Portugal

We took a vacation to the Iberian peninsula at the end of August. Our first stop was Lisbon, Portugal. We arrived on Thursday the 26th early in the morning and hit the sites hard. After checking in at the Hotel Príncipe Lisboa, we headed out to the water at the Praça do Comércio. This has great views of the water, the square, lots of people, and in the distance the Cristo-Rei statue.

We decided to walk toward the Baixa area, containing many restaurants, so we could find some lunch. We found a little place with outdoor seating and the menu looked very good, and cheap! We had sangria, salmon, cod cakes, pasta, a ricotta tart, and creme brulee. We decided to head out to Belém via street car and check out that area. We first went to the Belém tower. There is not much to this and it is expensive to go in. We just walked around the park for a few minutes then walked along the water down toward the Monument to Discoveries. After resting in the shade for a few minutes, we walked back across the street toward the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos to check it out. We realized this was mostly a large church that was free to enter, and the monastery (only a small area) was the part you pay for. The church was interesting and contained a few famous tombs. After a brief rest in the garden there we started walking to catch a street car back to the city center. While waiting, Kacey spotted something across the street; a famous bakery, the Pastéis de Belém. My research had not come across this place but hers had. We went over for one of their famous pastries, for which the store was named after. They were very good! A unique flavor and an interesting combination of textures.

Upon getting back to the city center, we walked toward the Sé, otherwise known as the Santa Maria Maior de Lisboa, which is the Lisbon Cathedral. This is a very old church. There wasn't much that stood out here, but there was some interesting tile work and a few little chapels inside. Next we walked up the hill to the Castle of São Jorge. We got student discounts and walked around the lower ramparts for excellent views of the city! Kacey walked around the upper castle ramparts while I stayed with Nolan to play for a while (it was too many narrow steps). We were now ready to take the bus back down to central and find some food to eat.

We walked around for a few minutes and were bombarded with tourist restaurants. We tried a few alleys and found a collection of small, local places. We tried one that was not too pushy, had a decent menu, and offered to make Nolan a veggie and chickpea plate. It appeared to be an owner, a runner (both older), and their two wives in the kitchen. They were very nice, played with Nolan, and eager to speak english (typical of Portugal we are learning). I had pan-fried pork with fries and veggies, and Kacey had a fish. We also got olives and some vihno. All this plus some water was like €20! By time we were done it was getting late so we took the metro back to our hotel to turn in.

Since we saw so many sites in our first partial day we decided to take it a little easier on Friday. We decided to check out a couple sites near the city center and then check out the big aquarium. We started at the Restauradores metro stop and saw a funicular across the street. It looked like it might be the one that went straight up to our church, so we checked it out. Sure enough it was, so we took the funicular up to the São Roque church. This was a pretty elaborate church! There was a lot of gold, and there was a neat room in the back full of paintings depicting the life of one of the saints of the area. The ceiling was also unique to other churches we have visited. From here we walked down to the Baixa area to find some food. There was unfortunately not much food here but we did find a little local spot/bar serving some hot food for lunch. I got beef and ham with egg and cheese and rice, a little salad for Nolan, and Kacey got octopus, which was pretty good.

Now we headed out to the aquarium. This is not that close to the city center, and it is also not close to a metro stop. So we took the red line all the way out to Oriente and walked to the Oceanário de Lisboa. The aquarium is basically built on the water, pretty cool! Once inside, this was a pretty nice place, much better and bigger and cheaper than the Boston aquarium. Nolan enjoyed watching all the big sharks and other fish. After a few hours here, we decided to get back to town and maybe check out one more site, but it was already closed. For dinner we did the same thing as the night before and found another good, cheap place. This time we had a bottle of vihno (€3.50), bread, salads, water, Kacey had grilled sardines, and I had grilled chicken. And again it was like €20. They also loved playing with Nolan here and carried him around while we ate. Time for bed!

The next day our goal was to take the train out to Sintra to check out the palace and the castle. The train ride was only about 40 minutes once we found the train station (we walked by it a couple times, it is not marked and the trains are underground). We got some information and walked toward the city center. There were a fair amount of tourists walking around so we wandered some alleys looking for lunch. We finally found Tacho Real; it looked ok so we went on in. It was a little more expensive than we like but the food was ok. From here we went to catch a bus to go up the hill to the sites.

