Mosaics and Turks

Otranto was next on our list of beautiful Puglian towns to check out. There is a cathedral in Otranto that was founded in 1068 so we decided to head to first. It is hard to decide which was more beautiful, the mosaic floor or the beautiful ceiling.

Then it was off for some coffee and ice-cream of course.

We didn’t have any coins, but Malcolm was perfectly content to sit in this airplane for quite some time regardless.

We then headed off on an hour long drive down a beautiful coastal road and stopped to have a picnic lunch here.

Yes it was beautiful and yes I would do it again in a second. But so you all realize that life is not always a picnic when traveling with kids, here is the reality of our picnic.  Malcolm decided it was too windy to eat outside and wrapped up all his food in a napkin and kept trying to make a break for the car (note windy hair above). Adam had to go to the bathroom (number two for all those curious readers) and after three false starts finally managed to find a spot that worked for him, but it took a while.  Then we had the hour each way in the car with no entertainment which meant a lot of counting all the red cars that passed by.

But despite all this, the boys were great and we decided to reward them by heading to beach. Ok, we were going to the beach either way, but it helped that they were great on our adventure all morning. We went to Baia dei Turchi or Turkish bay. To get there you have to walk through a forest and around a (safe) cliff but when you arrive you realize it was worth every second of that walk.

Through Adam's eyes

Adam still loves taking pictures so when we went to Gallipoli, a beautiful little fishing village Adam took the camera and took pictures.

Gallipoli is a beautiful limestone island linked to the mainland by a bridge built in the 16th century. It is a little town full of beautiful old buildings and little cobblestones roads.

Here is Gallipoli through Adam’s eyes.

Here is the local library. Can you imagine going to check out books here!

After walking around for a while we headed to a delicious fish restaurant, which this town is known for.  The boys love eating fish so it’s always an easy meal for us.

 After a delicious lunch we headed to the beach for an afternoon of this.

We even stopped off at our local fishmonger for more fish for dinner. The boys are obsessed with this place.  They sit and look at all the fish for as long as they can. And then they go home and gobble it up. Win win for all involved, except for the fish.

Florence of the South

Puglia is full of so many beautiful towns but the town of Lecce might just be the most beautiful one we have seen so far. They call it the Florence of the South and it’s pretty obvious why. There is beautiful architecture everywhere and of course amazing food. 
We drove over and walked around exploring all morning. 

We headed right for a coffee shop when we arrived that just happened to look over this Roman Amphitheatre that was built in the 2nd century. This right here is Randy’s dream vacation, ancient Roman ruins combined with an amazing double espresso. I’m surprised he ever left.

Adam might have been more excited about his ice-cream.

These two wanted to walk around and every time a car drove by they would run to the side of the cobble stone road. Afterwards Adam would run to Malcolm and give him a hug yelling about how happy he was that Malcolm was ok. Flair for the dramatic that one. 

This town really is breathtaking. There are baroque buildings everywhere and it is a truly breathtakingly beautiful town. 

After a full morning of exploring we stopped fro lunch in a cute little tavern. The food was amazing and this was our view.

After a full day of walking around we grabbed another coffee and headed home to relax and have dinner. 

Some of us were still pretty jetlagged so it was best we went home to enjoy the eggplant parm daddy made and the homemade tortellini we bought from our old Italian grandma. Both boys were so wiped out from our day out that they slept all night again! Thank you Lecce!  

Jetlag 0….Alis- 1

Day one in Italy was spent finding our bearings.  The boys were so tired from our trip that they miraculously slept until 6. Which for us is basically sleeping in! We had no agenda for the day besides keeping the boys up for as long as possible and getting them on Italian time. 
We were so rested that Randy and I even decided to start our morning with runs (not at the same time of course!) After a year of running inside it was pretty amazing to run outside, especially when this was he view. 

 Then it was on to breakfast. We had dragged our jetlagged boys to the supermarket the day before so we had the basics. The orange juice we made ourselves using oranges from our backyard.

PS- before you evil eye me that the boys slept so well, let me add that the hour in the supermarket the day before, after we woke the boys up from their short nap. was up there in the most painful hours of my whole entire life. So there, you can take your evil eye back now.

Then it was time to explore our how town. We are staying in Galatina, a cute little town with hardly any tourists. It has all the basics: a little vegetable markets, a butcher, a fish monger and of course lots of cafes.

We rented a house from VRBO and it is truly amazing. It has three bedrooms with two of them connecting. Perfect for us and the boys. It’s also nice that they share a room at home. It makes it easier when we travel and they share a room. They’re used to being together and I think it makes it more comfy and less scary for them to be away from home.

First stop, coffee for us! Doubles all around please!

Then it was onto a bakery for some Pasticciotto. I have never heard of this pastry before but apparently it is a super famous little cake filled with custard.  Let’s just say the boys are fans.

We spent the rest of the morning meandering around Galatina. It was Sunday so not much was open. Down here they really take siestas and Sundays seriously and no stores are open. But we still managed to get some delicious fruit from a vendor on the street and homemade macaroni from some old ladies raising money outside of a church. Sort of like a bake sale, but Italian style.

