Croatian Vacation

Labor Day Weekend
For labor day we kept going back and forth on where to go. Thomas really had his heart set on climbing this mountain in France (Mount Blanc). However, doing this would basically mean we would have separate vacations. He would be with a bunch of guys and I would be with their wives. I was completely fine with this and I told him so. Of course, I would like "alone time" with him, especially since he'd be leaving the next week for training in Germany, but nevertheless, I knew how excited he was. Well, imagine my surprise when Thomas came to me and said he had made a decision about the weekend and that is was the final decision. He said we had two options..(1) I (as in me, Rachel) go climb Mt. Blanc and he go to Croatia or (2) We both go to Croatia. Well, we all know what that basically meant since I dont climb mountains. Thomas said he knew we hadn't spent a lot of time together and with him leaving for training we wouldn't be spending much time together. He said it wasn't fair to me and he could climb Mount Blanc anytime. Woah. Yes, my husband chose me over his mistress (I have always said my husband has a mistress and that mistress is rock climbing, hahaha). So, there we have it...a decision made. It was off to Croatia!!


I drove the entire way to Croatia. This required me to drive not only through Italy and Croatia, but the country of Slovenia as well since it is in between Italy and Croatia. Well, the trip was going well, until we entered Croatia. We were using the GPS on the cell phone and once we got to Croatia the cell phones went haywire and we couldnt call out nor did the GPS work. So we made it to Pula (the city we were staying in), but we were completely lost. We had the owner of the apartment we were staying in's number, but how could we call without a working cell phone? First Thomas talked to a woman at a magazine stand who acted completely stupid and of course very unhelpful. So, we continued to drive around and then came across another magazine stand. The man there spoke English and was very helpful. He spoke to the owner of the apartment who gave us directions. Well, even with those directions we got lost again. So, we went back to the magazine stand and this time called the owners daughter who met us at the magazine stand so we could follow her. She had to pick up some other tourists, so we followed her to that location. She did not have enough room in her car for all of them so guess who ended up with a random guy in the backseat of their car? Ding Ding! You guessed right...we did. He was from England and very nice. So, we are just driving along, following the daughter and then we make a right turn. It is at this point that I go into panic mode. I do not see her car anymore! Yep, you guessed it. We were lost, yet again. Oh but wait, this time not only are we lost, BUT we have a random British guy in the backseat! My first thought (outloud) was "Oh my gosh, everyone is going to think we are dumb Americans." My second thought, which I continued to say aloud was..."Oh no, they probably think we've kidnapped this guy." We made our way to a bakery where luckily someone let Thomas use their cellphone. We got a hold of the daughter, again, and she came and found us. We stayed close to her car this time...and the British guy's friends gave us death stares the entire way to the apartment. We finally made it! We were exhausted. A trip that normally takes three hours took us about 5 hours to make. We took a nap and woke up to people outside eating. It was then we both realized that they looked familiar. It was a couple from Thomas's company with some of their German friends. Small world, huh? Well, the rest of the trip was great! We went to the beaches of Croatia and went to a place called Safari Bar which is a bar on the beach that is soooo neat looking. You feel like your in a hut in the Safari. It was so much fun! We even had dinner with the owners of the apartment. They were so kind to us all. The last day we went snorkeling! It was such an amazing experience. I loved seeing all the little fishes underwater. I can't wait to go back and do it again! Oh we found out that Croatia isn't considered a part of Europe, at least in the cell phone sense, so our phones got confused and went into some kind of "mode" when we entered Croatia. We'll know better for next, I HOPE! Arrevederci! 

Pompei and Mount Vesuvio

Our hotel offered a few tours through an outside company, so we decided to take advantage of it. The first trip we took was to the ruins of Pompei and Mount Vesuvio (Vesuvius). It was amazing to see this city that was here such a long time ago. We learned a few facts. I will tell you a little bit about the city through some pictures. First of all, did you know that Pompei wasn't actually destroyed by lava from the volcano (Mt. Vesuvius)? Sure, the volcano erupted, but the lava didn't actually reach the city of Pompei. It was the ash from the volcano that destroyed the city. Life was very different back then. Some of the things they did or believed in probably seem unusual or outrageous to some. It makes me wonder how people will look at they way we live in the next thousand years. Will they find our beliefs or professions outrageous and unusual? Or will history repeat itself and some of the things that they did during the time of Pompei be done again? Of course, I kind of doubt this. I'm sure it will be a bit more advanced. Maybe they will finally be driving (or should I say flying) around in Jetson cars by then. ;)

Okay, now on to more facts about some aspects of Pompei!

