Before moving here, I only dreamed of going to Tuscany and staying in a Medieval village surrounded by vineyards, olive orchards, and beauty. I can tell you, my friends, on this trip.....I got to experience it. There’s this little western Pennsylvania country girl inside of me that ran barefoot all throughout the country any day that it wasn’t snowing.....she wakes up and she sighs in relaxation once she gets out of the hustle and bustle of city life and views rolling hills. I feel like I’m more of a city girl after all these years......I love the constant buzz of things going on, things to do, shows to see, events to attend, and an international airport nearby. I’m not that country girl anymore, but I relax down to my soul in the country. If you ever plan to see Florence, Firenze in Italiano, please do yourself a favor and stay at a vineyard like this one. Don’t stay in the city. The Chianti Region of Tuscany With my mama still in town, we decided to drive to Tuscany. We have a small car, so we were rather cramped on the drive, but we saved a ton on train tickets. We were also able to stay at a vineyard away from a train station, since we had the car. If we had taken the train, we would have ensured that the place we stayed was near a train station in order to train into Pisa and Firenze. Tuscan wine is named by region and also by type of grape. We stayed in the Chianti region of Tuscany in an adorable resort called Tenuta di Artimino. This resort is perfect for couples or families and is located smack dab between Pisa and Florence. Either city is about an hour away with Pisa to the west and Florence to the east. There is a main building with hotel rooms, a restaurant, a pool, a bar, and the front desk. Then, about 1/4-1/2 mile down the road, with vineyard on both sides, is a medieval village with apartments, a sandwich shop, two other restaurants, a wine store, and another pool. It’s cobblestone everywhere and panoramic views for days. We stayed in the apartments. The food at this resort was knock-your-socks-off incredible. The farms here get their food locally and the food is made fresh daily from the ingredients picked locally. I must tell you about the Florentine Steak. Italy is very proud of her regions. Different foods come from different regions in Italy. That region is always very proud of their specialties. For example, Napoli is in the Campania region and is known for Buffalo Mozzarella, Margherita pizza, Pasta Genovese, and much more. Tuscany, most notably Florence, is known for this incredible Florentine steak among other dishes. The Florentina must include a porterhouse cut between a sirloin and the tenderloin. It’s sold by the weight in the restaurant, it’s thick as hell, and it’s fresh. They usually bring the meat out for you to inspect before they cook it. You cannot get Florentine steak well done.....it’s just too thick of a steak! You have to be okay with blue, rare, medium rare steak.....at least in the middle. My husband ordered one....they brought out the raw meat and he looked at me like he was in heaven. Hahaha He shared this steak with all 3 of our boys. I know, I’m a party pooper; I don’t like rare steak AT ALL!! I ate some of the outside of the steak and it was incredible. One of our boys actually ate the meat off the bone afterwards, yup, just like a caveman. The wine.......I could go on for days about the wine. If you ever have the opportunity to go to a wine tasting in Europe, it always starts with a white wine or Rose. Then, they give you the younger, red wine made of grapes that haven’t been aged in an oak barrel, then they give you the oak barrel aged wine, then finally, their reserve wine that has usually been aged the longest and is the prized wine of the vineyard. The wine in Chianti is medium bodied, full of flavor, and is of incredible quality. My husband and I sighed at every first sip. My mom is more of a sweet wine drinker.....Tuscan wine is not sweet, unless it is a dessert wine. She enjoyed the Prosecco more (I know, I think she’s part alien, too). Since my mom is not a big Tuscan wine drinker, she watched the kiddos so that we could get a personal lesson and wine tasting with a Sommelier. Thanks mom. =) We had a wonderful time. It was amazing to get a lesson on the region, the different types of wine and grapes, what the colors of the wine mean when tilted in the light, and we had each tasting with a complimenting fruit, meat, or cheese with each different wine. We learned about their certification process (DOCG versus DOC for you wine geeks like me out there), where Tuscan wine originated from.......and we drank wine. Really, really freaking good wine. It was a blast and included a lot of giggling.
Pisa The next morning, we drove to Pisa, which was only an hour west of our resort. Pisa has a cathedral with a duomo (dome), a monument, another church or two, a park, the leaning tower, and that’s pretty much it. We knew this going in and figured we’d see one of the towns on the way back to the resort and have a chill day. Taking photos with the leaning tower are a ton of fun. We each took turns holding up the tower, smiling, laughing, and being goofy. In truth, it leans less in person than I thought. ***Travel tip: In order to see the Cathedral and/or the Duomo, you actually have to have a reservation. We did not know this, so learn from us! We only came and saw the leaning tower, took our pics, bought some cheesy leaning tower glasses and souvenirs, and left. One our way back, we took a different route and stopped in a town called Lucca. We ate at a restaurant where I had a delicious Pistacchio (pistachio in English) Ravioli.....I have an obsession with Pistacchios. Lucca happened to be having an antique market that day!!! I’m not big on antiques, but European antiques are SOOO cool and my little ones found a bin of comic books in English! If we had the room in our trunk for anything other than wine and our luggage, I would’ve loaded up. The curse of the small European car bites me in the butt! If you ever get a chance to hit up an antique market in Europe, do it. There are SO many cool things.
Florence aka Firenze We left our hotel early in the morning to get as much time in Florence as possible. Florence is much smaller than Rome and it is possible to see a lot in one day, although I feel that Florence does need a day or two longer to give the city its full justice. Firenze is the birthplace of the renaissance. I fell IN LOVE with the architecture, statues, and style of the renaissance. It’s so unique and grand and special. The Cathedral de Santa Maria del Fiore is the most impressive and unique cathedral I have ever seen!!!! The duomo stands out above the city, making Florence easily recognizable in any photo just by the dome! Construction on this cathedral started in 1296 and Brunnelleschi designed the dome. We did not make reservations in advance for the Cathedral de Santa Maria del Fiore, so we had to wait in line for about 30 minutes to gain entrance. The outside of this cathedral is so vibrant....it’s creamy white color is enhanced and accented by hues of pink and green to give a very impressive look and is dotted with columns, unique design, and statues. I guarantee that the moment you lay eyes on this cathedral, you WILL catch your breath. It’s truly that impressive. Inside the cathedral, the marble continues with the impressive design and accented colors. The soaring columns give the feel of endless space and the paintings on the ceiling are full of biblical drama, with the stories of the bible brought to life. Can you tell I was impressed?
***Insider tip: In order to enter most (if not all) cathedrals in Italy, it is required that a woman’s shoulders and knees are covered. They usually have little cloths at the entrance for you to cover yourself up by wrapping one around as a skirt and another as a shawl. As you leave, there is a pile for you to discard the borrowed cloths. From there, we made it to our second bucket list item in Firenze....Michaelangelo’s statue of David. We quickly gained admittance to see the statue with no line and I believe it was €12/adult and the kids were free. David is in a museum called the Galleria dell’Accademia. This museum is full of incredible art and David has his very own room in the museum with a skylight shining down upon him to give him the best light possible. In all my life, I’ve never seen a single statue gain the crowds and crowds of people that David does. It’s SO incredible to see people in this day and age appreciating art and history. Our boys didn’t see it as a big of deal as we did, but did gaze up on the statue with appreciation. Seeing it in person, I felt that one hand was disproportionate to David’s body, but it only appeared that way when I stood at a certain angle. The chisel of this body, the look on his face, all of it was like seeing the bible come to life. Incredible. I’m going to be honest, there’s a TON of art in this museum that is very impressive. It was worth every penny to see the renaissance art and character of the time revealed in the art at this museum.  David We walked over the Ponte Vecchio bridge to check out the shops and we admired the sculptures at the Piazza della Signoria. We walked as much of the city as we could and didn’t find anyone trying to haggle for money or pulling off elaborate schemes. Florence was void of the insanity of Rome and Pisa. I’m not sure if they have different laws or what, but it was a welcome break! **Travel tip: Many Italian cities have ‘cheap eats’ which come in the form of small sandwich shops on the street. Our family (of 6, including mama) ate lunch, drank soda, & had 2 glasses of vino for under €25 and it was delicious and easy to eat on the go. I had a sandwich with spicy salami and cream cheese. It was perfetto! Sometimes, the city has a law where you’re not supposed to sit on the steps and eat the sandwiches or loiter nearby, but we always find a way to get away with it. It’s kind of a silly rule if you ask me.
 My husband and I with the Ponte Vecchio bridge in the background
The last morning of our trip, we spent more time at the pool at our resort in Tuscany, purchased some crates of wine from the vineyard, and purchased sandwiches, to go, from the medieval village we stayed in. This sandwich shop was a flippin jem. This old couple made our sandwiches with such love, all while their hands were shaking with age. They smiled the whole time and gave us a culinary masterpiece.....I had a roasted pork Panino with Italian roasted red peppers, and onions. I still remember how delicious that sandwich was. I’m such a foodie and I especially love when I can tell someone put their heart in their cooking! After receiving our amazing Panino, we headed back to Napoli. The Tuscan region spoiled us rotten with equal doses of art, food, wine, adventure, and relaxation. I truly can’t wait to go back.
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I have been to a great many places in my life. Traveling is a dream come true to me. My fire for wanderlust started in 2012 when I traveled to Dubai to see my husband at a port call. I LOVED seeing how people on the other side of the world live.....SO completely different from the way I was raised. The buildings were different, the food, the smells, the people...it took my breath away and automatically had me begging to see more! In all of the cities and countries that I have traveled to, Italy is my second favorite country after my own. Rome and Florence are the most beautiful cities I have had the honor of seeing. That my eyes could have the treat of this incredible beauty still fills me with a gratefulness that cannot be described in mere words. These next two blog posts are going to be about our journey to Rome, Vatican City, Tuscany (the region), Florence, and Pisa. I will begin with Rome, or Roma in Italiano... Roma My mom came to visit from the states in August, so we picked her up from the airport in Rome. In August, Italians go on vacation to the mountains and the sea, so many restaurants and stores were closed. However, there were still a lot of tourists in Rome. It was very hot and very crowded. Being from Pennsylvania, my mother was not used to the heat and humidity of southern Italy, so it took her some time to get used to the weather, the area, and the country. My youngest son’s name is Roman and it was a top bucket list item for him to have a picture taken in Rome with the caption: We found Roman in Rome. It’s only a 1 hour train ride from Napoli to Roma or a 2.5 hour drive. We drove because it was more cost effective than buying 6 train tickets. We purchased a small map book of Rome that opens and closes and has pictures of how historical landmarks like the colosseum and the structures in the Palatine hill & Roman Forum used to look and how they look now, along with descriptions. My son, Roman, took on the endeavor of finding every landmark in the book and reading about it to us. It was very interactive and fun for him. I highly recommend using this type of book in Rome. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself looking at a lot of ruins and guessing what they were. Just thinking about the history.....the rise and fall of the Roman empire.... is something that has always fascinated me. Seeing it in person, I really wanted to take in the experience and understand what I was seeing.
Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore & Trevi Fountain We toured the beautiful Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. It was our first taste of a Roman Basilica. There were several tombs of various popes under the basilica and breathtaking gold trim, painted angels and biblical scenes, and intricate marble tile from floor to ceiling. The standard of architecture for churches in Rome is extremely high. This being the first church we viewed, truly set the tone for the beauty that awaited us. We walked to the Trevi fountain, where we all threw coins in to guarantee a trip back to Rome. The Trevi Fountain is full of impressive sculptures. In the center is Oceanus being pulled by two seahorses. One of the seahorses is wild and one tame. It’s supposed to represent the different moods of the sea. The sculptures in Roma do not disappoint. They are full of detail and drama. I find that I could truly stare at their detail for hours if given the time.
****Insider tip: If you plan to visit Rome, do yourself a favor........PLAN your trip. I mean it! Rome is extremely crowded and having tickets in advance can cause you to miss lines that could last for hours on end in the December cold or the August heat or any time of year. I promise you it’s worth paying the extra money to book in advance. ****Insider tip 2: I must be honest; any main tourist attraction in Rome is full of gypsies that pull elaborate schemes in order to make money. People will walk up to you and give you a gift and tell you it’s a gift, then turn around and ask for money. If you don’t have any coins on you and attempt to give it back, sometimes they begin to yell at you and make a scene. Many times, while this is going on, someone is being secretly robbed of his or her purse or wallet. This is only one example of a scenario that could happen. Be extremely cautious in ALL areas of Rome, but specifically tourist attractions. The Colosseum The next day, we walked to the colosseum. We purchased our tickets in advance on this website here. General admission was €14 per adult and free for any children under 18. The website states that only 3000 people are allowed at the colosseum at once, so planning is key. When we arrived to the colosseum, there were ticket scalpers selling tickets, as well as a very long legitimate ticket line. The colosseum is partially rebuilt to keep the structure standing. I could literally feel the history seep into my soul as I looked upon this structure that housed SO much history. The gladiators, the beasts, the emperors, the spectators.....all spent time inside of this ancient structure for the pleasure of the public. We did a self-guided tour inside, aka we walked around on our own. The floor has been removed to reveal a maze of brick, wood, and mortar that used to be under the floor of the actual stadium. We tried to envision where the Roman aristocrats sat, where the lions were kept, we tried to think of how many lives were lost within the walls of this magnificent structure. Next time we go to Rome, I want to do a ‘Colosseum Underground Tour’ where we go through the dungeons and the area near the top that is only available for that particular tour. We weren’t up for a tour that day because we had a lot of other places to see, but I think to truly capture the history of the colosseum, a tour is essential.  Inside the Colosseum The Roman Forum & Palatine Hill From here, we walked to the Roman Forum & Palatine Hill. Entry tickets for the Coliseum include entrance to these two other areas. This is where that tourist book really came in handy. We could see the ruins of a structure and then the recreated version of what that structure used to be and really understand and envision what we were looking at. We saw the Imperial Forum of Julius Caesar, where the Temple of Venus used to sit at its center, Trajan’s Forum and markets (which is still pretty well intact), the Forum of Augustus, the Palatine (where many emperors are known to have resided....Romulus & Remis, Caesar, Septimus Severus, Augustus). The Palatine is now mostly ruin from earthquakes, time, and traffic going around it, as well subway lines underneath. If you visit Rome in August, bring plenty of water and take frequent breaks (especially if your mother is visiting and working on a 6 hour time difference)....it is humid and hot as hades. We finished our day with a walk to the Spanish steps, at which point we wore my mama out! Haha She was very happy to sit down and enjoy an Italian aperitivo (cocktail that includes free snacks), as were we all!
Vatican City: St. Peter’s Square, St. Peter’s Basilica, The Sistine Chapel For those that are not aware, Vatican City is its own country, the smallest country in the world at just over 100 acres. We decided to see Vatican City on our last day in Rome. This particular area was the furthest from our Airbnb, so after some debate, we packed up all of our stuff and drove to the area. We parked just a few blocks from the Vatican, about 100 yards from a Carabinieri (police) checkpoint on a very busy road, so we felt safe leaving our car there. On this trip, we had our 2001 BMW station wagon and it has a cover that covers the whole trunk, as do most cars here in Europe. So, usually, people walking by have no idea if your trunk is empty or full. However, parking in a big city is always a risk. Seeing St. Peter’s Square in person was a moment for me. I’ve seen St. Peter’s Square on TV, with the pope waving from his balcony, but on this day we did not have the good fortune to catch a glimpse of the pope. We started out with walking through St. Peter’s Basilica. The basilica is full of incredible marble, gold, dramatic religious art, souring archways, and art as a feast for the eyes that could take days to take in. Something that always resounds with me when I see a beautiful church is the amount of faith and love that has gone into every sculpture, painting, and tapestry. St. Peter’s Basilica is known as a church of the Italian Renaissance, with construction that started in the early 1500s. One of my favorite things to visit in Europe are historic churches. You would think that this church, being the epicenter of Christendom, would be quiet and peaceful. In truth, it’s FULL of tourists and immigrants trying to swindle tourists..... it’s extremely crowded. Taking it all in will mean taking your time and tuning out everything around you. St. Peter’s Basilica is free to visit, but there is an extra charge to tour the dome. If you did not plan ahead and do decide to see the dome, you could end up in a very long line.
After viewing the square and the basilica, we made our way to the Sistine Chapel. I had purchased tickets in advance, but we were late for our appointed time. When I arrived at the chapel, there was a line around the block.....it looked like it could easily take 2+ hours. This line is for people that did not plan ahead and buy tickets. We walked ALL the way past all of those people to the front, showed the ticket, and were admitted entrance (even though we were late for our time by an hour or so). Let me prepare you, the Sistine chapel is NOT just Michelangelo’s work of art. It’s room upon room upon room upon room (you get the point) of paintings, tapestries, sculptures, and more. After going through, what feels like, a billion rooms, you’ll come to the actual Sistine Chapel. It will take you hours to get through it if you truly want to see the beauty and wonder that is the rooms of art and, finally, the Sistine Chapel. The museum & chapel are not air conditioned, but the windows are cracked. There are so many people walking through that guards try to keep a constant flow of traffic to get everyone through. If you want to stop and admire an artwork, you will need to walk to one of the sides, and out of the way of the crowd. You came all this way to see the chapel and paid entrance, don't’ let anyone rush you through!! Just be courteous that the traffic has to keep flowing.
In the rooms upon rooms of art leading up to Michelangelo’s masterpiece, you are allowed to take photos. However, once entering the actual chapel, no photos are allowed, and people are supposed to be silent. They try to enforce these rules, but with the thousands upon thousands of tourists pouring in....it’s nearly impossible. The guards will still try to rush you through; even once you make it to the Sistine Chapel with Michelangelo’s work... do not allow it. Walk out of the traffic and to the area where everyone is viewing the ceiling. There are small benches along the wall to sit on, if you want to sit, you’ll have to keep an eye out for someone getting up. It’s first come, first serve, and it’s crowded. We stayed in the chapel for around 20 minutes. We tried to absorb every section of the masterpiece. I’m going to be honest; it was heart stoppingly beautiful. The detail and faith that went into each and every scene was awe-inspiring. I wish I could’ve taken pictures. Seeing this masterpiece was a moment in time that I will forever remember. Amidst the crowds and chaos that was the chapel, I was able to tune it all out and try to identify the biblical scenes on the ceiling. We had lunch a few blocks away after this. It was a welcome break from the heat and the crowds. ****Insider tip: walk a few blocks away from major tourist attractions for better food and prices. Buon Viaggio When in Rome.... food that Rome is known for is crispy pizza and pasta Carbonara, among other things. I had an excellent Pasta Carbonara near our airbnb. Carbonara is a pasta with cheese, egg, and pancetta. I know it may not sound good, but it’s incredible and FULL of flavor when cooked correctly!! The pizza is thin crust and much crispier than the pizza in Napoli, but still good. Some people actually prefer it, but I’m a Napoletana when it comes to pizza, preferring the fresher and softer pizza of Napoli. I wish I had taken some pictures of the food, but these incredible foods are pictured in my memory.....and my belly. =) After our long day, we were ready to head to the car and drive back to Napoli. We were only parked a few blocks from the Vatican, so we didn’t have far to walk. When we returned, low and behold, our car had been robbed. Someone broke the back window with their hand apparently, due to the amount of blood spattered everywhere, opened up our back seat, and took as much as they possibly could out of the trunk. ****A message for the robber, although I highly doubt this person will ever read this.......My window was already broken....you could have just slid it down. Remember, we picked my mom up from the airport in Rome from the states?! My mama’s entire luggage was stolen, her passport, kindle, and ipad. All of our backpacks were stolen, but not anything of real value for us, although Roman was devastated that they took his favorite stuffed elephant, Cheesy. Gabriel was equally devastated that they took his Teetee (his favorite blanket), and Julian was upset to miss his clothes and quicksilver backpack. We filed a police report and worked on getting my mom’s substitute passport the next day. It definitely left a sour taste in our mouth from Rome, but those are just ‘things,’ as we told the boys. The time we had in Rome was epic and full of the wonder and the beauty of history. My poor Mama, though....we had to find her clothes, toiletries, get her passport, and find her items to get her through the rest of the trip. The consulate in Napoli was able to get her a temporary passport within about 30 minutes after arriving the next day; having that taken care of was our biggest worry. From there, we went to the Base Exchange and some local stores to get her a few outfits for our upcoming adventures to Tuscany, Florence, and Pisa.  Our car!!! ****In the future, we’ll not park a vehicle full of luggage in Rome, even though one couldn’t tell there was luggage because of the cover on the back! We will either pay to store the luggage, keep it at the Airbnb, pay for a parking garage, or just take the dang train!
