Benvenuti al Via Fontanelle! (Welcome!)

Today is a special day for me because my blog is being featured on my new friend Jenni's blog, The Story of My Life.  So if you're new here, Ciao!  And welcome to Via Fontanelle, my blog about the crazy ups and downs of our Army life here in Italy!  My name is Amy and as I'm sure you've already guessed, I am a military spouse living overseas while my husband is stationed OCONUS (outside the continental United States).

Steve, my husband, and I have been living this sometimes amazing but always hectic Army life for almost twenty years now and I guess we're sticking with it. We were married in 1994 and it's been a crazy game of numbers every since.  Here's a run down:

We have 4 kids: Tory is 15, Trey is 13, Jackson is 6, and we rounded out our family of 6 with Delilah who is 3. We've lived at 8 different duty stations, endured 5 deployments, and made countless awesome friends along the way. On our latest adventure, we arrived in Italy on December 1st, 2011 with our 6 family members, 14 pieces of luggage, 2 car seats, 2 cats, 1 huge Newfoundland, 11 carry on bags, and a baby stroller .  I am embarrassed to say, we pulled up to the Atlanta airport with a U-Haul and two cars loaded to the brim.

We've been to 8 (but soon to be 9) countries in our year and half here and are ready for more! It currently costs $251. 42 to fill up my giant American Suburban and recently, the Big Girl hit 100,000 miles.

(Have no fear, the engine light is on because I need a new gas cap, Daddy)

So please come join in our adventures HERE to see where we are headed next! We can jump on over to Venice for lunch and be home to meet the school bus! Arrivederci!

I'd love your vote for top mommy blog!  All it takes is one little click on the picture of the smiling momma below~Grazie~

The Brats Go To Disneyland Paris!

After all the travel and museum-hopping we have put our dear brats through over the past year and a half, and knowing what frequent and constant museum-induced torture we were about to put them through, we decided to begin our spring break trip to Paris in DISNEYLAND!!!

(The land where Minnie has armpit hair--ok, not REALLY, but I just couldn't resist...)

Now before I tell you all about our trip, let me remind you that there are two kinds of people in this world...

*Those who think that Disney is indeed heaven on Earth

*And those who don't

We are the first kind of people.

But flying to Disney in Orlando isn't exactly an option for us since we live in Italy, so DLP (Disneyland Paris) was just going to have to do for now.

To sum up our trip to DLP in one sentence, we had a good time.

Was it a great time? Great would be stretching it a bit. It was good.  Just "good". Did my kids have a good time? Yep, you betcha. Especially the two little ones.  

DLP is like the stepsister of Disney Orlando.  They look much like the same, especially when you first enter the park.  Main Street USA is just like Main Street USA in Orlando--and it was kind of cool to see all the American flags flying--keep in mind we haven't really seen many here in Italy! 

It's a Small World is still a main attraction (and still my personal favorite) and the workers still yell at you when your kid continues to be the one who stands up on the ride, except they yell at you in French first...not that I would know from personal experience or anything...

You can still get your picture taken with a princess 

or two...

And a character 

or two

And the workers at DLP all wear cute little Mickey shaped name tags, instead of saying what state they are from, they say what country they are from.  Everyone was very nice. Just like in Orlando. 

And in the center of the park, there's a beautiful castle--just like in Orlando--except in Paris, it's Sleeping Beauty's castle instead of Cinderella's, although you can still find her hanging around.  But here she speaks with a French accent!

And it was the 20th anniversary of the park opening in Paris, so that was kind of cool.  

Disneyland Paris is like Disney World Orlando Light.  Would I go back? Probably not, but I'm glad we went. Once. And it was kind of cool to hear Cinderella speak French, although now poor Delilah is REALLY confused!

If you are planning a trip to DLP and have some questions, please feel free to email me.  I know I had a million questions but there really just isn't much info out there in English.  My address is torysmama@gmail.com

I'd love your vote for Top Mommy Blog--all it takes is one click below on the cute momma picture!  Thanks so much! Ciao!

Wordless Wednesday

This photo speaks volumes about our trip to Paris.... and I simply couldn't resist the ladies with the boobies behind them.  When you say, "Here kids, sit in front of these saggy boobie ladies and let me take a picture", this is what you get from my youngest three...


