Partenziamo per sempre

Well here I sit, somewhere over the Atlantic flying at 39,000 feet and making our way along at something around 450knots, and it’s over.  We left this morning just after 4 am, 15 mins late and already sweating in the muggy morning.  We are nearly retracing our original path to Italy.  In fact it seems that we’ve been living our last month or so in some Italian version of Benjamin Button, doing everything we did on arrival in reverse.

Of course not many people know what has been going on with us for the last months because I haven’t posted anything.  It seems like our lives, at least mine anyway, has been consumed in a bizarre time warping blur.  Since March NATO has been involved in operations on Libya and my once sleepy outpost at work developed into the beehive like epicenter of the campaign.  Long gone were the days of long lunches and home early to get the kids at school, replaced with many long, stressful often sleepless days and nights of actual work.  While not without its frustrations, conducting an air campaign with a large coalition proved to be just as interesting, insightful and educational as the previous year and nine-ish months were.  Because of all this I elected to put things on pause until I could regain the perspective that the blog was intended to do, talk about what living in Italy is like for me and my family.

Since the majority of my non-work life was taken up by sleeping I didn’t do too much Italian living, however Lauren and the boys did.  In fact Lauren took the boys on our trip we planned to the Canary Islands, which they enjoyed.  Lauren and I did manage to squeeze in a quick trip to meet my siblings and sibling-in-laws in London.  We still took the chance to enjoy a glass of vino in our garden or a stop in the café when we could.  However for the last 3-ish weeks things began to return to the old way, as I stepped out of work and began preparations to return to America.  As I did all the things big and small to move our family and things to our new digs, I began to have a funny sense of déjà vu.  I often returned to offices I hadn’t been to since we first arrived in Italy, I had a meeting in my landlord’s study with the 500 year old books and of course the movers arrived to pack our stuff.  This time as we moved into the hotel and waded thru the perfect storm of beaucracy we were more prepared.  While Braxton is still the best Italian speaker, we can easily navigate the daily routines of surviving in Italy and even have a few short and Tarzan like conversations…”Yes, I go America 15^th July, for always” became a repeated phrase.

Sadly we had to say good bye to all of the wonderful and colorful people we met along the way.  I have come to realize that it is those people, from our good friends to those people we only occasionally do business with, that have truly made our time in Italy as wonderful and memorable as it has been.

While we have now officially left Italy, I’ve decided to include a few of the more “memorable” anecdotes from the last few weeks as follow on posts.  Also I want to make a Matt’s guide to Ferrara and a few recommended itineraries for Italy vacations.  I hope everyone enjoys reading the lasts few posts as much as I enjoyed and relished my last few days in Italy.

The SLO Lane

Well, its official.  I have entered the world of skiers.  Not that I'm going to be challenging for the next Olympics or anything, but for an old guy from Texas who had never ever skied before, I think I did pretty good.  My skiing excursion took place in Lake Bled, Slovenia.  It is a beautiful place; lake a smaller, cheaper and less touristy version of Lake Tahoe.

With my parents in town we decided to take in a different part of Europe.  As a place to put on your must-see list, I'm not sure Slovenia makes the cut.  If you have seen a good bit of Europe however, then it is definitely a place to go.  Alternatively if you are looking for a semi-exotic but safe and cheap place to tour in the summer or ski in the winter; it's the spot.

The hotel we stayed at was part of the Sava Hotel chain and they have five or so hotels in the area which all cater to a different guest, in our case kids.  The have adjoining double rooms and breakfast and dinner are included in some packages.  They have a large indoor swimming pool, which the boys loved, a spa, which Lauren loved and several of their hotels offer great views of the lake, which boasts a castle and a church on an island in the middle.

Although we didn't get a boat ride, because the boats that run the lake mostly go in warmer weather, we did take in several other "S" activities in Slovenia.
This is courtesy of Braxton:
We went to SLOVENIA
We ate SHARK (at dinner on night)
We SKIIED (even Braxton took a lesson)
We SLEDED
We SWAM
We saw SWANS
We saw SNOW
We saw a SNOWMAN
We SLEPT

There you go, everything you need to know about Slovenia.  Check out the hotel web if you want more info at:  http://www.sava-hotels-resorts.com/en/destinations/bled/

You Want Fries With That?

Here in Italy, and I dare say in a vast majority of Europe as well, they take a different approach to food than we do in America.  Besides the fact that you can't get waffles, chima changas or just about any food from any part of the world at any hour of the day or night; they also treat a meal as a meal not just something to be out in a cup holder while you drive to work.  Lunches and dinner regularly last more than an hour and menus often vary based on local conditions, traditions and seasonal ingredients.  But a recent discovery at McDonalds may take the cake.
Of course Happy Meals come with toys everywhere, they are less often geared towards the latest movie promotion here.  I'm pretty sure this would never, ever, ever be put in a happy meal in America and if it was the kids(and parents)  would be like, "what a rip off".

