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! :)

Foreign Language

     I'm such an optimist. Always have been and probably always will be. So, naturally, when we were first talking about moving to Italy I thought I would just work really hard at learning Italian and be able to communicate and understand a little while we are here.  
     The first morning we were here, while at breakfast, one of the servers asked me something in English and I responded to her in German. German?(it's been A LONG time since I spoke German-ugh) I had no idea where the string of words that came out of my mouth came from.  In fact, I didn't even know I knew all the words that I said.  The server looked at me confused, and walked away. haha...(To add insult to injury, while we were in Belgium, where I could have benefitted from my high school German lessons, I couldn't recall anything..go figure, right?)
     I totally expect myself to be getting more proficient with Italian- 1-2hrs a day of Rosetta Stone, 10 min a day Italian exercises, listening to Italian TV and radio, and random brief encounters with locals.  Oh, but no...I'm not getting better..ugh.  A few minutes ago I saw our landlandy.  When we first met(2 wks ago) we told her we were learning Italian and she was so excited and encouraging.  So, when she said "Ciao" just now, my mind went completely blank...void of all the Italian I've been working so hard on. Arrrghhh!  I think I responded to her in Spanish or French. I'm not sure but I don't think it was Italian.   She was sweet to me but I was 'kicking myself' for being so lame :(
        The other thing I'm noticing is that I'm also struggling more coming up with English words when I'm speaking.  What is up with that?  I thought learning a foreign language was supposed to increase your brain power not decrease it!?! 
     I get a little discouraged, too, when I talk to many people who live here but Italian is not their first language and even after a few years they still don't speak much Italian.  Oh well, I'm here and true to the LeClair way, I feel it necessary to persevere and conquer!  ( I may not conquer but I plan to persevere.. :)

Posillipo-move #3

      We moved into a first floor appartment yesterday.  We are here for about a month or so. It is such a nice open, spacious and bright place!  We are most excited to have a kitchen and washer and dryer-no more Hotel Laundry magic, but it will be nice to do our laundry when we want and for A LOT less than 275 Euros a week! :)
     Most of the appartment is furnished by IKEA: simple, modern and comfortable!  Our landlady is really nice and has been helping us learn a little Italian.  She has also been to the Pacific Northwest! There are 2 large maps on the wall of the Seattle area and of west Canada. Perfect, huh?!
     The area where we are is a lot more peaceful than where we were in the city at the hotels.  Our view is breathtaking-we can see part of the bay and when it is clear, part of Capri and Ischia.  We have yet to venture around here so we don't know exactly whats around us out on the street. A whole new area for us to explore!  Juliann requested a mellow day so we will venture out tomorrow.

 Stairs from driveway down to the appartment

 View from the lawn into the house via grand, double sliders

1 big open space for kitchen, dining, and living room Love!

 Race testing out the best internet connection we've had in Italy

 Stairs down to laundry room.

   On another note, we have met a delightful young family who has also moved to Italy recently.  Juliann got to babysit the 2 boys a few weeks ago too.  It has been so nice to spend time and get to know Sophie and the boys a little bit. We also got to meet several people from Il Faro International Church last Sunday.  A family invited us over for lunch afterward and we had a great time!  One of the best parts of travel is the people we get to meet. What wonderful blessings!!
   

We drove the Amalfi Coast

     This past weekend we decided to drive to Amalfi.  Even with our Italian GPS, "Cleo", it was an 'adventure' getting there.  It seemed like a simple thing to just drive from our hotel, staying with the coast. But just like driving anywhere here, we see where we want to go but it's not that simple. So, we drove up and down all kinds of streets to, finally get to the coast..
     We stopped for lunch at an intriguing looking outdoor cafe overlooking Isle of Capri.  There was a lively Italian family there that we enjoyed chatting with a little bit and 1 of the gentlemen jumped into a picture with Juliann (see below).

     After driving for a few hours, we thought we had seen all of the coast so we started heading back to the freeway (autostrada).  "Cleo" wanted us to turn left on a road that did not look appealing so we bipassed it.  We were so glad we did because the road we were on led us to what everyone means  when they talk about The Amalfi Coast.  Pictures don't do it justice but I hope you enjoy them anyway :).  The roads we drove were extremely narrow and a bit 'hairy' in spots.  We all loved the drive but Aaron and Race would have loved it even more on motorcycles! If you get a chance, check out Race's blog at:
http://ultimatederp.blogspot.it/

Hotel life

     As a lot of you know, we have been living in a hotel since being in Italy.  I remember when I would hear of someone living in a hotel I thought, " That would be alright with me". Someone else would do all the cleaning, cooking, laundry,etc.  Well, it's nice for a few days.  I actually feel like doing some cleaning and COOKING! not to mention, I actually enjoy laundry :)  In fact, the first week we were here, I didn't send my underwear off to be cleaned by the hotel laundry service.  It just felt a little weird to me.  Well, needless to say, I ran out of clean underwear and washing them myself in the sink wasn't all that great..haha 
     Since Boeing covers the cost of laundry service, I decided to just get over myself and send my unmentionables off for cleaning.  I think those who have been washing our laundry here have,
 what I've been calling, "Laundry Magic".  Our clothes have been coming back to us cleaner than I can remember and a few difficult stains that I have tried removing, have disappeared! I guess that 250+ Euros a week to have our laundry done is worth it.  At our current hotel, our clothes were brought back to us in boxes and wrapping as if they were giving us Christmas presents! A little over the top..but interesting.

