Fort Wayne and Chicago

Our trip continued after Memphis to Fort Wayne, Indiana. Mandy and I were living there when I met Jeff. He was stationed in Italy at the time. We even got married in Fort Wayne. We visited a few friends, saw our old stomping grounds, spent a day at the zoo, etc.

The rest of the photos here are from the next stop on our road trip which was Chicago. It was raining the day we arrived and again the day we left, however to day we spent walking around seeing Chicago was absolutely gorgeous. I Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Looking through all of these shots brings back memories of the day. We had such a great trip. I enjoyed the time spent with my family. We were in a small car or small hotel room for about 10 days. It was fun.

I try not to think about the fact that Amanda is 18 and bound to leave home and spend less time with us eventually. Or the fact that Jeff will be deployed for six months. Did I tell you that he is also been chosen to go to the Senior NCO Academy in October? Which means he will be gone for October and November - come home - leave toward the end of December - not come home until early July. Plus he has to go away to get training for his deployment, I guess that will occur sometime between now and October. Been nice knowing you hun.

Seriously though we are going to be fine. I have a lot of great friends and a busy school year planned. I am on a ton of committees for school and the American Cancer Society. So hopefully I will see people and not become a hermit.

What all that has to do with Chicago and Fort Wayne, who knows. I think what I was going for is that our time together was tinged with the thought that we would soon be apart and we were all extra sweet and extra patient.

Memphis on the 4th of July

On our road trip to a wedding in Wisconsin we decided to make a few stops along the way, the first one being Memphis on the 4th of July. We arrived in the early afternoon, we stayed right downtown in a lovely hotel. It was across the street from the Peabody, but alas we didn't stay in the Peabody. We did walk threw the loby and wow!

We spent the afternoon wandering the streets. We discoverd a lovely theater which was showing the play Wicked. We tried to get tickets but they were sold out. They told us about a lottery to get tickets. We had to show up two hours before a show and sign up and 20 tickets be available if your name is pulled, well two per name pulled. The first time we tried our name wasn't pulled. There was a lady who was very upset because all the names pulled were people who were the last ones in line to sign up at the lottery. Upon closer inspection it appeared as if the upset screaming woman was correct. So, for the next show we came late to the lottery and we were the last ones to put our names in the mix. And yes, we were chosen, yeah.

Mandy and I got dressed up and saw the most amazing play, Wicked while we were passing through Memphis. I am going to go out and read the book now too. If you get the chance you should see this performance it was WICKED! Totally ok for kids to see too!




We noticed in Memphis that no one walks the streets during the day. But, about 5PM the streets are alive. We went down to the water front (Mississippi River) to see the fireworks. We waited about 30 minutes after they were scheduled to begin. The crowd was getting restless, and when I say restless I mean, starting fires in the crowd that were at least 12 feet high and throwing fire works at strangers in the crowd. It seemed less than fun to continue to stay so we started walking back to our hotel. Lily doesn't like crowds and neither do I for that matter and it was a scary crowd. As we walked back to our hotel we could hear the thunder of the cannons and sometimes we caught glimpses of fireworks from between the buildings. I regret not staying a little, but sometimes it is better to be safe than sorry especially with a little one.

We also sampled the ribs had some fun shopping. Memphis was fun, but I am not so sure I would want to go back with kids. I guess it would have been better if we did Graceland and the zoo - Aquarium stuff??

My Arrogance

I am still a huge Survivor fan. I don't get to see all the episodes anymore, even though you can watch them for free on CBS.com the next day I still don't always make the time to see. But, I try to catch the majority of the show.

This season one of the characters was a guy named ACE. He was very arrogant during the show. At the end of the season reunion where people explain themselves, apologize or whatever; Ace was a complete ass.

He said something to the effect that he is a world traveler and it was hard for him to have to associate with people who have never left their neighborhood let alone their country or continent.

I think of myself as a world traveler. What I have learned is that everywhere you go most of the people you meet are not well traveled. The effect of having traveled is to make a person more tolerant. Ace was being intolerant, not a very good representative of world travelers.

Everywhere I have ever gone the point for me is to learn about a different culture. It is not about me telling other how they should be. It is about me seeing life from a different perspective. When I go somewhere all the people in that place are mostly not interested in my culture. Just like the other contestants on Survivor that Ace was having a hard time dealing with.

I don't know why this is bothering me so much.

Mandy refuses to tell anyone that she has traveled. Once I heard a conversation between two of her co-workers while we were at the grocery store where Mandy works together. They were discussing Egypt. One thought that Egypt and the Nile river were in Europe the other in Africa. Mandy has actually been to Egypt and cruised down the Nile river. What an opportunity to tell of her adventure. She said nothing, didn't even weigh in on her opinion of where Egypt is located. After we left the store I asked why she didn't mention her travels and she told me that she doesn't like to talk about it because it makes her seem arrogant.

Until now I thought that perception of people who have traveled as being arrogant is all jealousy and in the head of those whom perceive travelers to be arrogant. After hearing Ace I wonder.

