Halloween

Taking a quick break from my Italy posts.

Saturday night we had a No Kidding Halloween Party. I dressed up as a trailer park house wife. I got a nightgown from Walmart and a house coat that my mom had from my grandmother. My mom also had blue fuzzy slippers that she lent me. She put my hair up in curlers and I bought the most hideous, trashy makeup I could find. I also got some cigarettes from Tony and my mom and I burned the end of one so it looked more real. I just kept the cigarette in my pocket for use in pictures, cause man, that smelled! They were Menthols! You know, I was going for realism! I also hung a pill bottle from my neck and labeled it 'Mother's Little Helpers'. Hee. The end result was better than I expected. Check it out!


Matt came as NYPD tactical guy and the host, Lou, just happened to have a pair of handcuffs (there was a story about him using the handcuffs at his wedding, but I won't get into that here...) So, when you look at this picture, just sing the COPS song to yourself.


As you can see, many people like guns here in Texas. We took a picture of everyone with their guns. Annette as the cheerleader didn't originally have a gun, but Matt had this blue model gun that went with her outfit so she was included. She's a pistol-packing cheerleader. Yes, these are all fake guns.



We were having a little too much fun with the fake guns. This picture just cracks me up.


When my mom and I put my hair up we sprayed it really well with hair spray. When I got home and took out the curlers, this is what it looked like. You can see the makeup a bit better in the this, though I had taken the lipstick off at this point.

And here I am with no makeup, but my hair is finger-combed out, and it actually looks kinda cute.

Italy 9-10: Uh, how fast is this place sinking?

Staying with Aunt Suzy in Pordenone was a nice break from hotels. We were able to do our laundry there and she showed us around her town. It's very cute. It was only an hour train ride from Venice. Venice was so wonderful. I've heard people complain about a smell, but we really didn't notice anything. You don't need a map because the major places are all marked with signs and it's easy to just wander around. Sooner or later you see a sign for Ponte Rialto or St Mark's Square. Here's a couple pictures from wandering around.

This is what greets you from the main bridge by the train station. That's the Grand Canal.


Wandering around


While we were there, high tide came in. Here's a picture of Annette standing on the sidewalk that had gone underwater. St. Mark's square had a few inches too, but they put up raised walkways so you didn't have to stand in the water. It receded pretty quickly.


This is St. Mark's Square. The Basilica is at the back right, Doge's Palace is near right, and the Camponile is on the left. We went up the Camponile (in a very handy elevator!) and got some cool pictures of the city. From high up, it looks like any other city. It's not till you're walking around that you realize there aren't any 'roads' - just waterways and sidewalks.

Italy 7-8: Is that bus passing us?

We rented a car in Florence and took two days to drive to Pordenone. My brother-in-law's aunt (Aunt Suzy) lives in Pordenone - about an hour northeast of Venice. She's lived out there for over 15 years and has a condo in the city. She let us stay with her a few days. I'd met her during her visits to Austin and she's a cool lady. It's only a few hours from Florence on the autostrada, but we wanted to take our time. Aunt Suzy recommended Ravenna as a good stopping point between Florence and Pordenone. The town is known for their mosaics. So, we picked up the car Saturday morning and got out of Florence. We rented a cute Fiat station wagon that fit all our luggage and the four of us just fine. Matt drove since he's comfortable with a stick. It was hella expensive, but well worth it. Matt did an excellent job. Getting out of Florence was a little nerve wracking since the Italians don't seem to understand the concept of 'lanes'. As soon as we got out of Florence we got off the autostrada and took a backroad over the mountains. It was so beautiful. It was rainy so the pictures didn't come out as good as they could've, but here's one of the better shots. It was actually a good thing it was raining since it made Matt go kinda slow on the mountain road. If we'd been going normal speed I think I would have gotten car sick. It was really really windey (sp?). At least they had good guard rails on the edges of the drop off.


We got to Ravenna with no problem and checked out the major churches. Here are some pictures. When you walk in, you think they're just paintings. Then you look closer and realize all these images are made of tiny tiny colored tiles. It was so amazing.


Church that had some of the mosaics...cool architecture.


We walked around the city at night and found the most awesome chocolate shop. The owner spoke some English and we talked with her for quite awhile. They even had chocolate made with Absinthe! That's the alcohol that's illegal here cause it's so strong. It didn't smell that good, though.


Here's an interesting photo showing how Italy really incorporates the old with the new.


Anyways, on Sunday we got back onto the autostrada since we wanted to make it to Pordenone during daylight. There were speed signs posted quite clearly, and Matt was going about 20km over the posted sign. We were getting passed by a lot of cars, but didn't want to push our luck and get a ticket or something. So, we just kept doing our speed.....until a huge bus started passing us! At that point we agreed that if a bus is going that fast, the posted signs must just be a suggestion and not really a speed limit. We asked Aunt Suzy about it later, and she said your speed really just depends on how good your car is and that cops don't check the autostrada. Good to know.

Italy 4-6: Tub of Doom and Oh (comma) My God!

