Click here to see Josh in a Kilt!!

Ahhh...got your attention didn't I?! Ha. Actually, we saw lots of plaids and lots of kilts while in Scotland, but neither of us cruised around town in one. Maybe next time!

We spent a long weekend in Edinburgh and it was definitely one of my favorite cities so far. We rented an apartment through Booking.com (A site I would definitely recommend), and found ourselves in a quiet spot next to the university, within walking distance to everything in Old Town. Apparently, on the site where our apartment was, used to stand a huge infirmiry, which made me squeemish for a split second, until I realized all of those old germs of the olden days diseases like polio, measels, cholera etc are gone from this site by now!

Edinburgh is small, quaint, clean, has tons of history, good food (not only the Scottish pubs, but also they have diversity--Indian, Thai, Greek etc which Naples tends to lack), and we found it to be very walkable...even with a stroller. The highlight of the 'touristy' things we did was the Edinburgh Castle, offering tons of history and spectacular views of the city. We also visited a cathedral and went to one* of the palaces that the Queen enjoys when in Scotland. (*How many palaces does a person really need?). We also spent a lot of time walking around the Royal Mile, the quaint, cobble stone street that runs straight from the queen's palace to the Edinburgh castle, and is lined w/ shops, pubs, cafes, and even a bag piper:)

Since there isn't too much to do in the city center, it is a city easily done in a long weekend, those 3 days allowing plenty of time to walk the city at a relaxing pace, dine on fish n chips, enjoy some scottish beers, and consider if your legs really are meant to be shown off in a kilt or not:)

Buon Compleanno Evan!! Tanti Auguri!

It's hard to believe, but Evan celebrated his 1st Birthday! We had a afternoon birthday party, since Evan,thankfully, goes to sleep every night by 7:30, and it was a big success. I made all the food that morning and the day before, and I was very excited that my homemade lasagna was a huge hit with the Italians! They also really liked the chocolate cake & vanilla frosting, and carrot cake cupcakes. Thank you Duncan Heinz and Betty Crocker..I owe ya one! (Also thanks to my NATO friend, Kirsty, who was able to buy the cake mixes on the military base for me.) His birthday theme was Mickey Mouse, and Evan had a great time with all the kids who turned up to help him celebrate. It was a very international party, with lots of Italian friends, plus a handful of Brits, Germans & Dutch. Bellissimo!

Home 'dolce' home in Napoli:)

After almost a year of Italian living, Naples, and our neighborhood of Posillipo, is definitely starting to feel more and more like home. Since our trip to Vienna, we have been relaxing a lot at home, and keeping busy with Evan and all of our new friends. After so many weekends 'on the go' this summer with weekend getaways and multiple road trips, it's been nice to be home and to just hang out with friends and with each other. Don't get me wrong, we are always itching for a road trip, and we have our next destinations (Edinburgh, followed by Munich/Insbrook/Salzburg)already planned, but in the meantime, I thought it was time to post some pictures of just our normal, every day living in Posillipo pictures.

There is an advantage to Evan waking up so early...

we get to see amazing sunrises from our balcony every morning:)

We waltzed our way to Vienna

After just an hour and twenty minute flight from Rome, we were in Vienna, Austria, to enjoy the weekend exploring the city, the food, & the culture...not to mention doing some detective work on Josh's ancestral roots.

I had prepared myself for the weather change, by conducting some research on weather.com, so I wasn't too alarmed when we arrived to much cooler weather. Josh and I still have a bit of our 'east coast blood', so upper 50s low 60s doesn't chill us to the bone, and we managed to get some sideways glances since I arrived in shorts, Evan didn't have a jacket on, and the majority of the locals were in winter coats, hats, scarves etc. The lack of heat and humidity was a nice change from Naples for the weekend.

