Christmas 2008 & my Holiday travels to Switzerland

Happy New Year to all of you! I hope you had a very blessed Christmas and have a fantastic 2009!
Wow it's been a while since I've blogged! I just have to be in the mood to blog typically...and I guess I just haven't been in a blogging mood much the last half of 2008! I still need to finish up on writing about my summer travels back in August & September (which were FANTATIC)...but I'm going to jump ahead an blog a bit about my most recent travels so it doesn't take me 5 months to write about those! I just arrived back from Switzerland yesterday, so it's still fresh on my mind.


Christmas 2008
This year I didn't go home for again Christmas since I was able to go home for Thanksgiving. Instead a friend of mine (Patti) & her husband (Fernando) came and stayed with me for Christmas. I met Patti back in 2001 when we started together at PwC in Houston. She and Fernando now live in Jakarta, Indonesia. I was so happy they came! First of all because I haven't seen them in years, & secondly because I did not want to spend the holidays alone! If you have to be thousands of miles away from your family during the holidays, you at least want to spend it with some good friends!
Patti and Fernando were with me in Rome from December 23-26. During that time, I took them to see some of the Rome sites and do a bit of the 'tourist' things. Then on the 24th we attended midnight mass at St. Peter's. I went last year with my sister and learned that if you want good seats, you must get in line extremely early for this even though the doors don't open until 10:30. So since I live about 10 minutes walking from St. Peters and there were 3 of us, what we did was get in line around 5pm (yes that is over 5 hrs before the doors opened!) and at least 1 of us stayed there to hold the spot the rest of the night. Fernando was a really great guy and stayed there for the first couple hours. We even went and picked up pizza and just at it there in line. It did get a bit hectic as it was getting closer to opening because people were showing up everywhere and cutting in line - but I guess you have that everywhere...even at St. Peter's!
Mass was amazing! Even though I've been fortunate enough to attend mass at St. Peter's when the Pope has celebrated numerous times...it is still amazing each time! And one thing I've learned is that if you want to see the Pope up close you have to 1) get an aisle seat (even if it’s in the back, that’s okay), & 2) have a baby next to you when he walks in & out since he always kisses the babies. This time we had both! Patti and Fernando laughed at me when we got inside the Basilica and we got our aisle seats and then I said out loud 'Ok now we need to find a baby!' A couple with a baby sat several seats down from us a bit later, so at the end of mass we asked the mother if she wanted to come stand by us with the baby so the Pope would kiss her…and of course he did!
On Christmas day, we went to St. Peter's at noon when the Pope did the Urbi et Orbi Blessing. It is just an amazing site to see so many Catholics from around the world gathered there and then to hear the Pope wish a Merry Christmas in like 100 languages!
On Christmas day we also joined another couple from the US that I'm friends with here in Rome (April & Russ - April works at PwC) for a late lunch/early dinner. We had a fantastic dinner with a mix of American and Italian dishes and had a great time. It was fantastic to have a group of people to spend the day with and have some good times!
Here are some pictures from Christmas: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=199473&l=6e1fc&id=800405227

Switzerland
Basel & Seirre/Crans Montana
On Dec. 26th, Patti, Fernando & I headed to Basel, Switzerland to join a couple they know that lives there (Felipe & Rachel). Then from Dec. 27-29th, the 5 of use drove to Sierre/Crans Montana in the Southern part of Switzerland to go skiing.
The first night we decided to go snowshoeing - which I really enjoyed! Originally our trek was suppose to be around 3 hrs and on some pretty steep paths, but after the first 5 minutes we had to ask him to change that plan since at least half of us were having a hard time getting up the first hill!! It was a workout, but we had some great views and it felt good to be walking in the snow like that. We also had dinner together at a restaurant in the mountains, so it was a really great time.
The next day we went skiing. I was a bit nervous since I never skied before and didn't even know if I could do it or what it would be like. Patti, Fernando & I all took lessons for the full day since none of us had been on the slopes before. I actually only feel twice that day...but that was because we never got off the training facility!! :-p Our teacher was only so-so & didn't speak English all that well, so I didn't really learn as much as I had hoped…but that's how it goes when you take lessons in a foreign country right?!? Even though we didn't get off the 'bunny hills' it was tiring & I DID NOT like having to carry all that heavy equipment around!
We went back to the slopes the last day, but unfortunately for me my ski boots had rubbed the front on my ankles and shins so bad that I could not stand to be in them for more than a couple hours day two. I just couldn't handle being in pain as I tried to ski – never have been much of an athlete. :-o
I spent most of the second day just hanging around the ski area in the snow and watched the other skiers. I would like to try skiing again though!!

