INNSBRUCK, AUSTRIA

Nick and I are planning a squadron ski weekend in Innsbruck, Austria in January. We wanted to get a feeling for the city, and the hotel where we've reserved rooms for the party, so we headed up this past weekend to check it out.

After 4 hours of driving in a snowstorm on Saturday morning, we made it to Innsbruck! It was colder than I could have ever imagined. I didn't get as many photos as I had hoped because it was so cold, but I'll share a few favorites.

We'll be staying at Hotel Innsbruck, which is right in the heart of the city. This picture isn't the greatest, but I love seeing Nick in Uggs. :)















This is the view right outside of our hotel. It was stunningly beautiful...but, only 15 degrees! Brrrrr!!

 There was even a Christmas market right across the street from our hotel.I know VERY little German, but it was surprisingly easy to understand. (Not to mention, most people speak English in Innsbruck.)

There were booths with meat, cheese, and hot wine at the Christmas market, but my favorite part were the ponies!
They didn't seem to be bothered by the freezing temperatures. :)

After the Christmas market, we walked further into Old Town. There's a hotel there called the Golden Roof where Mozart apparently stayed. (I didn't get a very good pic of it)

Just down from the Golden Roof, there was this large stuffed statue. I couldn't figure out what he was, but everyone was taking pictures of him.

Just outside of Old Town there was shopping, shopping, and more shopping. There were more Swarovski crystal stores than Starbucks in California.
We stopped in one shop that had a little bit of everything in it. Nick loved this wolf hat with wolf paws to keep his hands warm. (Or maybe it was a "De Wulf" hat. :)

 One of the activities we have planned for the trip is bobsledding! We went and visited the facility on Sunday morning. It looks a little intimidating! I'm still debating whether or not I want to try this in January. :)

Nick also got to hit the slopes, and said it was amazing! He got to snowboard on a glacier, but he didn't have the camera, so we don't have any photos of that, unfortunately. He said the snow was amazing! He was snowboarding in 4 feet of powder, but it was only 0 degrees Fahrenheit on top of the glacier.

Overall, we had a successful trip, and we're so excited to head up there in January with our squadron!

FIRENZE

Bed & Breakfast

The past week and a half, Nick and I welcomed my parents to Italy! They're our first visitors. I almost have too many adventures to write about! One of the highlights was FLORENCE, or as the Italians say, Firenze. We drove 3.5 hours on the Autostrada south west of Sacile, and drove through beautiful mountain towns to reach the chaos of Firenze. We only got lost 3 times while trying to find our bed and breakfast- Hotel in Palace. (Yes, Hotel IN Palace, not Hotel in THE Palace. Silly, Italians!)











I have to give a lot of credit to Nick for finding our sweet retreat. It used to be a home for a dentist before he turned it into a bed and breakfast. This is no ordinary bed and breakfast. It was located on the top floor of a palace. (Thus the name- Hotel in Palace) 









It's located just a few blocks from the center of Firenze, and it has a beautiful garden with a fountain. It's a perfect escape from the hustle and bustle of the city!

The B & B is located on the top floor of the Palace. To get to the top floor you have to either ride a small elevator that can barely hold 4 people, or you can do what Nick did and race the elevator to the 3rd floor. From there you have to climb a spiral stair case to the entrance of the Bed and Breakfast. There is a glass elevator, but it's meant mainly for luggage.
The picture to the right is the view we had from our room.





CHURCHES
We got our fair share of museums and churches while we were there. The first church we hit was right in the heart of Florence - the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore - aka the Duomo. It is massive!! It is almost 300 feet tall and was built back in the 15th century!
 It still baffles me that a structure of that size was made back then without all of the machinery we have available today.







We climbed the 463 steps up a narrow staircase to the top of the Duomo, which was no small feat, but the view was totally worth it! Half way up the stairs, you can walk around the fresco painted on the inside of the dome.










The painting was an interpretation of heaven and hell. I don't think I'll post some of the pictures we have of hell because it was REALLY graphic. You can see where hell starts in the bottom right corner of the picture to the right. I'm still shocked that anyone would paint something so graphic in a CHURCH!

