Have Your Cake And Eat It Too

Ok, so here's the deal. It's been almost a full month here in Naples, and I have yet to hit the gym like I had planned. Marito had a short day today so I made myself go. Since marito works at Capo, that is where I went. No need for him to drop me off at Support Site, and then come by and pick me up afterwards when I can accomplish the same goal at either location.

Walking into a new gym is always intimidating for me. Normally you see a ton of really buff guys hitting the weights, or perfect figure women beasting the treadmill, but here it's all normal people. I always take caution when I go to a gym, I feel like the new kid, looking around and trying to get the feel for everything. At Capo the gym is called Fit Zone, and it is very comparable to a Planet Fitness or Anytime Fitness, except its not open past 9 pm. On half of the gym there is a bunch of bikes, treadmills, elipiticals, stair steppers and more. The other half has all of the weight machines, and let me tell you, there are a lot! They didn't waste any space yet it doesn't feel cramped. All of the machines are new Life Fitness machines, and in great shape, which is always nice to see- no one likes run down gyms. There is a separate room for free weights, a room for yoga/pillates/dance classes, a full size basketball court with bleachers, as well as a spin classroom, two racketball courts, and an olympic size pool. If that doesn't make you happy, just go walk on in the locker room, sit in the spacious sauna and then take a shower!

Really impressed with this gym, and I know I won't use all of the ammenities but it is nice to know I have the option! So, I finally got my first Italian work out in, I might be interested in taking a few classes. I mean, hey, I can sit on my butt while marito works, or I can whip my butt into shape. I'm starting to get ready for my beach body for summer of 2015!

I knew that later tonight I would be eating birthday dinner and cake with some friends, so I didn't waste time getting my workout in. Later marito and I went and picked up a board game as a gag gift and a celebratory cigar (not for me of course). And as planned, pizza and cake were on the menu. Birthday boy's wife asked the hotel to pick a good cake, and boy did they deliver. It was very similar to a tiaramisu cake but instead of coffee liquor it was maybe a rum dipped cake and chocolate ganache. It was delicious, whatever it was. Fortunately I spent almost 3 hours at the gym in preparation!

The owners of the hotel brought out the cake, we didn't know they were even here, and a few guys from the staff (or I call them familia!) sang Happy Birthday and wished Birthday Boy a great year. The Familia here at Hotel Agora is a wonderful staff. The hotel is nice, but the people here, well they are like family! It's always "Boungiorno" first thing in the morning, smiles all throughout the day, and very friendly and warm hearts. If we buy dinner down the road and bring it back, they take our food and plate it up for us (even if we say no!). Happy Hour everyday from 6-8 BOGO Free, except on Fridays when the hotel has a free cookout for the people staying here as well as everyone who has stayed or is connected.Oh and don't forget Man Night on Wednesdays! They really take care of you here and it's Nice.


The owners, Christan and Jennifer are an Italian/American couple, who cater to military members. Jennifer is prior Navy, so she knows what it is like to transfer overseas and not feel at home. Fortunately she must have thrown 3 coins in the Trevi Fountain because she fell in love with an Italian, married him and opened up a great place for us to call home for 2 months!

Gorgeous sunset over looking the pool.

We Are Called Dependents For A Reason

Over the past few days, I have been making due of Hotel Living. Meeting my neighbors, reading a book by the pool, and of course a little bit of swimming. As we enter the end of our fourth full week here in Italy, I noticed an attitude change in myself. 

I have become VERY unpleasant to my marito. It's almost like he can't do anything right in my eyes. He asks where do I want to go for dinner, and I roll my eyes at him and say "You Pick, I REALLY don't care." Like he deserved to be talked to like a child. Or a dog. It's a shame, we've been getting on each others last nerves for the past week, and I realize why.

No, it's not "that time of the month." It occurred to me that I have never been SO dependent on my marito in the 7 years we've been together, that my lack of independence is driving me insane! I've mentioned before how I am such a go-go-go person, and being locked up on a hotel with no where to go, nothing to do or places to see that I take out my frustrations on the man I married. 