For the next few days we were in Florence. First off, our hotel (Hotel Maxim) was in an incredible location. About 15 minute walk to the train station and about two minutes from the Duomo and Piazza Signora. All four of us shared one room. And in that room was....dum dum dum.....THE TUB OF DOOOOOOMMMMMM!!! Beware all ye who enter! It was this crazy tub that sloped so at the drain you could barely stand with your feet together, and then it sloped up almost like a step. A step that was very slippery when wet. We really thought someone was going to hurt themselves, and Annette did fall once. It was an adventure. If you look closely at the picture you can see how the towel is laying on the slope and how the light shines off of it.


Florence is by far my favorite city. It's small, easy to walk around and see everything. It's beautiful. I would take Florence over Rome any day. The main things in Florence are the Duomo, Ponte Vecchio, Palazzo Vecchio, the Ufizzi (huge museum), Medici Chapel (chapel covered in marble...very beautiful but some of it was under repair), the Academy (with Michelangelo's David), Piazza Signora, and a ton of little churches. The main church is called the Duomo instead of Chiesa because it has a dome. Other churches were just Chiesa di..... We got some amazing photos of it at night. Mike's tripod really came in handy here. The marble glowed in the night...so striking. The last picture is a POSTCARD! Mike took a picture of it with his camera. Sneaky devil.
Check out the people sitting at the stairs. It gives you a sense of scale with the Duomo. It's just huge.





This is the Ponte Vecchio (literally translated as Old Bridge). During WWII a German commander couldn't bring himself to blow it up so he just demolished everything around it. It's lined with gold and jewelry shops. At night instead of using ugly metal grates they protect their closed shops with these beautiful wood doors. They were probably hundreds of years old. We took this picture using the tripod and standing still. You can see the outlines of people that were walking by.



Here are some pictures of the city. The Ufizzi and Palazzo Vecchio are museums, but all the religious art starts to get repetitive. How many times can you see Mary holding baby Jesus? Or the crucifiction? But, it was nice just to appreciate the skill and the artistry.



While walking around the city we came across this window display. It just stopped me in my tracks and I said "Oh comma My God!". I had to get pictures of it. I don't know why they thought this would make people want to buy their clothes, but there it is. Enjoy.

Italy 3.75: Are you traveling alone?

On the train from Sorrento to Naples we started talking to the gentleman sitting next to us. He heard us talking about Pompeii and was going there that day. He was from Canada, I think. He was a slightly older man, and I asked him if he was traveling alone. His answer? "Well, I started out with my wife, but we got into a fight and she went home. So, yes now I'm alone." He said it so matter-of-factly. When I said I was sorry to hear that, he said it had been brewing for twenty years and didn't seem too upset about it. I just could not get over that. To have such a fight that you leave the country? If I'd been her, I just would have gone to a different city or something! I almost wanted to ask him if he thought he had a home to go back to. I could just imagine all his clothes thrown into the street or something!

We did run into some great people though. We met people from England, Australia, Tennessee, New York, California, and some other places. Even though we went in the 'off season', there was still a fair number of tourists. Nothing like the summer months would have been though.

Italy 3.5: Mmmmm....gelato

Ok, this gets its own post. As some of you know, the BEST THING about Italy is the gelato. Ice cream, you say? No! It's gelato! (yes, strictly translated that does just mean ice cream, but it's so much better!) Gelato is very creamy and soft, but thicker than soft-serve ice cream. Here's some flavors that I remember seeing:

Pineapple, coconaut, chocolate chip (stracciatella), pistachio, bocci (choc and hazlenut), chocolate, white chocolate, raspberry, strawberry, mango, kiwi, lemon, coffee, banana, caramel pear, apple, blackberry, vanilla, strawberry shortcake, and on and on.

Some places had more than others and the prices varied quite a bit. This picture was from a place we went to in Sorrento. The lady that owned it was really cool and chatted with us for a bit. We had gelato almost every day. I miss it so.....

Italy 3: Whoa!! Is that a....?

Day 3: Pompeii and Herculaneum. We'd heard from some other tourists that Herculaneum was better than Pompeii, so we decided to do both. We all agreed that they both had their pros and cons, but it was worth it to see both. It was 10 euro each if you saw both, or 11 euro for just one. We were in Pompeii for five hours and didn't even see everything, and we saw all of Herculaneum in 2. Pompeii was awesome. So huge. Herculaneum was better preserved, but it's much smaller because the current town is built on top of it so they can't excavate that much. For 2000 year old structures, I was pretty impressed. Oh, yeah, and the blog title? Check out the first picture (click to ENLARGE). Supposedly those types of images scared away bad spirits....and virgins (kidding).


That's Vesuvius in the background that erupted. Can you imagine seeing that come at you? Crazy.


Street in Pompeii. Kinda shows you how big it is.