****Final tip: I recommend visiting Rome at a time of year that isn’t quite as hot and humid....perhaps spring or fall. It doesn’t get too cold in southern Italy in the winter, so that may even be a good time. It was extremely hot, humid, and crowded and would have been more enjoyable if it was cooler and less crowded. So, off we go, with a blanket wrapped around our window, back to Napoli to show my mama our home and Bella Napoli. What an adventure! Until next time, Roma! Next up: Tuscany & Pisa......Vino, Florentine Steak, The Leaning Tower, and more... Life in Italy This blog post is something I’ve been working on for over a month. There is truly so much that I want to tell you all about my experiences, but I also want to do the appropriate justice and not sugar coat my life here. See below, from the heart........ Home Sweet Home It’s been 8 months since our feet touched down in Europe. Our new home has taken some getting used to, but now the pictures are hung; we have more stands for storage and such, our house feels like home. The homes here are made of concrete and our home is an attached villa (townhouse), but we really never hear our neighbors because of the thickness of the walls. I’ve never lived in a concrete home before, so it took some getting used to. For example, the home can begin to stink or the air can become stale if I do not open up the home every day or so for fresh air to come into the home and let the house ‘breathe.’ Not allowing the home to breathe can also cause mold to form. Putting pictures on the walls was an ordeal....I actually hired a guy that hangs pictures for my military spouse friends. He had to drill into the concrete wall, watching for plumbing and electrical lines.
Facts About Napoli
 I love cappuccino and cappuccino loves me!
To say that the driving took some getting used to is putting it lightly. When I first moved here, I truly thought that Neapolitan drivers were going to kill me. Hahaha! After traveling to Venice, Florence, Amalfi, Rome......I can tell you that Naples is absolutely different in regard to driving. There are many more enforced laws and rules in the other parts of Italy, whereas Naples is more of a ‘free-for-all.’ They say “If you can’t beat’m, join’m.” I sure did! Since there are very few rules, if any, if someone is slow, you can pass them at any time...whether it’s a passing zone or not. 2 lanes can become 4 lanes, as long as there is space for my car. Taking initiative is key. Making eye contact means that the other driver can go in front of me, so I look straight ahead. I’ve been backed into, slightly bumped from behind in traffic, and a car door next to me opened very hard and hit my door. This is normal here and people carry on without calling police or insurance or getting upset. That’s why we bought both of our vehicles for less than $3500. We knew going in that each vehicle would experience its share of Naples kisses (aka dents & scratches). However, it took time for me to get to this place of comfort....I started by only driving near the base, then near our home in Pozzuoli, to the beach, and after about 3 months of living here I drove downtown. Before this time, my husband did all the driving. Downtown Napoli is the epicenter of insanity. However insane it sounds, I’ve truly learned to love driving here. Have you ever just wanted to go around someone slow, even if it meant driving on the curb? Have you ever wanted to drive around a line of traffic and cut everyone off at the front? Have you ever wanted to stop on a main road, run into the pharmacy, and run back out without finding a parking spot? All of this is possible in Napoli. They do have a system for checking speeders called the Tutor system on the main highway (the Autostrade is the main toll highway in Napoli). So, speed is checked electronically, but off of the main highway...I do know they do pull people over for speeding very occasionally in small towns, as I did see it once. However, on the whole, this does not happen. Having an older vehicle has some drawbacks, as well. For example, something happened to my horn and it started to randomly honk at any time. This was VERY embarrassing, especially when my car honked at my landlord and she looked offended. I had to stop next to her and tell her I was sorry and show her that my horn honks on its own. Also, after two dead batteries, I now remember to shut off my headlights, close the visors, etc. You don’t realize the features newer cars have until you go out to your car to find the battery dead! Bwahaha. Both vehicles also seem to have slow oil leaks and we have to add oil to our cars every few weeks. I’ve gotten very good at checking oil and adding oil.  Napoli Recycling I’m going to be brutally honest, recycling has never been very important to me. I know it’s terrible to hear. I must say that living in Europe has truly changed me in that regard. I would venture to guess that my carbon footprint is 75% less now than it was when I lived in the states. At our last two stations, recycling wasn’t taken seriously. There was a bin for recycling and a bin for garbage and if you wanted to recycle you could, if you didn’t want to you didn’t have to. I never felt judged for it, either. However, I now live where I have 4 different bins (paper materials, plastic/aluminum, compost/organic materials, and regular garbage) for the waste from my home. There are assorted pick-ups for each of these items throughout the week. I’ve heard stories of Americans not recycling and putting everything in the garbage and the Italian waste management refusing to pick up their waste at all. As you can imagine, this would be a nightmare. We were so worried about it that we took our waste to the base after moving in because we had SO many boxes and odd garbage that we didn’t want to start out on the wrong foot. I actually texted my neighbor random garbage questions so that I threw everything in the right bins, as well!! Would you believe it if I told you that our recycling is 3x what our actual garbage is? Our garbage bag is usually only half full at the end of a week, our recycling fills 2 large, clear garbage bags, and our compost fills a small biodegradable bag. It’s unreal how much can be re-used!! This has inspired me further! I used to put everything in little plastic baggies in my kids lunches and feed my family for EVERY meal on paper plates so that I didn’t have to do as many dishes. I now have little containers for everything in my kids lunches and nearly always use our actual plates unless we’re having a BBQ or a party. I know that many of you were already on the wagon for recycling, but I’m so much more aware of waste now than I have ever been. I even use the water from our dryer to water our plants. The European clothes dryers work differently than American dryers. They pull the moisture out of the clothes into a container and after each load the container is nearly full of water. I have to dump the water after every load. The great part about this is watering the plants, but the negative part is that the dryer takes 2 hours to dry a load of clothes. My laundry never ends.... Salt Life If you’ve read my other blog posts, you know about our family’s affinity for the beach. I am very excited to report that Napoli did not let us down in that regard. However, going to the beach is much different here than in Florida. The first time I decided to go to the beach, I loaded up beach chairs, an umbrella, the boys, a cooler, and headed to the beach! We went in an area called Bacoli, which is about a 20 minute drive from my house. Along the road where all the beaches are, there are a bunch of beach clubs. In front of the beach clubs, loungers and umbrellas are up for rent and restaurants are scattered throughout. I figured that since we had our own chairs and umbrella, we could just go to the public beach. I was so wrong!! I drove to the public beach and it was full of garbage!!! Really gross. I then drove down the road and paid to park across from one of the beach clubs. When I went up to the host, he explained that I could go to the beach there as long as I rented beach chairs. So, after paying for parking, 2 lounge chairs, & an umbrella with a table underneath....going to the beach for the day cost us what is equivalent to about $30. However, this beach was spotlessly clean, bartenders and waiters walk around taking drink and food orders, and the water was crystal clear. The sand is brown, so on this particular beach the water has a brown color until you see it up close and see that it is clear. We were allowed to bring our own cooler with food and drinks, even though the club sells food and drinks, which was a nice perk. I popped the cork on some prosecco and relaxed after the insanity of figuring out our beach day!  Turistico Beach Park, Bacoli We had friends tell us about renting a rubber boat and boating around the nearby islands of Ischia and Procida, so when we had a friend visiting, we booked one of those boats to try it out! I must tell you, after looking back; this is my absolute favorite thing to do in Napoli!!! We rented a boat out of a little port in a town Monte Di Procida, just past the beach town of Bacoli. They gave us a map, a list of things to avoid, and we were on our way! The water around Napoli and the islands is CRYSTAL clear!!! Just as clear as Sardinia, but the waters are deeper in this particular area and there are giant rocks. It’s truly beautiful. We spent the day boating around the islands, taking pictures of the picturesque villages, doing some cliff jumping, swimming in hot springs, floating in the water, and lounging on the boat. We brought swim noodles and floaties because the water is deep, but every one of us had an amazing time. We even swam into a cave!!! This area has so much history that the layers of rock formation around the islands truly mystified us.
Cooking in Italy After eating at many restaurants and taking about a dozen cooking classes, I think it’s safe to say that Italian cooking is INCREDIBLE!!! The food is nearly always fresh...from the tomatoes to the vegetables to the freshly baked bread. Many times, Italians even order cuts of meat straight from the butcher or cuts of fish straight from the fish market for a meal. Making noodles from scratch is hard work! I bought a pasta-making machine that I hand-wind to pull the dough through and I’ve taught my boys how to make the noodles. That’s now their part in Italian cooking, when I’m working on the sauce. However, once made, fresh noodles cook in seconds and have a better consistency than store bought noodles. I take lessons as often as I can so that I can bring fabulous Italian cooking back to the states. A few things I learned:
Downtown Downtown Napoli is full of hidden gems. If a visitor were to just look at graffiti on the buildings, the insanity of the driving, and garbage on the side of the road.....he/she would not appreciate Napoli. However, venturing beyond and really seeing the city will reveal incredible beauty!! I’m in love!
In Conclusion
Although our experience has had its ups and downs, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. There are days that I miss my country and my old real estate career, for sure, but this is an experience that I will hold forever in my heart, for all of my days. I never expected Italy to be America and I embrace the unique beauty that this beautiful country holds. #labellaitalia #bellanapoli #ladolcevita #porratatribetravels Ciao!! We are a water family. When we lived in Pensacola, we could be found at the beach, boating, or in the pool about 3-4 days/ week during the warm weather months. In Pensacola, those months lasted from March – October. We also frequented the Caribbean islands on vacation to soak up even MORE sun! After living in Naples, Italy for about two months, we started to get a bit stir crazy for the water. We had yet to actually go to any beaches in our local area, those we would discover later, but we wanted to travel somewhere with great beaches. The way that we find cheap tickets is an actual process....we start with the website Skyscanner. We plug in our departure location (usually Naples International) and for our destination, we put ‘everywhere,’ then we plug in the dates we want to go. This method provides a list of countries and destinations by price. In Europe, doing this can yield very inexpensive tickets. Sometimes, going to the actual airline website, for the cheapest fare found from Skyscanner, can yield a better price by shifting the date. So, for example, let’s say the lowest fare is €50 per person, round trip on RyanAir. I’ll pop over to the RyanAir website and play around with the flight until I get it just the way I want it for the price I want it. ***Insider tip: Be flexible with leaving early or arriving late for the best price. It’s a vacation, so there will be time to nap. Our family has flown three different times around 6:00 am and arrived after 10:00 pm, even on a school night. However, it can save us around €100 per person (maybe more, maybe less), that’s €500 for our whole family! That’s nearly $570. Saving money for 5 people is a big deal when we want to travel as much as possible!
