If it's Tuesday we must be in....

Halloween 2009

Trick or treating on base was a blast; so much candy, so little effort! Mother nature delivered one of the coldest nights this fall on the 31st of October but the ghouls rose to the occasion. Here angel Anne gets a hug from vampire Mckee. Philip had already removed his Joan of Arc costume and was well into his treat bag.

The kids had been sick on Friday and Saturday morning. Anne rallied enough to go out but Catherine, who never got out of bed that day, couldn't make it. By Sunday afternoon, Mckee, Philip and Mom had caught the bug and Dad got it on Monday...

For safety reasons, trick or treating is conducted outside of the buildings, so the children do not have to go up and down the center stairwells. Participating tenants sit outside while the kids walk building to building. Our building organized a pot luck complete with chili, stews and beverages and had the warming glow of a terra cotta fireplace as well. A great opportunity to get to know the neighbors.

Our littlest pumpkin ready for the patch...

Sightseeing with Elizabeth

We were greatly blessed to be able to get together with Liz in October and November. While we are sure it was NOT a restful trip - we hope she would agree it was eventful!!!

Here Godmother Liz poses with Peter under an olive tree. The trees at this rest area were loaded with olives ready to be picked but they are extremely difficult to see in the photo.

This rest area is along the mediterranean east of
the Spain border.

Liz poses here with Catherine atop the grounds of the Palace of the Pope. The bridge in the background inspired the children's nursery rhyme song "Sur le pont d'Avignon" translated on the Bridge at Avignon.

From Nice we traveled West along the Mediterranean towards Spain. We took a side trip to Avignon, France to see the Palace of the Popes. Here we found out that few roads in France are designed with mini-vans in mind - and definitely not those around the Palace. Note to self, just because a GPS tells you to take a road doesn't mean you'll fit!!!


We arrived late afternoon - it was windy but blessedly sunny.

The view west from the top of a hill in "Old Nice," France. We had beautiful weather for our trip.

East of Old Nice is a hill that we traveled up to see. Here the kids run down the street. Note the way the street is a series of sloping steps. For the most part these are only passable by moped, but an occasional car could also be seen.

We met Liz at the Nice Airport on Sunday afternoon and spent the evening finding a restaurant and getting a bit settled. Monday we explored "Old Nice" and took these pictures in front of the "town square" or Place Massena.

We left Naples on Saturday noon heading for Ft. Darby south of Pisa, Italy. Thinking that billeting would be open when we arrived, no reservations were made.... We stayed overnight in a quaint hotel in Tirrenia. Before heading to Mass we made our first visit to the Med and snapped this photo.

A unique opportunity here is hosting Priests, Deacons, and Seminarians from the Pontifical North American College in Rome. Most weekends in the fall and spring the seminarians come on Sat, stay with a family and then assist with CCD and Mass (0930 and 1100 respectively) on Sunday morning before eating lunch and returning to Rome in the afternoon.

Deacon Chase Hasenoehrl sits on the couch with the kids before CCD. ...now to start a similar program with the nuns in Rome !!

Soccer Season
During the soccer season we had a U5 Blue Thunderbird, a U7 Green Dinosaur, and a U9 Yellow Jacket in our home!! The children all played well and improved throughout the season. We started on a rainy day in Sept, played games with temps in hte high 60's and ended the season in early Dec on a sunny day in the low sixties. All in all a great season.

As you can see, true to name, the Blue Thunderbirds were all about style from the beginning of the season!

Philip and the Dinosaurs - an EXTREMELY well fitting name!!!

Ann runs for the ball. Her team was by far the most competitive of the three. She held her own valiantly, often playing goalie.

As we drove out of Bacoli we saw this incredible vista (hidden on the way in due to the curve and tilt of the road). The view East is of Pozzuolli Bay in the foreground with Mount Vesuvius in the background.

A few miles from Baia is the town of Bacoli where the ancient Picina Mirabalis is located. This ancient man- made "resevoir" or cistern is several stories deep, built at the top of a hill. Here is a picture of the outside of the cistern. These insets are believed to have housed tools used to operate the reservoir and are approx 6 - 8 feet deep and 8 - 10 feet wide. The "dugout area behind the gate in the foreground retains the original mosaic floor - believed to have been built at approximately 300 BC. The remaining insets down the road are the perfect size for parking a typical Italian car - and that is exactly how they are used. It is tragic that these archeological treasures are not being preserved; but the vast quantity of such sites throughout the country makes preservation prohibitively expensive.