I learned a few other interesting things in Florence, and some of them are somewhat embarrassing to admit...but here I go. For instance, did you know that most churches are built in the shape of a cross? I didn't! Hopefully, there's someone out there that didn't know that either. :)
Did you also know that there are bodies buried in churches? Literally IN the church! There were tombs and caskets everywhere! Can you imagine going to church and having to look at graphic paintings of hell, while there are dead people buried all around you??
Don't get me wrong, the churches are beautiful. They have stained glass windows, beautiful paintings (not of hell), massive wooden doors, and they're rich with history. I guess I just grew up with a very different idea of church. :)

Above is a picture of me climbing up to the top of the Duomo. The ceilings were pretty low and the stairways were narrow. It was interesting when we had people coming back down from the top and we had to squeeze by each other.
The view from the top was spectacular! Here's one of the best shots I took. In the foreground, you can see the bell tower, or Campanile, next to the Duomo.

We couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a jumping photo 300 feet up on top of the dome! This shot of Nick took about 10 different tries and this was the best one. The best part about taking these photos is watching all the reactions around us. The couple next to us were laughing watching Nick jumping over and over because I wasn't taking the picture fast enough. Haha!











MUSEUMS
We were technically in Florence during the off-season, but there were still TONS of tourists! Most of the tourists are Americans.  I heard more English in Florence than I've heard in the past 3 months that we've been in Italy. It makes it hard not to eaves drop, when you hear so much English again. :)
If you want to beat all of the other American tourists to the museums, you have to get there early!








The first museum we saw was the Galleria dell'Accademia where Michelangelo's David is located. We got there right after it opened, and there was already a long line. David certainly was worth the wait! I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but I didn't realize that David is sculpted after the Bible story of David and Goliath! I just thought it was a hunky, nude male sculpture that Michelangelo decided to call David! (Hopefully, I'm not the only one that just realized this!)










I don't have any good photos of David because you're not technically supposed to take any photos in the museum, so here's a few pictures of Nick being silly. :)

We also went to the Uffizi, and saw some of Botticelli's paintings including the "Birth of Venus."

It still amazed me how much time was spent painting, sculpting, and building back then! People dedicated their lives to art, and it's still intact after all of these years!

The picture to the left is of one of the main halls in the Uffizi. Again, we weren't supposed to take any pics, but I snuck this one in. :)

MARKETS

After we were completely numb from walking through churches and museums we went to the Leather Market. A few streets were lined with vendors, and their colorful booths were packed with purses, jackets, bags, scarves...etc. The vendors would yell things at you to get you to go to their booth. My favorite was, "Come to my booth where everything is ALMOST free." We found a few little treasures amidst the chaos, and moved onto the Mercato Centrale (Central Market) which was indoors.










The Mercato Centrale had mostly bread, seafood and meats. I noticed Italians laughing as they passed by one booth. The vendor had a sign that read, "No fondling the meat," in Italian. Haha!











At the end of the day we went to a market in the Piazza della Republicca. Vendors carried mostly cheeses, chocolates, and sausage, and you could walk around and try a little of each. When we were getting ready to leave Nick noticed a pastry booth. He got a hot donut filled with cream, and I found my new love: fresh Cannoli. Holy CANNOLI, they are addicting! I'm tempted to learn how to make them, but I think that might be dangerous because I would eat ALL of them. I would have taken a picture of our delicious treats, but I was too busy eating them. :)





PONTE VECCHIO

Ponte Vechhio literally translates to "Old Bridge." It has merchants all along the sides that mostly sell jewelry. It is one of the most well- known places in Florence, but I was left wondering why it is so well known. It does have a lot of history to it, but then again so do a lot of other places in Florence.

My highlight was seeing Nick try to take a picture with one of the local police ladies on Ponte Vecchio. She was not amused, but we were. :)










I also noticed all of the love locks that are on Ponte Vechhio. Couples attach the locks on the bridge, then throw the key into the river. Apparently, you will be fined 50 Euro if you're caught putting one on the bridge because it not only damages the bridge, but someone has to come and break them off.





HOME AGAIN

Overall, we had a fabulous weekend in Florence! November is definitely a rainy month in Italy, but it's so pleasant walking around in the cool weather!
There's soooo much history in Florence. You could stay here for a month and still not have visited all of the churches and museums. It is one of my favorite cities I've visited so far, but for now I'm happy to go home to Sacile.

Ciao for now!

