Tours By Katie O: Eat & Shop Your Way Through Southern Italy!

Another visitor, another guest blog on the same trip! Enjoy taking a look at my Zia Janet's photo-blog as she summarizes her trip to Italy.

My title for your tour would be "Eat and Shop your way through Southern Italy!"  I really enjoyed the food aspects, as you can tell! 

Katie demonstrating the proper hand gripping the steering wheel when meeting a large bus on a curve along the Amalfi Coast. 

 

"Why are those people in my road?"

Hanging out in Positano

Seriously, it was an incredibly fun little adventure and haven't had so many laughs in quite a while.  My ceramics made it home in one piece and I'll have them to always remember our little adventure and your great hospitality.

G2 Invasion of Napoli: The Arrival

For anyone who has met my family- it's pretty easy to confirm they are amazing. Well, if you think it's just my nuclear family? Clearly you never spent a Thanksgiving with them, or spent time with them at a graduation/special event.

The Guffy Gals (G2) invaded this past weekend. With the arrival of my grandma and two aunts (my momma was the missing one) we had our schedule planned. Seriously. Have you never seen one of my plans?

(Now you have.)

With most of their time planned out, I took off from the office to pick them up at the train station. Downtown Naples. Friday afternoon. No problem.

Ha. When will I ever learn? This is Naples, land of the unknown, unexpected, and mayhem.

Slight problem- changed traffic patterns! Talk about putting a major glitch into your flawless plan. Some aggressive driving later, a frantic phone call to "mission control", and a scenic detour I finally was able to pull up along side the sidewalk to pick up my 3 guests that stood out terribly due to their pale skin and heights. Eh, it's for the best if you learn about Napoli time when you first get here rather than later. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. 

We made it to Casa di Nico without incident where he promptly ran and hid. Even when the intruders were sitting upstairs, chomping away on fresh mozzarella di buffala and fried yummy goodness pulled freshly from Joe's deep frier before we headed down to Mariella's for dinner.

The night ended relatively early, mainly on account that our bellies were full of all things deliciouso  and the morning held our next adventure- ancient ruins and the Amalfi Coast!

Alex, You're Not in the US Anymore

Per the new policies for staying at Casa di Nico, all visitors must submit a guest blog. To make this requirement easier I decided to provide a list of questions to be answered. No, it's not quite as fun as having someone journal their experience, but it's something rather than nothing. Bonus? It helps pass the flight back home or combat the jetlag that strikes at 3am.

My first interviewee? Alex. (And no, that's not his legal name. Leave it to me to pass that along to my friends doing a huge favor by picking him up at the terminal to discover first. At least the "Alex is actually MIA" text was resolved within 15 minutes.)

Alex and I met back in Monterey in late 2008 when I was still at NPS and he was at DLI. He was part of a larger group, primarily DLI students that I met through the church I was attending at the time. This group was at our apartment weekly (if not more) for a weekly Bible Study or game night. When I was home last year for my sister's wedding, I learned he was at DLI, learning another language so we met up to watch the Giants annihilate the Tigers in game 3 of the WS. When he decided to take some major leave time, he took me up on the offer (extended to everyone), and decided to come visit!

Not only was this his first trip to Italy, but out of the US. Eek!

If it hasn't been incredibly clear, southern Italy isn't exactly the most first foreign trip friendly location especially when your host is stuck at work so you're out and about solo. Luckily, Alex has a gift for languages, and knowing Spanish he was successfuly fumbled through the many adventures he had...like getting off at the wrong train exit for Pompeii during a local transportation strike.

I realize that I'm becoming very immune to all things Life in Naples, but that doesn't mean others aren't. Given that this was his first trip out of the states I wanted to see just how much of an impact Naples had on him and make sure all those "Italian" things that really aren't normal were documented in his trip reflections.

Katie: What was the biggest shock being outside of the US for the first time?
Alex: Probably how the size of everything is reduced from cars to homes. Waking up and hearing voices that aren't speaking English is a bit of shock when you're not accustomed to it.

Katie: What was your favorite Italian dish/food tried?
Alex: This is a tough call being Italian food is my favorite gastronomically. Probably would have to say I can never enough pastas, especially anything with fettuccine.

Katie: What 3 words best describe Italy? Why?
Alex: Beautiful- for obvious reasons, everything from the ocean views to volcanic mountains to densely populated modern yet historical cities.
Community- Italians are very family oriented and extraordinarily friendly and helpful. People you meet in Italy are not likely to be cold or reserved.
Loud- car horns, moped horns, shouting is considered normal communication, and my personal favorite church bells.

Katie: Most frustrating "culture shock" moment?
Alex: There were a couple. The lack of AC. The most frustrating was having to constantly swivel  your head to look for mopeds and motor bikes zipping by within inches when walking around.

Katie: What is something you will never forget about you 2013 Napoli trip?
Alex: The sheer amount of history the city has.

Katie: What did you learn about yourself during this trip?
Alex: Big changes in my environment kind of make (me) expect the worst. This feeling goes away pretty quickly though after I figure things out and get acquainted. As I age I have less reservations with talking to complete strangers.