Our hotel was situated right across the street from the Vienna Opera House, a beautiful Baroque style building along "The Ring" boulevard. The Ring Boulevard is 4km long, flanked by tons of trees, and was built to 'form a girdle' around the inner city and to preserve the distinctive architectural style of the buildings that went up 'almost overnight' when Vienna was transformed into a modern European metropolis following 'inspired and revolutionary transformation' instead of slow development or decisions by careful town planners.. We had used points to secure our hotel room and were pleasantly surprised by the suite they bumped us up to, which was actually bigger than our Lake St. condo in Kirkland! It was great to have the extra space with Evan, and we were thankful to have it.

As you can imagine, we spent most days exploring the sites, relaxing in the plentiful, gorgeous parks that dot the city, eating lots of goulash (usually just the meat and paprika sauce--Hungarian style, vs. the goulash we had in Prague that comes w/ dumplings and potatoes in the sauce) and strudel (apple and 'curd' varieties-curd, basically a cottage cheese strudel), drinking Viennese coffee (and some Starbucks since I can't get it in Italy), tasting the local beer, and the "storm"..a popular wine drink that is basically a wine that is unfiltered and still fermenting...it looks to me like a cloudy lemonade and tastes refreshing and sweet. We learned that ordering "Toast" brings you a toasted ham & cheese sandwich--not grilled..just toasted, so the bread is dry but the ham & cheese is all melted..not sure how they toast it, and that chicken cordon blue, a dish appearing on most of the menus we saw, is definitely not as good as the French make it..at least in my opinion.

The most interesting day we had involved us renting a car and heading about 2 hours outside of Vienna to a tiny town called Newmarkt. Many of you know that for the past several years Josh has been doing some online research and detective work to learn more about his ancestors and his Austrian heritage. In fact, about 5 years ago, Josh took his Dad on a trip to Austria where they connected with a girl who Josh had emailed several times, and her family, to 'compare notes' and try to figure out their relation. Josh still isn't 100% sure how he is related to her, but they think they are cousins somehow. Anyways, after on-going research, Josh felt pretty confident that his great grandparents were from this town called Newmarkt. Our plan was to drive to the town, look for a church, and assume that a cemetery would be behind the church. I mean, how many churches and cemeteries could a tiny town like this have. So, as we drove through the hills of the Austrian countryside, we saw Newmarkt in the distance, and sure enough, one steeple set apart from the uniformity of all the other roofs of the houses in town. We headed straight for the church, and at the bottom of the church driveway, we noticed a WWI memorial. We pulled over to have a look and "Franz Plank's" name was inscribed on the monument. We aren't sure of this Plank's relation, but we were feeling pretty good about being in the right spot. (A side note: The Plank name got switched to Blank at Ellis island, so Josh's great grandparents were Planks).

We pulled up to the cemetery and decided to divide up the territory, each skimming the names on the gravestones searching for Anna and Johan Plank. After about 5 minutes, I found an Anna Plank--bullseye..it was so exciting. We stopped, kind of "talked to G-Grandma"..'introduced Evan'..and just kind of pondered the fact that in the whole world, Josh's Internet research led us to this teeny town, and of this whole world, we found this one 6x6 plot of land that we think is his G-Grandma. It was a cool moment. Well, we started kind of wondering where her husband was, as she had her own plot, and there weren't any other Planks around her. She had an inscription on her grave that translated to something like "calm and loving mother", so we at least knew 'this' Anna was a mom, but definitely had lots of questions. We continued walking the graveyard, each covering our parts, and I stumbled across BOTH Anna and Johan Blank--BINGO...now we think THIS is them! So, we had a moment there, again 'talking to GG-Ma and GG-Pa', introducing Evan, and wondering how these Planks might fit together. Maybe the 'single' Anna is the sister of Johan? We walked the rest of the area, seeing if there were any other Planks, but after scouring the cemetery, only these 2 gravestones belonged to Planks. More investigative work was needed!

