In Rome, We Did Roam.

This morning we had a scheduled guided tour of the Jewish corridor and the catacombs so we had to wake up around 8 to be ready to go, dressed and filled with food for a tour at 10. I wasn't able to see anything last night but WOWZA Rome is incredible. We were just driving down the street and all of the sudden you see ancient ruins and columns on every corner. You turn the corner and BAMB! there is the infamous Coliseum. Yeah sure we have all seen it a book but nothing is like being right there in front of it. Unfortunately I missed the tour the fam fam took yesterday because they went to the pantheon and the coliseum with a guide. The coliseum was like Splash Mountain at Disney land and the line was extremely long. Andre, our tour guide, gave us a brief tour of the Jewish corridor which was actually a ghetto. Before the unification of italy, the pope ruled the land, so the Jews were put all together in one living community. It was very beautiful though, and if you were concerned, I wouldn't mind owning an apartment in the Jewish corridor. It is just beautiful. The synagogue is not what you would think if the average synagogue, it was much more elaborate on the outside and actually looked more similar to a church than a typical synagogue. The synagogue was actually relatively new in comparison to the rest of Rome and it was finished in 1904. I learned that the reason it looked like a church was because the Jews wanted to build something that was comparable to St. Petersburg but relatively to the number of jews. We then took the Mercedes van to the outskirts of the city to the catacombs. At one point all of the former popes were buried there, as well as all the catholics, however barbarians would come in and steal things from the tombs, so eventually most of the carcass's were removed from the catacombs, and all of the popes in fact were relocated to other churches. The catacombs extend 33 arches long but we we only saw a very small portion of them. Row after row of small cement barracks were like a maze to go through. Amy I. kept asking me if the small holes in the wall were for babies, and then I decided to ask her if every crack in the wall was for very small babies. It started to rain and cloudy when we came out of the ground, but we decided to make stop at the Roman baths and at the top of a mountain to see a view of all Rome before we headed back to the hotel to meet Monica for lunch. We also stopped at the Spanish steps as well. Rome is just unexplainable and beyond incredible. Fascinating and imaginative. You just want to know what it was really like to live in Ancient Rome because today with cars and cell phones and metros and what nots, it is still incredible, it must have been remarkable. We had planned on going to a restaurant recommended by one of our family friends but when Adam I. checked out the menu and saw that a majority of it actually had vegetables (OH MY) and no pizza on it (OH MY HOW COULD THAT BE!) we just couldn't go there. In the end I think he wishes we would of just sticked with our original plan because lets just say that our quest to go out to lunch started at 2:30 and we didn't sit down for lunch until 3:35. Papa I. being the super-jew that he is obviously knows the head of the JDC if Rome and obviously needed to introduce us to him. Only my father would know the head of the JDC in Rome, have connections with the JDC in Romania and thus make us have partial jewy mc jewy talk the entire time. I love you dad, you are my jew-ro. We had Papa I's friend, recommend us to a place that was pretty far away from where we were (I forgot to mention that we had difficulty finding the original veggie restaurant in the first place). When we got there, we sat down and the first thing the waiter tells us is that they are out of pizza. That had to be a joke. Italian restaurants just don't run out of pizza, especially when the menu is only two pages long and the second page is only pizza options and on the first quarter of the page is pasta but they don't serve that for lunch. 