A New Kind of Adventure

"If something happens, just run as fast as you can."

Um. Did I just hear that correctly with earplugs blocking out only some of the loud hum of the C130 I was strapped up in the cargo bay of? A quick look at my coworker, dressed in just as many layers as me, confirmed that I had. What did we get ourselves into?

Not quite the same experience I had on Turkish Airways just a few weeks ago, but I found it somewhat reassuring that I could see my bag stacked on a pallet 10 feet away so I knew it was on board. Shoot the fact that the bathroom was a curtain and a bucket didn't even phase me because I was finally on my way to Rota!

The flight experience was sure something I'll never forget. Think old war footage with soldiers in the planes and that was pretty much us. Well, not quite between having to rely on my pilot coworkers to maneuver my seat-belt and keep telling me what was next, I have never felt like such a rookie flyer. Of course I didn't look like a homeless person standing in a small huddle with a beanie tight over my head, hands jammed into my jacket pockets  like some of the guys did. Some of us seriously wondered if they were going to light our luggage on fire to keep warm. (Yeah, it was really cold!)

The flight home was better for me because I know people and made my way up to the cockpit. Yes- it was awesome! How many times in one's life do you get to see the view from the sky out of the front window? And? There was heat up there so as I defrosted and chatted with the guys I just had to keep reminding myself that I was several thousand feet about the ground and not to panic and grab any of the hundreds of switches lining the ceiling and panels. The best part? I was actually still up there as we made our approach into Naples and landed. So many things need to take place to land and for once I got to see behind the scenes. I <3 my pilots.

So no, I didn't just fly up and back to Rota to log time riding as cargo. I headed up with several coworkers to go meet with the crew aboard the USNS SPEARHEAD, MSC's first of 10 Joint High Speed Vessels. She's not your average boat in capabilities or appearance...but she's really impressive. For you non Navy types, here's Katie's summary of JHSV- it's a really fast moving platform that can be outfitted with different modules depending on the mission. Best part? It doesn't cost nearly as much as ones built in the past! Inside, it really reminded me of the ferry we took to Sicily- complete with open cargo bay and lots of seats for the passengers. (If you want to read more, you should probably Google it and you'll find one of the publications that our PAO team has put out there.)

I spent the better part of a day touring the ship...hanging out on the bridge, climbing ladders down in the belly of the ship to see the engines, generators, and shafts. Our tour guide? The ship's Master, another fabulous CIVMAR that I've been able to meet with my gig here at MSC. I love it when they take time, my boss as well, to explain to me exactly how things work because should there be an issue and that funding document crosses my desk I a) know who I'm helping out, and b) know more or less what that #4 generator or shaft seal is.

Despite not securing a good spot to stow away, I was able to pick up a coin to commemorate this trip and maybe one day if there are more than 10 of these floating around the ocean to tell my kids I stepped foot on the first one after she made her first trek across the Atlantic to Rota where it was our office who supported her during her time in this part of the world.

Yes. I do hear myself. I'm not only talking about ships, but I'm excited about them. I'll be honest, some times after a ship tour, which reminds me about my time at sea, I can't help but wonder if I really belong behind a desk all day. And I think it's very clear my time as a DA Girl are behind me as I now speak Navy more fluently than Army.

Madrid: Tease

Fej & Nini  are still in Madrid, but I made it back this morning, and with only mild delays, and an older lady passing out on the flight back.

Our pictures haven't been uploaded. (Shoot, the camera is still in Madrid.) They haven't started their guest posts. Some issues occurred BUT...

we're talking about the kids that entertained ourselves with Fanta bottles in Mexico, built forts in ivy, and made up songs about forgotten suitcase. Although lost luggage wasn't part of the plan, shopping in Europe became part of the cultural experience.

Bottom line is we've  always founds ways to keep ourselves entertained no matter what the issues are and this adventure is no exception! Here are a few highlights from the weekend, and yes, expect more explination in the days to come:

* SANGRIA * hostel * Lost Luggage * walking * 

QUALITY-TIME * Aguascalientes * MUSEUMS * Map Issues * Creepy Taxidermy * Cervezas * jamón *

Madrid Day 1

Lookie Who I Found!