We decided to go to THE cafe (also the general store, since in a town of 382, how many stores do you need) in the hopes of learning something about the Planks from a local. We ordered coffees and Josh recited his German sentence which he had memorized to the clerk, translated, was basically "my G-Grandparents are from here". We showed the clerk a picture of the headstone, since we had it on our digital camera, he racked his brain, but did not know any Planks. He was born and raised in Newmarkt, as were his parents, and given the small population, if any Planks were still there, he would have known them. He directed us to a neighboring town, two towns away, which has a municipal office containing all the city records on folks in Newmarkt. We decided it was worth a shot to research files there..I mean, when are we going to be in Austria again, but by the time we got to that office, they had closed 10 minutes prior. Oh well, at least Josh has the name of that town, and can try to contact that office on-line.

Before leaving Newmarkt, we bought candles to light on Anna, Johan and the single Anna's grave...not wanting to leave anyone out, said some prayers at their graves, and were back on our way to Vienna. Such a great day, and the story and research continues.

Back in Vienna with one more day to tour, we decided to go to the Schonbrunn castle. Amazing place with grounds that must cover the same amount of acreage as Central Park. Huge gardens, fountains, statues, etc. Such a beautiful place to spend our last day in Vienna.

Food, Fun & Friends on the Amalfi Coast

With two vacation days on the books for Josh, and without any last minute flights that caught our eyes, we were excited to head to the Amalfi Coast with Simonne and Fabio for a relaxing time in Praiano. Fabio's folks have a house in Praiano, a small town between Amalfi and Positano, overlooking the Mediterranean, and the serenity and beauty surrounding this place is unbelievable. Fabio took care of booking us a hotel a few steps away from his folk's place, and we headed down Thursday morning, for a couple nights of relaxation.

The drive, since we got ahead of traffic, only took about 1.5 hours. The ride is full of mountain switchbacks as we traversed over the mountain and along the cliffs of the coast. This drive does tend to make me a bit car-sick, but the views make it worth it. Josh and I laughed about my father's joke when we took my folks there for a visit. As driving along the cliffs, my father said, "My friends don't call me Cliffy for nothing!"..budumpbum!ha

Once we arrived, we met up with Simonne and Fabio for some espressos and chocolate cornettos, and then made our way to their boat for a day spent cruising the coastline, swimming and relaxing in the sun. The water was so warm and clear, the sun was hot, and the views incredible. We anchored in a couple of different spots to jump off the boat to swim, and then just puttered along the coast, checking out the amazing villas, hotels, vineyards, and caves that dot the coastline. It was a great day.

After boating, we relaxed for a bit, then decided to grill out on the terrace at Fabio's place and watch the sunset. We all sipped gin and tonics on the terrace, watched the sky turn to pink and gold as the sun set over Positano, and then indulged in some veggies (peppers, eggplant, pumpkin, zucchini) that Fabio grilled on the BBQ and then tossed in a simple dressing of olive oil, basil and garlic (so delicious)and then dug into some meats--hamburger, steak and italian sausages that were cooked just right over the grill. It was a fantastic night, and we had a great time telling stories, laughing, eating and enjoying the view.

On Friday Josh, Evan and I had breakfast on the hotel terrace and then met up with Simonne and Fabio to head about 35 minutes up the cliffside to a town called Ravello. Ravello is a gorgeous little village with manicured gardens, a pretty piazza, quaint little shops and cobblestone walk ways, and 5 star hotels offering exceptional views of the Amalfi Coast below. We stopped in a Salumeria to get a bunch of fresh sandwiches--Salame and Pecorino, Tuna and tomato, Parmigiana etc, and found a great picnic spot in one of the gorgeous little parks. We relaxed and ate on the picnic blanket, while Evan played, and it was perfect. We had a spot in the shade with just enough of a breeze so that we couldn't have been more comfortable and relaxed. After lunch we strolled the streets, stopped for espresso, found some other vista points to take in the view, stopped again for a milk shake, and then headed back to Praiano. That night we hung out for a quick cocktail with Fabio's parents on their terrace, than went for an awesome dinner at a restaurant next door to our hotel. Every course throughout the meal deserved an "mmmm..mmmmm.." as the food just melted in your mouth. Some of the things we had were tuna carpacio, spaghetti con vongole (with clams), homemade ravioli w/ cheese and eggplant, fish cooked in "crazy water"...a tomato/garlic type mixture that is a typical, neopolitan way to prepare fish, meatballs, pasta w/ pesto and provolone, rolled veal, and of course some desserts of lemon sorbet and strawberry tirimasu. Despite all of this food, the Italian food is just so fresh and cooked w/ simplicity that believe it or not, we didn't have to be rolled out of there. We were all satisfied but not uncomfortably stuffed, and I have to say, it was one of the best meals I've had so far in Italy--excellent!