I can't go shopping without his money, or without him driving me there, since I haven't learned to drive stick. I can't go to the gym unless I want to be stuck on base all day because I have to wait for a ride home from him when he gets off work. I truly understand the word dependent now more than ever. I had more freedom when I was 14!

Well today was my anniversary with my marito, and to get out of the hotel before I killed him (figuratively speaking) I signed up for a class on base yesterday. It was a demijohn decorating class. I needed to get my artsy fartsy on!

Before this class, I did drag marito out to the Support Site to check out a sidewalk sale the Thrift Store was having. The Thrift Store is ran by the Naples Overseas Spouse Club, which I really want to get more involved with. Everything they had outside was 50 Cents!! I wanted to go to find a steal! They had a ton of clothes, shoes, hats, books, even some electronics! Nothing that I needed but it was nice to find the Thrift Store, so when they have their grand re-opening I can stop by.

Now it was time for my demijohn class and it couldn't have come at a better time! Marito and I weren't seeing eye to eye and I needed to get my mind into craft mode. A lovely group of ladies met at the Community Center, we each got our own demijohn. A demijohn is a glass bottle that has a tear drop shape, and it comes in different colors. They are used to make wine, and can be found all over Italy. The Americans here are big into collecting them, and this was my easy way of starting my collection. We all took gems, colored glass, tiles and marbles and glued them to the bottle. filling in the holes with grout so the bottles had a mosaic look to them. Three hours into it and it was time to go. It was nice connecting with wives who have already settled into the life here, and making new friends. I left as one happy wife, and marito picked me up after he had gone anniversary gift shopping. So this was definitely a double win for me!

For our anniversary, we put the bickering behind us and spent the day at the pool, surrounded by our new friends and their kids. We had made plans to go see a movie, catch a sunset and maybe go out for dinner, but spending a few hours in the water and sun with good company was definitely the better choice!

I am fully aware of the deployment cycle but no one prepared me for the PCS cycle to an overseas station. I've been through the excited to move phase, and the hurry up let's get there phase. Now I am just hoping I am done with my "Claustrophobic  phase. 

Buying a Naples Beater

It's been two weeks since we first arrived in our new home of Naples, and the only complains is my marito's driving! I should have died twice now, but luck was on my side of the car! (Just kidding mom and dad- he's American and has a little bit of road rage- which I knew when I married him.)

After we completed AO and received our drivers licensse we headed straight to Europcar beside the NEX and rented a vehicle. We didn't want to have to rely on our sponsor or the bus to get around. Plus I'm a busy body and have to get out of the hotel and explore. Just a heads up, automatic cars cost more to rent than manuals, we were fortunate that someone cancled thier pickup so we were able to get a small manual for about 35 euros a day (without additional insurance). We rented it for a week, and during that time we've been looking at cars in the Lemon Lot.

I had no idea where the Lemon Lot was located, but for our new PCS families, the lot is 3-4 rows of parking in front of the Fire Station which is across the street from the NEX. None of these cars were dream cars, they all are hand me downs and mostly manual transmission. Not my ideal car! Guess I will have to learn.

Last week we were browsing through the lot and spotted a white VW Golf. Now my marito just sold his second VW Jetta, so he has a soft spot for VW. Unfortunatly this car isn't available until next month, but we contacted them anyways. The owner was firm on when they could sell the vehicle, but did have another vehicle they were about to sell- a 2000 Alfa Romeo 145. A wha? Never heard of it, but boy did marito get excited! We made an appointment to test drive the car, and check it out, it was pretty sound and the price was right. For $2750 we were finally in the right ball park. I really didn't want to buy a $1000 car, nor did I want to buy something over $3000- insurance is expensive enough, and we are only going it have it for 3 years.

With cash in hand we were able to settle on $2500 for our Naples Beater! Went to the Motor Vehicle Registration Office (MVRO) to change the title over and get our plates.  It was easy to go to USAA.com and chat online with an agent to add the Alfa onto our insurance policy. For liability only on the beater we are paying around $500 a year!! That is over half of what we paid for full coverage in the states on 2 cars!! Holy Smokes Batman! Just wait until I tell you how much it is for the Rav4 we are bringing over...! 

