In Comes Nanny!

What a fantastic way to celebrate Dieter being 1 month old than to bring in a little help. It's like a birthday present that was really intended for myself. :)

So here we are just 3 days away from flying back home to the States for the summer and I'm just now getting to documenting our exciting adventures that we had with Laura, our nanny.

We really hit the ground running as soon as she got here. No jet lag time!

Corralling kids at the library 

The kids took to her right away and now by the end of her stay here, they many a time wanted "Lola" over Mama

Playing with blocks.
Because the books are in Italian.
(Ok, not all)

It was really nice being able to run into a store quickly while Laura played with the kids in the Piazza just outside. For once Stella was getting out of the stroller.

"Wait. Where did Mom go again?"

I made it my goal to go out and see as much of Rome as possible, both to to give Laura a good show and also to see the things I hadn't ventured out to do yet because I didn't have any help.

We really crammed a lot into the first few weeks and it was good, because by week 5 we all got sick and didn't get out half as much as I wanted to.

Laura's first lunch out.

We were walking through Trastevere on one of her first days here and picked out one of my favorite lunch spots. They have fantastic pesto and unique sandwiches for Rome with olive pates and the like.

Of course, with the girls (mostly with Emma) it's all about the bubbly water. Because it makes you giggle.

"Must drink all the bubbly water...I possibly can!"

Although, the giggling didn't really happen this time. We had been walking far to long and the cranky monster was coming out. I managed to get a picture of her "very cranky, not smiling at all" face.

The "Don't Look at Me" Look

We were briefly serenaded by an old violin player. One, that I later learned from my friends who live above a pizza joint, plays the exact same super high speed version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" medley almost every night outside their window. This is his neighborhood I guess.

Violinist

In Laura's first week here we also attended Giacomo's 6th birthday party. Emma, of course was the only kid who didn't speak Italian. And it had been a long day with no nap, so this is about as involved as she got in the game.

Right before the "Go."
But Emma didn't go anywhere.

Fortunately for me, a couple of the other parents spoke some English. There was Spanish man who spoke very English very well, and another Italian mother who knew some.

Stella had just gotten her new cast back on, and so Laura helped a ton with just trying to keep Stella from killing herself on the playground. That's a big job in and of itself.

Playground, food, and strollers = Family party

Here's that little one-month old we spoke of :)

Dad and Dieter

~

We were also very grateful to have Laura help us with all the end-of-the-year banquets. Some the kids could come to, like this New England night, held on the roof terrace. 

Unlike anyone else at the NAC, the Griesbach take up almost an entire table.
Only a select 2 additional people get to be blessed with our conversation.

 It was a pretty casual night and after a while Emma and Stella just started wandering through the kitchen/couch area.They of course kept their perfect manners the whole time. *ahem*

"Does anyone mind if I like the glass?"

Speaking of manners....

I wasn't even aware, until the end of the dinner that there was a Cardinal in our presence. If you look closely, directly behind Leon, you can see Cardinal Law sitting at the table next to us. I did notice that every time Emma went between these two tables she bumped into the old man behind us. I did feel bad about that, but she was gone before I could keep her from doing it again. 

Kids helping themselves to the horderve table.

But it was at the end of the dinner that our friend Nick came up to us and asked if we knew what Emma had said to Cardinal Law. Apparently it went something like this:

Emma:   "Why are you so red?"

Cardinal Law:  "What's red?"

Emma: "Your face. Why's it so red?"

He played if off like he didn't know what she was talking about and I think in the end she decided he had a sunburn. I should have told her to say, "Your Eminence has a sunburn"... you mustn't forget to say "Your Eminence."

Kids do say the darndest things. 

Santa Marinella Beach Day...in April!

It was particularly exciting getting to go to the beach in April...an excursion which could never take place in Maine because it was still snowing.  But we had a very nice sunny week and so decided to find our first beach in Italy. 

Santa Marinella was a beach that many of the seminarians went to and recommended. So we decided to try it out. To get there go you go to the Saint Peter's Train Station (top of the line for the 64 bus) and ride it to Cittavecchia. Then you basically head straight out of the train station and hang a right on the first intersection. Stop when you come to the water. 

As usual, we pass the time on the train by taking pictures in those familiar blue seats. Dieter is not quite as excited as Emma is.

Beach day!

Stella was all smiles as usual.

