Little Reminders

Everyday I fall more in love with the views that surround me. I love it when the mountains are clear and you can see all the ridges and some of the towns. It's so beautiful and I never get tired of it. I miss home and my family, but the mountains make me think of them. We've taken several trips to the mountains over the years and my family loves them. Another reminder I have of my family is the church bells that ring every hour in our neighborhood. I think of a certain mountain trip we took. It was a lovely day in the mountains and me, my mom, and aunt were sitting outside. All of a sudden this bell like sound began to chime. Immediately, my mom and aunt were in heaven saying, "Oh, how wonderful that we can hear church bells." They were so excited that there was a church close by ringing it's bells. To their dismay, it was the cabin's doorbell. My dad was pressing it and it sounded a tad like church bells. Needless to say, it is a story that will live on and be laughed at for many years. But, anyway, s0 everyday when I hear the church bells and see the mountains I think of my family and how much they would enjoy it. Especially the authentic church bells. ;) Ciao!

Holes in the ground and roses for the loved. This is Italy.

Italy gives new experiences constantly. I am getting to the point that nothing should surprise me anymore. I went out to eat with a friend. It was imperative that I find a place to pop a squat and relieve myself. Little did I know how literally I would be popping a squat. My friend was kind enough to warn me that this particular restaurant had a squatty potty. Of course, after I used it and she saw my reaction to the squatty potty she wished she had left it as a surprise. But, basically it was a hole in the ground. To assume the position you pop a squat. I'm pretty sure for those who are elderly or have bad legs this could present to be a challenge. However, it is less to touch so at least they won't catch as many germs. Of course, if you can't squat and accidentally fall this would sort of defeat the purpose of being less exposed to germs as you would be sitting in this huge hole in the ground. But, nevertheless, it was definitely one of those experiences that I will never forget. 

Italian men have no shame. If they find you attractive in any way they will make it known. I have heard this, but had never actually experienced first hand. As I walked back from the bathroom, I thought I noticed a group of Italian men look towards me and say hello, but I just brushed it off thinking I imagined it. I didn't. Next thing I know they are buying two roses from one of those really annoying guys who comes around asking if you want to buy a rose. My friend and I were both presented with a rose followed by a declaration of love... "Senora I love you!" Thankfully we had finished eating already. On that interesting note it was time to go home. 

Never a dull moment in Italia. Ciao! 

An Army Sort of Morning

As most of us know, the Army hours are far from convenient or perfect. They typically don't leave on time and it's usually at odd hours or what most of us would consider odd and tortuous hours to be up. Thomas has left for training and will be gone for several days. Our morning first started with me tossing and turning and not being able to sleep at all. I kept thinking of things I meant to do or ask him before he left. I kept thinking of things I needed to add to a list and felt myself getting hotter by the minute. No, not menopause, just probably thinking too much. The alarm awoke us at 445 am. Now, this isn't unusual by any means. The part that was unusual and tortuous was the fact that normally I sleep at night and I don't typically get up when he does. We decided to just keep his car here while he's gone, so I was his chauffeur. Once we were actually leaving, it was around this time that my body decided it was time to go to bed. I got Thomas dropped off and everything feeling like a zombie. As I got out of my car and saw all the abundance of sun that Italy gives every morning, I found myself feeling a little more awake at an hour I should not be awake. This awakeness made me not want to go back to sleep, but at the same time I knew very well that it would hit me at some point. And it did. I decided since I was awake to make myself some breakfast. It was during my early morning breakfast that it hit. I barely finished it before I was cuddled up on the couch falling fast asleep. The rain that immediately began pouring did not help with waking me up. It helped with making me sleep that much more soundly. I have now forced myself to get up. I'm pretty sure I could have slept clear into the afternoon. The rain has stopped and the sun is trying to come out. I now have an important date with a pot of Community Coffee. Until next time, Ciao!

Narrow Roads and Fast Cars.

I finally have a brand new USED car! ;) It's a 2004 silver Pontiac Grand Am. The important detail to know is that it is an automatic. Automatic vehicles are so hard to come by around here. Everybody seems to want them, but there aren't many available. We had quite a busy week trying to even get this car. We bought it and went through days of trying to get the registration and switching of deeds. Finally yesterday it was final and it was time for me to begin my Italian driving experience. The first thing I realized was not even off base, it was in the PX parking lot. This car is definitely bigger than my little beetle bug. There was no wizzing into the skinny parks like in previous parking encounters. It took a whole lot of pulling up, backing up, pulling up, and backing up. It also didn't help that the car beside me decided to park crooked in his park. I finally made it into the park and out of the park. Then I was off for my first drive home.

Apparently, the speed limit isn't observed here. Thomas said that was  one of the things he could see from his car that I was having difficulty with. Cars zoomed around me. 

If you didn't already know, the roads here are very narrow. A two-way road looks like it's made for one lane of cars. Last thing Thomas noticed that I had trouble with was I sort of "hugged" the right side of the road a little too much. Cars would zoom by and it felt like they were right next to me.

It was definitely quite an experience, but overall, I think I did okay and so did Thomas. I made sure to have him give me some tips. ;) Now, I haven't quite made it to the heart of Vicenza or the Autostrada, but maybe there's hope? All I need to do is get used to narrow roads, fast cars, and a bigger car. Yeah, apparently my car has a bigger engine than Thomas's. This had made my car the "primary" vehicle. He said he feels emasculated. :) Bahahahaha!!!