City development works, Galatina style.

We even managed to stumble onto the town playground. Just what was needed to keep everyone awake!

It was a great playground, clean and interesting stuff as well as a water fountain that you could drink out of! It’s the little things people that excite us. The boys have never really seen water fountains, let alone ones that are drinkable!

We headed back home for some lunch, which consisted of the delicious macaroni we had bought and some amazing tomatoes. Why yes, all of this only got us to lunch. We then had a whole afternoon to fill and keep our children awake. Where to you ask? Why an Italian beach of course. Here is Malcolm fitting right in. 

Then it was back home for some pre-dinner snacks and garden exploring. Our house has the most amazing garden. Behind me is both an herb garden and a goldfish pond. Something for every Ali.

Oh, and the house also has an amazing barbecue.

We headed off to dinner and these two made it exactly 10 minutes before passing out (luckily we had planned ahead and fed them at home.) They were such troopers and made it all the way to 7:30 on our first day. Randy and I got to enjoy a delicious meal while these two snoozed away. And (don’t evil eye me) but they slept all night!

Day one: jetlag 0- Alis- 1!

Italy or Bust

We made it! Thirty hours, three planes, two cars, one almost missed flight and lost luggage later we touched down in Puglia. But you know I won’t let you off that easily. I of course will make you relive our long journey!

 But, before we start, I have made it through a few long haul flights with kids with no one getting arrested.  So I am an expert and here are some tidbits I have learned.  A big one is I always select our seats in advance and I make sure we are sitting two together and then two behind. This means that when Malcolm is kicking someone seats or putting the tray up and down a million times it’s a family member’s seat and not some cranky traveler who might not see his cuteness. I also bring ALOT of snacks. However many snacks I think I need, I double it and pack that. I pack a lot of edible treats, this time that included chocolate eggs with a spiderman inside, a ton of gummy bunnies (I use the gummies for when we’re taking off and landing- thanks mom for sending!) and the old standby for when things get really hairy- a candy necklace.  I also pack a few new toy treats. This time it was a couple of these:  Toob toys/  I was confused about these but Malcolm’s teachers told me he LOVED them and it’s true. Malcolm is still clutching his.

Oh and most important of all on these 30 hour trips- no rules apply. They can watch shows or play on their kindle the entire time if they want! They can eat a million gummy bunnies and sleep whenever and wherever they want. This trip is long for anyone and any way you can get through I count as a success.  If your child wants to dip their french fries in chocolate you let them. After all you will never see these people traveling with you again so who cares if they’re judging your parenting.

Our trip started with us heading to the airport at 5 p.m.

New batman and spiderman headphones were a big hit and helped with the hour of traffic we faced in Manila just getting to the airport.

Our first flight was a short one to Hong Kong, 2 hours- piece of cake!

A short layover in Hong Kong and we boarded our 13 hour flight to Rome. A women I recently met said the main fear for taking these long flights is mental. I tend to agree with her. Once you’re on it’s never as bad as you feared. The boys were also great. They slept for half of it and watched movies for the rest. 
We landed in Rome and dragged our bags and babies off the plane. Here is where things got dicey.  Instead of the 6 hour drive to Puglia we decided last minute to book a 45 minute plane to Brindinsi and then drive for 45 minutes. But our plane landed at 7:30 in Rome. 
We had to get through customs, get out luggage and recheck in. Easy peasy right? Well, we thought so, but I don’t think we realized how much harder it is to face these challenges after traveling for over 20 hours. We managed to lug our kids and all the accompanying crap off the plane and somehow convince a non-cooperative Italian airport customs officials to let us cut the customs line that was 100 people deep. All our luggage was off early and we headed out. 
We ran out and struggled through elevators and escalators, made harder by two tired toddlers, three suitcases and a double stroller but managed to reach the departures floor only to be told we were in the wrong terminal. We literally ran to the next terminal and made it in time to check in, with a whole 15 minutes to spare. 
This is where things started to unravel. The embassy travel agent had booked us tickets with no luggage…which we definitely had. After immediately agreeing to pay any and all fees to get our tickets, 15 minutes passed where they typed some stuff in and we waited. Finally Randy asked if we were going to make out flight and the lady very politely told us of course not.  I think this is the point where Randy and I hit a wall. Adam and Malcolm were fighting over the above mentioned Toobs toys (yes mom, there were two) Adam wanted Malcolm’s toy, Malcolm wanted Adam’s toy- should have worked out but it didn’t and tears ensued.  
Well, the tears worked people. The Italians must have taken pity on us. They booked us on our flight, escorted us through security and to our gate and we made our flight! We had four seats spread around the plane, none together but we didn’t care (note to self don’t let travel agent book your tickets and not pre-select your seats!)
We landed in Puglia refreshed and ready for our last step, which was a 45 minute drive to our house where showers and naps awaited us all. But our luggage had not been so quickly escorted through security and of course did not make our flight. 
We hung around the airport for a while, eating pizza and getting our rental car and looking for our luggage and eventually gave up and headed to our house, which was amazing! 
Oh and our luggage arrived later that day. My wonderful husband even drove 45 minutes each way to pick up! 
While some may argue that the loooooooong trip is not worth it, I have to disagree. Yes, it’s a long trip but once I arrive I have never, not once ever regretted traveling. And I think that the more you travel with your kids, the better it gets. You get used to it, they get used to it and at the end of the day you’re in Italy! 