 This is an old sign from back during a political election in Pompei. It is still around! Obviously, they have a plastic box around it to protect it. This was the politician's name.

 This is where laundry was done. Sounds nice and clean right? Well, sort of, at least we probably think it's a bit nasty. They would use their own urine first to clean the clothes. If I remember correctly, I think the tour guide said this was to kill the germs. I think I'd rather have the germs. ;)

 People in Pompei didn't actually have windows to prevent the weather from coming in and because of burglars. So, they did the only logical thing and painted windows on their walls.

 This is one of the old water pipes. It was made of lead. In other areas, this would be a problem. People would get lead poisoning and essentially lost their minds...literally. However, this wasn't a problem in Pompei because there was something (I can't remember what it was now...oops!) covering the inside of the lead pipe that prevented the people from consuming lead into their systems.

 If you look closely, you will see a penis. Yes, a penis. A penis during these times was considered to be a symbol of good luck, good fortune, and good fertility. Now, the people of this area (including Naples, etc.) wanted to keep this symbol of good things around, however, now it isn't considered the best thing to use as a symbol. So, they use this long red chile as a symbol now. :)

 Ah, the brothel. This is one of the beds in the local Pompeian brothel. We would probably call it a whore house. Now, during these times being a prostitute was considered a noble profession. It meant a woman was providing for her family. It wasn't considered anything bad. Now, if a woman (who wasn't a prostitute) had an affair with a man is was shameful, but doing it for a living for looked at as a good thing. 

 Yes, you are seeing what you think you are seeing. Each room in the brothel has a picture above the door that displays a different, well, um, sexual position. Each prostitute specialized in a certain position. So, the pictures above the doors let "customers" know which prostitute specialized in the different positions.

 Do you remember when I talked about the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius earlier and how it wasn't actually lava that destroyed the town? Well, what happened is some people died during it and the ash formed a cast around the body. The corpse eventually decayed by the cast remained. These are some of the bodies (cast of bodies) they found. This man was sleeping when he died.

 This is the cast of pregnant woman.

 This is a young boy who seemed to be shielding himself from the ash. He was very much awake when he died.

 This is the case from the body of a dog.

 Starting the hike up Mount Vesuvio! It was very cloudy!

 Thomas was pretty happy to be doing it....

 ....I on the other hand was a bit winded and wished I was at the top already. It was steep...lol.

 I was much happier at the top with my video camera! ;)

 Middle of volcano, don't worry it's sleeping now.

Leaving Mount Vesuvio and Pompei. Ciao!

Napoli (Naples)

After visiting Vidiciatico, we took a 5 hour drive down to the very very southern part of Italy. During the drive down there I spotted many many sunflowers on the side of the road. I was so excited. Except for the fact that we could not pull over to take pictures and every picture I got from the car looked like a picture of the color yellow. 

Although, I will say it was interesting because we would be driving and I would look up and see what appeared to be a yellow colored grass hill. But, if you look closer you can see that it is not yellow grass, but a hill full of sunflowers. I love sunflowers. :) That was one of the goals of this trip...to see the sunflowers and to get a picture with one.

We stayed in a hotel in Napoli or as it is known in America, Naples. It was called the Royal Continental Hotel. Very nice! It is right on the waterfront. Our porch had a view of the water, but there was also an area upstairs where you could sit that gave an amazing view of the water and the town.

