Funny Surprises in Normandy May 8, 2010
Posted by Chris in : Normandy , 2commentsToday we went into town with Cory, our hostess, for some groceries and were told that it is a bank holiday. She gave us a tour of the town and in the middle of the tour we noticed that there was a bunch of young Marines unloading from a bus in the main square. They were in full uniform, including their large guns. It was hilarious because we figured they would march around, twirl their guns, or something, but nothing happened. They got into formation, their uniforms were inspected and adjusted (their leader reminded us of their mother, if their mother was a big well-decorated man), they moved about twenty feet, and stood there for some time until we got bored and went into the grocery store.
So when we got back we headed out to the pond for some digging. Today we made a lot more progress than yesterday, but we also got stuck more too. The most memorable of the times was when Chris got stuck and went sideways into the mud and I went to help him, when my boot sank into the mud. He got out just fine, but I was pretty trapped because I wouldn’t put any weight on my right leg, for it would have sank too. So there I was knee-deep in the pond and Chris came to rescue me now. I grabbed onto his arm and pulled and out came my foot, no boot attached. So we spent about twenty minutes trying to dig my boot out while I did the flamingo in the pond. Then my other boot starts sinking… Needless to say, one of my socks is now very muddy.
For dinner tonight we had Curry Chicken,which was very delicious and after we watched Cricket with Bob. We’re slowly beginning to understand how the game is played. They shared with us how the usual matches last for five days and when one goes to one is it for the social gathering more than the game. However, there is a new version that is much faster to gain the appeal of the younger crowd. Cricket is very complicated; everything about it is very specific down to which side of the ball is shined.Tonight the match was between South Africa and England (England won).
Sorry again about the no pictures in the post. We still haven’t figured out what is wrong; the Flicker button has disappeared.
Beautiful Normandy May 7, 2010
Posted by Chris in : Uncategorized , add a commentWe arrived in Flers, Normandy a couple of days ago and were and are stunned by the beauty of the region. Yesterday, we spent a decent part of the day weeding the lavender gardens, a necessary chore to keep them growing at their best. While weeding the gardens, we saw that there are two neighbors with sheep, Tiffany was ecstatic. Near the end of our day, I glanced up and saw, in the field with 1 sheep and 2 lambs, that the adult sheep had a chicken perched on its back.
After we finished work yesterday, we had dinner and were informed that we would probably be cleaning out their pond today; the pond has become filled up with silt and other sediments flowing downstream.
Note: We are having some technical difficulties with inserting images so we will be updating this post with images and further tales as soon as we have that solved.
Besides Working April 28, 2010
Posted by tiffany in : Carassai , 1 comment so farWorking with the grape vines has a tranquil effect and f
or meditative purposes, it is wonderful . Today is another beautiful day with minimal cloud coverage and high visibility, which makes today a great day to work outside. Yesterday was the same way and all of the critters came out to soak up some sun. We have been invited back in September to see the fruit of our labor- the grapes. I hope we can make it because if I enjoy pruning the vines then I would probably love picking (and probably tasting) the grapes!The common flowering plants around here are very lovely. There are Poppies all over the place, which are nice because they accent the countryside and up close the flower buds look like irritated skin (while I find it interesting, some people may not). There are many others that I don’t know the names of, but they help to mane this place very colorful.
Giuseppe told us that there is a castle in town that we will be checking out soon. He showed us a picture and it is not some ruins with a sign; it is very grand. We shall see!
Also there is the beach, which apparently the water is cold but it is getting hotter here. So perhaps on Sunday we will go with the family to the beach and hopefully the water is comfortable. If we can’t stand the water, a city is near by so we can walk around there.
The cute town on the hill is Cassarai, by the way.
Mount Vesuvius April 19, 2010
Posted by Chris in : Naples, Travel Tips , add a commentTo go up Vesuvius, you have to take a bus most of the way up and then hike to the summit. The cheapest way to get the bus is to go to the Ercolano stop where the bus tickets are the cheapest, in addition to the train tickets being fairly cheap. Be wary though because there is a tour that charges extra for a tour guide. It’s a volcano, do you really need a tour guide?
The bus ride up gives you great views over the Bay of Naples in addition to the towns of Pompei and Ercolano. About 4km from the bus stop at the top of the volcano, we stopped at a shop run by a man who has been living and working on Vesuvius for over 40 years, saw the last eruption in 1944 at age 16, and gave us a nice history of the volcano highlighted by pictures out of a book about Vesuvius.
The top of Mount Vesuvius is a National Park that you have to pay 4.50 to 6.50 Euros a person to climb to the top, depending on age and whether or not you are a student.
We paid to exert ourselves and climb to the top and it was worth it. The hike afforded us great views some of the time, odd visions while walking in clouds, and finally, stunning views into the volcano itself.
Along the way, there are several small shops where you can buy nifty figures and souvenirs from the mountain made of shiny volcanic rock and such. There are Roman statues, fairies, and even just plain shiny rocks!
