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