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We gladly got in the car directed to Sestri Levante, because the temperature in Milano was moving from hot to sweltering. The drive was fast, without much traffic, and soon we were back to my childhood beach town, and more importantly, for Keegan at least, back to the the awesome Vis-aVis hotel. I guess he learned from me to love fancy hotels, or maybe we simply spoiled him by always going to nice hotels.

I love the Aperitivo Time at the hotel: whether poolside or on the amazing deck, I thoroughly enjoyed a few of them and so did Keegan.

Sestri was mostly the same, with two big exceptions:
• our favorite focaccia place, Tosi, a Sestri’s istitution closed for good. This was devastating news, because no other place in town is able to replicate the perfect recipes, and the wonderful mix of savory and sweet treats.
• There is now a fisherman statue in the Baia Del Silenzio, a wonderful addition to the fisherman bay.

I even met a couple of childhood friends, Leo and Roberto, the latter I have not seen in almost 10 years. It was nice to catch up, even if briefly.

The week was perfect. The weather was sunny, and even if it was a little too hot for my taste, we spent so much time in the water and in the air conditioned room that it did not matter. Cinzia and Nara reached us on Saturday, and Samir and Sandro arrived on Sunday.

As always we ate too much and consumed too much ice cream and sweets. What a tough life! I was a little sad Matt was not with us, but we managed to have a great time anyway. Mandatory pedalo’ day was Wednesday. It was strange to be the only adult. We had fun, but again, the novelty gone Keegan, got a little tired of it.

If nothing else, we got to swim in  clean water, and it was a great excuse to take pictures with the kids.

On the last day at the beach, we spent a long time swimming, diving and playing in the water. Samir was able to grab two hermit crabs from the bottom. I have learned the name for them is paguro in Italian. We watched them for a while before sending them back to their home.

After lunch, I usually spent a little more quiet time, alone, at the beach, swimming, sunbathing or reading. It was very relaxing and very welcomed.

As always, I do think that the kids had the most fun at the pool. This year there were more kids, even a couple of American ones, and Keegan and his cousins were always willing to invite them to play along.

Keep Away was one of the favorite games, like the traditional girls vs. boys fight for the ball. I can’t deny the adults joined in quite often.

Human towers were also a big hit. Even Keegan tried to lift Nara: he was able, at least, to emerge from the water.

Diving, however, was the all time favorite, and the old diving board saw a lot of use and inventive dives.

The inflatable dragon was brought to the pool especially as a photo prop on the last day. He made it safely to San Diego with us. Will we use it again?

Pool time often meant a reading break for me, when not busy exercising with the daily Aquagym program. I also enjoyed looking at clouds and guessing what they look like. Check out this one below: what does it look like to you? See my interpretation below…no peeking!

To me it looks like a chubby guy, facing left, reading a book!

The food was as always delicious…you can get use to be served appetizer, first, side and second and dessert, all washed down by a great glass of wine every night. And what incredible sunsets we got to see! They even moved us to the window table after the first two days for a better view.

two of the amazing sunsets at Sestri Levante

The only “negative” was the length of the meals, which was very difficult for Keegan. We all tried to entertain him, especially the cousins, with different games. When everything else failed, goofing around worked well.

The elegant restaurant gave us the chance to wear different, nice clothes every night and to try new hairstyles… well at least us girls.

We even convinced Keegan to wear something that was not soft pants and a t-shirt for the last dinner. Sandro’s mom gave him this outfit: isn’t he dashing in it?

This dinner was a special one, not only because it was our last, but also because we were all present to celebrate my dad’s 78th birthday!! We all got a special outfit on, and took lots of pictures.

Picture time for the cousins as well

After dinner, it was present’s time.

 

Cinzia choose a great photo with my parents and all the kids, and made it into a pillow. The kids positioned themselves just like to photo: is this a start of a new tradition? We will try to create those never-ending pictures…

The last night was special for a couple of other things: Keegan got finally to play “macho men” with Samir. They have been too busy playing Angry Birds and Star Wars Angry birds to have time… If you ever need inspiration, just look at this photo: don’t you feel like you are ready to conquer the world?