We found tickets to the island of Sardinia for €71 per person, round trip, that’s $81.42. I started researching the island and got very excited about this trip!! Sardinia is about 130 miles (210 km) long and 68 miles (110 km) wide. All of the pictures I found showed clear, blue water, beaches, gorgeous mountains. This is a rather large island and I was overwhelmed when deciding where in the coast line we should stay, so I received a recommendation by a fellow military spouse to stay at a town called San Teodoro (Saint Theodore). Milspouses are a font of information, especially spouses living in Europe. One of the spouses in nearly every crowd will have already traveled to your future destination.....we constantly pump each other for travel info! We flew into the northern portion of the island into Olbia Costa Smeralda Airport with only backpacks full of our weekend clothes. The bus stop to get to San Teodoro was right outside of the airport. We decided not to rent a car because we wanted to relax in San Teodoro and unwind rather than try to tackle the entire island. It took about an hour and a half for the bus to arrive. During this time, we stocked up on water and snacks and filled up our backpack cooler. The bus ride took about 40 minutes and costs our family of 5 less than €15 because our youngest son was free. Once we arrived, we had about a 20 minute walk to our reserved hotel room at Hotel La Rose.....having backpacks for this type of travel is ideal. It’s difficult to tote around a rolling luggage when crossing streets and walking along sidewalks.
As a side plug for Hotel La Rose ....the location is PRIME. We were within walking distance to the whole of San Teodoro’s shopping, restaurants, and a 10 minute walk from the beach. However, the hotel does not have the best reviews and we read them intently. We had already decided not to rent a car, so we kept that in mind when commencing the hotel search. The hotels with better reviews that we could find within our budget were not in close proximity to public transportation and once we discovered that we wanted to stay in San Teodoro, our options were limited even further. We really did not want to stay at an Airbnb....we wanted the kids to be able to enjoy the pool and possibly make some friends. So, we knew going in that the lodging wasn’t going to be perfect, but we’re not hard to please. The air conditioning was cool, but not cold. The refrigerator barely kept our food cold and the beds were uncomfortable. However, in all honesty, the hotel made up for this in atmosphere. There was a stage in front of the pool area and during the day, they had an entertainment show for kids, and every night they had a comedy show for adults. These types of shows are translated to ‘Animation’ from Italian to English...I say this because if you ever travel to Italy and see that there is ‘animation,’ you will know that it’s some sort of entertainment show. There was a kids club during the day, the breakfast buffet was perfect, the hotel pool was the perfect temperature, and there were little playgrounds throughout the resort for the kids to play. To top it all off, we had our own outdoor table, chairs, and stand for hanging our beach clothes and towels after the beach. Our teenager, Julian, even joined a group of teens and accompanied them to the beach. Julian had the time of his life, as did we all, but this has been his favorite location to date. He hung out at the resort or the beach with those teens for most of the weekend!!
Aperitivo: Now, before I go further.....I must tell you, one of my most FAVORITE things about Italy is the concept of Aperitivo. Spain has their own version of this, as well, but the concept of aperitivo is genius! So, before dinner, roughly between 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm, is aperitivo time in Italy. Restaurants serve pre-dinner drinks to open your palate and give you a chance to socialize and relax. Having aperitivos in Italy is a wonderful cultural experience where you order a cocktail, a spritz, a glass of prosecco, beer or wine and it comes with little appetizers for free. You heard that right....the snacks come with the drinks at no extra cost!! The snacks can comprise of bruschetta, peanuts, chips, fried bread, and even more elaborate depending on the restaurant or bar. Each restaurant varies. ***The Aperitivo game in Sardinia is strong, my friends!! We received marketing materials inviting us to aperitivo, dinner, and events at a place called Bal Harbour, among other places. On our second day, we headed over around 6:00 pm, which is a bit early for Italy. However, we all got dressed up and went with the kids, the time was ideal for us. Bal Harbour is an excellent establishment. They played low, classy techno. The bartender took his time with each drink and made them with love.....he even put a straw in and tested each drink to ensure it was perfecto. My mojito was absolutely perfect. There is a large pool, tables, and plush couches for sitting. The whole vibe of the place made us feel super fancy, so we took a bunch of pictures and it put us in a very relaxing mood to kick off the evening. It was expensive, but worth it, truly. We did not eat dinner there, but I would recommend others to do so. They make a Brazilian steak that comes on kabob sticks, wrapped in bacon, and they take a torch to the bacon on the outside of the steak to make it crispy. It looked divine, but we already had reservations elsewhere!
Ambra Day is also an excellent place for aperitivos. Let me set the scenery for you.....quiet techno music, delicious cocktails with a plate of free appetizers, AND an entire section of the outdoor restaurant dedicated to kids with bounce houses, child caretakers, and tons of fun! Haha It was €8 for a half hour for each of our kids, but they had an absolute blast and we got the chance to relax, kid free!!
Pana Carasau **Restaurants on the island of Sardinia serve a local specialty with lunch and dinner. It’s a type of bread called Pane Carasau. This bread looks like a piece of paper and typically comes in a basket. It was different than typical Italian bread served at the dinner table and we enjoyed it! San Teodoro **San Teodoro is classy. The crowd of people, the restaurants, the nighttime open market, and the shops are all very clean and beautiful. The town is small and very safe and is ideal for a relaxing family vacation. We discovered a restaurant called Sherdan Street Food, one night. The food was delish, prices were reasonable, and there was a gentlemen playing a Cuban bongo drum and singing in Spanish. His singing wasn’t perfect, but we enjoyed the food and the show. My mojito was 'okay.' The service was excellent. I recommend this restaurant for having something other than Italian food in San Teodoro.
Ferry to Tavolara Island The ferry system in Porto San Paolo is inexpensive and the perfect way to tour Tavolara island. On our last day, our flight was not until evening, so we decided to take the public bus to Porto San Paolo and take a ferry across to tour the island of Tavolara. Porto San Paolo was on the way to the airport, so this worked out perfectly for us. After looking over all of the tours offered online and by our resort, we experienced some serious sticker shock. Just to take a scheduled boat tour over to the island was €26 per person and didn’t include lunch, so we looked up the local ferry schedule and paid €16 per adult and €8 per child, round trip. It was a comfortable and smooth 20 minute ride, each way. Once we got off the bus and headed to the port, we got to see the town of Porto San Paolo, which is larger than San Teodoro. We thought it was a nice town and wouldn’t mind staying there on another trip, but San Teodoro really captured our hearts. There are beautiful mountains and trails on the island. I highly recommend hiking around and relaxing at the beach. If I had it to do over again, I would have brought a cooler with lunch and drinks. The prices at the two restaurants on the island are astronomical. They even charged me €4 for a small can of soda....robbery, I tell you! We also rented chairs and an umbrella for the day, since we didn’t have our hotel towels. I don’t recall the price, but in Italy it’s typically €8 per chair and €8 per umbrella. Final Thoughts **Insider tip: Try to do what you can to avoid visiting this location in August. August is Ferragosto for Italians, essentially it’s a month where all Italians go on vacation to the beach or the mountains. August 15 is the actual Ferragosto holiday, but the entire month is a holiday for locals. The crowds will be insane if you travel here in August. June or July would be perfecto. We finished out the trip with dark tans and were blissfully spent. Sardinia is a must see if you ever venture to Italy in the summer. We would also stay at Hotel Le Rose again for entertainment, location, and ease. It is our hope that they make some small changes or renovations to make the hotel a perfect stay before we return. We shall see! The memories of this place keep me warm as I write this post in November. We are so very blessed in this life......to be able to experience these things and see these places. It is my honor to share it with you! Until next time.. Next Blog Post: Our Life in Italia....Beach, Boating, Downtown, Cooking, and More!  Venezia, unedited and unfiltered beauty Imagine......a world without cars and fuel emissions A place known as one of the romantic destinations in the world.....Italians singing to tourists, while navigating a gondola through the many canals. Yes, Venezia, Italia is all this and more. This trip was a very easy one for our family. The tickets were under €30/person, round trip with Easyjet, and the flight was just over an hour long. Easy Peasy!! As far as budget airlines go, we had a great experience on Easyjet. Especially for a flight that is a few hours or less, I think it's very doable. The airplane was clean, the ride was smooth, but any refreshments or snacks were to be purchased separately or brought on board. To save hundreds, I'll happily pay a few euros for drinks and snacks, if we need any. Water Taxi or Public Bus? I had researched our trip and knew that once we arrived to the Marco Polo airport in Venice, that we had to find a way to Venice actual. There are basically two main ways that we were interested in utilizing to accomplish this.....water taxi or public bus. The water taxi (aka Vaporetto) would definitely be the way to truly experience entering Venice, but this route would cost us €14/person one-way. That's €70 total for the family to get where we needed to go! We decided to take the bus at €8/person one-way, which was WAY less expensive. Basically, the bus took us to the island and dropped us off. No vehicles are allowed on the island beyond the entrance. We were extra grateful later on that we took the bus when we ran into someone we met at the airport who told us the water taxi was extremely crowded. A win for us! There are different options for transportation....I looked up having a water taxi pass so that we could use the water taxi each day, but it was rather expensive and I was worried it wasn't worth it. Keep in mind, I'm always budgeting these trips for 5 and not just for one person or a couple! So, we decided to take the first day on foot, then we would decide if we wanted or needed the water taxi. We were wise to do this. Our family is an active family and we love to walk and explore, as you've hopefully read in our previous adventures. Venice is a bit confusing to navigate, at first, but if we had to find a water taxi station every time we wanted to go somewhere we would've wasted a lot of valuable time. We only used the water taxi once on our whole trip... to get to the island of Murano and we payed each way. Personally, I don't recommend the use of the water taxi in Venice, outside of getting off the island to go elsewhere, because everything can be traversed on foot. ***Insider Tip: Venice is divided up into sections and the address numbers are not always in order. I highly recommend having Google Maps and asking the hotel or host for the place you are staying for the coordinates of the property, as well as detailed instructions to find the entrance and access the property. Also, try to find your room before dark, if at all possible. These tips will make finding your room much easier than it was for us, as it took us over an hour to figure out where our room was!
