Barcelona Spring Break

The students are off on their own 9 day break, so we took the opportunity to spend 4 nights and 3 days in Barcelona.  Barcelona is the capital of the distinct region of Catalunya.  Catalan and Spanish are spoken equally on the streets (and I speak neither), and both flags wave side by side atop many buildings.

Brian and I had a pretty great spring break (despite the fact the weather was warmer back in Austria).  But our kids were the ones who really went wild. So I'll share with you some of their highlights! 

Montjuïc Magic Fountains

Our first night in Barcelona the kids stayed up extra late (the show started at 9pm) and went to the Magic Fountain show. Ellie loved dancing to the music in the spray of the water from the fountain illuminated by many bright colors. 

Cathedral of Barcelona 

The kids are daily Mass goers, so they had high expectations for where to celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday. To appease them, we went to the historic Cathedral of Barcelona in the city's Gothic Quarter (Barri Gòtic). They loved the Neo-Gothic facade, the impressive interior, and watching locals dance the sardana after Mass right in front of the cathedral. And Jesus and His infinite outpouring of Love and Mercy!!

Museu de la Xocolata (Chocolate Museum)

After seeing a frieze designed by Picasso (1960) near the cathedral, the kids really wanted to go to the Picasso Museum.  But the line was over an hour long, so we persuaded them to go to the Chocolate Museum a couple of blocks away instead. 

Columbus Monument & Waterfront

The kids love learning the history of their native land, so they enjoyed seeing the spot where Christopher Columbus debarked after returning from America. They also loved the carnival rides and playgrounds along the waterfront of the Mediterranean Sea. 

Montjuïc Castle

Cool castle.  Even cooler way to get there!

Ciutadella Park & Zoo

The kids love a good metro ride. So we rode to the Arc del Triomf and walked down to the best park ever. 

Parc Güell

The kids love Modernista architecture, especially the works of Antoni Gaudí, so they couldn't wait to see his magic in this colorful park. Well, turns out they could wait, because they slept through our stroll through this huge park. We didn't buy the tickets or wait the two hours here to enter the official entrance to see the stairway, columns, or lizard up close - but we still enjoyed what we could see while the kids slept!

Casa Batlló

We did buy tickets in advance to visit the mansion designed by Gaudí. This apartment was crazier than anything you'll see in a Dr. Seuss book! There's barely a straight line in the house and you feel like you're in a funhouse rather than what was someone's home. 

Sagrada Família (Holy Family Church)

Gaudí's vision and work in the park and the apartment were impressive, but the kids were blown away by his most famous work - the unfinished (construction is on-going and may be complete 2026), super-sized church, Sagrada Família. 

L'aquarium

The seal show at the zoo wasn't good enough for our animal-loving kids, so we made our way to the aquarium off of Port Vell. 

Basilica Santa Maria del Mar

The kids loved seeing the magnificent stained glass window at the Catalan Gothic Santa Maria del Mar.

La Rambla

They also loved walking down the tree-lined pedestrian mall, fighting the crowds to see the little shops, flowers stands, La Boqueria (produce market) - and the souvenir stores along the way like Eli & Ana.

Tapas & Treats

Eating (and drinking) was definitely a treat in Barcelona.  Francis especially loved the tapas, whereas Ellie's favorite was the famous churros con chocolate at Granja La Pallaresa.  You can definitely see who takes after his father and her mother.

As you can hopefully see now by all of the photos, the kids had an amazing time travelling to Barcelona!  That being said -- if you ask Ellie what her favorite part was, she'll tell you it was going on the little ride and getting a (free) balloon (that popped 10 minutes later) and riding the bus from the airport to the hotel.  So, bottom line, if you can't bring your kids to Spain anytime soon, try the local parking lot carnival rides - and if you're really generous, take the bus to get there! :) 

Ostern in Österreich!

In English that's "Easter in Austria!"

Easter morning began with a time change as we sprung (sprang?) ahead.  I'm still not sure why Day Light Savings Time is weeks later here (now we're once again 6 hours ahead of EST) but it was wonderful to see the clock read nearly 7am by the time the sunshine came radiating through our windows!

Keeping up with the Ridge Easter tradition, our morning began with an Easter basket hunt.

Like my mom used to do when we were younger (before my dad began the insanely hard, contract-signing required hunt for the hidden baskets sometimes still not found by the time we had to go to Mass) - the kids had a string lined with candy to lead them to their baskets.  My mom used to tie the candy to the string, luckily I didn't bother with that and just scattered some along the path.  But, apparently just like my siblings and I used to do, Ellie stopped at the first candy and didn't want to go any farther.

Eventually she did make it all the way to her hidden Easter basket and the huge chocolate bunny that awaited her.

Retelling this story later in the day, Sr. Faustina reflected on how often we do this with God's gifts...we stop or settle for the "little treats" along the way, unable to imagine the greater gift that awaits us just ahead!

I was just thankful we convinced Ellie only to eat the ears and no one threw up before Mass.

Oh yeah, Francis was there too -- the Easter Bunny left him some opened rice cakes and a not-too-brown banana.

Then Brian headed down to church early to rehearse with some singers for Mass -- they all did a great job leading us in music!  While I got these two into their Easter outfits (thank you, Mary and Jess, for their clothes)!

The days leading up to Easter were cold and rainy.  On Good Friday we hiked with some of the students in town and Fr. Matt - up the mountain directly behind our house, which has the Stations of the Cross.  The sky was dark and our path was muddy.  The kids are getting bigger and thus were a heavier load to carry.  It was a great way to spend the hours between noon and 3pm (it tooks us about 2 hours round trip).  

