Our first visitor in Italy!

Flat Lauren came to visit us. We picked her up at the post office on Wednesday. Flat Lauren is Kim's daughter. Kim is one of Heather's good friends from high school. She got flat when she fell off her bunk bed...but now she can travel by mail!

We took her shopping Thursday. There she is in Heather's purse. We stopped on the way to get a picture with Mt Etna (Europe's largest, active volcano) in the background.

Street signs are a little different here. The green one on the top points you to the Autostrada (an Italian freeway.) Following the blue signs will take you to the cities. The one blue one the bottom says to take SS 417 and it ends at the city of Gela. The white one above it points to the military base I work at and the very bottom points to a yummy Italian restaurant across the street from our house.

At the grocery store, Nick and Tom had fun putting Flat Lauren in all sorts of silly situations...from cereal boxes to the frozen food section!

Today, we went to the town of Motta. Nicolas had a lawn mowing job which was more of a weed mowing. The whole yard was covered in weeds! Huge, monstrous weeds that rival any weeds we've ever seen! So far, Nick and Tom have saved $204 dollars...they are saving for a Nintendo Wii.

Heather, Tom, Flat Lauren and I went for a bike ride while Nick was mowing the grass. We rode down to the Old Time Bar for a cappuccino and a raviola. A bar in Italy is different than a bar in the United States. Bars here serve coffee, espresso, cappuccino - some have gelato, a type of Italian ice cream - and most have yummy desserts. Raviole (plural form of raviola) are our favorites - they're a flaky pastry with warm ricotta cheese.

On the way back to pick up Nick, we stopped and had our photo taken with a Carabinieri - the Italian Police. They have very formal uniforms that they wear daily and a little white leather bag - we have no idea what is inside of them. Maybe snacks?

We're off to the grocery store and the NEX to get some supplies for our big trip on Monday. We're going to Rome - Flat Lauren and the boys are very excited.

Ciao,

Bud