Summer Trip- Pescara Day 2-3 Half Ironman

The day of the race was incredibly hot.  Arnie didn't start his race until around 1pm.  He had to be at the race a couple hours before that so we all walked down there to hang out with him.  The triathlon starts with the swim.  I waited at the exit point of the water to take a picture while I sent the girls ahead to where Arnie's bike was stationed to wait.  It was approximately 500 meters from the water to the transition area and there was a ton of people milling about.  I didn't want to have to navigate that with four girls in tow.

Once Arnie was off on the bike, we had approximately 3 hours before we saw him again on the run.  We used that time to go swimming.  My girls wanted to go to a pool with a waterslide instead of going to the beach, which not only cost money to get into, also required the purchase of these cheesy pink swim caps.  The other catch was that the pool wasn't open for a half an hour after we purchased our tickets.  So ice cream was purchased to cool the impatient, hot children down.

For the run portion of the race, we managed to position ourselves near the finish line and in a tiny bit of shade.  Arnie had to run past us four times before he got to go to the finish line.  It took him a total of 7 hours.  We are so proud of him.  This was a major accomplishment as quite a few people couldn't finish the race due to the high heat that day.

Pre Race Arnie

Getting ready for the swim

There they go!

Coming out of the water

Off on a 56 mile bike ride through the Italian countryside

trying to stay out of the sun :)

Bethany relaxing in the shade

Kaitlyn anxiously watching for her dad

Arnie throwing a very sweaty hat at Jessica

Malia drawing in the sand as we wait for Arnie to finish

Jessica frolicking in the waves

The cabanas in Pescara

Rounding the turn to the finish!

Triumphant Finisher!

The pedestrian bridge at night

The harbor at night

Arnie with his finishing medal

Summer trip- Pescara, Italy Day 1

Preface: This trip came about because 1) Arnie signed up to participate in a 1/2 Ironman triathlon in Pescara, Italy and 2) Arnie had to do two weeks of a language refresher course in French and he choose to do it in Biarritz because there is surfing there.  So essentially we have Arnie to blame and to thank for the wonderful adventure that I'm about to describe in the following group of posts.  This is probably the only trip of its kind and length that we will be able to manage this tour or maybe even during the kids' childhood.  It was THAT epic!  However, I think the girls will only realize this when they get older and learn to appreciate things a little better.

To get to Pescara, we had to stop off in Verona for the night.  The hotel lady seemed disappointed that we weren't going to have anytime to explore the town and I admit I was too.  Maybe on a different trip.

Pescara is on the Adriatic Sea and we got there on the Saturday before Arnie was to participate in the 1/2 Ironman.  We dropped him off so he could sign in with the race people and I took the girls to the hotel to check in.  

Hotel Holiday turned out to be one of the worst hotels we've ever stayed in, except for the location.  It was right on the beach and had a terrific view from the ample balcony.  Arnie tried to make me feel better by telling me that African hotels are much worse.  Yes, that is much better.  First off the staff didn't speak any English and couldn't explain to me where to park, or the fact that they would hold my ID card and Arnie's passport hostage in exchange for the keys to the rooms.  The rooms had three metal beds each covered in clean, albeit stained sheets, and we had barely enough room to slide past them to the sparse bathroom.  In there, I had the wonderful experience of having the toilet seat come with me as I stood up and, in the girls room, their shower consisted of a shower head over the toilet with a drain in the floor.  Our shower at least had a basin although the shower curtain sucked in on you and you had to hold the shower head with one hand as you warded off the shower curtain with the other.

We think this must have been the bargain hotel for the locals.  I had to keep telling myself that the only reason we stayed there was because it was a nice twenty to thirty minute walk to the race course.

The pedestrian foot/bicycle bridge

Mastering the art of the selfie

Girls are hot and miserable waiting for their pizza

Walking sure takes the pep out of this crew

The beach walk had many restaurants and snack bars

It started raining as we started heading back to the hotel

It made for some pretty views from the bridge though

At the marina, the girls found a big bouy

Bethany, the tree hugger

Paris

Over Memorial Day weekend, we went camping in Paris.  Our campsite was in the Bois de Boulogne at the Indigo campgrounds (http://www.camping-indigo.com/en/paris-indigo-campsite).  I had no idea that there was a big park so close to the center of Paris.  Think Central park in New York.  Arnie was able to take a jog from where we were camping to the Eiffel Tower and back.

We took the camp's shuttle to the closest Metro stop in the mornings and walked all around Paris.  The first day we saw the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower.  Our visit happened to coinside with the big tennis tournament, the Roland Garros, so there was a gigantic tennis ball suspended from the Eiffel Tower.  We were ate weird sandwiches from street vendors and good ice cream (well everyone but me, that is).  I got fruit.  

The second day, we started our day in Bastille at a large open market and learned to take the Paris Metro.  The girls loved how fast the trains went in Paris.  From Bastille we went to the Sacre Coeur Church.  From the Metro stop, it is a long way up a steep hill with several flights of steep stairs that inconsiderate people have relieved themselves on to get to this particular tourist attraction.  It was a particularly hot day and nobody was particularly impressed enough by the church to have made it worth the effort to get there.  However, right behind the church was an alley that was jammed with little touristy shops and street artists that want to sketch your portrait.  Of course, the artists are scam artists as well and before I knew it three of my daughters were being sketched because "they were so pretty," or "such lovely eyes."  I managed to stop one of them from sketching further but Malia and Jessica were trapped, and besides, it was kinda fun.  