Here are some pictures from Basel & Sierre/Crans Montana: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=199501&l=0f749&id=800405227

Zurich
From December 30th - January 1st I was in Zurich. I went from Basel to Zurich with the 4 others I had previously been traveling with, and then we had to part ways (they were going on to France etc.). I met up with another friend I know from PwC (Jeff) there in Zurich and travelled with him the rest of the trip.
While in Zurich, Jeff and I just walked around the town using my guide book and some walking tours I got online to see some of the sights. We also did a 'Best of Zurich' tour that took us around in a bus to see the sites. It's a very pretty city and nice to walk around in...with great public transportation as well! Since it was a bit cold, we didn't do much site seeing at night.
One of the biggest surprises to me was when we were sitting at dinner on Dec. 31st and it started snowing...BIG snowflakes! I couldn't wait to get outside to walk around it in since I've never been in falling snow except the small flakes we had back in Houston years ago. I was like a little kid walking around in it all excited! Later that night we went to watch the fireworks show the city had on the lake at 12:20am (to allow people to have their own celebrations at home before I guess). By then it had stopped snowing, but was all nice and white like a winter wonderland! We went to this hill near our hotel (the guy at the front desk told us about it) & there were only about 40 other people there together - so nice and quiet…especially compared to my experience in Paris last New Year's Eve!
Here are my pictures from Zurich: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=199861&l=efe12&id=800405227

Chur
On January 1st, Jeff & I headed to Chur. Chur is a real cute little town! I loved our hotel there because I was on the top floor and the room just felt like it was a guest room in someone's house...plus it had a fantastic view from the window.
In Chur we took a gondola up to Chur-Brambrüesch (up the mountain where there is a ski resort etc.). It was fantastic (yet cold) up there! And I've never seen so many people with sleds in my life!!! I thought sledding was just for kids...but I saw people of all ages sledding! I kind of wished we would have had enough time to do it ourselves...maybe on the next visit! We did have enough time in Chur to see a couple other sites.
Here are my pictures from Chur: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=199885&l=5df85&id=800405227

Glacier Express Train Ride
On January 2nd, we took a train ride called the Glacier Express from Chur to Zermatt. This is a very slow and scenic train ride and so it took us about 5 1/2 hours to get there. But the views were amazing!! Plus it was really comfortable seats and you can even get a full, hot meal served to you at your table and everything. I would really suggest a train ride like this for anyone who has the chance. I loved it!!!
Here are my pictures from the ride: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=199893&l=6fe25&id=800405227

Zermatt
After our train ride, we stayed in Zermatt for the night (from January 2-3). Zermatt is a skiing town & known mostly for 1 thing - Matterhorn! The mountain overlooks the town of Zermatt and is very distinctive. So of course, we had to take the gondola (well gondolas since it takes 3 to get up/down) to see it! You can't actually go on Matterhorn, but you go up to a mountain close to it where you are able to see it. It was quite impressive. It was also -15C (about 5F) up there, so we didn't stay for all too long!
In Zermatt they don't allow combustion-engine vehicles in the city in order to prevent air pollution which could disfigure the town's view of the Matterhorn. So only electric vehicles are allowed...and there aren't even many of those.
Another interesting thing I found out is that the area where Zermatt is located is called Valis in English, but Wallis in German....I thought that was cool since my hometown is Wallis! :-)
Here are my pictures from Zermatt: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=199901&l=03a52&id=800405227