Oh Venezia! What an island! We walked the entire island over that three day weekend....that really was our only plan. The architecture, cleanliness, and charm of Venice cannot be denied. Nearly the whole of the island is cobblestone with little bridges linking you to different parts of the island. Venice is as picturesque as it gets, which you can see on my photos. We went to the Piazza San Marco, St. Mark's Basilica, walked along the Rialto Bridge and the Bridge of Sighs, and took pictures every chance we had. We decided against a gondola ride. It was €80 for 40 minutes during the day and €100 for 40 minutes past 7:00pm. I believe that this price was for up to 6 people on the gondola, so regardless if you have a party of 1 or 6, it's the same price. If we wanted the gondolier to sing to us, it was an extra charge. It was hotter than Hades out in June and we didn't want to ride during the day with the sun beating down on us, we also didn't want to spend the extra money for a night time ride. We decided against a ride and we don't regret it! I did, however, take incredible pictures of them and sigh at their beauty. ***Insider Tip: This city would not be very easy to navigate with a stroller, since it's cobblestone, and there are a lot of arched bridges. I would recommend some sort of kid carrier or have your kids walk with you. Our kids are old enough to walk. Venice is home to Carnivale (Mardi Gras), which is basically a festival full of balls and celebrations that end right before lent. The Carnivale masks on display are very elaborate, and are all throughout the city. I've been to New Orleans and Venice's masks and representation of Carnivale are different. Both have their own beauty. I was entranced by the class and elaborate style of the Venetian masks. Our kids were, too. Right away, our little ones let us know that they wanted one of the robotic looking masks as their souvenir for the trip. We made it a mission to check out every mask in Venice in order to find the right one for them.
Cheap Eats In Venezia.......Eat Without Breaking the Bank In order to travel to all of these unique locations and continue to do so, we're always aware of not overspending. Venice is expensive, so we looked up some 'cheap eats' and planned our trip around those particular restaurants. My husband found this fantastic little restaurant called Bacareto Da Lele, which we highly recommend. They sold little sandwiches for €1-2 each and small glasses of wine for about €3 each. Restaurants in Venice charge a Coperto, or cover fee, for sitting in the restaurant and being served. So this type of food can be eaten on the steps nearby or on the go....not only are you saving in the price of the food, but you're also saving the cover charge for sitting in a restaurant. This meal served as a perfect lunch and filled our family up for less than €20. For dinner one evening, we had Dal Moro's Fresh Pasta To Go. Each pasta is about €5-7 each. Now, to be honest, it's not the best pasta I've ever had, but it filled us up and tasted good. My pocket book sighed in appreciation. I tasted each of the pastas that we purchased and they all tasted good with the exception of the Alfredo. There are signs all around the restaurant forbidding people to sit on the stairs or the bridges to eat. We got creative and snuck into a little area on the water and ate without being disturbed. We did enjoy our 'cheap eats' for two meals, but we also ate at some delicious local restaurants that were not cheap eats. At one of those restaurants, my oldest son ordered a local specialty of Squid Ink Pasta. I try to try everything and encourage the same of my boys, even though sometimes I don't want to. Our opinion: It didn't taste very good and it looked creepy. Mwahahaha
The Island of Murano~Known Worldwide for Glass Blowing On our second day, we decided to venture outside of Venice proper to see the island of Murano. We took the water taxi to the island, walked along the shops, purchased some souvenirs, and watched glass blowers in action. It was an incredible experience! I had no idea how much detail and work went into blowing glass. The artwork created by these artists was astounding. For souvenirs, there are items as small and inexpensive as cross necklaces for less than €10 and as grand as human sized statues and everywhere in between. We went to Murano on a weekend, but we were told by locals that the best time to go to see the artists is during the week. So, keep this in mind. For a weekend, a few hours was plenty of time to see everything we wished to see without our kids knocking down any glass sculptures (Thank God!). There was also a small 'to-go' sandwich place along the main walkway with decently priced sandwiches that made an excellent lunch. Many tourists also venture to another island called Burano. Burano is known for lace-making. They make clothes and linens, among other things. However, my boys had zero interest in seeing this island, to include the lace.
The World Cup Experiencing the world cup in Europe is something that I did not realize I would love as much as I did. There were large TVs inside and outside of cafes all throughout the city. It was so much fun to sit there, surrounded by Europeans, and watch the games. We watched two in a row that weekend! I've never gotten so into a professional sport in my life. I was hooked! The spirit of Futbol in this part of the world is definitely something I'm grateful to have experienced. Having three boys and a husband who have all played soccer, and my life as a soccer mom, made the experience even better because we were all into it. In the states, not all of the games could be seen on our network and there just wasn't a big buzz about it. Having so many people, all over Venice, watching the games added to the atmosphere.  World Cup Beer & Fabulous Venetian Hat Pictures just don’t do the beauty of this city justice. I highly recommend visiting Venice for a few days. I don’t believe the area needs much more than that to see just about everything. The city is quiet and clean, safe. My husband and I enjoyed a few glasses of wine sitting on a bridge, watching the city at night. Watching some tourists looking for their rooms in the dark, another group of tipsy tourists laughing and talking with Italian passion, and boats bringing goods for all of the restaurants, bars, and other venders for the next day’s business. Looking at each other, we were so grateful to get to experience the moment. The next afternoon, we jetted back to Napoli....hit full force with the smell of a city full of vehicles, crazy driving, horns honking, and we sighed. Venice was a lovely break, but we’ve learned to love the chaos that is Napoli. It’s already become a part of us. Home Sweet Home. #porratatribetravels #labellaitalia #venezia #venice #family #cheapeats #traveltips #watertaxi #pastatogo #murano #muranoglass #worldcup #europe Next Post: Sardegna (Sardinia), An Island to Rival the Caribbean Islands  Pompeii Most people would spend their first two weekends in a foreign country trying to find their bearings and get to know the area.....not the Porratas! We dove RIGHT in! Those that know us well know that we wouldn’t have it any other way. Our first weekend in Napoli, while staying at the base hotel, we drove to Pompeii. It’s only a 45 minute drive! We parked on the street near the entrance, bought our tickets at the gate, and walked right on in. It was late May, so there was no line and it was not packed. Pompeii is an ancient city that became buried when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D. It is estimated that 2000 people died. In 1748, a group of explorers re-discovered Pompeii and found that it was mostly in tact. After seeing it personally, I can say that the history I felt at my feet when walking among those ruins was an incredible feeling. Pompeii is also much, much larger than I expected. It’s around 160 acres! It was a thriving, wealthy metropolis and walking it can take all day, if not longer. With the kids, we brought a Quenchua Forclaz Hiking Ice backpack that I will recommend below, that we purchased at a European store called Decathlon. This cooler has followed us on nearly all of our adventures. We fill it full of drinks, snacks, lunch. Heck, I’ve even filled it with prosecco & aperol soda, along with an appertivo spread. Ha! Its straps make it very comfortable to carry and it was only €20.
While visiting Pompeii, we elected not to follow a tour. My kids are adventurous, to be sure, but they cannot withstand an educational tour for hours on end. Although, I do hear the tours are worth it and you get SO much more out of it. We grabbed a map and walked throughout the ruins. There are not as many descriptions of items as you might expect. We actually listened along to the English and Spanish tours around us and were able to gleam quite a bit of information on exactly what we were looking at. The ancient frescos were a sight to behold. Our favorite parts of Pompeii were the Amphitheater, the Roman Forum, frescoes, pottery and the homes of the nobility. It is easy to get lost in your imagination as to what ancient Pompeii really looked like and what the last moments were like for the people. As you exit, there is an enclosed museum where you can peak inside the glass. An archeologist named Guiseppe Friorelli discovered some empty areas in the digging sites of the excavation. He injected plaster into the pockets and discovered that they were the forms of the people who passed away with the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. These statues truly touched my heart. You see the pain on their faces & the contortions of their bodies at the moment of their death. Since we didn’t have a guide, we were unable to tour inside the building, but we could see the statues through the glass. My honest opinion is that Pompeii is definitely a ‘must see,’ however; there is also another ancient city nearby that was destroyed in the same eruption. This city is considerably smaller, at nearly 1/4 of the size of Pompeii. We spent nearly 4 hours at Pompeii and only got to see 1/3 of what there was to see! Our kids were spent. I recommend checking out Herculaneum. I’ve even heard it’s better preserved than Pompeii. We hope to check it out when friends or family come to visit the area.