Katie: Sum up your trip in 30 seconds or less.
Alex: A one-of-a-kind eye opening experience that will stay with me for the rest of my life. The sights, sounds, taste, smell, and the feel of Italy have made a tremendous impression on me. Would not have been possible to make the trip without the considerable hospitality of Katie O.

Katie: Any advice for future visitors to Casa di Nico? To Napoli?
Alex: Just remember if you take Space A [Military Air] you should probably buy your ticket back to the states if you're traveling during a busy time of year. Also, don't forget to get your passport stamped. Naples is large and needs more than one or two days to see everything. Lastly, Nico only does the opposite of what you want him to do.

Katie: Next time you head to Italy, what's on your "must see list?"
Alex: Probably Venice, Milan, Verona, and Genoa. I would also like to visit Rome again.

Katie: Anything else you want to put on "record" about your trip?
Alex: I'd love to do it again! I definitely need at least one more visit before I'm mildly satisfied. Only thing that was really annoying was the overall lack of AC in buildings. Thank you so much for having me and helping me plan my trip! 

All Roads Lead to Rome

They say that "all roads lead to Rome," and on any given road trip throughout Italy, I'd have to agree with Roma signs pointing in various directions. I'm convince that there is more to the saying, and they left out the part about "...but some will take a lot longer." A lot longer.

Why? Well, various of reasons: the distance of the road, weather conditions, paved vs unpaved roads, traffic patterns, the speed of the driver, the mode of transportation, etc. Oh one more little one- if your co-pilot when so kindly already fighting the borrowed GPS unit for you inadvertently tells it to avoid toll roads.

Now, yes. I should have trusted my gut and proceeded on the tang as I always do, but hey, if the technology is nothing short of calling you an idiot for thinking about going any other direction? You do your best to put aside your control freak nature and listen.

Even when you realize you're headed to the port city of your least favorite ship ever that causes more headaches for you than Tylenol has pills.

Even when you keep seeing signs to the road you know you should be on.

Yes, even when you start to follow the signs you know you want through ity bitty towns.

Sigh. It's about the journey- right? This journey was beautiful through the green mountains on a rainy day, but sometimes you want to just reach the destination already! Needless to say, we finally reached our destination (a train station in Rome) to ride the rail into the city for our whirlwind tour of the Vatican, St. Peter's, the Spanish Steps, Roman Forum, and Coleseum. As I saw many of these places for a second, third, even fourth time I realized I had never really posted pictures or blogged on them. Oops. Guess it's time to do that? Domani. Dopo domani.

Operation Only Child: After Action Report

Operation Only Child (OOC) was a success! It was even more fabulous than I had even hoped it would be to have my parents finally come visit me. Of course their original plan of just being lounge lizards with their grand-kitty, looking out over the bay, sipping on local wine and eating fresh mozzarella while I was "locked" in my basement office earning my regular paycheck didn't happen.

I mean, would I really allow that to happen? 
Do Neapolitans follow traffic signals? 
No.

Some of you followed the airline nightmares via Facebook posts- majorly delayed flights from the US to Amsterdam, Lufthansa strike the day we were supposed to return to Naples, luggage going MIA. Despite these events causing a loss of time on their trip, my fabulous Excel spreadsheet schedule didn't get too mess up. So what did we do? What didn't we do?

Day
1-4    Spent exploring Amsterdam, praying for some warmth and sunshine to force the tulips to bloom.
5    Arrived back in Naples to pick up Neeks and much needed groceries
6    Amalfi Coast and Sorrento exploring
7    Italian cooking class & the meeting of my coworkers over dinner and karaoke
8    Downtown Naples!
9    Rain cancelled the market trip, but Italian mall still experienced
10    Birthday BBQ
11    Drove 700+ miles to Nove, to go dish shopping before dinning and exploring Verona, after dark
12    Left Verona, arrived Parma for the "food tour" and then exploring of Parma in the evening
13    Left Parma, visited War Memorial outside of Florence before arriving in Sienna
14    Windy roads through Tuscany and visiting Montepulciano and Orvieto
15    Mom and Dad explored the town I live in and now know more of the locals than I do!
16    Departed Naples for the California homestead...without major delays or lost luggage.

Official posts will be made within the week and expect a guest post or two as well. The trip was fabulous, and a not so surprising thing I learned- I'm so thankful I'm not really an only child! Two parents and one kid is a terrible ratio for the kid, way too much attention, especially when said kid hasn't seen parents in over 6 months and lives 9 time zones away.

Jammed Packed 48 Hours

In the past several months I've discovered many things about how I travel.

I travel light.
I travel cheaply.
I'll sacrifice a meal if that means I can fit another site in and a gelato stand is located.
And if I'm traveling- I'm definitely a go getter. I'm going to climb the towers, check out the churches, visit shops, spend time in a museum...well, you get the point.

Turns out my cousin is very similar with her methodology so when I picked Tink up with one of her friends early on a Saturday morning at Port of Bari telling them our itinerary, she didn't even bat an eye.

Maybe that's because she was being too entertained as I talked back to the GPS  to get to our first destination of Alberello as I heard all about their Croatia travels in the week prior. We finally found the part of the town we were looking for, hit up my favorite trullo for some fabulous liquor samples, and explored the church. The trulli neighborhood isn't all that large, so once our arms were full of shopping bags we found a place to grab lunch.