Geneva
My last stop was to Geneva (January 3-5). Since Jeff & I arrived in Geneva late on Sat. and most of the shops & various places were closed on Monday, so we mostly just walked around Geneva doing a walking tour I had and seeing a couple of sites. I think Geneva would be a fantastic place to see in the Spring and Summer...especially around the lake area, but in the winter a lot of that stuff was not out or in bloom (like the flowers, famous fountain in the water, etc.). We still had a great time.
The only museum we visited there was the Red Cross Museum. I found this museum to be interesting since it had displays & videos showing about how the Red Cross was formed and what the Red Cross does etc. To me it was really a display of how one person (Henry Dunant) could take something horrible he had seen and come up with an idea and start something that would end up helping millions and millions of people throughout the world for centuries to come.
Here are my pictures from Geneva: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=199918&l=4d6c1&id=800405227

To close, here are some of my overall thoughts of Switzerland:
-Since the various regions in Switzerland are German, French & Italian and they speak various languages, it almost seemed that I was going to a different country when I went from one region to another (for instance going from Zurich to Geneva). I had to keep reminding myself I was still in Switzerland!

-Switzerland is EXPENSIVE! Living in Rome, I'm now a bit use to things being a bit more expensive than in Houston...but in Switzerland it was even more than Rome. A basic meal would easily cost about 25 Swiss Francs (which is almost the same as the US dollar) at a minimum (that’s without wine or anything like that).

-Being a Texas girl I'm not use to the cold...and when I travel in the winter to cold places, I always have to remind myself of that and think that next time I travel in the winter I need to go somewhere south! Most evenings we spend just at the hotel because we didn't want to be in the cold any longer.

-Even though I don't care for the cold weather much, after being in all the mountains and trying a couple of the winter activities, I now better appreciate the mountains and the whole mountain environment and activities. I really saw some breathtaking views on this trip!

Overall I had a great time!

Pisa, Italia

On Sunday, August 17th, my friends and I decided to take a detour and stop by Pisa before heading to Rome from Siena. I've been to Pisa a couple of times, so it wasn't anything to amazing to me - although I still find it shocking that it leans so much. I still haven’t been to the top (wasn’t enough time this trip), but one day maybe I will.
One interesting thing that happened though as we entered the Square of Miracles as it's called (area where the Leaning Tower, Church & Baptistery are) was that I ran into a tour director named Marco that was our tour director 4 years ago when my family & I did a guided tour in Italy. Marco was the best tour director and I've been meaning to write him ever since I moved to Rome, but kept forgetting. As I walked into the area amidst the crowd there he stood. So I went up to him and said 'Marco do you remember me?' He said of course - you were on my tour with your family...you have the hard last name and were here for your parents' 40th wedding anniversary. I was so surprised he remembered! I couldn't talk to him long because he was looking for 2 lost members of his tour, but I had enough time to tell him I was living in Rome. It was so nice to run into him!

For the rest of this week I'll be in Rome, so probably no more blogs about my adventures until my other friend comes and we do more traveling (I don’t want to tell you yet where all we will be going – you’ll have to come back and read my blog after I write about it to find out! :-p)

Here is a link to some pictures I took in Pisa: http://www.new.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3871740&l=fa903&id=800405227

