Back to the hotel..

     We are in a holding pattern.  I really thought we would be in our Italy home before the holidays.  I'm grateful that we have a great place to be right now but it's a little hard knowing that we will be hotel hopping again and through Christmas.  It's especially difficult for Juliann and Race.  I pictured us getting into our permanent place before Thanksgiving, cooking a turkey with all the trimmings,etc. and then decorating,etc. for Christmas-complete with a tree. Well, that is not to be this year.  Especially this time of year, I see how much we need stability for the kids sake.  I've been praying that they will see that this is temporary and it's all part of the adventure that we are on.  In time, they will understand but in the mean time, it's difficult.  ugh..
    On another note, we are officially legal to be in the country now.  On Tuesday we all went to the Immigrazione office with tons of paper work-everything official is done on paper here. I know, old-school,right?! ha  Then, we spent a few hours at the post office finalizing the process.  I find it interesting that so many processes are taken care of at the post office. You would think one would just go to mail a letter or a package there but NO! It seems like everything is done at the post office or the Tabacchi stores. he he 

Shopping experiences

      There is lots of shopping to be done in Italy.  Italians love to shop and they love shopping malls!
We have shopped in town-many little store fronts up and down mainstreets and alleys, shopping malls-similar to what we are used to in the states, and open air markets.  I have found that the markets have the best prices but, similar to some stores we have been in, most merchandise is made in China. :(  

 Centro Campania mall-Scarpe & Scarpe (shoes and shoes :-)

 Kat, Beth and I could get in a lot of trouble-lots of tights here!! Fun :-)

    (confession: the above picture is actually in Belgium but I didn't have a good pic of the tights here in Italy)
    Grocery shopping is pretty similar to back home.  Of course, there are different brands,etc. but it's organized and priced similarly.  When choosing meat, I avoid carne di cavallo (horse meat :-(   There are rows and rows of pasta and formaggio(cheese).There have been very few food items we haven't been able to find. We have found peanut butter but it is quite expensive. A small jar costs 5-6 euros ($7-8). Race got to buy Doritos and Pop-Tarts on the base while he was with some friends. 

 I always think of Sarah as we pass all the make up here

 I love the markets here

 Here is a man making Preseppi-nativity or city/country diorama type structures. Naples is well known for these. See Juliann's blog:http://julesitalianadventures.blogspot.it/

 Let's not overlook buying.. gelato! Quite enjoyable.

   Did you get a kick out of the above pictures of the signs we saw at a little jewelry shop?  We were so confused, we didn't know what to do..haha

"Let's see where this goes..."

     I think my interest in exploring new places has started to rub off on Juliann and Race a little bit.  We decided to go for a walk the other day; our destination: a motorcycle shop.  However, before we reached the shop, Juliann noticed an arched entrance that led to some stairs.  She stopped Race and I and said, "Let's see where these stairs go."  I was a little surprised because most of the time when I say that, I am met with lots of grumbling and "Why?"   So, I quickly agreed to go up the stairs.  Race didn't protest, so we were on our way.  The stairs kept going and going and going...

 The beginning was quite steep

 View of the stairway beyond the car.

 First level view: Mt Vesuvius. It is super cool we get to see that daily!

 There are stairs under the greenery

 Still going..

 We discovered a tennis court along our way. Guarded by a large German Shep Dog(beyond the gate)

     We reached the top of the stairs and ate our picnic lunch. Going down the stairs was almost as challenging as going up. Some of the steps were covered by plants and sludge (recent storms helped with that) so it was a bit tricky to maneuver down. Also, personally, my legs felt like jello, so...

    It hadn't started raining so we continued on to find the bike shop.  Not surprising, the shop was closed, so we looked through the window and then crossed the street to the water.  Again, not surprisingly, there was a wedding couple having their pictures taken next to the water. I say not surprisingly, because there are weddings here almost daily it seems. It is picturesque here when you keep your camera from pointing toward the ground..haha.

A few more observations while driving around Naples

    There are a few things I didn't mention in my last blog about driving around here. Here are a few things, I'm sure I will continue to add to this list ;) 

             *5 people in a Smart Car
             *kids using a DS,etc. while riding on scooters
             * a man driving a car while walking his dog (holding leash out the window) on our narrow, busy, full! street
             *open doors of parked cars while moving cars speed past. not surprising that side mirrors get knocked off, you'd think that people wouldn't want their doors to be yanked off too, right? no..
             *polizia stand at lots of street corners; guarding streets that are blocked or? who knows. they look bored a lot
             *parked cars in every possible position; sideways, backwards, perpindicular to the road, up on stairs, in the middle of the road...surprised? ergh..
            