The Drive Home

The day of our departure started like any other. I got up first and took my shower and wandered down to the lobby for a great cup of coffee. I returned to the room and slipped outside to enjoy the serenity of our resort one last time before we would drive home. I kept thinking, my backyard is pretty awesome I wonder why I don't have coffee outside at my house, oh yeah bugs! Has anyone else ever noticed there are no bugs on the entire Disney world property? I wonder how they do that? I probably do not want to know the answer to that question. We should do a study to see if people who work there have a higher rate of cancer.

We all got packed up and loaded in the car by 8 or 9, I can't honestly remember being that it was a whole week ago today. We drove until lunchtime and then pulled over and got some Mickey D's and some gas, and then we were on the road again. We were proud of the progress we were making at estimating what time we would be dropping off Cassie and what time we would be getting home. All of us dreaming of being home. The girls were packed pretty tightly in the back seat of our little Nissan and I think they were all very anxious to be getting to our destination. I remarked about our little car and how much I love her. Jeff bought me this car when we were first married. It was an amazing gift for me who brought nothing but me, my kid and a huge amount of debt to our marriage. Then I got a wonderful, marvelous car as a gift. We traveled all through Europe in our little car. Then she was in storage during our four year tour at Japan. What an amazing car to have always gotten us to so many places without any problems. We did take her to the mechanic and paid to have her checked before our trip. We got her new tires and a radiator flush per the mechanics advice. We even checked her oil before embarking on the trip. But, we never checked the oil during the trip or before heading home.

About ten minutes after our lunch break we started to hear a funny noise, then it got louder and we pulled over on the side of the freeway. As we pulled to the side of road the oil light came on. Jeff and I got out of the car and checked the oil, it was empty. How did that happen? We hadn't seen any oil in the parking place of the resort or at our stop? Jeff decided to walk down the side of the freeway to the call box and call for some help. As he was walking a truck driver with a truck full of logs pulled over in front of him and offered Jeff a ride. The girls were very worried that Jeff was about to be kidnapped by the truck driver. He called me on the cell phone and told me that he was going to accept a ride from the truck driver to the next exit in order to get us some oil.

The girls and I were waiting in the car for Jeff's return and it was very hot. Middle of the day in Florida without any a/c. We rolled down the windows and waited. We were just on the other side of a little line from the traffic. Trucks were rolling past us and we could feel the entire car shake. I was terrified we were going to be hit and made all the girls keep their seat belts on. Lily was so upset about the noise. She hates loud noises and cannot tolerate the vacuum cleaner or garage door opener etc. She was crying hysterically insisting that I roll up all the windows to lessen the sound of the truck going by. I didn't think that it would be a good idea to roll up the windows in the over 90 degree heat us inside of a black car. She cried and cried.

I decided to take Lily to the forest just off the freeway. There was the freeway, the emergency pull over lane, some grass, a ditch and then a forest. I grabbed Lily and her favorite blanket and me in my flip flops we trudged over to the forest. We was even more distraught about the forest than the car. The older girls elected to stay in the car. As we got to some shade I set down her favorite blanket and we both sat down on the blanket in the forest. She was furious with me but eventually calmed down. Meanwhile, enormous bugs were jumping in her hair and onto the blanket, I was thinking I hope a snake or alligator doesn't come along. Maybe the forest isn't such a good idea.

A police car pulled up alongside our car and he was talking to the older girls. He never looked over at me. I thought for sure the first thing the girls would do is point to me. I got Lily and the blanket and was trudging back toward the car, threw the thorny bushes. We both ended up with very scratched up legs and finally we reached the police officer and our car. Just as I was about to speak up as he still didn't see me, there came Jeff running across the freeway. Jeff had received a ride back from the rest stop from another good Samaritan and had returned to save us with a bag full of oil. He explained this to the police officer who promptly wished us good luck and sped away.

We put the oil in the car until the dipstick told us she had enough. We buckled ourselves into the car and Jeff turned the key. The noises amplified the car shook rattled, coughed and died, never to start again. Stranded on the side of the road, the police officer gone, Jeff trudged down the road to the call box once again. Just as he was walking another good Samaritan (that makes three in less than an hour) stopped and offered him a ride. Jeff asked if this man would take us to the rest stop instead. Jeff wanted to push the button in the call box and so I got into a car with a stranger and the three girls and we were driven about five miles to the next rest stop. I had wisely changed out of the flip flops and into my tennis shoes.

At the rest stop I took Lily to use the rest room while Cassie called her parents and Mandy bought Lily a chocolate milk and found us a place to sit and wait. Mandy is my hero thinking of her sister like that. The girls were all visibly shaken as was I. We wondered what would happen how we would find a way home. I thought that all these nice people who work here at this rest stop must have a phone book or know of a tow truck. I called Jeff and asked if he wanted me to call for a tow truck. He said we should wait because he had pushed the button in the call box and he didn't want to push the button and then not need it. So we waited and when no one came to help him, Jeff called me back and had me get the tow truck.

The tow truck came from the East, he drove past Jeff on the freeway and came to the rest stop to pick up me and the girls first. We were able to fit the girls in the back behind the seats of course there were no seat belts in the tow truck. Then when we were all loaded up we drove back toward our car on the freeway, we had to drive past the car and continue on to the next exit. We re-entered the freeway and drove to the car and picked up Jeff. The girls and I stayed in the tow truck while Jeff helped the tow truck driver load up our vehicle. The girls and I had been very tense and barley even spoke the whole time we had been away from Jeff. I am not really someone you want to be with during a crisis, I freeze up. The older girls were practically shaking with the whole situation but Jeff he jumps into the cab of the tow truck saying, "this is better than a ride at Disney World". The mood of the family was instantly diffused and we all started to chat and life went on.