They were healthy.
I wasn't.
They ordered salads.
I ordered fries.
They got a huge bowl of green lettuce.
I got fries.

We then proceeded to cut across to my side of Italy. Our route looked something like this and let Ravi explore a bunch of new roads. I can only say something like that too because whenever I thought I was going the right direction, somehow it turned out being incorrect. Oh well. It's all part of the adventures and the girls got to experience first hand drivers in Southern Italy. We stopped in Positano for a break in driving, a touch of shopping, and gelati. When in doubt, gelato is the correct answer.

After ending up in downtown Naples on a Saturday evening, Ravi kissing the bumper of a car in front of us, and fighting a ton of traffic...we finally made it home to Nico. He was a little wary of the extra two people walking in with me, but a peace offering was given and all was well with the world. From that point on he was a goof and decided he could hang out with us as we enjoyed 4 pizzas prepared for us (by Joe of course) over hearing about the latest neighborhood drama.

A few short hours later, rested, showered, we trekked back out to Ercolano, another community destroyed by Mt. Vesuvio. It was a treat to have someone else telling me about what we were looking at, even if a lot of the Italian was Spanish sounding. Once we explored every nook and cranny within the escacvation site it was time to head back to Naples for the speedy tour around the Old Town.

We may have sat and ate for some time, but so much of the Italian culture is built around the tradition of eating and sharing meals, it seemed appropriate. As far as specific reactions and some of the crazy experiences, well I'm going to let Tink share those with you. Why? Well, at this point I think I'm immune to some of the craziness of Naples so it's more fun to read about a first timer's reaction than mine.

Welcome Best Month of 2013!

April is back! And yes, it is the best month EVER! I've always thought this, but it was solidified a few years back when I gained the support of others. Okay, so we all have our birthdays this month, but lots of other fabulous things happen in April. Like...

The official return of baseball! Neeks and I are doing our best to stay up tonight to track the men in orange and black take on the evil ones. But a 10pm start time is almost worse than when they start at 4am...the fact that we have to track them online via GameDay doesn't help much. In fact, truth be told, Nico went to bed at the end of the 3rd inning. I'm proud...he almost last longer than his grandma does at a game :) {Oh wait. He was just hiding on the couch. He does like baseball!)

And yes, my birthday does happen this month but way before then, some other things happen...

I get to run the Paris Marathon. Nothing like turning 4 months of training into a 5ish hour race. Thank goodness I'll have my running partner, and friend, there each step of the way. And yes, we're going to have fun in Paris before race day. After the race? We'll have fun but things may just be funny if we're delusional.

Then, my favorite cousin ever rolls into town. Yes. I have no problem saying she's my favorite. I have the letters from the past 20+ years from her to prove that she's not only family, but also a friend. And I have no intentions of losing her in Naples...you can only lose one per year or else it's just poor form. At any rate, we've got a short weekend adventure planned which will be just what I need because the following week?

MY PARENTS ARRIVE!

Well, they arrive to Europe. I've got to go meet them to have yet another adventure before bringing them back to meet their grand-kitty and give them the crash course into Italian living. While I'm doing that, I'll hopefully be distracted enough that the big 3-0 doesn't sink in too much. Seriously. Actually, I'm hoping to have a firework extravaganza, complete with semi American food, and being surrounded by the ones I love because I can't think of a better way to enter my 30s.

Yep. Yep.

Alright. Just a few reasons why April rocks- especially this year. If these "April Showers" ever go away, my sweet-peas and petunias just may make my patio more welcoming and now that it's light past 630 I think it will be wine and sunsets out there again. But for now? I need to get back to tracking the game and figure out how to combat the serious lack of sleep I'll have come morning.

Happy April 1st Everyone!

"I Lost Her"

And the 2013 Worst Cousin Award goes to (drumroll please)....

Me!

I never thought I was even a candiate. I mean, I'm the cousin that sends out cards for various holidays, keeps in touch via Facebook, tries to know what's going on in my cousins' lives. Then again, that's my mom's side of the family. My dad's? Truth be told, I don't think I can even list all of my cousins just because of the lack of interaction over the years.

And it's not like I did it on purpose: I gave her maps of Naples, I left (what I thought) were detailed instructions to the train station at the bottom of the hill, confirmed she had my phone numbers, confirmed I had hers...

And yet, I spent the better part of my Friday afternoon in a panic.

I eventually found her.

After 3 huge circles around the train station. The perk? I once again got to practice my "full combat" Italy driving skills. Luckily, by loop 2 my heart rate was almost normal and my fingers started to change from white to flesh tone on my steering wheel again.

So where were they? Ugh. Long story. It's commical now (a month later when I'm back logging this one), but still not quite how I thought we'd be spending Friday.

Uffa.

"Wait. You're first cousins?"

When I accepted this job, folks warned me that family and friends I haven't kept in much touch with would contact me seeing if they could visit me in Bella Napoli. I shrugged it off because, well let's face it- a single girl a million and 2 miles away from her California roots needs to have friends and family visit her. I already prepared for this by picking out my castle; my cat really doesn't need his own room!

