I Stood Where Romeo Did!!

Andrea competed in a swim meet yesterday that took us to Verona!!  As you may know (or maybe not because I understand that not everyone is as zealous a Shakespeare fan as I happen to be...) Verona is the place where Romeo and Juliet lived!  I stood beneath Juliet's balcony and wrote on her wall.  It was extremely touristy and dripped with gushy love knick knacks and kissing couples but I'm a serious romantic so it's something that needed to happen.  We also did quite a bit of shopping in Verona...quite a bit..  I think Gianluca is beginning to think that I'm a bad influence on his wife.  Every time we go somewhere together we spend money...we also end up getting at least one matching item.

::SIDE NOTE:: the other day Silvia was hanging the laundry to dry (because everything is dried by the sun in Italy!) and she noticed that my choice in bras was inadequate.  Seriously, she came into my room with the bra and said "This bra is not good for you, I take to show you the bra you need"  then she took me to buy Italian lingerie.  Lot's of it.  I freaking love this woman.  Also, I'll be coming back to The States with huge looking boobs.  Do not be alarmed, it's just boob mirage.  Totally false advertising but hey...when in Rome... ::END SIDE NOTE::

I'm so glad I got to see Andrea compete at least once.  He's a fine swimmer.  I really enjoy being in this athletic family.  We've got runners and swimmers, bikers and gymnasts coming out of our ears!  It's fun, and challenging and there's never a dull moment.  This morning I joined a running club for the summer.  I had my first run with a delightful group of sixteen year olds.  I was really nervous at first, not because of their age, I deal with sixteen year olds on a daily basis for a living during the school year.  I was nervous because the prospect of doing anything athletic with a group of people ten years younger than you is terrifying.  But, as we ran for an hour through the countryside this morning I realized that I'm kind of a runner.  It's something that I've never been good at.  I'm slow, my breathing sucks, my legs usually feel heavy or tight but I realized today that I am, and probably always will be, a runner!!  I was at the front of the pack the whole time!!  I paced with a kid name Marco; he didn't speak any english.  No one spoke any english, which was perfectly fine by me because talking is not one of my favorite activities to do while running.

The weather is turning cooler here.  We may get a brief respite from the hot, humid Italy that's been dogging our days for a bit.  If you're around any balconies in the near future try to remember to be geeky and tell someone you love them.  Everybody should be gazed at from a balcony every once in a while!

Peace, Love and Travel,
Reba

Ready? Set?

GO!!!

He's in lane 2, with the blue bottom, left arm raised.

Pretty parents.

Okay, this guy was a riot!!  He used this high squeaky voice like a baby.

He got Andrea to hold him.

And then, he told me where to position my hands on his buggy to take a picture... 

aaaaaaaaand then, he totally looked at my boob...which was not in a bra...

Still trying to figure out how these guys did this...

The balcony of Juliet (Giulietta in Italian)

Me and Julie.  Note the bags...yikes.

Locks of love.

Writing on Juliet's wall.

Cool! 'Merica!