2 minutes ago we were admiring how delicious the pizza at the table next to us looked. 4 minutes later we found out that he was not joking about the whole being out of pizza thing. 4 and a half minutes later with a spoon full of attitude our waiter told us that we could order pasta but the options were, pasta with SQUID, (he really put a strong emphasis on squid...especially the squi part of squid) with olives and red sauce or something I couldn't understand. 6 minutes later we made a family decision to get up and leave. 6 and a half minutes later we were out of there. We then proceeded to go back the "the worlds most delicious pizza" place in the eyes of Adam I. (trust me he knows his pizza) but by the time we had finally arrived, they had stopped serving lunch. Desperate to eat anything, we literally turned the corner and chose the first restaurant on our left. We ordered quiet the feast. Monica the besty of best ordered lasagna and I ordered a veggie pizza and then we jointly ordered a caprese salad and then decided we would split everything. After we saw the portion size that they were bringing out for other people, we thought we had ordered way too much food but when the food finally came, we had no problem, none at all, opening up our little (mine not so little any morning) tummies and eating it all up. Monica the besty best is a champion in the sport of eating. It is actually her job. She could be a professional and now that I have been living in Italy it has become a side project of mine and I am learning to master it quite well. We came home from our two hour lunch and by two hours I mean the lunch that took two hours to find, and were exhausted. We did what we Isenberg's and one Pack do best and took naps. For dinner we went to this wine bar recommended by our family friend. On the top of the city of Rome, right next to the ledge over looking the city of Rome was this small quaint but modern upscale wine bar, The walls were completely white, blue LED lights lined the floor and funky wire light laps stood in the corners and scruffy hansom Italian men in sweaters and sport coats were at our service. You could tell that it was definitely not a touristy hot spot, which was really nice to have a true Italian experience in such a beautiful city. We ordered appetizers, and wine and water (one gas with gas, one not) with bread and steaks and seafood. We giggled the night away with stories with our first adventures with our dear friends ralph and up chuck, (obviously stories like these are told at the Isenberg dinner table) Little Adam I was an easy target. Appetizers took an hour and our main course took two and desserts were a must. Molten chocolate cake with fresh whipped cream topped with a side of requested wild strawberries, a pear strudel with a side of cinnamon gelato rolled in rise crispies. The sensation of the crunchy mixed with the creamy cinnamon was like a fourth of july firework celebration in my mouth. And we couldn't just get two desserts for the table, three was only fair. To cleanse our palettes we got a fruity sampler of gelato: mojito, raspberry and mango. Pleasantly full, with smiles on our faces we headed back down the mountain (for those of you who have been to Rome you are probably wondering what mountain I am referring to, it is more like a hill that over looks Rome) we decided to all go straight up stairs and into our cozy beds because tomorrow was going to be an early morning at the Vatican.