At any rate, one of my cousins contacted me last year to let me know she was going to be spending a semester in Rome. Sweet! After lots of scheduling around trips, training, and availabiliy, Jenny headed down with a roommate. Turns out it was the same day the minions (and their mom) were headed over as well. Woohoo! Full house and for once, the feline to female ratio was tilted in favor of the females. (Seriously, with less than a cat per person you can't be called a cat lady.)

As we sat in my living room devouring hint of lime Tostitos (American food!) it became rather clear to both her roommate and my friend that we really didn't know eachother. How? Well, any conversation that includes us trying to figure out how many times we've seen eachother (2 times...she was a baby the first time and in elementary school the other), trying to list our common relatives, and then asking other small talk questions...I think Jess had it right when I came back up the stairs after shower saying she knew more about my cousin that I did.

Eek.

Over a fabulous dinner at Mariella's, Jenny's roommate finally realized the sad fact- that we are first cousins. Apparently you don't have to really know your second cousin? Once again we tried to explain that between the age difference, distance between CA and IN, and the fact that it was the side of the family that both our families didn't interact with as much it wasn't that big of a surprise.

As our wine glasses remained full and too many plates came and left our table the 4 of us had a fabulous time chatting about stupid things. In some cases, really stupid things. And besides feeling ridiculously full at the end of the night, we actually sort of knew eachother. Sort of.

Quality Time Over

In the past two weeks, I've snapped a ton of pictures, traveled hundreds of miles, slept too few hours, consumed way too many calories, drank way too many little cups of coffee, and had some of the most fun I've had in a long, long, long time.

Stories will be forthcoming over the next week or so, well those that are internet approved, and my visitors should also be working on some of their highlights.  They are currently landing in Madrid for one last night on the same continent as me before they head back to the land of sunshine, flip-flops, and Mexican food.

For now, it's time for me to regain the affection of Signore Neeks and then figure out just how I can not only get plenty of needed rest this weekend but also get my house back in order.

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 *

Non mi piacciono i gattini...

...e ancora per qualche motivo ce ne sono due in casa mia!

My mom thinks this is her kingdom, but I'm really in charge. I mean, I'm the one who is here every day making sure our kingdom is safe against geckos, flies, and other bugs while she's off slaving away in some distant land. So what was she thinking bringing 2 fluffy things that somewhat resemble Mr. Rat? 

I didn't like them at all and I had no problem telling everyone within earshot with my growls, hisses, and yells. Luckily we had a spare room that they could disappear into so I didn't have to share my bed with them. Or my food bowls. Or my litter box. Or any of my toys...although I saw mom sneak a few of my old ones into their room but I did a rescue mission when they were all up stairs. 

Mom was pretty good about "separate but equal" spaces and time...but then Aunt Jess showed up. Apparently these are my kitty cousins? No lo so and no one asked me if I wanted my cousins to visit! Once she arrived the kittens had free reign of the house, but mom sided with me a lot more. Luckily by this point the gattini had their collars on so I could hear them coming and even stalk them. 

By the end of day 3 with them here I stopped hissing because I found that it was more fun to let them get close enough to bop them on the head and chase them. Of course I picked on Stripey because she's cute and a lot smaller than Blackie. But even by dinner time all 3 of us were running around the roof and it was exhausting! 
They all left this morning and I hope I don't see them for a while. Unfortunately I think I heard my mom talking with Aunt Jess and it sounds like they will be back for a lot longer during the summer. 

Important Announcement- Seriously

~ Casa di Catarina ~

Now Taking Reservations

• Priority given to those who most closely match my DNA
• Book your room now for better availability 
• Reservations should be made by email or Facebook message (You won't find us in DTS! ) 
• Nightly rates can't be beat...but you may be given a list of things I need from Target :) 

Yep, come one come all! Now is your chance to come and visit all the places I've been talking about while indulging in tasty food and wine. I'm stocked up on Italy tour books, Italian-English dictionaries, and even have a few books on surrounding countries so pack light! 

Yes, you do have until late spring 2014 to get out here, but why wait?! In all seriousness, I may end up being here past then but just in case visit me now please!

VISITORS!

My second official visitor group to Bella Napoli were my aunt, uncle, and cousin from Indy. Their ship left them in the port early this morning and eventually they got off the port to meet at our designated spot.

Of course I wasn't there as planned (I run on Napoli time these days) and as I climbed the stairs I heard my dad's voice on the phone held to my aunt's ear. We assured him everything was okay and let him get back to sleep since it was close to 0100. Stinkin' time difference. So why was I late? Well I have the tendency to forget that driving at 0800 is a little different than 0500. That compounded with not being 100% sure where I was going and being on a train into town with what appeared to be a bunch of protesting students...like I said Naples time.

After being handed the most glorious bag of peppermint items (have I mentioned lately just how much I am in need of a peppermint fix?) we ventured out a piedi with no real destination in mind other than wanting to see a few new things. After a cornetto break, we wandered through some back streets while migrating towards Christmas Alley. I had given up my map at this point (I get too distracted looking at everything that I forget to check where we are...hey didn't someone once say it's all about the journey?) At any rate, we walked through some seriously narrow old streets. I'm sure we gave the old ladies hanging out their windows something to talk about for at least a little while.