At the top is a shop where you can grab a coffee while admiring the views around and over the mountain and if it’s cloudy when you get to the top, just wait a few minutes, the clouds have a tendency to be only temporary things, passing by and giving you an absolutely stunning view down the volcano.
While taking the climb, Tiff and I got engrossed in looking for shiny rocks of our own so that we wouldn’t have to pay for a rock, shiny or not, deciding that it would be more fun to find our own anyway. What we discovered by the end of our trek up and down the volcano was that there are more shiny rocks at the beginning of the path than at any other point on the climb; however, there were a lot of nifty, shiny, and colorful rocks on the path, just not as many as were at the bottom.
One thing to remember before deciding to climb Vesuvius is to bring a jacket even if it feels nice and warm at sea level; it can be several degrees cooler at the top and is often very windy, there are even signs posted around the entrance to the Park.
While looking into the volcano, we noticed that apparently there are steam vents in the sides of the volcano because there would be steam constantly moving up from the walls of the volcano and joining the clouds, even when there weren’t any clouds anywhere near the volcano!
Vesuvius is definitely something you can’t miss on a trip through southern Italy!
Herculaneum April 18, 2010
Posted by tiffany in : Naples , add a commentWe woke up to cloudy skies and a drizzle that lasted all day. But we wouldn’t let a little rain stop us, so we went to 
Herculaneum today. Apparently the free heritage week ends on the 25th of April, so we can go to all of these places for free (we plan on leaving on the 21st).
Herculaneum is very similar to Pompei, except it’s smaller and much more preserved. So much so that we were very surprised to see that some of the rooms still had the original ceilings with Fresco still on it! Some places had the original wooden door frames. There were two and three story buildings mostly intact. Most of t
he buildings were once homes that had eight rooms and they were very spacious (perhaps very high-end homes). It was definitely something to see and a bit better to do in the rain instead of Pompei, since Pompei doesn’t have much shelter.
There is still excavations being done under the city that is there today, since there is still some of Herculaneum that has not been tampered with yet. We got to go into a little of the tunneling that has been done so far. There was a neat sculpture inside the tunnel and not much else that was of interest.
We hope to be going to the Archeological museum in Napoli tomorrow to see all of the things (and people) they have discovered in the ruins. It may be closed since most of Italy is on Mondays. We shall see.
Napoli: A Day At The Beach April 17, 2010
Posted by tiffany in : Naples , add a commentAfter seeing the coast yesterday in Sorrento we knew we had to go to the beach. It hasn’t been that warm out (mostly in the low 70′s) but the humidity level makes it feel much warmer, so we packed the hotel towels, flip-flops, water, and sun block (leaving the cameras behind of course) and headed for the beach in Napoli.
Come to find out there isn’t much of a beach in Napoli which was a little sad considering the amount of reading I’d been doing about the lovely gray sand beaches this area is known for. The entire area of beach was smaller than our last apartment, but alas, the sun was lovely, it had a great view of Vesuvius, clear water, and it wasn’t very crowded.
We were wondering why the beach wasn’t as packed as the guide books were saying and then we got into the water! Saying “brrr” doesn’t cover it; it was down right cold! Apparently it is cold all year round and the locals wait until the middle of summer to go into the Mediterranean (I suppose it’s hard to fight the temptation with the heat and all).
We made a sand castle and lounged around, building up the courage to go into the nice water. We did actually go in twice, both times ended with us sun bathing like cats, trying to get dry and warm.
When we were walking to the beach from the bus stop there was a man on a moped, driving in the street that whistled at us. We looked over and he was trying to sell us an Iphone! There are a lot of people in the streets that sell Iphones, but we had never seen a drive-by (street-to-sidewalk?) Iphone salesman.
Pompei Ruins April 16, 2010
Posted by Chris in : Naples , add a commentToday, we took a train from Napoli to see the ruins of Pompei; the ruins were very well preserved when Mount Vesuvius exploded in 74 CE which coated everything in the city in ash before sealing everything with a blast of super-hot air coming off the mountain.
Because of the quick preservation, there are a ton of frescoes still visible in the city, spread out through the walls between the buildings, inside the buildings, and even on the ground in some cases! Also clearly visible in Pompei are the Romanesque ruins with columns, a bath house, and amphitheaters scattered throughout.
The city seemed to be designed with carts and pedestrians sharing the roads because there are sidewalks on both sides and wagon ruts can be clearly seen in the streets. Whoever built the streets in Pompei must have been brilliant; the streets were about 12-18 inches above the road and there were stepping stones on the street at the ‘crosswalks’ that were nearly the same height as the sidewalk, allowing us to walk through the city without jumping on and off the sidewalks!
We got lucky with our timing this week as it’s apparently Culture Week which meant that all of the museums in the area (maybe Italy), are free! We still had to get a ticket but we asked for it and they gave us a ticket admitting two people with a price of zero Euros.