Sometimes you have a moment of clarity in life. I had mine that day. Jeff is the best husband ever. He is the person you want to have in a crisis. Not only is he able to diffuse frustrating scary situations and get us all to relax and laugh, but he is pretty smart as well.

We have to drive down to the next exit, re-enter the freeway and then drive back the other way to the garage, all told we were charged for a 30 mile tow at nearly $200. We had our car looked at and it was decided that our engine was gone forever. The mechanic offered to trade our car for the price of the tow plus $150. Even with the new tires, new muffler, new radio, full tank of gas, etc. She is the most beautiful wonderful car, but we had to say goodbye. Jeff had me walk across the street and down the road with no sidewalk to a motel and get the girls out of the heat. By the time we were checked into the room he came and told me the news about the $150. The mechanic had a lot full of used cars we could pick from to replace our car. I wanted to do that. Jeff wanted to get a rental car to get home and take our time and make an informed decision and buy a new car for the family. We discussed for awhile, I strongly disagreed, but in the end we went with Jeff's plan. Not that I didn't complain about it for the rest of the day.

Jeff and I walked back across the street to empty out our car. I started to cry. I loved that car so much and this was horrid. We got out as much luggage as we could carry and started to trudge across the street. I had way too much and it was very hot, this walk across and down the street was very difficult for me. Jeff showed no signs of fatigue. I couldn't help but think of the amazing race, one of Jeff's favorite shows. I always thought that we would fight if we did something like that but here we were in the middle of no where Florida with no car and carrying our bags across the street in the extreme heat. I would say that the walk was about a 1/4 of a mile, I am sure Jeff would say less. But, we weren't fighting I was more proud and in love with him than ever. I have no idea what he thought of me, but if I was annoying him, he never showed it.

It took us two trip to get it all to the hotel and then we had a lovely dinner at Denny's. We had to call my dad to get the phone numbers of rental car companies because the phone book from the hotel was very small. My dad looked up the numbers and we began to call and call. We were hoping to find someone that would come pick us up but we were lucky to find anyone within a 100 miles who even had a car to rent. Jeff had to take a taxi into Tallahassee about 60 miles away to get the rental car and then come back to pick us up. First we spent the night, we had to sleep with Lily. I do not think we slept at all, she is a kicker. The next morning Jeff got us the rental car and drove us all home. All safe and sound.

Next time I will tell you all about our brand new car.

Enjoying Orlando

We spent last Wednesday relaxing by the pool. We debated whether we should do more parks or not, being there and all, but ultimately decided that relaxing by the pool would be more fun. We did have a great day, practically had the pool to ourselves. Lily and I got to the pool by 9AM. We tried to miss the mid day sun but otherwise spent all our time swimming. She is starting swim lessons next week, she loves the water as much as I do so I hope that will help her to be more independent in the water. Lily loves her Independence. Lately she even tucks herself into bed at night preferring to say goodnight in the living room.

Thursday we went to Sea World at Busch Gardens. They offer military and family free tickets to their park one time per year. We took advantage and enjoyed the royal treatment. They even had all the military members stand up to be recognized at the Shamoo show. It was very touching how well we were treated and I was very grateful. We had a blast a Sea World. We got Lily a stroller and that made all the difference. Again we separated from the older girls. We even got to see a Sesame Street show. And we got to have Pepsi, there is no Pepsi anywhere on Disney property not even at the gas station. They do have good gas prices though. So we all enjoyed our Pepsi very much.

We all got our souvenirs at Sea World. Thought we would drop some money there since they were so kind to give us free admission. I got some cute necklaces, Lily a cup and stuffed dolphin, Mandy a shirt and bracket, Jeff ... Jeff decided what he really wanted was to add an Orlando Hard Rock Café glass to his collection. He has a great big collection of Hard Rock Café glasses from all over the world. We discovered that the Hard Rock Café was located at the City Walk at Universal. We headed over there.

First we got turned around on which direction to go on I4 to get there. The map I was looking at made the freeway appear to run north and south. I knew we had to go North to get to Universal. According to the signs the freeway ran East and West, Jeff asked me if we needed to go West and I said yes. I was looking at the map trying to figure out which exit and not really listening to him. I got my East and West confused and we ended up going back toward Disney instead of toward Universal. While driving down the road I mentioned that the outlet mall we were passing looked familiar and everyone in the car told me yeah, we passed it this morning we are going back the way we came. Oops. It was hard to find a way to turn around because all the exits led to other highways, but we eventually got back on 4 going in the correct direction, North East. We passed Sea World and waved and continued on toward Universal. We followed the signs and were soon in the Universal compound which was very similar to Disney. But, we soon discovered that you have to pay $12 to park at Universal, even if you just want to buy a glass at the souvenir shop at the Hard Rock Café. We decided not to pay the money and left Universal without a glass and Jeff ended up without a souvenir for the trip. Poor Jeff.