Our New Addition

We have welcomed a new addition into our home. I guess you could say we have adopted. She is already grown some, but is still not full grown. With a little tender love and care we hope to raise her to beautiful and fruitful. She is a little skinny, but has blossomed already. She loves to spend time outdoors and loves it when we give her water on a hot day. She is not a child or a pet. She is a lemon tree and all ours. We couldn't be happier. 

                  AND WE ARE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE...!!


                                                   wait for it...
                                                  

                                                  wait...for..it..

          SHES ALREADY HAD A LITTLE BUNDLE OF JOY!!!

Just another quirky blog from yours truly,

Ciao!

When in Rome

Friday morning we woke up, packed, and then hopped on a train to Roma, Italy. I didn't have the best window seat, but I was able to look at some of the countryside. At one point it became quite mountainous. Some of the train ride was spent speeding through underground tunnels beneath the mountains. Approximately 4 hours later we arrived in Rome. After walking all the way out I realized I had left my battery charger for my camera on the train. Thomas and I sped back, but we must have been too late. There was a train there but we went to our car and Thomas said it looked nothing like the train we had been on before. Well, I was pretty upset and "butt hurt" as Thomas likes to call it. I eventually bounced back and enjoyed the trip. We found a little hotel right outside the train station. Overall, not too the bad. The bathroom made me a bit nervous, but other than that it was fine. On our first afternoon we looked around one portion of Rome. We saw the Pantheon, Piazza del Popolo, Spanish Steps, and Fontana di Trevi, as well as, numerous shops. We did the traditional act of throwing a coin into the Fontana di Trevi to ensure our return to Rome. All of the architecture in the city was amazing. That evening we had some gelato and ate a little restaurant near the Pantheon. It was pretty good, but still not as good as some of the food near our town. Maybe we just didn't hit the right place to eat. It wasn't bad by any means; I have just enjoyed the food near our home better. 

                              Piazza del Popolo

                                            Pantheon

                                                      Back to Rome we will!

                                 Spanish Steps

The next day we visited the area of town that includes the Colosseo and Palatine Hill (Palatino) as well as many other forms of architecture. As we stepped out of the subway, we were immediately greeted by the famous Colosseo. Amazing is the first thing I thought. Once inside the Colosseo, it's even more amazing. It's massive and the architecture is like nothing I have ever seen. All the architecture took my breath away. It's amazing to think of how old all of this is and that it is still standing. I can't imagine the effort it took to build it all. I had Thomas' camera which take paneramic views which I was thankful for. I feel like sometimes the pictures don't even accurately describe the scenes and sights. We took an organized tour of the Colosseo and Palatine Hill, which helped for understanding exactly what we were looking at. We met a couple from Alabama on that tour that we spoke too often on the tour. 

                                              Colosseo

                                                  Palatine Hill

                                               Colosseo

                              Vatican City

Later that afternoon, we went through the Vatican City. Once again, amazement and I didn't realized they are considered outside of Rome. We weren't able to go into the actual churches. We decided to save that for another trip because it was getting late. There was so much more we didn't get to see that we want to go back and see. 


That evening, we hopped on a bus to an area that our hotel described as "romantic" with great restaurants and that the couple from Alabama heard was the place for "nightlife." On the bus, we met a couple from New Zealand. We all decided to have dinner together. I am convinced our waiter was trying to get me a bit toasty. He gave lots of wine and an extra limoncello. After dinner, we went to a local bar and spent some more time with our new friends. We all had a blast and our waiter from the resturaunt actually showed up. Several hours and tons of pictures later we finally made it back to our hotel. 

                             New Zealand friends and waiter

The next morning, I was completely exhausted and a bit thankful that our trip was over. I don't think I could have done much sight seeing that day since we had probably gotten about 4 hours of sleep. We took the morning train and arrived back in Vicenza around 5 in the afternoon. Wonderful trip! Ciao!

God Bless My Fan!

Before I begin, I do actually have an air conditioner. A lot of people don't. However, the bills here can get very high when using it so most try to use it at a minimum. We are trying to survive with just having windows and doors open. In the beginning it really was fine. But now, with the temperatures rising and rising. It is awful! I sit, yes sit, not doing housework or any kind of physical labor, and I have stickiness. Ew, gross! And at night, its the worst. I like to sleep under the covers, but a few times I have had to resort to being outside the covers. I have even been taking cooler showers before bed and ending my shower with about 15 seconds of freezing water so I can feel cool when going to bed. But, let me tell you, even that doesn't always work. Last night I kept slowly decreasing the temperature of the water waiting second by second to feel that instant, somewhat pain you can feel when being hit with a shot of really cold water. Hm, the pain never came. The shower felt good the entire time. Finally, I look at the knob and realize it looks very far to the right. So, I try to turn it one last time and nothing. I literally took a cold shower last night. Not just cool, COLD! All the way cold and I never noticed it. On a happier note, Thomas surprised me with a fan. I was so excited you would have thought I had been given diamonds and a brand new car. I slept so...comfortably..last night. No sickiness, just nice cool air. The fan is currently cooling my living room. I look forward to not being as hot as a tea kettle today while inside. Ciao!