Last week in Italia!!!

Last Friday we went to a cheese farm and made some cheese. The first cheese we made was Pecorino. After heating the sheep milk and retin you have to scoop the cheese into containers and squish out the whey.  he next cheese we made was ricotta. You scoop the heated mix of whey to 75 degrees and put it in a small container.  Finally EAT!!!!

Making pecorino!

Pushing the whey out!

Making ricotta.

Scooping out the ricotta.

Yesterday we went to another natural spa. The sulphur in it......stank!! We climbed to the top and the water was boiling. The water ran over a huge white stalectite left from the minerals in the water. When we came out we absolutely stank!!!!

We are doing lots of tags for the last time now. Cooking with Signora Marissa, going to the best icecream man, last Italian feast and last time in Chiusi. We are coming home sooooooooooo soon.

The Tarot Garden

After we dropped gran of at the airport last week we went to the Tarot Garden in Tuscany.

Niki Di Saint Phalle was the architect of the garden. In 1955 she went to Barcelona and saw the park of Guell of Gaudi and decided that she should build her own park. 24 Years later Niki asked lots of other builders and her friend Jean Tinguely if they would like to help. So they all started to build  the Tarot Garden based on the Tarot cards.



Some of the Tarot sculptures where the high priestess, the wheel of fortune, strength, the sun, death, the devil, the world, the fool, the hierophant, the hanged man, the hermit and many more.

The Falling Tower

The World

              

My favourite card was the was the wheel of fortune, a big wheel that spun around and sprayed water everywhere. It was card number number X. It is the saying what goes up must come down.

The worst card was injustice. It was a prison for stuff like hanging and murdering. You would probably ask, "why is it the worst?"   Because of the sound all the metal bits made scraping along the ground.  The sound literally kills my ears.

The Emperoress

Niki lived in one of the cards. She lived in the Empress which is in the form of a sphinx. She had her bed set up,  her bathroom and there where mirrors everywhere. Eliza snuck past the bars and jumped on the bed.

I am still overwhelmed that Nikki could build such a big garden like that.  It proves that if you dream you can succeed.

The Fool

Wheel of Fortune (foreground) and The High Priestess (background)

Etruscan City, Mum, Dad and Gran locked out and Long Italian Lunch!!!!

Four days ago we went to the underground city of Chiusi.  There was this big water collector.  The water would trickle through the rocks and sand and then run down a tunnel into a big water storage.  As the water goes through the different layers of rock and sand it gets filtered.  Another tunnel led to some urns (a tomb that has the ashes of dead bodies in it). It was awesome.  These urns are Estrucan from 200BC (2200 years ago) Each urn has an Estrucan name on it and interestingly the Estruscans wrote from right to left.

This urn has Roman and Etruscan writing.

The next day we were having lunch and Bailey locked the parents and Gran out on the terrace outside.  The door broke and mum and dad were screaming and we were pushing the door.  To stop Eliza screaming we shoved pasta in her mouth.  I went down to the bar and said "Il porto non functzione. Mamma e Pappa non andiamo." (The door is not working. Mum and dad can not get out). Three people followed me up 2 flights of stairs and helped us open the door!!!!















For lunch the next day, Regula and Pasquale and gran came over. For first course we had pizza, for second pici pasta, third mozzarella (a cheese made of buffalo's milk) and dolce Tiramisu, a coffee cream dessert.
BUONISSIMO!!!!!!

PS: if you want mozzarella brought home please email:  jackineurope2013@gmail.com

MOZZARELLA!!!!!!

Message in a bottle!!!!!!

About three and a half months ago I threw a message in a bottle off a boat.........……………………And two days ago it was found about 200 km away!!!! Here is the letter I was sent........…………

Dott. Roberto Regnoli MEDICO CHIRURGO SPECIALISTA IN ORTOPEDIA E TRAUMATOLOGIA Via Lampedusa, 48 – Tel. (0875) 85454 86039 – Termoli (CB) e-mail: rregnoli@tiscali.it ---------------------

Dear Jack,

my name is Roberto, I am 65 years old.My job in Termoli as a physician. Ihave a fishing-boat,  louse of my great hobby,  how you can see,  with good results.