There is a tourist bus that takes you up, and this is pretty necessary (unless you have a car). The first stop is the Castle of the Moors. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect, but we got in line for tickets. They had a combo ticket for this and the next stop so we bought it. It was expensive, but we were there so we went for it. Then we got a map and saw that we had to hike through the woods to get to the castle. The map made it look long, so we started to dread it with a stroller but once we got going, it was not too bad. Once there, though, we had to ditch the stroller. It is mostly some narrow, steep ramparts left on the cliff edges, so the views were great! There was also a view of our next stop, the Palace of Pena.

If you only have time to visit one stop, make it this one. This palace is great! There is a really nice walking tour inside (no foto) and lots of great views (you can see Lisbon from one lookout and the Atlantic from another). We took turns walking inside as Nolan was sleeping in his stroller and no strollers or backpacks are allowed inside the palace. From here we decided to get in queue for the bus to go back down and catch our train. Once crammed on the bus, we met a couple from Australia touring the globe; it was nice to talk in english for a while.

When we arrived in Lisbon, we were hungry so we stopped at a small, busy cafe close to the station. We considered take-out but he offered us a table in the back so we sat down and ordered a sangria (0,5L-€7 or 1,5L-€8... too bad there was only two of us). We both got fried fish and salads. The food was ok, but the location and price were right. It was time to go back to the hotel and pack up and prepare to fly to Madrid the next day!

Pictures from Lisbon

Assisi and Cortona

This Saturday we went to Assisi. We had wanted to go for a while, so I am glad it worked out before our other trips take over. Our first stop was at the small town at the bottom of the hill (technically Assisi) and visited Basilica di Santa Maria degli Angeli. This large church was built around/on top of an older, much smaller church. The old church is still inside! Pretty cool, but alas, no pics allowed, so surf the web to see it. After visiting and letting Nolan check out the water fountains, we drove up the hill to Assisi.

Assisi is apparently a popular place for Italians to visit (due to the Catholic significance of this town), and it was August, the travel month, so finding parking was hard. All the lots were marked Completo but there was a short line to wait for one particular lot, so we just waited 10 minutes or so to get in, not too bad. We took the escalators up and were at one of the main gates to the city. We walked in to the city center and quickly arrived at Basilica di Santa Chiara. There was also a great lookout point on the courtyard but we decided to eat lunch before viewing the church. We found Trattoria degli Umbri near the fountain and it looked good with good prices. While Kacey was not crazy about her tartufo pasta, my local pasta with local sausage was good; cheap house wine was also good.

We walked back to the St. Clare church and went in. While the church was not ornate (as she would want it), it was beautiful in it's meaning. The crypt contained her body and many people visit to pray. From here we decided to visit the Cattedrale di San Rufino. This church is also very significant as both St. Francis and St. Clare were baptized here. Parts of the floor are glass to see the remains of what most believe was the Roman Forum.

From here we ventured to Basilica di San Francesco d'Assisi. This is the big draw of the town and while this is not the biggest church around, for this size town it is big. It also has three levels; the top level is the main nave, the middle level is another large basilica, and the lower level is the crypt with the remains of St. Francis. Many people were here praying, clinging to the iron gate that surrounds the wall of his crypt. After spending some time here we decided to walk back through town, go ahead and leave, and eat dinner in Cortona on the way home. On our way out of town we quickly stepped in the Convento Chiesa Nuova, a church built where St. Francis was believed to have been born and raised. When leaving we decided to see if we could drive up to the castle, Rocca Maggiore, on top of the hill, but we could not find an easy way up. Oh well, we headed toward Cortona.