Watch Out Rome, The Jews Are Coming To Town.

I woke up early so I could head to book arts to get more work done however my teacher ended up being sick but I stayed anyway to work on photo and book arts. I was able to finish 90 percent of my photo project and about 25 percent of my book arts project. However, I felt like I have been working on my book arts project forever now! Yesterday in painting, I asked my teacher his favorite restaurant because not that I am getting sick of Anna's, I am just getting sick of the scene there. I wanted to find a more cultural and exciting place to dine, and he recommended a wine bar down the street from school called Bar Birbra. For only 3.80 euro I was able to get a large tomato and mozzarella sandwich, a side of spinach and a half a loaf of bread for the spinach (I didn't order the bread, they just gave it to me) I literally spent the entire day from 9:15 am until 8:15 p.m. at the art school to work. At 9:30 I hoped on the train to Rome to meet the fam for a Roman Holiday...well actually we just happen to come to rome during the most holy holiday in the catholic religion, Easter. Watch out Rome, the Jews from Prairie Village Kansas are coming to town. This should be a very interesting weekend. Monica the besty of the best is meeting us tomorrow morning. I made it Rome at 11:30. completely exhausted so I went right to bed.

thursday march 20.

A Bay Bay.

I woke up extra early because not only did I realize that I didn't know anything for my Italian quiz, and that I should probably study, I also realized that I had left all of my Italian books in my parents hotel. I got ready extremely fast and headed over there for an early morning study session followed by an early morning breakfast session. Today the family heads to Rome, so after my Italian quiz, which I believed I passed with flying colors, I met the family at the San Lorenzo market as they finished purchasing their final florentine finds. I brought them to the Marcano Central experience of the open market. I just love the atmosphere there and the dried fruit. We all got something different from the various stands. I ended up making a bold move and giving "baby cutting hands" a new beginning and I ordered one of the most delicious sandwiches. Salami with pesto, cheese and sun dried tomato on flat bread. We were rushed a bit for lunch because after we had already started eating we found out that we were apparently sitting at a specific restaurants table. Eventually we got the boot but it didn't really matter because we were almost done anyway and I needed to head to class. Yet again there were only two people in my painting class today. Its like having a semi private painting class, I started a new project using three 80 by 80 canvass, you will just have to wait and see how those bad boys turn out. I was going to go on a treasure hunt with my program in attempt to win 75 euro to a fashion shop but instead I decided that I should probably get some work done before I head to Rome this weekend with the family. Lime Joj and Michelle list are in town this weekend. Unfortunately their visit here has overlapped with the fam fam so I haven't been able to see them yet. I worked on my book arts for for an hour after class because I didn't want to spend my Easter Monday off doing any work, well I actually I don't even have the option to do work because campus is closed. Thank you Jesus. At 8:15 Joj Lime Dara and Effie called up to my window and like Repunzal, I let down my hair and then I walked down the street to meet them. We went over the river and through the woods (well not really through the woods, just over the river and down a few streets) to a unknown restaurant that Dara found in her Lonely Planet book. I am not even sure of the name because it wasn't on the outside of the building but it was the cutest authentic small Italian hole in the wall restaurant with a constantly changing menu. Our waiter became our new best friend, his cute smile and tiny butt chin. Dara and I split a pasta and chicken. We learned that when a waiter points her finger on her cheek and turns it when describing the dessert menu, that means you should order it. We listed to her finger and indeed it was the best decision. We didn't get done with dinner until a after 11, however the night was still young because we still had to go to the club saying "a bay bay". At Marcana tonight, Hurricane Chris was performing his one hit (and only hit) wonder A Bay Bay. The club was hoppin with every jappy American and their mother and cousin, however for once and the only time it was socially acceptable for me hang out with these people, we were able to get a special stamp that let us get up really close to the stage. I have to thank Jason, whoever you may be and wherever you are, you paid for a table at Marcana which enabled me to get in with a stamp and up close action. We got to the club rather late, Ricky Levy got there at 11:30, so with our 12:45 arrival I thought we might have missed "a bay bay" but after two songs from the DJ, Hurricane Chris, made his presence on the stage. The only girl who just happened to be dancing on the stage (actually she was not the only girl,l she was the only white person on the stage) was this girl named Allie, who is in my Italian class, who has not showed up for more than a month. She clearly has been busy. I also ran into another boy who has missed my painting class for two weeks now. He has also been busy getting with other people. I just can stand people like that. I finally ran into Ryan Katz, KC connection. After an hour of Hurricane Chris fun I was exhausted and ready to go home and luckily Lime and Joj were ready to hit the sack, so we all headed back home in the rain. Sniffles Sniffle in the my nose. Not soo good.

wednes day day of march 19thness.

Snores from the Shnoze and other stories from little adam i's friends: up, chuck and ralph.

