Serie A soccer

We’ve now been to TWO Serie A (premier league) games in less than a week (and we’re hoping to go to Juventus – Fiorentina next Saturday). ‘Our’ side, Fiorentina (Florence), also known as Viola because of their purple colours, is an exciting, flamboyant team to watch and are probably better than their current 10th place on the ladder suggests (they also play in the EUFA championships). Games are relatively cheap to attend here (65 euros for a family of 4), easy to get to by train, and brimming with atmosphere, passion, sound and....smoke (cigarette smoke!). Watching live sport here is quite different to Oz. Firstly, your ticket has your name on and you have to provide photo ID to get into the stadium (for security reasons). Drinks are affordable but served in paper cups not plastic bottles – as full bottles could be used as projectiles! It’s all about security. Opposition spectators arrive by bus with Police escort (we actually saw this). They all sit together, behind glass, with rows of security people on either side. And then, when they score they swear at us and when we score, we swear at them. Good fun for the whole family! Here’s Tom’s take: “I find the soccer here fantastic. The fans are so passionate when their team makes a mistake they scream at their own player and when the Ref makes a mistake the fans swear at him. The opposition supporters have to be in a cage of their own so there is no violence between the fans. Robbie and I each have our own Fiorentina shirts. We are trying to get mum and dad to buy one each!”

Lee-Ann’s lament

The beautiful, U-shaped building of the Ufizzi Gallery in Florence is home to the world’s finest collection of Renaissance art. Everywhere you turn, you are greeted by the detail and richness of painted biblical scenes, portraits and statues – 1500 works distributed across 50 rooms. The palazzo itself (previously offices of the Medici Family) is quite breathtaking – wide corridors, capped with stunning ceiling frescoes. The museum’s layout follows a chronological order from the Tuscan masters of the 12th to 14th centuries, then moves through the Renaissance, Baroque and neoclassical periods. Pride of place goes to Botticelli with his ‘Birth of Venus’ and ‘Spring’. We were lucky to stand really close to both of these paintings (an advantage of visiting out of season – it’s apparently chaos in summer). Pictures in travel guides don’t do full justice to the sheer size and detail of these masterpieces. Saying that, a few hours into our ‘Ufizzi indugence’, Robbie declared that he was bored and he thought I should stop for coffee! The cafe provided stunning views across Piazza della Signoria. However, we did learn one valuable lesson after our most expensive coffee to date in Italy ($8!), and that is to order your caffe at the counter and then sit down and savour it! Table service is a lot more expensive. Our culturally rich afternoon in Florence (albeit with my culturally-challenged sons and husband), ended with a different type of cultural experience, in the form of a Serie A soccer match (Florence v AC Milan)! I win some, I lose some....

Boys' soccer

One of the unexpected highlights of the trip thus far has been the boys' involvement with the soccer club, AC Santa Lucia. To cut a long story short, through a Monash contact, Mike was put in touch with a guy in Prato who speaks excellent English and who plays soccer. Keeping the story short, our contact hadn't replied to e-mails for a while, so we arrived in Prato knowing only the name of the club - nothing else. We found the club on our map and decided to take a walk there – just to check it out. We had a look around, and then TRIED to ask a few questions in the office. But no-one spoke a word of English (not uncommon outside the main cities). Through sign language, we got the message across that the boys wanted to train and their years of birth. We also mentioned the name of our ‘contact’, which had the desired effect. Then this big guy with grey hair (Fernando) grabs Tom (who isn’t prepared for training and is still jet-lagged), marches him onto the field, screams something to a coach and then pushes Tom towards the coach. Tom ends up playing a practice match and has a ball! He then finds himself in the right place at the right time and scores – which evokes widespread and highly demonstrative displays of physical affection (which as many of you know, is not exactly Tom’s thing!) and shouts of “bravo Tommaso!” Suffice it to say, both boys have been accepted whole-heartedly – although the parents still appear pretty suspicious of us. Of course, Rob and Tom’s training nights don’t coincide (that would be too convenient), so now we’ve travelled half-way around the world only to still be spending four nights a week, 5-7pm, on the side of a &*%$#! football field. But at the end of the day, the boys are having a great time, they’re getting intense social interaction (all the more important given that they’re not going to school), they’re burning off all the carbs they’re eating and as a bonus, they’re getting a high level soccer experience at a very good club. Obviously, sport transcends language/culture and football is indeed the world game.