Please take a moment to vote for Via Fontanelle for Top Mommy Blog.  I'd really appreciate your vote!

I'm looking for some friends

I'm working on some posts about our trip to Paris for later in the week--actually, that vacation may take a couple of weeks to showcase, but until then...

Hello there Ladies and fellow bloggers!  I'm looking for a couple of other bloggers with similar reader numbers and audiences as mine to do a feature swap with me.  Nothing fancy--just a few words about ourselves and some awesome photos to go along with it--that we share on each others' blogs as a way of introducing ourselves and inviting more readers to our blogs.  Kind of like a button swap, except with just a little bit more umph! If you are interested, please email me at torysmama@gmail.com so that we can work out the details!  I'd love at least a couple of other expat military wives living here in Europe, but am up for anything! Thanks!

I'd love your vote!  Please help me "climb the ranks" of the top mommy blog!  Thanks!

Funny Facts about Italy Part 2

I am a big fan of useless lists of trivial information, and so when I came across this particular list of Italian particulars, I had to share it. The original can be found HERE--minus my footnotes, of coarse...

1. Italy has three active volcanoes: Vesuvius, Etna, and Stromboli.
2. Italy is often called the Bel Paese, which mean beautiful country.
3. Italy is home to the largest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites – more than 40. (I'm going to look these up and share them one day)

4. Italy has 20 regions and 6 islands.
5. Italy speaks a national language, which was based on the Tuscan dialect, but each region still speaks its own dialect.
6. The Vatican is a separate sovereign nation, its own country. (It was my 9th country to visit)

7. Italy is slightly larger than Arizona.
8. The thermometer is an Italian invention.
9. The piano hails from Italy.
10. With almost 40 million visitors, Italy is the fourth most visited country in the world.

11. The average Italian consumes 26 gallons of wine a year. (I'm shocked it isn't higher...)
12. The typewriter is an Italian invention.
13. Italy did not become a united country until 1861.
14. The Italian Wolf is considered the national animal of Italy.
15. Italy has over 3,000 museums.
16. The national sport of Italy is soccer (known as football outside of America).
17. Italy’s national dish is pasta. (well now, there's a shocker...)

18. Napoleon spent his first exile on the Italian island of Elba.
19. The vespa scooter was invented in Italy in 1946. (And the word "vespa" in Italian actually means "wasp")

20. Italy has the most hotel rooms of any European nation.
21. Everyday 3,000€ gets tossed into the Trevi Fountain. (And the Italian government in Rome uses it to feed the poor, so they say...)

22. Italy’s national flower is the Lily.
23. Sixty percent of the world’s art treasures are in Italy.
24. Opera was created in Italy. (And the Fenice in Venice is still operational)

25. Bubonic Plague killed one-third of the Italian population in the 14^th century.
26. Italy has won the World Cup four times.
27. The average consumption of pasta in Italy is 25 kg per person per year. (Also shocked this isn't higher)
28. The violin and the cello were both invented in Italy.
29. Italian pizza originated in Naples during the 18th century.

30. Italy holds the Guiness record for having the most elevators.
31. The national bird of Italy is Bluebird.
32. Italy is famous for its sports cars like Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Lamborghini. (And we've seen them all driven here)

33. The oldest European university in continuous operation is the University of Bologna, founded in 1088.
34. Italians invented optical eye glasses.
35. Italy has been making wines for over 2800 years.
36. The oldest film festival in the world, beginning in 1932, is the Venice Film Festival.
37. Italy has more famous fashion designers than any other country. (Shocker)
38. Many of Shakespeare’s plays were set in Italy, including Romeo and Juliet from Verona.

39. Carabinieri uniforms are designed by Valentino. (This is my favorite useless fact and one that I pointed out to the local Carabinieri, who were very proud to confirm it and happy that I noticed)

40. The highest point in Italy is Mont Blanc, in the alps at 15,770 feet.
41. The longest river in Italy is the Po.
42. Italy is the largest wine-producing country in the world. (Another shocker)
43. Italy has hosted the Olympic Games three times.
44. The patron saint of Italy is Saint Francis of Assisi.
45. The national Italian airline is called Alitalia.
46. The largest white truffle in a half century weighing over 3 pounds,was unearthed near Pisa, Italy.
47. Italy is home to some of the world’s greatest composers, like Vivaldi, Rossini, Verdi and Puccini.
48. The espresso machine was invented in Italy.
49. Venice has over 400 footbridges.