Okay, well I guess if we plan to meet in Madrid I was expecting to find them but you know, it's always a great thing to walk into a hostel and be greeted by your rather sleepy sister who just happened to wake up wondering why you hadn't yet arrived.

Yeah, that's right. We stayed in a hostel and once it was located, was a great location in Puerta del Sol and I wanted to explore! Once they woke up from their groggy travel state we got ready to head out. It didn't take that much time since their luggage was misplaced somwhere between San Francisco and Madrid. As I heard about their tight connection in New York, I was happy to hear that their luggage only missed the flight and not them.

We took out towards Plaza Mayor, the main plaza in Madrid. As it was a beautiful summer evening, the plaza was filled with people. The resteraunt tables set out were filling up with the help of employees attracting tourists in various languages. We didn't need that much encouraging; we saw sangria and were on a tapas mission. It was at this first location that I realized my sister's Spanish skills are nothing short of amazing. (Yes, Nina they are!) Granted, I'm the one who took 4 years in high school and still struggle through the El Torito menu, however on this trip to Spain I atleast remembered gracias rather than grazie when stepping off the plane.

After a people watching adventure in the plaza complete with jamon e melon and sangria we headed out for a little exploring and picking up toothbrushes. Wandering the streets with a map but never quite figuring out where we were, I couldn't help but wonder if being directionally challenged is genetic. We found a few churches and made a major loop down by the Palacio Reale and Cathedral. On our way back towards our hostel we stopped for late night gelato. I was exhausted at this point, but my CA time zoned siblings were gearing up again so we got back in time for them to crash. I think my last words to them were "3am is brutal- just you wait." And you know what? Big sis was right!

Barcelona Part Tre: The Rest

Saturday kicked off the true adventures in Barcelona...after fueling up on cafè and something way too crispy, chocolately, and yummy. In true Italian Katie fashion by the end of the first block something already caught my eye so of course we started meandering through the Naples like alleys with shops and cafes lining both sides. Luckily, we weren't that far away from where we wanted to be- Catedral de la Santa Crue. This cathedral was burried in the Barri Gòtic area, just on the other side of La Rambla.

The most striking difference between this cathedral to those I'm used to in Napoli was the amazing stain glass windows. The sunlight filtered through the otherwise dark sanctuary illuminating the hundreds of colors strategically arranged. Simply beautiful. I still don't get the need to have the remains of important people in these buildings through. Well, there is a lot of things about the Catholic Church that I don't understand...but I think that is the one that causing the most confusion in my head. Did these people say "I hope my remains get buried (or put on display) at _____?" Yes, these are the thoughts that go through my head while I'm walking around these old buildings...

Once leaving the cathedral (and admiring its moat) we headed towards Parc de le Ciutadella. If I haven't already bragged about the weather we had, let me do so now- blue sky with the sun streaming down and perfect glorious spring days. Before crossing the street, the Arc de Triomf greeted us as it was originally designed to do for the 1888 Universal Exposition. The park is named after the citadel formally found at this location, built by King Philips V after finally taking Barcelona after a 13 month siege in 1714. The citadel was torn down in 1869, leaving only 3 buildings in place including the arsenal which is now where the Catalan Parliament is located.

For the 1888 Universal Exposition, many of the buildings now in the park were built, including the Natural History Museum (Castel dels Tres Dragons). While we walked around admiring everything, hundreds of runners were utilizing the paths within the park running drills and for a split second I wished I was out there with them...but then my body remembered the marathon just a few weeks back. Piano, piano.