Tom's take on Tuscany

So far in Italy I have experienced lots of new thing including going to a very old town called Prato. Its hundreds of years old and the town Church is huge. We went to Florence and we went to a soccer match. The fans are so passionate they swear at each other and pull rude signs. I found it quite funny. I am playing soccer with the local Prato team. The club is famous for producing Paulo Rossi, Christian Viere and Alessandro Diamante. In Italy they are very bad drivers so when the speed limit is 40 they go about 65. The weirdest thing is that the roads are so narrow and they go so fast. When Dad and I went on a bus it was going faster than the cars and we were standing up! It was fun but scary.

Robbie's thoughts

Rome is the capital of Italy. It is the largest city. It is called the eternal city. Augustus was the first emperor. There are many ruins. You can climb the Spanish steps. There are many museums. The pope is from Vatican city. Michelangelo pantind the ceiling of the Sistine chapel. The colosseum is a big building where gladiates used to fight. Also Rome is one of the oldest citys in the would and Florence has a statur of David. Also Lucca is a little town with heaps of little places. Heaps of Italians like eating pasta and pizza and gelato. There are heaps of scooters in italy and they ride really fast. Also prato is a small town.

Settling into village life

We’ve been in Prato for a week now and almost feel like locals. Some shopkeepers even greet us by name! Mike started work yesterday and has a nice cosy and quiet office at the Monash Centre (www.monash.edu.au/campuses/tours/prato). The Centre is located in the heart of the old town, a short walk from our apartment (www.bbmagico.it), and is housed in an 18th century Palazzo (palace). Parts of the building are believed to be much older, with 15th century frescos having been discovered on some outer walls. The part of the palazzo which is the Monash Centre was home to a prestigious club between 1875 and 1999 and was renovated in 1950 by famous Italian architect, Italo Gamberini. The boys may not end up going to school here (for various reasons) and Lee-Ann spends the mornings home-schooling them. Tom has soccer tonight (topic for a future blog) and on Wednesday evening we’re going into Florence again to watch our second Serie A soccer match (another topic for a future blog). We’re also thinking of going to Sienna this weekend. This morning it’s raining ‘gatto e cane’. The climate here is very much like Melbourne – but with no water shortages. The weather is also variable - like Melbourne – perhaps a degree or two cooler though.

First day in Florence

Fantastic Firenze! Today was our first trip south to Florence (only 20 minutes by train). Needless to say, the highlight was David – all 5m (and 5 inches) of Michelangelo marble magic. Fortunately, the boys got the penis jokes out of their systems before we got there – and were uncharacteristically well behaved and in awe of the Masterpiece. Other highlights included the Cappelle Medici, the Duomo (cathedral) and the Ponte Vecchio. The construction of the Duomo began in 1296 and it took 150 years to build the world’s fourth largest cathedral. David is housed in the purpose-built Galleria dell’Accademia. The statue is a staggering 5.16m tall and weighs 19 tonnes. Michaelangelo also designed the Cappelle Medici. It is the Medici Family mausoleum and the main chapel is typical of the baroque style – granite, marble and semi-precious stones. Cosimo il Vecchio (1389-1464) was founder of the Medici dynasty and historians argue that the political stability achieved by Cosimo helped foster the Renaissance – particularly as a patron of the arts. The Ponte Vecchio is Florence’s oldest and most famous bridge over the fast-flowing River Arno and is still a bustling area after seven centuries. It was once home to medieval butchers and is now home to numerous jewellers. After all our sightseeing we enjoyed a delicious pranza at a trattoria with red and white checked table cloths! We’ll probably be making a few trips to Florence during our Tuscan sojourn...