Herculaneum



Cool 2000 yr old entry way


While in Pompeii I did something unpleasant to my knee that plagued me the entire trip. I think I tore some tendons on the sides of my kneecap when I leapt off the sidewalk, about 18 inches high onto the cobblestone street. I landed wrong and my knee just didn't like it at all. So, the rest of the trip I really had to watch it on stairs and thank god for Matt cause he really helped me out. When I got back one of my doctors looked at it for me and right now I'm taking advil and icing it/heating it at night, but I still have discomfort. If I'm standing or walking too long it stiffens up and the back of my knee really tightens up. I might have to get an MRI if it doesn't get better, so they can see what's going on. I'm going to be so pissed off if this is a chronic/lifetime thing. Argh!

Italy 2: No seasickness for me!

Day 2: Our first full day - we went to Capri. At first we were going to do Pompeii , but the weather was so clear, we thought we'd get better pictures in Capri. We caught a hydrofoil at the Sorrento Marina (large fast ship that raises out of the water on skis) and in about 20-30 minutes got to Capri. I wasn't sure if I'd get sick or not. The only time I've truly felt sea sick was in San Diego on a whale watching boat when we stopped to watch the whales and the boat was just lulling in the ocean. I didn't throw up, but had to go to the side and sit down. Luckily, I've realized as long as I have a reference point to focus my attention on, I do ok. I also completely forgot to bring the Dramamine with us that day. It was safe and sound at the hotel, but no help to me (or Matt). When we got to Capri we had lunch and then rented a motor boat for two hours and drove around the island. I didn't think it was wise to eat first and then immediately get on a little boat, but it turned out ok. I felt fine the whole time. That boat trip was one of the highlights of the entire trip. It would have been expensive for two people, but with four it worked out just fine. Mike had some experience with boats, so we let him drive. Here are pics of the Sorrento Marina (the first pic), arriving to Capri (2nd pic) and driving around Capri on the boat (3rd and 4th).





We also walked around the town. It was charming.
When we got back to Sorrento it was dark and Mike started fooling around with the options on his camera. Came out with this. We sat still for a couple seconds and then stood up. The shutter was open for so long it made us ghosts! I know if looks bright out, but it was like 10pm!

Italy 1: Dear Lord are we there yet???

Ok, as promised, here's some Italy stuff.

Day 1: We split up on the way over. Matt and I had free tickets on American. Mike and Annette were on Continental. So, I can't speak for their trip. For Matt and I, we only had one stop over in Chicago and Matt hooked us up with the Executive club. Is that the name? Whatever. It was awesome. Anyways, upon arrival in Rome we ran into Mike and Annette in the passport line, so no worries there. We went directly onto the train shuttle that goes from the airport to Rome Termini, the main train station - 11 frickin euros for a 30 minute train ride. They really stick it to you on that ride. Anyways, we took a train from Rome to Naples and then a local train to Sorrento (technically Sant' Angello, a little town/suburb of Sorrento). We made sure no one slept because we were trying to make our bodies get used to the time. Italy is 7 hours ahead of Central time, so we left Saturday morning and arrived in Rome Sunday morning. Mike didn't sleep at all on the plane so he looked like the walking dead by the time we arrived in Sorrento around 2pm. It was at this point I realized the near god-like powers Mike has for directions. And, as someone extremely directionally-challenged, I was in awe. We found the hotel with no problems - very cute Hotel Angelina - and then went walking around Sorrento. It's on the coast and is a good place to base out of for Capri and Pompeii. Here are some pics. I made them smaller so I won't have any space issues with Blogger (not even sure if there's a limit, but just in case). So, my original photos are slightly better quality. These are about 1/3 of the pixels.



I was all set to chill and enjoy the scenery, but got out voted.

just.too.tired

Ok, I know I promised to post about Italy, but I'm just too tired. I think I'm actually going to bed! Maybe staying up till 2 this morning wasn't that bright.


Anyways, here's the first Italy picture from Sorrento, our first town. Very beautiful, right on the water. This picture came out so amazing, I'll probably print it out to frame it.

Happy Birthday Kim!

Holy crap! Just saw the date on my post. It's Kim P.'s Birthday!!! I know she reads this blog.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Beatles song: "You say it's your birthday? It's my birthday too yeah (in 2 days!)
Happy Birthday to you!"

Heh. My parents used to play that to us in the morning on our birthdays. They even called me in college with it.

Kept you waiting

Yes, I know I've been back for a week and haven't posted anything about Italy. Sorry!

And I'm not going to do it now either! Heh. I just looked at all 764 pictures. Yeah, that's SEVEN HUNDRED AND SIXTY FOUR. I'll post some of the highlights. We even have blog titles all worked out for the different days. Mike's camera really worked like a champ. We got some AMAZING photos.

I really enjoyed the trip. Everyone got along pretty well - no fighting matches or throwing of hair brushes. We never got lost thanks to Mike "The Map" F. It was rather frightening how he always knew where we were and where we were going. My Italian wasn't as rusty as I thought and saved some money haggling with street vendors. I was really good about buying souveniers. Just got a few paintings which was my goal anyways. I like decorating with art that means something rather than something I got on sale at Target. Now I just need to get them framed.

Ok, I need to get to bed. I'll post tomorrow, I swear! (or technically, later today)