Rome and Pompeii

Upon my apparently spoiled son's request, we went to Rome and Pompeii this weekend.  With Ryan Air flights as cheap as they are, it is hard to turn down a 7-year-old who has a keen interest in ancient ruins.  He's been asking to go to Rome since we moved to Europe and with our time ticking down, we figured we might as well go.

Jason and I went to Rome on our high school trip, nearly 20 years ago (that fact is mind boggling-I cannot possibly be that old!).  I did not enjoy Rome the first time very much.  And, I have to stay I am sticking by that to a point.  Yes, Rome is amazing in the ruins and history.  But, everything else about the city I dislike.  Starting with, tourists.  Yes, I am also a tourist, but the more time I live in Europe and get to enjoy the "hidden" parts of a country, the less I like the big tourist trap places like Rome and Venice.  (I really didn't like Venice-if I had closed my eyes and only listened I would've sworn I was in Tennesse or on a beach in Mexico-no I don't want my name on a grain of rice y'all!) I hate all the overpriced meals and have eaten much better Italian in Germany for goodness' sake.  I don't think just because you point me to a ticket machine in a train station you deserve a tip.  And lastly, would someone please tell Europeans that smoking is bad for you????  Rome has such narrow streets and is so crowded I think I inhaled 4 packs of second hand smoke and sucked on a car's tailpipe each day I was there.  Hence, I now have a horrendous sinus cold.

On the upside, we were there outside of tourist season so it was not as crowded as it could have been.  Pompeii was AWESOME (Naples, not so much).  And, Aidan and Delainey loved it all.  I think that they enjoyed Rome and Pompeii more than most of the places we've been.  They made me print pictures ASAP to take to school and share.  Delainey was so interested in Mt. Vesuvius.  She was worried the whole time we explored Pompeii that it would erupt, and then because it didn't she's acting like she survived it all and is so proud of her picture with the volcano.  Aidan was interested in all the ruins and archetecture (thanks to his new unit at school called "build it").  They both loved the Coloseum and walking around Pompeii.  The best part of this trip for me was watching them soak it all in.

Here we are at the Roman Forum.  They ran out of maps so I don't know exactly what everything is.

Inside the Coloseum.  The kids were sad there were no lions or gladiators.

This one will probably find it's way onto our 2011 Christmas card!

The Pantheon is amazingly intact and in near perfect condition.  I think the gods took care of their church!

Opening in the roof for gods and goddesses to look in

Tossing money into Trevi Fountain.  If you do so, you will return to Rome.  It worked for me in 1992, so Aidan and Lainey will return someday, too!

We made it to Pompeii!

Giant lemons that grown in southern Italy-these are the ones used to make Limoncello!

Inside Pompeii.  It was crazy to see how some things haven't changed over 2000 years.  The bakery oven looks just like an oven today!

We all loved the cross walks, a raised stone so you didn't have to walk in the muddy street to cross.  How easily brilliant!

This is a real cast of a body preserved by all the fallen ash.  Wild.

Leaving Pompeii by way of Naples, which is the home of the Mafia and basically a dump. Garbage and beggars everywhere.

Back in Rome sitting on the Spanish Steps

My gladiators fighting this fierce lion with stick-swords!

Finally a good meal!  In the not-as-touristy section of Rome, Trastavere.  Yummy!

The Vatican.  We didn't go in St. Peter's or the Sistine Chapel.  Lines were long and kids weren't interested.

I'm glad we took the kids to Rome, but I don't have much desire to go back.  I'm glad we didn't fly across the Atlantic for it. I could go back to Pompeii though.  It is so large, we couldn't get through it all in one day.  Most of the artifacts were in a museum in Naples, which I wish we had time for, too. 

Aidan's Big Performance

As part of their "Just Imagine" unit at school, the second graders re-wrote the fairy tale Cinderella, from the mice's point of view.  The kids worked for weeks on the writing of the script and their performance and I was really surprised at how well-written and well-acted it was!  Everyone remembered their lines, it was funny, the dances were cute, and the costumes and props were great.  Of course, we video taped the whole thing, but I won't post all of that!  Here are a few pics, though.

 Half the cast

 My little mouse :)

 Aidan even had a musical part!  He played the xylophone during one of the songs!

Post-performance congratulations!