Marito is happy he got a decent car. He didn't want to be stuck with something too small, or too big, or pretty broken. One of the guys we met at the hotel bought a car for $700. It's tiny, but he will be living 2 blocks from work, so he will manage. His car was advertised as so: "Has some Naples Kisses, but doesn't look like she got drunk and made out with the entire town!" Such a cute way of saying the car has love taps.

I look forward to learning how to drive stick, but I cannot wait to get my automatic back!! My Rav4 is brand new, and I am worry about getting Naples Kisses on it, but I wasn't ready to part ways with it and leave it behind. With bringing over my baby, come the price of insurance. In the States I had half a million dollars of coverage on my vehicle, and that was with extra coverage. Here in Italy the MINIMUM coverage is FIVE MILLION EUROS! Needless to say, with full coverage on my car and liability on his it is over Seven Thousand Dollars a year here. Fortunate for us my parents enrolled me in USAA when I was 13. My mom got me a pre-paid debit card. THANK YOU MOM!!! With my "Legacy" (length of time as a memeber) I am saving over three grand! So both vehicles will cost us around $4,000 a year, which is over 4 times the price in America, but I'm not going to risk not having insurance. Infact the base won't let you. But I did put minimum amount of miles on both vehicles (5,900 miles a year). This lowered our rates quite a bit.

My car won't be hear until September, and I can't wait. With a GPS in hand I can finally learn the roads from the drivers seat- it's deifferent when you're always the passenger. I'm sure I will get lost, so look forward to reading about that!

Holy Moly Canoli!

A lonely day here in the hotel. I did manage to put faces to names. I met with a family I've chatted with on Facebook. It never hurts to meet people when you don't know anyone. Enjoyed their company as we sat by the pool, waiting for our husbands to get off work. Technology has been a savior for this gal here! I've learned so much about what to expect, where to go, and how to fix things just by reading threads on Facebook. I've already been stopped at the NEX by someone that recognizes my face. It is a weird feeling hearing someone call out your name and you don't know a soul yet, besides the people who you are "friends" with online.

Other than making a new friend I did some research on Oktoberfest! Hotels are outrageously priced, 900+ DOLLARS for 3 nights, staying 15 miles away. To reserve tables within a Tent (where the food and drinks are) you have to have at least 10 people in your party. So Oktoberfest may not be in the cards for us this year, but don't you worry, I will start planing for next year as soon as it ends this October.

Just a little something something for those who want to ever go to Oktoberfest, it starts in September and ends in October!! This year it starts Sept 22nd and ends on October 7th. From what I've read it's because the weather is nicer for it.

So we may not be able to make out in time for the beer party, but I do plan on going to Germany in December. I'm told wonderful things about their "Christmas Markets." I LOVE Christmas! I love the decorations, the craftwork, and warm drinks, and over all I love finding special trinkets for special people!


With vacation plans on the back burner for the moment, marito is ready to go get dinner and McDonalds is on the menu. Before we grab some grub, I decide to go investigate the shopping center. We walk into a store called Auchan and expect it to be like Walmart. Similar to a Walmart with Lynnhaven Mall attached to it! To the left is a massive store, with fresh seafood on ice, three isles of wine, three or more isles of PASTA, and more. It was Walmart on crack. on the other side of the hall were clothing stores, jewlery stores, and even a food court. We were completely mislead about this place! After walking around we grab a few pastries. Marito grabs a container of freshly made canoli's and I grab a pastry with fruit on top (I have no idea what it is!)

After dinner, marito breaks open the canoli box and dives right on it! I've had a canoli once, and didn't care for it. Real Italian canoli's have changed my views on the world! They are delicious! If I can bring some back I would do it in a heartbeat.



I am glad we got the orders to Naples, it is going to be one of the best experiences, and I plan to write about all of my experiences.

... Do As The Romans Do

Imagine waking up in walking distance of the Roman Coliseum, and just a jump, skip and hop away from the Trevi Fountain? This is definitely a dream come true, to be in a city rich with history, with my marito.