50. The oldest olive tree in Italy, in Umbria is reportedly over 1700 yrs old.

I SURE would LOVE your vote as top mommy blog.  All it takes is one little click on that picture below to vote.  Grazie!

—

Best Books About Italy (In My Opinion, Anyway...)

When we first moved here, I read darn near everything there was to read on Italy.

*Travel guides about Italy

*Learn to speak it in Italy

*Nonfiction accounts on living in Italy

*Fiction that just happened to take place in Italy

*Children's books about Italy (both fiction and non fiction)

*Cooking like an Italian--this was one I was certain I would learn to muster is mere days, if not hours after soaking up the Italian Nona "vibe" from my neighbor, Anna Maria

I also watched a ton of movies which were set in Italy...but this post is about the books. The movies we'll get to later

It really didn't take me long to figure out that for a while now, anything with "Italy" as a subject would sell books in America.  I like to refer to it as the "Eat, Pray, Love Under the Tuscan Sun"or "Vespa" Revolution.  And that most of what came out of that "Vespa" revolution was crap.

Instead of telling you a lot about the books that I don't like, let's stick with the positive, shall we?



It's important to start with a few non-fiction accounts

(this is really a picture of her house....not as crappy as they made it out to be in the movie, huh!)

and Under the Tuscan Sun is the Bible of this because like most people....reading this book and watching the movie made me fall in love with Italy.  I was ready to move to Tuscany...immediately, meet some gloriously handsome descendants of Roman Gods who would find me my dream house and then  repair it to its intended perfection and would eventually hand me my odd set of antique skeleton house keys... Although this didn't happen, (well, the skeleton keys part did, but not the Roman Gods part) I still enjoyed many of the anecdotes that she describes about living in Italy as an American (although a wealthy one).

The City of Fallen Angels is a somewhat true account of the city of Venice and the days surrounding the actual burning of the Fenice, the famed Venetian opera house that was destroyed in 1996.  Its author is John Berendt, of The Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil fame.  Although there are passages which are certainly boring and tedious, the cast of characters reads like a who's who of high class Venetian society.   This book is just as good as his original, with a damp and smokey atmosphere filled with an eccentric cast of wealthy characters who I still look for each time I visit the city.  Read the good parts and skim the rest. 

 Halfway to Each Other: How a Year In Italy Brought Our Family Home was a surprise.  I had pretty low expectations for this one but picked it up because of the reviews.  It's the true life story of a married couple and their children who, on the brink of divorce, decide to give up everything and stay in Italy (where they just happened to be vacationing at the time).  I loved it because Pohlman doesn't sugar coat anything...what drives her CRAZY about Italy is what drives any American who lives here crazy...It's a bit more "real life" than Tuscan Sun.

Head Over Heel: Seduced by Southern Italy is one of those laugh out loud books that you can't put down.  Seriously, I laughed my ass off with this one.  It's without a doubt my favorite nonfiction book written about Italy.  They should make a movie of this one (and the kindle version is Super cheap!!)  If you only buy one of these nonfiction books I'm suggesting--this is The One...


And there are some good fiction books about Italy too, so many in fact, that I'm only going to tell you about a couple of my favs...

Yep, it's true...John Grisham (the same guy who wrote The Firm and A Time to Kill) actually wrote a book about an American football player who moved to Italy to play for an Italian football team...not soccer football...football football.  I read this one before we moved to Italy and had no idea there was actually an American-style football league in Italy. They do and it's actually quite popular.  I am dying to go to a game. 

This one scared me to death.  It's the first in a series and I haven't gotten brave enough to read the next one.  But I really liked it...  This one takes place in Perugia (of Amanda Knox fame) and the author has great descriptions of places around Italy.  I found myself jotting down a list of Italy Must-Sees while I was reading it.  