On Saturday we got an early start after breakfast on the hotel terrace, and are now home, enjoying a full weekend in Posillipo. Josh cooked us pancakes for breakfast...the first batch of pancakes we've had in almost a year, and we are thinking of picnicking in the park by our house later on today. What a great way to spend the weekend.

Hey, where'd everybody go?

Naples feels like a different city in August. With the heat and humidity at it's peak, the majority of Neapolitan families go on vacation and head south to the beaches in Puglia & Calabria, or head to the islands of Ischia, Capri or Procida that are just a quick ferry ride away. With most folks out of town, the normal traffic intensity of Naples is eased, the availability of parking is incredible, and the ability to find an open store, pizzeria, gelato stand etc is a bit more challenging. All that being said, we are enjoying the calm that August brings to Naples, and enjoying day trips on the weekends to take advantage of the lack of typical traffic.

Last Saturday we drove 45 minutes to Mt. Vesuvius and beared the heat and lack of shade as we hiked to the crater of the volcano. The view was well worth the effort, and we were rewarded at the top with a glass of Mt. Vesuvius white wine...not very tasty, but it seemed like fun to toast with a glass of wine on the edge of a volcano...especially an active one which Vesuvius still is:)

On Sunday, we accepted an invitation from our Italian friends Rosa and Paolo to join them at an Agriturismo (basically a park w/ bbq pits, bathroom facilities, playgrounds etc..and many with restaurants) for a picnic. We arrived after 2.5 hours in the car...an extra hour owed to some mixed communications about directions and meeting places...and found ourselves at a huge park where $10/car allows you entrance and use of all the facilities. We quickly claimed a spot, Paolo got the fire going, the girls laid out all the food on the picnic table, and we spent the day relaxing, talking, and of course, eating. On the grill there was corn on the cob, sausages, turkey & pork and even huge chunks of cheese grilled over the fire, and then we had a rice, tuna and olive salad and the cous cous salad which I had contributed. Conversations were primarily all in Italian which can be challenging due to the sheer speed of the way Italians talk when they all get together, but we managed to keep up with 'most' of the conversation, and had a great time. I've vowed not to drive 2.5 hours again for a picnic, but I'll gladly have them to my neck of the woods for a casual picnic in our neighboring park before the summer is done.

We head to the Amalfi Coast again this week to meet up with Simonne and Fabio for more fun times on their boat, BBQ on their terrace, and just fun times with them. They have become great friends, and they will be moving to Switzerland in a few weeks, so we are really trying to spend as much time with them as possible before they move. I miss Simonne already since she usually comes over almost every day when she isn't at the coast, but once they are settled up in Switzerland I'll be sure to visit:)

I continue to go to the park in my neighborhood almost every day and always seem to make new friends. This week I was invited to run with a group of runners that I have seen there often, so it was great to have the company as I do my laps around the park. This week I became friends with a Grammar School teacher who lives in my neighborhood, and today I met an OB/GYN, Simonna, who after joining me with her babies on my picnic blanket, said she would love to hang out more and asked to exchange phone #s. So..despite what a lot of people think about Neopolitans being closed in and hard to meet, I find just the opposite to be true. The folks I have met all seem open, friendly, and interested in developing new friendships. It's great!

Pictures include:
View from atop the crater of Mt. Vesuvius
Picnic at the Agriturismo
Sunrise from our balcony (w/Evan an early riser, we've decided to start out each day w/ some family time-drinking coffee & watching the sunrise together from our balcony before Josh leaves for work
And Evan showing off some new shoes...Evan DOES have big feet, but not that big-the camera perspective is funny!

Over the mountain and to the coast, to our friends' boat we go!