Mind you my dream wasn't to be laying in a hotel room  with an a/c system that blows warm air, the windows open to let in the breeze of birds passing by and it being too warm to hold my husbands' hand. This dream I had also didn't include a screeching car alarm at 4 am that lasted an hour and a half. Don't forget our windows were open, well they were until the alarm didn't go off after 30 minutes. Other than that, the dream went as one could imagine.

Waking up whenever we wanted, and making our way to the Trevi Fountain. Our time in the great city of Roma was limited, so the big sites were our first stops. We park a block away and follow the crowd around the corner. Standing stories high, was this gorgeous white fountain. Much larger than I had ever imagined it being. Took my breath away. Marito and I stop for a slice of pizza from a restaurant called "Pizza di Trevi." Were you expecting a different name?!?

With food in our belly we were ready to fight the Saturday afternoon crowd. A 'scuzi here and pardon there we find an open spot and gun for it! Wanting the perfect picture, I wait until I find someone who speaks English, when I know I could have pointed to my camera to anyone to ask for a picture, it was just easier this way. So marito and I strike a pose and of course I look ridiculous, sorry I'm not sharing it on here! But marito knows how to take a good picture of me!

After a couple of snap shots we both throw in a coin in to the fountain.

1 coin = You will return to the eternal city of Roma
2 coins = You will fall in love with a Roman
3 coins = You will marry a Roman

About 3,000 Euros is collected from the fountain daily, and is used to subsidize supermarkets for the needy in Roma.

We returned to the car, turned of the GPS and got lost in the city. Coming across beautiful buildings, statues and finally found ourselves at the front of St. Peter's Basilica. We decided not to go into the Vatican today, since our niece will be with us for her birthday in November, we will explore when she is with us. Plus I can't wear shorts in the Vatican, and it is too warm to be standing in line and walking around!

It was time to leave Roma and head up to Orvieto. My home town college is playing an exhibition game this medieval town, and it would be so cool to see them play here.

Orvieto is an town dated back to the 10th Century! Again, turning the GPS off and getting lost, we find ourselves driving down barely wide enough alleys where everything is made of stone.  We stop short of a massive Cathedral. I know nothing of it, besides that it is stunning. What was really nice was the lack of crowds and room to sit and admire this dramatic, Gothic Cathedral.

Needless to say, we couldn't find where the basketball game was taking place, nor could we find someone who new what we were talking about, so we headed back.

Spontaneous trips are what I am looking forward to. Now if only we can get our own vehicle instead of using a rental!

When In Rome...

Let the fun begin.  Marito got off work early today, and with the weekend ahead of us we packed a book bag and ran out the door. My father had called earlier to let me know that ODU (my home town basketball team) was going to be  in Rome and they were letting fans attend their games. Being only 2.5 hours away we couldn't turn down the opportunity!

I quickly booked a hotel room, grabbed my sunglasses and hit the road.  We didn't want to pay any tolls, so we re-routed the Garmin and headed up along the coast. All of Italians are still on vacation right now, and they were all at the same place! The beaches were packed, and parking was crazy. People parked a mile away! I don't know about you, but I don't need my piece of sand THAT MUCH! Umbrellas were stacked from the back of the beach, all the way to the waters edge almost. There wasn't an unclaimed spot. It was identical to this picture.

Since we were so close to a NATO Base, we decided to find it! Not only were we hungry for lunch, but we needed some gas for the car too. So we drove around and around, looking on the internet for coordinates to it, with no such luck. So we forgo that idea and just stop for gas, and wait to eat until we get to Roma. Marito puts his Credit Card into a pump, and lifts one of 4 handles. It says Gasolina which is what we want right? Nozzle doesn't fit, ok so lets hang it up and put 50 Euros in the machine, lift handle and still it doesn't fit. Finally a local lets us know that we were lifting the wrong handle. We wanted Unleaded (who knew there was a difference?) Get a receipt and start over. Insert 20 Euro and voila! Only problem, how do we get our 50 Euro back from lifting the wrong handle?? There was no attendant, and after I translated the machine it looks like we won't be getting it back. Marito wasn't happy, but it was a lesson learned- a pricy one at that! 