Siena & The Palio

One of the great things about living in Italy is being able to enjoy the vacation (or 'holiday' as they say here) time in August. On Friday (August 15th - which is actually an Italian holiday), I started my 3 week vacation. :-) The way the city is, it almost invites and encourages you to go, take off & enjoy yourself...since half the businesses, restaurants, shops etc. are closed for at least a couple weeks during the month. I believe there are more tourists here in Rome than Italian for sure!
For me, these 3 weeks will be filled with adventures with friends who will be visiting. Two friends from Houston (work with me at PwC Houston) arrived on August 15th and will be here until this Thursday morning. Then I have another friend arriving on Friday that will be here for 2 weeks. Since I will have many things going on during this time, so I figured I would try to blog about my adventures thus far before I forget!
When my friends arrived on the 15th, we took a 3 hour bus ride to Siena, Italy which is located in the Tuscany region north of Rome. The main reason I wanted to go to Siena during this time is because of an event held every July 2 and August 16th since at least August 16, 1310 called the Palio. I went to Siena about 4 years ago when I was doing an organized tour with my mom, dad & sister and found the place interesting & thought the Palio sounded like something I really wanted to experience. So when I moved to Italy and my friend & I were making my 'must do's when I'm in Italy' list, I put The Palio on the list.
To understand the Palio, first I must explain a little bit about the city. Siena is divided up into 17 Contradas (kind of like communities). The 17 Contradas are:
Aquila (Eagle), Bruco (Caterpillar), Chiocciola (Snail), Civetta (Owl), Drago (Dragon), Giraffa (Giraffe), Istrice (Porcupine), Leocorno (Unicorn), Lupa (She-wolf)
Nicchio (Shell), Oca (Goose), Onda (Wave), Pantera (Panther), Selva (Forest), Tartuca (Tortoise), Torre (Tower), & Valdimontone (Ram).
Each Contrada have their own colors, own flag, own chant, own bulletin board for events, own headquarters, own museum, etc. Every Contrada is ruled by its own governing body which is elected every 2 years. The life of the Sienese is closely linked to the Contrada they live in and much of their free time is even spent in organized functions of the Contrada. Winning the Palio is thought to bring good luck to the Contrada and so those that win the race on August 16th are thought very lucky because they will have good luck for almost a whole year.
It is easy to tell which Contrada you’re in because they proudly hang out their flags (those of you in Texas think of it like seeing the big UT or A&M flags proudly hanging outside people's houses to let them know Alumni live there! It's the closest thing I can think of!) For the Sienese - Palio is part of their life & not just a race or event. Talk about Palio for them goes on all year.
Only 10 Contradas participate in each Palio - the Contradas that do not participate in the previous Palio are then automatically included in the next & the remaining are chosen by lot about a month before the race. The jockeys are professionals and are typically not from Siena. The horses are chosen only days before (29th July & 13th August) & then there are 3 days of trials (1 trial in morning & 1 in the afternoon) for the horse and jockey to get familiar with the race track. The track is actually the main Piazza (Piazza del Campo), which is kind of a sea shell shaped piazza that has an incline to it and is transformed into a track for the race. In addition, the jockeys ride bareback, which means many times the jockeys fall off the horse.
Prior to the Palio there are many parades in the streets, each Contrada hosts a big dinner the night before etc. We caught several processions with flags, drummers, guys all dressed up in medieval type costumes etc. as we were just walking through the street on Saturday morning.
The race was to start at 7pm & we were told to go early to get a good spot. From pictures etc. I knew that there would be a lot a people & that it would be a big crowd...but I don't mind crowds and I figured I'd been in crowds like that before...but THIS was different!! When we got there around 2:30pm it was fine...we had room to sit and we were about 3 people away from the fence, so we figured we were good. What we didn't realize was that we ended up sitting by the 1 entrance/exist that was open from 3:30 until the race started, so hundreds and hundreds of people were coming in and of course didn't want to go to the center where they couldn't see, so they kept pushing us to try to get us to move. When I say 'us' I mean the crowd around me as we were about 6 or more people from where the crowds were coming in. From 5pm until after the race I don't think there was a minute where I did not have at least 1 limb being touched by at least one other person. Sometimes as the crowds came in there was no way to not be shoved and the whole crowd moved forward. Kids in the crowd around us were crying & some people were getting to hot and had to go out climbing over the barricade to do so. My friends decided they did not want to deal with it and so they left a little over an hour before the race started. I figured I came to the Palio...it's been on my 'must do list'...I came all the way to experience it...I can just stay (although at times I was really questioning if that was a stupid decision!).
About an hour and a half before the face starts, they have various processions that come into the Piazza and around the track including a procession for each Contrada in the race that includes their flag bearers, drummers, etc. all dressed up in the traditional outfits.
When it was time for the race to begin, I ended up being on the opposite side of the start so I couldn't see much. There are typically tons of false starts because one horse will jump the line or get out etc., so it's actually hard to tell when the real race begins. The race happens so fast, it was over before I knew it! I saw a couple horses fly by and then I heard the shots go off to announce a winner and hear a lot of cheering! I had to ask around to see who won...Bruco I was told...Bruco I asked...yes you know the thing that turns into a butterfly...oh the Caterpillars!
Afterwards I left quickly (so I didn't get trampled) and went to go find my friends. Along the way I saw one of the losing Contradas walking back home with expressions as if someone just died...young, old, men, women many were in tears. Soon after they went through, the Caterpillar Contrada come through the streets waving their flags, singing their chant & the drummers going, carrying the winning jockey on their shoulders above the crowd in the streets and carrying the prized Palio banner. It definitely was a sight. Later that night, as tradition, the winning Contrada went to the Duomo (main Cathedral) to do prayers....and of course there is a big feast for the whole Contrada afterwards.
I am glad I had the chance to go and experience being at the race and being in Siena during the race to experience all the excitement and emotion....but I think next time I'll just watch it on TV or the internet! For me it's probably a once in a lifetime experience.
I actually had to go on to see the race...Here's a video of the race if you want to
see it: http://www.paliodisiena.unisi.it/live.asp