The Path of the Gods...The Good and the Bad The second weekend after we arrived, we decided we wanted to take a hike outdoors. After much research, we decided on ‘The Path of the Gods (Sentiero degli Dei)’ on the Amalfi Coast. The Amalfi Coast is famous for its rugged cliffs, fishing villages, and small beaches. The trail is 7.8 Kilometers in length. The beginning of the trail was just over an hour away from the Navy Lodge in a town called Bomerano. We followed the GPS to the beginning of the trail, using Google Maps, and parked on the street nearby. The Amalfi coast is known for its winding roads and hairpin turns and many people would rather take the bus or hire a driver....however, the drive to Bomerano is really not bad at all. As we walked along the walkway to the beginning of the trail, there were a bunch of people standing around the beginning of the trail and I believe this is why we couldn't see the sign for the trail head. We started walking on what we ‘assumed’ was the trail. It was breathtakingly beautiful with a good amount of steps and beauty, but then I decided to check the GPS to see how far along we hiked. We were not on the trail!! By hiking the wrong way and heading back, we lost nearly an hour, but did appreciate the beauty of the other hiking trail!! Haha So, I’m going to show you the actual sign below that you need to look for at the beginning of the trail. It’s not that big and we must have missed it with people standing in front of it at the beginning! Learn from our mistake!  The Sign At the beginning of the hike, there is a restaurant that sells bottled water for €1/small bottle, as well as a few snacks. We brought water, trail mix, cliff bars, and lunch, but it was a hot day at the end of May, and I was worried we didn’t have enough water. We purchased some extra water from the restaurant and filled our backpack cooler up to the brim and started on our way! This trail is so indescribably beautiful....pictures and words just don’t do it justice. I would round a corner in the hike and see a vista that made my jaw drop. My husband and boys told me they were tired of hearing me sighing!! Oh, the life as a mama with boys. They always give me crap for being a woman! Stinkers, the lot of them! We stopped as often as needed to drink water and tried to find the most incredible vista on the trail to enjoy our lunch. The little ones kept telling me how much they loved hiking and that they were really enjoying their day. It was a rigorous hike for them, but they never complained and truly enjoyed their time. At 7 and 9 years old, they’re very active, but they really made me proud of them on this particular hike. I’m going to be honest; I’m a total and complete klutz. I had hurt my ankle a week before and had to buy some good quality ankle boots in order to go on the trail and not risk hurting my ankle again. The boots I found are made by Columbia and are pictured below. They hold my ankles nice and straight and truly prevent me from twisting or breaking my ankle. I plan to get a lot of use out of them!
There are two or three different waterspouts along the trail. Those were really nice for rinsing off our faces and hands and wetting our hair to cool off. Once we finished the hike, we found one more water spout to refresh ourselves and stopped at a nearby restaurant called Ristorante Santa Croce for some appetizers, a cocktail, and some more cold water. The views were spectacular, of course, but there was definitely sticker shock for the price of the food in comparison to Napoli. When we arrived at this particular restaurant, the wait staff seemed irritated that we didn’t have a reservation even though the restaurant was empty. We were so completely exhausted from the hike that we happily paid the price.. The restaurant was a fantastic break and much needed after the hike! After leaving the restaurant, we read that we could take the stairs down to a town south of Nocelle, called Arienzo, and take a bus from there to Positano, from Positano to Amalfi, and from Amalfi back to Bomerano. Keep in mind that each of these towns are at the top or bottom of a cliff edge. Winding roads with hairpin turns await this journey. The buses were the most inexpensive way for us to get back to our car, aside from hiking the trail back to the beginning. In hindsight, I really wish we had hiked back. The stairs down to Arienzo were closed, so we had to walk to a bus stop in Nocelle, wait an hour for the bus, take that bus to Positano. Once we got to Positano, we had to wait in a line for the next bus to Amalfi. That line lasted over an hour. The buses did not stop at the bus stop at the times posted either. It was very confusing and not fun at all after a long hike in the heat. We also missed some of the busses that came by because buses will not stop if they are full. We FINALLY made it on the bus and made the journey to Amalfi. Once in Amalfi, we had to wait another 45 minutes for the bus back to Bomerano.....the last two buses of the day ended up being full. The bus driver didn’t say a word to us, just honked and breezed right past. Our phones did not have reception. We walked to a nearby hotel and the woman at the front desk kindly called a cab for us. It cost us €70 to get back to our car!!! We tell our friends often about this so that they’re prepared. We have friends that paid €100 for a family of 3 to get back to their car. Keep in mind the danger of the roads. Realistically, a small distance can take over an hour with the way the roads are in the Amalfi. This drive makes for beautiful views, but is not fun for public transportation and makes for an expensive cab ride! The hike was worth every moment and let me reiterate that I suggest hiking back to your car!! This journey we’re on sure has its ups and downs and lessons in between, but the beauty of this country floors me.....from the ruins of Pompeii to the breathtaking vistas of the Amalfi. We truly feel blessed to get to experience this area of the world and embrace these experiences with the utmost appreciation. La Bella Italia, la dolce vita, sono innamorato. The beautiful Italy, the sweet life, I am in love.
As I write this post, we’ve lived in Naples for just over 3 months. It’s been quite an experience! When we first arrived, our sponsor picked us up at the airport with our luggage, took us to dinner at a local Italian restaurant, and dropped us off at the Navy Lodge on base. The food was delicious, but we didn’t see much with it being so dark out. A few days after arriving, we received the news that we were to live off base. Thankfully, someone from Ramses’ work kindly let us borrow his car, while we were in the process of vehicle shopping. The car was a Godsend! You see, we sold our vehicles before moving here. We heard that the driving is crazy, gas is incredibly expensive, and the roads are very narrow. We had a Honda Odyssey minivan and a Toyota Tundra truck, both large vehicles. We didn’t want our nice vehicles getting scratched up and wanted to easily be able to maneuver around the city and park. With the borrowed car, we were able to drive all over the different areas of the city....and we drove ALL around!! This really helped us to narrow down where we wanted to live and where we didn’t want to live. The Driving Naples is a big, bustling, gritty city. The Italians in Naples drive differently than they do in the majority of the country. Let me paint the picture for you......Italian motor scooters called Vespas are everywhere, lanes don’t exist, stop signs are not to be stopped at, stop lights are usually a suggestion, and in order to get where you need to go you need to be calmly aggressive. I know, being calmly aggressive sounds like an Oxymoron, but it’s exactly how you have to be. When we first moved here, it scared the living crap out of me to drive.....now, I’m a pro and I love it!! Nearly every car on the highway will pull to the right lane if you come up behind them and want to pass. This is because if you don’t pull to the right lane, they’ll flash their lights and honk at you until you do. It’s so insane! Hahaha I used to refuse to drive downtown and even drove to a parking garage and took a bus to get downtown because I was so afraid of the driving, but now I’m no longer afraid. I just relax, take my time, but am aggressive. The only time I truly worry is when I have to walk with the kids on a road where everyone is driving crazy and it’s busy. Neapolitans will drive up on the curb to pass someone that is slow, so I have to bring my “A” game at all times. Not only that, I can’t even touch my phone while driving to call or text....I need to keep my wits about me. Also, Vespas can carry whole families on them and I rarely see children in car seats. Somehow it works. I’m not sure what the statistics are, but I rarely see accidents here like I did in the states. The House Hunt The house hunt was extremely stressful. We explained at the very beginning to our realtor that we were looking for a gated Parco (neighborhood) with a 4-bedroom villa. Villas in Napoli are either attached or detached. We also wanted a yard, even if it was small, and we wanted to live in a Parco with Americans and Italians. We went through at least 5 realtors because each realtor showed us different properties. It seemed as though certain realtors had contracts with certain landlords, so they each had a different inventory. Also, there are only so many clickers for gated neighborhoods and the keys are unlike keys in the states. They resemble a sort of skeleton key. I’m willing to bet those are not cheap to get copies of, so landlords stick with a realtor or two to show their properties due to the logistics of access. I hated having to use more than one realtor, being a realtor myself and appreciating loyalty, but if we wanted to find a home-we had to. The realtors were all very nice to us, picked us up at the front gate of the base, and took us to each property. We came upon the perfect villa. We had to go a bit above our price range....but in order to live in a gated Parco, in a 4 bedroom villa, with a yard, with Americans and Italians in the neighborhood....we had to. We chose to live in Pozzuoli. Pozzuoli is a city inside the city of Napoli. Pozzuoli has a port area and another area called the Lungomare with ancient Roman ruins, restaurants, bars, gelaterias, coffee shops. We really wanted to live in an area that was close to things to do and in Pozzuoli we found it. Now, here’s the kicker....we live on a super volcano. Isn’t that crazy?? We live on Campi Flegrei, also known as the Phlegraean Fields, also known as the Solfatara. It’s a volcano that’s underground inside of a volcanic crater (known as a caldera). We can see the sulfurous fumes from our front door, and smell a gentle hint of sulfur in the evenings and after rain. There are also small earthquakes now and again that some people feel and some people don’t. You may think we’re crazy, but we love the Parco, love the area, and truly don’t mind the volcano. People say the sulfur staves off mosquitos, but my husband is still getting eaten alive when he’s outside, so I say that’s either false or we don’t live close enough. Locals also say it's an aphrodisiac. LOL It’s difficult not to live near a volcano in this area....between Mt. Vesuvius and Campi Flegrei, options are limited. I know this is crazy, but I truly believe that one day, long after I move from here, I’ll smell the scent of a volcano and it’ll bring me back to this time and this place and my memories here.
 Neapolitan Margherita Pizza The Food and Wine...Oh My! Let’s be serious.....the food in Napoli is beyond incredible. Pasta and Pizza is nothing like the states. To be clearer, there are rarely restaurants in the states that serve truly fresh Italian pasta and pizza, but I’m sure they’re out there somewhere! In Italia, most restaurants make their pasta sauce homemade with tomatoes, olive oil, basil, garlic...it’s SO fresh you can taste it in every bite. Many restaurants even make their own noodles. The pizza in most places is made with a fresh made dough and sauce, the cheese they use is less than a few days old. You don’t feel terrible after you eat it. I actually feel great afterward as long as I don’t keep eating and eating and eating. That’s the trick! Also, the food in Napoli is cheap. There usually are not many tourists, so the prices are for a local clientele. We can usually eat out with our family of 5 and it’ll be €50-€60 for completely fresh food. Pizza runs between €3-€5 per pizza. So, this is how the menu works. There is antipasti, Primi, Secondi, and Dolce. The antipasti is your typical list of Italian appetizers....our favorite is Bruschetta. However, some the fancier restaurants offer a seafood antipasti, meat/veggie antipasti, or mixed (misto). If you order any of these, bring your appetite!! It comes with A LOT of food! Only order the seafood antipasti if you're VERY adventurous with seafood. We normally order the mixed (misto), if we order this type of appetizer. It comes with numerous dishes. For the seafood, we've had everything from an Octopus salad to raw oysters to breaded, fried little fish that look like breaded fishing bait. When we order the mixed appetizers, they have also included eggplant parmesan, chicken, and fried dough balls. Really, these appetizers vary by the restaurant and what seafood is readily available, but it's extremely fresh. The primi course is a pasta course, followed by the secondi course, which is usually meat or fish. Pasta tastes different at every restaurant and the menu varies at every restaurant, as well. To make you aware, Italians like the meat to taste like meat and the fish to taste like fish. They don’t put a lot of spices or marinades on the meats or fish. They also don’t include a side dish. The meal is completed with Dolce, which is dessert. Now, we don’t eat that much! We usually order an appetizer for the table and either a primi or a secondi for each adult, then we all share our meals. At some restaurants, if you order their best steak, they have been known to cook it right at the table in front of you. The fish is generally served complete, with head on and eyeballs out. =) Also, fresh Italian bread is brought to the table before a meal. It’s plain bread, sliced, and has no garlic, herbs, oil or vinegar to dip it in. The pizza is brick oven fresh and at your table in less than 10 minutes after you order it. Each pizza is meant for one person, but our family does share. The pizza is not served sliced into pieces. Most Italians tear off a slice of pizza, fold it in half, and eat. The wine is divine. We usually order a Vino Rosso della casa (house red wine) to the table. It either comes in a carafe or a bottle. They set the opened bottle of wine or carafe in the middle of the table and you serve yourself in most restaurants. It is unusual to be given a taste of the wine at the table and for everyone to be served. Although, it does happen sometimes at fancier restaurants.