...At the Fregene train stop. Not there yet!

She sat in that position the entire time,
grinning from ear to ear.

Except when we started to zone out.

She took it down just a notch too. 

It's about a  40 minute train ride with a bit more greenery in the scenery that we get in Rome.

Taking in the sights

There were very few people on the beach, not surprising for the end of April and the middle of the week. It was probably before the official beach season kicked off. Or at least that's what it seemed like by the amount of trash left on the beach. But the water was beautiful!

Can you believe she's only 3?!

We soon discovered after arriving that Stella was afraid of sand. Just like she had been afraid of grass a year ago and wouldn't leave the blanket in the yard, she was now willingly confining herself to the stroller. At first I felt bad, but then I just accepted it and was grateful for how easy she was to watch. She stayed clean, dry, and in the shade for the entire time at the beach. No changing in and out of swimsuits or anything.

Easiest beach kid ever

We practically had the beach to ourselves.

I did manage to go into the water, but it was still pretty cold. Emma and I had a nice time jumping over the waves. She was pretty daring when it came to taking on the cold.

"Ciao!"

Daddy, meanwhile stayed dry too and built a sand fortress in the shape of the NAC.

PNAC sand castle

This was a neat-looking building just behind the beach. Leon liked it.

Beach house envy

We finished up with gelato pops, the same that we found on our way out of Frascati. They were just that good, we had to find them again.

Mmmmm! Lime!

We didn't manage to get to another beach until the first week of June, the last outing before I got sick and kept everyone from having fun....but more to come on that soon!

Frascati Day Trip

For the first time since we got married, Leon didn't have an Easter Sunday mass...and it was fantastic! It made for a nice kick-off to our vacation week. We stuck around for Monday and Tuesday and then on Wednesday morning of the Easter octave we decided to find a nearby city and take off. Within the hour we were on our way to Frascati, Italy.

I really love how our girls go on buses and trains enough here that it feels very normal for them. They're both pros. This was Dietrich's first train ride though, with many more to come.

Happy little travelers

 Stella makes cute faces at the people sitting next to us to while away the time.

An acute case of cuteness

 Emma on the other hand pensively gazes out the window on the fantastic views. A budding philosopher she is.

Seems so much older than just 3 years old.

Beautiful Thinker

 Meanwhile, Leon just puts on the smolder. These sorts of special skills take practice after all.

"I look angry"    ~Leon

Why did we choose Frascati? It was close and had a big cathedral.

Why would we go back there again? Easy:

"I've never felt so good eating pig fat"    ~Leon

Porchetta is a very good reason to go to Frascati. It was flavorful. It was spectacular. I might add that I don't ever eat the pig fat, but this stuff was something that I'd never experienced before. We picked up a package and ate the entire thing with our bare hands, standing in the piazza. Since we arrived during the siesta hours there wasn't anything else open to eat except the porchetta stands. But we happened on one of the better foods that we could find.

We strolled around the medieval streets and got a feel for the city. It was very small. We passed a school and all the everyday shops and just a few restaurants (for the part of town we were in). Here's a turret we found. :)

Frascati and Leon go well together.

We didn't have any major attractions to hit so we just walked around to see what we could see. (Since we had already experienced the porchetta and been so satisfied, it didn't matter if the rest of the day was a dud.)

We spend so much time walking around and looking at boring things like ancient architecture, original Renaissance paintings, cathedrals, and Italian countrysides, that when we pass a playground we try to stop to give the girls a chance enjoy themselves and stretch their legs.

This playground had a big bowl swing.

Rub-a-dub-dub two cuties in a tub

It swung really high and Stella wasn't holding on soooo......

"Man down! We lost one!"

No. She just got bored and moved on to more exciting things like steps. It is not the tunnel that entices her, but the step (which is really a bench?) that allows her to get on top of the table. Or just to a higher step. Either way, she requires help jumping down every time so that she doesn't break her arm.

 When we finished there, we decided to follow a road that was supposed to lead to some church. This is at the bottom of that road. It was narrow with walls on either side.

Little did we know that following the road meant climbing a mountain. The road just kept going up and up with no sign of the church. It seemed like a pleasant enough road so we kept climbing.

Looking down the road, just a fraction of the way up

 Soon there were no more cars on the side, the walls got shorter and the foliage exploded.