I love telling the story of how I found Beautiful Ruins...we were in the Shakespeare and Company bookstore in Paris and I was looking to by a copy of Leaves of Grass (by Walt Whitman, who I am related to, by the way--Tory's middle name is Whitman) and this book was actually misplaced on the shelf in the Whitman section...I picked it up and knew I had to buy it because the cover photo is of one of the Cinque Terre towns AND I HAVE BEEN THERE (read all about that HERE).  I immediately took all of this as a sign and bought it, along with Leaves of Grass, without even reading the blurb about it.  It was AMAZING and I missed it when it was over.  This one is my favorite...trust me on this one.

I am usually not a lover of "foodie fiction" but the characters in Georgia's Kitchen won me over.  This is another one that I read before moving to Italy and now I'm looking forward to rereading it.  It reminded me a bit of Tuscan Sun in that the protagonist, Georgia, is jilted by a man and runs off to "find herself"in Tuscany. I liked it anyways.  Even though it made me consider taking up cooking...

We own no fewer than 19 Italian language books--and that's just how many I could find in the five minutes that I spent looking for them to count for this post.  I am ashamed to reveal this...apparently we thought that buying more books would make us learn the language faster (but we forgot the actual "reading" of the books)

This one is my favorite.  Seriously, it cracked me up.  I'm not sure how much of a survival guide it was but it covered the basics and had a section on cuss words.  I enjoyed that part immensely. 

In a nutshell, you can never go wrong with Rick Steves...This is a nice collection of important phrases to know when you're first getting to Italy.  It's a nice way to start off your Italian language experience but it doesn't have a huge vocabulary...And it's small enough to fit in your pocket, but not as small as...

The Berlitz Italian Pocket Dictionary is just that...a POCKET dictionary.  It is literally the size of the palm of my hand and the print is TINY but it's our "go to" dictionary.  We try to take it everywhere, especially when we first moved here and knew about five words.  

We also have practically every children's book ever published on Italy--fiction and nonfiction. The kids picked these as their favorites...

I have to agree that this This is... series by M. Sasek is totally awesome, even for adults.  The books are long but they cover almost every major sight in the city. I read them to the kids before we went to Venice, Paris, Rome, etc and the kids recognized places from the books! 

We are big fans of Olivia around Via Fontanelle and so my kids (and their mother) were ecstatic to discover she had to been to Venice, too.  The pictures are pretty cool also. Ignore the reviews on Amazon that complain about the TSA parts in the book...

Mrs. Tramm read this to Jackson the first Christmas we were here and then he came home and told me about it and I bought Old Befana for him from Amazon.  This was a good thing because it explained why there were so many ladies dressed like witches walking around our town during the first week on January.  Read about that HERE. 

Jackson enjoyed it when I read Geronimo Stilton and The Magic Tree House books about Venice.  Geronimo Stilton was a solid favorite of mine. I like the pictures, I can't help it...

Sadly, these A Kid's Guide to...books by Lapis must only be available over here in Europe.  I've found a couple of them in museums here and my kids get a kick out of them.  They each have little games inside and you can play hide and seek to find the famous sights as you're touring the cities with your brats kids.  Plus, they're just a nice way to break it all down when it comes to sightseeing.  

Travel guides are another type of book that we've become hoarders of.  We currently own 33 and I'm sure I'll buy a couple more before the week's out.  Our favorites are anything by Rick Steves.  Seriously, you cannot go wrong with one of his books. And he has a TV show too (and it's available on DVD, Hulu, and Netflix). Check out his website, too. 

And finally...the cookbooks.  I would like to say that living in Italy has made me a better cook.  Let's pretend that this is true, ok?  If nothing else, living in Italy has made me buy some very pretty cookbooks that I'm sure if I actually used, would inspire me to produce fabulous meals.  Here are my favorites:

This one is fabulous and I actually have used it. I mean, COME ON--Italian food meets crockpot=total score, right?

This one is very pretty and I promised myself when I bought it that I would prepare the gnocchi, eggplant parmesan, and panna cotta with cherry marmalade.  I'm just a little slow getting started... The pictures inside are amazing.  

This one is my favorite and it has nothing to do with the fact that on pages 62-63 there is a photo with the caption "Nuns on the streets of Bra".  This one is total cookbook meets travel journal, complete with awesome photos.  I want these grandma's to come to my house and cook. 

Now I'm curious...what are some other awesome books about Italy?  Leave me a comment with your 

favs...

And I sure would LOVE your vote!