Here are some of the pictures I took of Siena and the Palio:
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=146114&l=8cbae&id=800405227
http://www.new.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3854882&l=2b7f3&id=800405227

How can lint cause over 6 months frustration?!?!

I have grown up with the great advances of modern technology where if something is broke it can typically be fixed in a couple days. We do things the quick way...the easy way...and enjoy this lifestyle right?!? Well what happens when that is all turned upside down - even just for one thing? Frustration....aggravation...and patience to the ultimate test....and then almost giving up! Or at least that has been my situation recently...and all caused by some lint.
So have you curious? Well let me share with you my recent trials and tribulations with my washing machine here in Italy…and let me remind you I ONLY have a washing machine and everything has to be air dried.

How it all started...
My washing machine stopped working sometimes back in December. It had been working okay and then one day I did a load, opened the door and water flooded out and the washer wouldn't drain at all. I had to use towels, the one bucket I have, and a mop to try to clean up the mess! I had emailed my landlady (which I have found the best way to communicate since I don't speak much Italian and she doesn't speak much , plus she's in Milan most of the time), but she did not respond to most of my emails other than saying she was contacting her agency about it. So then I contacted the agency that helped me find my apartment and they contacted my landlady and after a couple weeks arranged for a repairman to come over. This was around February I believe. Oh and of course this repairman only comes into the center on Tuesdays, so I had to meet him on the Tuesday after they called or wait another week.


Warranty? Good question!
One of the reasons it took so long at first to schedule someone to come out was because they wanted to know if the washer was under warranty. And the answer is...that it SHOULD be since my landlady bought it and had it put in last year right before I moved in. (I asked if the place had a washer and they said no problem we will take out the dishwasher and put in a washer!) Now the problem is that my landlady told me she left me everything. So I went through all of the papers and found the manual, found all sorts of papers, found the warranty paper BUT it says you must have the receipt with it in order for it to be valid. (Also remember all these documents are in Italian, so just going through this is a struggle and also involved me bringing the papers to work and asking some of my coworkers to help me!) So I asked my landlady and she said she left it with me....I can not find it anywhere nor do I remember it. Then when I asked several times where it was purchased so I could go get a duplicate receipt, she finally told me that a friend of hers actually bought it and the place she bought it at is now closed so it's not possible to get a receipt. Then she told me that they should be able to tell that it is new, but of course they can't accept the warranty under that assumption. In the email I received today she said that with a witness (lady from the agency) she left everything with me and so if I don't have it is my problem and I have to pay. Oh well...it's like fighting an uphill battle I can't seem to ever win, so at some point you just have to waive the white flag and move on!


