ginnastica

There is a gymnastics class that we pass every time we are in San Nicola, the area of Genova neighboring our neighborhood of Castelleto.  It is called Società Ginnastica Rubattino and every time we pass, Holden asks me about taking a gymnastics class.  So one day we decided to walk inside and inquire about classes.  Through a mix of broken English and broken Italian and a lot of hand gestures and charades, we finally had signed Holden up for his first class.  He was super excited! 

So when we arrived at the gym the next Thursday and they gave Holden his very own outfit, he couldn't wait to go into the locker room and change.  This was during all of the flooding we experienced in Genova and I was tempted to just stay in the villa, but he was determined to go no matter how heavy it was raining.  He was the only boy in his class and was by far the youngest (this seems to be a common thread for Holden - ending up with older girls).  He still enjoyed it very much.  He climbed, jumped, rolled, tumbled, and even tried out the parallel bars.  The entire class was in Italian, but one of the teachers spoke a few words of English and with her help and watching the other students, Holden was able to figure out what to do.  This was a fun way to burn off some energy during the flooding.

lining up at the beginning of class

flipping over the bars

hanging from the bars

getting ready to drop down

getting there and back in the rain