The bench lined walk ways with flower covered branches arching over them were simply stunning, as was the amount of grass. I guess I am becoming more of city girl with each passing month! On our trek through the park we saw dogs playing fetch, an enormous Mammoth statue, old men playing bocce ball, and the greenest of mini parrots sticking out of the palm trees. Eventually we found the Cascada, a fountain designed by...yep you guessed, it Gaudí. This was one of his projects as a student and he sort of designed it after the Trevi Fountain in Rome. Although there was only a ton of algae and a floating watermelon rind the water around the fountain, somehow it just blended with the somewhat natural look of the fountain. Well, minus the gold figures on top that I really just didn't care for. Maybe if there were fish I could have looked passed the goldness...maybe.

Let's see here. Then it was off to my favorite place of all time, but now since you're all Gaudí experts I won't take you through that again. On the route back we wandered through more new streets, re-exploring where we had been the night before. Stopping by Mercat St. Joseph there was some permanent damage done... I love looking at all the stands: produce, fish, spices, cheese, and even the occasional meat case. Well, they took it to a whole new level with ham legs. Cured. Hoof and all. Ick. I may need therapy to work through this.

Fast forward to dinner that night along the water. Finding a place to sit us at 11pm was no tough task. Getting through said dinner when I'm staring at a wall with no less than 3 pig legs hanging from it- tough. Very tough when you realize that the white thing stabbed into it is a "juice pan" and MAJ545 teases you about it the entire time. Gracias by the way.

I think I've captured most of that last collage. Some of those pics are just random but too much fun not to include. And yes, those are our "map shots." By that time of the day all map rules had been thrown out the window since we'd walked way too many miles and were in dire need of naps.

It truly was a fabulous trip and I couldn't have asked for a better escape from Italia. Although I'm not one who typically enjoys returning to places I've been...I'd consider returning to Barcelona because that's how much I enjoyed it. PLUS, I need to see the progress made on the most beautiful building ever!

Barcelona Part Dos: Gaudí Not Gaudy

48 hours in Barcelona is way too few; even when days start early and end in the early hours of the morning. Despite our short time, we chose to spend several hours at La Sagrada Familia. Well. I don't think we chose- that's how long it took us, and although I could have been there until closing we had to see some other things. Okay, so maybe an hour of that was spent in line, but with coffee in hand and chatting with the Italian couple in front of us, we still were in awe of the incomplete building next to us.

I put the link to the Wikipedia page above and I really encourage you to read more. Even after the audio tour of the place and now reading what I can online I'm still in complete awe. Very few times in my life have I ever gotten goose bumps from a cathedral...and this one isn't even completed! MAJ545 summed it up well with his comment about "I don't care what you believe, you can't destroy something like this."

Antoni Gaudí started working on this project back in 1883, one year after the first stone was laid. He spent the next 40 years designing and building the cathedral. How? Well he took his archetectural inspiration from nature: snails, leaves, honeycomb. He also was a geometry genius so took what he learned from nature and applied it to his creations. The use of colors and stones magnified the natural looks of water, sky, earth, and fire. Sculpted animals "scurried" all over the various façades: lizards, snakes, snails, turtles, birds, dogs.

When we finally made it into the gates the Passion Façade, in 3 pannels met us. The sharp lines chiseled into the stone, intensified by the shadows and sunlight, depicted the events of Holy week.  It took me a minute to realize that the scenes followed a s-shaped path, but I could figure out just about everyone and their part in the story. Except for the "thinking knights" that really turned out to be the Roman guards casting lots for Jesus' garments. Eh, I never liked them much anyway. Gaudí left no detail out in this creation: a fossilized palm frond, alpha and omega symbols, the rooster. As we entered into the sanctuary, thousands of words from the gospels with the "What is the truth?" highlighted on the doors. 

A mere two steps into the sanctuary and I was floored. Even now thinking about it and seeing the pictures I experience the same feeling. After the initial shock factor I just wanted lay down on the floor and stare for hours at the ceiling and the windows flooding the room with color. Despite the 22.2M stone pillars (2M wide) scattered through out the room and the massive stone vaults on the ceiling, this place was so light and open feeling. Nothing like the Gothic and Baroque cathedrals I'm so used to seeing. Again, the detail that was explained from the sea side blues to the mountain side green, the symbols within the patterns, how the lighting was just perfect- Gaudí was an inspired man and the perfect one for this tasking.