No it's not a cup sombrero

Do you know now?

How about now?

 It's a juicer.  No kidding they handed out a juicer with a cup in the Happy Meal.  I'm not even sure what else
to say...a juicer.

Blue Skies, Except When It's Not

The weather here for the last 2 weeks or so has been great.  Although still cold at night, the afternoons have been clear blue skies, sunshine and temps in the low 50's.  It makes me excited for Spring.  There is one exception to the rule, of course, and that is from about 6am until 9am.  As Lauren pointed out in her blog it gets quite foggy and the last few days have been particularly so.  Here is some good examples.

Still a bit chilly in the morning

The thing that looks like a golf ball is about 5 stories tall and I'm standing about 150 yards away.  It's 945am.

Same spot. 800am.  The fence is about 50 yards away, which means visibility is about 200ft.

View from the wall at sunset.

Driving to work.  No I'm not driving and filming.

I Get A Calcio Out Of You

Because the weather was so good today, Braxton and I stopped by the park to kick around the soccer ball for a while.  Sadly, our lack of skills were quickly highlighted.  Across the park was a kid, who looked about 4, and his mom.  They were better than us.  It must be inbred that Italians have style and can play soccer.

Sorrento, Pompeii and Amalfi Pictures

View from Sorrento's main square

Bay of Naples, as seen for our hotel

Amalfi

Amalfi at night

Pompeii

Running loose in 2000 year old ruins...I'm sure nothing bad will happen.

Entering Pompeii

In the Jail House Now

Well merry Christmas everybody.  Today I think we received our last of the Christmas cards and letters, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if a few trickled in between now and Valentine's Day.  The reasons for this are many: the Christmas postal rush, the once a week mail pick up, a newly remodeled and understaffed post office where we get mail and of course the fact that things do have to travel both cross country and trans-Atlanticly to get here.

The record for most traveled package, both in distance and time, surely belongs to my Grandmother, Dot.  As I knew in advance of the post office construction and the low staff, I advised most of our family to make sure to get ahead of the game and mail their Christmas presents early.  Dot, being right on the game, got her shopping and mailing done 1 week before Thanksgiving.  Quite impressive considering the fact that we didn't even get our wish lists out until early November at best.  Of course no good deed goes unpunished.

We received the boxes containing mine and Lauren's gifts, but the boy's were nowhere to be found.  About ten days before Christmas we received in the mail a notice that the package had been stopped by the Dogana, the Italian customs office.  After getting some translation and advice on action from some of my Italian colleagues, I filled out and returned the forms assuring the Italian officers that these packages contained neither live animal parts or animal hair nor explosive or corrosive material.  I didn't expect miracles but I figured that we would get our things in a relatively timely fashion.  Unfortunately we just received them last week, this was due to the fact that the Dogana charged me a small fee for the delivery, which the base post office would not accept and so I had to go in person to pick up the package.

Of course it seemed strange that these packages would have been stopped at all, until I looked at the box.

It looks like this thing may have traveled all the way around the world.  I'm pretty sure if I was a customs guy, I would have stopped a package from Texas to Italy that was accidently routed thru Japan...and made a funny siren noise when you pushed on the side just right.