Be Proud!

To celebrate Pride Month, my section at the Embassy made a video to encourage everyone to ‪Be Proud of who you are and whom you love.  Guess who made a cameo 🙂 

I love that Adam is able to support equal rights for all and to appear in a video with the U.S. Ambassador!  He was so exited to come to my office and be a part of this video. 

I am proud that we are raising our children to support equal rights for all! 

Rover!

You know how when you have a friend or family visit you for a weekend you plan so much more than normal because you want them to see everything and have a good time? Well, that was our weekend with Rover. Except without the added bonus of a visitor bringing you treats you crave from the US, like hearts of palm and good wrapping paper. 
Rover is a dog puppet that Adam’s preschool sends home with a different child every weekend. Then you print photos of your activities together and add it to Rover’s book and tell the class about the weekend on Monday.  A couple of weekends ago it was finally our turn. Adam had been waiting for months for his turn and was so excited. 
The pressure was on. I needed some fun activities for Rover and of course my children. With Randy traveling for the weekend I decided to pull out all the stops. We ate dinner and even shared some water with Rover.

Then we built Rover a house, which he was forced to share with Uh-Uh, Malcolm’s doggy. 

The next morning we decided to treat Rover to our favorite day. First stop was Wildflour of course.

We got out usual. Cucumber mint drinks and french toast for the boys. Granola and an Iced Cubano for me. I shared with Rover.

Then we went to the Mind Museum and showed Rover all our favorite spots.

Thankfully Malcolm wanted to hold Rover the entire time.

We even took Rover for a haircut!

Sunday we took Rover to the pool, but I forgot my phone so no pics of him tanning with his sunglasses. Then poor Rover was lost for 30 minutes while Adam tried to remember if he dropped him on the way up from the pool, while I frantically searched for him. I finally found him here…..

Adam and I printed out the pictures from the book and he helped put together his pages in the book.

Until next time Rover!

Into the Woods

This is our third time to Baguio since we’ve been in the Philippines and we have three times in a row booked it for our anniversary weekend without even realizing. We have to book it months in advance to make sure we get the house on a three day weekend and it is often months later we realize.  It is always a happy realization and a great place to spend the weekend reminiscing about how we spent our wedding weekend six years ago. 
Because I love a throwback here we are in Baguio two years ago- 

and one year ago- 

 and here we are this year! And yes Randy was with us all three years, just didn’t make it into the photos.

Despite a very long drive (between 4-5 hours depending on traffic and the last hour winding up a mountain) once you get up to Baguio it is always worth it. The Embassy has property up there with two cabins and you are surrounded by pine trees every which way.  It’s also 20-30 degrees cooler up there.  When you are living 365 days of your life in humid temperatures over 95 it is pretty amazing to be in 75 degree weather. I love putting on sweaters, sleeping with the windows open under a blanket and lighting a fire to roast marshmallows!

Every time we realize that being up there is worth every second of the five hours we have to keep the boys amused and happy.  Whatever it takes people! 
The minute we got there the boys leaped out and wanted to go exploring. Living in an apartment building in the city the boys really enjoy wandering around and exploring nature and take full advantage. On the agenda for this weekend, pine cone collecting, catching and releasing butterflies (safely so they could still fly), picking flowers, playing ball and walking up as many hills as possible. 

Here is how Malcolm puts flowers behind his ear….

The only thing better than exploring outside is getting to barbecue outside! Randy cooked up some yummy vegetables and BBQ chicken for us all.

We even had some bubbly to celebrate our anniversary.  Nothing like a multi-tasking husband at dusk!

 Topped off by an awesome fire and roasted marshmallows.

The next morning we woke up and had horses come right to our house. Which, as you can guess, was a huge hit. 

My only complaint is that Filipino horses are so small that I always look giant on them…oh well, a couple more years and Malcolm can ride by himself!

Randy and I even managed to sneak in a run.  Living in Manila it is impossible to run outside. There are no parks or nice places to run. Besides, even if there was a place it is so hot that it is impossible. Getting to run in a forest in 70 degree weather was a pretty special treat.

The next morning we decided to squeeze in a quick horse ride before the long trek back to Manila.

Busuanga

For our last day in Coron we had a half a day before having to leave for the airport. At first thought we would hang out by the pool, but then we decided that it would be a shame to leave without seeing that beautiful white sand and turquoise water one more time. 

Here is Jake, sitting with Adam to whole way to the island.

We definitely made the right decision!

This weekend in Coron is one we’ll remember for a long time. It is hands down the best place we have visited in the Philippines and I loved every minute.  We kept talking about much we wished that we had discovered this place earlier and come every year.  The hotel is even prettier from the boat.

Here is Adam with two of his favorite employees at Busuanga Bay Lodge-Jake and Cathy.