Oh Boy

I'm back from Fregene for the weekend to relax. See, on Sunday, at Lake Bracciano, I slipped on a hill and twisted my knee. And heard a snap. It hurt so badly it knocked the wind out of me. Luckily Debo, Philipp and Natalie were with me. They took me to the hospital, where it took about 3 hours to get my knee checked out. They still don't know what exactly happened to my ligament until the MRI in a few days.

However, Lake Bracciano was amazing before all of that. Philipp has his own sailboat and although it's meant for one person, he took each of us out on it! It was really amazing!! He showed me how to sail!! At one point, I had to pull on this cord and put my body parallel with the water and trust that this bungie would hold my feet!! And when you want to turn to go in the other direction, you have to duck so the pole doesn't hit you in the head! But when we tried to turn, Philipp's "steering wheel" hit the pole and the boat tipped over!! It was CRAZY! Hahah. We rented a kayak for two, too, so that the other two people cold go out on the lake while Philipp was sailing with the fourth person. It was so much fun! I went out with Debo and when we got to the middle of the lake (not as big as Lake Champlain, I might add) I jumped in! Woohoo!! We ate Kepabs for lunch, which are like pitas from heaven. Mmmmmm!! Then we climbed up this huge hill for an amazing view of Bracciano and the lake and some ruins...and that's when I tumbled to my fate.

Heh.

Angie..I have an Olympus FE-210, and it's working fine now..I guess it just went through a little rebellious stage for a few days there, haha.

Um, Cindy, to answer your question it's because I actually have a side job as a photographer for National Geographic. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner.

I'm back from Fregene for two days..Debo and I took the train in to Rome today..while we waited, she taught me some German. German is a fantastic language because there are COUNTLESS words that are pronounced the same as in English. Also, there is a verb "fahrten". And that's all that matters. Tomorrow we're going to Lake Bracciano because Debo's friend has a sailboat!! WOOHOO! I won't be able to sail it, but I can watch Debo try, hahahah.

Fregene was pretty awesome...the first day we got there we had a family party for the kids' birthdays, even though it was only Edo's birthday, haha. It was small but really nice because Amalia's cousin's daughter, who's 15 speaks English really well, so I got to chat with her! Also, Fede's mom speaks French, so that makes things a little easier for me, hahaha. The next day was the friends party and there was this clown/magician man that came to entertain the kids..and he asked them what every magician needs and Chiara points to me and Debo and yells, "An American and a German!" HAHAHAH. The kids had received a foosball table...which Debo and I dominated. HAHA. We played and played and played, convinced that we had to become good enough to beat Fede (yeah right). Oh, and fun fact: in English, we call it "foosball", which is a German word for soccer..but in German they call it "kicker" which is an English word! Hm!

The next day we spent the entire day at this private beach with two pools, reading, relaxing...getting burned. By the end of the day Debo and I were as red as lobsters. It was really sad. The next day Amalia had to go to Rome so Debo and I stayed with the kids. Debo's friend Phillip came (Chiara's fidanzato) and I made pancakes for lunch! (Oh, and Edo asked Phillip to be his fidanzato! HAHAHA!) We took some really cute pictures with the kids and then took them bike riding in the park and then for gelato (mmmmmmm never fails). At the park we were pretty goofy.

When Amalia got back she said she had a surprise for me..she'd bought me Sex and the City seasons 1 & 2 to watch together!!! WAHOOO!! That night, Debo and I went to a bar down the road that's run by Fede's childhood friend Ricardo. It was really fun, and Ricardo wouldn't let us pay for any of our drinks! So we're back for today and tomorrow, to go to the lake, and then back to Fregene for another week!!

Oh Baby

Today I went to Fregene again with Amalia and we finalized everything..tomorrow Edo's birthday party is there, so it kind of has to be done! Haha. The two guys working there, I think they're father and son, are really nice. The dad, Guglielmo, made kebobs and sausage on the barbecue for lunch, and we all ate together on the new patio furniture that had just arrived! It was really fun! Guglielmo is hysterical, and he speaks English, so he always talks to me and makes sure I understand the conversation. After, we cleaned a little more and were back in Rome by 4. I decided that I'd try that walk one more time and hope for the best with my camera. It acted up in the beginning, but luckily, it stopped and I finally got some shots of Tiber Island and Campo de' Fiori! And since I had no idea what to get Edo for his birthday, I bought him lotttts of chocolate! Just what a 5-year-old boy needs!! So tomorrow, we leave for Fregene for two weeks. It's going to be really nice..reading, translating, bike riding, beach, good food and company..the life pretty much!

Yeah

Today I went to Fregene again to help Amalia clean. In the car on the way, she told me I could probably go to Sepino for July 24th! She said that she'll have to go to Paris with the kids and her parents for a week, so I'll most likely be able to go!!! YEY!!!!! She also said that she wants to buy all six seasons of Sex and the City in English because she thinks she'll like it. I was like YES, and I will watch them with you!! Hahah. And she said she has some seasons of Friends, too, and that we can bring them to Fregene to watch! Woohoo! Anyway, so plans have changed..we're spending the next two weeks in Fregene and then leaving for Germany on the 22nd, spending only a month there.

Ostia Antica

Today is pretty much my last free day in Rome!! Crazy, I know! Tomorrow I'm helping Amalia with last minute things at the house in Fregene and then Friday we're leaving for Fregene for 10 days..and when we come back..GERMANY!!