I will dive further into the food, as well as coffee and gelato in a future blog post. I’ve only brushed the surface of the basics.
So, we’re thriving well! There have been some good times and bad times, but we do love Napoli. The prices for travel in Europe, once you’re on the continent, are incredibly cheap. We plan to take every opportunity possible to travel and see as much as we possibly can while here. As I write this, we have no less than 8 trips planned before the New Year (we’re 4 months from the New Year). I’ll happily forgo gifts, new shoes, and any extras that I used to splurge on in order to add more trips and see more of the world. My, how my life has changed.....I wouldn’t have it any other way. Next Blog Post: Pompeii....Ancient History at our Feet & Hiking the Path of the Gods on the Amalfi Coast  Cava Sangria on La Rambla We took a high speed train from Madrid to Barcelona. If you’ve never been on a European high speed train, put it on your bucket list! They take a drive that would be several hours and make it a fraction of the time! They’re legit, too, with reclining seats, a little pull down table (much like an airplane seat), nice bathrooms, a car on the train usually sells drinks and snacks, and the scenery is breathtaking! The kids loved it! Ha! We were already acclimated to the time difference by this point. We went straight to our Airbnb and checked in. It was in a section of the city called Poble Sec. We had 2 small grocery stores on our block, the metro stop, bus stop, and blocks and blocks of café’s and night life all within very close walking distance to our room. If I ever return to Barcelona again, I’d want to stay right where we stayed! It was much more of a local area than a tourist area, so prices were reasonable, and food and drinks were delicious. We were not a far walk from nearly everything.....Las Ramblas, the gothic quarter, the beach, Sagrada Familia, the Barcelona Cathedral, and more. We made breakfast in the room every morning with groceries from the small grocery stores on our block, and then set out on our adventures, eating out for lunch and dinner. The Spanish accent in Barcelona is definitely different. We found that they do speak traditional Spanish, but also have their own dialect called Catalan. Most restaurants have menus in 3 languages~ English, Spanish, & Catalan. The first day we arrived, we walked around La Rambla. La Rambla is a long, tree-lined outdoor mall full of cafes, artists, local shops, and more well known stores. We started eyeing up the artists and their skills. The art we saw was so spectacular that we decided that we wanted a sketch or painting done of our three boys. The food was rather expensive there, but the drinks were HUGE and looked like a lot of fun, so we stopped for a drink. I tried a Cava Sangria (Cava is champagne). It was nice and refreshing after a lot of walking. While you eat or drink just about anywhere in Barcelona, those less fortunate will come up to you wanting money....some will complete elaborate performances and then put their hat out. Be sure to know your strategy for responding to this, whether it’s a “no gracias,” or if you’d like to have some change on hand. ***Insider tip***For less expensive food and drinks, walk a couple of blocks off of La Rambla, since it’s a tourist trap. Also, walk through the alleyways, we found some hidden stores that were very reasonably priced! ***One more insider tip: Check out the store Decathlon. It’s an amazing store FULL of sport gear for just about any sport out there. Prices are very reasonable. This store is a true gem in Europe.  Pincho Toothpicks We ate dinner near our room in Poble Sec. In Spain, appetizers or drinks are usually enjoyed between 8:30pm-10:00pm, with dinner between 9:00pm-11:00pm. We tried the Pinchos (aka pintxos) and were addicted for the rest of our trip! Each pincho ranges from €1-€2 each. They’re just small bites, usually with a slice of bread at the bottom and some sort of delicious topping.....sausage, chicken, shrimp, fish, etc and also with a sauce or some sort of cheese or fresh fruit. They were served cold, artistically presented, and delicious. Once you arrive to the restaurant and get seated at a table, walk into the restaurant/bar and pick out which pinchos you’d like to eat, and bring them back to the table. The kids loved picking plates of pinchos and loved all of the different tastes! Each pincho comes with a toothpick through it and the waiter or waitress will leave a small drinking glass or shot glass on the table for you to put your discarded toothpicks into. I have a picture of this above. When it comes time to pay your bill, they count the toothpicks. On our second day, we took a cable car down to the beach. It was beautiful and fun to ride in the cable car to the beach; it also cut down on walking for us! =) We walked along the boardwalk and beach. The sand is soft and the water is clear. There are restaurants right along the water, shops, and gypsies selling their wares. We did watch a gypsy stir a mojito he was selling with his finger, so we didn’t buy any drinks from them. However, they had some beautiful blankets for sale, if you don’t have anything to lay on at the beach, those blankets would make a great souvenir....they were very unique and decorative. The sand castles and art along the water were incredible! One guy made an entire scene from the Simpsons and had Homer Simpson peeing every few minutes when he would pour water through, another guy had an entire Egyptian scene with a fire in the middle of the pyramids. We ate at a restaurant called El Pacifico that had fresh seafood Paella, delicious Mojitos, and excellent service. I highly recommend El Pacifico! It was pricey, but the food, service, and water view were worth it. A truly incredible experience, my foodie heart was in heaven! I’m not too adventurous when it comes to seafood, but I ate the Seafood Paella. The flavors truly didn’t make the seafood have a ‘fishy taste’ and I was grateful we ordered it. We also walked to the Catedral de Barcelona (Barcelona Cathedral) and it was, by far, the most impressive church in the city. Soaring ceilings, old world charm, the quiet peace that comes with old places of worship.  Sandcastle Art on the Beach On our third day, we purchased metro tickets for our last two days. This is because the places we wanted to go were a bit further than we wanted to walk. We took the metro to La Sagrada Familia (The Sacred Family) and walked through Parc Guell to take a look at the famous Catalan architect, Anton Gaudi’s works. Tickets for La Sagrada Familia were €15 each, which we found to be too expensive for our family of five, so we opted for walking around the outside to admire the architecture. We also ventured to the Acro de Triunfo de Barcelona (The Arch of Triumph of Barcelona). We have seen other Arches and they always impress us. We read on a tourist pamphlet that there was a magical water show in front of Montjuic. We went and the kids had fun, but it wasn’t the most impressive water show I’ve ever seen! In hindsight, we probably won’t do it again, but it was a fun way to spend the evening and it will be a great way to entertain the kids if you venture to Barcelona. The top of the steps of the Montjuic Castle certainly did have an amazing view, making it totally worth it! On our fourth day, we took the metro and walked to La Boqueria. La Boqueria is an enormous food market. It has everything from fresh juices, fresh fish, meat, jamon, nuts, candies, cheese, etc. Seriously, worth it. My oldest son adventurously tried the dragon fruit smoothie....it was gross!! HAHAHAHA We all tried it and turned up our noses, but we always encourage everyone in our family to try everything once! The picture below is of my husband after giving it a sip!
For our last two days, we went back to La Rambla and had the boys sketch completed by a local artist. She truly captured the personality of each of our boys and we felt it was money well spent and a forever memory that we can hang in our home. It was €20/child, so €60. We later saw a Flamenco show at Flamenco City Hall Theater for €65 for the whole family. We elected not to see a show with dinner, as all of the reviews of the dinner shows did not entice us to those particular shows. This one was in a small theater. The ticket included a free drink and the show was only about an hour long from start to finish. It was beautiful to see and we were all wrapped up in the song and dance....except for the kids, they fell asleep because the theater was so dark.  , For days, we kept seeing an amusement park and a church on a mountain in the distance. After careful research we decided to check it out. The park was called Tibidabo. We were able to use our transportation passes to get there....it entailed a metro ride, cable car, and a short walk and was ALL included in the same pass. The park was neat! The church is called The Temple de Sagrat Cor (church of the sacred heart). The view from the parks and the churches are of all of Barcelona. The park has day passes and tickets for separate rides. We bought tickets for 3 rides for the kids and just stayed at the top level of the park, as the park had at least 2 levels that we could see. The ferris wheel was super cool, but not for those afraid of heights! Everything pretty much hinged off of a cliff, which added an extra level of excitement. We were glad we only bought tickets for three rides because the lines were really long, even though it was early May. We ate a few standard jamon sandwiches there for a late lunch and then headed back. The kids had a blast, but were tired of the lines and ready to go! Wrapped into the awesome Spanish mentality, we took a Siesta and then went out for tapas and dinner...refreshed and ready to enjoy every bite!  Tibidabo Amusement Park On our last day, we went to an FC Barcelona Futbol match!! We had to purchase our tickets from the FB Barcelona Official Store. This is because we all wanted to be seated together. Finding 5 tickets together for a futbol match is no easy feat. We couldn’t get tickets until a day or two before the match, when the majority of the futbol tickets are released. They do not serve alcohol at the match, but do have non-alcoholic beer. However, there are bars ALL around the stadium serving alcoholic beer before, during, and after the match. Smoking is not allowed in the stadium, but during half time all of the smokers go right outside of the main part of the stadium and smoke. They have a jovial, carnival atmosphere before games, with people playing drums, dancing on stilts, and working for the crowd. Messi was truly impressive to see in person. He is a very aggressive player and dominates the field. I highly recommend watching a live futbol match if you never have. The boys LOVED singing, waving flags, and watching a sport they love.  We really lived in up in Barcelona! We ate well, had plenty of adventures, and truly enjoyed every moment of our travels. However, at the end, we were ready to head to our new home. Off to Napoli and our new life! Ready to figure out our home for the next few years and experience Italia!! Adios Espana, Ciao Italia!
