Verona

We traveled to our second favorite Italian city today to show Pop Pop the sites. It was packed with Italians who were hoping to visit the traveling Nativity scene at the Arena. The line was super long, so we skipped the Nativity scene and just went inside the Arena. It's so awesome to see some place that was built over 2000 years ago. All the seats are made of marble and it's also where we saw Duran Duran this summer. Even the sidewalks are made of marble in Verona. We stopped by Juliet's house so that my dad could see the balcony and then headed home. (After buying some dolce americano--doughnuts!)

This is the first place we ever ate in Verona.  It was with the Neumeyers when we came in February of 2011.

Quote from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet: "There is no world without Verona walls, but purgatory, torture, hell itself, hence banished is banish'd from the world, and world's exile is death...". The plaque is located on the wall next to the original gates. I love the bronze bust of Shakespeare next to it. The original gates are pictured below.

The original gates of Verona. The Shakespeare plaque is on the wall to the right. The clock above is illuminated at night and is very pretty.

Street view looking back into Verona from the original gates. The Arena is just to the left and cars cannot drive just beyond where the crosswalk is.

Street actors in front of the Arena.  The gladiator was hilarious.  Delilah didn't know what to make of these people.  

Steve buying the doughnuts.  He is literally saying "I want the pink one" because Delilah wanted the pink doughnut. The hilarious thing is...if you look closely, you can see that Trey is holding a blue balloon that he is trying to blow up.  about 5 seconds after I took this picture, the balloon flew out of his mouth and landed in the middle of the doughnuts.  You should have seen Steve's face!

Pop Pop is here, y'all

Pop Pop arrived today and needed a nap. Delilah decided she wanted to take her nappy with him. Not sure who was snoring louder....

Little Ballerina

This fall, I was thrilled to discover that Delilah would be able to participate in ballet lessons here on post. The cut off date was literally her birthday, so she ended up being the youngest ballerina in the class--by almost 6 months. It was on Wednesday mornings and was a Mommy and Me class, so I was able to participate as well. We both loved it! Mrs. Sylvia, our teacher was Italian and was one of the sweetest, most patient people I've ever met. We are so happy that we gave ballet a try and will certainly sign up for it in the new year. I love how Delilah isn't quite sure where to put her hands!

Snowman Brocks

We've been doing a little decorating for Christmas around here. Last year, we spent Christmas in the hotel, so we are hoping that our first (really our second)"Italian" Christmas will be better than last. It's nice to see some familiarity again and to experience some of our Brock Christmas again. We would love to hear from you! Here's our address: The Brock Family CMR 427 Box 3807 APO, AE 09630 These are some of my favorite Christmas decorations. Our snowman family is something that I always look forward to putting out for the holidays!