TUTTO

HOME SWEAT HOME- (yes, sweat)
We have now been in our apartment for 3 weeks and we're loving it! We feel very fortunate to have found this place.
We got to experience Italian HEAT and no A/C for the first couple of days that we were here. You know it's hot when you're not moving a muscle, and you're drenched in sweat. Needless to say, if any of you are considering visiting, I would NOT recommend coming in late June, July, or August... unless of course you like the idea of sweating profusely. Luckily, we've had a few storms pass through, which has helped to cool things down.
For those of you keeping track (ok, maybe it's just me) we've been living in hotels for 6 weeks, and sleeping on a blow up mattress for the past 3. After 9 weeks, I am sure excited at the thought of sleeping in my own bed.
I can't wait to start decorating our place; unfortunately, that won't happen for at least another week because our belongings are being shipped to us. (Literally, they are on a boat across the Atlantic.) For now, the base has loaned us some temporary furniture that looks like dorm furniture. I feel like I'm back in college because this stuff is almost indestructible! I know a few of you have mentioned wanting to see pics of our place. I'll be sure to post them once we get our furniture delivered and set up.

PLUGS-
Electric plugs and outlets in Italy are a whole story in itself. Each home in Italy has at LEAST two different types of outlets: one is Italian, and the other is European. Some homes actually have FOUR different types of outlets. It makes things very tricky! We've had to buy numerous transformers and converters for our appliances and anything requiring electricity.
Outlets are not always in convenient places. We only have one plug in our laundry room/bathroom, so you can either use the washer or dryer. You can never use both; however, if you were savvy enough to find a plug to be able to use both at the same time, you will blow a circuit. We tried using our oven and dryer at the same time, and the power went out. Housework takes a little longer in Italy, as a result.
I'm still trying to figure out how to do laundry. Our washer and dryer are half the size of what we're used to. Plus, our washer is in Italian, and our dryer is in German! Have no fear though because our microwave is in ENGLISH! Yay! So I guess that means we will be well fed, but smelly.

COINS, CONDOMS, THONGS, AND TOBACCO
Nick and I are still loving Italy, and everything it offers. (of course!) I have found a few things surprising in the past month like the fact that 90% of places in Italy play American pop music. I'm almost getting tired of Katy Perry's song, "Wide Awake," and Rihanna's new song because you hear them everywhere. (Especially in touristy places like Venice!)
Italian's have some VERY strange vending machines like: a cigarette machine, (almost everyone smokes here), a condom machine, and a thong machine. (And by "thong," I do not mean a flip flop.) I don't think we'll see many of those vending machines in the States any time soon.
The currency here in Italy is the Euro. It looks a lot like play money to me. Nick has reassured me that it is NOT play money. :) Most people use coins instead of cash for small purchases. They have .1, .2, .5, .10, .20, .50, 1, and 2 Euro in coins. We paid for some coffee with a 20 Euro bill the other day, and the cashier was slightly annoyed because our purchase was only 3 Euros. She had to go digging in her wallet to give us 17 Euros in change! (Oops!)

BK & MD -
I was warned on many occasions before I arrived in Italy that fast food will be hard to come by in Italy. Italians love their own food, and they love any occasion to sit and eat with family for a long meal. (which is true!) However, they also love fast food. There's several McDonald's and Burger King's in each town around us, and there are signs EVERYWHERE for McDonald's.
We passed by a McDonald's while we were running errands and the parking lot was packed, and the drive- thru line was backed up into traffic. I was shocked, as you probably are too!
Normally, I'm the fast food junky in the family, but here Nick is always tempted to get a cheeseburger when we drive by Mc-ie D's!

LOWLY LIEUTENANT-
Nick is loving his squadron. This is the first base where Nick is not technically here for training. It's our first official base and squadron. The people here definitely seem more invested in us because they know we're not leaving in just a year or two. It feels a little more like we actually belong!
Nick is the lowest ranked in the squadron at the moment, so he gets to do a lot of tedious jobs like refilling the snack bar every week. 
He gets teased a bit more than most people, but he loves that. They've come up with a few options for his call sign. Right now everyone has been calling him 2-cats, even though he's supposed to be called BNG. (Brand New Guy) A few of the other options have been Iceman and Drama. Iceman was the character that Val Kilmer played in Top Gun, and Val Kilmer is a Christian Scientist and actor. They came up with Drama because he's a Theater major. It may not end up being any of those options, but it'll be fun to find out in a couple weeks what they will be calling him.

FLOATING (or flying) ON CLOUD 9-
I think Nick might be in heaven here in Italy. Most of you know that Nick LOVES kite boarding. We just discovered that nearly half of his squadron is trying to learn how to kite board. One of the guys in his squadron has taken one lesson, and has now convinced himself that he will be in the 2016 Olympics for kite boarding. Haha! Not only that, he's also convinced Nick that he should be in the Olympics. (oh boy!) So every weekend that we've been here, Nick has wanted to go kite boarding. I never thought I would have to literally convince Nick to go traveling around Europe. It actually did take some convincing to get him to go to VENICE! Here we are just a train ride away from at least a dozen countries, and all Nick wants to do in his free time is go kite boarding. I have a feeling I will be visiting mainly lakes and oceans in Italy. I guess I still can't complain too much!