We had a spectacular day on the Amalfi coast yesterday, spending the day on our friends' Simonne and Fabio's boat.

We left Naples first thing in the morning, actually getting out the door before 7am, and arriving, in Praiano ( a coastal town between Positano and Amalfi) by 8ish. Fabio's folks have a house in Praiano, so we picked up Simonne and Fabio, went straight to a Bar for some cappucinos and cornettos con chocolat, and then headed to the marina to board the boat. The Amalfi coast this time of year is usually a zoo, and traffic can be a bear, but thankfully, we had clear roads most of the way, and were on the boat just after 9.

Aboard the boat, we all quickly got comfortable on the cushion-covered bow, which offered us a 'front-row seat' to the beautiful Amalfi coast. Fabio was a great captain, touring us around past both Positano and Amalfi, with a couple pit stops where we anchored, jumped off the boat for some swimming, and tendered in to a restaurant on the beach for a great lunch of mozzarella caprese, fresh pasta, eggplant parmigiana, stuffed peppers, grilled tuna, and some white wine with fresh peaches added to it--quite a refreshing beverage for the beach!

It was a fun day in every way--great friends, amazing views, warm dips in the Meditteranean, and 'smooth sailing' the full day. Evan was very relaxed on the boat, was NOT interested in swimming, and slept most of the way back to Naples. What a great way to spend a Saturday--loved it!

Under the Tuscan Sun--that's where we were this weekend:)

At the recommendation of our good friends, Simonne and Fabio, Josh, Evan and I headed to the Tuscan countryside to enjoy some R&R at Il Fonte Machievelli, Simonne and Fabio's favorite B&B, just outside of Florence. I had to go to the immigration office in the morning for fingerprinting, and Josh had to work, but Friday evening, we made our way to Tuscany, enjoying the scenic drive for the full 4 hour ride.

The township we stayed in, San Casciano, was only about 10 minutes outside of Florence, so from Naples, we simply took the Autostrada the whole way, past Rome, to Florence, and enjoyed not only the vineyards and hillsides, but also amazing, midievel walled cities that you can see perched up on cliffs as you drive through Umbria and enter into Toscana--so pretty! As you view these walled cities, dotted with various look-out towers, you can imagine life back in those mideivel times when a city's position along a cliff or bordering a river allowed for more protection from invaders. Really cool!

Anyways, we were pleasantly surprised by the light traffic---most Italians head South for their August vacations, so we were going against traffic, and we arrived in time to unpack, settle in a bit, and head to dinner at a spot 5 minutes away from the B&B. Hungry, from a day on the road, we ordered lots of food--the Crostini recommended by Simonne, came topped with a variety of things including liver--not my favorite, tomatoes, beans, and wild boar sauce, followed by homemade pasta with the special wild boar sauce of the day, then osso bucco and roasted/seasoned chicken, topped finally off with dessert of gelato for me and a great pastry/cookie type thing with the freshest cream and berries that were to die for for Josh. Evan had his cheerios and was quite content with those:)

The B&B was spectacular. We woke to a stunning view of the countryside from our window, then took in an expansive view of the countryside from the terrace where breakfast was served. It was a buffet of bacon & eggs...which we never see in Naples, ham, various whole fruits, juices, cheeses, rolls and croissants. It was buffet style but the rolls and espressos were delivered to our table. The first day at the buffet, I saw some yummy looking croissants in baskets in the buffet room. Not exactly right next to the buffet, but I thought that maybe we could have them. I grabbed one from a basket, and when I got back out to our table where Josh and Evan were, I saw that the waiter had delivered our own basket of 2 croissants...meaning I had 'stolen' someone elses. Geez..you just can't take this girl anywhere! So..it was kind of embarrassing..not too much..I mean..we did enjoy that extra croissant smothered in Nutella, but I did feel a bit bad. Well..sure enough at breakfast the next day, we had not 2 but 3 croissants in our basket. Josh and I just laughed...my little faux pas paid off for the 2nd day:) ha!

