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June 08, 2003
not so charming
First off, thanks for all the birthday well-wishes!!!
Today, we went to Joe's brother's to celebrate another birthday, nephew Clement's 3rd birthday. He's growing so fast, talking up a storm. We bought him a dumptruck, a construction hat and a water yo-yo. The yo-yo, the $1.25 toy, was the favorite one, of course.
They had just returned from a three week trip to Italy with Joe's parents...touring Venice, Rome, Milan, Pompeii, Florence and Monte Sant'Angelo, the birthplace of Joe's grandmother. That's a pretty interesting thing, actually, because what it means is that Joe's mom, Rosie, is able to apply for dual citizenship, which means that her kids (and their spouses!) are also able to receive that same citizenship. It is surprising...because including Clement, that's three generations down! It's exciting--it means that if Joe and I ever decide we want to retire to Tuscany, we can! ;-)
I guess we should visit first, however, right?
It turns out my sister-in-law, Boo, is quite the magnet for celebrities in Italy. American ones. She was in a bathroom in Rome on the last night there (about two weeks ago) and ran into Brian Krause, who plays Leo on Charmed. The bathrooms there all have unisex foyers and sinks and the toilets are separated inside, but that means you may be washing your hands with the men after you leave the toilet. She was doing that, and in the process, they discovered they were both from America. She asked if he was having a nice time in Rome and he pathetically began to talk about how his show, Charmed (he mentioned it, she didn't ask) was just renewed and how the people in Venice were all shouting his name in the streets. Boo had no clue what the show was, or who he was, and said it was really uncomfortable...him bragging about it to her in a Roman bathroom.
A few days prior, they were in Milan and Boo was lamenting the living statues, and how she was feeling annoyed with the crazy ways that people try to make money from the tourists. Suddenly, they saw this big transclucent ball coming their way. She started to groan, thinking about yet another crazy method to snag the dollars from the tourists, when she realized that inside the ball was Peter Gabriel!
Apparently it's called the Zorb. They took pictures of it, but the pictures here are from the Peter Gabriel site.
Rosie got me stationery from Italy and they picked up a great book on the Sistine Chapel for Joe. I wish I could go visit. I think I'm going to dig out my learning Italian CDs from the old car, and start learning again...
Ciao!
Posted by crystallyn at June 8, 2003 08:24 PM
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Comments
Italy: gotta love it but you have to be ready for quite a different way of life from the rush, rush, business-world North American mindset.
Posted by: ancarett at June 8, 2003 10:50 PM
Yes. YOu MUST go to Italy. I'll send you to the best places.... where there's no Americans :)
Posted by: Shanna at June 9, 2003 07:09 PM