5 And A Beagle
"Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans." John Lennon
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Captured in Cross Stitch
Three years ago this June, the 5 of us BB (before beagle) headed off for a month in Europe. Leo's nonna and most of his aunts, uncles and cousins are in Italy and this was the chance for our kids to meet them and to also see some of the sites Leo and I had seen many years BKB (before kids and beagle).
After paring down our possessions such that everything we needed could fit into our individual backpacks, we took off for the first stop - London. I wasn't too optimistic that the trip was going to be a success, when 1 hour into a 10 hour flight, my youngest decided she wanted to get off the plane. NOW. No wonder the mother in front of me had given her two young kids a big dose of gravol before the plane took off. Her two were sound asleep while mine was looking for the pull cord to tell the pilot she wanted off at the next stop. NOW. By the time we were set to land I had my head in the barf bag (just in case) and my daughter had hers out of necessity. Luckily, that was the worst experience of the trip, over and done with at the start. Once we landed and she was released from the confines of the plane, she was instantly fine. The recovery of my jangled nerves took a few hours longer.
We had a fantastic time in London, Paris (despite the encounter with pepper spray in the metro), Cologne, Lucerne, Munich and Salzburg. Traveling between cities on the train. At the mid-point of our vacation, we picked up a car and drove through the alps into northern Italy.
What an absolutely wonderful experience for the kids to see the small village where their nonni grew up and to meet all of the relatives they had heard so much about. Leo's nonna Rosina was 90 at the time we went over and I wanted to make something special for her after we had returned home. I found a local company on-line that takes a photo and creates a cross stitch pattern from it. So this picture is the gift for Nonna. This is her home. The original structure is over 400 years old.
I started the project in Oct/02 and finished in time to send it in May/03. Nonna Rosina is still going strong, she'll be 94 in December. There must be something in that mountain air.
When Leo and I went over in the early 80's, we always said we'd be back in 'a couple of years'. That couple of years stretched into 19. Hopefully we won't have to wait another 19 for the next visit.
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After paring down our possessions such that everything we needed could fit into our individual backpacks, we took off for the first stop - London. I wasn't too optimistic that the trip was going to be a success, when 1 hour into a 10 hour flight, my youngest decided she wanted to get off the plane. NOW. No wonder the mother in front of me had given her two young kids a big dose of gravol before the plane took off. Her two were sound asleep while mine was looking for the pull cord to tell the pilot she wanted off at the next stop. NOW. By the time we were set to land I had my head in the barf bag (just in case) and my daughter had hers out of necessity. Luckily, that was the worst experience of the trip, over and done with at the start. Once we landed and she was released from the confines of the plane, she was instantly fine. The recovery of my jangled nerves took a few hours longer.
We had a fantastic time in London, Paris (despite the encounter with pepper spray in the metro), Cologne, Lucerne, Munich and Salzburg. Traveling between cities on the train. At the mid-point of our vacation, we picked up a car and drove through the alps into northern Italy.
What an absolutely wonderful experience for the kids to see the small village where their nonni grew up and to meet all of the relatives they had heard so much about. Leo's nonna Rosina was 90 at the time we went over and I wanted to make something special for her after we had returned home. I found a local company on-line that takes a photo and creates a cross stitch pattern from it. So this picture is the gift for Nonna. This is her home. The original structure is over 400 years old.
I started the project in Oct/02 and finished in time to send it in May/03. Nonna Rosina is still going strong, she'll be 94 in December. There must be something in that mountain air.
When Leo and I went over in the early 80's, we always said we'd be back in 'a couple of years'. That couple of years stretched into 19. Hopefully we won't have to wait another 19 for the next visit.
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