The Gorilla has another follower to her midnight cult. The cult of the "kill Allison when she is sick because her snoring makes you want gouge your eyes out" and or "kill Allison because she has a disgusting snore". The Gorilla however, is more aggressive in her actions because she yells and hits while Little Adam I., gently taps, which did not do the trick. Finally at 3 am, Little Adam I. brought me some miracle medicine (Vicks Vapor Rub) and I applied it to my neck and the snoring stopped instantly. We gathered for a quick morning b-fast in the hotel and then I headed to book arts while the fam went to the Uffizzi for a tour. It took longer than I expected to get the fam to my favorite of all favorite lunch spots (duh, the only) but today we finally made it to Anna's for an afternoon treat. But Mama I. was the only one who tried the real Anna's sandwich. The rest of the freakies had bagels. boo and boring. For the fam, it was actually an afternoon treat because they had a big afternoon of wining and dining in the Chianti region. A three stop wine tour is just the thing to do on a Tuesday afternoon in Tuscany. From what I heard from my mother and brother on the walk home tonight, it was surely an Isenberg extravaganza, the kind where my mother tours red in the face because my father and sister have pulled together their strongest traits, and Amy I. has asked a million and a half questions and Papa I. can't hear what was said the first time someone because he can't hear anything, so then he asks a question that has mostly likely already be answered or asks the guide to repeat something over. I picked up my slides film from Romanian sheep herding and they turned out fabulous and hippie commi teach loved them too. Tonight the Johnson Family of Mission Hills Kansas and The Isenberg Family from Prairie Village Kansas met at Aqua al Due for a delicious sampler meal. Originally the reservation was for 8:00 however due to a little too much wine tasting and due to bumpy roads and due to other facts like age limits and physical limits and things like up chuck and chucking up that leads to cloths chucking and showering, we had to push the reservation back until 8:15 which really meant we didn't sit down until 8:25 which meant that we had ordered before Papa I. and Little up chuck Adam I. met us around 8:35. Dinner was dinner-lious and beyond delicious. The family has finally caught on, it didn't take much convincing but they couldn't survive a night without gelato. Now they know I have felt the past two months. Unfortunately our family favorite place was closed so we had to go to neon puking lights-carnival-gelato down the street and now my family members are not only wine snobs after their little tour, they now have built up their taste buds that allow them to differentiate real gelato from the knock offs. I decided to let my bro and sis sleep in non snoring peace, so Mama I. and Adam I. walked me home from dessert. I was going to study for my Italian quiz tonight but I decided that I just didn't feel like it. And doing things that you don't feel like doing is bad. So instead I am sitting in bed writing this blog. I am exhausted and I must end now. Ciao ciao!

three good choices for five good isenbergs.