After that we rode the train to Notre Dame, took one look at the long lines to go in and took a picture of the family from the outside.  Maybe one day we will go inside but not on a very hot day after walking around for six hours already.  

From there we walked down a street that seemed to have an ice cream shop on every corner and at that time of day with that heat, they all had lines.  I took a picture of the name of the street for future reference.

By the time we got to the Louvre, it was closed.  However, there is a mall that is attached to it that was still opened and we ate dinner at the food court there and used the restrooms.  The restroom was an amazing thing because it was an actual store, with a cashier and a "chaperone" that would clean each stall before the customer would use it.  You could pay more for a big, nicer stall which in hind sight might have been nice as my knees could touch the door while sitting on the toilet.  The PointWC sold all manner of bathroom paraphenalia, from rainbow colored toilet paper to games to play while doing your "business."  There was also a 150 euro toilet paper holder in the shape of a big tree to hang all your multi-colored toilet paper.  Finding a clean toilet, or any toilet for that matter, in France was a difficult thing but I wasn't about to fork out 10 euro for my own technocolor toilet paper.  I was just happy to pay my 1.50 euro and be on my way.

I really enjoyed Paris and it was great to have Arnie along to translate things.  The girls loved the fresh croissants, baguettes and chocolate croissants that we were able to procure every morning from the camp store.  It was a lovely, low budget way to see the city of Love.

Across the Etoile from the Arc de Triomphe

The Eiffel Tower from on top of the Arc

Ice Cream by the Eiffel Tower

Street food

Arnie and I and the Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower plus a tennis ball

The Sacre Coeur on a hot day

Street artist sketching Jessi and Malia

The family in front of Notre Dame

Bethany in her barret in front of a tower of macaroons, YUM!

The name of the street with all the yummy ice cream shops

In front of the Louvre entrance

Our campsite

On the Metro

PointWC restroom store- We had to wait to be escorted to our newly cleaned stall.

Spring Break-Last day in Manchester

Our last full day of our vacation was spent back in Manchester.  After how much fun they had in Ireland, the girls weren't that enthusiastic about being back in Manchester.  There were a lot of groans and complaints about having to walk everywhere again and there being nothing to see.

We got into Manchester pretty early and we weren't able to check into our hotel right away.  However, the nice reception lady let us secure our bags behind the counter and we were able to have breakfast at the buffet.  The kids at free!  So with lighter backs and full stomachs, spirits were better.  We also found out that in the city center, there are three bus lines that are free and one of those lines picks up right in front of the hotel!  

Our day took shape as we looked at the bus route.  We went to the John Ryland Library first.  This library is more like a library museum though with an amazing collection of old books behind glass to look at.  Even more amazing was the building itself.  It looks like a cathedral with flying buttresses and stained glass windows everywhere.  There was amazing things to look at everywhere, including the ceiling.  Small hand mirrors were provided so you could look at the ceiling and not hurt your neck.

As we continued to walk around Manchester, we found a magnificent palatial building and discovered that it was only the town hall.  Not far from there, nestled in among the shops, in a small square called, appropriately Lincoln Square, stood a tall statue of Abraham Lincoln.  Jessica recognized him and investigated further as to why a statue of an American president would be in England.  Engraved on the pedestal under the statue is part of a letter that Lincoln wrote to the people of Manchester, in tribute to sacrifices they had made in support of the Union and toward the abolition of slavery, as cotton was a vital industry in Manchester at the time.

We, then, continued on to the Manchester Cathedral.  By this time, however, the girls' good spirits had diminished and we weren't able to stay long and admire the old architecture or the stained glass windows.

Our sight seeing trip took us to a big, modern shopping center where we had lunch at the food court.  The girls were excited to have Taco Bell and Burger King.  After this, we took the time to go back to our hotel and actually check into our rooms.  We also took naps.  Well, I did anyway.  Cranky children always tire me out.

For dinner, we had to venture out again without knowing beforehand where we were going.  This really concerned Jessica on several levels.  She was concerned that we were 1) going to get lost and 2) not going to find food to eat.  She is such an acute child, bless her heart.  She needn't have worried.  I knew exactly where I was and we eventually found food I could eat.  We decided on a place called Nando's.  It is a restaurant that combines Portuguese and African flavors.  Mostly it sells chicken where you then choose how hot/spicy you want the sauce.  It was good.  Kaitlyn gave her chicken to her sisters and went straight for the frozen yogurt dispenser.  I was so proud how well my children did at restaurants this trip, trying a variety of new things.  They even found some new favorites.  Except for Kaitlyn.  She will stick to the mini muffins at the breakfast buffet. :)

A brief moment of harmony on the train

Jessica learning about amulets of different kinds

Jessica on a balcony

Bethany in the main hall

The ceilings are pretty high so they provide hand mirrors
to view the architecture without getting a stiff neck.

Bethany sitting at a writing desk

John Rylands Library

Jessica reading the inscription on the Abraham Lincoln statue

Bethany, Kaitlyn and Malia in front of the town hall

Bethany hugging a big barrel that turned out to be a keg.

The side steps to the Manchester Cathedral

Supposedly the stone archway is hundreds of years older than the rest of the church
Jessica was given binoculars with which to explore.

Apparently I needed to be studied at close range as I took her picture.

Kaitlyn enjoying many mini muffins at the breakfast buffet