We continued to wander off the typical major roads in downtown and quickly found ourselves in the neighborhood 2 of my coworkers had told me the day prior to be wary of. So naturally that's where we ended up right? Well, it wasn't too sketchy and I had to see Il Duomo one of these days- so why not on a day I wasn't touring solo? Walking inside the church, I'm sorry- cathedral, we really didn't know what to expect- but I think the vaulted ceilings with golden ornate images and marble everywhere really weren't in our mind. Attached to the main cathedral there were several side chapels, also decorated with statues which pretty much blinded us as the sun came pouring in the windows. We joked that I could never attend church there on account of it being so distracting! Well actually, the fact that I'm not Catholic would already making it tough and the language issues are sort of strikes uno e due. In this chapel is where the skull and vials of blood from San Gennaro blood that liquifies three times a year. Well, the city prays that it liquifies because the years it hasn't has resulted in catastrophic events for Napoli.

When we were duomo'ed out we headed back to the street and continued our walk to Via San Gregorio Armeno in search of  Christmas Alley. As the presepi became more and more frequent along the street vendors we figured we had made it. Turns out we passed our turn when we checked out a fish vendor. Yeah, fish. It's a very common view in the markets and along the streets- tubs of clams, muscles, octopi, squid--all still alive! The fish are already dead at this point, but you know just a few short hours prior they were swimming along. If you're picturing an aquarium in your head, you aren't that far off. Just like we weren't that far off of the correct street to see some of the largest and some of the smallest nativity scenes I've ever seen. The presepi are all handcrafted with tree bark and moss (preventing me from being able to take one home!) and then custom occupied. Il bambino Jesus, Mary, Joseph, livestock, shepherds, wise men, and angels predominately lined the shelves but among the traditional items/characters there were others. Should you want a Pulcinella, Santa Claus, or Bart Simpson you could easily find one. How about a pizza oven to add to your manger? Got one of those, look for them between the lamp posts and mini pizzas. It really was amazing to see all the accessories lined up and yes, I do love living in a country that doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving- BRING ON CHRISTMAS!

With our one destination reached, the stopping in stores back to the main road continued and I found a few great deals. I'd write about them here but should they end up as presents (as in, I don't keep them for myself) I don't want to have the element of surprise ruined. Before hitting the main street again we were by Santa Chiara. This church was recommended to visit by my Italian instructor so I had to check it out since it's her favorite. This Gothic church was much different than the ones we had seen previously. It was only in this form though after being bombed during the war and being almost completely destroyed. When the decision was made to rebuild, they restored it to its original style (even after it had been "updated" to Baroque style well after its 14th century construction). My favorite part was the stained glass windows, for now. Next time I'm going into the museum area to see the rest of it.

As promised, we made our way to Via Roma/Toledo and once again joined the fast paced city. It's really amazing how just a few streets off from the main roads you can be transported to what Italy must have been like earlier on. On Via Toledo, the vendors promised great deals even if every other one had the same items. Business suits walked by at a fast pace while older women took their time with their produce from the market. Coffee shops were busy- even if by American time it was time for pranzo...not another coffee break. One block found us across from a sea of people. Just what was the commotion? A new H&M was opening. Craziest part? It actually looked like people were lining up on the sidewalk.
Katie's tour now took them to Galleria Umberto, Palazzo Reale and the likes. I figure if these are a few of the sights that made me fall in love with the city, I have to share! It was a success and we even had a ton of carabinieri heading to the Palazzo Reale. Nope. Still not sure why but since we're sort of going through some political changes I'm sure it had something to do with that. Well, maybe not since I find that the most logical explanation for many things here couldn't be further from the truth.

With several kilometri under our feet and almost an acceptable lunch time for the locals, we went in search for a place my aunt and uncle had eaten at last time. Apart from knowing the general location and that it was a 2 story pizza place "with baskets" we had nothing. But guess what? They found it. We also found a guy willing to give us a great deal on an iPad along the way.

No. We didn't buy it. C'on. Electronics from the street?

Lunch was pretty good. It was nice to choose from pizza options other than what my pizza man makes but I still like his best. I'm not sure if it's the electric oven or what. This place was super cute though and since the kitchen was upstairs, they used baskets on pulley systems to send up the orders. Dopo il pranzo, siete andati per gelato. And it was almost more difficult to find than the restaurant! I guess we were a block past were we spent most of our day and as the old heart of city gelateria were not part of the original city plan? It was very odd. As the search continued we walked towards the closest metro station so I could eventually make it to soccer practice. Not only did we find our gelato, but we also found a coffee bar right next to the station. Not really wanting to head off to see my team (the season is almost over), sleepy, and impressed that we weren't just at any bar but at the 3 Gnome/Dwarf bar I had to have un caffe! Only as the sun began to set behind the tall buildings did I realize it would take me a while to head back...so that's what I did.

On the train back  I couldn't help but smile at what a wonderful day I had with my relatives exploring and sharing my new home with them. Sure there is trash on the side of the road, traffic, a ton of people, poor air quality but that's only a portion of this place, and the coffee, ancient history, beautiful buildings, friendly people and amazing views out weighs all those "cons." Shoot, I'm not even sure if all of those things are even cons...I think they are still in the "quirk category" in my book so they are a few of the many things that make Naples Bella Napoli. I'm sure the onlookers thought I was crazy  with my hair getting further out of control in the wind as I stood bracing myself with a pole as we made our way down the track with graffiti and sunbeam covered buildings but I don't care. Sure my attitude changed a tad when I pulled up to practice with 10 minutes left (it was on my way home) due to traffic but it quickly adjusted back while I ran inside an extinct volcano.