Saturday was also overcast and cool.

Contrast that with Easter Sunday -- it was sunny all day and was in the 60s!  The sunshine was pouring through the huge windows above the altar during Mass.  You couldn't have asked for better weather!

After Mass we had a big lunch with the other faculty and staff in town.  Brian Francis loved spending time with the "big" boys!

And Ellie loved hunting for eggs outside after we ate!

Here's to hoping the next 50 days of Easter are as glorious!

Frohe Ostern!

Venturing in the Veneto

On Friday we made the six hour gorgeous drive (eight hours with stops) south through the southern Alps of Austria (scattered with old castles) to the Veneto, the north-eastern part of Italy. It was our first big trip with Ellie potty-trained and she did an amazing job!

We arrived in Padua, Italy, around 5pm and happily left our coats in the car as we walked around the town and visited three significant churches. 

We visited the tomb of the Evangelist St. Luke, who was a doctor, and prayed for all doctors we know. 

We visited the majestic Basilica di Sant'Antonio (Basilica del Santo), which houses the corpse of the town's patron saint, St. Anthony of Padua.  We saw his tongue, which is incorrupt - signifying the perfect teaching of the Church that had been formed upon it.

Finally, we visited the Church of St. Leopold Mandic, which houses this saint's incorrupt body.  We were very fortunate to pray beside his body, which Pope Francis had brought to Rome last month for the Year of Mercy and the commissioning of the official 'missionaries of mercy'. 

We then drove about thirty minutes to Vicenza where there is a U.S. Army base. This past December several of the Army wives came up to the Kartause for a retreat with the Franciscan Sisters. After meeting the women there they offered to let us visit. They were the most wonderful, generous hosts during our two nights and Sunday morning there.

On Saturday morning we took a 40-minute train ride to Venice.  Venice is built on 117 small islands and has some 150 canals and 409 bridges. We rode on a vaporetto (water bus) down the Grand Canal to Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's Square). I didn't really notice an odor from the water (possibly because I have a cold) but at one point Ellie did exclaim, "It smells like horse poop." The smell certainly didn't keep us from having an amazing day!

After a delicious lunch and then passing through the Door of Mercy at St. Mark's Basilica and spending an hour in Adoration with our Lord as the two kids slept, we visited the Church of St. Zacharias (Chiesa di San Zaccaria).  

Then we went on a gondola ride!

Passing under the famous Bridge of Sighs. 

We then walked about 30 minutes back to the train station through the beautiful, windy roads of Venice, stopping for gelato along the way. 

The next morning we went to the Army Base for Palm Sunday Mass (it was so strange to see American money in the collection plate!). And then to the Commissary to stock up on the items you can't buy in Austria - including peanut butter, chocolate chips, Vanilla extract, Goldfish crackers, and Mac & Cheese! 

Ciao!

9 Nights & Days

***Family & Friends, Please pray for the repose of the soul of my Uncle Paul Manzo, who passed away on March 4, 2016.  Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.  May he rest in peace.***


Sorry for the delay in blogging!  I know you all have been really upset I haven't posted and have been been checking our site daily trying to figure out how you can possibly keep up with the Kissingers ;)

The main reason I haven't written is because I had little downtime in which I could actually put a sentence together as Brian abandoned the kids and me and went off to Italy for 9 nights and days.  Nine nights of quiet, restful slumber in his own hotel room (ok, only 8 because one was spent on a 14 hour bus ride).  Nine days spent seeing the Pope, visiting Basilicas, eating pasta, and drinking wine -- without having to spoon-feed or cut up anyone's meals.

I knew these 9 days were coming as we made the decision earlier on that I would stay back from the University trip this semester -- and this is what I looked like the week leading up to Brian (and all of my Ministry for Moms helpers) being gone....... Nooooooooo!!!

Ok, actually that is what I looked like as the guard handed Brian Francis back to me after he was blessed by the Pope.  (Be thankful you don't have to listen to the video here, filled with my uncontrollable sobbing and everyone else's screaming).  Nonetheless, it is accurate to say, I was a bit emotional the week before he left -- questioning how I would ever survive all the hours in the day without help - let alone all the hours in the NIGHTS as both Francis and Ellie average getting up 2-3 times EACH during the night.

Good news: I did survive!!  But it was definitely only by the grace of God and all the blessings He filled our week (plus 2 days) with!  So instead of dwelling on how many times I got up at night....I'll share with you the blessings!

1) Beautiful walks/playground time with the kids.  Early last week my friend posted this quote by John Muir: "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."  So true!!  I can't really complain when this is the view out my front door.

2) Mass every day and time to pray (alone!) most days.  Thanks to my wonderful neighbors - who took turns watching the kids - I was able to pray alone most days.  They also invited us for meals - so with the adult company, delicious food, and NOT having to clean up after making a meal that realistically only I was going to eat - it was definitely Heaven sent!

3) God sent me Mary!  I'm not referring to the Blessed Mother here, although I definitely spent my share of night time praying the Rosary as I lay awake with some child not sleeping (but I'm not going to dwell on the nights....)  Rather, a friend who was in Brian's youth group back in the day, who is currently travelling the world and was planning on visiting us this week, came early and spent the weekend with us - helping to clean, cook, do bath time and sleeping on a mattress in Ellie's room so I had one less child to get up with at night.  Thank you, Mary!!!!!!!!!!

Before Mary arrived I was tempted to start binge drinking like someone in our family...

Brian and all the students arrived home safe and sound last night!  And although I didn't get to see this in Assisi....

...I did get to devour these from Assisi!

Thank you, God, for bringing Brian home, for Your blessings and mercy shown this past week, and for Italian cannolis!