Also, that night, Sandro, I and the kids went out for a walk: Keegan went out the previous night and loved to be out after dark, so we had to go out again. Besides, my mom promised him he would try the jumpy ropes on the beach, and once a promise is made, he will never forget. Both Nara and Samir joined him.

In the background, some amazing fireworks were going off, for the third day in a row: I guess a celebration of a saint of some kind. Well, we took them as an early 4th of July show, since we will be missing the real thing.

And just like that our beach vacation was over, as was our Italian vacation. We spent Saturday driving back to Milano, shopping for the last few things and packing. Birgit, Giada’s mom came by to say goodbye and brought a beautiful photography book and a cool Milano mug for Keegan.

As always, leaving was very difficult for everyone. At least the trip went well, and Keegan was pretty good and even caught some sleep, on his own initiative.

We landed almost an hour early, so for the first time, we were the ones  waiting. Even with sadness, it was good to get home, and especially to see Matt feeling a lot better. While is taking us a few days getting adjusted to the time and our new routine, the happy memories will help us in the transition. Looking forward to fun summer camps and onward to Second Grade.

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2015 is a very important year for Milano. After years of fervent preparations, discussions, and controversy, the Milano Expo 2015,”Feeding the Planet – Energy For Life” opened its doors at the end of May.

Of course, this being Italy, not everything was 100% ready, and the site for buying tickets had lots of glitches. Plus, the protesters that started with pacific demonstrations turned violent on opening day, starting a real riot, that burned and destroyed stores and streets.

Despite all this, the Expo went on as scheduled, and you could feel the excitement everywhere. Many areas of the city were decorated with flags or banners, and many signs were spread all over the city to direct visitors. New project were finished, like the Darsena or the improvements at the Malpensa airport. New structures were created for info and shopping in front of the Castello Sforzesco, where last year grew a corn field, to kick off the final preparations. I am not sure they really add much to the square, so hopefully they will be gone after n this year.

Since I landed in Milano, everyone, and I mean everyone, was urging me to go visit it. Honestly, I was not that interested. It seemed to be a big waste of time, and I postponed it. On the last day in town, before the beach, I finally decided to go. Thank you everyone who pushed me to visit, especially dad, who also provided me with a very useful guide. Thank you dad!

The expo was really amazing. The architecture alone was worth the visit. Between individual countries and clusters there were about 96 pavilions. Click the map to see all the participants or go to the participants link.

On the official site you can also read details on each participating country, in the countries link. While most countries completely ignored the theme and used the expo as a chance to display their main products and to encourage tourism, the few pavilions I was able to visit were very interesting. My criteria for choosing what to see, was: no line, I am going inside.

Though I did not really planned it, I arrived, with a comfortable subway ride, around 1pm. I guess that is the dead hour, because there was no line to buy tickets or to enter. My visit started, as recommended, from Padiglione 0, where different areas showed some of the issues we are facing as we try to feed the planet. I loved the wall of seeds: different sized cases, each containing a different seed. It is a cool idea I would like to try at home

After a great start, I took the free shuttle bus and went all the way to the end, trying to go against traffic. I guess it did help a bit, but of course there were still plenty of people and that turned into a real river, after 7pm, when prices drop to 5 Euro. All pavilions are flanking the main road, Decumano, where parades, installations and special events happen. It was covered, fortunately, as it was absolutely sweltering. I do have to admit that, even if the signage was horrifying and impossible to decipher, the organization was excellent: shuttles passing every few minutes, lots of free water stations (including sparkling water), lots of clean bathrooms, and plenty of food.

Marocco’s was one of my favorite pavilions: besides the beautifully detailed outside building, and garden, the interior was a feast of colors, produce, and wonderful smells that immediately immersed you in the beauty of country.

My absolutely favorite was, however, the one from the Republic of Korea.

Unfortunately it was difficult to take pictures to capture the feel of this pavilion full of amazing technology, so I resorted to the web to grab some images.

It felt like a modern art exhibit, and it followed the expo’s theme to boot. This youTube video gives you an idea.

There were many other interesting pavilions. The Netherlands created a carnival like exhibit, Oman recreated a traditional building, inside and out and Poland created its area out of “apple crates”.