Tomorrow is the big day, the trip home, full of suspense and adventure. Jeff even remarked at one point, "this is more fun than a ride at Disney World". Of course the scariest ride he rode at Disney World was the Tea Cups, see y'all tomorrow.

The Magic Kingdom

We knew that the Magic Kingdom was close by, but didn't know how to get there. The older girls asked at the front desk the night before and were told that we could walk about 5 minutes to the Polynesian Resort across the street and take the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom. In the morning we all arrived in the lobby and asked for directions to walk to the Polynesian and the lady looked upset and asked why we were not utilizing their bus to Magic Kingdom. So we asked about the bus, and discovered that the bus takes us to a ticket and transportation hub where we could catch the monorail. We decided to walk. Her directions were vague and we ended up wandering around in the middle of the street looking like fools until we found the path. But, we eventually made it to the Magic Kingdom before 9 A.M. no less.

Upon arrival we split up with the big girls promising to meet up again in the Cinderella Castle at noon. The older girls were off to ride the big rides and enjoy spending time together. These two have been best friends for many years but most of that time it has been a long distance friendship due to the fact that both of them have dad's in the Air Force and have to move a lot. Not only did they get to spend the week in Disney World but the also got to spend time together as well. Jeff, Lily and I were off to Fantasy Land.

Our first ride was the Carousal we missed the ride by about a second and were first in line. However, after that group exited the ride, mechanics came out and we were forced to wait forever while they appeared to stand around and chat. Eventually they got the ride going a bit and the mechanic was able to stand on the back of a horse and screw something in the ceiling. More waiting, the bad thing about those lines is that when you are up front and people pack in behind you, there is no escape no matter how long it takes them to fix the ride. So the first hour at Disney World was spent watching a bunch of mechanics chit chat on the Carousel.

When we finally got to board the ride, there was a bum rush and Lily walking so slow meant we were not able to find two horses together. I rode one far away and Jeff stood with Lily. At least we were finally able to get off the ride. Next up was the Dumbo ride. Another long wait. I am not really fond of going in circles so Jeff took Lily on the ride. I used the bathroom, got water, walked around all of Fantasy land to find the tea cups ride. And then I just sat down and waited and waited.

On the way to the tea cups we found the scary Snow White ride and the Winnie the Pooh ride, Lily's favorite for the day was the Winnie the Pooh ride. We even went back and did the ride a second time, but it broke down while we were on the ride the second time. I think I have that effect on rides or something?

We had a blast on the tea cups and then Jeff saw the Indy cars and drug us on them. That was a blast. I let Lily drive, I think I still have whiplash. We continued our day in the playground, small world, etc. By lunch time Lily was very tired and cranky. We called the older girls at 11 and asked them if they wanted an early lunch. They agreed and we all hooked up and had a fabulous relatively inexpensive Disney lunch. At 11AM the lunch crowd was scarce and it was nice, cool and relaxing in the Pinocchio grato.

After lunch the big girls went off and did their thing. We decided to go back to the hotel for an afternoon swim and nap. The nicest thing about Shades of Green is that it is so close to the park we were able to take the afternoon off. Once we got back to the hotel our little Lily was her old self again. All day at Disney she was tired and grouchy, she walked so slowly and complained the whole way. At the hotel, she regained her energy and the bounce returned to her step. She ran ahead of us leading the way to our room. We all changed into our swim suits and the newly refreshed Lily swam and swam for at least an hour. Being of fair skin and it being so close to the equator in June midday I made us go back to the room after about an hour in the pool. We all had a good nap and were ready and on our way back to the Magic Kingdom by 5PM.

As we were leaving the Magic Kingdom at noon there were more people than I had ever seen in my life entering the park. It was scary and we were a little hesitant to return. Especially since Lily was so visibly unhappy there. But, we spent nearly $100 per person and wanted to try and get our money's worth so return we did. When we got back it was so hot and crowded Jeff and I began to bicker. We did Adventure land and it began to cool down a bit by 6:30PM. At one point I was standing in line for some ride and the sweat was dripping down my hair and landing on my shoulder in huge drops, the only respite from the heat were those fat drops of sweat. But, as the storm clouds rolled in it did begin to cool. While we were riding the Winnie the Pooh ride a second time, the one the broke mid way and we were stuck listening to someone make announcements not to exit the ride for our own safety. That along with Lily's mood seemed to be an omen and afterward we returned to our hotel.

We got on the Monorail back to the hotel and ended up having to wait all packed in for almost a half and hour. The other monorail loaded up and took off more than six times while we stood there and watched. At least there was A/C in there. When we finally got going the skies had opened up and it was raining in buckets. We decided it would be better to take the hotel bus back instead of walking from the Polynesian due to the major raining. We got off at the ticket and transportation stop and found the bus stop after running around in the rain enough to get soaked to the bone. It was hilarious and we were all laughing. More fun than the rides at Disney World. By the time we got back to our room the rain had stopped. We were told that this happens every afternoon in Orlando.