Unfortunately I had leave behind the fam for a majority of the day because Monday is the day when my classes take over. After painting, Mama I., Papa I, little Adam I. and Amy I. met me at my apartment and then I gave them a tour of my school and showed them some of my work. It was only slightly awkward when I showed my entire family my double exposure photo project and my whoo haws were hidden in the image. I just made Little Adam I. turn around because that is just crossing the brother/sister line. My Italian teacher recommended a restaurant for this evening. We made three very good decisions tonight. Uno:, we did not take a recommendation from the front desk. Due: We did not eat the bread at the table Tre: we made our way back to Perche No for more Pinkberry Gelato. Yum Yum Yum. Little Adam I. and Amy I. ordered the infamous Florentine Bistecca (did you say bistecca?) The steak was bigger than the entire plate. Little Adam I. is not so little anymore and has been thoroughly enjoying any opportunity to become a wine connoisseur. Like father like son. With his more mature mindset on this Saint Patties of Green Beer Patties Day and by mature I mean because we are in Italy where the drinking age is 2, Little Adam I. and Papa I. thought it would be fun to go to an Irish Pub to watch a some Futbal (for those of you back home, soccer) Now I will be the first to admit that I was just a wee bit embarrassed when we all walked into the Irish pub full of 20-year-old drunk American kids with my parents. Not that my parents are embarrassing at all, I just felt that we were out of place and for the first five minutes I think my insides turned the color of the beer they were serving, but then I got over it really fast when I realized there was a big screen TV, and that you only live once, and that my parents and sibs were only going to be visiting once, so I might as well get over it. Papa I. almost had a heart attack, not because there were so many kids or the soccer game was so intense but I think he had a wee bit of a realization of the constant struggle that I face everyday when he went to go pay for a couple of beers and realized that 5 euro is WAY too much for a cup of beer. (5 euros is like 8.50) We watched the end of the soccer and then I was starting to overheat because the masses kept piling in and we (meaning, Mama I. and Amy I. and I decided that we had had enough and it was time to go) Luckily Papa I. was on board because we all know Little Adam I. could have stayed the entire night. Dear The College Whom Accepts Mr. Adam Jeffery Isenberg, beware, this child knows all and wants to always have a fun time. I don't think Little Adam I is different than any other boy his age but it is just weird seeing you little, shnuggle bunny brother be in high school and almost old enough to drive. We were all picking on Little Adam I. and for shiz and gigz we made him take the "walk-the-line" test but instead of having him drunk, we made him spin in circles to see if he could make those monster feet of his walk in a straight line. He needs a little work. I decided to stay at the hotel with the fam tonight because the Gorilla was staying with her Mama and I would be lonely with out her. We were going to watch a movie, and the three of us nearly spent 25min. debating/fighting about which movie we wanted to watch when all of the sudden both Little Adam I. and I decided we were going to probably fall asleep and that Amy I. could just choose the movie. Agreement is one thing we Isenberg's have a difficult time doing. Obviously Amy I. and I were completely in favor of chick flicks and or chick flick comedies and obviously Little Adam I. didn't want to even consider any of the movies we agreed upon. Amy I. wasn't all that helpful either. She choose three movies that she would be willing to watch and as we turned the page to see our other options she would say that she would be willing to watch the same three movies over and over again. Luckily, Little Adam I and I decided that sleep was a better option or we could of been up the whole night just deciding what we wanted. I am getting the sniffles, which will probably lead to a cold which is very bad. I need to be a perky host for the next two days because the fam damn leaves Wednesday and I need to make sure they have the best time.

