Leaving Italy

As I lay in our not as uncomfortable as I thought it would be loaner furniture bed, typing this post on my phone, I'm reflecting over the past three amazing, stressful, wonderful years here in Naples. That was a long run on sentence! I fly back to The Land Of The Free in two days, leaving the many wonderful friends I have made behind to live vicariously through while they finish their travels in Europe. I recall the heart break that was moving here, the excitement of getting here, the joys of exploring here, the anger of driving here, the happiness of having a baby here, and ultimately the strange sadness of leaving here. 

There is a saying "Naples is like a beautiful woman with dirty feet," you gotta get past those dirty feet to appreciate the beauty that is Napoli. But there is another saying I heard as my friends started to move away to their new duty stations; "You cry when to get here, and you cry when you leave." I can't tell you how many times I have said "I am so ready to go back to America." Ive said it SO many times. I am very anxious to start a new chapter with my little family in our new house and get back to work. With just two days left, I am very sad to be moving. Yes there are days like this past week where it has been ungodly hot and I crave for Central AC, but central AC will not cook me a fresh pizza in under 1 minute. Nor will it give me the joy that is walking through the markets and buying fresh Mozzarella di Buffala. I will be exstatic to have a normal heating system in The States, but I'm going to severely miss going to Germany for a long weekend to drink Gluhvein at the Christmas Markets. 

I've been to Venice three times this year. I won't be able to do that in America. I also won't be able to say "hey let's grab lunch on the Amalfi Coast" because Ya know, we can do that here in Naples. We can drive to Tuscany during the summer time just because we want to see sunflowers. Hell. We flew to Amsterdam this past April all because I wanted to see the Tulips. 

The night of our flight to Naples, three years ago, I wore a bracelet that my three best friends in Virginia got for me. I cried. Big, fat, sobbing ugly tears. I've never  moved from my zip code before. And here I am about to embark on this journey to live in Europe for three years. It was very daunting! 

I quickly turned to Facebook to talk to people who were stationed in Naples and met a family who was staying at the Hotel Agora just like we were. Three years later, that family has been our rock. The wife is my best friend, the husband is my husbands best friend. They are the peanut butter to our jelly. And if it wasn't for FB I probably wouldn't have ever connected with them. 

I've used the power of Facebook to reach out to many people. I've "adopted"families whose sponsors were just really bad sponsors. I've picked strangers up from the airport because their sponsor wasn't there. I've shared my knowledge with as many people as I could, hoping to give the best information as possible. I remember coming to Naples and not knowing a thing. And that was frightening. I did whatever I could to help out. I've met so many wonderful people just by not hiding in my house, getting out, going places and connecting with people who are in the same boat as me. 

I started to blog my experiences for friends and family back home to read, then I realized I was reaching out to other newcomers and turned it into a how to go about and do things in Europe. I have thoroughly enjoyed sharing my experiences online. I hope my blog stays relavent and continues to help many others. 

Looking back I wish I had taken more tours with MWR, USO, and Fleet And Family. When I got pregnant and then had my baby I didn't get out as much and I wish I had conquered more prior to. There are some fabulous tours out there and I encourage everyone to do them! 

I'm going to miss many things about living in Naples. And many things I won't miss at all. Here is my list of things I will absolutely miss:

Easy Jet- cheap flights to wherever. 

Pizza- not the same in America

Mozzarella do Buffala- not the same in America!    

TrenItalia- train to Rome for €10

Gas Station attendants pumping my gas-gotta go to Jersey to get that!

The Cherry trees blooming in March- cherry blossoms EVERYWHERE! 

Markets- buying shoes for 2€! And 10 lbs of veggies for 5€!

Sunflowers in the summer time

Sunsets on the water- I'm an east coast girl, we get sunrises on the water

Ravioli in Rome at our favorite Restaurant there

Ravioli at our favorite restaurant in the Amalfi Coast

Wine- cheap and great taste. Not looking forward to spending $50 on a decent bottle of italian wine (stock up!)

Cappucino- for €1.50! Can't get the same thing at Starbucks

Sales in January and August- 70% off entire stores

Kinder eggs for the kiddos

Pocket coffee

Rooftop drinks with our friends overlooking the Med Sea

Ceramic shopping in Vietri

Picking Seaglass from the Amalfi Beaches

Crete Ceramics- I LOVE her work and glad i purchased many pieces from her

Speeding- cops don't pull you over for speeding in Naples. I'm gonna have a hard time adjusting in the States.

Wineries

House wine- home made and delicious

Desserts

Italians- some of the nicest people! And they love kids! 

Demijohn hunting

And so many more.

I hope to make it back to Italy. I purposely left some stones unturned so I have reason to come back. 

Thank you to everyone who has made our time here outstanding. I will truly miss the comraderie that you find here, and hope the friendships I have made are strong enough to last a lifetime. These are memories I will never forget, but if I do, I can re-read them! 

Tulips, Windmills, and Amsterdam

This past weekend, Marito took a 96 hour liberty and we escaped to Amsterdam. I personally didn't have much desire to got o Amsterdam, especially with a bambino in tow, but I was dying to go see the tulips in full bloom before we PCS back to the states this summer. The window of opportunity to see what Holland is famous for is relatively small. March to mid May. I looked at my calendar and decided to go mid April- that is when all of the websites recommend going, majority of the flowers are in full bloom, versus going sooner and the gardens still being all green or going too late and the tulips have already peaked and are starting to wilt.

