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.