Now onto the food/restaurants. The first night of dinner was a complete disaster. I wish I could remember the name of the place we ate so I could tell people to not go there ever. I will tell you this. They get you there by having some guy come up to people on the street recommending it and telling that you get a free gift. Now it's located on the little street near the "Old Castle" by the water and it's the last restaurant on your left. First of all, they told us about this appetizer which was definitely more pricey than we pay for, but we decided it was a special occasion. Well, long story short because there were two of us (even though we asked for ONE appetizer) they charged us for two appetizers which I'm embarrassed to say cost us about 30 euro. We found out after we paid that two girls who were eating there were given the same charges. They tried to speak to the manager and no one would let them. We found out later that they ended up putting down the exact amount they should have owed and left. Another fault with this restaurant was the food itself. All we kept hearing was how amazing the pizza and food in general the further south you get was. Which Vidiciatico is further south than Vicenza and the food there was amazing. Well, at this place we got pizza. It was not that great and they thought they had given me a pizza without cheese when in fact they had just overcooked it which made it look like there was no cheese.  Needless to say, we were extremely disappointed. We were no longer look forward to eating anymore dinners in Naples. But, night two proved to us that there are descent people in Naples who make amazing food. We found this little resturaunt away from the water where mostly Italians go to. We were the only Americans  there. First of all, the waiter came out with an appetizer and told us it was a present. We were never charged for it. And it was delicious!! We had to ask what everything was after we ate because we couldn't figure it out. One of the things was this baked riccota cheese with chili pepper and olive oil drizzled over it. It was soooo good!!!!! And these little pizza bread things with riccotta cheese and red peppers. Thomas got the local seafood which around here comes with the head attached and I had gnocchi. He loved his seafood and my gnocchi was amazing as well. The service was great and the food was great.

I was not feeling the whole heads thing. :(

They also make these little fried doughnut things with sugar on them that are delicious. If your ever in Naples definitely get them. It's a little shop by the water that sells beer and gelato. The name started with a C.

Arrivederci! More blogs to come!

Vidiciatico

One of the things Thomas and I have been looking forward to, since not only our wedding, but the moment I arrived here, is his summer block leave. We have barely been able to spend any time together since being married. I mean, let's face it our entire dating time was spent on weekends and school breaks for myself. Since coming to Italy we've spent the most time together. Of course, even that has been interrupted at times with him having two 2 week trips to Germany for training. So it really comes as no surprise that because of this and the fact that we never had a honeymoon, we were ready for a vacation or as they say around here a holiday.

We decided to do a roadtrip throughout Italy. Our first stop was Vidiciatico. This is one of the locations where the 10th Mountain Division helped to liberate the Italians from Germany back in WWII. Thomas visited this area as a teenager with his grandparents, parents, and brother along with other family members of the 10th Mountain Division. Thomas's grandfather served in the 10th Mountain Division during WWII. Reunions are formed so that the veterans and their families can visit the place were they served. Thomas recently went back to Vidiciatico when he first arrived in Italy. It was then that he was reunited with Bruno, who is the owner of a hotel that was and still is associated with the 10th Mountain Division and it's reunions. After explaining who he was, Bruno remembered Thomas and his family. Thomas was given tons of good food and wine, a big kiss from Bruno's mother, and conversation with Italian only speaking men who were fascinated by him. So, we decided to go there as part of our trip so Thomas could share this part of his life with me. 

   Meet Bruno! He was such a hospitable man. On our first day, he brought us into the bar area of his hotel and served us free wine. And then he served us some more...and some more...and more. You get the picture, right? He also had this thing about making sure everyone had an equal amount of wine in their glass, even if that meant adding more wine to the other glasses. We spent about 5 hours the first day talking, drinking wine, and eating snacks with him. We even had dinner at his hotel, where he offered us a free after dinner drink. He told us stories and told us places we needed to see. 

Monte Belvedere is part of where the 10th Mountain Division went through during WWII to help liberate the Italians from Germany. So many of them are still so thankful for this, especially in this region. There are monuments everywhere, as well as 10th Mountain Division stickers on the windows of local businesses. Monte Belvedere was a few miles long hike up. It was raining the day we did it which was both good and bad. The good was that it made for cooler weather, the bad..well, I mean come on, it's me and rain. Not the best combination. But finally I made it to the...

...TOP!!! Obviously I was thrilled. Rain and all. 