Next post: Welcome to Napoli  The Big Move Off we go! With the help of family and friends, we were able to tie up all of our loose ends and hit the skies. We flew from Pensacola, FL to Charlotte, NC to Madrid, Spain. The kids did great on the plane ride. For long international flights, like our flight from Charlotte to Madrid, each seat comes with a TV screen, headphones, movies, and games. This kept the kids very busy! It got to the point where we had to make them shut the TV off and get some sleep. We were gaining a 7 hour time difference in the air and landing at 9:00 am in the morning, Madrid time. This meant that we had to sleep as much as possible on the plane in order to make it! Hola, Madrid! After we arrived, our Airbnb host allowed us to store our luggage at his office for the day until it was time for check-in. Not all Airbnb hosts offer this service, but we were very grateful for it. We were sure to not leave our passports behind and trusted the host and he didn’t let us down! We walked much of the city on foot. Madrid is much more modern than many European cities. It doesn’t have the ‘old world’ charm but has a clean beauty. My Spanish went far! They speak a clear and concise Spanish that I found very easy to understand. My husband is fluent and gets along anywhere! We walked around Plaza Mayor, checked out the Puerta del Sol, and made our way to Mercado de San Miguel for lunch. Mercado de San Miguel is a beautiful market with everything from fresh Paella, churros & chocolate (a local favorite dessert), fresh Iberico ham, fresh cheese, fresh fruit, beer, wine, etc. It was fun to walk around and we LOVE to try different things, so we ordered a plate of paella and a Iberico ham & cheese sandwich & we all shared. The hubs and I had a glass of wine, while the kids experienced their first glass bottled Fanta that they ‘oohed and aahed’ over the whole time! Haha, It’s the little things. Iberico Ham In Spain, they take their ham VERY seriously. In both Madrid and Barcelona Iberico ham is shaved right off of the pig in front of you in the store. You don’t get much fresher than that! It has a salty, full flavor that we all loved. Put in a sandwich with toasted bread and cheese.....it was simply sublime. ****Money Saving Tip****There are restaurants/stores all throughout Madrid, called Museo Del Jamon where you could have a ham sandwich for €3. This is a perfect, delicious, and inexpensive lunch or a snack! We walked around the Royal Palace of Madrid and the kids enjoyed the street performers. They particularly loved what looked like a headless Spanish naval officer and we took some pictures. We didn’t have any Euro change to give to him, but the street performers do expect tips. For dinner, we enjoyed traditional Tapas just outside of the Mercado de San Miguel. To name a few of the tapas on our platter: Jamon & eggs, fried yucca, Patatas Bravas (this is fried or baked cube shaped potatoes with what tastes like spiced mayo ketchup on top), broiled sweet peppers with sea salt, fried chicken with spices, & croquettes. We enjoyed trying the different foods and this meal filled us all up! For dessert, we all tried Churros & Chocolate. We all absolutely loved it. The chocolate that comes with the churros is warm like hot chocolate but has a much thicker consistency. The next day, we went to Museo Del Reina Sofia which has free admission Monday – Friday from 7:00pm – 9:00pm. We were blessed to see the works of Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali (my husband’s personal favorite), and many more. It was impressive. **** Insider Tip****They do not allow anyone to lean on walls there, especially near the artwork, to prevent the artwork from falling. Keep this in mind if you’re traveling with kids. Try to keep them off the walls as much as you can! The Bullfight Now, we get to the bullfight.......this was a source of debate for my husband and I. We were concerned with the kids and if they would be upset by the killing of the bull or if it wouldn’t bother them. The more we talked to the locals, the more they encouraged us to attend. Children begin training to become matadors at a rather young age (a local told us 10 or younger). In the month of May, there were bullfights nearly every day and we truly believe in experiencing the local culture as much as possible (within reason). We decided to go for it! It was a personal decision that we made and we don’t regret it. The bullfight itself was in Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas. Tickets were affordable at under €20/adult and half that price for the kids. We decided to sit on the sunny side of the arena, where the tickets were cheaper. The seats are concrete, so we sat on our jackets. The sun was HOT! May is a strange time in Spain. In the sun, it’s very warm, and in the shade it’s cold. You really have to be prepared for both. The bullfight began. Everyone was drinking beer, eating salted almonds, and other nuts. The kids did great! I offered them the opportunity to look away during the actual finishing kill, but they had no issue with it. One of the bulls came out into the arena and refused to run towards any of the Matadors with their bright pink capes & red cape. This bull was pardoned and the whole crowd cheered for the bull. For the other bullfights, where the bull was not pardoned...the bull is stabbed numerous times during the whole process. This, of course, puts the animal at an incredible disadvantage, but the crowd always cheers for a bull that fights harder or outsmarts the matadors. The matadors definitely work for the crowd and are dressed fabulously. Everything had a specific order and the whole process was full of tradition. Overall, it was a good cultural experience and our family enjoyed it. Madrid was a beautiful taste of Spain. We experienced delicious food, wine, the city, a museum, and a bullfight. BY THE WAY, wine in Spain does not cause headaches like the wine in the U.S. We could drink a few glasses (maybe a bottle+) without any repercussions the next day. I call that a win! Next Blog Post: Me Encanta Barcelona
 Of all the paths of my life, of all the places we’ve moved......the path to Naples, Italy is a path that incites a feeling of incredible excitement for me. I absolutely can’t wait to see the sights of the world through the eyes of our boys. I am still here in Pensacola with a home full of furniture and a heart full of ideas for the future, enjoying every moment of these pristine beaches!
We’ve finished our screenings, received our passports, and I just received a call that our Visas are in. Our flights are booked and I’m spending all my time researching like crazy! I’m leaving behind a real estate career that I love and that has been incredibly successful. I plan to continue to refer business as long as I can, but leaving Pensacola is more than leaving behind our home for the past 3 years....it’s leaving behind a business that I spent blood, sweat, tears, countless hours building....it hurts. My dreams of becoming a broker and continuing to build and expand my business are on hold. My husband and I make decisions together and even though he was up for retirement, we decided that neither of us are ready to settle down. We traveled to Europe in 2016 and have been dying to go back and take the kids to experience it together. Moving to Naples, Italy are exactly what we wanted. It’s not easy, but I believe it will be worth it. It’ll be very hard work to build my business again, but it is my greatest wish, at this time in our lives, that we experience more of the world while we can. I’ve researched our move extensively and Facebook is a valuable tool for us. Do we want to live on base or off? Which of our household goods are going into storage and which items are going with us to Italy? If we live on base, the housing is much smaller than we are used to, so we definitely have to downsize. There are Facebook pages for everything. All I have to do is type in my question and the internet is full of answers. This is vastly different than when my husband and I first met and I was in the military. We learned everything from word of mouth and if the people I knew didn’t know the answers, I’d ask my sponsor, or just go forward living and learning. When we arrive, there is something called ‘Direct Assignment’ on NSA Naples Support Site. That means that if a 4 bedroom base apartment is available, we have to take it. If it is not, we have to live off base. There are perks to each. I’m going in with an open heart so that I don’t get disappointed if I get one type of housing over another. Living on base means having American and Italian plugs at home, steady air conditioning and heat, pretty reliable maintenance, utilities are included, and the kids can roam free. I realize that there may be hiccups with maintenance, but they are beholden to work and take care of the maintenance issues. Everything is walkable or bikeable....the school, stores, movie theater, base restaurants, bowling alley, etc. Can you imagine how much the kids would enjoy that? The negative is that the base housing is small and rather than houses, they are apartment style. We haven’t lived in an apartment for 16 years. Yes, I realize I’m showing my age here, but you get the point. Many people believe that living on base can put one in an ‘American bubble’ where you basically live like you’re in America while living on base. If we end up on base, I will make every effort to still experience the Italian culture by going off base to purchase groceries, drink coffee, eat at restaurants, socialize with the kids, etc. Perks to living off base are that many people find that they can walk to local Italian bakeries, restaurants, markets, etc. Many times, a family will end up living in a neighborhood called a ‘parco’ and can be invited to dinner and embraced by their Italian neighbors. This is truly what living abroad is about.....immersing yourself in the culture. However, Naples is a large city and the typical issues of a big city are to be considered. It is said that maintenance can be unreliable, your landlord can make or break your time at the home, insulation, air conditioning, and heat can be a challenge. Utilities are much more expensive and for most of the off-base housing all plugs are European. There are converters, space heaters, security, safe areas, but everything I mentioned are things to consider. Just think of the age of the city of Naples...dating back to 600 BCE (according to Encyclopedia Britannica) and the age of the buildings makes living in Napoli a different life than living in the newer buildings of America. We will have to commute to base for sports, school events, and socializing for the kids, so commute time is considered, as well. Do you see why I’m not trying to set my heart on anything? I worry that I get all ramped up and end up disappointed. Hubs and I decided that we’re going to make the best of any situation. We are truly going to Italia to experience the culture, show our kids more of the world, and to travel as much of Europe as feasible in our time there. Keep in mind that this entire email is about my research and I haven’t lived it yet. I look forward to creating future blog posts with my true experiences. May the journey begin! Second blog post: The Big Move......Arrivederci USA! Off to Spain! |
AuthorMy name is Brandy Porrata. I am a veteran and I have been a military spouse for 18 years. I am also a mom of 3 wild boys, ages 17, 9, and 7. We’ve spent the past 17 years in the United States at various locations, most recently in Pensacola, Florida where I built a career as a realtor. Our family will be moving to Naples, Italy. This blog is my heart, my journey, and our various travels as we leave our country for the next few years to experience Italy, Europe, & beyond. I plan to share the process of moving overseas, my life, and tips and insight into traveling with a family in Europe. Please don’t hesitate to respectfully reach out to me or comment. Archives
December 2020
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