Pulling myself up from the seat I found to just take it all in, I wandered back outside to the Nativity Façade, which was started during Gaudí's life and now show the wear of the city around it. Again, multiple scenes depicted the events of Jesus' childhood below the nativity scene completed the portion of the wall below the tree of life. Listening to the audio guide we weren't 100% sure what were were looking at but again, we knew it was something special. Well, I take that back. we were looking at something special and then 4 towers with cones of multicolored items, resembling something like kick balls or dippin' dots ice cream. Turns out that those were the missing baskets of fall and summer harvests. Oops.  

Unfortunately, he died well before much of what we saw was even built...but he left plans. Detailed plans that captured his vision. Many were destroyed during the Civil War, however they are still looking at them to remain true to his plans. On the positive side, much of the technology needed to make the plans transform from paper and models to the real deal is now a reality. Work isn't scheduled to be done until at least 2026, which is the 100th anniversary of Gaudí's death. The photographs in the museum capturing the building that has taken place over the years is stunning, but perhaps even more so, is the fact that the highest spire is still not added. The central spire of Jesus will be 170M (560ft) which is one meter less than the hill in Barcelona. Apparently Gaudí figured his creation should be lower than God's but even so, once completed it will be the tallest church in the world.

So naturally, after falling in love with his design and creativity when the desk clerk suggested Parc Güell for Easter Sunday we took the "oh so scenic route" to the hill overlooking the city. It's my doing with the scenic route. I have this tendency to just walk in a general direction...well when distracted too much it turns out I take arching routes. But never once did our trusty maps not help us out. Granted there are rules about using maps:

• Rule #1 You can't walk around with it in your hand. 
• Rule #2 The fewer number of people see you with it, the better. 
• Rule #3 Never EVER be obviously lost. 
• Rule #4 Gotta still pay attention even when looking at the map. 

Why all the rules? I think it's pretty obvious when you're a tourist, but don't make it so easy for others to pick you out! I'm good at getting us "lost" but I always can find us on the map. MAJ545 was excellent at picking the direct routes back.

At any rate...we made it to Parc Güell. It wasn't too tough once we were swept into the crowds of tourists (with their maps and guidebooks in hand) walking along the street. Of course we weren't there until we climbed up the hill. And steps. Well, I took the steps. There were also escalators, but that's cheating. We started along the trails that lead up to "my house" and then took a back path through a very quite portion of the hill before wrapping back around to a monument of 3 stone crosses. Again, couldn't have been a more beautiful place to see on Easter. Of course all the tourist climbing up the itty bitty stairs (us too) made it a little crazy but a little crazy is good.

The park started as a housing development but never took off. Of the two houses built, Gaudí purchased one. The land was then converted into municipal gardens and somehow Gaudí got involved in designing portions of it and one again his knowledge and understanding of geometry found in nature is put to use. The rock arches are really bearing the weight of the roads above! The "bird nests" of stone just blend into the natural elements.

And then there is the fun stuff. The "like mosaic" as one, yep you guessed it, American tourist said while we passed her. Along the main square's perimeter there is a winding sea serpent that acts as a bench. Tiles make amazing patterns and shapes of sea creatures, that are viewed when people aren't sitting on every open space. Below the square columns support the weight above, and even they get mosaics that are just stunning. The white ceiling scattered with colorful mosaic circles are beautiful. Again, I had to fight the urge to lay on the ground and stare towards the ceiling...it wasn't too hard though since the ground was dirty. The steps leading up to the columns were "guarded" by the Gaudí dragon. This dragon was seen all over the city so we knew we couldn't leave until snapping our pics with him.

So if I sounds like a Gaudí fan, you're right, I am. He has several buildings scattered around town, all that we were able to identify. Turns out the tile along La Rambla is also one of his designs. It just may become my goal to go see all of his projects because they are truly amazing. Funny how I never knew about him and in one trip I discover his works and feel that La Sagrada Familia could quite possibly be the most beautiful man made thing I've ever seen.

