Mt. Vesuvius

A couple of weeks ago on a very chilly Saturday morning, I convinced my husband and dragged my teenager to go climb to the top of the dormant volcano here in Naples, Mt. Vesuvius. This past summer we went to Herculaneum and saw the devastation that this now sleeping giant caused oh so many thousands of years ago, so climbing up to the open crater knowing that technically this thing could wake up and spew hot lava everywhere at anytime, was a little eery.

You drive up a very steep and windy road for about 8 miles, park in the lot and then make your way up the rest of the way on foot. Before we went, I read other people's accounts of their hike up and how their 3 year old was able to do it with no problem and so my hope was that my almost 2 year old, who is big for his age and pretty active, might be able to walk up on his own for at least part of it. Negative. After the first hill he was done so I had to carry him slung onto my back the rest of the way. That was my workout for the day! And even though Dante was freezing, he made it the whole way up just holding my hand.

The first hill

The view of the Bay of Naples was awesome! Unfortunately it was a bit foggy but it was still a spectacular sight.

Looking down into the crater was much different than I thought it would look. I imagined it to be this black, rocky, desolate hole without any sign of life but it wasn't! You can see grass and trees and flowers growing on the dark rocky surface. If you forget for a moment that you are looking into the crater of a volcano, just look for the steam coming up from it and you will quickly respect its potential. I read that the volcanic lava is very fertile and brings forth cherry tomatoes, sweet apricots, mountain cherries, hazelnuts, peaches, and wine!

All in all this was a pretty quick trip, only about an hour of our time, but one I hope the kids will remember. When will they ever get another chance to hike to the top of a volcano?

Welcome To My Hood

We arrived in Italy on July 6th, on September 15th we finally got the keys to our new Italian home. It was a long, bumpy road and sometimes a very stressful process but we have finally settled  in and can breathe a bit more easily now. The road to get here went from this.... our home in Arizona.

To a two bedroom suite at the Marriot  with free breakfast and free maid service.

To a one bedroom apartment with free breakfast and free maid service.

To a room with only ONE bed for all FIVE of us. Luckily we were only in there for about 5 hours.

To a three bedroom apartment with no tv and no internet and no free breakfast and no free maid service.

And finally to this..... a three bedroom, three bathroom, with no free breakfast, no free maid service, and due to a delivery mix up, no beds for the first week. BUT it's ours for three years and eventually all our things came and now we have beds, and internet, and tv. Still no free breakfast or free maid service but I am slowly dealing with that.

We looked at A LOT of different houses, at least 15, and this was the only one that had a yard. All the others we looked at either had only a tile or concrete area out front or no space out front at all. Being that my kids are still small and need space to play and ride bikes, having a yard was very important to me. Some of the other houses we looked at were bigger and/or fancier but this one spoke to us for some reason and just felt right. Our landlord doesn't speak a lick of English but he's very helpful and with a lot of sign language, we figure things out. It's rumored he's old school mafia so he's well known and very wealthy. He owns several houses in our neighborhood and also a "caseificio," a store that makes and sells fresh mozzarella di bufala, other cheeses, and popular Italian meats. He gives us fresh cheese when we go in to pay our rent!

You know that old saying "Be careful what you wish for?" Well we were wishing and wishing and wishing for our stuff to hurry up and get here, and then it did.....

and that's not even close to half of it.

The kids were able to find the fun in unpacking boxes

Let me take you on a quick walk through the neighborhood! I took these pictures on a Sunday afternoon which is the only time that you will find the streets empty. Most retail stores are closed on Sundays and also everyday between about 1pm-5pm. During those hours EVERYTHING closes for "riposo" which is "rest." Italians take this rest period very seriously. "Bars," which are the Italian version of our Starbucks, and the malls are open, but restaurants and mom and pop stores are locked up tight during that time.

There are fruit trees all over the place. We have access to lemons, limes, oranges, grapes, and blackberries right outside our gate.

Pretty much right outside out door grows a very large walnut tree. Didn't you ever wonder where walnuts came from?

These things are very popular with the local people. As soon as the walnuts were ready, there were a couple of old men that would come by in the mornings and pick up the nuts that fell on the ground or throw sticks up into the tree to knock some down.

So although living here presents it's challenges, like not being able to run certain appliances at the same time or the power will go out, or that it's tile flooring throughout the house which is freezing in the winter and also has to be mopped almost daily, we have all our stuff, we have a routine, we have things to do, and we have a place to call home!

Bubbas 4th Birthday

I'm 4!

A playgroup from the base happened to be celebrating all the August birthdays on Dante's birthday so we had an early morning mini party decorating cupcakes.

Back at the hotel we went swimming and then that night we opened presents. A birthday party in a hotel with no friends just doesn't seem right but Dante seemed pretty satisfied so that's all that really matters in the end.

Churra- The Meat Lovers Paradise

So hubby and I went out on another grown up dinner date. This time to a local Brazilian Restaurant named Churra'. We both heard good things about it, it was a little expensive, but it ended up being great food and a really nice upbeat atmosphere.

We started at the appetizer/salad buffet. I went  through and got a little sample of EVERYTHING except the french fries and onion rings. I  still can't figure out why they serve those but I swear every Italian that went through the buffet line got some. I have no clue what I had on my plate but most of it was pretty good.

 


A bacon wrapped onion that I will have to figure out how to make because it was so yummy.

When you finish with your appetizers, they start bringing out the meat on long skewers and slice you off a few pieces at a time. We had turkey, chicken, sausage, manzo (steer), pork loin, and pork ribs. For me, the turkey and the pork loin were the best ones but all of it was deliciously seasoned and very tender. There were about 4 guys with different meats that just make the rounds throughout the restaurant. You never have an empty plate. Look at that meat loving smile on my husband's face.

Keep this on your table for as long as your little carniverous heart desires.

When you have had all the meat you can stand just turn it over.

After dinner they bring you a skewer of cinnamon sugar crusted pineapple. And Surprise! It was good too!

The band played some good Italian music and we even got to meet the lead singer. After we met, he dedicated a song to me. Have no idea what the words were, but Deron said he better not be saying anything crazy or he's going to have to go have a word with him. Ha ha!

Italians eat dinner very late, usually after 8pm. At 11:00pm when we were finishing up, a couple of groups of people were just coming in to eat with their children! If I tried to take my kids to dinner at 11 they would either fall asleep in the car on the way over or be more than a little uncooperative from sheer exhaustion.

Yet another successful dinner outing. Hopefully they keep coming! Bon Appetito!