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/

Everyone Needs This

A car in their restaurant!  Found this the other day at a place we frequent for lunch.  Yep a fully functional Fiat 500, put away for winter storage.

Like Vikings!

I recently spent a week in Norway and it was a very interesting place.  The city I went to, Stavanger, is on the southwest coast, is the third largest in Norway and is the epicenter of the Norwegian oil industry.  The history of Stavanger is of course a Viking one but it does boast a very large British style medieval cathedral.  These days it is one on the most expensive places to live, thanks to their remote locals and the high wages from the offshore oil industry.  The area is beautiful with mountains, fiords and ocean views everywhere.

Stavanger Harbor

Since I was there for work, I had the opportunity to be shown the sights by a Norwegian co-worker.  He decided to take a few of us out for a traditional Norwegian meal, Lute Fisk (it’s pronounced kind of like ludicrous).  The restaurant we went to was known for this dish and it is traditionally served with mushy peas, boiled potatoes and a Norwegian spirit called Aquavit.  It is important to know up front, which we did, if you are ever in this situation that Lute Fisk is Cod cured in lye…yes the stuff you make soap from.  Undeterred and not wanting to offend we all bravely ordered and he confirmed with the waitress in Norwegian “Yes, 10 lutefisk!”

Lute Fisk- top center, boiled potatoes to the bottom right and mushy peas to the left

I wouldn’t say it was bad, but I’m not a fan of raw fish of any kind and to be fair most people at the table finished their entire portion.  However, it is basically a firm jello consistency and mostly raw since it is basically only steam cooked after it has been lye cured for about 2 weeks.  Aquavit on the other hand is similar to vodka, but has a fiery finish like moonshine or strong whiskey, and is cured in oak barrels; optimally in a sea going ship.  Even today Norwegian flagged ships often carry casks of the stuff in their holds. 

The discussion of the evening revolved almost entirely around the dish, its accompaniment and what brought it about.  After a bit of discussion we came to the following conclusion:  The Vikings would set off to raid England with a fully stocked warship, which held a cask of freshly distilled Aquavit in its cargo hold.  They would row across the North Sea, pillage and punder for a few months and then decided “it’s time to go home!”  They would then catch a few cod, toss them in some lye to cure while they rowed back across the North Sea to Norway where, upon arrival, they would have a huge party on steam cooked lye cured fish, old peas left over from England, Irish potatoes boiled in the steam cooking fish water and a strong drink to finish it off…and that is how good stories, lies and rumors start.

Why I don't Blog More

Rome...Venice...Ferrara...Amersterdam...Norway.

I feel truly fortunate to be able to see these things.  I think I have seen some of the most famous pieces of art, architecture and culture in history.  It is worth not flying for a few years.

St Peter's at Sun Rise, Rome

St Peter' at Sun Set, Rome

St Mark's Square, Venice

Este Family Crest, Ferrara Castle

Sun Set, Amsterdam

View out my hotel, Stavanger, Norway.

Odds Are...

If it is to be done in a way that makes the least sense (to me anyway), takes the longest or is the most dangerous you can bet that's the way it's getting done.

Take these two guys.

That's right, the guy on the left is pushing his friend with his foot while riding in traffic because the two blocks they road were too far to walk and push.

Just the Good Ol’ Boys

Tricked out 4x4 Dodge covered in mud…check

Black lab perched in passenger seat…check

Is it Mississippi?  Georgia?   Tennessee?  Texas?

Nope, Ferrara Italy.  I saw this guy parked about ½ a block from the castle along the main street.  Foxworthy was right; there are rednecks everywhere.

The Hills Are Alive…

With the sound of gunfire of course. 

Of all the things I would have put on the list of “I’ll never do THIS in Italy”, shooting about 300 rounds of Colt 45, 12 gauge shotgun and 9mm in the Tuscan hills ranks close to the top.

Some background:  like most things in Italy first you have to know a guy…and we do, Marco.  One of the Italian Security Forces and a member of the Italian Practical Shooting Club.  He invited us to join them on one of their shooting days figuring, “hey these guys are a bunch of Americans they must love to shoot stuff.”  And wouldn’t you know he was right. 

So off we went one Saturday morning into the Tuscans countryside to meet up with the rest of the guys.  Since, our friend told us, there we no facilities at their shooting range and since it was a bit rainy we may want to bring a change of clothes, some snacks and some water.  We of course brought that plus some American beer.  After all we are shooting guns and you have to have American beer for that…at least that is what we were told by our hosts so we obliged.  For my part I received a healthy dose of a hard time for my bag choice…and considering my previous posts on “man purses” I don’t blame them, but I did have my revenge.  More on that later.

We arrived, after meeting for coffee before hand of course, and our hosts generously provided everything.  They had top notch gear:  1911 style 45 ACP pistols, quick draw holsters, Benelli 12 gauge assault shotgun and a sweet Berretta 9mm carbine rifle.  All this is saying a lot because gun owning and shooting is heavily regulated, taxed and is extremely expensive here in Italy.  Additionally they had a cool range set up with metal drop plate targets, cardboard silhouette targets on stand up frames, some cool contraptions that put targets on the move as well as some places to simulate shooting from cover.   Only problem was we had no belts to put holsters on and by some freak chance no one wore a belt.

I was in fine shape however after MacGyvering my man purse bag strap into a stylish and very functional pistol belt.  And after a few minutes my friends begrudgingly admitted that I had “sufficiently rednecked out my man purse” and could be forgiven for my previous blunder.

The "Man Purse"

...and it's new gun totting capabilities.  Note the shiny silver buckle.

After they handed out some gear and we set up the range, there was the obligatory safety brefing.  Which was of course brought up quicker than expected because as soon as someone handed me a gun I walked away from the crowd, choose a safe direction and drew out my pistol to check it out…big no no.  Of course now I was full into the “crazy gun toting Texan” mold…but that’s ok with me and most of the Italians didn’t mind.  In fact one of the guys is considering moving to Katy…because he likes Texas and because that’s where he can get guns and things for shooting guns cheap.

Duff's "4 Aces" in a quick draw holster

After they check out our shooting and safety skills we were deemed good enough to move to the “full course”.  This entitled shooting up to about 20 targets, from behind cover or on the move and sometimes with two different guns; ie sometimes you would shoot up the place with 6 rounds of 12 gauge and then follow up anything else with a pistol.  IT WAS AWESOME.  The whole system had a scoring deal, I of course won…at least among the Americans because Marco stomped everyone.

We have been invited back and we decided next time we are going to set up a “multinational; team competition”, which will involve 2 guys shooting the range at the same time and both of us will be using two different guns to complete the challenge…sounds right up my alley.

The Range

Me shooting the pistol...note the judge/safety observer.

Twic shooting the carbine "from cover"

Me on the move with the 12 gauge

After a fun filled day we headed back home, after downing a few cold beers, then stopping for coffee of course. 

The Americans...note the beautiful Tuscan setting and Fiddler's "Hand-gun".

The now "International" shooting club...ready for cafe.