The older girls were in the room having room service and resting. They offered, or did we ask? to watch Lily while Jeff and I went out to dinner. That was a lot of fun. I sure you can tell from my story that I am not the most Disney loving girl in the world. Still I am glad I went, but I think it will be one of those once in a lifetime type events. Next up is our day of relaxation at the resort.

We're going to Disney World

We started our trip to Disney World last weekend by getting the house all ready, I always like to come home from a trip to a clean house. Jeff mowed the lawn and even climbed up on the roof to trim the trees that were brushing our shingles. Laundry, dishes, vacuum, floors, bathrooms; the list of chores never seemed to end. We left early Monday morning with a very clean house and yard.

We left the house wit a bag of treats and each of us had a very small duffel bag for our clothes. Our car is very small and we had to fit all of us our things and Mandy's friend and her things in our little car. We picked up Cassie at about the half way point and the girls were packed pretty tightly in the back seat, especially Mandy and her very long legs. She is 5'11" and about 90% of that is her legs. But, before we got to Cassie we stopped at a gas station about 5 miles from our house to get pop, I had to make my first pit stop. I guess I had too much coffee.

We arrived at our hotel in the late afternoon. The drive was monotonous and pretty uneventful. We stayed at the Shades of Green which is a resort next to the Polynesian Resort right on the Disney property near the Magic Kingdom. In fact we walked across the street from our hotel to the Polynesian to catch the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom. The thing is that you have to drive for miles through and around the Disney Property to find this hotel/resort. Once you actually find your spot it is pretty hard to leave and go elsewhere to eat. We therefore ate our meals at the resort even though there wasn't anything that Lily would eat and we paid $19 per person plus drinks. Poor Lily, they didn't have simple things like not fried or marinated meat, or fruit or veggies without a sauce, or plain rice or plain potatoes, everything was very good but not at all Lily friendly. Even though she has been allergy free for almost a year, now instead of worrying about her food allergies we are worrying about her pickiness. Well not really worrying so much as saying poor Lily as we enjoy our meal. I mean we give her food and if she choses not to eat, well that is her choice. I just have to also point out that our first night me and the older girls very much enjoyed the all you can eat buffet with crab legs, they were divine.

It was at first very awkward to sleep in a hotel room with all five of us. The room was very quiet, we could hear each other breath. We are used to sleeping with a fan running and so the quiet was very quiet. Somehow we all managed to fall asleep and make it through the night. Our room was enormous and luxurious. We were on the ground floor and our sliding glass door went out to a porch. On the porch we had a couple of chairs and a table and a view. That porch was my favorite part of the trip. Every morning I would get up first and take the first shower. After my shower I would have to walk ten minutes to get to the hotel lobby and buy my coffee. I would also pick up milk, juice, bananas for the family. Then I would come back to the room and take my coffee outside on the porch while the rest of the family took showers and ate their breakfast. I had a good hour and a half of reading with my coffee on the porch while the family got ready.

My view from the porch was amazing. There was a pond, surrounded by grass and beautifully landscaped bushes and plants. Behind the pond was a golf course which was full of slopping green grassing hills. Behind the golf course was a forest. The morning sky was as blue as can be and in the air was just the sounds of the birds saying good morning. Each morning different little animals would come and say hello. I saw a turkey, cranes, bunny rabbit, and many other birds. They would come right up to me and forage for food around my feet.

Tomorrow I will tell you about our first day, at the Magic Kingdom. I missed y'all.

Disney World in Pictures

Stories to follow.

Natchez, Mississippi

We finally took our trip to see the mansions in Natchez which were built before the civil war. My understanding is that most of the southern mansions built before the civil war were destroyed during the war and seeing older homes is rare and special. I enjoyed spending the day with my family and the opportunity to see Natchez was lovely, but I don't think I would make the trip again.

There are many houses open, and available for touring. We saw three, it cost us about $75. I thought that was a little pricey. The first one was in poor repair, I am thinking if you are charging me to see your home a fresh coat of paint is not too much to ask. The second house was in perfect condition but run by very stern tour guides who insisted that you listen to hours of commentary and only look at the rooms in the order you are told and after listening to a detailed description of every single piece of furniture, what wood it is made of, who made it, etc. It got old. Jeff and Lily about lost their minds and we had to leave about a third of the way through the tour. The final house was both lovely and the tour was less annoying, we made it through about half before Jeff and Lily lost their minds.

We also saw a bit of the Natchez Trace. I took more than 80 photos, I will share a few of my favorites.

Pompeii

In January 2002, shortly after my first miscariage, Jeff decided what we really needed was a trip. He picked Pompei as our destination. We rode the trains from where we lived in Pordenone to Pomepei. Picture northeast corner of Italy to mid to lower west coast of Italy. This train trip took us through Rome, the only time in my two years living in Italy that I saw Rome, was out the train window. I guess our time in Italy was spent taking the road less traveled. We kept putting off Rome and then we were gone.

Pompeii was completely destroyed in the year 79, by a volcanic erruption of the nearby Mount Vesuvius. The entire city of Pompeii has been escavated and you can go there and see an entire Roman city. There is so much detail. It is not a couple of buildings but blocks and blocks of buildings, an entire city. There is so much detail, the paintings on the walls inside the homes and shops. The address outside each house along the street. Sidewalks, billboards, two arenas, fountains, so much detail. We were the only people there that day, the whole city to explore on our own. It was amazing. The hotel we stayed at was phenominal. We didn't have the opportunity to stay in hotels very often during our time in Europe. We lived there. When we did stay in hotels it was always on a budget, and our rooms were always so small you would not believe it. In Pompeii our hotel was lovely. Our room was good sized. We even had a balcony.