       I'm kicking myself for not having a camera ready but on our way to church we saw a magnificent black horse (looked like a Friesian stallion) hitched to an elaborate baroque(looked like it was covered in gold, intricate details,etc) style carriage.  It was so grand.  I hope I get to see it again and this time I will be ready to catch a picture.
       On the subject of horses, I have seen horses a few times here so far.  In the city, there are frequent carriages that carry tourists around, near Il Faro church, there are horses on the beach occasionally, and on our way home from the Amalfi coast, I saw a man riding his horse up to a pub. He was just trotting down the middle of the road like it was totally normal.  He was riding in a western saddle too; not too many western riders in these parts..:)

Closer to holidays in Posillipo

      It's starting to feel like the holiday season around here.  Even though we didn't go trick-or-treating or carve pumpkins yesterday, Juliann and I dressed up a little bit.  She is so creative! With items we had in the house, she dressed up as a pirate (see pic below).  Then, she dressed me up as an angel-I know, farfetched..haha. She made a halo out of tinfoil and wings out of Ikea napkins :)  Love it when she gets creative!
     We also had the pleasure of having our lovely friends, Sophie, Santini, Liam and Elliott here for dinner.  We had such a great time!  We were truly grateful they were willing to venture out last night too.  The wind blew all day(didn't let up for a few days, in fact!) and it poured rain most of the evening also.  Not to mention, the traffic was worse than it has been since we've been here.  It was a perfect night to have chili and chicken pot pie soup. Yummy!
     Today was a national holiday; All Saints Day (Tutti Santi)  Most businesses were closed so Aaron worked from home.  Since the time change last week, Aaron doesn't get home until well after dark.  It was nice that we all got to go for a walk together today to a nearby park.  The views are amazing from the lookout points at Parco Virgiliano.  The pictures I took don't do them justice but I hope you enjoy them anyway.  On our way home, we stopped in the closest pastacciere (sweet shop :) ).  We bought some amazing fudge.  Juliann loves it so much she wants to have that for her birthday cake.  :) :)

Isola (island) of Nisida-don't know anything about this mysterious island...

 Sweets from local pastaccieri(sweet shops) Delicious!

     Tomorrow is a quasi-holiday too; All Souls Day.  I'm sure it will be a relatively quiet day as well-not as much traffic and busyness around here.  Actually, it's usually pretty peaceful where we are now.  (I wonder what the traffic was like in the heart of Naples today.)  It is the most chaotic place I have ever experienced so it would have been nice to see if it was more sedate today.  We'll have to ask our friends who are still in the heart of the city...
   