The Italian pavilion, situated at the middle of the Expo, close to smaller, regional exhibits, was a beauty from the outside, but the 2+ hours necessary to visit it made me skip it.

Other pavilions I would have liked to see, but I had to skip, due to huge lines, were Germany, Japan, Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico and  Arab Emirates. France, instead, had no lines, and I can see why: it really wasn’t much.

I also liked the Indonesian pavilion, both for the architecture and the interior design, even if, like many others, it looked more like a tourists’ office.

The British pavilion was supposed to make you feel like a bee, starting with an eye-level flower garden, and finishing with a structure that was supposed to make you feel inside a beehive. Mah! Maybe if they had added buzzing sounds…

A special mention must go to the Nepal’s pavilion: it featured incredibly detailed carvings, and detailing, that really made you feel like you were there. It would have certainly been the most beautiful one, but it was sadly left unfinished, when the earthquake hit, and most of the artisans had to go back home. Even in its unfinished state it was really impressive and a real work of art.

What about the USA pavilion? I have to say that, although it had much welcomed misters and presented an extraordinary vertical garden – even if not quite as impressive as Israel – the American pavilion really disappointed.

Following a sloping walkway, you were met by Obama’s message about the importance of the Expo’s theme. A good start.

However, it was not followed up by anything substantial. A few multimedia screens that offered almost no info, and a Walgreen display (?) was pretty much all there was to see, if you exclude the nice terrace overlooking the whole expo. Very disappointing. Almost as disappointing as seeing mcDonald’s and Coke’s presence at a fair centered on food as energy for life.

A curious exhibit I got to visit was the New Holland’s Pavilion, which is actually an American company, supposedly dedicated to sustainable farming machines.Outside the slanted wall, sported a green grass field, a fake pond and a tractor, perched at an impossible angle.

Inside, they had three huge machines to display. and climb on, including a combine (hello Frank): how could I resist?

Another great feature of the expo was the tree of life. An inspiring structure in its own right, it presented water shows throughout the day. The fountains and decorations were coordinated to music.

It was way more impressive at night, I suppose, but I could not stay that late, so I settled on watching the show on youTube

All in all I was there for almost 8 hours! Not bad for something I was not interested into seeing! I got home exhausted, but I really enjoyed myself. After some packing for the beach I could finally rest. So, take it from a skeptic like me: if you are in Milano before October 10, do not miss the Expo 2015.

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Keegan’s school ended on June 17, and we did not waste any time: the same night we boarded a plane for Italy. The flight was smooth and uneventful: we even landed almost on time. I left a little worried, because Matt had not been feeling very well in the previous few days, but fortunately his sister Mary was able to extended her trip and stayed with him the whole time we were away.

We spent the first week in Milano. Incredibly, jet lag was not a huge issue this year, for neither one of us. Keegan slept with me the first night, but it went ok. It was only a few days, but we managed to live them to the fullest. On the first day, I got to see Loredana and Francesca. Loredana gave me a wonderful, long, reflexology massage, while the kids were quietly watching Tv. She is really good.

Mom cooked many delicious meals, and we were even able to enjoy a few all together.

My Milano visit included nice evenings out with old friends, apreretivis, trying delicious food from Valtellina and Milano, and of course Italian pizza. I had a nice dinner with my sister, to chat and catch up. I met a preschool friend for lunch, I went window shopping and of course I spent time with my parents.

Loredana took us to the “Luna Park of idroscalo” (basically like a permanent fair). It had lots of rides, very similar to the ones at the San Diego fair and Keegan had a blast but he only lasted a couple of hours.

Water Rollercoaster

flying ride

Water roller, Keegan’s favorite

Keegan really enjoyed the free fall ride. It consisted of jumping off from a ledge, landing on an inflatable element. He enjoyed it so much he insisted I tried it too. I did, as I do enjoy jumping from high places: it bring me back to my memories of diving off the high rocks at Sestri, when I was a kid. Unfortunately, a few years had passed, so when I landed, I ended up breaking some blood vessels in one of my toes, and, three weeks or more later, it still hurts.

Loredana’s husband, Carmelo, picked us up, and he took us for a little ride, first to see the airplanes land at Linate, and then to check out the Castello Borromeo, an ancient castle just outside Milano, at Peschiera. It is a private property, so we could not visit it, but we posed for photos.

