Another good bye

This morning was a tough good bye. After having Rick and Marilyn here for three weeks it was time to see them off. Kyle had a very difficult time with this as he has lost a favourite story teller (Marilyn) and a very important playmate (Rick). He will miss his morning visits upstairs in the apartment ensuring everyone's safety by tying safety tape to every possible piece of furniture and then some! Vika might not understand the fact that it will be Christmas before we see them again but she did understand that this was a big good bye: she kept waving until their car was around the corner and out of sight!

Our time with Rick and Marilyn was capped off with a wonderful four day road trip to Florence and Assisi. Both places were amazing. Having had studied art history and taught history I was particularly interested in Florence, the birth place of the Renaissance. It lived up to everything I expected! I did have somewhat skewed expectations as traveling with a 1 yr old and a 4 yr old does that to a person. I knew I'd only be able to see may be two museums and perhaps that many churches. I must know my children! In Florence we saw two museums, the Accademia and the Leonardo Da Vinci Museum and one church - and one gelato shop - twice! Oh - and two trips to McDonald's (over the whole weekend).
The Accademia was the highlight of the trip for me. To actually see Michelangelo's David is truly amazing. I just waited for him to take a breath and move! What made it even more special was the level of interest Kyle had in David. I guess I should know how much power the idea of a hammer and chisel will have with Kyle! I bought a children's book about David and we read through parts of it while looking at David. Kyle was full of questions and has decided he will not be a sculptor when he grows up.
I'm sure the highlight for the kids was the Leonardo Da Vinci museum - a hands on exhibition of many of Da Vinci's machines that he had sketched. Kyle LOVED the crane! He asked at least 15 times when we're going back there! (Personally this museum can be skipped if you don't have kids!)
Another fun moment was when we accidentally came upon a wine tasting festival! Obviously it we didn't get too involved with the kids but it was fun to have a couple of tastes of the over 60 wines there from Tuscany!
Assisi was a beautiful city - of course known for St. Francis of Assisi, and St. Clare. Our first day there did not impress me. It was a good thing we went back the next day so I could see Assisi when the temperature was more than 13 and the bitterly cold wind wasn't blowing. It's actually a very nice place! Although, you'd think after all the travelling I've done I'd know better than to show up at such a famous basilica at noon on a Sunday! We certainly saw the crowds!
In Assisi, or rather, just outside of town, we introduced Rick and Marilyn to one of our favourtie things about Italy - Agriturismos. These are like inns on farms. The one we stayed in here was a working Olive farm. Agriturismos are so peaceful and friendly and such an easy way to keep the kids happy!

The trip back home even went well! Rick and Marilyn went their own way and explored at least one hill town and we drove straight through - with two sleeping kids!

Now we have a full 18 days until our next guests arrive!