 

As I started to look up flights from Naples, I noticed that Transavia.com was the only airline that flew direct from Naples to Amsterdam. Things may change for next year, you never know. I enjoy the freedom of having a car sometimes, so for this trip I booked us a car for cheap through the website AutoEurope.com. We rented a small Kia for $68 Friday-Monday. I booked our hotel through Crowne Plaza and chose the one beside the airport. It was 89 Euro a night and for that price I know that I am getting a safe hotel, a comfortable bed, and points towards my IHG membership. I've stayed at some not so fabulous places when I used airbnb.com or booking.com and for the price I paid, I knew exactly what I was getting, plus I've become a bit picky now that I have a small child with me. I chose the Crown Plaza closest to the airport because I had a 0640 flight the morning we left, and being close by let us sleep in just a tad bit more, and it was half way between downtown Amsterdam and the Keukenhof Garden.

 

We left Naples Friday morning at 0940 and arrived in Amsterdam Schiphol sometime after 12 pm, and the first thing we did was grab a coffee from Starbucks at the airport before getting our luggage (I swear I only bee line for Starbucks because we don't have it here in Italy!) After we grabbed our luggage and rental car it was too early to check into the hotel, so we started to drive towards Belgium because why not?! Along the way we stopped at Kinderdijk which is 15 km outside of Rotterdam, pretty close to the Belgium boarder. There we got to walk around 19 windmills, and even go inside one. The one you get to enter shows you how people used to live in the windmills, they have a small (tiny actually) family room, with a little table, fire place and a hole in the wall used for sleeping. Working your way upstairs you see two more sleeping spots, and you crawl into the bed and listen to the noise the windmill makes, lots of swooshes and squeaks and thumps, I imagine sleeping through that could be quite difficult. You get to see how the windmill works, the spinning of the blades, turning gears that rotates a dowel which in turn turns more gears to operate a water wheel. It's fascinating and the windmills are quite beautiful. I was geeking out I was so excited to see them up close and personal. It was rather windy which made it even more awesome to see the windmills operating.

 

We continued on our way to Belgium with the plan to go to Bruges, but we hit some hideous rush hour traffic. The speed limit drops from 120 to 50 back up and back down for what appears to be no reason (ie no car accidents) but that may be the reason why it does drop to prevent accidents from merging traffic. Either way, it was a nightmare creeping under 50 for quite some time. So instead of going to Bruges or Brussels we stopped just outside of Antwerp, got a Belgium beer and headed back. We could have stayed later but we had our little tike with us that we are trying to keep on a routine bedtime schedule.

 

Day two- Saturday we slept in (well I was up hours before the other two, couldn't sleep I was so excited to see the tulips!) We drove to The Hague to walk their market (largest market place in Europe with over 500 stalls). The drive was easy, parking was a breeze. We got there around 1015, walked around for an hour, got a croissant and cappuccino and bought baby boy a pair of shoes since he kicked one off and lost it before we got to the airport (we found the missing shoe under his high chair back at home). As we left, the parking garage was getting pretty full, so I recommend going early. If you stay in Amsterdam for an extended period I highly suggest going to getting some fruits and veggies- they had so many! Majority of the stalls are permanent stalls so they are set up like actual shops, with shelves and clothes racks, refrigerators for the food vendors etc. The market is 4 days a week, Mon, Wed, Fri, and Sat 9-5. It was a great side trip and it wasn't packed like I was expecting it to be.

 

We left The Hague and drove 30 minutes to get to the Keukenhof Garden. I asked Marito to take the scenic route in case we saw tulip fields because I didn't see any from the highway driving to the Hague. About 6 km away from the garden we found the traffic going to it. It took us an hour to drive just over 3 miles (this was around noon time). But we did drive by fields of flowers which is what I wanted. the first field was full of Hyacinthus and when you rolled down the window you could smell their heavenly scent. I wanted to bottle it up and turn it into my own candle brand. It smelled so damned good! And the rows of flowers just looked astonishing. I was happier than a dog with a tennis ball.

 

We finally got to park and entered the gardens, it was crowded but not as bad as I had expected. For some reason, people are much more mindful about personal space when you're not in Italy. The flowers were in full bloom, a handful hadn't blossomed yet, and a handful had already peaked the were cut back. I learned that these flowers and fields are not grown for cut flowers but for growing bulbs. After the flowers have peaked their blooms are cut off and after the leaves wilt and yellow the bulbs are harvest for next year. I was so in love with the gorgeous array of flowers that I planned on buying bulbs from the Garden to be delivered to me next year. In order to purchase them you need to visit an information desk, select a package and they will be delivered to you the following autumn. The packages were a deal, but I wanted particular flowers so I'm going to order from a website the Keukenhof Gardens recommend.

 

At the gardens there is a small petting zoo, with a handful of goats, pot bellied pigs, hens, roosters, bunnies and peacocks. It was a nice break to let baby boy out of his stroller and walk around. There is also a couple of playgrounds for the kids. They have a large one that was full of kids and fun obstacle courses. There is also a smaller kids playground but we didn't come across it. The park offers free wifi in their buildings, and they have a handful of places to eat- I believe each place serves different types of food. There is also stands to purchase food, like waffles! I took a bunch of pictures of the flowers and I normally don't take pictures of nature because I scrapbook picture with people in them, but I wasn't the only person taking pictures of the flowers, seems like everyone was! They're gorgeous, its hard to resist! Besides I want references for planting my flower garden this fall.

