febbraio

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we're solidly into February now, and after a week of rain and a month of highs in the upper 40s and lows in the mid 30s, today was sixty degrees and brilliantly sunny. oh heyyyyyyy, Rome!

so, for the first time in 2019, we went to a playground. and not just any playground, mind you, but a playground that happens to be situated in the park surrounding the Castel Sant'Angelo, which was built by the Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family and later used by various popes as a military fortress (connected to St. Peter's Basilica by the "secret" passageway, Passetto di Borgo). this playground was gated off all fall because apparently a tree fell without warning, so they were checking all of the trees for pests or rot and making sure all was sturdy before opening the park back up to the public.

yep, there's graffiti on the play structure. nope, i don't care. 
seriously. you walk under the Passetto di Borgo to reach the play area (see it in the background on the left?).
the castle looms to the right. how is this real life?

in other news, Greta drew a picture for Cecilia the other day. upon further investigation it proved to be a portrait of "Cece as a Robot". the cutest robot i ever did see!




February is also shaping up to be quite a social month ... we just said goodbye to Johnny after a wonderful week and we're looking forward to spending time with two more visitors this month. and we're headed to Siena for the weekend after Valentine's Day, which several people have told me is their favourite city in all of Italy. i'm excited to learn more about St. Catherine (who can't really help being a Catherine-with-a-C, now can she?).

finally, i've been plugging away on Duolingo more regularly, and what do you know? the more you practice a language, the more you understand! i'm still left blinking most of the time when real live Italians speak real life Italian to me at Mach 5 speed, but suddenly, i can understand much more of the signs posted around the city, or the WhatsApp messages from the other preschool moms, or the Italian ads that pop up on my Facebook feed. and my new game is to mentally translate whatever Cece says into Italian. "is your coat blue, Mom?" {è il tuo cappotto azzurro, mamma?} "we go to the zoo tomorrow!" {andiamo allo zoo domani!} "i want to swing again!" {io voglio .... um, whatever "swing" is .... ancora!} the more i learn, the more grateful i am that Italian grammar follows fairly predictable rules, unlike certain world languages i could mention (side-eye English, side-eye).

and now it's time to buckle down and make dinner. bacon cheeseburgers with a side of green beans, ooh la la!

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