RECALL-
I always have a funny story about Nick, so here's his story of the week. A couple weeks ago there was a base-wide exercise going on just to prepare everyone for the "what-ifs" that could happen. It's always good to be prepared, right? The weekend after the exercise was over, Nick received a text from a guy in his squadron that said, "Total recall at 7pm on base." Nick started to panic. Was the exercise so bad that they are having a briefing about it on a Sunday night? We went on base to get some groceries before 7pm, and we happened to run into the squadron commander. (THE BOSS) Nick immediately chimed in, "Boss, did you hear about the recall at 7?" The shocked look on the squadron commander's face indicated that he had no idea what Nick was talking about. "Yeah, I just got a text that said, 'Total recall at 7 on base,'" Nick said.
 The commander's face changed from scared to slightly annoyed.. and amused. "He's texting you about the MOVIE Total Recall at the movie theatre ON BASE at 7." Hahaha! I immediately starting laughing so hard that I was crying. I wouldn't be surprised if Nick got a call sign from that incident. :) We all laughed...and I'm sure that story will come up again. :)

For those of you wondering about the title, TUTTO means "everything" or "all." You got a little taste of everything in this update...except for pictures. Next time!

Ciao, ciao! Arrivederci!

VENICE (VENEZIA)

I have been bugging Nick for the past 24 days that I've been in Italy because I have wanted to go to Venice SOOOO bad! I finally got my wish on Saturday, August 25, 2012. We walked 12 minutes to the train station from our apartment at 07:30 to buy our first train tickets in Italy. The train station in Sacile (suh -CHEE-lay) is small, so we had no issues buying our tickets.

 We grabbed a quick cafe americano and brioche at the little cafe in the train station, then headed outside to wait. 

The trains are very easy to use in Italy. More people take the trains than drive around Italy. A round trip ticket from Sacile to Venice is only 11 Euro per person. If you drove, you would have to pay for gas and parking, which could easily be 50 Euro for both. (And good luck trying to find a parking space!)
The one hour ride went very quickly, and we were headed out on our first adventure in VENICE!
I had only made two plans for our first trip to Venice: 1. I wanted to see San Marco's Square, 2. I wanted to ride in a gondola. I didn't even take a map of Venice with me because I just wanted to get lost. I wanted to see every nook and cranny I could find. It is an island, so you can't get too lost. :)

BUT, first we had to take a quick bathroom break. I'd heard that it's hard to find a public restroom in Venice, so I took advantage of the restrooms at the train station. It costs 1 Euro to use the restrooms there, but it's totally worth it because they are clean! (I'll spare you the pic of the bathroom:))







We left the train station and followed the crowd across our first bridge: Ponte Scalzi. I was already in love with Venice and all of the sights, and sounds...maybe not the smells. :/

We then headed away from the crowd, and down the first street. The "streets" are more like alleys. Most of the alleys are about one arms length wide. It can get interesting when they get crowded. :)

While Nick was looking at his phone trying to find San Marco's Square, I led us around the concrete jungle. I was amazed by the color! It also made me think of how funny it would be if I decided to paint our home in AZ this nice shade of orange. I think my neighbors would love it!
I can't get over all of the flowers everywhere! I love that Italians take pride in their flowers. It makes me want to plant a garden, too!

After walking about 5 minutes, we came across a BLUE pigeon! Yes, a blue pigeon. I've heard that Venice is known for the pigeons, but I have never heard of this! After doing a little research we found that we weren't crazy. There's a group of artists that dyed about 60 pigeons bright colors. The dye should come off in about 6 weeks. There were even some Italians that passed by that were stopping and staring. It was so unusual!

Gondolas will never get old for me. I love seeing gondolas! I might have taken about 100 photos of them, so I'll try and pick just a few. :)

I still can't imagine trying to navigate a boat 11 meters long, in a little canal. It baffles me!

Boats are the cars of Venice. If you see a boat, other than a gondola, you know that someone lives in the adjacent home. I can't imagine riding a boat to go get my groceries. I thought walking to a store to get groceries was strange just think about riding a boat! 













