Verona - Dinner with some members

Church*La Garda lake hike*Sanctuary della Madonna*Dinner with Eusebio family

12,700 steps

It was a rainy Sunday, so rainy that we wore our rain jackets to church.  It was a refreshing, cooling rain - not a hot muggy rain.  I can't say enough about how gorgeous the weather has been for us!

We went to the Verona 2nd ward that met at 9:00 a.m.  After a short RS and Priesthood, we had an 80 minute combined meeting with the Youth on chapel maintenance. (Snoozer - I felt SO bad for the guy translating for the rest of the family).  We talked about cleaning toilets, keeping track of keys, what do do after an activity etc.  The lesson was redeemed when for the last 30 minutes we talked about the chapel being a holy place.  

Sacrament meeting was nice, but the best part of Sunday was the visiting we did afterwards while Maren played the beautiful baby grand piano (she's been dying to play the piano).  I met a cute girl who just returned from her mission 1 month ago.  She invited our family over for dinner (more about that later).  I spoke with a sister from Sicily who served a mission to Padua in 1974.  She didn't know my Aunt Susan, but they had to have been on their missions very close to each other.  She was the first member of her branch to serve a mission.  Later she and her husband were mission presidents in Sicily.  I also met her daughter-in-law who is the niece of my mission companion, Stefania Contrazorzi.  Eric talked with people from Nigeria, the Philippines and of course Italy.  It was an amazing ward.

Sitting in our room at the youth hostel didn't seem very fun, so we decided to take a Sunday drive to Lake Garda.  We hiked up the hill for a nice overview of the lake and resort city.  Afterwards we drove to a monastery that has been built into the side of a cliff.  We hiked down steep steps for about 20 minutes to get to the monastery (we took the shuttle back up).  Although not very old (build in the mid 1800s) it was impressive.

We went to the family Eusebio for our 7:30 dinner appointment and learned that they are Brazilian and joined the church in 2003 then quickly moved to Italy for work.  They had also invited my mission companion's niece and daughter over as well.  They were so sweet to open their home to us for a simple Sunday dinner.  We had spaghetti, tomatoes with mozzarella, grilled peppers, potatoes salad and deviled eggs.  For dessert she made a dense, dark chocolate brownie and a lady-finger type cookie with mascarpone in the middle, dipped in milk, rolled in coconut and chilled.  My kids especially enjoyed that!   Charlie played checkers with their 8 year old son and we visited and ate until 10:30 at night.

Just an aside - the RM is now the 2nd counselor in the Stake YW presidency and in charge of Seminary graduation next week and girls camp the next.  She's 21!  My girls were amazed at that!

Also a note on our hostel.  Although lovely and quiet and lots of interesting people to meet - it's really just a step above camping.  I'm glad we've taken our kids camping a lot, they are such troopers and never complain about inconveniences or less than ideal living situations.  I'm really proud of them!

Eusebio Family

Lake Garda hike

Sanctuary della Madonna

Verona - Family Hostel

"Juliette's balcony"*Roman walls and street*Roman arena*Castle view of Padova

16,833 steps

We had a nice slow morning in Padua; we didn't have to check-out until 11:00.  Our funny experience this morning was at the Italian Post Office.  We can't seem to find a .20 Euro stamp at the Tabacchi's to send our postcards to the USA, so we went to the post office.  First we had to take a number like the DMV.  We were P06 for Postage I guess.  After waiting 15 minutes the clerk told us she didn't have any .20 Euro stamps (this took her 5 minutes to figure this out - she had to look around and then go in the back room).  She finally concluded that she could print off a .20 Euro stamp, I kid you not - it took her 60 seconds to print off each stamp.  Each print out required about 15 clicks on the computer, and then the process started  all over again.  We were there for 30 minutes to mail 4 postcards.

After a short 1:20 minute drive we arrived in Verona to our Youth Hostel which is in a lovely Villa on the hill just outside the old center of town (about a 15 walk) next to the Castle and Roman Theatre.  I've never stayed in a youth hostel, but I would imagine this is a 5 star hostel.  Our detached building is down a quiet garden path.  We have a family room with private bathroom - which means 6 bunk beds with locking cabinets for luggage, a set of sheets and a bathroom just outside our room.  It's cozy in our room - about the size of the dorms at BYU.  We played cards twice today outside our room in the courtyard on a picnic table.  We even learned a new card game - Scopa, which is Italian.

The rest of our afternoon was spent calmly exploring Verona.  We walked to the top of the castle for an amazing view then wandered through the city.  There is an amazing 1st century Roman Arena - 3rd largest in Italy.  Down in the main Piazza we also saw an evangelical gathering complete with band and marching members with waving flags that said Marcia per Gesu (March for Jesus).  I should add that we saw the tackiest touristy spot of our trip yet - Juliette's fake balcony from Romeo and Juliette.  Love graffiti all over the wall, couples kissing, and shops selling embroidered  towels with names in hearts.

The funny highlight of our evening came when we were discussing dinner.  We happened to be next to a McCafe McDonalds and decided to go in to see if the menu was different in Italy than in America - we were hooked.  The hamburgers and chicken nuggets were too tempting for the kids.  I got a grilled chicken Caesar salad - which was OK, but certainly better than a salad at McDonalds in the USA.  The kids felt a bit bad about caving into McDonalds, but they were happy not to have Pizza or Pasta for dinner again.

cozy dorm room at hostel

Verona sites

Roman arena