We hoped on the train from Pompeii and explored a bit of the northern portion of the Almafi Coast. We had a lovely dinner and bought some lovely jewlery. I think that I had the best lasagne of my life on this trip. As luck would have it I was able to find photos of this adventure. Enjoy.

Assisi

Another of our day trips while living in Italy was to Assisi, which is also located in the Umbria region. Assisi is the birth place of St. Francis. We went to Assisi on a tour bus instead of driving there ourselves. We discovered on this trip that we preferred to travel with our own car. Tours are nice, you get to sleep instead of drive and you get a guided tour. Jeff and Mandy do not like the guided tours, too much talking, and I don't like to ride on buses so much.

We arrived in Assisi on a very cold, rainy day with extremely cold and strong winds. The town of Assisi is full of hills, so imagine us walking up steep hills in the rain with 100 mile per hour wind blowing toward us. This is how I remember Assisi. Whenever we got to a location of interest and took shelter inside. We got to see the church that St. Francis attended as a child. We got to sit in the pew and look at the cross he was looking at when God spoke to him.

My favorite part of the day was at the church built after his death a monument built to him. Inside this enormous cathedral was the small home that he lived in during his adult years. St. Francis was born into a wealthy family and grew up as a playboy of sorts. He enjoyed spending money and having fun. When he was fighting in the army and then held prisoner for over a year he contracted a fever and almost died. During this time of extreme duress he found a deeper meaning to life. He began a journey of discovery and eventually became a saint. During this journey of discovery, at one point he was feeling that he wasn't close enough to God, or that his spirituality wasn't enough and he decided that perhaps if he were to go outside and roll around naked in the brambles, that the pain and duress would help him to journey even closer to God. When he began to roll in the brambles just outside his house they were miraculously changed from brambles to roses, but roses have thorns and would hurt just as much, not these roses, these roses were thornless roses. He found himself rolling around in thornless rose bushes.

Inside this cathedral made as a monument to St. Francis is his old home, a tiny brick house no bigger than a closet. But, also there is a garden, a garden filled with those thornless roses. Which have been carefully and lovingly tended for over a century by the people of Assisi. Within this Cathedral, you go down a hall and you look through a window, and through that window you can see the rose garden. You cannot go into that garden or touch those roses but even on a cold and blustery winter day there were a few blossoms on the very truly thornless rose bushes. I felt an enormous spiritual connection to St. Francis that day. I believed the miracle of the rose bushes. I don't normally believe in the supernatural aspects of religion all that much. If I hadn't been in that church I would have thought of that story as a fairy tale like that of Cinderella, but having been there I have to tell you it felt very real to me that day. I am most certain that a miracle happened, the miraculous thornless roses.

I like to think of God in this way, I take that thought of a loving God who would not want his child to suffer, I take that with me everyday. I don't believe that people need to suffer to learn or to grow.

Turn that frown upside down

This post is brought to you today by the word SMILE, lol-I crack myself up-too much Sesame Street I suppose...

We did eventually make it over to Pisa. It was a bit of a drive from our home in Pordenone. If memory serves it was a 5 or 6 hour drive? We left our house at 0'dark early and arrived at around 10AM. We were of course hungry, but there is no food served in Italy until 12:30PM therefore we stopped at Camp Darby, an Army Post, and grabbed a quick bite at the Burger King.

When we arrived at Pisa I was very disappointed. The whole thing is a courtyard with the tower and a church and I think there is another building? We did not have a reservation to climb to the top of the tower and it was very expensive if memory serves. For some reason we didn't climb to the top. We walked around, went in all the buildings and an hour later we were looking at each other like, what now?

I had noticed on our way to Pisa that we had driven past the city of Vinci. I looked it up in my travel book and it was the Vinci - as in Leonardo di Vinci (Leonardo from Vinci). It was on our way home, if you think getting off the main road and driving on tiny back streets for a hundred miles is on the way. (that is a really rough and most likely exaggerated estimate). Mandy and I were able to convince Jeff to take the detour. We arrived in Vinci at about 5PM. By this time we had been on the road for a very long time, Jeff was not in the mood to do a lot of museums. I love museums and Vinci has tons of museums all about our dear Leonardo. Jeff made me pick one.

I picked the closest museum and we entered. It was like a house the had been turned into a museum. There was an entry way and then you traveled from room to room. This was the most wonderful and fabulous museum in the entire world. You really have to go. Leonardo kept a sketch pad of ideas. He would think of an invention and then draw out a sketch, he would include dimensions and mechanical jargon. Most of these inventions never made it past his sketch pad. The people of Vinci had taken these sketches and built the actual item from the sketch. The actual sketches are housed in Paris, but copies of the sketch are framed on the wall next to an actual rendering of the object. They also show the year Leonardo made the sketch and then the year that object was actually invented. You see he invented all kinds of things hundreds of years before those things were invented by someone else. I always wonder if the second person who saw his sketches or if it was a coincidence? Some of these items include the bicycle, the helicopter, the machine gun, the hand glider, that is all that comes to my mind. It was so much fun to see all these things.