Here a view of the inside of the cistern. I would equate the inside dimensions of the cistern to that of a large stateside basilica. This "reservoir" was dug by hand, leaving the supporting beams you see. Because the volcanic earth was porous the walls were covered with a concrete like mixture and then a final layer of porcelain was applied. In areas this porcelain like material can still be seen.

You might be able to see an "air hole"

in the top of the cistern and stairs on the far right.

There is evidence of some acquaducts that fed this cistern but no evidence of how the water was let out. It is believed that the Roman fleet used an ancient lake immediately adjacent to the Pozzuolli Bay to exercise and practice maneuvers. The reservoir was used to flood the lake to allow the Roman fleet to cross back into the bay.
If you would learn more about this incredible Roman structure go to:
http://www.penisolabella.it/tag/piscina-mirabilis/






Anne as we get ready to go out in the bay. It was a beautiful day but the wind on the water was very chilly.

This is the view inland from the Baia bay. The ruins across from the port are of a roman bath adorned with statues and inlaid mosaics on the floors and walls.

October was a jam packed month. A local trip to the Baia Underwater Archeological Park and Piscina Mirabalis were great learning experiences. We boarded a glass hulled boat to view the ruins on the bay floor. Go to http://bloggingpompeii.blogspot.com/2009/08/baia-underwater-archaeology-park.html to see more about these ancient roman ruins. Due to the shallow nature of the bay the ancient roads and floors are still intact and visible.

The chilren helped keep the festivity of my birthday going by building my age in legos...

The children treated Mom as "Queen" with a celebratory awning, formerly known as a head scarf!!

October brought more birthdays..and just as Anthony turned 35 again, Mom turned 45 again...

Here the children help celebrate at one of our favorite restaurants Savaris in Carinaro.

We enjoy their 1/2 chicken, melanzanie, risotto di mare, margahrita pizza, and most everything we have tried. We have yet to leave enough room for their gelatto bar!!

Settling In

Catherine greats Mom on many mornings with breakfast or later in the morning sets out a picnic for all to enjoy.

Anne and Catherine enjoy the view from the balcony looking north here....

and south here... Yes, Anne shows her sassy side...

Peter gets ready for soccer season..these might fit in 2020?

"Look ma, I can try on soccer shoes too."

Peter enjoys his post bath time...note the curls.

The pie maker proudly shows off the artistry of her top crust.

Blowing out the candles on his birthday pie! Note to self - candles remain vertical in a cake or cold pie!

Dad celebrates 35...again. Notice Peter's attention to his siblings' antics!

Philip and Peter relax among the packing material.

Catherine shows off the lion she made in VBS.




On September 4th we moved into our new home. For those who do not move every two to four years let me describe the scene. We recieved over 400 items (pieces of furniture, lamps, boxes, appliances) within 6 hours into our 1500 square foot home. There is no garage or basement and the Italians are known for their conservation of closet space!! Further, at 5 PM Mom still has 10 hungry eyes looking her way and at 7:30 PM tired children are anxious for a familiar pillow, blanket, and pajamas... But it is really not all bad; all kitchen appliance and washer and drier were in place as well as running warm water and electricity. Phone service and internet would come in the next 4 weeks to round out our home life. But life also does not stop for those moving in; soccer season was on our heels as was travel for dad, school for the kids, and birthdays!!! Ahh, we can run but we can't hide. As you look at the pictures you will see the background dotted with boxes, packing paper and the general disarray of moving in.

We were not the only ones that thought it a wonderful day...at approx 10 PM just as Anthony and I were going to bed we began hearing loud, repetitive, explosive sounds in the distance. Neither of us could sleep through this so we decided to "explore". As we looked south west we were provided the best fireworks display either of us had ever seen. These fireworks continued for 60 minutes in approximately 20 minute intervals with 5 minute reprieves. Not only was the lenght impressive, the Italians shoot multiple flares at a time...so the whole display is akin to our finale...IMPRESSIVE.

Peter reads to Anne while Mom and Dad organize the house.

Home Sweet Home?

Peter figured out early on how he would use his time in temporary quarters... Here he is perfecting the rocking-back-and-forth precursor to the full crawl. Older siblings were NOT allowed to offer instruction or advice - as if he needed it?!

Anne, Philip and Catherine participated in the chapel-wide Vacation Bible School learning songs, making crafts, playing games, and making friends. Here Catherine "performs" the song "I Can Talk to God" with other pre-schoolers.

