alicia and rick

we're back from italy and had a great trip. based out of the lovely town of montefiascone in lazio, next to lago di bolsena and 1.5 hours from rome, we kicked back and relaxed old-country style, staying at a friend's home outside of town. we were surrounded by fresh flowers, rolling hills, clean air, warm sunshine, crisp produce, delicious pasta, refreshing gelato, old castles, ancient ruins, etc. - in other words, the kind of stuff we don't see too often in hong kong.


as our neighbours were not too fluent in english, all three of us had to learn some crash-course italian. kai did well, responding to "ciao", "batte le manini", and "buona", among others. his daily conversation/play partners included the two lovely neighbor ladies below.


we spent time picnicking under the olive trees, walking through fields of poppies, looking at farm animals, and cooking/eating.


after a few weeks we took the train up to venice to stay for a week in the castello area. it was nice and warm, with some cool days and a bit of rain to freshen things up. i can't say the dollar stretched too far, but that didn't seem to stop the droves of americans crowding piazza san marco.


kai was fascinating by pigeons, but they were massed just enough to keep his curiosity from causing him to attack them like some of the other kids. he was content to walk around behind them and point.


we are back in hong kong, refreshed and ready for summer. more updates soon.