funny things for my nephews

Hello to my nephews! Here are some more funny things from my travels.

This bike was on the streets of Paris neat the Jardin De Luxembourg.  They say people here are obsessed with the garden. Scooters and bikes are everywhere here too as well as in other parts of Europe.  As we saw in Rome and around Italy the scooters and small cars are needed as many of the roads are very narrow through the cities and villages. My larger car got stuck once in a rock wall lined hilltop street in a little village in Vence, France. I couldn't make the turn and got stuck as I was also poorly skilled at driving a car with a stick shift on a steep hill.  My tears turned to laughter once I finally got myself unstuck and found my way to the final destination for the day.

another little car for my nephews

France's coast Normandy and Brittany Mt Saint Michel, Carnac, Trouville

This part of the trip went along the Brittany coast.  I loved this area so much the food the people the sea.  It was so interesting with all of the history and cultural mix from celtic origins, actually before that.  There were sites of interest all along the way , castles, churches, monoliths and alignments ( stones all lined up facing certain directions in Carnac amazing.  

My route

the beach at Carnac a nice place for a nap...

The amazing rocks and alignments, the Carnac Stones.

Happy Birthday to My Brother

Today is my brother's birthday !

I want to give a very big wish to him today for a Happy Happy Birthday! Today I scaled and filleted fish which brought back fond memories of our youth.  Our Dad took us fishing quite often and we had the opportunity to spend some wonderful time in some beautiful places.  We often brought home trout, blue gill, bass and salmon- huge salmon... As a matter of fact we caught so much salmon one year in Washington Island, Wisconsin that the small plane we flew over in couldn't take off with the weight.  If memory serves we took a ferry and the fish flew... Another time we had a stringer of blue gill and sun fish setting in the lake on the shore and a huge turtle tried to take the stringer of all of the fish. Another time while we fished with live bait an osprey swooped down to eat the bait and one of us either caught it or nearly did.  I also recall that my brother caught the back of his head, luckily our Dad had surgical skills.

We really were gifted so many wonderful experiences by our parents, not just fishing.  I was gifted a brother with whom I have enjoyed many adventures.  I am so very proud you Jim,  you mean the world to me.  I look forward to many more adventures with you.  Happy Happy Birthday!

Love, Pam

Big ugly fish and other crazy things for my nephews

Hi boys! I hope you are going to like these photos.  Look at the type of fish they catch off the beach where I am right now.  I am in southern Italy a region called Calabria.  A region is kind of like a state is in the United States.  Italy, the country where I am has several regions.  This one is south and warmer and is known for having short people and spicy hot food!  every where else in Italy they don't eat a lot of spicy food.  Here they have Blue Fin Tuna.  Only 3 areas around here do.  Today we cooked with Blue Fin tuna.

A Blue Fin Tuna.  Some grow to be bigger than you guys.  That is the teacher , the head Chef.  He is showing us how to clean it.

These fish are really bloody

 Thats them cooking

They are finished cooking

These are at the market where I shop, some still even have hooks in their mouths.

look at this ugly guy!

 This is a bowl of scorpion fish mostly little ones.  They have poison in them so they are tricky to eat a professional has to clean them and handle them.

lots and lots of fish

This is the inside of a sea urchin.  I ate this with bread.  It was really good.  It tastes like salty water and a little sweet.  You can get it in a sushi restaurant, you may have already tried it.  It is orange at home.

This is what the outside of it looks like.  Lots of spikey things.  When you see these guys under water they are on the bottom and the spikey things move around almost like waving.  On the very bottom there is a valve that lets in fresh water, they move pretty slowly.  Pretty cool aren't they.

I miss you both! 

Love you, Aunt Pam

Cute little cars

So here are a few shots of little cars around Florence. I think my nephews would like these.

 3 wheeler, this truck is not very tall it is shorter than I am... 

ok, this little guy is so small Graham would hardly fit! look at the wheels 2 in front and one in back.

Ask Dad about the name of this hotel

Thanks Graham for the information about the Tiber river and the Colosseum.  I saw this building tonight, ask your dad about this name... I have some more pictures on another post too from walking around at night.  Love you

A very small car- and a few very old buildings and places

This photo is for my nephews, Graham and Finn.  Hi Guys this photo if for you.  This little car was parked on my street this morning.  The cars here are much smaller than the ones in the United States.  This one is REALLY small, look how short it is compared to me.  

Here are some pictures of historical sites.  

the Pantheon a very old church or Basilica.

this is me in front of the Pantheon

the inside of the Pantheon, pretty cool, this was all built by men who didn't have machinery or trucks, they did this all with their strength and horses and probably oxen, amazing it is solid rock.

This is looking up at the roof inside, I wonder what they do when it rains? any ideas, there are seats inside...

This is the side wall of the same building the Pantheon.

My friend Rich standing on our street where we live in Rome.

This is a BIG fountain. Trevi fountain, also made of rock, or stone.

He is on the fountain

The Colosseum, there is a lot of history in this city, maybe you and your mom can read about it.  This is a very old building too, many stories and movies made about the history of what this building was used for.  

The Castel Saint Angelo, it is right on the river, maybe when you email me you can tell me what river this is on. Look it is fall here too, the leaves are changing.

The Vatican, and Vatican city

So my lovelies, this is the second day in Rome and a very good one.  Tonight we are going to eat Pizza! yesterday we ate a lot of salami and cheese and then some ice cream.  It is a really good place to eat.  Sorry Finn, not much butter here, lots of olive oil instead and its really green here and fruity and yummy. Hope you are being good, hug your mama for me. Love, Aunt Pam