 

After the garden we headed back to the hotel, dropped off the car and took the train just down the street from Hoofdorp to Amsterdam Central. The train was 20 minutes and four stops away, it cost us 22 Euros for two adults round trip. From the central train station we just walked around, we came up to a carnival and Marito found a German food stand, so he got a Bratwurst and I got my Curry wurst (probably our last ones in Europe). We stopped at random pubs to get a drink and move on to the next. having baby boy with me I was pretty picky on which pubs we were entering. I didn't want crowded or standing room only, but we found quite a few places and no one gave us dirty looks. I personally don't think a child belongs at a bar, but this was the only time we would be in Amsterdam and Martio wanted to try an assortment of beer he doesn't get to try back home. It worked out and baby boy ended up getting some attention from a Bachelorette party, he was the star of the show. It kept him happy and we got to drink our drinks. After too much attention from the bride to be we finished our drinks and bailed only to go next door. We called it a night rather early, Amsterdam just isn't the place to be for a child late a night- SO many bachelor and bachelorette parties, and of course the night scene.

 

Day three- Sunday was our last full day in The Netherlands, we decided to drive downtown instead of relying on the train. We drove to the Heineken Experience, parked next door (2.50 Euro for 30 minutes of parking- expensive!) The brewery was really nice, it reminded me a lot of the Guinness Brewery in Dublin. We walked through a silo, we got to taste and smell their ingredients (tasted hopps, smelled barley), then we walked in to the room where the brewing takes place, where the mash is made and we even got to sample the wort which is the beer before yeast is added to eat the sugars and produce alcohol. The brewery even had stations where you can stir the mash (actual warm mash) and even ground up the hopps. The following room is a horse stable which was under construction until the end of April so we didn't get to see the horses. Next up was a 4D movie, you get shrunk down and become the brew, from the beginning all the way to bottling and winding up at a party. be careful, there is a water mister in the middle of the room so you might get damp. Following the movie is the tasting bar, where they teach you how to smell and drink a beer. The last half of the tour holds a lot of interactive games- definitely targeting the younger crowd. At the very end is the Heineken bar, you have buttons on your entrance bracelet that you cash in for a beer. One button for a 25ml beer or 2 buttons for an Extra Cold 35ml beer. After you finish your beers you go through a turnstile and wind up in the merchandise shop. There you can pick up a bottle of Heineken with your name on it (you place your order in the middle of the tour in a bottling and labeling room). For only 6.50 Euro it makes a great gift! Though we are very partial to the Guinness Brewery, the Heineken Experience was a great stop! We thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

Next up we drove to the Anne Frank house, found street parking and walked to the building. The line was ridiculously long as it was in the middle of the day, so we skipped it. It wasn't something I was dying to see, I was in Holland strictly for Tulips and windmills and whatever else we decided to do. We played around with the idea of doing a Canal Cruise, but with all of the walking and driving we were doing in Amsterdam we figured we've seen what we would on the boats. Just so you know, driving in Amsterdam is not the easiest, bikes have the right away and boy are there a bunch of them! Tourists also crowd the streets, and crossing intersections is a bit of a task with all of the bikes ruling the road. We drove close to the Red Light district and parked- 20 Euros for 3 hours!! We spent the time grabbing a bite to eat here and there, and perusing the Red Light District. We walked through the Red Light District in the early afternoon, another place that a baby really doesn't belong, especially at night time. We witnessed a few call girls in the windows, walked past a couple of guys smoking pot on their balcony, on the other side of the canal was the Marijuana Museum. It was definitely entertaining to walk through but that's all we did and wanted to do. We finished up our time in Amsterdam and made our way back to the hotel, packed up and headed to bed. We had an early flight in the morning.

 

Monday morning came and I had the realization the day before that we are leaving Amsterdam on 4/20 (National Pot Smoking Day) it didn't occur to me until we were already there that it wasn't the ideal day to be in Amsterdam. With that said, you could smell the smoke lingering in the air, you could easily pick people out of the crowd as they walked past you because they smelled of Marijuana, but it wasn't everywhere like I had imagined it. Sure many people go to Amsterdam to smoke legal weed, but there are plenty of people like Marito and myself who don't. It was interesting to walk into a head shop and get an up close and personal look at pot- I've never touched the stuff before in my life. It was educational to say the least. Since 4/20 was National Pot Smoking day, it was a good day to head back to Naples and not worry about the exposure baby boy was getting. Fortunately we were never around the smell or smoke for more than a couple seconds. There were a few people smoking out in the open, but I think most of it was contained to coffee shops.

 

Over all the trip was a blast, the city was fun (more fun without a kid in tow) and I loved loved loved the road trips to Kinderdijk and Keukenhof. Definitely a must see and do in April!

Castle Limatola

If you haven't already been to Castle Limatola, I urge you to go. Marito, Bambino and I went this past Friday (Black Friday) to see what all the hype is about. If you've been following my blogs over the past two years then you know I LOVE Christmas Markets. My love for them started when I went on a USO tour our first Christmas here to Munich, Salzburg and Innsbruck. There is something magical about Christmas Markets and I know it will be the one thing I miss most about Europe during the winter holidays.

