A Word from the Kids...

Enjoying pizza in Assisi
see all photos »

Nearly a month after their last entries, Grayson and Abby dictated the following, which have been transcribed verbatim.

By Grayson

In Venice, everything is water. You can not walk the streets without seeing water. But, you can’t swim in the water, because people illegally put pee in there. We were on the gondola ride, we saw sewage pipes that drained into the water. That’s why, not once did I touch the water. The gondola ride was awesome, except for the part when I had to sit on the ground. I even drove the boat in the Grand Canal. The next day, in St. Mark’s Square, we went to the Ballistica [sic] of St. Mark and the Campanile. At the top of the Campanile, you could see everything. The only thing I didn’t see was canals. That seems pretty weird, but the Campanile is angled so that you can not see any water except for the lagoon. Weird. . . .After, we fed the pigeons. I held out my hand that was full of seeds, and the pigeons swarmed. They stacked right on top of each other. So, I threw my seeds on Abby, that’s why in all of the pictures, you see them swarming on her.

see all photos »

Abby is a nuisance. It’s crazy having her here for 24 hours a day. The only fun thing is playing with her.

Now, we are in Tuscany. We are on top of a hill, and it seems like you can see forever. I didn’t expect pine trees growing here. Last night, we saw a hedgehog and a wild boar. We only saw the hedgehog for a split second because it was sprinting across the road (or, how fast you call a hedgehog walk). The wild boar was big. We tried to get a photo of him, but an owl scared him away. Plus, all we could have seen was his butt. The mosquitoes here are terrible. Every morning I have new bites. Right now I have about seven. The hot water here is terrible. When I try to take a shower, it takes about two minutes to get the water hot. Then, when it is hot, I can have it too cold, or too hot. Plus, the pool is freezing.

see all photos »

When we’re walking around on the streets, it’s funny to see the outline of different buildings on the same building. (What I mean is, the old building got filled in, but the outline is still there.)

The food here is magnifico. They have wild boar, deer, and a bunch of other crazy foods. But, we’re in Italy, so of course they have pizza and spaghetti. Gelato (Italian ice cream) is great. It’s very creamy, but it’s great. My favorite gelato so far has been at Vivoli, in Florence. I had coffee mousse, but it was more like coffee cream. The problem was, they ripped you off and gave you a petite little cup. Compared to a gelato place in Siena (right by the Campo where they do the Il Palio horse race), where they give you a gigantic serving.

Playing in Perugia (note: Grayson has done too much spinning and is ready to throw up)
see all photos »

The trip so far has been great. Especially the food. In Venice, my grandpa said after dinner, “I wonder why you’re not like the Michelin Man?” It’s especially great not having school, but my homework still is hard. Also fun about the trip is seeing cool places, like Venice, Siena, Nice, and Paris.

By Abby

So far, I’ve been really liking this trip. I’ve been having lots of fun, and I really like doing all the things I wouldn’t be doing at home. It’s really fun thinking about what would be happening at home, and thinking about how lucky I am to be on this trip and doing other things instead. It’s really fun thinking about what other things are going to come later on. I keep thinking about India or Africa, but Mom always says to “stay in the present”. (She’s so mean!) I’ve been thinking about my birthday coming up, and wondering what it will be like to have a birthday in the middle of Italy. I’m wondering about what all the other holidays will be like. It will be interesting to find out. I also can’t wait to go to Turkey, Nepal (hopefully) and some other places that are interesting that I might not be going to, if I wasn’t on this trip. Some places might be cool, because other people would never be there in their whole life, like Ethiopia, Laos, or Turkey. It’s really cool to be thinking that we’re going there, and most people never get to go. I keep dreaming about what it would be like if I was at home. It’s a nightmare! Because, we’re having so much fun, and my friends are stuck in school. Sometimes, I feel kind of guilty that they’re stuck in school, while we’re having so much fun. Sometimes, I miss my family and friends, but then I remember how much fun we’re having, and I remember that they aren’t having as much fun at all, so I’m really glad that we came on this trip.

Some of my favorite things about this trip are (1) that it’s the trip of a lifetime, (2) that we’re not only staying in hotels, but in the middle of nowhere sometimes, and (3) so far, we’ve never been stuck in really gross places. But, we’ll see if that changes. I bet it will. Some things I have really not liked about this trip: (1) sometimes I have had to sleep with Grayson and, I really don’t like that, ew!, (2) sometimes we can’t read the menu, and end up having not so great food, (3) we’re not always having the best time when we’re just about in the middle of nowhere, lost, (4) the car rides aren’t so great. But again, that’s about it.