So I decided to go to Ostia Antica..ruins from the 2nd century!!! They're about a half an hour south of Rome, but you can use public transportation to get to them! It was so easy and really cool..except that I think today was French Tweens Go To Ostia Antica. Anyway, at one point, a hoard of them were walking by me and this one tween girl points at me and says, "You're American!!" And I just looked at her and pretended not to understand. HAHA, it was so funny. A few seconds later, I was like, AHH I should I said, "Mais non, je suis francaise!!" HAHA.

Anyway, the ruins were amazing and there were so many of them! After a couple hours there, I caught the train back and then the metro and decided to go to Cinecitta, the second to last stop on metro line A. It's supposed to be the Hollywood of Rome, where lots of movies are filmed, and I've been wanting to go for a few days (I even made up a song tote tune of "Felicita" that goes "Cinecitta!" Haha, creative, I know)..so I'm on the metro for 25 minutes, ride it allll the way to the end..finally get to Cinecitta...walk out and at the turnstyles there's a lady there, looking at me. And I'm like, "Uhhh...c'e un museo, o tour...?" And she's like "Per visitare? Non." And I was like, ok....and I turned around and got back on the metro. HAHA. After, I discovered this random, huge pyramid in the middle of Rome (maybe that's why the metro stop is called Pirimide), a castle right next to it, and the most beautiful cemetery I've ever seen, just behind it. Then, I got some lunch at the grocery store and set out on my final City Walks: Rome adventure.

I wanted to see Isola Tibera..so I took the bus (spoke French with some guy), got there, and I'm looking out over the water at the island, and I go to turn on my camera, and it won't work. GREAT!!! I don't know what to do...I can't live without my camera...So I had to cut my adventure short and go home. And who knows if I'll ever get to see what I wanted to see today, or if my camera will ever work again. =(

Fregene

Just got back from Fregene..it was so relaxing! It rained a lot, but it was ok, because we hung out inside..I finished an entire book! Mmmmm, so nice. When we got there on Sunday, Federico's mom was there, helping out. I'd never met her before, and she comes out, and I'm like, "Hi, I'm Kimberly." And she's like, "Ciao. Parli un po' d'italiano?" And I was like, "Un po..." And she goes, "Parli francese?" And I said, "SI!" And we started speaking in French!! It was so great!!! We spent the morning putting together all the chairs and accessories from IKEA, so the house is nicely furnished now. Then, when Federico's mom had to go, she hugged me and then turned to Amalia and said, "E sympatica, la Kimberly!" HAHA! I love her! We went out to lunch and then met up with some old childhood friends of Federico's. We hung out with them at a restaurant for a little while, and I played scopa with the kids..WOW that really tested my memory..AND my math skills! (There were three other girls there..8, 11 and 12..and they were pretty crazy..) After, they got pizzas for dinner and we brought them back and ate out on their porch. It was so nice..it reminded me of summer out on Nonna's back porch, or ours, with everyone there, chatting.

Monday it rained all day, so I watched Chicken Little with the kids, though I have to say I have NO idea what the movie was about...and relaxed and read. We went out for lunch and dinner again! Woo! Fede and Chiara left last night and Amalia Edo and I stayed until 2 today, waiting for the workers to arrive, to finish! It was crazy because I think they were supposed to be there at 9!

While we waited, we watched this Magic English DVD (the have 9 of them) and it's like Disney trying to teach kids English. It's adorable, and it was SO CUTE so hear Edo trying to say things! He was clearly just watching for the Disney movie clips. Then we went for a bike ride in the park! It was really nice..I'd forgotten how much I like bike riding! On the way back, Edo was singing one of the Magic English songs and he changed the words to "Kiki, Kiki..I love you!" HAHAHAH.

WHEW!

Today I did another of my itineraries (yes, there are a lot of them!) and FINALLY found Piazza Navona!! I'd been wanting to go for so long, but didn't know where it was!! It's truly gorgeous..three fountains in the middle of a square lined with restaurants and bustling with people and NOT with cars (except that the middle fountain, the biggest, was under repair). And BOY are there some gorgeous churches in that area. HOLY COW! I saw at least three that are not nearly as famous as St. Peter's but CERTAINLY rival it in beauty. WOOOO! Then, I continued my walk to the Pantheon to make up for the other day. Pretty awesome on the inside. After, I caught a bus right back to Amalia's (wow I'm good) and went to the grocery store for some lunch. On the bus, I felt like my butt was wet. So I looked at my backpack and my water bottle had opened inside!! Luckily my camera wasn't in there (we all know what happened last time) but my cell phone got wet and wouldn't work! AHHH! So I facebooked Debora and told her and she called me at Veronica's, HAHAHA. So I went over to see her and the kids and we hung out. Debora made a delicious curry chicken with rice for us for dinner! Then she went out and I watched The 100 Greatest Songs of the 90s on VH1 while I waited for Amalia and Federico to come back. It was great to watch an American show, even though I've never watched VH1 at home. HAHA! After trying to turn on the cellphone all night, and getting progressively more successful (the buttons won't work, then the 1 button works, then the 2 and 3 work), it finally worked completely when I left!! WHEW!!

Tomorrow we're all going to Fregene because the house is finally done! And we're going to stay until Tuesday. So if i don't write until then, don't get too excited..I didn't go to Sepino (although I wish I were!!)