After a leisurely breakfast the first day, we spent a few hours by the pool, swimming with Evan in his new blow up float toy, and then just relaxed poolside while Evan slept in the shade of some olive trees---all sounds very Tuscan doesn't it:) After enough time by the pool and in the sun, we went to lunch in San Casciano where we found one of maybe 3 open restaurants to eat at. You see, in Italy, everyone goes on vacation in August, so it is not unusual to find whole streets of stores, shops, restaurants closed for the month, with little hand-written signs in the windows that say the date they will be back from holiday. So, we didn't have a ton of options, but we found a little place where we sat outside and enjoyed bread salad, bruscetta, pesto gnocchi, spaghetti con pomodoro and some wine. After lunch, we had enough time to head into Florence to check out Piazza Michelangelo, a piazza that offers a panaromic view of the city. We enjoyed some super cold iced-teas while we took in the view, and then headed back to San Casciano for our 5:30pm private wine-tasting appointement at Mangia Cane ("Eat Dog"...a restaurant/resort that was recommended to us). The wines were great and we learned a lot about the grapes, the wines, their process from the Sommelier who served us. After the winetasting we were able to enjoy the view from one of the terraces at Mangia Cane and the food offered as part of a hotel type 'happy hour'. So, even though we weren't staying at the hotel (where prices ranged from $350-$3000/night), we got to spend a lot of time there, and indulge in the spread of food and wines they put out, including cheeses, meats, fried mozzarella balls, wontons, prusciutto etc. A great spread, a great view, and a perfect night in Tuscany.

On our last day, we woke up to the spectacular breakfast on the terrace and then headed out towards San Gimignano and Siena for the day. Both of these towns are walled cities, so you have to park outside the walls and then walk in. In San Gimignano we stopped into an Enoteca for a winetasting. We had told the girl working there that I am learning Italian and like to practice, so she described each of the wines to us in Italian, and conversed solely in Italian for the 1/2 hour we spent with her. Josh and I were proud of ourselves for understanding so much of what she was saying, since technical wine making terms haven't necessarily been part of the Italian vocabulary that we've been learning. In any case, the wines were great, our hostess was nice and knowledgeable, and we walked out of there with a nice bottle of Chianti Classico.

After winetasting, we walked up to Piazza di Cisterna...the site of a 12th century Cistern, but also, lucky for me, the site of the "Gelato World Champion's" gelato shop. Well, the Cistern was something to see, but didn't nearly hold my attention as much as my triple cone of eggnog, chocolate and coconut gelato--now that was GOOD! With icecreams in hand, we strolled the narrow, pedestrian only streets, window shopped, people watched, and then headed on to Siena. We had been to Siena on vacation about 5 years ago, never thinking then that we would be returning a second time from our 'home' in Italy. Weird how life goes. Anyways, on our previous vacation, Siena had been one of our favorite spots, so we kind of recreated what we had done during our previous visit, which was stop in a local deli (which our first time we were totally intimidated since everyone was speaking Italian and the guy behind the counter was like the 'soup nazi from Seinfeld, but this time, with our Italian skills improved, there was little intimidation:), order parmmesan, salami, bread and drinks, and have a picnic in the main piazza. It was a little different this time, since now we had a picnic blanket filled with toys to keep Evan occupied, but otherwise, the day in Siena was reminiscent of our past visit--nice weather, huge sandwiches, great people watching, and totally relaxing.

Amazing how just a few hours drive away and we get totally different landscapes, different food choices/menu varieties, different driving abilities from the locals, and different attitudes of the people. We just love the experience we are having living in Italy and are constantly trying to take it all in, and not take it for granted. Now...where to next....???

Pictures:
-The B&B with a great pool--our room 2nd floor of the bldg behind pool
-Evan just so happy to be in his stroller touring Tuscany
-My Crostini at dinner the first night
-View from our room
-Evan happy to be on the breakfast terrace overlooking Tuscan countryside
-Evan and Josh getting refreshed in the pool
-The 3 of us at Piazza Michelangelo, overlooking Florence
-Winetasting at "Mangia Cane"