Nana and Papa arrived, and Evan couldn't be more thrilled!

My folks arrived in April, and Evan is so excited to have new playmates. My parents have endless energy when it comes to playing with their grandson, and so it's been fun to watch their relationship grow, after so many months across continents. With a week left to go in their visit, I'm already wondering how Evan is going to cope with their leaving...it will be a sad day for all. But...since April, you may be wondering what we've been doing to keep busy, besides playing with an energetic 18 month old. Well, we've definitely been keeping busy, although relaxing a little bit more than on their first visit to Naples about a year ago where we spent a month going around to almost every notable church, piazza, castle and ruin within the Naples area.
This visit, we've been exploring new sites. Padre Pio, for all you Catholics who might be familiar, was born in a town about 2 hours away, called Benevento. Benevento is, in my opinion, a smaller version of Assisi. In this town we saw Padre Pio's childhood home, the church that he preached at, and other relics associated with him. He was a saint known for the stigmatas he had in his palms and feet, just like Christ had, and for various miracles. The town was very quaint, and we enjoyed walking around, looking in the shops, sampling some local treats, and sitting down for lunch. It was a perfect day trip, and a new town for us to all explore together.

Another Saturday was spent on the Amalfi Coast, specifically in the resort coastal town of Positano. This cliffside village is gorgeous, with the mediterranean on one side and steep cliffs on the other. The streets are lined with quaint shops, cafe's and restaurants. I met up with my friend Simonne who I had been used to seeing every day in Naples until she moved to Lugano, Switzerland about 7 months ago, so it was a great spot for a mini-reunion for us. The ride to/from Positano isn't for those who experience car-sickness, since the switchbacks along the cliffs seem endless, and although the views are unbelievable, they can be clouded if you become nauseaus, so you have to be prepared. Unfortunately, my father wasn't too used to sitting in the back seat, so his belly didn't necessarily all the twists and turns, however, he'll agree that the payoff in Positano was well worth the suffering of the drive:)

We also spent a day walking Spaccanapoli...the term given to some streets and thoroghfares, which combined, are said to draw a line right through the center of the city. Along this walk we enjoyed the architecture of the Galleria, the frescos of various churches, the vastness of large piazzas (Piazza Dante), the intimacy of small piazzas (Piazza Bellini),the smells of baking bread and pizza, the many shops selling intricate nativity scenes with so many pieces and varieties (buying them would be like buying a doll house that you can use your imagination to fill up) and the tastes of warm from the oven chocolate-dripping cornettos, sugared graffas and foamy cappucinos. Bellisimo!!

Directly in our neighborhood of Posillipo, we've been spending time at the park, visiting the waterfront restaurants of Marechiaro (the street next to ours) and the ancient Roman ruins and tunnel of Grotta di Seino--an amazing archeologial area that we can actually see from our apartment, but is only accessible via a huge tunnel which dates back to the B.C times. We've also been indulging in Neopolitan pizza about once a week, and enjoying other treats like dark chocolate profiteroles from the local patisserie and some good tastes of home like Duncan Hines cakes and brownies, thanks to a day of shopping on the NATO base! We've been playing cards, yahtzee and reading too...also nursing ourselves back to health after a week of all of us having colds, bronchitis and sinus infection type symptoms. Not fun, but at least we had good views to enjoy while we recuperated.

The biggest "excursion" while my folks have been visiting was our cruise aboard MSC Cruiselines. Our itinerary started in Bari (a 2.5 hr drive from Naples) and brought us to the Greek Isles of Santorini, Mykenos &Corfu, plus the mainland for Athens/Piraeus, Dubrovnik-Croatia, Venice, Italy and then back to Bari. My folks had a room down the hall from us, so we were able to wave from our balcony's as we sailed, and easily meet up for any of the on board shows or meals that we were going to participate in together. True to normal cruising form, we all had plenty to eat both on and off the ship...had to taste the local foods in each port, and we really enjoyed each and every port. We opted not to do too many of the ships' organized excursions, but instead did the "on/off" bus in Athens, so that we had a chance to see the famed Acropolis and Parthenon, plus Josh and I explored the streets of Mykenos, and we all took the gondola up the cliffside to enjoy the hilltop town of Santorini. Other ports we explored on foot, taking in great views, coastlines and local bites.

Red Light, Green Light....hello Amsterdam!