Repairman #1
So the repairman comes out (and mind you he doesn't speak English and I don't speak Italian well, so lots of pointing and hand gestures going on!), but all he did was clean the filter and said he couldn't get the washing machine out so if anything else was wrong he would have to come back with someone else to help me. I paid him the €40 (see warranty issue above on why I have to pay!) & he went on his way....and the washer worked for about 2 weeks and I was happy.
Then it started doing the same thing again and flooded my kitchen floor as soon as I opened it....so called the agency again to see if they could give me the number of the repairman so I could get him to come out again. After me following up for weeks...then months...they finally said the repairman said he won't come back until I fix the problem with him not being able to get the washing machine out so he could look at it (they put the washing machine where a dishwasher was under my kitchen cabinet so it's a tight fit). And the agency asked me if I fixed the problem. I emailed back asking HOW was I suppose to fix that?!? There is no way I could move the wall so it can't be changed!!


Repairman #2
So a couple of weeks ago...in desperation and realizing that going through the agency wasn’t getting me anywhere…I finally asked one of the secretaries at my office if she knew someone I could call myself to come fix it. Being the nice person she is, she called around and found out for me that it had to be the manufacturer of the washer. After getting some more information from me, she kindly called them to make a request for me.
Finally yesterday, when I was about to give up hope, they called and said someone could come this morning to fix it.
So the repairman come this morning and in about 30 minutes determined there was NOTHING wrong with the washing machine & it was just that the drain that was blocked. This guy was much more knowledgeable than the other guy...despite being about 30 years younger than the 1st! He too found the filter was blocked and cleaned it, but this time he took out this little plastic part that was in there that was causing it to clog up easier. So it was all that lint (or whatever that stuff is called) that has caused me so much grief for over 6 months now!!! Oh yeah and he charged €70 to do that...of which my landlady won't pay. BUT if it works from here on out it is worth it!! AND this time I watched how he took it off and cleaned it, so I need to buy a wrench so I can do it myself next time instead of waiting months for someone else to do it!
I washed a load of clothes this evening and was SO happy when they were done and I opened the door and no water came out! I wanted to go on my balcony and yell ' I just washed my clothes in my washing machine! It works!!!'...but refrained! I never thought I'd be so giddy about a working washing machine!! (I even took a picture of the moment…the one in this blog!)


So how have I lived without a washer for all this time you're asking?!?
It has NOT been easy! At first I thought it would only be a couple weeks, so I just went through my clothes wearing things in the back I don't wear that often, sticking to mostly dry cleaning clothes, and then hand washing my 'delicates' when needed (after wearing those ones you keep 'in case you really need'...yeah I know you have those too! The ones you don't want to throw out or get rid of, but don't really want to wear! Yeah I was on those!). Then after a while started hand washing more - I've even hand washed jeans, towels, bed sheets, you name it! And all in the sink since I don't have a bathtub! AND drying them is a whole other story! Since when you hand wash there is no spin cycle the clothes are soaking wet, so I couldn't just let them dry in my living room or my whole floor ended up soaking wet. Yes I learned a lot by trial and error! With my sister came to visit, she helped me figure out a way to set up the drying rack in my shower where the water would drip off into there...and although a very tight fit, it worked. Then when the weather got warmer and I got more and more desperate...I took the plunge and put the drying rack out on my balcony and even hung my 'delicates' out there! Now I must remind you my balcony faces a very busy street in Rome...so all passers-by and tourists on all the open air buses and horse drawn carriage rides could see all my undergarments hanging in the breeze...but desperate times call for desperate measures...and I was in desperate times by that point.
Why not a Laundromat you might ask? Well I guess the simple answer is laziness and being cheap! The only one I had found originally was one about 6 or more blocks away and was a very small one with small washers and dryers that cost around €7 -9 a load. I thought about going there many times, but could just not bring myself to drag all my stuff over there and sit in that tiny place for hours washing my clothes. Then about a month a coworker told me about this new Laundromat that opened next to her where you could drop them off and they do it for you. I figured I could pay €9 a load if they do it for me! So as soon as she told me about this I loaded up some of my clothes (a huge duffle bag and 2 big shopping bags to be exact!) and took them there on a Sat. The biggest problem is that to get to this place I have to take 2 buses and walk a ways. Let me tell you THAT was a workout!! After paying about €40 or so I returned several hours later to nicely washed, dried, and folded clothes! Thank goodness another co-worker went with me to pick them up though because it took BOTH of us to carry them to my apartment! I have gone to that place several times since and it was at least a little comforting to know that I could have clean clothes in a couple hours if I was willing to pay…and went there when they were opened.