Seriously. 

How did I get so lucky to have this be my life?

Can someone please pinch me to make sure I'm not dreaming?

Last Day of Shenanigans

Early, early morning means only one thing- we're on a mission for food! C'on, we were talking breakfast plans the night before as we ordered dinner. Although I swear makeup was applied to go with the swimsuit & sun screen slathered skin look,  I just look like hot mess, a happy hot mess with mimosa in hand, but a hot mess none the less.

As we waited for our table we figured out how to be rebels with the no cursing signs. Genius struck and we worked on our sign when a waiter walked behind us asking if we'd want some of the crayons. Is it bad that I did? (This should be no surprise to you trivia folks!)

After a scrumptious breakfast we headed down to the already busy beach and I decided since I was there, I was going in. It was cold. Not "I'm going to go into shock when my blood stream starts turning to ice" but close. What did I do? Waded out further of course. By the time that we were gathering our items to head to our photo shoot, we were amazed with the hoards of people on the beach. Think March of the Penguins but then make it a sandy beach, turn the penguins into people, and throw lots of umbrellas in for color.

Photo shoot time, now that we've been coated in sand, salt water, and more sun. Looking like fools, we held up our @Z#!! sign (made without crayons) below the sign. A lady collecting donations laughed at us and said it was the most creative one she'd seen after her years of living in Virginia Beach- that's how we do things!

The afternoon is a blur of poolside reading, World Cup watching, and pedicures but that made getting directions to the tapas place all the more entertaining. We kept forgetting that places across the river showed up but on the walk back to the car (walking across the water wasn't an option nor was swimming despire the directions we were given). Then we had one more lightbulb moment when we realized that the ferry could take us over! Way more fun than driving, especially when the sun was beginning to set. It took us back to our adventures in Chicago last summer, although it wasn't pouring rain this time around.

Finally arriving at Still, our destination for tapas and something on tap we entered the dark quasi basement. Seriously, we kept finding mood lit restaurants for our "date nights."

 I think our hunger finally kicked in as we did our mini tour around the world with our tapas selection: fire roasted veggie quesadilla, chicken voodoo, seafood hot pot, crab cake, sweet potato fries. Now granted our beers were from Wisconsin or something but they were fabulous. I'll have to have Steph consult her notes of the day for the actual beer name but it was from Unibrew and a summery brew. I'm only a little sad that I won't be able to get it back in Italy but some of you can get a hold of it and I'm going to tell you all to try it. 

Our last photo shoot of the trip was in the streets of Olde Towne Portsmouth.

I had a frog to kiss.

Again, I'm blaming it on multiple recent viewings of The Princess and the Frog which was only further influenced by our dessert of (man catching) beignets the night before. Well, in the words of Superchic[k] some frogs will still be frogs and mine apparently fell into the category, but not before I could give him a piece of my mind. Yeah, he does look a little sleazy, right? I've already chatted with Steph about why she wasn't looking out for me...

Steph's photo shoot of the night was with the handicap accessible door opening button outside the Children's Museum.

As we were still laughing about the frog, we looked over and saw it. Within seconds we were unsuccessfully fighting back fits of laughter and getting the camera ready. Yes, it is hard to take a decent picture when you're laughing.

Over all it was great evening but it's all because of the company I was in. Steph, thank you so much for taking the time to drive down and spend some quality time with me this weekend. I'm still sad that we're probably a good 12+ months out from seeing each other again, but I think I have enough memories, pictures, and laughs from this weekend to get me to at least December.  I'm not sure how I feel about being adults and having to work all the time but if it gets really bad I already plan on brewing a cup of Oregon coffee and calling you on Skype. I mean, we need to start planning our next adventure- right? 

West Coast Unite & Take on the "Other Coast"

As soon as I knew I was headed to VA there was one friend I notified. No doubt about it, I was going to move mountains, swim the sea, and even lasso the moon in order to make sure that I saw her. Granted, it's only been 10 months since we said our last good byes as I descended to the United terminal at IAD after our epic road trip from California to Maryland, but what can I say? I'm lucky enough to have a friend like her and let's face it, I was uber spoiled with her living in Monterey for several weeks last summer since we hadn't lived in the same town since 1998! You all thought I was exaggerating with my facebook post, but seriously- I've known her since I was much closer to single digits in age and that's a long time!

At any rate, I was thrilled to get the call "2 minute out" last night and closed the video chat rather quickly (sorry Phil!) to head down to meet up with her to go find food at midnight. Can I just share with you all how happy I was to see an Oregon license plate in a sea of Virginia plates? My partner in too many shenanigans had arrived- watch out world- Stephanie and I were finally reunited!

As we went on the hunt for food and finally ended up at IHOP (oh how I've missed breakfast food!) our conversation went ranged from inane to serious with so many in between it was like our cross country itinerary last year. (Seriously- if you're a FB friend check out that photo album.) Somehow our quick venture turned into being up until 0300- but you know what? When you've been friends for so long and have some serious catching up to do, sleep doesn't really matter. 

