Naysayers be damned, Venice is absolutely beautiful. Where else do you take a boat from the airport to your hotel, ride a gondola down narrow canals? We kicked off our day at The Brunch Cafe – an amazing little breakfast spot down a back alley owned and operated by Filipinos!! It was European meets Asian cuisine, who knew? We dined on fluffy Japanese style pancakes and Bao Buns. It was delicious, the kids also devoured their mango smoothies. So fresh and delicious! We cruised down many a narrow alley, filled with Murano glass, leather bags, pastries, and marzipan figures. I … Continue reading Ahhhh Venice

Hey everybody, Gus here. I’ve had some thoughts about how these past two weeks have been and I wanted to share them with you. Coronavirus | March 13, 2020 I feel devastated about the coronavirus. It has impacted so many things and so many people. The worst part is that California has the third most cases in the U.S.A. Now my school is closed, which means I have to be homeschooled and I don’t get to see my friends. This also means that the Commissioners had to suspend the leagues, the NBA and the MLB seasons have been pushed back … Continue reading Gus’s Thoughts on Life Amidst COVID-19

. . . Week One of schooling from home! I feel like I’m giving Lauren Tarshis, author of the I Survived Series of children’s books based upon historical events in the world, the title of her next book. Ha! No but in all seriousness, when I posted earlier in the week as our new adventure began, Friday and the end of the week seemed like a lifetime away. I’m happy to say that we made it, we survived. I hosted a virtual happy hour for my Mama Crew last night and I asked each of the ladies three questions to … Continue reading We Survived . . .

Exactly seven months ago today, we bid farewell to Rome and to our Traveling Anderzoo European Adventure! With the closing post, I figured this blog would go radio silent until we embarked upon another summer adventure, but then . . . COVID-19 crashed down upon us and with it a new adventure, Schooling From Home (SFH). This past summer each of us traveled from country to country with one suitcase and one backpack, from hotel to house, from train to car, from church to museum, all five of us together. Today, we are all together once again, but the scenery … Continue reading A New Adventure Begins!

Well, our journey is over and I’m writing this final post from home. We’re happy to be home as it’s been a long trip, but also sad that our epic adventure is over. It’s back to the real world for all of us but before that, let’s ramble on like Led Zepelin! Our hotel location in Florence was absolutely perfect. We were no more than a 5-10 minute walk from all the major sites – the Duomo, the Uffizi, the Acedemia, the Ponte Veccchio, etc. Florence is an amazing city and we could have easily spent more time there as … Continue reading Ramblings – Quatro e finale

We came. We saw. We conquered. Just like the Romans before us. After the incredibly hot, tons of crowds, lots of walking, day at the Vatican, we started our day off on golf carts with RollingRome for a private, off the beaten track, get down all the narrow cobblestone alleys made of lava rock, tour of Rome and all of her historical wonder. RollingRome Giulia and Eugene were our guides, historians, ambassadors of beauty and they were absolutely magnificent. With them, we were able to get away from the throngs of tourists at the main sites and tuck ourselves onto … Continue reading Veni, vidi, vici

It really needs no words, but because I’m me, and I’ve been known to be wordy and even verbose, I’ll lay a few down here. As a Catholic, the Vatican is the center of our world, the seat of our leadership and the place that epitomizes our faith and somehow, at least for me, makes me feel just a smidge closer to God. I reflect more, pray harder and feel everything so much more. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, it has been my Mom’s lifelong dream to see the Vatican, in all it’s gold and magnificence. It’s been 17 … Continue reading The Vatican

One thing I forgot to touch on in my ramblings was the picture of the coffee cup illuminated on the dashboard of our van. At first I wondered if the van had a coffee maker – we are in Italy after all. Then maybe I thought it was to remind the American tourists their coffee is better which is why I haven’t seen any Starbucks. Do you know what it’s for? I finally looked it up. Put your best guess below and don’t cheat and look it up online (Marcel). I’ll give you the real answer later. Continue reading Survey says…