Barcelona Part Uno

Living in a place like Southern Italy, you have to adapt or you will be miserable. There have been several instances where people have mentioned that Italy Katie is different and I'm okay with that. Change is crucial, especially when you were stuck in a stagnant place like Monterey. I know I'm changing with each challenge that gets thrown my way (and there are a lot). Last Friday headed to Barcelona though mid flight I realized that my "just go with it/little planning" plan may have backfired...even when I caved last minute and picked up a tour book from the library.

See, the plan was to meet one of my friends out there. Flights were purposely picked to arrive within an hour of each other so we could link up and then find the hotel. Well, that's a great plan if both flights land in the same terminal. Not completely freaking out when I realized the different airlines did in fact arrive in different terminals, I caught the shuttle down to the next terminal where his flight had arrived 45 minutes prior. He of course was no where to be seen, and so panic began to set in.

What kind of idiot travels without getting his number from the email? Why don't I have a copy of the hotel reservations?  Do I even know the name of the hotel? What am I doing here?

Luckily, I have amazing friends that look out for me and as I waited to get back on the shuttle (thinking maybe we crossed paths?) I frantically texted to see who was up and willing to hack my email for info. Paranoid or maybe just observant I watched out the window and guess who I found? Yep. I actually snuck up on him because he was too busy trying to figure out how to get into town. Seeing a friend after a while is always a fabulous event, but finding one when you're near panic, in a new country, exhausted, and it's almost midnight? Dare I say priceless? And yes, hug worthy.

It all worked out. (This time and yeah, USA Katie tendencies will be sticking around on trip planning for just a while longer...)

The weekend was fabulous but throughout the trip there were several things that just made me say "we're not in Italy are we?" Since he's been living in Europe too there were several conversations of "what do you mean it's not like this in Italy?" Which would then lead to the "I know, you only saw Rome and Rome isn't Naples." (Which a couple from around Rome while at La Sagrada Familia totally confirmed by their reaction when the heard I was living in Naples...)

I love Italy. I really do. But sitting outside at a cafe sipping sangria while birds chirped, cars obeyed traffic signals, and leaves floated in the wind just felt like home. Don't interpret this wrong- it didn't feel like the US. I could still tell I was overseas due to the levels of smokers, attention to detail in architecture, and the "all the time in the world" mentality.

But then on our adventures things would transport me back to Naples, like a car parking in a spot that required full bumper contact. Of course everyone stood looking on in horror while I just continued to walk down the sidewalk. Totally normal in my world.

What wasn't normal? The huge parks in the middle of city. Trash cans every corner with 99% of trash actually in them, not on the ground. Cars passed without honking. The plethora of cuisine offered by the restaurants lining the streets. Streets truly meant for driving "normal sized cars" and sidewalks for more than a single file line of pedestrians.

Several times, especially when crossing streets, I realized I was very paranoid to cross until I not only saw the "green guy" but also double checked for cars up to 10 seconds after the light change. Jaywalking? I don't think I did that until Sunday afternoon and even then I wasn't happy about it.

Language was another huge thing. From day one of Italian class, I've had to train myself to remeber that just because it's not English doesn't mean that Spanish will work. For months I've been trying to replace the few Spanish palabras that remain from my high school days con italiano. I'm happy to report that the change is taking place. When trying to do the simplest of order (ie for coffee) latte came to mind rather than leche. Small is now piccolo, not penqueno. There were so many other instances that I caught myself translating between English, Italian, and Spanish each night to try to straighten my brain out. Even numbers threw me for a loop. Then again, with Catalan who knows what you're really hearing...

After getting back to Naples on Monday, I thanked the gas attendant with a gracias. Go figure since I think just about everyone in Spain got a grazie. Now he really thinks I'm crazy.

One thing I found that still (yep, still) hasn't changed is my jumpiness with lizards. By "stick lizard" sighting three one afternoon I think MAJ545 was seriously questioning how sane I was. One day I'll get over it. Maybe.