We also bought a print of one of Leonardo's sketches for only a couple of dollars. It says on the bottom of the sketch that it was printed in Vinci, Italy. So cool. I had it framed and it is one of my most treasured pieces.

By this time we were very hungry, it was around 6PM no restaurants serve food at 6PM in Italy. So we stopped and ate dinner on the way home at a rest stop along the Autostrata, an Auto Grill. It was pretty good.

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I have been tagged for a ton of Memes and I have been so very bad at keeping up. So sorry, I feel like an ingrate. I am going to try and put a meme at the bottom of every post until I catch back up.

This first one is an award given to me by the Nap Warden. This is the makes me smile award. Thank you very much. Be sure to check out her blog, Chronicles of a Stay at Home Mom. Her blog is smart, funny and very upbeat. I am passing this award along to some of my blogging buddies who have left comments that made me smile this week.


meno, I loved your yellow lab comment.
mamadaisy, I loved that you felt about the Colosseum the same way I felt about some of the places I have been-feeling history.
marion, sitting on the stones that told the stories of the ages, I love that you put into words what I was thinking.
luckzmom, I too have been moved to tears by the history of a place, glad to have a kindered spirit.
lorelei, you totally made me smile with your comment about a good meal, "The only thing I can make is reservations."

Gubbio

One weekend not long after our trip to Salzburg, we decided to go to see the leaning tower of Pisa. It had just re-opened and they were allowing people to climb up to the top of the tower again after having been closed for quite some time for renovations. Just as we were about to leave, we found out that in order to climb to the top of the tower you needed to have a reservation. They only wanted a few people per day to climb up the tower and it took awhile to get a reservation. So we decided to go another day. What is the point of driving all that way if you are not going to get to climb up the tower.

Jeff and I couldn't decide where we should go instead. Our gas tank was full, we had snacks we wanted a trip. We decided to give the tour book to Mandy and let her pick where we would go that day. Mandy picked Gubbio.

Gubbio is a little town in the middle of the Umbria region. Italy is broken up into regions like we are broken up into states. Each region has differing characteristics just like our states are very different. For me the Umbria region is my favorite. While Verona is my favorite city, Verona being in the Venito region, Umbria is my favorite region and Gubbio is my favorite city in Umbria. That probably makes no sense to anyone but me.

There is not a train station in Gubbio, this makes it very remote. The Umbria region is mountainous and to get to Gubbio you have to drive and you have to drive along windy roads. It took forever but we finally found the little town.

While we were in Salzburg we bought a Christmas ornament for about $50, we saw one in Gubbio for about $2, you see the difference between being a tourist town and an out of the way town with no trains going through.

There wasn't a McDonald's or a tourist book at the newspaper stand. We saw a big castle at the top of the hill and decided to start our tour of Gubbio there. Aren't we clever? It turns out that the Castle/Fortress was turned into a cool museum. We had a lot of fun browsing the museum. Around the museum are little shops. We browsed the little shops and bought a ton of medieval weapons. They were very reasonably priced and authentic weapons. Like a ball and chain, a cross bow, daggers, etc. We spotted a suit of Armour. Head to toe, full suit of armour with amazing details. It was only a couple hundred dollars. We decided not to buy it that day. Can you believe that? I have regretted it ever since. Jeff and I often talk about going back to Gubbio, just to buy that suit of Armour. I wonder if it is still there. Probably missed our opportunity. Wouldn't that make the coolest library, a suit of armour and our massive weapons collection. While I collect art, Jeff and Mandy collect weapons every where we go. We have a ton of weapons,which is so weird, for a peace lover like me.

Salzburg, Austria

We actually went to Salzburg twice, you can read about our first trip here. It is also a funny story where I make fun of Jeff and there are a few photos.

Our second trip to Salzburg was with some friends, we wanted to go visit the famous Christmas market. Our friends had a Dodge Durango, an enormous vehicle, we had a lot of people in that vehicle and a lot of room. The drive from Italy to Austria was a lot of fun with a SUV full of fun people. It was snowing that day, and our driver was a bit of a daredevil. I was scared we were all going to die, but I tried to keep it to myself. I always like it better when Jeff drives, he is an excellent driver and not one of those guys who feels the need to push the limits past what is safe.

Driving up through Austria we pass by beautiful mountains, and castles, the whole drive is almost as fun as the destination. In the summertime what I really love is the crops growing on the sides of the mountains. Like a patch work quilt the smaller greener mountains are covered with squares of crops. It is quite an interesting site. Other mountains are the really tall rugged type, that are stone, and harsh, Jeff loves those types of mountains. The view along the drive changes and I always loved driving up to Austria.

When we got to the Christmas market in Salzburg, we got some warm mulled cider, that was good. The day was just cold enough for snow, we dressed appropriately, the big fat snow flakes were falling from the sky. There wasn't any wind, and we were warm as we walked around. The city looked like a Christmas village, all lit up, snow falling, quaint centuries old buildings. I felt like I was in a movie. We had a big lunch and then we went about the task of browsing through all the wares at the Christmas market.