Frankfurt Half-Marathon

We are SO PROUD of Jason today!!!  Yesterday he completed his first half-marathon in great time!  The official time was 2 hours 5 minutes and a few seconds.  He and his friend Bob ran the whole time together and didn't even look winded!  The kids and I went with Bob's wife, Monica, and their kids to cheer them on at the halfway point.  We made signs and brought noise makers.  The kids were a big hit with all the runners and the daddies were sure encouraged to run, run, run!

Andrew and Lainey waiting for their dads

Andrew, Lainey, Brianne, and Aidan waiting, waiting, waiting...

Here they are just after the 10K mark! 

After we saw them half way, we drove to the finish line at the soccer arena.  We made it just in time to see the guys cross the finish line.  They did so well!  Jay's goal time was 2:25 and he beat that goal by 20 minutes, how great is that?  At the end of the race, all runners were given a banana and a beer.  Yep, beer.  Non-alcoholic, but beer nonetheless.  How's German is that?

Posing post race, by the starting line

Proud daddies and proud kiddos

They didn't get a medal, but they did have fun on the podium. 

 13.1miles/21K in 2:05 Way to go guys!! 

Monica and I better step up our training for our 10K in May!

Fasnacht

Missy and Chris came to visit us for a long weekend before they went skiing in Chamonix.  We didn't realize at the time they booked their trip that they'd be here for Fasnacht!  Fasnacht is the German version of Mardi Gras, but even crazier as it lasts 5 days and the planning for it begins in November of the previous year.  Fasnacht, or Fasching in it's verb form, is the one weekend that all the Germans pull the sticks out of their butts and make public fools of themselves.

Who are we not to embrace such a "holiday"?

The weekend started out tamely enough.  I picked Chris and Missy up on Thursday and took them into Frankfurt for some lunch and sightseeing and costume purchasing.  We all went out to dinner at Kaiser Temple.  Missy and I did not go into Mainz for "Ladies' Fasching" which I've heard is a hot mess, nor did we go to Köln to cut off men's ties, as the women do there.  Friday, Jason took the day off and we went to Rüdesheim for some wine tasting before picking the kids up at school and going to the castle of Königstein.  We stayed in that night and played the Wii with the kids.  Gotta love Michael Jackson's Wii game!

Wine tasting in Rüdesheim

Saturday was the Kinder parade in Wiesbaden and we all got dressed up for it.  Not as many adults dressed up as I thought (they did on Sunday though, but we skipped the big parade).  The kids had fun catching candy, meeting up with friends, and watching the parade.

After the parade, I took the kids home and left Jay, Missy, and Chris in Wiesbaden.  After our sitter came, I met up with them again for a fun night out.  We weren't the ONLY ones in costume that night, but we were in the minority. (Apparently, Friday, Sunday, and Monday were the really big party nights, but we didn't know)  We met up with our friends, Monica and Bob, and bar hopped through Wiesbaden.

I really think pink hair works for me!

Monica and Bob

Last stop, can you tell?? 

Sunday, Chris and Missy left early, and we took a day off from Fasching.  Jason's friend Matt came by on a layover in Frankfurt and Aidan had a birthday party. 

 On Monday, I got into the Fasnacht spirit again by going to Mainz with some other moms from school.  This was the BIG parade, second only to the one in Köln.  It was more like Mardi Gras, and wild.  We dressed up again, saw the parade (but didn't understand most of the political jibes on the floats), had some Gluhwein (these three did some shots), and saw exactly how crazy the Germans can get!

Tricia, Natalie, and Jenn

The funniest thing about these people in costume is that most of these people are normally uptight business men or senior citizens!  I saw some weird costumes and weird behavior, that is all I will say.  We couldn't even get back to our house after school on Monday, because our whole little town was shut down for their own Fasnacht parade. They didn't open the roads until after 6pm and then it was strewn with glass (because people do shots at the parades and then break them everywhere-so unsafe and messy, again Germans were not being very German this weekend!)

On Tuesday, the kids had a Fasnacht celebration at their school, so they got to dress up again and sing silly German songs.  If you want a good laugh, go to YouTube and search for the "Gummi Bear Song".  This song and dance had them all wild!

And now, Lent has begun.  Sticks were replaced in German butts and normalcy reigns again.