from two's days the 18th 08.

Sunday is a good day to do nothing. Like flying for instance.

We actually woke up on time this morning, making record Isenberg time and headed over to the Ezri's for another feast in the east. (the east being eastern europe) Chris was going to be in a Purim play next week and he really wanted us to see the dress rehearsal so we headed over to the JCC for an early morning performance. It was a very interesting site to see. Standing on the stage was the choir composed of all generations. The young, the old, the not so young and the not so old. From what I could gather, hence I don't speak hebrew, romanian or hungarian, it was more like a medley of dances and songs rather than a play. Chris was the only boy raising his arms to the sky and bouncing is feet around. I was just so exhausted from the weekend of eating that it was a little difficult to pay attention the entire time. Mama I. and I made an observation this weekend: the hot fashion style for spring is having purple or red hair. The women at the JCC solidified our observations. One women went so far that I would considered saying carrot orange hair might make the runway this spring and if your not into bright orange, the older ladies were supporting gently frosted purple highlights. Grey is out purple is in. But more incredible than the hair, was the communities strength. It isn't like it is back in the states, where everyone and their mother that goes to umich is jewish, and it isn't back at home where the JCC is pimped out with huge work out rooms and full length swimming pools, the community is a very small, modest group and they are really there for each other. All of the kids know the adults and all of the adults whether they are 96 or 52 know all of the younger kids. Everyone in their jewish community helps each other out and it is truly fascinating. After our Purim delight, we headed to the bus where in just a matter of seconds, not even minutes, the entire Isenberg clan, united as a team, and did what we do best, crashed like the stock market and fell right asleep. I didn't wake up until we reached the border of Hungary and that was only for 2 minutes in order to give Mama I. my passport and besides that I slept the entire 2 and a half hours to Budapest. We made it safely on the plane and I began reading one of Amy I's trashy love novels. She just loves them. She only brought 7 books with her, worried that she might not have enough to do. For those of you who have not met Amy Isenberg, let me tell you she is an incredible human being and I love her. Two hours later, the Isenberg family set foot in the land of great wonders. Thank goodness Amy I. was able to get over her fears of bad smells, and the true nose of all nose's, officially said "Florence does not smell bad". Anyone worried about the different smells of Europe, for fear you might not like them, just ask Amy Isenberg because she is the nose of our family. My parents are staying at this fabulous hotel called Hotel Bernini, right behind the butt of the fake David in Piazza Signoria. Each room is decorated in the style of a renaissance but modern day palace. Everyone unpacked their bags and then we did a mini tour before dinner. Rule number 1: Don't ask for recommendations from the front desk of hotel, be sporadic and look for yourself or else you will land in the hole of tourists. I wasn't sure what would and wouldn't be open for dinner on a Sunday night at 8:30, so I asked the woman at the front desk for some advice, she recommended a place called "Natailano" and promised me, very few people there would speak english. Maybe she miss understood me, but EVERYONE THERE SPOKE ENGLISH. The entire fiesta behind us had the worlds deepest and dirtiest southern accent. I don't care that Americans have invaded this city, there isn't anything I can do about it. BUT there are 10,000 restaurants here, and I know for sure there are places with and without tourists and I wanted to give my family the true Italian experience. For the record, The Isenberg family will not be returning to Nataliano. Lets just say we got tricked by the bread. Obviously the most important task of the evening was to take them to my favorite gelatoria, Perche No. Mama I. (as in Isenberg) made the worlds most important discovery in all of Italy. I didn't think it was possible nor did I know something so incredible and revolutionary could happen like this. It has now completely changed my experience here, I AM GOING TO SCREAM THIS FROM THE MOUNTAIN TOPS, ITALY HAS GELATO THAT TASTES LIKE PINKBERRY. Just think gelato, thick and creamy, wondrous and delicious mixed with a little bit of the worlds most addicting frozen yogurt, its thin as silk and mouthwatering as a watering can (not sure what that means but the sensation of Pinkberry is incredible. Ask my second family back in L.A, and they will tell you that I would do anything for a pinkberry) So what more could you want than an Italian pinkberry YES! After fireworks and shooting stars buzzed through the air for Mama I's new found discovery, I bravely brought the fam to meet the roommates. AHH TERRIFYING. But the chickens were on their best behavior and I was throughly impressed until Pants just had to pull out some story about her touching a statues nipple. Not that my family cared but awkward. I finally reunited with my little fury animal, the Gorilla and we were able to catch up for about negative 5 seconds in bed before I started falling asleep. I will come clean about a hidden secret, live for everyone to read, I have an eye witnesses and I can't hold back anymore, let the truth be heard, I do snore. Terrifying and embarrassing, the Gorilla has caught me in a duel action packed snore, and I wanted to let you all know before any other rumors begin. Off to bed, exhausted from eating so much food this weekend. I love having the family here and I can't wait to show them my motherland. Ciao ciao! Oh and Happy Birthday Minki Pinki and Miss Andrea Pack!

