited about that. The only downfall was that the fans were really calm. I thought that they would be all rowdy and going crazy, but I guess to see that we have to go to the Inter vs. AC Milano game. Maybe next year.

Goal for Inter! This guy looks like he's going to jump onto the field!

Earthquake!

Yesterday morning I was lying in bed when all of a sudden the bed started shaking. I wondered if maybe it was just a rumble from a big door slamming downstairs or something... Then, I saw the wardrobe start shaking, and the doors out to our balcony started shaking and the glass was rattling. I jumped out of bed and felt the floor moving too! I thought, "Holy crap! We're having an earthquake! Do they have earthquakes in Milan??" Well, as it turns out, they do. I ran to the doorway of the bedroom to "take shelter" (because that's what they always taught us in school, even though we almost NEVER have earthquakes in MN), and I stood in the doorway until it was over. I looked into the hallway and everything was moving! Our wine glasses were swaying on our wine shelf, and it sounded like everything in the house was rattling. Luckily nothing broke and everything was ok. It MAYBE lasted a minute, but it seemed like an eternity in my mind. I just kept thinking "Is this really an earthquake??" Since I have never experienced one in MN before, this was a new thing for me. It was a scary experience to start the day with!

I checked the news a few hours later to see if it really was an earthquake, or if it was all in my imagination. Since Josh is traveling right now he didn't experience it and couldn't back me up. Well, it was definitely a quake and it was a 4.9 on the Richter Scale. I really hope I don't have to experience that again anytime soon!! I feel for my family and all of those people that live with earthquakes on a regular basis out on the west coast. Yikes!

swissinfo- earthquake hits northern Italy

The In-Laws come to Italy!

My in-laws (Josh's mom Laura, and her husband Mike) arrived on October 6th and were a welcome sight! It was so great to see family in Italy!! Some people were shocked that I was so excited to see my in-laws, but what can I say... they are fantastic! I consider myself lucky that I married into such a wonderful family!

a regular that works on the street selling flowers/animals
made out of vegetables

 
They arrived in Milan in the morning and we had most of the day to bum around Milan (and try to keep them awake). They didn't sleep much on the flight over, so they were running mainly on adrenaline (and coffee) that day. Of course, I got a sinus infection a few days before they arrived. This seems to always be the case when I see them! Last year at BOTH Thanksgiving and Christmas I was sick when I saw them. I'm seeing a pattern here... Luckily we had some mucinex that took care of the problem. That stuff is my new best friend :)

the  massive bronze doors at the duomo

We showed them our apartment, then went downtown to show them the center of Milano. We grabbed lunch near my offices at a little caffetteria, then walked to grab some American coffee (a welcome sight to Mike!!), and toured the Doumo and Galleria. Josh and I recently learned that one of the mosaics in the Galleria has a "hole" that you stick you heel into, make a wish and turn around once in. Italians are very superstitious so there is always something that you touch or do for good luck. Apparently doing this will make your wish come true. So, we had to try it for ourselves. Only time will tell if my wish comes true :) And no... I'm not going to tell what it is!

main sanctuary inside the Duomo

a creepy statue in the Duomo that catches
 my eye every time

bronze doors at the Duomo- you rub the
legs to ward off bad luck

At the Galleria

Of course, we also had to show them Via Monte Napoleone (the famous shopping street) and show them the Ferragamo store. A little background on that- Laura's ex-brother in law lives here in Italy (Josh and I call him Uncle Joe and see him pretty regularly). He currently works for Ferragamo, so Laura was curious to see what he does. She was excited to see the men's store that was just completely remodeled and opened about a month ago. Although, she may have felt a little shy because she didn't want to go in.


We hit the grocery store after that to pick up food for dinner. I was so preoccupied with cleaning and recovering from my sinus infection in the week leading up to their arrival that I didn't have time to run to the grocery store. So... we subjected them to our grocery store Esselunga. They enjoyed it! I forget how fun it is to see how grocery shopping is in other countries. Josh wanted them to get the Milanese cuisine that he has perfected, so he made some Risotto alla Milanese. Of course, it was a big hit!

The placement of the hole was interesting...

At this time (about 8PM) they were so exhuasted that Laura could hardly keep her eyes open at the table. Josh enjoyed making fun of her for that! But we decided it was time for bed.

The next day we were on our way to Venice. Stay tuned!

Gotz comes to Italy #4: Lago di Como and... Hollywood!

Varenna

On Wednesday, the day before heading to the Domolmiti, Gotz and I got up early (well early for me!) to catch the 8:30AM train to Varenna on Lago di Como. With our muffins that we purchased yesterday in hand, we walked briskly to the train station (it's really close to our house) and purchased our tickets. After looking at the tickets, it showed the destination as Varenna, so that’s what we were looking for on the big boards with the platforms listed. Of course, this was not the final destination of the train itself, so that city was not on the board. This confused me and Gotz!! We were running out of time, and at this point the train was leaving in less than five minutes. I found a guy that told us which platform, and we literally ran to the train. We boarded and sat down, then the train was leaving. That was a close one!!

