Harris World Tour

Friday, September 28, 2018. We got up late today, it really feels like a vacation. The kids did some homework, which was a bit of a struggle because we don't have a good internet connection. We left the house after a late lunch. The day was gorgeous, sunny and warm! We took the kids to the old town. Gregory was on a mission to find the Andy Warhol exhibition because it was the last day it was being shown. When we got to town, we asked different locals for directions and everyone sent us a different way. Of course, Gregory found it. Only Sunshine and Gregory went in. Daniel and I went for ice cream and took a nice walk by the Adriatic Sea. It is moments like this that I realized that it really doesn't matter where you are, it's the quality time that we give our children that matters. And of course, I knew this, but it is hard to do when you get caught up with the speedy working life in the U.S. When I think about home, all I can think of is me always rushing somewhere, al...

Thursday, September 27, 2018. We arrived in Zadar at 5:30am and it was cold! We got out of the bus, got our suitcases and then Gregory remembered that he had left his cell phone on the bus. Second time in three months. I don't blame him, we were rushed to get out and it was so early in the morning. A taxi driver approached us and told us that he would take us to our destination for 20 euros. I wanted to scream yes because the lot was empty but Gregory, who is always calm and patient, said, "that seems a lot. I think we heard it would be less." I thought the taxi driver was going to bargain but he just left. I was worried a little but Super Gregorio had already called an Uber. Thank goodness they have Uber here! By the time we reached the curb, the Uber was already there. We didn't see him because he was a taxi driver. In no time, we were at our final destination for the total cost of less than $3!! Once again, Gregorio had done it and I need to learn to be calm and ...

Wednesday, September 26, 2018. Today we got up earlier than yesterday. Daniel and Sunshine did some homework before breakfast. We got ready to leave Modena today. We had a small chat with Eva and then by 11:00am we said our goodbyes. We had a very good time with them. Eva looks the same as I remembered her. She is always calm and willing to help. This time we got to know her son Xe, who is a brilliant guy with a bright mind. It reminded me of my good all days in college when we had philosophical discussions with my friends. Ahhh, to be young again! We walked to the train station with our suitcases, which wasn’t bad. We left Modena on the 12:30 train. We had plans to leave the suitcases at the train station but it was expensive and even if Gregory saw on the website said it would cost us $3.50 per bag, guess what? It’s Italy and now they were asking 6 euros for the first 5 hours. I was a little upset at Gregory who said that he would find something better. In my head, I knew we had ...

Tuesday September 25th, 2018. We got up late, around 10:00. We had breakfast with Eva and Xe. We stayed home all morning, mostly waiting for Sunshine to do her English homework. That was OK because we don’t really have much to see in Modena. I couldn’t catch up on my blog because now Sunshine is using my computer. I looked at the bookshelf and found several good books in Spanish. Pedro, Eva’s husband, is from Chile and loves to read. I guess you can really tell who likes to read when you go to their homes. I found a book that I enjoyed back in college from Julio Cortazar, Historias de cronopios y de famas . We read all morning. Around 1:00pm, we left the house with Eva and Xe and took a nice walk in a park. We saw the Palazzo Santa Margherita. We also saw the Pavarotti theater and then the Palazzo Ducale. There is a water mirror in front of it in a large, empty piazza that used to be a big parking lot. We walked through the streets of the old town. Xe took us to a cute restaurant ...