After catching up where we had left thing in person and other chats, our first order of business was to head over to Virginia Beach. With our white (emphasis on white...actually let's call our skin tone ultra white) saturated with SPF 50 we joined all the other cars on the highway to stake our claim on some burning sand. It felt like a beach town, with a boardwalk filled with people, swimsuits on everyone, and tons of umbrellas lined up on the beach. Although we appreciated the sun, we both decided that we missed our West Coast beach a little to much...even if being able to stick our feet in the water without losing a toe to frostbite was rather refreshing. We decided we'll head back over in the morning, in hopes of a slightly less crowded beach. Reason #2 is to try out a breakfast place that some random MSC guy told me about in last week's training. Reason #3 is to get a picture of the no cursing sign since only while driving did we seem to track them down.

With some more pigment in our skin (to raise it to ecru) we headed back into Norfolk for phase II of our day- Italian wine, cheese, and crackers. Actually, driving back we opted to exit and follow the signs to Mount Trashmore and trek up the only elevation in this area. For those of you who aren't familiar with this park- check out the link. It's pretty much a landfill that they threw more dirt on to make a hill. We had a blast rolling down the side of it and were happy to add Mount Trashmore to our list of random places visited.

Letting our GPS guide lead us, we followed it to our phase IIb-picnic in the room! Yes, too hot to be outside and we needed a break since phase III was to hit the downtown mall. After trying on "fancy hats," being over whelmed in Forever XXI, succumbing to Nine West and their beautiful shoes (hey, we averaged 1 pair each...I just won't tell you who got what), it was time to clean up and get to dinner.

After being asked "hey ladies, how you doin'?" and then offended him by continuing to walk to our destination we found ourselves at the Big Easy. Although it wasn't a crowded place (wait, maybe because at this point it was after 9 and I'm back in America?) we had a fabulous meal. Steph had the world's shortest relationship with the King of Crawdads and returned him to sender, but that was after they shared some precious moments together. 

Unsuccessfully avoiding Mr. How You Doin' and his friend, Mr. No Cover Charge at the same bar, we walked around the downtown area and broke our plans of returning. Actually we had no plans on returning and even made it a point to avoid that corner again. As we walked along the waterfront I gave her my unofficial tour. Unofficial because I was mainly giving her my opinions on the artwork and telling her about my previous adventures out there. Like always we had a photo shoot with the statues (yes at midnight) and had to laugh when we saw a few others doing the same thing.

When our tour concluded at our hotel, the fun sure wasn't over. It was time to introduce her to one of my favorite Italian wines- a light sparkly red. Although we're primarily white wine women, I knew this one would be a hit. On problem? The stupid bottle did not want to open! Seriously. My t-rex arms have been gaining massive strength again but I couldn't get that cork out if my life depended on it! I think we passed it back and forth a few times and FINALLY after a good 5 minutes and major frustration we got it. It took way too much effort even for that wine...

Our goals for the weekend were actually met all in one (very long day) but that's the great thing about goals- once met you get to make new ones! Off to go see what other things we can do today, starting with breakfast on the beach. 

1 week ago I was at MRY awaiting my plane...

...well, maybe I was still running around the house and my parents were forcing encouraging me to eat some of the tofu dishes they picked up from our favorite Chinese place before dashing off to catch a flight. Funny how it seems like so long ago and a world away but at the same time it's one of those memories that seems so recent.

At any rate, I'll focus tomorrow's post on what I've learned in this past week since technically I arrived Saturday night. Tonight I want to talk about my first Friday in Naples!

This morning I started orientation. I have also decided that this whole experience shadows Cal Poly's WOW (Week of Welcome for you non CalPoly folks). Rather than being a wowie though I'm a newbie, but just like WOW there are a whole lot of other people going through this process with you. My hotel room feels like a dorm room. I have to walk over to the food court (or the restaurant or market) to get meals. I rely on others for rides and/or the shuttle. The forms for processing the various things are just as long. Today I applied for my Italian SSN equivalent, filled out the paperwork for my driver's license, and filled out a housing request. Exciting? Maybe not, but you didn't have to sit through all the lectures so consider yourself lucky. Oh and should you write me a letter PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not write Italy in the address...it screws everything up.

The fun stuff- I finally went exploring! After a short bus trip over to Capo I finally saw Jessica! Yay. After a quick discussion, we decided to head to Casertavecchia as it had been recommended to her. Keep in mind this was 5 o'clock on an Italian holiday (or perhaps a day of rest after the real holiday) so we didn't know what we'd find up there but did know we wouldn't find a place to serve us dinner for several hours so we put ourselves at the mercy of the GPS and headed north. Well, I think it was north.

After some creative driving by both Jessica and other Italians, several narrow roads, and lots of mountain driving complete with switchbacks, we realized we'd climbed rather high. How high? High enough to get this view:

The picture doesn't even give you the first idea of how amazing it really was. Trust me. We pulled over on the side of the road, then crossed it to take these pictures. Crazy? Maybe but we're trend setters- another car did the same thing!

