Our empty house

I have had several requests for pictures of the house. Sadly, we are still waiting for our household goods to arrive. They are allegedly at the warehouse in Aviano but we can't get anyone to call us back about delivery. Our housing situation isn't the worst. We met a family whose stuff went to the wrong base so they are definitely still waiting for delivery. Oops! Our friends, Hanna and Kevin, have their big shipment but never got their unaccompanied baggage (i.e. the small amount of stuff that you want right away - sheets, towels, some kitchen stuff, etc). Somehow, the delivery date for their UB was listed as August 31, not July 31. When Kevin called to find out where it was, he was told that it had recently arrived in New Jersey. Keep in mind that it left San Antonio near the end of June. The woman then told him that his UB was to go to California, then Germany, then Italy. Quite a trip! So really, things could be worse. I am just excited to get the house together.

Thankfully(?) the Air Force helped us out by loaning a couch, kitchen table, and chair. Thus, here is the extent of our furniture:



Does this remind you of some sort of waiting room?



Our lovely air mattress. Notice the fan in the corner. We can't use it because it is American and we don't have a transformer with a low enough voltage to run it!

Trieste

Last weekend involved another trip on the train. This time we went to Trieste, an ancient town on the beach on the very east side of Italy. You can actually see Slovenia from points in the town. The town has a very Eastern European feel and is supposed to be heavily influenced by Hungary. Regardless, it was a cool place. There are a couple of castles housed there. My favorite was Miramare and out of all of the palaces we have visited since moving here, that is where I would want to live:)

Some other noteworthy events:

1. We almost lost Kwame at a bus stop. He tried to help this exceptionally drunk man who had fallen over (don't worry, it was at least 2pm) and the bus doors closed. Luckily, the driver was nice enough to let him on after we banged on the door!

2. The topless beaches in Italy. First of all, the "beach" part does not really exist. Everyone lounges on concrete near the road. Then you have to crawl down 20 feet of rock or hope that you are sitting near stairs to get to the water. However, the ocean looked heavenly! I want to come back and spend the weekend in Trieste at one of the little beach hotels. Now back to the topless part. Most beaches in Italy are topless. Most women at this beach were covered. Kwame pointed out to Tommy on the phone the other night that it was awful because all of the women that you did not want to see topless were the only ones partaking in the tradition. Oh well!



Trieste's Grand Canal



San Giorgio Castle



Trieste from the castle grounds



Miramare

The Italian Ikea!

We took a small trip to our nearest Ikea last weekend. This was only the second time that I had been to Ikea (and Kwame's first). I forgot how overwhelming the place is! I think their website is overwhelming so you can imagine how I felt in the huge store surrounded by thousands of my Italian neighbors. We ended up getting about 20 items (mostly stuff for the baby's room) and dinner for around 100 Euro. It was a successful trip!



The only noteworthy event was trying to get through the toll booth on the way back. We managed to get in the line with the automated machine instead of a real person. Kwame could not figure out where to put his toll ticket. We finally realized that there were language options on the machine so Kwame pushed the button for . . . French? He then proceeded to yell and get mad at the machine while a large line of cars formed behind us. Once he figured out where to put the ticket and how much to pay, there was steam coming out of his ears. The machine did a much better job at keeping her cool because she called out a friendly "Au Revoir" as we left:) How come I never have that video camera when I need it?

Gelatto flavors we have tried . . .

Caramel
Strawberry
Melon
Nutella
Pistachio
Strawberry yogurt
Rum Raisin (melaga)
Cookies
Peach
Vanilla
Crema nocciola (tasted kind of like peanut butter)
Pineapple
Black Cherry
Zuppa Inglese (English Soup) - It had pieces of shortbread in it and tasted like it was full of rum or some other liquor. Yowza!

Cultural Differences

Here are a couple of things that we have learned since being here:

1. Italy has quiet hours from 12-4pm daily. No dog barking, kids playing in yards (and making noise), mowing the lawn etc. I wonder how long it will take me to mess this up!

2. Most stores have riposo from 12:30-2:30pm or so. That is the time that they are closed for lunch and nap. I think I will be able to adapt to this custom. . .

3. You are not allowed to keep weapons in your car. This includes golf clubs.

4. Children 13 and under require a babysitter. You have to be 14 to babysit, 16 to drink, and 18 to drive. So technically, you could end up with a tipsy 16-year-old babysitting your 13-year-old but you would have to pick them up to get to your house.

5. If you are pulled over for speeding or any other traffic violation, you have to pay the ticket price on the spot or the carabinieri (police) can take your car. The fine for speeding 11-20km (about 6-12mph) over is 180 euro or $240.

6. The police stand on the side of the road and stick out their "lollipop" (ha ha) to pull you over. If you decide to keep driving, they have the authority to shoot out your tires (or wherever the bullet happens to hit).

Piancavallo and Cortina

Last weekend, we took a couple of drives up into the mountains. On Saturday, we drove about 40 minutes to Piancavallo, the local ski resort. No skiing for us in August but it was a nice drive up the mountain and walk through the town. It looks like there were plenty of slopes for the novice skier like me! Our friends, Kevin and Hanna, were with us as well and they were much more interested in the advanced skiing:)



At Piancavallo. No snow this time of year (thankfully)



Kwame's favorite part was the playground

On the way back from Piancavallo, we stopped to watch the paragliders. It was really cool watching them just run off the side of the mountain and fly through the air. We could see the base from our lookout point as well.



On Sunday, we drove to Cortina d'Ampezzo, located in the Dolomites which is part of the Alps. It is beautiful there; I want to go back for a long weekend. Apparently, Cortina is the Vail of Italy so there were lots of fancy people walking in and out of the fancy stores. We took the cable car to the top of one of the peaks. I think it was around 12,000 feet. The view was incredible. Of course, as soon as we were having a good time, some random man came up to me and said that he heard that pregnant women were not supposed to climb above 5000 ft or something like that. Since we were already up there and we didn't actually exert any effort to get there, we continued to look around! The other cool thing about Cortina is that it was the host to the 1956 Winter Olympics so we got to see the ancient ski jump and luge course. If you come to visit, plan a couple of days to visit Cortina.



Near downtown Cortina



Our ride up and down the mountain



At the top!



The ski jump

Bathroom Update

We moved into our house this week. Move may not be the right word since we have very little furniture or other items but we are sleeping there now. The house is nice and in a nice neighborhood. I will attach pictures after I take them. We are within walking distance to restaurants, parks, shops, and other interesting places. Kwame is about 15 minutes by car from work. We'll see how far by bike this weekend. Apparently this is a huge distance for most people but it beats the 30-40 minute drive he had in STL. Anyway, I thought I should mention that our bathrooms and at least one bedroom have pulls for emergency buzzers. I originally thought we moved into a house that was built for some ailing person but I hear that the buzzers are standard in most Italian houses. Hopefully the only time we will need the one in the bathroom is when I have to buzz Kwame to bring me a glass of wine! The other buzzer is in the room that will be for the baby. There is nothing better than a long, loose cord in your baby's room! Luckily we have some time to figure out what to do with it before we have to worry about it being a choking hazard!