Long Delayed Guest Blog...The Croc Files

Well, where to get started.  Let's see.  My trip to Italy to visit the Dietz family and check out the ancient architecture and sites was more than expected.  It was a whirlwind of endless experiences, sites, food and good times with friends.  I flew into Rome to start and met Matt there albeit a little confusion at the train station on the location of the McDonald's as our meeting place, but we got it figured out.  HAHA!!  Matt and I spent a few days walking around Rome and I mean some serious walking and stair climbing.  No cabs for us.  My legs haven't been that sore since some of our cross country outfit runs back at school.  We managed to sqeeze in all the major sites, such as, the Forum, the Vatican Museum, St. Peter's, Palatine Hill, the Coloseum, Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon and much more, all in 2 1/2 days before heading to Ferrara.  There I got to visit with the whole family. And by the way, Ferrara is the Best little secret of Italy.  I had the best time while there.  We visited the town castle and fortificaations.  Several local shops and restaurants.  I was introduced to a little slice of heaven at one of their favorite restaurants.  I can't remember how to pronounce it but it was, homemade mac-n-cheese encased in sweet cornbread.  Like I said, little slice of heaven.  Although I have to admit, I really enjoyed all of the food while in Italy but Lauren, hands down, cooked the best meal while I was there.  While in Ferrara, Matt, Lauren and I took a day trip out to Venice and had us a great time seeing the sites and hitting up the shops for souveniers.  We returned to Ferrara and visited before I headed off to see Florence.  There I got to see the David, by Michealangelo and check out the Duomo and hike up its stairs to the top of the dome.  I got lucky here beccause it only has only about 450 steps compared to 530 I believe at St. Peter's.  From there I headed back to Rome for a day to check out a few more things and head back to the US.  I got to take advantage of the great hospitality,and visit with some dear friends while seeing some of the most awesome architectural feats ever built.  I thank Matt and Lauren for welcoming me into their home and Lauren for allowing Matt to roam around the Italian countryside with me checking out the sites.  If you can make it to Italy and visit with Matt, Lauren and their family and see the sites I highly recommend it.  It was a non-stop blitzkrieg of site-seeing, sketching and visiting, but it was worth every penny, the sore legs and sore abs from all of the laughing while reminiscing of days old.  It was a time I will always remember and cherish for the rest of my life.

Shane 

Roma

Sunset over Roma:  Piazza Popolo and St Peter's dome

The Grand Canal, Venizia

St Mark's Square

As Big As Your Head

Rick Steves says that if you like Italy when who hit Rome, keep going further south...if not, stop.  I agree whole heartedly.  Italy becomes more intensely Italy in the south.  The roads are smaller, the places more crowded and the people more stereotypically Italian.  It is a far different place than our "reserved" north.
I knew this, or at least thought I did, since I had been to Naples before but our recent excursion to Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast was a far different deal.

Our trip started inauspiciously when 2 minuets before our 1st train of 4, leaving from Ferrara, was scheduled to depart; the schedule board and the train station PA announced an 140 min delay.  Those who have traveled by train in Europe and Italy particularly know that the rest of the day will be an severe uphill battle.  That being said, we managed to arrive in Sorrento only about 1 hour later than expected and only having to take 6 trains to get there.  Along the way we got to meet some of the locals/scenic views as we traveled the "Circumvesuvio" train.  This is basically an above ground subway that travels from Naples to Sorrento...it takes an hour and a half, stops 36 times, we had 6 people and 6 suitcases and it was rush hour.  On the flip side it's cheap but the cool way to do it is by ferry.

Our stay in Sorrento was awesome.  The place is breathtaking and our hotel was perfect.  I definitely recommend the Hotel Il Nido for good food, service and an unequaled view of the Bay of Naples and Mt Vesuvius.  We took a bus ride down the Amalfi Coast, not by tour bus mind you but a city bus.  The best word for that is- Thrilling although Lauren would use Carsick..  The views are indescribable as you pass villages literally built into the sides of cliffs. In some spots the road is only wide enough for 1 car and when meeting another bus coming the opposite direction I could have literally reached through the window and touched the person sitting on the aisle side of the seat in the other bus.

We also toured Pompeii and because it was a week day and a bit cold and rainy we ended up being the only people with our tour guide.  Our Pompeii tour was unmatched for revealing the daily life of people who lived 2000 years ago.  As a lover of history I think all history should be taught like that, up close and as a personal story.

The thing that Sorrento and the surrounding area are perhaps best known for, besides bus rides and volcanic activity, is lemons.  They have a few varieties only found in that region and one that grows about the size of a cantaloupe.

regular lemons, mandarin oranges and 1 HUGE LEMON

the lemon on the left is a LARGE regular lemon, about as wide as my fist

On our way back we dropped Bob and Nancy in Rome for a few days of sight seeing.  Of course nothing comes easily because I accidentally gave mine and Lauren's ticket to them.  Fortunately the train conductor took some pity on us and only charged us 1 additional ticket to ride from Rome to Ferrara...after I had repeatedly insisted to several Italians that "yes this is my seat"  Oh well, when life gives you Lemons...

FELICE CAPODANNO!

It is with mixed emotions that I ring the new year in.  Although 2010 was an great year, 2011 may be our last year here.  However, 2010 closed out in grand style and I  know that we'll continue to have great memories in our remaining time, no matter how much it is.

Christmas day was rung in on Midnight Christmas Eve by all the church bells in the city, a beautiful sound to fall asleep to.  But we welcomed the New Year in drama and revelry at the Ferrara Castle with, in my opinion, the most dramatic fireworks display anywhere.

Happy New Year everyone...and if you want to have an unforgettable New Year's Eve party, come to Ferrara sometime.  Check out the link for info, more pictures and video.  http://www.capodannoaferrara.com/