The next day we met Mike for lunch at the same place- this time we had burgers which were just okay. Emma had sprite with both her dinner and lunch. She turned up her nose at the burger and announced "I don't know about this Italian food. I only like my Sprite. It looks the same and it tastes the same."
The second night we were here went out to dinner at a nice resturant with Mike's boss and his boss's boss. The C.O. was in town for just a couple of days and we went out to dinner with them. Italian dinners typically take a couple of hours and our kids usually only eat for a couple of minutes so we knew we needed to pull out all the stops. We took my video ipod and our kids watched shows while we ate and visited....it felt like a cruddy parent move and sheer genius all at the same time! There was also an aquarium full of lobster and fish in the front of the resturant which the kids thought was great. This was my first look at anything urban in Italy and it was soooooooo gross. There were piles of trash like I've never seen before- I'm talking 100's of bags of trash piled up all over each other. I was a little worried that everywhere I went would be so crummy and gross. Trying to cross the street with my kids felt like sending them into a knife shop to play- but we made it both ways. :)
On our trip out to dinner we all rode together in the detachments big van. Mike's boss's last name is Strassburger and the kids had a hard time saying that....and one thing led to another and within minutes they were saying "Trashburger" and laughing their heads off.....so embarassing.
The pizza is everything they say it is and more. My taste buds will have to really really forget how delicious this pizza was before I order a Papa Johns pie again.
The drivers in Italy are completely insane- truly. I've never seen anything like it. the lines on the roads mean nothing. Crosswalks and people crossing the road with small children mean nothing. Red lights mean nothing. There is no right of way, no order and if you find a really narrow alley chances are it's a two way street. I drove to the big base about 25 minutes north of here to take the kids to the park and out for lunch, etc onec by myself and I felt like my safe arrival there and back here at our hotel was as big of an accomplishment as flying over the ocean. I am so loving the order on the roads here in the US of A.
The only children I ever actually SAW in car seats were my own. I did see other cars on base with car seats in them but I never saw any kids in them. Italians are happy to fly down the freeway at 80mph with their 3 year old standing on the back seat of sitting on Mom's lap in the front.
Even bathrooms in "nice" places don't always have toilet seats....or toilet paper. After the "nice" resturant didn't have seats we were MUCH more organized about not having to pee in public unless on base. When Andrew had to pee in downtown Naples we made a wall with umbrellas and let him pee into a pee bag (Travel John Jr.- we don't travel without it!) right on the street- which was much less scary than going into a place and asking to use the bathroom.
Adjusting the kids to the time zone took about 2 weeks....we didn't really MAKE the ever get up we just let them sleep when they wanted. The first 3 or 4 days we were here Emma stayed up 'til almost midnight and slept 'til almost noon the next day.
There are spots in the floors of both the exchange and commissary that have thick glass floors and ruins underneath them! The kids loved seeing the ruins and it made going to the commissary or exchange feel exciting when you get to see ruins!
Our rental car was a Fiat Panda and I think the entry way to our house is bigger than it was- but it was SO fun! The kids thought it was awesome and we all had fun calling it "The Panda." There is no way this story will be as funny since I can't capture the tone of Andrew's voice when he said it- but it will make me laugh for 100 years. (When Mike drove us to the hotel from the airport he drove his squadron's mini van) Andrew was SO excited about going to Mt. Vesuvius and he said in the most excited and dead serious voice a 3 year old can muster "When we get there I'm going to get out of the van and run up the volcano....I mean car, I mean rental car, I mean.....The Panda."
1 comment:
That is so cool that your whole family was in Italy! Someday I'll go there. Keep the pictures coming.
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