I have been waiting for Thanksgiving to come and go just so I can decorate my house with a bunch of the things I've gotten from previous Christmas Markets. Ultimately since Italians don't celebrate Thanksgiving I put my tree and decorations up way early! This gave me an advantage to seeing just how much space my décor takes up and how much house I have left to fill with new Christmas stuff from the markets I plan to go to this year. Anyways, back on track to Castle Limatola.

This beautiful and quaint castle rests in a valley and is approximately 15 miles from Support Site but 45 minutes of driving (that's Naples for ya!). Marito, Bambino and I left from Support Site just after 4 pm and made it to the castle by 5. Our driving directions wanted to take us up a road we couldn't go so we just followed the traffic and found a parking attendant close to town for 5 Euros (we paid for parking before going to the castle). The gentle man directed us up the street just a bit and then follow the pathway of lights to the Castle. It was a nice walk- would have been nicer if I wasn't wearing boots with a heal. Please don't wear heals to this castle! There is A LOT of incline slopes. I was walking slower than a grandma (no offense) going down making sure I don't bust my ass.

When you get to the top, there are some wooden huts- some are selling a few items, then there are two where you will line up to purchase your entrance tickets. Monday-Friday the cost is 3 Euros per adult, on Saturday and Sunday it is 5 Euros per adult. Not sure what the cost is for children. The plus side is that for each adult ticket you get a free glass of Vin Brule (Mulled Spiced Wine!)

Once you enter the castle, you just may encounter a Jester performing with fire. I found it interesting that the performer just started swinging fire in the air with nothing keeping people from walking in his path, so be on the look out. No one looks good with singed eyebrows! Keep following the pathway, yet more ramps that I dreaded the walk down on our way back and you will find all sorts of vendors, passing out free samples of their breads, chocolate wine balls (OH SO YUMMY!), wooded ornaments for sale and more. Part of the markets is indoors, and there are actors portraying workers back in the medieval days making their crafts right in the center of the room. If you look up you can see the choir singing Michael Buble's rendition of  Jingle Bell (only one bell haha) up on a balcony.

As you exit the castle to go back outside, there is a Babbo Natale (Santa Claus) for pictures. The line can get long for not only Santa, but for the entire market. Fortunately when we went on Friday it wasn't so bad. No one likes being herded like cattle through IKEA, and the same goes for Christmas markets. The market ends on December 8, so this is your last chance to go. I highly suggest you go on a week night to avoid the crowds.

All in all the market was beautiful, the Vin Brule was delicious, the lights were pretty, and a great kick start to the winter holidays. I am even more pumped to go to the Christmas Markets in Northern Italy and a couple other countries. Next on my list to head out to Salerno for the Christmas lights. I can't believe that I have lived here the past two Christmases and have not made it to the lights!

Let me just remind you, please don't wear heals to Castel Limatola! You'll be happy you didn't!

Pregnant in Naples

I can't tell you everything there is to know about being pregnant abroad, but I can share some info that I had gathered along the way of my pregnancy.

I found out that I was pregnant after going into radiology for an ultrasound looking for cysts. My favorite Dr. Nellis called me with my results congratulating me. I'm pregnant! I scheduled an appointment with him, had another ultrasound and determined that I was nine weeks along.

After the initial doctor appointment, I sat down with one of the nurses, went through the pregnancy hand book they give you (the "Purple Book"). Learned about medicines I can and cannot take, what food to stay away from (like fresh mozzarella unfortunately), exercise, etc.. Also viewed a movie about what to expect, all good information especially if this is your first pregnancy like me.

I continued to see Dr. Nellis in Family Practice. You can switch over to OB, but unless you are high risk, need surgery or have other needs, they try to have you stay with Family Practice.

My next ultrasound was at the 20 week mark. Went to radiology and had the tech do an anatomy scan, to make sure everything was growing. We counted ten fingers, ten toes, no cleft lip, check the kidneys and of course found out that we were having a baby boy! Sadly the well experienced tech has recently PCS'd and there isn't a tech skilled enough to do the anatomy scans, so current pregnant patients are being referred out in town. I hear good things about the ultrasound out in town, and that you can pay for a 3D ultrasound (this is all hearsay, so don't hold me to it, it may not be true but you can always ask!)

Fleet and Family have a wonderful Lady on their team. Her name is Jennifer and she is a nurse. She teaches a few classes that are very beneficial. She has a great class called Labor and Delivery Relaxation Technique, I highly recommend it! You learn the different ways to breath through contractions, how to position to become more comfortable, and my absolute favorite is the massage techniques she teaches your partner. Other classes offered are Nurturing Touch Child and Infant Massage, and Becoming a Love and Logic Parent. All located at the Navy Lodge and absolutely free! If you swing by the OB clinic they have a list of courses offered by Marine Corps Relief Society. I didn't get around to taking their classes, but I know that they collect hand made baby blankets and give them away to new moms if you take their class. I crocheted a couple and donated them for other mommies.

All check ups were the same, check blood pressure and other vitals, talk about baby movements, measure the fundus height and baby's heartbeat, checking to make sure everything is still going well.

