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We left this morning (Monday 19), a day earlier to spend an extra day in Bologna. On the way out of the city I had arranged a tour of a cheese factory where Parmigiano is made. It was an amazing experience. Minne was able to take some great films of the process as well. The…

Late in the afternoon, Minne and I went alone on a last walk in Parma. This was a much nicer tour and I saw a lot to really love about Parma. We saw more medieval and renaissance parts of Parma as well as more interesting streets.  We also stopped into the Cathedral of the city.…

Not much to write about the last two days. There was too much family drama. Which is resolving itself by Sarah taking a plane back to Amsterdam on Tuesday. Parma started with so much hope, including a rainbow greeting last night: You’ll see little record of yesterday evening’s terrific tasting dinner and a waiter’s valiant…

In the last day at Genoa, I took Minne and the girls to see the sights they missed: The Chiesa del Jesu with the Ruebens, the duomo and a few other sites. And then it was off to city number 4: Parma, which was at one time considered the lead city to move to but…

Sarah suggested we go to Portofino, and first insisted we watch the movie Luca. She wanted to go to Portofino to see where the (animated) film was located. So we decided to get out in the country and explore the Italian Riviera. But First Esther wanted a little photo shoot from the balcony of the…

Today I was showing the girls around Genoa. It is so beautiful they were duly impressed. Sarah passed a bag store and wanted this beautiful bag, it cost 200 euros. (I was actually relieved when she said a designer bag I was braced for 1,000s–not that she would have gotten it). So I was going…

Day 7 evening: the family arrived My daughters arrived with Minne at 8:00. I had a huge feast of the different types of focaccia bread, vegetable tarts, etc. that I had bought at the market. It was feast everyone enjoyed! Especially because everyone was so tired from their journey. I though I had too much…

I decided I would do the shopping for flowers myself. What a lark! What a plunge! Today I have to get a nice dinner ready for Minne and the girls when they arrive at 7 or 8 pm tonight. They think it is late but it is actually standard dinner time for the Italians (actually…

(Note to Linda Watanabe McFerrin: yes that is a series comma in the title!) First a note about the weather. Rome: the highs were in the 90’s with sweltering humidity (70+%) Castel Gandolfo: the highs were in the low 80’s or high 70’s but with 70% humidity it seemed hotter. So far in Genoa: it…

This is the last day before my daughters and Minne join me on this adventure. I have been warned Sarah tried to get out of coming here altogether and seems to have some private grudge with me. She’s pinned all on a sentence from an email I sent her. She told me recently that she…