Pedestrians in Italy......and other endangered species

In Australia, pedestrians have all the rights and motorists have none. In Italy, pedestrians are fair game and have the right to get out of the way (a little like SA!). Survival of the fittest is the only rule of the road. You can be walking along a quite (and tight) cobblestone lane and then wham - a car edges you up against a shop window. When we first approached a pedestrian crossing, we hypothesized that if you start walking, they will stop (a la Australia). Wrong. You wait until someone decides to stop. Tom reackons its one in twenty and he's probably right. Tom has also spotted 3 'bumper bashings' in 4 days. In fact, Tom is in charge of walking and road safety – because these Italian drivers have really been stressing him out. We had a great candid camera moment yesterday while walking to the supermarket. There was a huge puddle on the side of the road and we were standing there deciding how to navigate round it when SPLASH, a turning (speeding) car sprayed us all. Our little Tuscan travel guide says it best, under the heading Road Rules: "Largely ignored". Its no surprise this country is home to both current GP and MX world champions. Speaking of two wheels – there are scooters everywhere here, so Rob asks Mike who invented the scooter. Don’t know says Mike, probably Mr. Vespa. Nah says Rob, probably Mr. Einstein – he was pretty clever!

Caesar, Puccini and the Ewings head for Lucca

Caesar, Pompey and Crassus made their First Triumvirate here. Napoleon gave the city to his sister Elisa in 1805. Composers Boccherini and Giacomo Puccini (Tosca, Madam Butterfly, La Boheme) lived here...and then the Ewings hit town!! Strolling down the cobbled streets, coffee at the piazza (espresso not to Mike's liking), to the piazza amphitheatre where Julius did his 'thing'. We are in awe of the 400 year-old paintings in the Cathedral and the 36 individually carved, unique pillars on the facade. After a delicious pasta lunch we took the train (90 min) back to Prato in time for Robbie's first soccer practice (we were constantly reminded during our outing that we could NOT be late for soccer!!) "Rraaawbee" made new friends (Marco, Georgio, Fabio and Davide) instantly, despite the fact that (surprisingly!), "they can't speak a word of English!" (Robbie). The day ended with a half hour walk home for a warm bath and a light supper of proscuitto, salami, grapes and pane. Both boys fast asleep by 8pm (without having to be nagged). Wonder what tomorrow holds in store?

First impressions

Green shutters, terracotta tiles, gently undulating hills, cypress trees, olives and vines...classic Tuscany.....and thats just the view from the train window. Built in 1800, the only word to describe our furnished apartment in Prato is authentic (in every respect). The floor tiles are simply spectacular. Works of art - and all we do is walk on them! There are many antiques and yet it feels very homely. The apartment is on the Piazza Duomo, opposite the Cathedral (which was built a lazy 1500 years ago). Not much English spoken here, so Lee-Ann is concentrating hard to understand and be understood (and doing very well - according to Mike). Had a meal in a lovely restaurant last night - delizzioso pane, formaggio and vino rosa. Its funny just how much better Italian food tastes in Tuscany:) But we had to leave after the first course as both boys fell asleep at the table! We woke at 4am this morning and will spend the next few days getting settled and finding our way around...

From the mouths of babes....

Rob and Mike were showering in the Cathay lounge in Hong Kong after the first leg of the trip. Rob to Mike: "Will they serve breakfast on the flight to Rome?" Sure. "Well then I think I will wait until we land in Rome and have breakfast there". Why? "The food on the aeroplane is not very good - in fact it's quite disgusting!! The drink is okay though - the Sprite is good!"

Background: Family walking from the apartment to the supermarket having to cross a few roads. Needless to say the driving is "classic Italian"! Tom sees a golden labrador walking with his owner. "Is that woman blind? A blind person's dog would really need to be on it's game in Italy!!"

Lee-Ann is nagging me to pack...but Sunday morning gives me more than enough time:)

T minus 4...

Four days to go...half the bags are packed and the cameras are charging! We have managed to change our flight - and now fly from Hong Kong directly to Rome, rather than through London. We are delighted as the longest flight of our journey seems a lot more manageable...

Preparing and packing...

Eleven days to go and we need to start packing...Tuscany is -3 degrees this week!

I have just set up our blog and cannot contain my excitement as I have conquered my 'technophobia'!!! One step at a time, Lee-Ann! I have not even tried copying a photo into the template yet!! Thirteen sleeps to go before our big adventure abroad...