 The view from our current hotel: (top) facing southwest; (below) facing north

                                      

 Each shirt, skirt, pants, etc. were individually wrapped.   
Stay 'tuned',  we are moving to a temporary appartment next week in the rich part of Naples-Posillipo.  

Belgium!

     We had a terrific opportunity to go to Belgium this past weekend.  The draw was an international motorcross event: Motocross of Nations.  Race and Aaron attended the event while Juliann and I explored Lommel, Belgium.
     First things first though; we found affordable plane tickets from Rome to Eindhoven,Netherlands so we drove from Naples to Rome (2hr-ish drive) It was nice to see a little more of Italy. You know, there are a lot of hills/mountains around here?nice :)   When we got to Rome, relatively simple arrival,etc. we got worried that we wouldn't have time to make our departure. Our gate was supposed to close at 11:25 and got in line (a VERY long, convoluted line) at 10:20. Once through the line, we rushed to our gate. We rushed? We didn't need to because we got to our gate and saw nothing but a sea of people.  We had no idea where our gate line was so we just stood in the general area. Let me tell you that this was our first experience with RyanAir-known as the Cheap Airline..haha. You know the saying, "you get what you pay for" well, we paid to stand in long lines, be shoved in a little space to fly 1,000miles(or kilometers, I can't remember) or so..haha!
       Needless to say, our flight departed about an hour and a half later than originally planned.  We made it to Eindhoven safely (Thank God!) and the airport there was so quiet and peaceful. Night and day difference compared to our Naples and Rome airport experiences.  When we walked outside the airport we enjoyed.....fresh air! Naples is a bit..smoggy, smoky, stinky. ugh  Anyway, we felt a lot more comfortable immediately, in Netherlands.
     When we got to the hotel Aaron booked, we learned that he had scheduled with a hotel(sister hotel) about an hour away from Lommel.  Knowing this was a very busy weekend for the small town of Lommel, we thought we were going to be sleeping on the streets of Belgium.  Thankfully, there was room for us at the Inn :)   The hotel was older; filled with several antique pieces of furniture,etc.  The woman who operated the inn, was very nice and spoke fluent english! (sad to say, we don't know any Dutch which most Belgians spoke in that area)
   Aaron and Race spent all of Saturday and Sunday at the event (see Race's blog via his Facebook page)  Sounded like it was above and beyond too crazy for me so I'm not sad I didn't go.  Juliann and I walked around the town. We explored some of the shops until it started pouring rain. Thankfully, the visitor center was near us so we took cover there.  I'm so glad we did too because we had fun exploring the 'museum' that was there. Lommel is quite proud of their sand and there were several areas in the museum where we could learn about that. It was actually, pretty interesting :)  Next door there was a glass museum and school.
      Since we had the whole day to do what we wanted, we went to the Chocolat Cafe and had waffles (Belgian, of course!) and swedish pancakes. (Keep in mind, for the past month, we have only had Napoli breakfast: fruit, undercooked bacon, salami, toast, etc.)  Juliann and I, especially, were really excited for pancakes and waffles! :)  I also indulged in a Cafe au latte(pic below)  After brunch, we walked past a hair salon that was open. (Lommel was a pretty quiet, unbusy town :) Since Juliann has been bugging me to get her hair cut since before we left for Italy, I took her in.  The hair dresser spoke ONLY Dutch so Juliann drew a picture of what she wanted and off they went. I encouraged her to be brave :)  Thankfully, all turned out great! She looks amazing!

 Belgians love their bicycles!

 room 'o sand samples from Lommel as well as around the world

 Cafe au latte-can you see how the spoon was dipped in a cube of chocolate? yum! Pinterest idea!

 Isn't she lovely? :)

 Just about every door on the houses were different and interesting-loved it!

 All the homes and yards were neat and tidy. It was so nice. Hydrangeas-my fave-must love the sandy soil in Lommel, they were everywhere and every color. So pretty. (Below:) some kids rode their dirt bikes right up to McDonalds and parked them in the outside seating area. Only in Europe. haha!

     Like I said, it was quite peaceful in Belgium.  We greatly enjoyed the beauty of the trees, farmland and lovely homes around the area.  It was also quite fun to see everyone riding around on bicycles-some with large wicker baskets on them. I loved it! I was sad not to find some bikes to rent for the weekend, though :( oh well.   Last, but not least, I enjoyed seeing all the horses around in Lommel. Medicine for my soul :)  sorry no pictures..