the SIX-tain of march ness

In Spanish it means to put, In Hungarian it means Kiss, and In English you get your mouth washed out with soap if you don't end it with a willow.

We had planned to wake up at 8 am and be over at the Ezri's at 9 am in order to be able to fit in all of the site seeing we needed to do, however we were not informed that the Romanian's moved their clocks up an hour (they didn't physically move the clocks on us, they are just in a different time zone than Florence and Hungary). So when we ended up waking up at 8:45 and finally making it over the Ezri's house at 9:30, we really ended up waking up at 9:45 and making it over the Ezri's house at 10:30 and then we ended up eating breakfast/lunch=brunch at 11:00. I thought last night was just a special welcome feast, but no no no, the large dining room table somehow managed to double in the amount of food and poor Gabriella Ezri must of woken up at the crack of dawn to prepare the mounds of food. Papa Gusti made us all real chicken egg eggs. From what we could understand, they get their eggs from a real farmer who has his own chickens, none of that carton business, this was serious chicken shiz. I could taste the difference in the flavor and the coloring was much different. After salami and cheese and bread and strudel and orange juice and eggs and a chocolate kinder bar, I decided that I had to finally put my foot down to Gusti's persistent force feed. He would not take no for an answer and then when I had Chris tell him that I was going to explode if I ate more, and then he finally let me off the hook. After lunch-bruch-feast-o-fun, we all piled in their family cars and headed to bear mountain. The kids were in Chris's car, Mama I. drove with Norbert and the GF and Papa I. took shot gun in the car with Edith, Gusti and Gabriella. We Isenberg children did what we Isenberg children do best and instantly but gently laid our heads on our hands and rested out eyes. I woke up numerous times for fear that we were going to die. In Romania, they don't have highways or two lane roads, so in order to go anywhere you have to play the risk taking game of speed-racer, cutters style and Chris indeed thought he was Mario Andretti. All of the sudden Chris would jet out into the lane going in the opposite direction, and cut the person in front of him. The scary part was not the actual going into the other lane, the scary part of was going into the other lane and then seeing a car heading directly at you and then quickly cutting in between two cars in order to avoid getting hit from the front. Gusti was the master at this game. We drove through the most scenic and beautiful towns. We would be driving for 20 minutes with not a single house or stop in sight, large mountains in the background and untouched crayon green fields in the foreground and then all of the sudden a little peasant village would pop up or two men herding sheep or little bubshucka women with their scarves and skirts sweeping the gravel. Tractors and men in horse drawn wagons pulling hay would occasionally appear on the right or left. It was incredible. An hour and a half later we made it to the bear caves. If Romania got its act together it could be one of the most beautiful and interesting tourist attractions. I have only been the city of Ordea, but wowza I have just been so impressed. While the remains of Communism still lingers here and there, and a little bit everywhere, and people seem to be a just a wee bit debby downers, the history and architecture, and the villages are just incredible and even the underdeveloped and less looked upon are fascinating. However the one tourist attraction they do have are these bear caves. Peasant women and children stand at the base of cave, demanding for you to buy their gidgets and gadgets like crystal bears, and apple pastries. Story has is that thousands of years ago, and by thousand I mean thousands and thousands of years ago, bears used to inhabit these caves until one day a massive hurricane or earthquake or some type of storm came along and the land caved in and closed off the entrance into the cave and all of the bears were suck inside with no exist. If I am not mistaken and if I heard correctly, it was only within the past hundred years that a man discovered this cave and when he entered, he found hundreds and hundreds of bears bones. We were only shown one complete set of bones but I think Mister-Tour-Guide-Who-Did-Not-Speak-English (but Chris translated) told us that they now have found 6 complete bodies. Stalactites covered the cave wall and stalagmites grew from the ground. The gave was ginormous and only a portion of it is open to the public. Look above for fun and games.
Now for the best part of the entire day and the entire weekend and will probably be a story I will remember for my entire life. The Ezri family would not allow us to put a dime down this weekend, we weren't even allowed to buy waters at the gas station. Gusti bought our entire family tickets into the cave. Mama I. and I were so grateful that he bought us our tickets that when he went to hand them to us, we tried to be culturally correct and say thank you in Hungarian "cursenum" or as Chris taught us to pronounce it "curse-en-em". He then pointed to his cheek as imply that he wanted a kiss on the cheek. This is not absurd thing to do in Europe and the whole two kiss thing is rather common. However as he was pointing to his cheek, he said pussy pussy. Mama I. and I looked at each other I proceed to give him the right and left kissy kissy while saying pussy pussy because I was not sure what else to do. Mama I. (more naive) however was not as willing and said "I don't think we can say that" (in just the sweetest voice ever with bright red cheeks). We ended this little episode rather awkwardly