Little girl on big hill. 

 It was very fresh and lush and the walk was very quiet, save for all of our panting and asking, "How much farther does this go?" and "Are we sure there's a church up here?"

"Come on Mama! You can catch up to me."

Soon we realized that we'd gone to far up to turn back and that we just had to keep going even though the end was nowhere in sight. Every now and again a car would pass us going up assuring us, that there was something up there. Far, far, up there. I imagined ways we could all climb in the stroller and hitch it to the back of one of those cars. But alas, no.

The real hero of the hike, pushing the stroller the whole way!

 Finally, after a plateau and then a final climb beyond that we found the entrance of something religious. At first it didn't even look like a church but just a little hidden shrine left among the moss covered steps. It seemed that beyond those steps was a church, although it really didn't seem like this was the main entrance. Then it hit me. There aren't many people who walk right up to this church. They all drive and the road to the parking lot veered off to the left of the shrine. There were not enough people walking up the stairs to keep the moss from growing on them.

...and the hike goes on

 It really looked like a scene from a fairy tale the way the trees over hung the uneven stair case up to a church we still couldn't see. In the distance we could see a statue of the Virgin Mary so we knew we were going in the right direction at least.

Almost there!

 (Ok, this picture almost looks creepy with the light playing on Emma's very serious face)

"Join us" ~scary-faced Emma 

This stroller rolled right up the path until that last 25 steps or so. Then we carried it up. Incidentally, just after this day trip, we realized that we managed to snap the frame of the stroller. But don't worry. I duck-taped it back together.

The Stroller Champion

A small Mary statue stood at the entrance of their front steps with not a lot of pomp.

Pomp up the Jam Mary!

Inside there was one Monk circling the small church with rosary in hand. He smiled at us and went on strolling about the church. The church had a simplicity about it, but not at all by neglecting beauty.

The girls are getting used to stopping into new churches, hopping into a pew and saying a prayer. 

"We pray that Stella will be nice to me" ~Emma

We generally keep the church stops quick so the girls end on a good note and don't get too bored. But even in the smallest church I always wish I could stay longer and take in the art and architecture and feel of the chapels.

Important saint with bird

It also makes me wish I could recognized any saint by their portraiture. Every element has a meaning, and sadly, that is usually lost on me. Oh well. At least the beauty isn't. I particularly enjoyed this painting of Our Lady and the Holy Child.

Any depiction with a guy with a spear in hand is usually fun.

The views from this hill top were breath taking. You could see all the way back to Rome and all the space in between. It was a very clear day and beautiful. But I just took a shot of this beauty:

Framed looking over the cities

And that quick little stop completed our mini pilgrimage in Frascati. We must have been hiking up that hill for about 30 to 40 minutes and stayed in the chapel for about 5 minutes. I took a pamphlet on the way out of the church and made note that they hold retreats here. It would be a beautiful place to stop for short respite.

Tall and skinny x 2 

To make the hike up the hill feel a little more complete we ventured just a little further to discover what was all the way at the top: a fancy hotel. Even though the entrance to their driveway was just outside of the churches parking lot, I couldn't believe we could all agree to continue venturing upwards. But we were soooo close, so, up we went!

And I took a selfie when we got there.

They had some nice, fat goldfish in the front.

Big enough for dinner!

...and a little fountain feeding the fish.

What troopers!

The Griesbach's went over the mountain (x3)
To see what they could see...

The way down was blessedly easier. Only a few other things resided there, this sign showing two, and the big entrance to a private palace being another. 

The view was one of the best parts. I love looking over the city and seeing the many different spires sticking into the sky.

Traveling against traffic

Once back into the city we wandered the streets again until we found the main cathedral that we saw featured online.

Leon didn't even bother looking.

I think the outside was way more impressive than the inside. But that just may be that I'm becoming immune to the common design of ancient roman churches.

After that, we wandered the city a little more trying to find a place to eat but it was still during the siesta hours. I think it was around 4pm so it was too late for a lunch but too early for a dinner. It really was a good thing we got porchetta when we first arrived or else we never would have made the end of the day still standing. In the end we decided to just eat a popsicle and catch the next train back into Rome. 

It was a nice breath of fresh air seeing some real greenery and a much smaller city than Rome. It will definitely be the first on many more day-trip excursions. So keep an eye out for more exciting wanderings!

~~