A lot of people warned me about thieves in Italy. I thought they would be everywhere from the amount of warnings I heard. I think it's good to be wise and not go waving your wallet and camera around, but you don't have to be scared. 

After about 40 minutes of walking we finally found San Marco's Square! It was beautiful...and very touristy...as expected. 
There was an orchestra playing as we walked into the square at a nearby cafe. We stopped and listened for awhile. I felt dwarfed by the buildings in the square. Pictures just don't do it justice...but we had fun trying.

We also had fun taking silly photos. We started jumping in front of a few monuments back in DC before we left for Italy, and thought we would continue the tradition in Italy. My jumping photos didn't turn out as well because my hair kept going in my face, so here's a picture of Nick. 

 

By this time, we were pretty hungry from walking, so we tried to find a place to eat that wasn't near the square. Most Italians observe Reprosso, which is a lunch break from 12-3pm. I still can't really understand this. Most people want to eat at those times, and you're going to take a break!! 
We did manage to find one place that was open, and it was also in our price range. I had Pesto Gnocchi, and Nick had Lasagna. I wouldn't normally pick Italian food on a hot day, but we did..and it was delicious!

After lunch, we walked around trying to find a "good" price for a gondola ride. We've heard that you should try and haggle on prices in Italy, so we tried to haggle our gondola ride. The first gondolier we came across wanted 80 Euro for 45 minutes, and 160 Euro for the full 1.5 hours. My jaw literally dropped. That's about $100 for a gondola ride! For that price it better come with a full 5 course meal, and we would be serenaded. Wishful thinking!  We told him we'd think about it, and we walked away. He then ran after us and offered to do a 30 minute tour for 60 Euro. We wanted to see if we could get a better deal, so we walked away again...big mistake. 

We walked, and we walked, and we walked and couldn't find ANY other gondoliers. After about an hour of walking we decided to go back to the first place, but couldn't figure out how to get back. We eventually realized that all of the gondoliers had been on reposso. (Ugh.) I was ready to go home at this point. It was really HOT, and we walked about 6 miles in circles.
Nick asked to try one more street, and if we didn't find anyone we could go home. I agreed, and to my surprise we did find a gondolier. He gave us the same offer the first guy did, and we quickly told him we could get the ride for 60 Euro. He scoffed and walked over to his gondola to pick up a piece of paper. It was an official document that basically said all gondoliers have to charge the same price for the rides: 80 Euro for 45 minutes, and 160 for 1.5 hours. Boooo:( I still couldn't grasp paying THAT much, so we went searching for the first gondolier. We finally found him!

He told us he wouldn't give us the price he had originally quoted, and quickly looked away from us. (Haha! It was kind of cute watching the gondolier pout.)  So we put on our sad faces, and said, "Pleeeeease." He said no again, so we walked away. The gondolier sitting next to him then jumped up and said he would do it for 60 Euro.:) Yayyyyyyyyyyy!

It was totally worth it, too! He told us a little history about Venice, and the fact that it's sinking. (scary!) I learned a few interesting facts: 1. Most people don't live/can't live on the first floor of the buildings because they're flooded from the rising sea level, 2. The gondoliers go through a year long training to become gondoliers, 3. It's passed down from generation to generation, 4. There are only about 450 gondolas and gondoliers, and there will never be more than that because it's passed down through families.

We passed by the home where Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp filmed part of The Tourist. You can actually rent it for $18,000 Euro. (I thought the gondolier said per night, and Nick thought it was per week. Either way...it's pricey!)
 If you haven't seen The Tourist, he's in the foreground of the picture to the left.<--- (Just kidding:) Haha! If you haven't seen the movie The Tourist or you don't remember what the building looked like, it is the large pink building in the background of this photo.

The only disappointing part of the ride was that the gondolier didn't sing. Apparently, that's just in the movies. All in all, the gondola ride was totally worth the 60 Euro. It made our first trip to Venice complete! 
We headed back to the train station after our gondola ride. We had a quick, and HOT trip back up to Sacile. Nick fell asleep on the train ride back...I'll spare you that picture as well. :) I loved, loved, loved every minute of Venice. I would highly recommend Venice to anyone!

Ciao!!

L'ITALIANO - THE LANGUAGE OF LAUGHTER

Boungiorno!!