Lessons Learned
BUT I did survive and now am even more appreciative of a working washer and don't even mind the fact that I don't have a dryer! And now at least I can dry my clothes inside without having streams of water everywhere.

So what lessons have I learned from this:
1) Appreciate your working washer (and dryer when you have one) because it's a pain in the butt when you don't have one…especially for months and months!!
2) Don't underestimate the power of lint!

Now this couldn't ever happen back home...

So sometimes living here in Rome I just have moments in which I just end up saying to myself...now this couldn't/wouldn't ever happen back home...and it makes me appreciate the experiences I am able to have here (the good, the bad & the ugly!). There are so many examples for this statement, but I want to blog about the most recent one.
This past Monday evening I was in my apartment with the balcony doors open making dinner (pasta...as usual). I found it strange that there were 2 police directing traffic at the intersection near my apartment even though the lights were working, but just went about my business. Then I heard many sirens, which typically in the city I've noticed they don't use unless they really need to. I went out on my balcony to see what was going on & I saw a motorcade with a police escort coming down the street. So being curious, I stayed out to see who it was...thinking it was probably an actor or something like that. In the middle of the motorcade there was a black Mercedes with the Vatican flags mounted on the front...and as it quickly passed I looked in the back seat and the guy in the back was wearing all white. Now I didn't see his face, but I am 99.9% sure it was Pope Benedict!! I mean he does live about a 10 minute walk from me and they were going in the direction of his apartment, so I'm pretty sure it was him....and I will continue to say it was the Pope who went past my apartment. I caught myself saying outloud several times after that...wow the Pope went passed my apartment! That would never happen back in Houston!!

Right after that I sat watching an Italian soccer game, eating the pasta I made & drinking a glass of red wine. Now you can't get too much more Italian than that can you! :-)

(hmmm...I wonder if I get any special blessings just by being on the Pope's route?!? ;-) ).

Springtime in Roma

Well it finally feels like spring in Rome to me now! The weather has warmed up a bit this weekend and it has been beautiful! Every season here is new & exciting for me because I don't know what to expect - what the weather will be like, what types of activities will be going on, if more & more tourist will be here, etc. I have always liked spring...and spring here in Roma is so nice! Yesterday I took several hours to just walk around the city to enjoy it & to test out my new camera (sounded like a good excuse). Walking around this city is one of my favorite things to do - I can go see the same places over & over again & never get bored of them.
I also saw on-line that there was suppose to be some festivities today to celebrate Rome's birthday that were taking place kind of near my apartment, so I went to see what that was all about too.
Here are links to my pictures from this weekend & some video. I plan to take some night pictures with my camera sometimes too - so expect that in the future.
Pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=108214&l=80816&id=800405227
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=108220&l=d6627&id=800405227
Video: http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=32706715

Oh and since I'm way behind in blogging, just a quick update:
1) I was able to make it back to Texas for Easter (the day before) & stayed for several weeks. It was SOOO good to be able to spend time with my family & some of my friends. It was a bit weird being home at first (and driving for the 1st time in about 8 months), but quickly that went away and I had to keep reminding myself I had to return back to Rome soon. And I guess I'm getting use to life here in Rome a bit more too because this time it wasn't was bad to come back & I was able to get into the swing of things a lot easier than before.
I also think I'm becoming more "Texan" by being away. I don't remember when I have ever been so excited about seeing bluebonnets...but on my trip home I was so excited to see them in bloom (even have a picture of one up now in my office).
2) Work has picked up in the last couple of months and keeps me VERY busy! The types of clients I have here in Rome is completely different from Houston and is still a challenge to learn about the client, get to know my colleagues, figure out how stuff is suppose to be done here, and deal with the language difference. But I figure if I can make it through all of this here, I should be able to do even more once I return to the US.

