March 27, 2004
It's been a while!
CIAO A TUTTI. With Spring there is always a flurry of activity. For us it has been great and not so great. We had our first truly negative experience; but even that had it's positive aspects as you will learn if you read on. Lia and 3 of her friends from school are taking an Art History Class with Laura Kramer. Have I told you how fantastic she is? Not only does this women know everything about Art and Florence, but she loves kids and THEY LOVE HER! For two hours every Thursday she takes them to the sites around Firenze. Week before last they saw the amazing "pietra dura" --inlayed stone work at the Pitti Palace and last week they went to where this art is still produced and actually cut stone themselves-- the same way it's been done for centuries! I wished I had been able to tag along !The class is 2 girls and 2 boys. The extra angel in the photo is our younger friend.
I am usually "the art history mom",( as opposed to the"soccer mom"), and it is my absolute pleasure to accompany this amazing group to their class meeting each week. Well, last week we all learned some big lessons!
Lesson one: DON'T DRAW ATTENTION TO YOURSELVES AND YOUR LUGGAGE-and then walk away from your car! (especially if you have foreign plates) That's exactly what the kids and I did after parking in a very open, seemingly safe, paid lot downtown. I was as close to the Lungarno as I could get. A rear window was broken (a big pain for me) and all the backpacks were stolen! Multiple pains!!! Okay, the good news: we were able to find everything important, homework---THANK GOD!!!! text books, special toys etc. The thieves kept Isa's cell phone, three calculators, some camera equiptment and some food. Nothing irreplaceable.
Lesson two : REPORT any stolen cell phone numbers. If not to the police---(another issue) DEFINITELY to your service provider. Cell phones are big with criminals and terrorists. That's how they caught the guys in Madrid!
I called the police and I went 3 times in one day to file a "denuncia", a formal complaint. Suffice it to say that it will require at least one more trip and more patience for bureaucracy than I have right now! One has 90 days to do this.
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