and Mama I. gave him the kiss, kiss and we then headed into the exhibit. Mama I. and I kinda forgot about it because we were so engaged with the bear cave but after the exhibit Gusti must of talked to Chris and sensed something was awkward with our interaction. Little did we know and little did he know, but in Hungarian pussy means kiss and in English pussy does not mean kiss. The entire way day, we were just laughing our heads off and you could just tell Gusti was so embarrassed and couldn't believe that he had asked Mama I. and I for pussy. Chris informed us that there are other words in Hungarian and Romanian that should not be used around those who speak English. For instance the word, F*uck, in Hungarian means Tree (sorry to be so vulgar) So if someone in Hungarian happened to say that they wanted to kiss a tree, to those who speak english, it was would sound VERY dirty. We just giggled and giggled the whole way home. After our kissing incident and bear cave hunt we headed back down the mountain to a peasant museum, where three old men have opened up their homes for people to come and look at their family history through their clothing, wagons, pottery, and even bedrooms. Papa I. asked the Chris to ask the man if he wanted any money because we couldn't believe such a place would be free and the man said he had no need for money but if my dad had a wife he would take her. Mama I. offered to give Amy I and I away. By the time we got into back into the car it was already almost 5. On the way there, we saw several different sheep herders and their sheep's and Chris promised that we could stop and try to herd them and or for me take pictures of them. Down the road, we caught our first group. We pulled to the side of the road and I spastically grabbed my camera and ran out of the car. Bah Bah Black (white) sheep have you any wool yes sir yes sir three bags full and dog that will bite you in the butt hole. Again sorry for being so vulgar but Sheep Dog the Sheep Herding dog was not a friendly little pup, trained to be tough and eat people alive. He almost bit Edith's butt off and then decided my whole body was a greater source of people protein and he darted straight towards me. I thought my life was over and my face was gone but lucky Sheep Herder the Sheep Herding Man thrashed his wooden weapon in the air and the dog backed off a little. I decided that was enough for this one sheep herding photo shoot and I didn't just walk back to the car, I boulted. I probably left human tire tracks on the ground. We continued on our way for another 2 minutes until we saw another herd of sheep, but this time there were two Sheep Herders, two Sheep Herding men. It was a photo op, you wouldn't be able to do or experience this in any other place in the world. I could of stopped 60 more times on the way home, but I didn't want the caravan of cars to kill me, so I kept my mouth closed every time we saw a group of sheep with there sheep herders. We didn't get back into Ordea until 7:30. However, Chris had to go to dance practice. While I have yet to see Chris shake his bom-bom Israeli style, I sure hope he is on either ends of the spectrum. Either he is something really similar to "Extra Pizzaz" bald man we saw dancing at the JCC in Budapest or straight as the bed I sleep on. Edith also had to go, which meant we were down two translators for dinner. We ate at this very interesting restaurant that was supposedly very typical Romanian food. We sat at the tip top of the tiki hut restaurant where the statement, heat rises, was formed. Cuddled against our backs were real sheep and cow hide lined chairs attached to big heavy wooden seats. Mama I. and I learned that Norbert's girlfriend doesn't speak Hungarian, and that the Ezri's mostly talks in Hungarian but that she understand a little English. I can't imagine how difficult it must be to with the family all of the time when they don't speak your language. I assume they must switch on their Romanian mindset when she is around but I am just not sure because I couldn't tell you the difference between the two. I can't stand it when we can not instantly understand what his parents are saying because all I want to do is to directly talk to them. At first I thought we going to order individually, however that would have been a great mess because Amy I. and I could hardly decipher what was what, but luckily Gusti sat on his kings thrown at the end of the table and ordered away and by away I mean he us his life away and we had enough food at the table to feed an army. While the meal was quiet delicious, I must admit I still loved the home cooked meal from last night the best. Actually stuffed to the brim, we were finally able to convince Gusti that we did not need any more food and that all we needed was our nice little beds but he made us promise that if we were not getting dessert at the restaurant, then we had to come back to their house and eat dessert there. YIKES AND YUCKS, at this point in the evening I couldn't even imagine sticking another piece of food in my mouth, but sometimes you have to let your imagine stretch a bit, and if you allow it, it might allow your stomach to do the same thing. Before I knew it, I was eating chocolate tiramisu. I felt like I had been hypnotized to eat the food or something. Indeed they were delicious but I still can't believe all of that food fit inside of me. Bloated and exhausted from a wonderful day, I made the executive decision to head back home at 1:00 am, and the entire Isenberg crew hit the sack. Before getting into bed Amy I. and I wanted to watch some tele but unfortunately Romanian television turns into mid-night porn madness and with more than a few giggles, we had a difficult time finding something to watch, so I eventually gave up and left Amy I. in charge.