Nice is nice but Villefrance is better!

After a much longer than necessary pause.... Enjoy our photos from our vacation in the South of France!


Cute little carousel right on the boardwalk in Nice... Graham's hair is WAY too long (hehe that shall soon be remedied)
The beautiful bay of Nice at sunset. Come on everyone let's count how many millions of dollars worth of yachts we can pack into one tiny little inlet!
The nicest train station in the world. You guessed it, it's in Monaco. Yes, the land where they really do have escalators to take you between areas of the city, like moving sidewalks, only more vertical :)
After a warm hike up to the palace, Graham was a little winded. Please note, the shorter hair! How many people can say they got their hair cut in Monaco?! Well... besides the people who actual live in Monaco...
The beautiful candles in the cathedral of Monaco. After living in Rome we are a little jaded when it comes to churches. It wasn't as pretty as our Roman versions, but as least the candles had a stunning glow.Then we went to the aquarium!!! We love aquariums, and Monaco has one of the very best. They had HUGE crabs, this one is right up against the glass!Sea turtle!
Graham and the scary squid relative...
Can you spot the fish? They are really good at hiding :)
Baby clownfish! They are sooo cute, and there were sooo many!Graham looking very posh (and a bit like Adam Levine from Maroon 5)... next to a long lost family member :)
My man and the outside of the Aquarium. Breathtakingly gorgeous, I know. The aquarium was nice too.
The reason Graham wanted to visit Monaco... the Monte Carlo!
The reflection of the Monte Carlo and the cliffs of Monaco above.
I forgot my I.D. (brilliant, I know), so I waited outside at a cafè while Graham gambled away our hard-earned tour guide money inside (not all of it, no worries)The adorably energetic dog we spotted while watching street performers in Nice.
We tried to stick our feet in the fountain. My legs weren't long enough. Graham's were.
Like all boys. Find a spot to cause some mischief, and Graham did. In this case, a suspicious looking door down to someone else's basement :)
Villefranche!!! Just a short bus ride away from Nice, we found paradise.
Isn't that the most beautiful thing you've ever seen?! The bay wasn't bad either :)Cute little medieval section of town
The most perfect beach in the world!
I couldn't resist snapping a photo or two...
Beautiful view of Villefranche and the bay
At the airport, sad to leave, and wasting time while waiting for the plane...


Posts still to come:
Our trips to Barcelona and the Amalfi coast, stay tuned!!

What in the world happened to April, May and June?

Ok, so after my parents left, Graham and I got brand new jobs as tour guides here in Rome. We take people through places like the Coliseum, Vatican Museums and the city center. Most of you know this :) But it basically consumed (and continues to consume) our entire lives. We didn't really go anywhere, we didn't really take pictures for about 3 months. So this little post here is a hodge-podge of what we did in that time...

We saw Feist! Again! I took Graham as a surprise when she played in LA, so as a tradition we have vowed to see her each and every time it is possible. She played at a tiny little club here in Rome and we were THISCLOSE... big difference from the Universal Amphitheatre in LA.

This is NOT zoomed in at all! We LOVED it! At the end we even got the set list which she attempted to translate into Italian for the evening. It's hilarious and one of a kind :)

We had a colleague work-outing in Campo di Fiori... so I am sorry that in the first picture you are seeing of our co-workers, we are all a little intoxicated :/ Hence our thinking it would be a great idea to try and pick up Naomi for the shot. I held onto her feet and when she started to fall, Graham held onto me. It's all about teamwork!

Graham and Suzanne. She's from Tahoe, so they bonded over Northern California things.

We went on a Scavi tour! Scavi means excavations in Italian, so we went into the excavations underneath St. Peter's basilica and saw the ancient cemetary where St. Peter is buried! It was cramped and humid and absolutely amazing! Pictures weren't allowed, so the only thing we have to document it is this picture of Graham after the tour had finished in the back sections of the Vatican city that the public does not typically have access to.

Before my children that I tutor took off for Summer vacation, I went up to Bracciano with them to their "country house" for the day. I use country lightly. They own a huge section of land, and we sat out on the terrace at a beautiful table overlooking Lake Bracciano where lunch was served to us on beatiful china. Life is tough being the children of a princess...

Edoardo loved me to take pictures of him as he jumped off the swing.