For patients who are High Risk, I believe you will be sent to OB for the duration of your pregnancy. If you are pregnant with twins, or in need of a NICU you will deliver out in town. The hospital will send a translator with you to help with the language barrier. Other than this I don't have any more info on delivering out in town.

If you for some reason do not want to deliver in Naples, or on Support Site I have heard of some women flying back stateside and delivering at "home." It is doable, the downside in my opinion is the time away from your partner. You gotta fly home around 2 months before you are due, so you can get a doctor, go to appointments and have an establishment before a baby decides to make his appearance. Then after the baby is born you can't just hope on a plane and come back to Naples, you have to wait for social security card, birth certificate, passport and then a no-fee passport. Also you want to make sure baby is old enough to fly 9 hours!

Back to having a baby here in Naples though!

I hit 41 weeks and my baby boy still wasn't making his presence known, time to be induced! The hospital will not induce you prior to 41 weeks if you and baby are healthy, but they will not let you go past 42 weeks. After 42 weeks the placenta starts to deteriorate so they like to get baby out before baby's health starts to be compromised. They will induce you early if medically necessary.

My doctor had perfectly planned a vacation when I hit 41 weeks so I was assigned to Dr. Arnold who is also wonderful. I had a check up with him, then he told me to come in a couple days later to be induced. Just go up to the top floor of the hospital and check in at the nurse's station the day you are to be induced and they will get you situated.

My delivery didn't go as planned, baby was too big, so a C-Section was in order for me. Dr. Maroney introduced himself and discussed surgery and complications (PS- He is a White Sox Fan, my husband is a Cubs fan... he was destined to deliver my baby haha).  Again, another wonderful Doctor! Dr. Maroney is a well skilled surgeon, ask anyone in the hospital.

During my entire stay at the hospital, I felt like I was in extremely competent hands. All of the nurses took amazing care of me. I never once felt like I was receiving bad care. Not a single bad thing to say.

Getting pregnant in Italy was a bit scary at first, nerve-racking to say the least, but looking back at my experience I can confidently say that I had the best experience being pregnant here.

What To Do With Your Phone When PCSing

This question comes up on the Naples Facebook pages, and I like to help and give answers, but it's tiring repeating yourself all the time- so! Time to blog about it!

You've got orders to Naples! Yaaaaaay! Or Sig, or Germany, oh wherever. After you stress out over packing and cutting off your power you think "Oh crap! Will my cellphone work over there? Do I have to buy a new one? But I just bought the iPhone 7,000!" Take a deep breath. I have some answers for you.

If your cellphone takes a SIM card, you are in luck! It will work over here. Sadly some Verizon phones do not come equipped with a SIM card slot, those of you with those phones are kinda sorta out of luck. If you can get your hands on a phone with the SIM card slot keep reading.

First thing is first, in order for your phone to work in Europe, the phone needs to be "UNLOCKED." What does this mean?? I will tell you. Lets use the iPhone for example because that is what I have and that is the process that I know- Sorry android users, but follow along and work with me. An unlocked phone means your phone can use ANY Mobile Carrier. This is scary stuff to cellphone companies because you can take your brand new iPhone 7000 that you just got at AT&T and switch over to T-Mobile, Sprint, etc. It also means that you can use ANY carrier in Europe as long as you purchase a SIM card to be put into your unlocked phone.

Some people say the newer iPhones are already unlocked- check with your cellphone company to make sure. It is easier to unlock your phone in the States than to "Talk to an Agent" online for a couple hours.

If your two year contract with your current cellphone provider is up, you shouldn't have any issue getting your phone unlocked because you have fulfilled you contract with your company. If you are still in contract then they maaaaay try to fight you tooth and nail. DONT GIVE IN!

I personally was out of contract, called AT&T, talked to a guy in tech support, gave him my Sponsors last four to look up our Military Eligibility in the DOD system to be approved to have my phone unlocked. After that he walked me through the settings on my phone to find a special number (IMEI I believe it is called- don't quote me). Gave him the number, he did some magic on his end, and I was good to go. Just had to go home, hook my phone up to iTunes, back up all of my information (contacts, music, pictures etc.) do a factory reset (which is nerve racking as it completely erases your phone) and then restored my phone to have everything back on it. VOILA! My phone was a free agent! It still worked with AT&T because I was using their SIM card, and when I got to Italy, it instantly worked with a Vodafone SIM Card.

My Marito however, didn't have a smooth time getting his iPhone unlocked because he was still in contract. He isn't the most patient person with customer service, so I took over and killed them with kindness. I understood that they want him to be finished with his two year commitment but I had to tell them that we were freezing out account, and will fulfill the commitment when we return. I also mentioned the Military Clause, and that we had faxed in our orders that state we were going to be overseas. And when that didn't work I asked if this is how they normally treated their military clients. I learned that the normal customer service people don't have the power to unlock phones- TECH SUPPORT DOES! That was who I needed to talk to. After being transferred I was able to get Marito's phone unlocked, easy peasy.

