Monday this week was my plant day again. As I have mentioned before, I am trying to buy one plant for our yard back home in every country we visit. After we got into a car accident last time we wanted to grab one (back in Croatia), I figured this time had to go better. Little did I know buying a yard plant in Italy is not quite as easy as I thought it would be. After a thorough google search, we found plenty of garden centers, but all of them only sold gigantic palm and/or olive trees. Now, our trailer is already filled to the brim, so packing a huge palm tree was just not an option π
After an even more thorough search, we were able to find a garden center that seemed to sell some smaller garden plants, and off we went. Once we got there, we foundβ¦β¦ a pet store. Yes, there were pots for plants outside, but no garden center in sight. It kind of looked like the pet store bought the garden center and was trying to get rid of the last pots they had in storage, but who knows. So we searched some more and drove to the next one, only to discover a greenhouse with lots of plants inside, but no one to let us in, no one to talk to, and nowhere to pay. The only people were in a Christmas decoration store right next to it, so we went in to ask. None of the staff spoke English or German, but a customer did and was nice enough to translate for us. Apparently, the greenhouse did belong to the Christmas decoration store, but you couldn’t go in, you had to ask for a specific plant and they would tell you if they had it. Who knows what was going on, but at least I got to go home with an Italian rosemary plant π
The rest of the week was mainly filled with school, work, and of course a lot of beach time. I am probably the biggest fan of the ocean there is, so I love going, even daily. The kids haven’t seen the beach that often, so they came with me all the time, especially when it was sunny. Thursday though it was a pretty stormy day with lots of rain (no thunderstorm, just wind) and you could really hear the ocean and how angrily the waves splashed against the shore. The kids really wanted to see how huge the waves were so I figured hey, there is no lighting, might as well go in. (I am not crazy, obviously we weren’t going to go in very far, but I am trying to teach them to respect the ocean. Way too many people underestimate the ocean and overestimate themselves – after all, they are great swimmers at the pool, right – and mess with the force of nature, and we all know how that usually ends. So I want to teach them early what kind of power the ocean has. My motto is “don’t be scared of it, but learn about it, know about it and respect it”. Since it was raining, however, we were just gonna wear a poncho over our swimsuits, go down to the beach, jump in the waves, and go back home.
Our ponchos are see-through though, so it looked like a bunch of crazy people walking through the storm in swimsuits. A couple of locals were standing in front of a little store down the street, saw us, and started cheering us on. And I mean really, really cheering us on. They clapped their hands, yelled “Brava, brava!”, whistled, and gave us standing ovations. Absolutely crazy. Don’t think my kids have been that embarrassed in a long time, if ever π
We enjoyed the waves a lot and the kids were amazed by the sheer power the usually so calm ocean brought with it that day – so much so that we did it again today. They could actually feel being dragged out. We were only ankle deep, but I had them lay down so they could feel the strong pull the ocean had in a storm, and experience what it feels like if you are sitting at the very edge of the beach. The waves were still strong enough to tip you over, even if you try to stay sitting.
As we were walking back Thursday, the locals in front of the store were already expecting us back, or they were simply hoping we didn’t drown. As soon as we appeared, they started cheering and applauding, and some of them stepped into the middle of the street to take pictures of us with their cell phones In hindsight this makes me wonder, did we go viral?! π They had gotten beers and were now toasting us screaming “yeah! yeah! yeah! Bravo! Bravo! Salute! Salute!”. It was ridiculous π I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time.
So like I said it was a pretty chill week filled with school and work with lots of beach time. Tuesday marked the exception as we decided to take a trip to the leaning tower of Pisa.
I should probably backtrack a little bit and let you know that the last time we went to Pisa, it didn’t go so well. It was a couple of years ago, middle of summer, and the area around the leaning tower was just packed with people. If there is one thing my husband with severe PTSD and my daughter on the autism spectrum (she has Asperger’s Syndrome) hate, it’s masses and masses of people. Anyway, the last time we went, it was so full that I didn’t think it was a good idea to go, but Chris really wanted to see the leaning tower so we tried again.
Now, whenever we do things like that I feel like I am some Wall Street Manager. You know, the ones dealing with the stock market, yelling orders at people, trying to get through the day? “Move people, move!” π I guess some kind of mix between that and an army drill sergeant π
Either way, the last time we went, everything went kind of smoothly until I crossed the street with the kids. It was only a normal-sized street, only a couple of steps to the other side, but being filled with thousands of people and looking at the kids while walking, I lost Chris.
When I say I “lost” Chris I am talking about the 4 seconds it took me to get to the other side of the street. I noticed immediately he wasn’t walking next to me, told the kids to stop on the sidewalk, turned back – and he was gone. I knew right away that wasn’t gonna be good, so I turned back to the kids one more time, told them not to move, and went looking for him. I found him several seconds later, laying on the floor, huddled up next to the wall of a house. All the while being in a huge, major panic attack. It took me several minutes just to get him back on his feet and across the street to the kids, and it only got worse from there – long story short – he doesn’t remember ever seeing the leaning tower of Pisa.
So – naturally! (sense the sarcasm here ;p ) – that made him want to go back again this timeβ¦
I figured it wasn’t gonna be as packed as it was that summer, but remembering last Saturday’s trip to Rome I really wasn’t sure anymore. Once we got there though we were in luck, it was a really rainy day so there were only a handful of people around. Chris was still very tense, but it got a little better with time. Afterward, he said the panic was most likely just the anticipation of what might happen and remembering what happened last time, which is understandable.
Either way, I managed to get us all around the area “Move, people, move! Go left, stay together! Everybody here? Let’s go! Don’t stay behind! Let’s make it to that next corner! All right! Perfect! Cross the street! Yes! Stand with your back to the wall! Whohoo! Made it!” – I swear, if you ever see a Wall Street / Army Sergeant hybrid in the middle of thousands of people, it’s probably me π – and this time EVERYONE remembered seeing the tower!
Whohoo! Project P.I.S.A.* was a success! For all of us, including the tower – it still didn’t tip over π
*P.I.S.A – Ptsd I S Autism – 10 cool points to whoever can come up with something for the I and the S. I had a good idea, but it kind of ran out of gas…
The boss, the general, and the brains of the operation. Anya is the mom of this crazy group of misfits. When not traveling the world and teaching her kids to be decent human-beings, she likes to bake, sing, be goofy. Aside from all that she does for Five of a Kind, she is also a short term foster mother for infants in need.
She also enjoys unreasonably spicy foods and is searching for a hot sauce that is spicy enough and yet still has some kind of flavor to it.