Much to Graham's amusement, Edoardo has a bit of a crush on me. He calls me his fidanzata which is something between girlfriend and fiancee in Italian. He went and picked a bunch of wildflowers and brought them back as a gift to me. Yes, they start the swooning early here in Italy. Enrico decided to be Tarzan and climbed trees in their little orchard. Unfortunately for him, he could get up.. but not down. And everytime he wanted to descend he needed me to help :) But he's all boy!

The boys then went for swimming lessons. Yes, even when they are off from school their days are packed: swimming lessons, tennis lessons, horse-back riding lessons... they are busy children!

Again, jumping pictures seem to be a hit with the boys.

Graham's stepmom and niece, Marian and Nicole, came to visit us at the end of June! We took them literally all over the city. What we didn't cover in the tours they followed, we took them to personally. Graham even took them up to Florence! I was ill, so unfortunately I could not come along.. though my protest was complete with feet stamping and multiple 'its not fair's. But mamma Marian wouldn't hear it, and I was left in bed for the day. Unfortunatley, and ironically, they were the picture takers of our group and literally just before they left I realized Graham and I had not taken a single shot, so I snapped this silly shot as they were about to leave in the bus. So this is, quite literally, the last memory we have of Marian and Nicole in Italy. For pictures of the rest of their time here, we'll need Marian's camera, hehe. But we had a fabulous time with them, and their visit was like only getting a little taste of something you really want, and now we miss home even more than ever!

Without internet at home, it's been difficult to keep the blog updated, but we do have another post on it's way of our vacation to Nice and Southern France a few weeks ago. So get excited, it's coming soon!!

Culture Week '08

Well, after all the rain, thunder and lightning that made Easter so dramatic, Treva and I went home, changed into some warmer clothes and hit the road. The railroad to be exact. We had to hustle and make sure that we were in the terminal waiting for Mama Selvaggio and Frank as soon as they arrived. We met them at the airport and were very excited to see them!!

(EDIT: Graham was nice enough to start the post... I've come in, added more pictures, and will be finishing it, so please forgive the change in narration :) )

First stop on my parents' itinerary? Well, Pompeii of course!

It was raining, but we got in for free, so we didn't mind!

Good thing my mom had her hood :)

One of the few seconds when it wasn't pouring...


Taking a moment for a brake in an ancient home
He needs that extra step to feel bigger... Napoleon syndrome :)

The city of Pompeii was taken by such surprise that this dog was still roped to his post when he was killed by the enormous volcanic explosion.

Graham in the ancient amphitheater with great acoustic, and just think, this was centuries before Bose :)


Some of the only surviving frescoes in Pompeii can be found in, you guest it, the brothel! It was a virtual menu of what the ladies had to offer; basically point and pick a room!


A body cemented in ash...

Stepdad (Frank) looking ever so mafia :)

Pompeii after the rain

My man owning the Italian roads... in the fiat :)

Our beautiful sunset on the way home

The parents were tuckered out from such a long day... time for a nappy nap!

I brought my mom to meet my children and Livia, Enrico and Eduardo couldn't wait to meet her...... it didn't hurt that she brought them presents :)

Throwing coins in the Trevi

The view from Castel St. Angelo at sunset

The boys couldn't get enough of the antique weapons... go figure!

Roma a notte (Rome at night)

Bello San Pietro... this is why I love Rome!

Me and the mamma
The cute little door within the massive door, exiting Castel St. Angelo

Parents on the bus!

Graham and Frank were twins!

The drive through Tuscany on our way to Florence

Look! A castle!
Graham and the head of Constantine in the Capitoline museums (we took a museum detour while the parents hit up the Colosseum)

Big stinky foot :)
My two favorite men: Graham perplexed by the work of Bernini

La mia Bella Roma (my beautiful Rome)

Graham bonding with Marcus Aurelius

This was entirely his idea... I think :)

I had the camera, and was feeling artsy...

For their last day we had planned a trip to the Vatican Museums with the parents (Graham and I had yet to go inside), unfortunately Frank wasn't feeling well, so it was just the two of us and my mom...

Little did we know what the next few weeks would hold, and just how frequently we would be visiting those famous museums :)
Baby Bacchus with his original eyes...

Being sneaky in the Sistine Chapel... I now am supposed to dissuade people from doing this...


La Capella Sistina!

It was a lovely 11 days with my parents. I think we all learned a lot; they brushed up on Roman history and its gastronomic experiences; I learned how to be more patient and Graham learned that it is now one of his official jobs to help me be more patient :)