Summer in Italy
Trip Start
Mar 03, 2007
1
6
Trip End
Ongoing
Fondi, Lazio, Italy
Monday, November 10, 2008
In Fondi, we rented a quaint little upstairs apartment in the old part of the village. It was so authentically Italian, but updated. It had no air conditioning, so the windows were open all night and we could hear all f the activity from the surrounding apartments - babies crying, families having dinner, watching TV, etc.
Speaking of dinner, we had to adjust to the fact that no one eats dinner before 8 o'clock (that is considered early!), and my kids are normally in bed by 7:30. But, when in Rome..... A few nights we walked to the village town center and ate amazing Italian food. I indulged my love of seafood every single day! The first night, with starving children who were about to die if we didn't feed them in the next 5 minutes, we stumbled upon a restaurant which happened to be open at 7:30 in the evening. You can't imagine what a God send this was for us...with starving boys who are normally in bed at this time, and with no other restaurants open until at least 8! Not only was it a blessing, it was the epitome of what anyone imagines an Italian restaurant to be. We sat outside, in a courtyard off the main thoroughfare, underneath a tree. Unbelievably charming. The chef came to our table and greeted us. He spoke English, German, and French (and Italian of course). He didn't allow us to order, he chose the wine and every course of our 5 course meal. Absolutely delicious. Kati and I consider that the best night of our holiday.
The village had cobblestoned narrow streets and a large church and plaza where everyone congregated in the evenings until late into the night. It was fantastic and exactly what we had hoped for. A genuine Italian village- no large hotel chains or restaurants, and not many foreign tourists. After dinner, we would go to the plaza, get ice cream for the kids and coffee for us. The children ran around like crazy, and Kati and I people-watched.
Very close to our apartment was a grocery store. It made it very convenient for us to stock up for lunches, a couple of nights for dinner at home, when the kids were too exhausted to go out, etc. One day, I went to the store to find a cake mix so we could bake a birthday cake for both Sergio and Ryder. Ryder's birthday is the 15th and Sergio's the 18th. I couldn't find the cake mix, so I tried to ask a store employee where I might find it. Being in a smaller village, most people do not speak English, so I had to pantomime and use what little Spanish I know. I realize I was in Italy, not Spain, but you would be surprised how many Spanish words are similar to Italian! Anyway, all of a sudden I have 5 men running (in a group) from one area of the store to the other to show me what they think I need. Out of desperation, I said something in German and one of the men looked at me in surprise and said,"Sie sprechen Deutsch?!!" (You speak German?!!). So in the end, it took me, an American speaking very bad German to an Italian, who spoke much better German, to find what I needed.
Everyday, we took a fifteen minute ride,on a very crowded bus,to the beach. The beach was located in another small town called Sperlonga. We initially had plans to stay in Sperlonga, but there was a mistake made by the landlord and our reservations fell through. Sperlonga is a quaint town with homes built along the slope of the hills surrounding the beach. The beaches were wide and the water was wonderfully warm. We would arrive, most days before 10, and stay until the last bus left at 6:30. The boys had a fabulous time and Kati and I were able to relax somewhat because the waters were so shallow.
Most of the tourists were Italian, although on the last day we were there we met a young married couple who live in London. She is 1/2 British and 1/2 Columbian and he is Australian. They rented an umbrella next to us and eventually, he started to buy Kati and I Limoncello shots. By the end, they were absolutely wasted. They were so fun and kind and we had a great day together. I've included photos of them.
On the last Friday, we packed up and took the train back to Rome. We stayed at a hotel at the airport, as Kati and Sergio had an early morning flight back to Newcastle the next morning and we were leaving in the afternoon. After checking in, we took another train to the city and did a lot of walking. Rome is surreal. One literally walks around with ruins and ancient structures surrounding them. We, of course, went to the Colosseum and from there decided to take a bus tour that allowed us to get off the bus when we wanted, and to catch another bus to the next stop when we were ready to proceed. It was terrific with the kids, and since we only had the one day in Rome, it allowed us to cover it in less time. We didn't get to see as much of Rome as we wanted. We will definitely come back when we have several days to spend there.
All our love,
Melani, Chris, Gabriel and Ryder
