Week 41 - Chicago

This was the week we went to Chicago. Now it's time for me to tell and show more of our trip there. In the photo above we are up on the sky terrace of America's highest skyscraper, the Willis Tower. There is a glass terrace where you can see the whole city under you. Quite scaring if you look down, but we all managed to go there, although I'm very afraid of hights.

Our flight to Chicago with Swissair was very nice and comfortable. We watched lots of films, I read my book and once in a while they brought us something to eat - dinner, swiss chocolate, ice cream, ecc. The food was very good, too.
Our hotel was a small Best Wetern hotel and we had a big room. There was a self service breakfast with cereals, pancakes, peanut butter, maple syrup, muffins, ecc. in a small room and you could eat it in the cosy lobby or you could take it into your room or, if the weather had been warmer, out in the garden.

One thing that surpriced me was that people were so friendly in such a big city. There were different situations were their helpfulness really surpriced me. They also have a very nice way to wish you a nice day when you go to a shop, to a coffee shop or a restaurant and that puts you in a good mood.
So what did we do in Chicago besides eating delicious hamburgers, cakes and muffins? We also tried the Chicago deep dish pizza in a famous restaurant near our hotel, which included a lot of waiting, but the pizza was very good. It's a very thick pizza with lots of ingredients inside.

Then we went shopping.

Watched Armando's marathon.

 Went to the free Lincoln Park Zoo while Armando was having a rest in the hotel.

 Watched the skyline from different places and angles.

Went to see the Bean, or the Cloud Gate and other interesting statues and monuments in the Millennium Park.

And just strolled around the city.

On our last evening we had dinner with other Italian marathoners in the Chicago House of Blues.

Week 40 - Sofia's 14th birthday

This week was Sofia's 14th birthday. We made a cake for the riding school and had a little celebration there after our lesson. We had to interrupt our riding lesson as it started raining hard, so we went in to the clubhouse for a piece of cake. Then in the evening we went out eating to our usual Pizzeria near our house and came home for the birthday cake and the presents. Sofia likes the birthday cakes I make most and has become very good at making them herself. We made it together. Maybe it wasn't the most beautiful birthday cake in the world, but it tasted very good!
Sofia is right in her teens now and not always easy to reach and talk with, but I'm so glad that we have a common hobby, horse riding, so we can spend lots of time together. Also the relationship between her and the horse and all her riding friends is so positive, I hope it will last!

Week 39 - Club competition at the riding school

This summer had been very variable and unusually rainy here in Rome, but September was beautiful, warm and sunny. This week we had a nice Sunday at our riding school with a little club competition and lunch afterwards. We spent the whole day there.

Week 38 - Back to school

Schools started in Rome on the 15th of September. This year Carlotta went to the 4th grade of the Elementary School. They had moved to another building and Carlotta doesn't like changes, so she was a bit nervous about it. Sofia had a bigger change because she started High School (liceo). The only suitable linguistic high school is in Eur, so it will be much more complicated than last year. The distance to school is about 15 km and the biggest problem is that the buses don't go very often. Daniele continued in the same high school as last year and started the 3rd grade there. His school is closer and Armando works very close to his school, which makes it very easy for him to get to school in the morning and even back home as Armando comes home for lunch.

Week 37 - Sperlonga

The firts week of September I booked for two nights at camping site in Sperlonga and went there with Sofia's and Carlotta's friends. Sunny weather, lovely beach, beautiful sunsets and an ice cream in the centre of Sperlonga. We really needed it before starting work and school! More photos here.

Week 36 - Back in Italy

Back in Italy this week. I got to ride a new horse, which cheered me up a lot. Horse riding has become very important for me. If I have a lot of work it's a good way to concentrate in something completely different than work and do something else than sitting in front of the computer screen. No other sport makes me feel this good!

Week 35 - A day trip to Helsinki

This week me and my mother found really cheep bus tickets to Helsinki and off we went. We had planned to go to see an art exhibition, a photo museum and go eating, so we left Carlotta at home with my father. I think she had a nicer day there. They went to Kotka to the library and to Subway, so she was very happy with this solution. We had a nice day in Helsinki, although the weather was rainy. We didn't manage to get to the photo museum, as it turned out to be too complicated to get there, we didn't even find the place where the tram was supposed to stop and we started getting hungry already, so first of all we went to a cafe to have lunch. We took a big salad each and shared a vegetable lasagne. Very nice. Then we went to the nearby Sanomatalo, where they make the Helsinki newspaper and saw a photography exhibition there instead. Very impressing newspaper photos, some of them from war situations and miserable conditions from different parts of the world. There also were amazing sport photos. We had a nice coffee there while we were waiting for the next rain shower to pass. Then we went to see an art exhibition. It was Hilma af Klint. She was a Swedish artis who painted abstract art years before Kandinsky. Interesting. After that we had some shopping time at Stockmann before our bus left back to Kotka.
This was my third time this summer in Helsinki.

Our lunch

Coffee break

The photo exhibition

Me in Helsinki

Hilma af Klint in the Kunsthalle