Now I wish I could say the same for everyone. Not everyone has the patience or the luck of getting their phones unlocked. I've helped many, walked them through the process, and I have even chatted online with agents for them to help them out. They WILL do it. Some people give up and just buy a phone over here. The good news about that is that your phone is already unlocked- it will work in the states with an American SIM card when you go back. Bad news.... Pre Pay is totally the way to go here. 9-15 Euros compared to 70-80 Euros. TRUST me on this one. Marito got a contract for one year for work purposes, I got pre-pay, then a year later I upgraded my phone and was stuck in a contract for 2 years! To break contract is 500 EUROS (long story short, I somehow worked it out and went back to prepay after paying off my new iPhone),

Since you know that you can bring your American (or Canadian, etc) phone to Europe and have it work, what do you do with your state side plan?

That is where the Military Clause comes in. Each cellphone carrier has a clause that allows the military to suspend your contract. I want to say each company has a similar agreement, I can only testify for AT&T.

To suspend your contract (freeze, whatever you want to call it) AT&T will look you up in the DOD system to see that you are eligible, and they will ask that you fax in a copy of your orders. No big deal. Your account will freeze on the date you ask, and it will stay frozen for up to 39 months. When you unfreeze your account before the 39 months is up, you will have your original phone number and the same plan as before you left the states. Yes, even the unlimited data plan that you were grandfathered into.

I have been back state side quite a few times. Before I return I get online, chat with an agent, and have them unfreeze my account the day before I return to the states. This way, on the plane I switch out my Vodafone SIM card, and put in my AT&T card and when I land I have a working cellphone to call my ride or whomever. When I leave, I provide a copy of Marito's orders, and my phone is put back on Military Suspension, and my 39 months start over.

I hope this info clears some questions up, and since I have you reading so much I might as well include this last little bit.

You have options for cellphone providers here. Vodafone isn't the only choice- however it is easy considering Vodafone is located on both Capo and Support Site. I do not know if there is a provider located at JFC/NATO. I haven't seen one.

Your other cellphone providers are TIM, Wind, and 3. There may be a couple more I just can't think of them off the top of my head.

Also! There are numerous ways to stay in touch with people across the world. Some choose Vonage, Skype, Tango, Whatsapp, Voxer, etc. I personally don't want to pay extra for Vonage and stick with iMessage FaceTime (I'm such a sucker for Apple products for this reason).

If you have any questions don't hesitate to send me a message on FaceBook!

Pasta Factory Tour with Allied Spouses Club

My girlfriend G has been posting some really fun pictures lately on Facebook, and I couldn't help but to be a little jealous. I must say, the lame weather Naples has been having over the past few months has turned me into somewhat of a hermit. That and I've been taking a chill pill from going out and exploring because I always manage to spend money when I walk out my front door.

G and a group of girls with the Allied Spouses Club (ASC) recently went to a Silk factory, and a Chocolate Factory for suuuuuuuuper cheap. There are so many tours that I have been wanting to do, but the price of the tours has been preventing me from signing up. Not saying that the cost of the tour is going to break the bank, but being weeks out from having a newborn baby, I've been pinching pennies.

Back to the title of this blog... PASTA FACTORY TOUR. Oooohhhh yessssss! For just 25 euros (20 if you are an ASC member) a big ole tour bus picked us ladies (guys are welcomed too!) up from the front parking lot of JFC this past Tuesday and took us out to Gragnano. Gragnano is an area out right past Pompeii. We were dropped off in this cutesy town and walked right into a store that has pasta from floor to ceiling in packages ready to be sold. We were greeted by a very sweet young woman who spoke impeccable English. She told us about their products and some facts about them.

Some facts that stick out in my mind are:

• Red Pasta gets it's color from Tomatoes
• Green Pasta, Spinach
• Black Pasta is colored from Squid Ink (Interesting, don't know if I want to try it more or less now)
• Pasta in the shape of Pepperccini are flavored by Pepperccini and are Hot/Spicy
• Their Lemon flavored pasta uses Sorrento Lemons- so you know it's legit!



Photo Credit- Kimberly R.

After some basic info on their products we were walked to their banquet room, which had old machinery to weigh and racks to dry pasta from the glory days of pasta making. It was really cool to see these antique products and methods before we wined and dined. A delicious anti-pasta dish, Buffalo mozzarella followed by a Caccavella alla Sorrentina along with their brand of wine. To finish the meal we were given a fabulous slice of Tiramisu.

Photo Credit- Kimberly R.

The food was divine, and after lunch we were taken into their factory to see the process of making the pasta we just ate. Decked out in lab coats and hair nets we witnessed the steps of how to make Uh-Maze-Zing pasta. Starting from the mill, where the very fine grains are added to water, sent to the press to make shapes, to seeing the pasta after it has been cut. We were able to sample fresh, hot off the press, still warm pieces. The texture of the pasta was rough, which is a good thing! Rough pasta allows the sauce it is cooked with to grip onto it.

After enough pasta is pressed, cut and collected it is rolled on racks into a room that dries out the soft pasta. The longer the pasta takes to dry, the more "Blonde" the pasta looks. More pale than yellow. This helps keep the integrity of the flavor. From the drying room the pasta is weighed and packed into bags, then sent through to get sealed and a sticker for display.

If the pasta is long and skinny, like spaghetti, it is hand weighed as to not break the pieces in the machine which could poke a hole in the bag.

The process looked really simple, but it was with the facts and knowledge about the product that increased my appreciation for this local product.

The bus ride back was a quiet one, as we were all full and in food comas. The really cool part about taking a tour with ASC is the variety of different languages spoken. I was intrigued hearing people speaking Spanish, Italian, French and more.

