Italy Trip 2011: Family
Our annual trip to Italy has come and gone. This year, just like last, only Keegan and I made it across the pond. Fortunately, every year the trip gets a little less difficult, and the pile of baggage is a little smaller.
Can’t you tell from the arrival photo? Don’t forget last year I had 7 pieces of carry on, while this year I only had 4: my carry on, my purse, Keegan’s backpack (which he carried for some of the trip) and the car seat. Oh, the car seat: remember the 17 lb I had carry on my back??? Well, once again it was worth the pain and suffering, including fighting with a flight attendant that did not bend his rule of “3 year old or younger”. Keegan slept in it, up to 6 hours at a time, and quietly sat in it, buckled, for hours. What’s not to love? It compensates for sore muscles. We tried British Airways this time, and I have to say it was great for many reasons:
1) you leave at night time and arrive at night time
2) you fly 10/12 hours straight in a large airplane , so plenty time for sleep or relaxing or walking up and down
3) you land at Linate airport, only 20 minutes away from home (vs. Malpensa, 1.5 hr)
4) you ship your bags directly to the destination without having to get them and transfer them at the first port of entry in US
Also, the planes are nicer, with individual monitors and movie library, the flight attendants are actually nice and pleasant and you can request child meals. If I did not have all that weight with me, the layover would have been nice too, since London Heathrow Airport is like a large shopping mall.
As always, these two weeks flew by. As always it took Keegan 1 week to get adjusted, and his sleeping and going to bed was somewhat troublesome for the whole trip. It was at time so frustrating I went to buy the Italian translation of Go The F…To Sleep, renamed Fai ‘sta C..o di nanna and wonderfully translated. I am waiting for the audio book, narrated by the Italian Samuel L. Jackson. (-: You should have seen the disgusted face the late 50’s cashier gave me when she rung it up. OBVIOUSLY it is not targeted at her, and OBVIOUSLY she does not have a three years old that does not sleep. The only surprising thing was that the book was displayed in the Children Help Section, next to the serious book on raising children.
Other than the usual sleep issues, though, we had a great time. It was wonderful to spend time with family and friends. While we did not do any special trip, spending time together was priceless. Keegan got re-acquainted with his grandparents right away, and they were laughing and playing together from the airport. Nonno and Nonna invented many new games to keep him entertained and he was just loving all the attention.
Reading new Italian books was always fun, but his absolute favorite were the books I used to read when I was young. My dad kept most of my toys and books, and it was fun, even for me, to rediscover them. Disney 3 little pigs combined with the old VHS tape of circa 1950 animation was a hit. He has been singing these songs ever since.
more reading
And talking about my toys, my old Barbie Doll House was brought up again. Granted, Keegan used it for all sort of creatures, not just Barbies (which were pretty abused in the bath already), but still, I thought it would make a nice blackmail photo for when he is older and dating…
We also went for our annual visit to The Natural History Museum, another blast from the past for me: it was one of my favorite places to go. This year, since Keegan has been more and more interested in Dinosaurs we visited also the fossils area. They had huge recreations of entire dinosaurs skeletons as well many other animals bones and skulls. It was pretty cool.
watch out for the T. Rex
stegosaurus and footprints
my all time favorite, Triceratops
And since the museum is inside a large park, there was the obligatory Merry Go Round…and round…and round…up to 9 rides at a time. These grandparents are really spoiling him. (-:
The same park also has wonderful places to watch Koi fish and turtles, and to climb and play.
Eating great food is also another wonderful part of our trip, and Keegan and I indulged in delicious soups, pastas, and of course breads, pizza, focaccia and gelato. The round little focaccias where one of his favorite, along with his liquid yogurt.
Keegan was also thrilled of spending time with his cousins, aunt and uncle. Fortunately they are still young enough they enjoy playing with a little one, and they showed him off at school. They visited us…
…and we visited them at their house, where Keegan could play soccer with his cousin and his friend. I am not sure how he is not falling down after these kicks, but he does not. Maybe we should enroll him in a soccer school.
not very graceful, but effective
They really got along great, and Keegan was so excited about having them around…He was also very sad when it was time to leave.
Despite random sicknesses, we were able to have nice dinners all together and even got the chance to take our annual group photo in my parents’ living room. It is fun to compare them, year after year.