Keegan was somewhat bored, but he immediately perked up when Carmelo asked him if he wanted to drive. Reluctant at first, he accepted and actually drove for a few meters. He was so excited!

One day I was able to drag Keegan for a long walk in the old Milano. We started with the newly restored “darsena”, a mandatory stop, at least according to my parents and all my friends. Its reconstruction restored to the City its harbor and an historical, symbolic site in Milan. I have to admit it is beautiful, both by night and by day, and, at least for now, it seems to be quite a popular spot for the Milano by night.

Besides the harbor itself, the project included the creation of a park and plenty of walkable areas. It also included lots of huge, plastic animals in bright colors, part of temporary exhibition, I believe. Well, the kids loved climbing on them.

colorful snails invading Porta Ticinese

From there we started a long trek to the Duomo, passing for many historic places, like the St. Lorenzo’s columns, moved from an ancient roman site.

We walked, and even shopped, as Keegan became increasingly cranky and hungry. We calmed him with the promise of a nice ice cream after lunch. We stumbled upon a large, stuffed minion, so he had to pose with it.

We finally stopped for lunch at Panino Giusto, a Milano institution. With our stomachs full, we walked some more, and lo and behold, we discovered the relocated Magum Milano Store. It must have been Keegan’s luck, since we had no idea where it moved to. Keegan was blown away. The ice cream was so big, he had to save the chocolate covering for later. I got my usual: vanilla ice cream dipped in white chocolate and pecans and chocolate bits, and drizzled in milk chocolate. Mmmh, delicious!

We also took a ride in the old trolley, the same orange ones you see in San Francisco. It is hard to see from the photo, but the sign above keegan says: Non Sputare” (do not spit). Somewhat, it seemed appropriate.

We walked so much we ended up in Piazza Duomo, which inspired him to go on top, but we postponed it to the next day. We were able to push him till Piazza San Babila, but we had to get on the subway at that point…still very impressive. Click on the map to see the full path.

The next morning, Keegan, my dad and I went to see the Duomo. We got on the elevator and checked out Milano from the top. It is always breathtaking.

Contrast: duomo’s guglia and he new skyscrapers

Piazza del Duomo

Palazzo Reale

with nonno

Of course, part of the Duomo was covered by scaffolding: the building is so big that once they finish cleaning it, they have to start again. In fact, it is called “La Fabbrica Del Duomo” or Duomo’s factory. At least the famous, gold plated Madonnina (little Madonna), symbol of Milano, was visible.

We also noticed something new: a few modern sculptures, scattered on the top. It made for a strident contrast, and one, in particular, seemed somewhat inappropriate for the location. What do you think?

Once we got back down, Keegan wanted to see the inside of the church. Well, I do not if it is due to the Expo 2015, but now you have to buy tickets to get inside, unless you are attending religious functions. This is exactly what we told the guards, but it was not really a lie: once inside, Keegan and I lighted candles for Matt…and Keegan lit one for himself, so he could have enough money when he grows up. He has his priorities straight. Maybe our talks about finances have left a mark.

Two of our candles are at Keegan’s left, on the bottom row.

Of course one of our favorites activities is spending time with our family, and Keegan was delighted to be able to hang out with his cousins and visit them at home to meet their cat. Naraiana, who is becoming quite the cook, tried to involve Keegan into making some fresh pasta…

It was absolutely delicious! So the first week really flew by, and we got ready for the week at the beach, at Sestri Levante, the event Keegan has been waiting for the whole yea. And to be honest, so did I.

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Wow, this year really flew by. Before we knew it, we were at the end of First Grade. It is somewhat of a big deal, because Kindergarten and First Grade are called primary, and have their own playground. Starting from Second Grade, he will move to the big playground, with everyone from 2nd to 6th grade.

Serious school work finished at the end of May, and the last couple of weeks were filled with fun activities. MBMA Spirit week meant that every day kids were following a particular theme: opposite day, crazy hair days, twin day (dressing like a friend) and of course, wearing a MBMA shirt day.