Well that's it for now - I have to go run some errands & take care of my laundry that's drying out on my balcony (yes I have become one of those that put their clothes out to dry for all to see...simply because my washer is broken and when I hand wash my clothes and hang them to dry inside water goes EVERYWHERE! I hope none of the tourists walking by are taking pics of my undies! :-o)
Take care and drop me a line whenever you can - I love hearing from people back home! Ciao for now!

Trip to Napoli (Naples)

Originally written on January 30, 2008

On 27 December Francie & I decided to make a day trip to Napoli (Naples) since we heard that it is known as a place to buy handmade nativity sets during Christmas. It is only about a 2 hour train ride South from Rome, so we figured it would be interesting since neither of us had been to Napoli.
So when we arrived we went straight to the street with the nativities, which was packed with people and indeed there were nativities and things for nativities in all the shops and we even saw some people making some. As I mentioned, in Italy they sell the pieces to that nativities separately so there were all kinds of different things you could buy for the nativity. And the managers and scenes ranged from small ones to ones so big at least 2 people would have to carry them. Some shops also had statues of famous people they put in the nativities etc. It was very interesting, but in the end I only bought this inexpensive one that was one piece that later I accidentally left at the restaurant we went to for lunch. That was okay, because after I bought it realized it wasn’t handmade and it didn’t cost me all that much (although I did go back to the restaurant to try to find it, but it was no longer there).
Other than looking at nativities, Francie & I just looked around the town. Naples is known for it’s pizza as well (they make theirs different vs. Rome – Neapolitan pizza has thicker crust), so of course we had to go to a pizzeria and have some pizza. It was VERY good! Mmmm!

Observations about Napoli
I thought Roman traffic was crazy until I went to Napoli! After that Roman traffic seems calm and orderly! I’ve never been so scared that I would get hit walking as I was there. And scooters just go on the sidewalk without any notice and you have to watch out! Yes the drivers there are just insane!

And there are WAY more street vendors in Napoli compared to any where else I’ve been. Rome as quite a few, but in Napoli you couldn’t go down any street without finding someone trying to sell fake purses, some little toys you have no idea what they are, DVDs, etc.

We didn’t stray too far off the main streets because we read that some areas of town could be scary, so we just stuck to the main streets and went to some of the shops there. At first I got excited because the prices seemed so much cheaper compared to Rome, but after I started looking I realize most of them were cheap because they weren’t as good of quality. So all we ended up buying were tights (and the nativity set I lost!).

I did get to see the sea from there – even though it took me a bit to find a place where I could see it! They have a port, but when I tried to go close to the water I got stopped because they said it was a customs area. So I made Francie go all around just so I could take a picture by the sea! He! He!

One of my favorite memories from Napoli that I will always laugh about (and my sister will probably always get made at me for bringing up) is the ‘friend’ my sister found in Napoli. When we were shopping this golden lab came by my sister, started licking her hand, and then started following her. My sister doesn’t really like dogs that much, so she kept telling it ‘Go away! Get away from me!’ and instead of going away it just followed her more and then she would get more aggravated at it. Then we would go into a store and she would say ‘Good it’s finally gone!’ and as soon as we went back out there was the dog waiting for her and would follow her to the next store. This went on for about 10 minutes at least. I made her take a picture with it and then after that it went away.

So that was our quick trip to Napoli!

Here’s a link to some pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=87395&l=fd6cb&id=800405227