Mandy was at that age, where she knew everything. I tried to tell her to dress warm before we left. She assured me that she knew. I let it go. She wore tennis shoes and thin socks. We were walking around outside in the snow for hours. Her feet got very cold. At the Christmas market I bought her a pair of new socks. The cost about $100 dollars. Never buy new socks at a Christmas market in Austria, they were really warm, wool, thick, but $100. Jeff was furious. That was pretty much all the money we had brought with us. But, Mandy's feet were warm.

We also bought a hand painted Christmas ornament. I still have it. It is lovely. Reminds me of that perfect day at the quaint Christmas market. Later I tried the hot wine, and all the snacks we could get our hands on, they were tasty. The market wasn't all that big, just some tables in the middle of the town square. The stuff being sold wasn't that interesting, unless you count the socks and the ornament. But, we just had an enormously wonderful day. I think it is one of those things that you really only get to see if you live in Europe. It wasn't really a tourist event as a local event. I will always remember those fat snow flakes and the hot wine. It really was a great day.

In fair Verona

Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene
-William Shakespeare from Romeo & Juliet

One of my favorite trips was to Verona. We were only there for an afternoon, still it has been with me ever since. Maybe because we got some great artwork and I look upon the scenes from Verona every morning. Maybe because this city is the setting for Romeo and Juliet. Whatever the reason, Verona is my favorite city in all of Italy, maybe in all the world.

This trip was one of the first trips I took with Jeff after we got married. One of my very first adventures. Jeff, Mandy and I drove from our home in Pordenone to Verona. I think the drive was two or three hours, not far. We arrived in the down town section, the older section of town and found a place to park our car. We then found a newspaper stand and bought a book about Verona. The thing about Europe that makes travel so easy is that they take care of the tourists, the bumbling Americans who have no knowledge of the language or history. Every city sells books about their city in a variety of languages. All you have to do is find a newspaper stand and buy a book. They usually only cost a few dollars. The books tell you everything you need to know about that city, big beautiful pictures, history and maps. As soon as we buy our book we find the nearest McDonald's and we get ourselves a lunch and plan our day. This is pretty much how we bumbled our way through Europe. Had a great time. Saw many things. It is nice to live there for a few years, to be able to just show up and look around every weekend was an adventure.

What I remember most about Verona is going to see Juliet's house and standing on Juliet's balcony. At first I was skeptical, because Romeo and Juliet is a work of fiction, not a true story, not a story from a history book, it is a play, made up by William Shakespeare. It is a wonderfully written story, it is world renowned, a story known by all, but it is not a record of actual events. Well, not according to the people of Verona, they say that William witnessed the true and actual goings on between Romeo and Juliet and wrote he play about actual events. So we went and stood on Juliet's balcony. Jeff took our picture. It is in a box in my garage, maybe someday I will dig it out and scan the picture and prove to y'all that I once stood on the balcony of Juliet, where Romeo stood below and said those sweet words. I believe my husband called up to me from bellow, something about hurry up, I am hungry. Just kidding.

While Mandy and I pushed our way through the crowds to descend back to the street, through the house of Juliet, Jeff secretly bought a sketch of the balcony. He later had that sketch beautifully framed and he gave it to me for a present. I cherish that picture still today, it hangs in my dinning room, near a framed poster I bought while we were on the streets of Verona, that I later had framed. I guess you could say that I have a dinning room dedicated to the memory of my trip to Verona.

The other thing that really stands out in my mind is the Arena. It looks like the Colosseum in Rome, maybe a little smaller. It was built in the first century. For two thousand years it has been used. First for the gladiators, now days it is used for Operas and concerts. Elton John played there while we were in Italy, I almost bought tickets, I still kick myself for not going. While we were there that day, we bought tickets and just wandered around the arena. It surprised me how much it is like the coliseums in our modern cities. A big entrance, you follow signs to get to your section, you go through tunnels, the tunnels split, you go this way or that way to get to your section. The only difference is that it is all made of stone, the walls, the ceiling, the stairs, the seats, the stage, it is all stone. The stones were worn. Where you place your feet, walking down the stairs, there stone is worn. The seats are worn wear you sit. How many feet, how many butts does it take to wear the stone. Two thousand years worth of wear and tear. It makes me feel a part of life, all the life that has existed, all the lives that have passed through this arena. All the feet that wore away the footprints on the stone stairs. All those events.

You know how it feels to be at a concert, to be at a sporting event. The excitement of the crowd the pulse of the event courses through everyone there. I think I was able to feel a bit of that history a bit of the spirit of all that excitement, as I sat in the empty stone seat on that warm summer afternoon.

I guess this is one of the reasons I enjoy traveling so much. I enjoy learning the history of places and I sometimes can feel the history of a place, the spirit of that place seems to exist, like the place has a memory of all that has happened. I have felt that way only a few times, here in the Arena in Verona. I also felt it in the concentration camp we visited in Germany, I felt it at St. Marcos square in Venice, and at the Pyramids in Egypt. Have you ever felt that way, felt the history of a place, felt the spirit of the events of the people.

Oriase Gorge

Oriase Gorge, Tawada, Japan 2003