Philip tried out for a part in the Missoula Childrens' Theatre Production of "The Princess and the Pea" and was (type) cast as a dustbunny! Now, don't you wish you had more like these in gathering in the corners....

Early on we found the base thrift store and picked up a few puzzles to complete in the heat of the day prior to heading to our late afternoon swim.

Anthony and Mary attended the Area Orientation during the first full week in Naples to assist with transitioning issues of housing, visas, bases services and local travel and customs. Detailed instruction was provided to assist with driving in Napoli. A few of the highlights: while driving - if in doubt, close your eyes; no you are not seeing double, there really are 5 souls on that scooter; parking, driving, and other functions customarily reserved for roadways ARE allowed on sidewalks - but don't try it in your Dodge Caravan; and don't expect lane markings, speed limits, yield/stop signs, and other conventional traffic control methods to translate to anything resembling the frenzy of the DC beltway at rush hour...no this makes that look like a Sunday drive in the country!! Ahh, you laugh - but I have seen it.

Aversa

On the last day of orientation we took the bus and train into Naples and walked around the Galleria Umberto. Beginning to get cabin fever and confident from our jaunt (with a fluent Italian speaker), we decided to take the morning bus into Aversa on Saturday. We had only ridden the bus to the near side of Aversa, so we decided to go to the end of the route to view the town, staying on the bus as it headed back, disembarking central Aversa. But this was not to be, for though we spoke no Italian, we clearly understood the bus driver was in no hurry to start his return trip and we needed to exit. It seems schedules in Italy are akin to the traffic rules; required by authority, treated as petty annoyances by the subjected.

Alas, we had a beautiful day, a pocket ful of Euro and a comfortable walking shoes...we headed through the "city of a hundred churches" toward our first of many pizza margherita, century old churches, and gelatos. We found a Church - beautiful but like so many in desperate need of repair and renovation. We found pizza margherita but we've since had much better. Finally we headed back toward the bus stop planning to stop at one of the many gelato stands we had seen on our first trip through town. Having not totally overcome jet lag prior to the AO talks, we failed to remember the reposo tradition. Literally at 1300 daily the side walks of smaller towns roll up like it is 5 PM in the states. Businesses close; signs, merchandise and table umbrellas are taken down, and you'd never know that just minutes prior there were customers in the store. Buoyed by our successes to that point - four children and two adults still in tow - we counted our blessings and looked forward to gelato on another outing!!!

The Napoli Arch adjacent to the the Church of the Annunciation is the ancient "gate to the city" which begins at Via Roma.

Temporary Living Accomodations

Although we spent close to nine weeks living out of our suitcases the Naples Navy Lodge was by no means roughing it. We had adjoining suites; a studio with desk, bathroom, king bed and kitchenette and a bedroom suite with "full kitchen" bathroom, bedroom (queen and bunks) and a sitting area, both with large balconies overlooking the base piazza. The location was ideal - also on the piazza is the base library and chapel - Mary's dream location.

The first few days were spent easing into the new time zone. Peter helps Dad review the dirth of information given us upon arrival.

Peter and Dad relax after a hard night trying to get adjusted to the time zone.

Benvenuti Napoli

Getting ready for the plane ride.

Dancing in the German "Bier Garten" Busch Gardens, Wmsburg.

A glimpse of things to come ....






Prior to leaving for Italy We tried to tire the children out at Busch Gardens and Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg, VA. They were thoroughly engaged in activity and can describe in detail the Tornado!

Great Wolf Lodge, Wmsburg, VA

The Flight


We departed Norfolk Naval Base at 9:50 PM on Tues 28 July (local time) and arrived at Capodocino, Italy on 29 July at 4 PM (local). We had a brief layover in the Azores mid flight. This allowed the opportunity for all those who might have fallen asleep to get a second wind To ensure the fullest degree of "zombieness" upon arrival at the Naples Airport.

The one hour layover in the Azores, local time 0600, was just long enough to give a second wind to our almost sleepy children! The sun was just rising over the lush green fields as we landed, Reminding me of photos I have seen of Ireland. We were confined to the terminal Which had no services due to the hour. The lack of seating was not a problem, who cared to sit when we had another 5 -6 hour flight ahead? The murals on the wall were beautiful as you can see behind the children.

Ahhh, Terra Firma at last. Posing on the tarmack at Capodocino Airport, Italy. This is immediately adjacent to Anthony's work.

Home away from home, or temporary lodging as the Navy calls it. We awoke mid day on Thurs to a beautifully sunny day.