KITTIES IN CARGO-
We made it to Italy! Bizou, Beeker, and I had a BIG adventure traveling 17 hours from the U.S to Italy.  Initially, both cats were going to be in cargo for the trip, and last minute the airline told me that I had to take one with me on the plane. How do I choose just ONE?! At that point, Beeker was nominated to go in cargo based solely on the fact that she had already relieved herself in her kennel. :( (Poor Beek-Beeks!) Thankfully, Bizou was uncharacteristically quiet on the plane, which was a HUGE relief.
We had a 4 hour layover in Germany where I got to make up for the 8 hours of sitting I had just done on the flight. They made us get off the plane, go through customs, collect ALL of our baggage (and cats), turn our checked bags BACK in, go through security, walk uphill both ways in the snow back to the gate we started from, and go past go and collect $200. (Phew!) While I was carrying about 70 pounds of luggage around the airport,  I discovered that Germany, and Europe in general, has VERY little air conditioning. I was never more grateful to get back on a plane for my 1 hour flight from Germany to Italy. :)
When we got off the of the plane in Italy, we were greeted by Nick, his squadron commander and wife, our sponsors, and a few others from the squadron. They were really excited to see our 2 CATS! We moved our baggage to our room in the temporary lodging facility (TLF), and finally let the cats out....of the bag. (Hee,hee) Now the kitties won't go anywhere near their kennels. :)

HOUSE HUNTING-
My first full day in Italy, we headed out to do some house hunting. Nick warned me not to get my hopes up because the houses and apartments here are much smaller than anything in the US. We first visited Sacile, which is a beautiful town about 15 minutes southwest of the base where a lot of the guys from the squadron live. Sacile is the type of town that makes you want to walk through and sing like Belle from Beauty and the Beast: "Little town, it's a quiet village, every day like the one before..." There are shops, restaurants, cafes and places to eat gelato on almost every corner! There are beautiful rivers and streams that meander through the town, as well. And I still can't get over all of the beautiful flowers hanging off balconies and windowsills. Italy is stunning!
To my surprise, the first apartment we looked at was HUGE! I call it the "tree house" because there are stairs that lead in all different directions, and there are three floors! The apt has 4 rooms, and 4 bathrooms! (UNHEARD OF!) There are wood floors, wood ceilings, a huge fireplace, and a view of the Piazza (town square). It was amazing! Then we went to the second apartment. After seeing the first apartment, nothing compared. The second place felt more like an apartment, whereas the first place felt like a home. I was convinced at that point that I didn't need to see any other places. We had found our home right on the Piazza del Popolo (People Square) in Sacile, which we would get to move into on August 21st.

PIZZARIA, TRATTORIA, OSTERIA-
We HAD to stop for some gelato while walking around Sacile, and we didn't have to go far to find it. I was slightly intimidated to order in Italian, so I let Nick go first. He confidently blurted, "Ciao! Parle Iglesias?" "Uhhhh...no," responded the server, slightly confused. I started to laugh. I don't know much Italian, but I knew enough to realize that Nick wanted to ask,"Do you speak English?" but instead he had asked, "Do you speak CHURCH?" Hahaha! Iglesias is Spanish for CHURCH. Haha!
Nick proceeded, "VERO una pallina di gelato." The girl looked slightly confused again, then grabbed Nick a scoop of the flavor he picked. Instead of saying, "I would like a scoop of gelato," Nick said, "TRUE a scoop of gelato." VORREI means "I would like." VERO means "true."
The Italians love when you try and speak their language even if you make mistakes; however, most of them won't correct you if you're wrong.
I'm convinced that there is no such thing as a bad meal in Italy. Every meal we've had is DElicious! We've noticed a few differences in eating here compared to the US. If you want to have a fancy meal, you go to a RISTORANTE.  If you want a casual dinner you'll go to a TRATTORIA. If you want to eat pizza you go to a PIZZARIA. And if you want to eat at a mom and pop shop, you'll go to a OSTERIA. Nick thought that a mom and pop shop was called, APERTO.  I noticed A LOT of signs that said APERTO. There was even a FURNITURE store had a sign in front of it that said, Aperto. That was new! A furniture store with a mom and pop restaurant? APERTO, I found out, means OPEN. Hahah! I can't tell you how many stores Nick pointed at and said, "There's a mom and pop place, too!" Haha! He makes me laugh...especially when he speaks Italian. :):):)
And don't worry! If for some reason you get a craving for fast food, there's a Taco Bell, Cinnabon, and Burger King on base. :)

BEVERAGES-
I LOVE coffee, and thankfully, so do Italians. There's a cafe or "Il bar" just outside our apartment.
A big difference in coffee here is the size. As an American, I expect to get at least 12 oz for a small coffee, but not here! You basically get a shot of espresso when you order coffee. I ordered a cafe Americano, which is a shot of coffee with a small pitcher of hot water to dilute the shot.
Italians do not order coffee drinks with milk in them after noon. You will get funny looks, if you try.
When you order water here, you can expect to get carbonated water,  unless you specify "acqua naturale" which is a bottle of still water. You can also expect to pay more for water here than wine. I guess I should consider taking up drinking. :P
And if you want ice, forget it!

