Mamma Americana

Nantucket

Sorry it's taken me so long to post. We arrived in Los Angeles on September 15th. Visits home are often quite a lot of work. I find myself helping my mother and grandfather around the house; cleaning, cooking, organizing etc.

So without further adieu, here are some photos from our recent trip to Nantucket. I have more pics. with family in them, but I don't want to post anything without their permission.

Giant pumpkins at the Nantucket Fair at Tom Nevers (I love that name!).

 

Eleonora in front of the winning pumpkin. I think it weighed in at 327 pounds!

 

Nantucket farmer with his pet duck.

 

Who are you calling a turkey?

 

Brant Point Lighthouse in Nantucket harbor

 

View of the harbor from Brant Point

 

Brant Point Beach

 

Eleonora loved finding sea shells...

 

Of which there were many.

View of Nantucket harbor from the ferry.

 

 

Chamomile and Colic

Still on our New England vacation. Eleonora and I leave for LA tomorrow and Lorenzo heads back to Florence for 3 weeks of bachelorhood. I'll post some photos of our trip when we're settled in. 

In the meantime, here's something interesting about chamomile and colic.

Well, I just about rolled over when I read this article in the NY Times a few weeks ago. Evidently research shows some improvement for colicky babies after drinking chamomile tea. You see, chamomile is a folk remedy that Italian grandmothers have been touting for generations. They sell a powdered version just for babies at the supermarket here. 

I never gave much credence to it as there are many other old folk beliefs (regarding health) in Italy that are just plain silly. I have to give some examples: Going to the sea will bring out teething, illness, etc. in young children (il mare lo porta fuori); cold air will cause a stiff neck; going barefoot is bad for children's feet. There are many more, but I honestly cannot remember them right now. 

It turns out I was wrong about the chamomile. That's good news for babies with colic. Wish I'd known that when Eleonora was tiny. She had awful colic every evening/night until about 3 months.

A Little Crehore Family History

Photo from The Boston Globe

We're in Boston now on the first leg of our family vacation to New England. This is an area that I have wanted to visit for ages. The majority of my ancestors (on both sides of the family) arrived in New England back in the 1600's. Now, I'm not the family historian, I'll leave that title up to my cousin Melody. I do know for sure though that the Crehore family (my maternal grandmother's maiden name) lived in Milton, just outside of Boston. Here's a picture of Benjamin Crehore's house and workshop.

Benjamin Crehore made the first piano in the United States there around 1800. He also made bass violins. The NY Metropolitan Museum of Art has one of his square pianos in its collections. Another one is found at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts along with several of his bass violins. Here is a more in-depth article about Ben Crehore and his first piano from The Boston Globe (1915).

Hopefully we'll make it over to Milton to have a look around. I would like to visit the cemetery as well.

Go Gardaland!

We visited Gardaland for the first time in early August. It's a mix between Disneyland and Magic Mountain with plenty for the little ones as well as exciting roller coasters for the big kids. 

Eleonora and her daddy went on the kiddy rides while my cousin and I went on all of the roller coasters. The lines were usually about a 30 minute wait. The weather was hot and muggy in the morning, but then a light shower blew through and cooled us off. It was pleasant the rest of the day. Overall, a great family outing.

Lorenzo and I as King Arthur and Merlin. 

Merlin looks like a sly fellow

Enjoying the double decker carousel

View of Escape from Atlantis

My cousin and I on the boat (the redhead and the blonde); we managed to escape from Atlantis

They also have a dolphin show, although it costs an extra €5 per person.