  

Looking towards Menaggio from Varenna

Varenna from the ferry

The trip is typically one hour, but our train was delayed for some reason, so it took an hour and a half to get to Varenna. But when we finally arrived, it was a beautiful sunny morning, with a few clouds. We grabbed a coffee, and then we were on our way! That day we spent time in Varenna, Bellagio and Menaggio. We started by walking around Varenna and it was a cute small town with a really old church! It dated back to the 1100's, but there was a church on the property before that. Apparently it was the first church in the Lake Como area. Gotz got a great shot of the medieval door, but for some reason we didn't take pictures inside.

Welcome to Bellagio!

Some fall colors starting to show

The perfect wine pour for tasting!

We took the ferry from Varenna to Bellagio (about 15 minutes), and arrived to see that all of the tour buses for the day were just dropping off people. We were in a tourist haven!! But, we still enjoyed it. Navigating through all of the people, we walked up the hill and window shopped. I also showed Gotz where we had a wine tasting with Jamie when she visited this spring. That shop is so much fun with its automatic pours of wine! We walked all the way up the hill and out of town a bit to see the other side of Bellagio. If you've ever seen the map, Bellagio is out on a peninsula on Lago di Como. The city is on one side of the peninsula, but you can walk up the hill to look out on the other side of the lake. Which is exactly what we did. It was nice! There weren't many people, mainly locals, and the view was nice.

a fun archway in Belaggio

After enjoying a few hours of walking around Bellagio and admiring all of the silk scarves (this is one of my weaknesses!!), we decided to make a quick trip to Menaggio. The ferry was about 30 minutes because it stopped at Varenna on the way to Menaggio. By the point we arrived, we were getting a little tired and needed refreshment. So, gelato and coffee were in order! We walked around a little bit, but weren't impressed with the town. Apparently we didn't go far enough because Josh said there is a cool city center on a hill (we missed that). We decided to cut it short to get back for the midafternoon train back to Milan. We had plans to hit the clubs that night, so we wanted some time to nap before going out. Our ferry back to Varenna was about five minutes late which didn't give us much time to get up the hill to train station. When we arrived at the platform, we realized that we missed the ticket office (about halfway down the hill into town)... So bless Gotz, he ran down to get tickets. Although... he wasn't sure where the office is, so he ran all the way back to the pier where the ferries dock. After running around town for a few, he arrived in time to see the train arriving. We quickly stamped our tickets and we were off! Phew!

I napped on the train back into Milan and Gotz was following the route on his iPhone. We got home and relaxed for a bit, made dinner and when Josh got home from work we all ate dinner together. It was like our own little family dinner :) We had a cocktail, got ready, and then went to Corso Como. This area is known for its clubs and nightlife. We arrived around 11:30PM, so we had a drink and waited until about 1AM to go to the club. We decided on Hollywood- this place is famous here. The club really doesn't get going until between 1-2AM, and stays open until 6AM. We stayed for a while, and I danced liked I've never danced before! It's been a while since we've gone dancing, and I was pretty excited about that!! As we were dancing, the place started to fill up, and a group of about 10 models walked in to take their reserved seats near the dance floor. Of course... all the guys in the place started flocking and dancing near them. It was pretty funny!! The guys in Italy are really aggressive- so if you're a single guy looking to meet someone, you better be on your game! If you are a single girl... be on your guard! It was a fun night out, but we had to leave just as the club was heating up. We left about 2:30AM, grabbed a cab back to our neighborhood, bought donor kebaps at about 3AM (omg!! sooo good!) and went to bed. As much as we wanted to stay out, we knew that we had to get on the road early the next day to get to the Dolomiti. We were all too excited about that to stay out all night. Hollywood was fun and I am definitely going back there!! Maybe when Lew visits in November :)

Hollywood! (you can see the men swarming in the background,
trying to get the attention of the models by the wall)

Coming up... the Dolomiti!!

Gotz comes to Italy #3: don't forget the cannoli!

