Welcome To My Hood- The Remix

So in my last blog post I showed you the journey we took to get into our Italy home. These last few months that we've been here we've settled into a routine, gotten out and about in the neighborhood, and sometimes see the strangest things!
Three days a week Dante goes to preschool which fortunately is right down the street from our house. So unless it's raining we usually walk to school and these are some of the things that we see every day.

The little old lady that lives in this house doesn't speak a lick of English but she lets us pick oranges off her tree.

These guys are always up early with us.

We see these guys before and after school and they are always on the roof!

There are several different trucks that drive through the neighborhood yelling through a megaphone to tell people what they are selling. If you're interested then you just come outside and can make your purchase. These trucks typically have fruits and veggies or dry goods. This guy sells fagioli (beans)!

Just a short walk down this street and you come to the main road of Via Roma.

There are a lot of shops on  this street ranging from clothing, hardware, cafes, fruits and veggies, and you can also find the traveling salesman.

Coffee Shops are called Bars

                                             A little mini market with fresh bread out front

As much beauty as Italy has to offer there is also tons of graffiti. Everyone is professing their love!

This guy is right in front of our house

Don't you hate when you are stuck in traffic right around the corner from your house???

I'm really enjoying discovering new things in our neighborhood. The boys and I found a good pizza place that we've gone to for lunch a couple times as well as a candy store with fresh pastries and cookies. And whenever we need a taste of American living, the base is only a few minutes away.

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!