How do you get involved with the Allied Spouse Club and go about taking tours with them? Well first off, the tours are NOT advertised on Facebook. The NATO base has strict guidelines to protect the spouses from predators, and not publically listing when and where a group of spouses are going to be is one guideline we can't be too upset about. Their Facebook page is available here.

From there you can get in contact with a member to go about becoming a member yourself. I have not become a member YET, and until I do, I just pay an additional fee to be a part of the tours.

The name of the store/factory that we visited is La Fabbrica della Pasta di Gragnano. Their website lists the recipe for the Caccavella alla Sorrentina that we had for lunch, and that link at the beginning of the blog. If you're a Facebook enthusiast, here is their Facebook Page. Their pastas are decently priced as are their ceramic and pasta sets! Their address, phone number and coordinates are found here!

Check them out, they are very nice people with some great locally made pasta.

We took a Med Cruise!

A few months ago, some family friends came into town via cruise ship. Marito and I went to greet them and show them around just a bit. After saying our goodbyes, Marito got the itch to go on a cruise. I started to do my home work on cruises from here, and being a loyal Royal Caribbean Cruise goer www.RCCL.com was the first place I looked (it also helps that the currency is in dollars, electricity is 110 v and the staff speaks English). At the beginning of November there was a 7 day Med Cruise for $399 a person!!! Granted it was an interior room, but still! After taxes and gratuity it came out to be under $1100 for the both of us to cruise across the Med Sea. I was hooked. Unfortunately we had plans to go to Oktoberfest at the end of September, and it was one or the other.

I had gone back to the states for a quick visit to be there for the delivery of my niece, and upon returning Marito and I quickly learned that we too were expecting, about three weeks along! We had planned to go to Edelweiss with another couple for Oktoberfest, but their leave chit wasn't approved for that time. Marito didn't want to go just us, because now he doesn't have a drinking buddy- being pregnant means no alcohol for this girl! In place of Germany, we routed a leave chit and made plans for our backup vacation! CRUISE TIME BABY!

We hopped on the train to Rome, and then from Rome we took another train to Civitavecchia. When you get off at that stop, we just followed the crowd a few blocks down towards the cruise port and waiting for us was a free shuttle bus to the terminal! Awesome! No Taxi! Woohoo!

Check-in was a breeze, and we dropped our bags off to be delivered to our room. Some people tote around their carry on bags, but when you cant get into your room for a few hours, that seems like just a hassle to me. My stuff will be at my room shortly.. nothing I MUST have while exploring this grand ship.

The Costa Concordia set sail and hadn't done their
safety drill. Resulting in a fatal day.

The first day of course you must do the safety drill before setting sail. Y'all remember the Costa Concordia right?? We don't want a repeat of that, now do we? We met our dining room neighbors, Marito and I felt like the youngest couple on the Ship- how many young couples can afford to fly to Rome and take a Cruise across the Med and fly back? Living in Europe has it's perks when it comes to things like this!

Our first port call was in Naples. And yes, we did get off the ship! It was actually really nice to feel like a legit tourist. We walked our way over to Christmas Alley. At the beginning of November it wasn't in full bloom just yet. I did find a guy selling hand painted Demi Johns and roof tiles. The Demi John would have been a pain to carry around, but they were stunning- I want to go back and get one, until then I have my roof tile with a Napoli scene painted on it. Not Christmas-y so I can have it on display year round. Then we headed over to Da Michele, which is the famous pizza place that Julia Roberts ate at while filming her movie Eat Pray Love. They only serve Marinara or Margherita pizza. The price is decent too. That was the extent of our day in Naples.


Next up was Messina Sicily. It was originally suppose to be Malta but bad weather rerouted us to stay north of the storm. Being in Italy still, I whipped out my phone and started looking up things to do while I still had cellphone signal. I mapped out the closest train station and times to get to a town called Taorimina. We easily found the train station and hopped onboard. When we got off at our stop, we saw taxis, but didn't want to pay. Little did we know if we waited a bit there are buses that will take you into town. We also didn't know that this town was up on a cliff. Being the adventurous, penny pinching, thrill seekers we hike it up this mountain. Remember I am like 15 weeks pregnant here! Up this trail with a million switch backs, that average out to be 30 degrees of incline the entire way, we finally made it to the top. The picture doesn't serve justice at how much of a B this thing was to climb. If you've climb Vesuvius, increase that slope and add more switch backs, I know y'all know Mt. V isn't an easy hike.

This town Taormina, reminds me a bit of Capri. A lot of tourist shops, selling ceramics and all that fun stuff. From here you can get a decent view of Mt. Etna- which was erupting quite a bit just a few days prior. I was determined to climb Mt. Etna, but after what I just wen through.. there was no way. I was really bummed that it was overcast and the clouds covered the peak, so I didn't get to see any volcanic action. No worries, my amica (friend) is moving to Sicily this month, so I am sure I will make a trip back. after strolling the beautiful Sicilian streets it was back to the train station... which was waaaaaaaay down this mountain. Let me tell you, walking down that goat trail was much better than walking up, just gotta be careful of the loose gravel.