When the sea is rough, and I can’t  fish,  my friend Piero, my dogsDago and Kyra I like walking on the beach to find what the sea hasthrow on the shore.

In the 30/07/2013, in the morning,when we were walking closedMarina di  Lesina  we found the bottle that you send  “ by sea “ . We  open the bottle immediately to read your message.

Where the place did you sent the message?

I hope to receive news about you.

Please, write me back and give all my regards to your crew.

My address is:

Dott. Roberto Regnoli

Via Lampedusa 48,

86039 Termoli  ( Campobasso )

Italy

e-mail : rregnoli@tiscali.it

Tel. 336661133

Sito: www.messagidalmare.com

The bottle

Il Palio of Siena!!!!!

Last week we went to Siena to visit our friends Regula and Pasquale. We went there to watch the Il Palio, a famous horse race.  17 contrades compete in the race. They are Caterpillar, Snail, Owl, Dragon, Giraffe, Porcupine, Unicorn, Wolf, Shell, Goose, Whale, Panther, Tortoise, Forest, Tower and Ram.

This is me on the Il Palio track in Siena.

On the first day we watched the lottery of horses. It's where the riders find out which horse they will be riding. Wave got the best horse. I go for Wolf ("Lupa" in Italian).

Then it was practice. We went to see it but by the time we got there it finished. Dad went to the real Il Palio and we watched it on TV whilst having a picnic.  The build up is massive. They have people screaming and waving their flags all chanting and singing for their team.  Here are the rules....................NO RULES!!!!!! They ride bare back, they can whip the other jockeys, push them over, and even give the others money to let them win!  And the horse can win if the rider is not on it! How weird is that???????

The race!

At the start of every race a mortar fires (and it is so loud and the horses will start to run).  The winner wins the Palio, a fabric flag with the Madonnas on it.  In the race two riders fell off and the horse that came second had no rider!  The winner was........WAVE!!!!!!

Il Palio!

The winning horse. Winning contrada ONDA!!!

I got to touch the Il Palio!

MY ROME ADVENTURE!!!!!

DAY ONE: On our first day in Rome we went to the Trevi Fountain. It was GIANT!!!!! I thought it would be a little fountain but I was totally wrong. Afterwards we went to the Spanish Steps. Who knows why the SPANISH Steps are in ROME!!!!!








DAY TWO:  We went to the Colosseum. It was "bloody" amazing. It was so old and giant. First the Colosseum was a gladiatorial amphitheater, then a hotel for Romans to live in and also tobacco factory. In the first 100 days (the grand opening of the gladiatorial amphitheater) 1300 people were killed and 9000 animals killed!!!!

DAY THREE:  We went to the Vatican City to see the Sistine Chapel. It was painted by Michelangelo. He painted many naked bodies on the ceiling. When he died the Pope got a painter to paint a cloth over their penis's.

DAY FOUR: We watched 2 movies in 5D at the Time Machine!!!! One movie was about dinosaurs and the other about the history of the the Romans. They were awesome!!!!! The seats moved, it rained and there was wind!!!! Then we went on a "Ape" tour (a bee tour).  They are little 3 wheel Italian cars.

I LOVE ROME AND I WILL RETURN!!!!!!!

Sicily........................my roots!

Two  weeks ago we went to Sicily. My great grandfather  originated from there from a town called Trecastagni (three saints).  He moved to Australia when he was about 20. We saw a monument that said LICCIARDELLO on it (Mums side of the family.)  In Piazza Marconi there were kids illegally buying firecrackers. They snuck some into people's pockets and then the firecrackers would blow up and people would scream.

The water fountain in Piazza Marconi in Trecastagni.

'

You can't see it but it has Licciardello engraved on it.