We finally made it down a road and parked the car and got out to find this castle. Jessica was cracking up about my shoes, but seriously....I'm in Italy so I need to be sporting the shoes. Cobble stone paths? No big deal for my Nine West peep toed shoes. I figure after being one of my few pairs with me at this point they will be retired by the end of the summer, so they may as well sight see while they can. On top of the hill we found a chapel and so many amazing windows. Yep, my official windows of Italy folder has been started in iPhoto. We walked around the streets, up and down for a while. Soon I was able to figure out where we were by the cats in one street, dogs in the other, and old men sitting along one. So my landmarks moved some but we had no issues navigating. Finally after 7 we both needed something to eat, but nowhere was open. Nowhere but the dessert bar. Coffee and pastry before dinner? Yes please.

After being caffeinated and feeling accomplished that we interacted with the cafe owners without any English (well, we used it but they didn't- yay for Italian phrase books), Jessica took on her biggest task of the day up to this point- turning her mini SUV (think CRVish size) in the right direction back down the hill. Added challenge? It was a manual. A little patience was all it took but within minutes we were headed back down the hill as the sky turned pink from the sun beginning to sink into the clouds.

Next stop- Pozzuoli! Sound familiar? Yep. I did talk about it earlier this week from when I first looked at apartments. We took a new route to the town, through Naples. Did you know there are high rise buildings here? There are! I've seen them with my own 2 eyes. The tunnels through the hills were rather entertaining getting there too. At about the same time, Jess and I looked at each other and said how it looked like a video game...Mario Kart to be exact. You know that level right where I think it's called Tokyo something? Bombs, motorcycles, crazy driving in a tunnel? No bombs and traffic wasn't too bad by there were a few bikes with helmet-less drivers flying by.

Pozzuoli looked a lot different at night. After parking the car and paying a few Euros to a young kid to "watch it" we headed down the pathway to hear "scusi" and turn back around. Somehow side lights were on but we couldn't figure out how they turned off. Again after a few minutes of car charades, we decided to leave it, although AAA couldn't have jumped the car if the battery was dead and come to think of it I canceled my roadside membership earlier this week.

The downtown area wasn't too crowded yet but way more people that downtown Monterey! Best part? I didn't go to high school with any of these people and I definitely didn't see anyone I recognized from work. So, so, so many new people. Dinner was yummy- pizza Friday of course! We also braved a caprese salad that had fabulous mozzarella and provolone cheese. Also, I tried a fresh green olive and discovered that I like them that way!  Yummy fresh food shared with a friend is always the best. We had some great table conversation too. I think the illustrations below are from my favorite topic...any idea what we were talking about?

After dinner we walked around a little more and I was in shock of just how many more had flocked to the downtown area for dinner. It was now 11pm and people were still just showing up. For supposedly being the place for younger, single, Americans I sure saw a lot of early 20 Italians. I also saw some beautiful shoes and one pair of hideous plaid pants on a guy. Our last planned stop for the evening was gelato. I figured it only appropriate that the first flavor tried was coffee. So happy on my choice. We took our gelato filled cones and sat out on benches by the water and watched more cars pour in and park. I think we saw one car get "tapped" over 4 times while a Smart car backed out and another much larger car moved in. It was very entertaining watching the cars being parked but also nerve wracking. Oh well, I'm going to tackle one thing at a time and since Ravi won't be here for weeks, driving will be addressed at that time.

Finally we headed back to the car. The same kid (I really wish I remembered his name) I think was explaining to us how the lights that were now off were used to find things on the ground? The world may never know what he was really saying...well any Italian speaker would but we won't. He started to talk to us and when he found out Jessica was from New York started asking about sharks and dolphins. More charades and trying to guess what he was saying in Italian. It was fun and he was really interested about if we'd ever seen sharks.

Were our adventures done yet? No. Why would we call it a night at midnight? Our last adventure involves the GPS unit, me not knowing an address, and lots of closed gas stations. The objective was to get back to the support site and sometime in that process top off the rental car's gasoline. Long story short (because I'm getting sleepy) we picked the town name near where I'm staying but kept letting it "recalculate" every time we'd try to get gasoline at a closed place. Gas stations are off to the side of the roads here...kinda of like rest stops back at home...where you exit then just get back on but without ever being able to actually get off the freeway.

Turns out that the gas stations on the side of the road we were one were closed, but the ones on the other side appeared to be open. Some how during the course of this (well, maybe the way we were being routed) things started to look anything but familiar. We weren't too concerned since we were purposely ignoring some directions in hope of finding a gasoline place. When Ms. TomTom said we were at the destination and we were in the middle of town/a place I'd never been before I really wanted to know where "my home" was. After a loop I started to look for my contact info to see if we could get a real location of the base. Realizing it probably wasn't the best idea to pull over, Jessica started to follow the signs for "US Navy." I still wish I recorded some of this adventure but I have a feeling I'll be doing the same thing when I'm behind the wheel so there will be other chances. All of a sudden I saw some of my land marks (the more permanent kinds- towers) so I knew she had found it. So happy to see it right around 1am!

In summary: Visitor #1*, Jessica, proved to be an excellent travel buddy and a great person to start doing some of this exploring with. I knew it was going to be a great visit but you never know just exactly how it's going to go...but that's what makes it fun. Thanks for a great time out and about (and lots of around too!) today. Can't wait to see you next time when I'll be speaking the Italian (well, trying to) and driving to the sketch looking karaoke place with torch and blue neon lights.