Biking Around Florence April 15, 2010
Posted by tiffany in : Florence , 1 comment so farSorry about not posting yesterday we were so tired from the four hour bike ride around Florence and a million stairs that w
e went to the hostel and fell asleep. The bikes were cheap, only 1.50 Euro an hour or 4.00 Euro for five hours. We had a blast going around town, it was definitely less exhausting to go by bicycle than by foot. It was so fun that neither of us realized that our behinds were bruised from the constant bumps in the uneven stone pavement!
We went to the Michelangelo Piazza which is located at the top of a hill (meaning be prepared for a lot of steps) and has a great view of the city. At the top there is a replica of David in copper ( I suppose you could say he’s green with envy) and a man playing Queen on an electric guitar (he was playing it like a Dulcimer). And of course, perhaps the most amazing view of Florence!
Today we sat on a train for six hours or so to get to Napoli (Naples) and Found some cheap-eats via the front desk attendant who “knows a guy”. Very nice and very Italian. He also told us that we can take the city bus for a Euro to Pompeii or Herculaneum (Mt. Vesuvius is about six miles away from Napoli). I’m excited! I love ancient paraphernalia and impressive geographical features!
P.S. The BBC has posted that all flights in northern Europe and parts of Western Europe are canceled due to a volcanic explosion in Iceland. This should not effect our trip considering how far south we are currently, but we may get some lovely sunsets. I’ll take pictures if we do!
Best Of Tuscany Tour April 12, 2010
Posted by tiffany in : Florence, Italy , add a commentThe tour started at 8:30 this morning when we boarded the bus and headed to Siena. A native of Siena, our guide, took us through the city; giving us insight into how the inhabitants live both now and in the past. It was very interesting! The city is divided into 17 neighborhoods that compete against each other twice a year in a horse race in the main square (Campo). The only rule is that a rider cannot mess with an opponent’s reigns, so there is a lot of foul play among the different neighborhoods. The winning neighborhood celebrates by drinking, obviously, and putting pacifiers in their mouths to symbolize that a new champion is born (and to put shame in the loosers).
The next stop was a Chianti wine farm that is situated on top of a tall hill in the country. The view was amazing! Rows and rows of Olive trees, Grape vines, and Saffron covered the valley. Also, we could see our next stop, San Gimignano, from there. At the farm we ate lunch of traditional pasta
Ragu, salad, sheep cheese, and bread with Olive oil. About 95% of what we ate came from the farm we were on. We even met the Chianina cows!
So then we got back on the bus and headed for stop number three. San Gimignano is also situated on a hill top and is famous for it’s towers and it is also home of “the best Gelato”. There were once around 70 towers, but now ther
e are a lot less. It was a strange sight to see since the towers look like modern-day sky scrapers. San Gimignano is very small, so it was easy to navigate (20 minutes or less from one side to the other) and the city still has it’s old city walls in tact so it’s not easy to accidentally leave the city. We got there and immediately went to the Gelato shop. There were strange flavors (such as Saffron with cinnamon), interesting flavors , and tasty sounding flavors all ready to be eaten. We tried the Passion Fruit, Mango, and Strawberry.
The next stop was Pisa. We were a wee bit peckish by then, so we grabbed Mc.Donald’s and had a little picnic in front of the Duomo (Nothing says 
Americans in Italy better than a McRoyal at a large tourist destination). The guide said that the marble facade of the buildings came from many different places and we saw that because random bricks that had Celtic knots or Latin written on them, and the pieces were all different colors.
P.S. Our “cat rental” came in through the window yesterday after about two hours of meowing it’s head off on the neighbor’s roof. It was shocking and hilarious.
First Day In Florence April 10, 2010
Posted by tiffany in : Florence , add a commentSo today was basically a in transit day for us. We took a train from Venice to Florence and then walked for a long time because we got lost trying to find our hostel. Another new lesson we learned is Google maps does not tell you that there are
two different street numbers; black and red. In fact it directed us to two completely different places; neither were our hostel.
After we got there and were checked in, the hostel owner sat down with us and wrote all over a map showing us where we should go and what is great to see(there is a lot). It was like getting a grand tour of the city on a map!After, we were very exhausted and headed to the room to relax and do some research on the places we’d like to go in Italy (we are now booked at a $34 a night hotel in Napoli for next stop).
After dinner we headed to the Piazza de Repubb
lica (where my mom and I stayed before) to see the Charlie Chaplain street act. We got there extra early, and got some Gelato, found a good spot, and watched the illegal purse sellers and the cops play the cat and mouse game.
He has been preforming for 26 years in the same street right outside of the Piazza, every night around 9:45, 7 days a week. His show is very comical and we had a great time watching him play with the crowd. Unfortunately this was a bad night for him; the crowd was uncooperative and seemed to have hardly any sense of humor. It was still funny and we talked to him after ward and he apologized because everyone left in the middle of the show, including the people who were participating in the show itself. We’ll try again later this week.