I will say some of the best pizza I have had in Italy so far was in Vidiciatico. There was something about the crust or maybe something else, I'm not sure. But, it was like pure heaven in my mouth. It's also popular around here to drizzle olive oil with crush red pepper over your pizza. It's very delicious. So, for those of you in America, take some extra virgin olive oil and combine with some crushed red pepper and let it sit, then the next time your enjoying your Domino's or Pizza Hut pizza drizzle some of it on there. You won't be disappointed. And if you are, well, your just weird in my opinion. ;)

When we left, our hotel gave us a little present, a mini-radio (lol, not sure why) and limone grappa. I thought that was a very sweet gesture. The further south you go the nicer people get.

And I just have to end this blog with gelato because it is amazing. That is all. ;)

Just another typical day at the beach, right?

Well, on the 4th of July Thomas and I spent our first day at a beach in Italy with some friends. There was water, sand, umbrellas, and blue skies. All the things you could ever want to see and have at the beach. Of course, we are in Italy, so there are a few things you really don't want to see, but are forced to because let's face it modesty is non-existent here. The boys were very lucky because they got to see some topless bikini babes. Well, actually, I'm not sure if they were really quite that lucky. The women were definitely topless and in bikinis, but I'm not sure anyone would actually classify them as babes. Twice we saw two older and pleasantly plump women who sat up and proceeded to pull their tops down to get some extra sun. It was one of those, "is this really happening?" moments. On this beach one should feel like a super model. There are many ladies who wear itsy bitsy teeny weeny bikinis who should not. On another note, the husbands felt the need to blend in with the Italian men. They disappeared for about 15 or 20 minutes. When your husband leaves for this long and does not tell you where he is going you should be alarmed, very very alarmed. My friend and I were greeted by our husbands wearing big grins and tiny speedos. Excuse me. Did I say tiny speedos? I meant to say matching tiny speedos. Im not sure which was more hilarious, the fact that they wearing speedos or the fact they bought ones that matched. After this we rented a paddle boat with a slide and the boys played like little boys...sliding down the slide, jumping off the slide, flipping off the slide, etc. etc. Ah, yes, just another typical day at the beach.

Everything comes in threes....

Before Thomas left for his most recent training in Germany he informed me that if I ever locked myself out of our apartment there was a way I could get in. As long as the deadbolt wasnt locked I could "kick the door down." Im thinking he is crazy as a bed bug. Me? Kick down a door? Seriously, have you seen me or know me at all? Well, here begins the three bad things that happened within two days time...

The day after I was informed about what to do if I locked myself out I indeed did just that. I closed the door and realized by keys were still inside. I almost went into panic mode, but then remembered my husband's advice. So, with all of my might, using both my hands and my ninja kick I got the door open. Later that day I tried to get some stuff done on base. I was not very successful. I have to get a tourist passport and of course go in and they say Ive filled out the wrong paperwork. Then the next night I broke my key off into the lock of the gate of our apartment. This resulted in me having to climb over the gate later that night to get back in. And at midnight I went outside with pliers and successfully removed the piece of key that was stuck in the lock. I guess that was the start of good things to come, hopefully. It was also nice to know that I could handle whatever difficult things come up without Thomas being here.

Ciao!

Pandamania- VBS

I had the opportunity to volunteer at the chapel on base during vacation bible school (VBS). I was a member of the Panda Preschoolers. I spent my days with three and four year olds. I had so much fun!! Of course, I ended up catching a cold afterwards from all the little tikes, but I think it was still worth it. Kids really say the darndest things!! I had one little boy who was somewhat attached to my hip you could say. One morning as I walked up he looked at me and said, "Your late, where have you been?" I said, "I was in the back setting up so you can have fun today." His response was a simple, "oh." Then later he proceeded to ask me, "Are you a mom?" My response, "No, I have a husband that's enough for right now." Then he says, "Where is your husband?" My response, "well, he's at work." Then I was asked, "where does he work?" My response, "he works here on post, he's in the Army." The little boy grins and says, "Is he shooting today?" "No, not today" I replied. Then it was back to the mom thing again. "When are you going to be a mom?" Ohh my ohhh my, kids crack me up. He had me rolling the whole time. Oh and another child asked if he could go home with me. They were sweet and funny. It was a good experience for me. On the last day I was interviewed about it by the base's paper. That was quite interesting. :) Haha!