We had our day at sea following Sicily. There was a lot of motion in the ocean (actually it's a sea). The belly flop contest was postponed because the water in the pool was sloshing out about 3 feet above the pool edge. So it was a good day to sleep in, catch some rest and get a massage. I got a 30 minutes back massage (they knew I was pregnant), a body wrap, foot massage, facial and scalp massage for $150 after tip. It was glorious.

Next on our agenda was Sardina. Again I looked up on my phone things to do (since I'm still in Italy! Gotta love that internet connection!) Marito and I decided to walk through town and find their largest indoor market. I love the markets! We find it, and it is a two story building. We walk inside and get taken aback from the smells. There were vendors selling, meats, cheese, fruits, vegetables, seafood. Pretty much every type of food was being sold there. After 45 seconds my sensitive nose couldn't take any more, so we tried the second floor, hoping to find clothes, trinkets and such. Nope! the whole market is all food. A little disappointed, we left and walked around the building. There are some vendors around selling things, but nothing fabulous. We made our way back to port and meandered around the shops aimed for tourists. I helped some lady asking about the flavored salts, and I helped her translate them- fortunately I can read Italian better than I can speak it! When the day came to an end, Marito went and played on the pool deck. He won first place in a little golf tournament, and came in third place for the belly flop competition. He is such a goober!

Palma De Mallorca (otherwise known as Palma) is a place I have very much so been looking forward to going to. A few years back, Marito ported here when he was on the USS Enterprise and made some poor decisions (nothing incriminating!) and I am just the curious type, I wanted to go where he has been and see what he has seen. Well that didn't happen, since the area that he went to is pretty much a few blocks of bars, tattoo parlors and of course the nude beach- all of which isn't where a pregnant woman should be at. Instead we walked around, found their shopping district. It reminded me a lot of London meets Paris, minus the crowds. Gorgeous architecture, friendly people, wide streets. Marito found
 a Cigar shop, which made him happy. We set out to find a bull ring, got lost a little bit but eventually found it. As we are walking around the property we can see in the fence there the place looks deserted. Finally, we come to a gate that is open... do we go in? Is this trespassing? The hell with it! I am here and if it's trespassing I don't know any better. The entrance into the ring was open, so I go in. Marito being more hesitant questions whether or not we are allowed in. I mean I walked into the center of the bull ring. Not a single soul was in sight. I'm here, I am going to explore every nook and cranny until someone tells me otherwise. I found these two red doors that I assume are the hallways from the bull cage. I thought it was pretty interesting. After exploring for a solid 20 minutes,
Marito and I climb to the top of the arena and see some people enter. At first we though it was the owners until we realized that they were tourists. This alleviated that feeling of being somewhere that we aren't suppose to be. As we headed out of the arena, about 5-7 tour buses pull up. I must admit, it was such a cool feeling having the bull ring all to ourselves. It felt like we were exploring some ancient, abandoned place.

 
 


Next up was Valencia! I must admit, I did not have enough time in

 Valencia. The cruise shuttle dropped us off near the historic center of town and where I wanted to go was 2 miles away. So Marito and I didn't waste any time, we walked through the Gardens that goes through the center of town. A lovely walk that took us directly to the Science and Arts Center. Here is where you can visit a Hemispehere

(Planetarium), a hands on Science museum, as well as one of the largest Aquariums in Europe. You could easily spend two full days between the three places. First we checked out the Aquarium, which is above ground and underground, and cover quite a bit of land.
We saw penguins, seals, otters, walrus', sharks, and more. They have the underwater tunnel you can walk through- which is pretty darn neat! We watched a dolphin show while we were there, very fun! We then trekked next door to the Science Area and got to play around with gravity,
balance, look at the stages of pregnancy, and more. Again very interesting. We were losing time and still needed to get lunch, so we hiked our way back to the historic center, ate some paella and did minimal shopping. Valencia is a gorgeous city, and I hope to make it back one day.

Our last port was in Barcelona (the cruise ship did not go back to Rome, as it was then going on a transatlantic cruise to Galveston Tx). Two miles away was our hotel, and again we walked it. We stayed at Hotel Lloret Ramblas, which is a great affordable hotel on Las Ramblas. Not only is it between two metro stations, just steps away, it is also less than a block away from the Airport Shuttle pick up and drop off location. I highly recommend it! After dropping off our bags we quickly made our way to Sagrada Familia, and enjoyed a Starbucks at the foot of it. (Starbucks with a view? Can't beat it!) We didn't go inside Sagrada Familia, instead we went to Casa Batllo, which is designed by the
 same guy who did Sagrada- Gaudi. This house was fascinating! Gaudi designed it using no straight lines, the doors and windows are all custom made. Such a creative place! I loved it! Gaudi also designed a park and a couple other places. All of which are very interesting. As our day in Barcelona came to an end, Marito and I dined on paella again and said Adios to Spain.

I found that Marito and I prefer Caribbean cruises over Med cruises, in terms of excursions. We didn't sign up for any, since most of them were walking tours, and checking out churches, very history focused. That may be your thing, but I enjoy swimming with stingrays, jet skiing, and drinking on a sand bar. I did have a blast, and it was wonderful seeing places that not many people have to opportunity to visit.  I find cruises to be perfect for seeing places you don't necessarily want to spend an entire vacation at. I suggest looking at cruises during the off season, to get the cheaper rates, which may be difficult to do when you have school aged children. I'm just thankful that we were able to do this trip!