Actually, I'm not even sure we're that. But, my thoughts are partially on a toy store by the second half of that title anyway. Eleni has seen a Barbie doll at the local toy store and she's having a hard time letting go of the image. Her six-year-old need for instantaneous gratification is strikingly different from her ten-year-old brother's philosophical questions.
And those started with a sand castle.
But first, our day today. Sunday, September 11.
We rented a car again this weekend and so we had plans to get up an go on Sunday morning. We managed to get up and go, but we couldn't get out as soon as we would have liked. Viterbo honored the September 11th with a race through the city. This limited the traffic movement a bit.
We broke through and visited a town east of us named Bagnaia. Founded in or around the 10th century, it became a summer residence for high-ranking bishops in the 13th century.
The Renaissance caught up with it in the 16th century. Here are some stairs leading to the famous villa in Bagnaia.
The Villa Lante was built then by Cardinal Gambara. Today, we just visited the gardens. The free gardens. The villa and proper gardens that you have to pay for deserve more time. Another day.
The big attraction was the Pegasus fountain with all of its quirks. 
Gardens complete with two of my favorite trees: Umbrella Pine and Cyprus.
On to the next activity. Here is how you know you are leaving a place in Italy.
Back to Viterbo for a quick stop. This is the gate near our home called Porto Romano. You'll notice that the scaffolding is gone! Santa Rosa is truly over...you can still see her statue over the gate though.
We went to a park near Lake Vico for the afternoon and Alex and Eleni played with some other faculty children. Alex lovingly made this sand castle (in its early on moments here) and fortifying it occupied an hour of his time.
However, public parks are not private property and ultimately, when the sandbox was full of children, the castle fell to ruins before his eyes.
He was not pleased.
A faculty member suggested some famous advice, "all things pass" and perhaps he could use this as a metaphor for the rise and fall of civilizations.
Right.
We provided distractions by heading home and getting ready for our next week of school. In the same line as "don't mention the war," no one mentioned Barbie and no one mentioned the sandcastle until 8:30 PM. If you are six or ten and looking to procrastinate from sleeping, the witching hour of bedtime is understandably the best time to try your parents' patience. Lamentations abound. For Eleni, it was a desire for possessing the tangible. For Alex, it was a need for understanding the intangible.
"If all things pass...?" That question led to "why make change when it hurts?" and "why do we die?" and "what is the point of living then?" We've been lingering on all three questions for a few days now.
Any thoughts?
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