NON TOCCARE-
We walked around the Piazza del Popolo a little more and noticed several boutiques. YAY! (Any men reading this, you can skip this section.) Italian shopping is definitely different than American shopping. In America, we walk into a store and start picking things up and touching all of the fabrics. Here you will get funny look if you mess up their displays. If you want to try something on, you tell them what style and what size you would like. DO NOT TOUCH the clothes on display. (Non toccare)
Also, if you're like me and you head right for the sales rack in a store, you won't find one. Italian stores only have sales in August and January. There are big signs all around the Piazza del Popolo that read, "Saldi," which means sale.
One of my expectations in Italy was to see women and men wearing bright colors. That has been one of the biggest surprises for me. Most women wear very bland, neutral tones. Plus, they wear very little jewelry! I'm going to stand out like a sore thumb with all of the loud clothes and jewelry I have from working at Buffalo Girls in Texas! 
I do LOVE that the Italian women like to dress up, even if they're just going to the store. They call it "bella figura." It basically means you need to always look nice. You will never catch an Italian woman going to breakfast in her slipper's and PJ's. 

THE FAST AND FURIOUS-
We decided to head back to base after a fun day of looking at apartments and sight-seeing in Sacile. Driving in Italy is an adventure, to say the least. The roads are winding and narrow. There are bicyclists EVERYWHERE, and people drive way over the speed limit. It's chaotic! Plus, when it rains here the pavement is about 100 times as slippery than the pavement in America. It has to do with the type of material they use for the roads.
I was expecting to see little European cars here that look like clown cars. NOPE! There are luxury cars everywhere. I've never seen so many BMWs in my life.
Watch out for the Carabinieri! They're the cops around here that hold out flashing "lollipops" to signal you to pull over. If you get pulled over by the Carbinieri you can expect to pay at least 200 Euro.  If you don't stop for their flashing lollipops, they have the right to shoot at you, and could arrest you and take you to Candyland...with their flashing lollipops. (Haha! Just kidding:))

We are so grateful that we've found our apartment! We're excited for you all to see it. Next on our list is finding a car...and traveling of course! :)

Arreviderci!

SEADOGS, SEAHORSES, HORSESHOES, & HORSEFISH

PACKERS -
Moving to Italy feels like a whirlwind. Nick and I had long check lists which included: out-processing, renting our house, and preparing for movers in the weeks leading up to our road trip across the US. We had to think about 3 different sets of movers coming to pack our house over 4 days. The first set of movers packed 900 lbs of home goods that we will need when we first arrive in Italy. You can only pack the basics like pots, pans, silverware, underwear, high heels, lipstick...you know, the basics. :) The second set of movers were at our house for 2 very full days and packed up 90% of our house, which should arrive to Italy in 2 months. (Yes, 2 months!) The third set of movers packed a few remaining items that we won't need in Italy, and put them in storage. (like our washer and dryer.) Apparently, you can hook up your American washer and dryer in Italy, but it costs an arm and a leg to run them. (I personally like both my arms and legs, thank you!) After 4 days of movers, we were all packed up and ready to drive across America. At this point, I was just praying we had set aside ALL the documents and paperwork we needed for traveling because EVERYTHING was packed and we won't see it again for 2 months. (No pressure.) :)


ROAD TRIP -

Our road trip started early on a Friday morning, July 20th. We had a 12 hour drive ahead of us with 2 very anxious kitties: Bizou and Beeker. We loaded the car with suitcases and cats and we were off! It was a little hard thinking about leaving our home. We bought it brand new a year ago, and now other people are going to live in it. I just hope they enjoy it as much as we did! We didn't get out of the driveway before disaster struck. I broke our CD player. (OK, maybe not a total disaster) I turned on the radio and accidentally hit the CD eject button, and the CD player went haywire. Hopefully, that would be the only mishap on our journey. We made it to Amarillo, TX the first night. The cats only screamed half of the way. :/ The second day, Saturday, July 21st, was a breeze; we drove 13 hours to Dow, IL to stay with our friends, the Roberts. We took advantage of being so close to our college by visiting a few friends that are still there, and Clifton Terrace Country Inn, our favorite mom and pop restaurant. Visiting our college and old friends was amazing, even if it was brief. It helps you feel grounded, which is especially nice when we'll be so far away from home very soon. Our third, and final day on the road was the longest day. We drove for 15 hours from Dow, IL to Baltimore, MD. I don't want to do that again any time soon! Nick drove most of the way, but we were thoroughly exhausted by the time we arrived in Baltimore. The kitties were definitely most grateful to be in one place for more than a night. WE MADE IT!!