In March, it was finally time to explore Amsterdam. All I had ever heard about Amsterdam was that everyone smokes pot and that prostitutes dance in the windows of the Red Light District. Little did I know that this image and the reality of this, exists mainly on one small street, occupying a couple blocks of the whole of Amsterdam. Instead of the Red Light District, Amsterdam should be known for it's endless canal-lined streets that rival those of Venice, it's international offering of cuisine, it's gorgeous parks and green space, and it's 2-wheeled population since hopping on a bicycle seems to be the preferred mode of transportation used by locals and tourists alike to navigate the city. Although Dutch is the official language, English seemed to be spoken everywhere, so landing there for a weekend was easy, since we didn't have to worry too much about communication. I had rented us a small, but fabulous apartment in a perfect location along a canal and walking distance to the Museum Quarter, Anne Frank House, Red Light District, Dam Square, and tons of restaurants, parks and shops. There was also a great bagel shop near by, and after living in Italy for 1.5 yrs where I have yet to find bagels, the ability to get a toasted bagel w/ cream cheese each morning was a huge treat! I also didn't feel like I was missing out on local Dutch cuisine, since a couple locals had told us there really isnt' a quintessential "Dutch" dish to order off a menu....maybe Dutch Pancakes, but the bagel sounded better. Besides...wouldn't they have to use a 'dutch oven' to make a dutch pancake..I didn't want to risk that..sounds stinky (haha).

Each day we loved strolling along the tree lined, gable roof house-lined, canals. Although there was traffic, most of the traffic was caused by bicyclists, so the city is free of a lot of the loud traffic noise caused by big cars and trucks, making our strolls that much more enjoyable. We took a boat cruise one day which was a fun way to see the city sites while cruising the intricacies of the canals. We also were subjected to some fraternity boys having fun with a blow up doll in the window of a houseboat we cruised by. The group of guys were obviously performing for our tour group, and by the time we were fully past them, everyone on our boat was laughing...even if at first they tried to stifle their laughs due to embarrassment, noone could resist, and it did seem to be a very Amsterdam/RedLight type moment:)

We also enjoyed 2 of their over 50 museums--the Anne Frank House/Museum and the Van Gogh Museum. The Anne Frank House still seems to breathe the atmosphere of the time in 1944 when The Frank's hiding place was betrayed and tehy were deported to various concentration camps. Quotes from Anne's diary (and her actual diaries), photographs, historical documents, film images and original objects that belonged to the Frank's while in hiding are all on display. It was amazing to be in the actual tour, and I was actually moved to tears by some of the video footage. A definite 'must do' / 'can't miss' if you are ever in Amsterdam! The Van Gogh Museum was also very impressive. It houses the world's largest collection of Van Gogh works, but if pressed for time, you can likely make it through in under 2 hours, like we did since we had a tired little Evan with us that evening:)

We are loving having so many amazing cities within easy reach, and are looking forward to continuing our exploration of Europe. So far, Amsterdam, with its beautiful scenery and active lifestlye, may just be my favorite European city yet!!!

Enjoy some Fado and Port in where else? Portugal!

In February, we headed to Lisbon for the weekend. After having done little research on this city, but for some reason, feeling like I just really wanted to see it, we arrived and were pleasantly surprised. The first impression was that of a clean, organized city, with nice views even along the drive from the airport to our apartment. I found us an apartment in the Bairro Alto neighborhood...an old neighborhood, with narrow, cobble stoned streets, where locals live quietly by day, and out of towners and local university students party well into the wee hours of the night. The transition from day to night in this neighborhood was amazing. Many of the shops didn't even open during the day, since the streets were so deserted, but in the evenings, the same stores would quickly pull up their grates, unlock their doors, to serve the hundreds of people packing the streets of Bairro Alto as they lined up at Fado Bars, dined in restaurants, and freely indulged in cocktails in the streets. We were told by our cab driver that many taxis won't even come into Bairro Alto not only because the streets are so narrow making it hard to turn any corners, but also, the broken bottles that make the streets glimmer in the aftermath of the late night party scenes are just too perilous for the cabbies' tires, so many avoid the area all together. All that being said, we loved the neighborhood and were hardly disturbed by the late night partying thanks to thick, double-paned glass windows we had in our apartment. In fact, we kind of liked observing the scene below from our window, while Evan slept soundly in his crib.
So...what's there to do in Lisbon? Well, we walked the city at a relaxed pace, taking in the incredible black and white marble sidewalks and streets, enjoying the local pastries (not so much other cuisine), and visiting some of the main sites such as St. Jorge's castle in the ancient Alfama district which offered outstanding, panoramic views of Lisbon.There were also wide open piazzas where Evan liked to run and chase pigeons ...such as Praca do Comercio which bordered the coast.
Since we were in the Old City (as opposed to the New City where all the big named hotels and convention center are...but not any of the historical sites), we found the area very walkable, and going from neighborhood to neighborhood was easy. Having read about a resort town named Caiscais which was only a short train ride away, we decided to enjoy one day there, along the water. Caiscais definitely had a resort feel, and was quite international, obviously catering to the tastes of the vacationers who flock there from Ireland, England, etc during the summer months. The village was charming, with lots of shops, flowers, restaurants, and a beautiful boardwalk and sidewalk that allowed you to really enjoy the coastline.
We had a great, relaxing weekend and I would absolutely recommend Lisbon!