They also had a couple of field trips. The fist one was in walking distance: the grandfather of one our the kids had a chicken coop, so all the kids went over to check out the chickens. They also got to visit the San Diego Botanical Garden, a beautiful place, just north of San Diego. It includes many different plant areas, sculptures and kids’ areas.

The kids played, discovered plants, treasure hunted…but mostly they goofed off.

After reading the famous story, Stone Soup, the class decided to make their own. According to wikipedia:

Stone Soup is an old folk story in which hungry strangers trick the local people of a town into sharing their food: a good confidence trick that benefits the group from combining their individual resources. The story is usually told as a lesson in cooperation, especially amid scarcity.

All the kids brought an ingredient, stone included, and they cooked the soup in the classroom, and shared it. Imagine Keegan’s joy in eating a soup containing peas, beans, onions and other stuff. He did try a bite, though. It is probably a coincidence, but check out the face in the photo.

End of school also means celebration. Room 12 won a Jamba Juice party (I don’t really remember why).

Keegan also received two special recognitions: perfect attendance (no absences or tardies) – which came with a shiny $1 coin – and the running club certificate. Before class starts, kids who wants to, get to run some laps. These laps are counted and tallied. Each lap should be about 1/4 mile. (being very generous). Well, Keegan really started enjoying this, and he really pushed himself to run as many laps as he could. So, what was the final tally? 520 LAPS!! This is approximately 150 miles! He run most laps in the school in 2014-2015.

Running club was wonderful for many reasons: he made him use up some energy before school, it made him exercise, and he built up his self confidence. He is so very proud of his running skills. Does that mean that now he will hike or run races without complaining? Of course not. He only likes to run when he runs with his friends…

In any case, we celebrated the accomplishment with a trophy and a medal, and our own award ceremony.

We had our final teacher-parent conference as well. It went great. Both teachers complimented Keegan not only on his great academic achievements, but also on his “growing up”. He is working hard at self control, and he is trying to be a good role model. Both teachers keep on telling him he is a natural leader, that people are drawn to him, and for this reason he should be a good example.

I can attest to that. He does not go by unnoticed, especially by girls. I have witnessed, more than once, girls lunging at him and professing their love. He is usually gets annoyed, but I bet he will miss this when he is older. His greatest fan is a “spitfire” girl, called Zara. She is adorable, and with a strong personality. One day, she told me that she knows that Keegan does not love her as she does him, but that they will still get married one day. During a free work day, she created love cards for three boys, but she admitted she likes Keegan best. This is the card. Note the very elegant writing style: it makes you forget she spelled Keegan’s name wrong.

Keegan insists he does not like her, and that she is annoying, since she is always trying to get his attention by bugging him. He is glad they will be separated next year.

The school year end was marked by the Annual Spring Sign Show. This year the theme was “Great Song Writers”, at least in theory. In reality, it was a strange hodgepodge of songs, from Judy Garland to the the pop sensation, Farrell Williams. The kids were cute regardless. Most of the songs they sang were about rainbows, so their costume included rainbows socks and headbands or suspenders.

with his buddy Francisco

As always, they started the show, since they are the youngest kids. They played three adorable songs. That went by very fast. I wish I could say the same for the rest of the show, that dragged on and on.

After their performance, they quietly exited and went back to their class to watch movies and eat snacks.

And what about the parents? We had of course to sit through the rest of the performance, a good 1.5 hours plus, since all kids would come back to sing the finale.

For the finale, Zara was positioned in front of Keegan and boy did she get into it. She was dancing and shaking, while most of the other kids were as still as statues. What a personality! Next to her, the blond girl is Audrey, another of Keegan’s fans, and another strong personality kid.

The last weekend before the school end, we had a very busy weekend. Matt and I started early. He took a day off, and we spent time together, watching movies, eating out and just hanging out. it was fun. Saturday was San Diego Fair Day. I guess the novelty wore off, since Keegan was not that interested and he got bored quickly. Fortunately there were demonstration from the fire department that kept him very occupied.

On Sunday, we celebrated and early Father’s day, since we were going to be in Italy the following weekend.We cooked a nice crumb cake for Matt, and gave him his presents. He got a couple of Star Wars t-shirts and wore one right away.

We can definitively say we finished the year with a BANG! Onwards to Second Grade!

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