Our Napoli driving experiences

     One word: FRUSTRATING!  Wow.  Remind me to never complain about driving in the states ever again! haha   It has been a test of our sanity..our patience flew out the window a while ago...
      Where do I start? Well, we have had 2 different rental cars so far.  The 1st a little Hyundai and currently we have an Alfa Romeo Giulietta wagon.  Our next car is supposed to be a Ford Mondeo.  Aaron and Race have been lamenting about it. I guess it's a bit of a 'boat' and it's an automatic. ;`~
      Most of the roads in Naples are original cobblestone or badly damaged asphalt. I keep telling Aaron he should wear a kidney belt (similar to semi truck drivers wear) just to drive to work everyday. (It takes about 45min to drive through the city).  Not only are the roads bumpy and at times painful! they are narrow and filled with parked cars, garbage and recycling bins, pedestrians, dogs, and thousands of scooters filling in every possible gap. They zoom up on the left, the right, directly in front of you..phew!! It's a 'hole nuther level' of driving here.  I've heard that if you can drive in Naples, you can drive anywhere!
    What looks like a close destination, turns out to be at least an hour+ drive. Last night we drove 2hrs just to get to a little town outside Naples. Our close-to-being-thrown-out-the-window GPS led us on what seemed to be the most round about route imaginable.  That seems to happen every time we use 'her'.  To punish us for talking bad about and cursing at 'her' she takes us on the most challening, narrow, awful routes!  On more than 1 occasion she has led us on 1 way roads going the wrong direction, told us to turn down a flight of stairs, asked us to make a U-turn in the middle of the freeway,etc.. One time the GPS told us to drive 18km past our destination (that we could clearly see) and Aaron decided not to follow the directions.  He stopped on the side of the freeway and drove in reverse about 2km to get off the freeway. It was rad. (can't do that in the states w/o someone totally freaking out and then getting a ticket! Ha)
    The drivers here are not bad, actually. They all seem to know their clearances, for the most part.  However, almost every car here, has many scrapes and dings and broken or missing side mirrors.  Honestly, as chaotic and crowded it is here, I thought I would have seen some accidents by now.  So far, we have witnessed several scooters hit curbs and fall over and a few cars scrape garbage cans and what not. Nothing too exciting.
     We marvel at scooter drivers the most.  It's not uncommon to see 2-4 people on a scooter, usually not wearing helmets too. It is very unnerving to see little kids, even babies, on scooters with no helmet.  The other day I saw a boy on the back of a scooter wearing a helmet but the helmet was so loose that it was hanging off the back of his head; the strap was, essentially, choking him.  Yikes.
    The other thing thatI don't see much of in the states but see all the time here, are children riding freely in cars.  In fact, I don't think I've seen a car seat at all here except used by non-natives. 
     Well, last night we experienced our first flat tire here. I'm actually surprised (but very thankful!) it hasn't happened yet.  We were almost home, driving down one of the GPS's favorite narrow streets and POW! we hit something hard enough to blow out the front driver side tire.  Many expletives followed  yet we did not stop; we just drove it home. It was fun... When we got home, Aaron went to put the spare on but the spare was also flat. Not surprising.  Oh well. We had the rental company change the tire but unfortunately now, we have to drive on a space saver. I'm sure that will be great on the cobble roads..haha! 
    

 Our current car

We gave 'prop' to these bus drivers. Super narrow turn.

  We actually drive down roads like this frequently..  

Food in Naples, Italy

     Food is a big deal in Italy. In fact, the pastor(Luigi-born in Tuscany) at the church we have been going to even mentioned that Italians believe their food to be the best and they have no reason to try any other cuisine or change theirs at all.  I agree that the food has been extremely good since we've been here.
     There has only been 1 time that we had some terrible food. It was at the Hyundai Cafe-it was connected to a Hyundai car dealership.  We stopped in for a snack. J ordered a sandwich and Race ordered a pastry.  We're not sure what kind of meat was on the sandwich and the pastry tasted like there was a layer of beach ball in it..ugh! It was bad! haha
     While we were living in the hotels, we had to go out almost every day to eat. I say almost everyday because we stashed some peanut butter, bread, nutella and fruit in our rooms so that sufficed for meals on some occasions. Since there are so many restauants around the hotels, we got to try several of them. They were mostly Italian cuisine, go figure! haha (it's a little joke around here that even Chinese, Mexican or other ethnic restaurants all taste like Italian around here-see my comment about how Italians feel about their food, above)
     It is expected that a person order Antipasti(appetizer), Primi(first dish), Secondi(2nd dish), and Dolci(dessert). A primi is usually pasta or pizza and the second dish is usually meat of some sort-around here, it's usually seafood-fresh, of course!  Most restaurants here do not allow you to take your left overs home after your meal.  It is expected, if you order all the above, that you will be at the table for A WHILE... We learned that it was best for me to order a salad, Aaron to order a primi and the kids would get pizza (and then Aaron and I ate their leftovers..haha)  You know me, I really do not like to waste food! ahhhhh!  :)

 We made nachos 1 night-they weren't bad :)

 Cooking class

 Sorry this picture is dark-roasted squash

 Action shot-please forgive the blur..:(

 Pasta and squash

 squash salad

 Da Michele pizzeria-#1 in Naples!

(this is technically in Belgium->

     We went to an authentic Italian cooking class this past week.  Our host, Fulvia, was also our teacher.  She taught us how to make Pasta w/squash, pasta w/tomatoes, roasted squash salad(my favorite!), and a cheese fritatta.  There were about 12 women and 3 men-Aaron, Race and Tim(husband to one of the women there) When Aaron and Race walked in, Tim sighed with gratitude..haha.  We spent quite a while in the kitchen watching, learning, participating and then we all got to 'sample' everything.  Delizioso!  Wow! What a treat to be there. We can't wait for the next class!  (Juliann wasn't there because she got invited to hang out with some girls around her age. She got enticed by the prospect of having hamburgers and Klondike bars with the girls so..)
   We will continue to post food pictures-especially for you, Mom! :)