WASHINGTON D.C - 

Nick would be leaving for Italy on Tuesday, July 24th, so that left us with a day and a half to explore. The first day we drove into Washington DC. Neither one of us has ever seen the National Mall, so we headed there first. I went to the National Mall with the intention of just checking things off my so-called "bucket list." What I didn't expect was how in awe I was when seeing the Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial. They are enormous and stunning. (so to speak) The World War II Veterans Memorial was also breathtaking. I had an image in my mind of what the National Mall would look like, and in all the years I've seen it on TV and movies I had never realized that the White House is a part of the National Mall. It is literally across the street from the Washington Monument. I had no idea! I thought it was in a completely different part of DC. (Hopefully, I'm not the only one that thought that.) I also didn't anticipate the HUMIDITY. Nick and I walked almost 7 miles in the heat; it was overwhelming. We escaped the heat at one point in the National Air and Space Museum. Nick was in heaven admiring all of the planes, and how far we've come in aviation. I was admiring how far we've come with stewardesses uniforms over the years. :)


BALTIMORE - 

The next day we ventured into downtown Baltimore. Once again, I was shocked! I've never heard much about Baltimore, so I never thought much of it. It is a quaint combination of Seattle, Washington; Portland, Maine; and Washington DC. It's a big city, but it has a little artsy town feel to it and it's rich with history. We first ate at a little place called Spoons that we found on Yelp. They have HUGE SPOONS hanging around the room...thus the name, Spoons. I have a couple pictures of the over- sized spoons, but I have to figure out how to add them to the blog. We then ventured into the Inner Harbor. Everything in the Inner Harbor was within walking distance, so we wandered around until we saw,"THE SEADOG." It's a tour of the Inner Harbor via speedboat. Nick was adamant that we go on the tour, so I agreed. (Big. Mistake.) I probably should have just gotten off the boat, when they handed me a poncho. It was 50 minutes of listening to a tour guide tell bad jokes, bark like a dog ("SEADOG"), and then we got SOAKING WET! They warned us that we might get a little wet. They did not warn us that we would get soaking wet by a large wall of water from their 47 ton boat. (Lesson learned!) I got a few laughs from onlookers after the tour because my poncho only kept my upper half dry...not my lower half. (oops!) That boat tour couldn't change my opinion about Baltimore. I still loved it!


ITALY BOUND -

We quickly drove back to our hotel, so Nick could pack to leave on his red-eye flight to Italy. (sniff, sniff) We left for the airport 5 hours before his departure time. It sounds extreme, but the seating is first come, first serve. Nick was able to get an aisle seat on the 747. The next time I spoke with Nick was when he arrived in ITALY! In total, he had traveled 17 hours, and the only complaints he had was that the food wasn't very good, and it was FREEZING on the plane.
Nick was greeted in Italy by our sponsors, the Collins, and a dozen squadron members. In the few days he's been there, he's met most of the squadron, looked for a car, and he might have found us an apartment. (phew!)


CALL SIGN -
Nick thinks he might already have a call sign. They've nicknamed him (no pun intended) "2 cats." Apparently, they think it's hysterical that Nick has 2 cats. Most of the guys in the squadron have a dog(s), one cat, or no pets at all. No one has 2 cats! Haha! "2 cats!"


PATCHES -
Nick has also received his new patches for his uniform. One of the new patches has a DRAGON on it. Nick thought the dragon was a seahorse, but he couldn't remember the word so he called it a HORSESHOE. "There's a flying horseshoe on my patch," he told me.  Haha! You can imagine my surprise and confusion. He then corrected himself and said, "Oh, no, I mean, there's a flying HORSEFISH on my patch." Haha! At this point, I couldn't contain my laughter. "What's it called?" he asked. "A SEAHORSE," I said. There was a long pause..."oh, actually it's a dragon," he said. Hahahahahah!
OHhhhh, man,  I love Nick. He always keeps me laughing. :) I can't wait to see him in just a few more days!