The Sicilians have great foods such as : arancini,  iris and brioche con gelato.
I have eaten them all and they are all delicious. Arancini  is rice and ragu deep fried in breadcrumbs. Iris is dough with chocolate cream inside in a coating of breadcrumbs.  Brioche con gelato is cold ice-cream in a hot bun. BU0NISSIMO!!!!!!!

Gelato con Brioche!!!!!

Then we went to  Mount Etna  a giant active volcano on Sicit.  We could not go to the top because of our asthma but we got to go to a crator filled with dry lava. After we brought some real OBSIDIAN and sulphur.  It was brilliant.  

The volcanic creator at Mount Etna.

A picture in the street made of salt.

100th Le Tour de France!

 After Venice we went camping in the Dolomites.  We caught a cable car to the top of the mountain Latemat and we went on a dragon quest (it was a bit babyish.) They had some really good cravings and clever ideas. Josie kept screaming because she thought there was a real dragon and she thought it would kill her. At the end they gave us a wooden dragon.  Eliza was disappointed because we did not find a real dragon.

Looking for Dragon teeth.

Looking for clues in a Dragon's nest.

At last  we went to the 100th Tour de France. We watched the  16 & 18 stages . Before the cyclist come they have a parade were trucks come and throw things out to the crowd. We got heaps of hats ,juice,  water bottles, shirts, lollies you name it even detergent! Dad, Bailey and I painted a huge flag with a wave dancer,  an Australian flag and GO CADEL on it.

The red devil with his bike made from water bottles.

Lee from England with Eliza's teddy.

                                 
                                           

There were thousands of people!

Go Cadel Evans!!!! (he is in red and black)

PS for more info on the tour visit 
http://www.sportal.com.au/tour-de-france?gclid=CLDz8d_tvbgCFU2R3goddH0AhQ

We had a long drive to Regula's and Pasquale's (mums friends.) in Tuscany.  They have hundreds of guns because Pasquale hunts cinghaile (wild pig.) They cook the best food.We had home made pesto pasta for dinner last night. Lunch we had a feast set for a king. They have a giant dog called Camillo and he gets so exited and pushes you over or pulls you're shins down.

Regula feeding plums to Camillo

Tomorrow we are off to Sicily where my great grand Pop was born.

BACK IN ITALIA !!!!

When we left Brač we went camping in Hvar, another one of the 1300 islands. The ferry trip took 3 hours. We stayed in an abandoned village next to an olive farm were we set up the tents. We stayed there for three nights. On the last night we found a big ancient water collector. We used it as a skate park with our scooters. After 1 hour we went to a restaurant and got a mixed grill it was delicious. The restaurant was the only place open in the abandoned village of Malo Grablje



After Havar we went to Istria on the mainland for 2 days. We camped in someone's front yard which was also a shooting range. We visited a huge amphitheatre in Pula where gladiators would fight.  They fought each other and fought other beasts. It would not be nice to be a gladiator but they did not have a choice as they were prisoners.


Then we drove back to Italy!!!!!! Right now we are living in Venice. There are no streets it is just water .    Venice is a city on 117 small islands connected by about 400 bridges with 150 canals. I have not seen a car in Venice because they are banned so everyone uses boats for transport.  Yesterday we went on a gondola. It was soooooo  expensive  80€ for half an hour. But it is worth it!!! They have the most comfortable seats. Our captain was called Marco and he started being gondalier when he was 18. His dad was gondalier, his grandfather was a gondalier and his great grandfather!!!!!! We get a great view out of our window of our apartment on a canal.  We are about ten centi meters away is the cannel.  WOW!!!!

We visited the famous San Marco square where Poppie visited when he was young. Dad, Bailey and I climbed a huge tower.  Yesterday we visited Venice's fish market. It was huge and smelly.  It sold so many different fish and canal seafood including spider crabs and snails. The fish man gave Eliza and Josie a sea snail which they kept as a pet.

       THIS IS THE BEST PLACE IN ITALIA!!!