After the fun we had in Cinque Terre, and recovering from Pizzeria Spontini, we started a new work week with Gotz here. I was starting lessons with two new groups that Monday and was in lessons all afternoon. At the same time, Josh was at work so Gotz was on his own that day. He's a big boy though and managed. He took some great pictures of the Galleria and the Duomo that day. Here they are:

On Tuesday, there was supposed to be a metro transit strike so we decided to stay in Milan and bum around. In the morning we stopped by the Museum of Natural History which was pretty cool. It was only 3 euros and they had a great collection of animals and reptiles. Since goats are Josh's favorite animal, I had to get a picture for him! After that, Gotz and I walked to the center of the city and were on a hunt for Cannoli. We had lunch, stopped by my offices so I could grab a few things for my lessons, and then we were on the hunt. There was a great pastry shop that we found when Jamie was here this spring, so we started there. They have amazing bread and amazing fruit tarts! I thought maybe they would have cannoli... turns out, they don't. After purchasing some delicious looking muffins for breakfast the next day and a fruit tart, we were on our way. So, we moved on to Peck (a famous high end grocery store nearby). They have lots of yummy deserts, including macaroons, but no cannoli.

After two locations I was starting to lose my resolve to not eat everything in sight. It was time for some back up, so I called Josh. He looked online and found a Sicilian Pasticceria near the Duomo, and it was on! Gotz got some gelato and then we made a bee-line over to where Josh said the Pasticceria was. It took us a while, but we finally found it. Yes! They had cannoli! I nicely asked the lady behind the counter for three, and she pulled out three shells and a pastry bag with the filling. She filled them fresh right in front of us, doused them with powedered sugar, added the little pieces of fruit and wrapped them up. This was so exciting! We've been on the hunt for cannoli in Milano for a long time (at least I have been...). I found a place with cannoli- at this point I was hoping they were good!!

That night I was brimming with excitement to try the cannoli to see if they were as good as I remembered. We cooked dinner, then ate our cannoli. They were HUGE! And two people could have easily shared one, but we each took one down. It was Gotz's first time trying them and he enjoyed it. After a large dinner and even larger desert, we were all feeling like some exercise was in order. It may not have been a cardio workout... but we played some bocce ball on the play station. This was another great day with Gotz here, and he was able to see what we do on a daily basis in Milano.

mmm.... cannoli!

The next stop: a day at Lake Como. Then, the Dolomiti!! Stay tuned...

Italy with the Beabouts #1: Milano

After running 8 miles that Saturday morning (had to get in one long run before our week long vacation), I picked up Josh, James and Sofia at the airport and we were all exhausted. They flew in from a conference they attended in Berlin and were looking forward to a week off. After a nap and some refreshments we went down to the center of Milano to see the duomo, La Scala (the famous opera house) and the Galleria (the famous indoor shopping center). We toured the inside of the duomo and saw that the cardinal was giving mass. Sofia was excited because he is apparently one of the favorites to be the next pope. Sofia couldn’t believe that she was witnessing a mass from someone that could be the next pope. She was overwhelmed. We also toured the rooftop of the duomo where you could see the mountains since the air was clear (this is not a normal occurrence… usually its too hazy because of the humidity and smog that you can’t see the mountains from the city). They lucked out with the weather- it was a beautiful 80 degrees, clear and sunny. The week leading up to their visit was a hot week with each day in the 90’s.

Leonardo DaVinci statue outside of La Scala

climbing to the top of the duomo

Spires on the duomo have people, including
this little face we found



looking at the Galleria from the roof of the duomo



They regularly have concerts on the roof
of the duomo in the summer

Creepy gargoyle we found... looks like a platypus

inside the Galleria

We walked around downtown for a while and went home to cook some dinner before going out. Josh cooked a great Risotto alla Milanese- he has made this a few times and it keeps getting better each time. Risotto is not easy to make… it is more of an art than just a meal. It takes a lot of practice and a lot of patience to make it right.

After our tasty meal and feeling full, we rolled out of the apartment to meet up with our friends Marina and Andrea in the Navigli district of the Milan. The Navigli district is an interesting part of town where canals were made to bring in the large pieces of marble used to build the duomo. This area has turned into a nightlife hotspot in the summer time where people sit at tables in the streets along the canal and have cocktails. It was packed with people just walking around and having a good time. It is a very laid back atmosphere where it is the norm to buy a beer/cocktail from a vendor, and walk around while drinking it. There is great people watching here! There are also some great restaurants. Of course, the boys decided they wanted some late night pizza, so they stopped in one of the shops for a midnight snack.



Marina, me and Sofia



James, Josh and Andrea

Salute!

Marina and Andrea are two new friends that we have made in Milano through Josh’s work. Marina works at the Boston Scientific offices in Milano, but is originally from Croatia. Her husband Andrea is from Milan so it makes for an entertaining conversation when you bring up Marco Polo- Croatians say he is from Croatia, but Italians say he was Italian. We established that he lived in modern day Croatia, but at that time it was a part of the kingdom of Venice. So, we decided that he was Venetian. Marina has graciously invited us to visit her home in Croatia, so that will be our next vacation! I'm SO excited for that!

After a fun day/night in Milano, we headed home for some much needed rest before heading out on Sunday morning. James and Sofia enjoyed their time in Milano but were excited to see what else Italy has to offer. Next stop, Venezia!