Onward to Roma! After a 4 hour scenic drive, we finally made it! Checked into a small hotel- Hotel Grifo, and walked towards the Coliseum. Our hotel isn't anything fancy, but it does have free wifi, parking permits, and breakfast. It is also MINUTES away from the Coliseum. What more can you ask for when you're paying 64 Euros a night?!

Just a couple blocks south and we were there. I mean, you can't miss the place! I took a couple of pictures, and we made our way down these stair to the base of the stone structure. Following marito's footsteps and next thing you know, out goes my foot and down goes my tush! Slipping five maybe six steps down the stairs my pride was distraught. Suffered a scrape on my wrist, and elbow, and a dented camera, I was ok.  Taking a minute to collect myself, marito says that no one was around to see. THANK GOD! I don't want to find that video on YouTube of AFV!

Finishing the steps and making our way around the back side of the Coliseum I stop to take some pictures. My Favorite picture, and it's blurry! But it's proof, that we were here!

Going down alley ways, marito and I look for a nice place to sit and eat dinner. We come across a little restaurant stocked with bottles of wine from across the country. Both of us ready to indulge in more local cuisine, we order some pasta and bruschetta. 

First off, Bruschetta in Italy is to die for. the bread is fresh, soft with the perfect crunchy crust, glazed with olive oil and topped with delicious tomatoes. It is seriously a little piece of heaven. 

Our meals came, and pasta doesn't last long on a plate in our family. His Linguini disappeared and my Ravioli had no chance. 

After dinner we walk back to the Coliseum, and circle it. I'm trying to be artsy fartsy with my camera and get unique views of it. Check my Facebook if you want to see them. Heading back to the hotel, (no we didn't go inside- there will be plenty of days to do that) anyways, on our way back, we stop in a small plaza and get a beer and gelato. You can guess who got which right? I ask the waitress to give me her favorite flavors of gelato (two scoops) and she says Banana and Pistachio. Sounds good to me. Sitting down and enjoying every bite of my gelato, I only wish that everyone could experience this. I have my marito by my side, and we are exploring the world together. 

Tomorrow calls for another day of adventure, as we see a bit more of Roma and head to Ovierto to see the ODU Monarchs play.

Familiar Places

With nothing planned, and a day off before work starts up, marito and I were a bit restless. We made a trip out to Capo (short for Capodichino- which is the main base). Since marito reports to work tomorrow, it's a good idea that he knows ahead of time where he works, and how to get there.

We knew the base was small when we arrived, but driving around we realized it was much smalled than we thought. Well now that he knows where to go I was getting antsy to go somewhere and explore! We looked up Naples Port in the GPS, and were on our way.

Marito has been to Naples before, when he was deployed in 2007. I am very intrigued to see where he was, and what he remembers.  On our way to the port we see a shopping area that looks like it is a mall of some sort. We stop and check it out.

As soon as we step into the building I notice the color of the walls. It looked like the Easter Bunny has painted the walls! Pastel green, blue, pink, purple, and yellow. Interesting. We looked around and left before I could start buying things!

Plugged in the GPS again and looked at where we were on a map and noticed that we were no where close to the sea, and that Porte di Napoli wasn't what we had in mind. So we dropped a pin on a map to get directions to where we really wanted to go, and we were off again.

As we approached Naples, Marito started to get very excited. He was recognizing buildings and remembered the street wires. His excitement made me really happy, because being in port with your spouse is something not many spouses/significant others get to do. We drove around, careful of the crazy driving. If you think it's bad in the states, you just wait. He showed me where the closest alcohol is to the port where the liberty boats pull in, and he told me that it will be flooded with sailors.

We didn't get to explore as much as I wanted to, but it was getting late and we needed to head back to the hotel. I look forward to going back to the city when Navy boats stop by. I being in the military, I know many people who are deployed and will soon be, and the chance to see people we know and be able to show them around and make them feel at home makes my heart happy. I already have a couple of friends lined up to come see their sailor if and when they hit port here. I am glad I can be here to help them navigate this foreign land.