Pictures from Assisi

When we reached Cortona, it was nearing 6:30 and we knew churches may be closing around 7. We found parking pretty quick but it is quite a hike up to the square of this town! Unfortunately we didn't get to see any churches but the town looked pretty cozy. There were a lot of people in the square sipping wine as tables from restaurants stretched out pretty far; I have not seen much of this anywhere except Il Campo in Siena. We walked around, Kacey did a little shopping, and we read many menus. We also found a pretty nice lookout of the valley. We decided to eat some pizza at Pizzeria Trattoria Croce Del Travaglio. The pizzas were cheap but ok. The crust was lite but almost too lite as it was flaking apart. The house wine here is the cheapest I have seen before. We also bought some little mini-lobster tail desserts next door (which should probably be eaten the same day) and found some mirtillo gelato on the way out of town. For those unfamiliar with mirtillo, it is blueberry and I consider it a delicacy in Italy. On a hot evening a little bowl of limone and mirtillo is about the most refreshing combination ever!

Pictures from Cortona

Vienna and Budapest

The weekend of August 7th we did a whirlwind tour of Vienna and Budapest. We crammed as many sites in as possible, and took over 800 pictures in 4 days. While we were planning traveling to Budapest the previous weekend, after the airline website didn't work and then realizing we were going to be very close the following weekend in Vienna, we decided to head to Vienna ahead of the other LGOs and train to Budapest.

Vienna
We caught a flight on Austrian Air from Bologna to Vienna. Nice airline! I arranged a hotel near the train station as our train left at 6:50AM the next morning. We stayed at the Ibis Wien Mariahilf near Westbahnhof; for €59 and close to the station it was pretty nice.

Budapest
We got up pretty early to make our train. Even though we thought we had plenty of time, we were still cutting it a little close. But we made it with about 5 minutes to spare. We took the 3 hour ÖBB Railjet; the train was pretty nice and empty. We had a set of four seats facing each other with a table in the middle. This gave Nolan some room to play.

When we arrived at Budapest Keleti pályaudvar train station at 10am, we were eager to start exploring. Unfortunately, it took us about 15 minutes to find the subway! Sounds crazy, but the subway entrances are just stairs going down; very seldom are there any signs above ground. Anyway, we picked up a family pass that was available, and what a deal! Any bus, subway, or trolley, two adults and 1-7 children for 48 hours costs 2200ft. (US$1 =~ 211ft. or HUF), so about US$10. So we took the subway to our hotel, the new Eurostars Budapest Center, to check-in early or leave our bags. Luckily we were able to check-in, so we could rest for a couple minutes and finalize our walking path. This is a pretty swank hotel, centrally located, and we stayed there for only €63! (breakfast included)

We headed towards the Danube to visit the Buda side first. We saw the river, the Liberty Statue (from street level), and head towards the Buda Castle. I had read that the funicular was a good way up, but there was a long line and our public transit pass didn't work for the very expensive ride up. We asked the woman selling tickets to the "Hop On Hop Off" tour bus if our bus tickets could help us out. She said that 20 feet away was the #16 bus stop that would take us to the top. Great! So we rode the bus up the hill and started walking the Buda side area around the castle. There are wonderful views of the Pest side and the Danube from up around the castle. We took quite a few pictures, as well as some panoramas, and walked around the castle some more. We also found a big water fountain for Nolan to enjoy. After walking around for a while we started looking for some food. We were still trying to learn the crazy exchange but found a place (I think called Korona Kávéház) that seemed reasonable with a decent selection and some good looking desserts too. FYI - most places here will take euros but give you a really bad exchange rate. It is worth finding an ATM and taking out like 20,000 ft., which it is really hard to type a number in that large to an ATM.

After some food we walked toward Matthias Church. While doing a little window shopping, Kacey found a grocery store along the way and bought some chocolate. We bought a ticket for the Fisherman's Bastion and the church. I wasn't exactly sure what the bastion was, but I had it marked as something close by to see. The bastion is simply a little castle-looking wall built next to the church overlooking the Danube. We went up on the wall and once again viewed the Danube and the Pest side of the city. From here, we went in the church. This was an interesting church and a unique roof. After viewing the church, we found the bus stop to take us back to the other side of the Danube via the Széchenyi Chain Bridge.

We walked north up the Danube to view the Hungarian Parliament Building. This building is huge and best viewed from the Buda side of the Danube. We walked around the back and found a memorial to those lost when fighting for their freedom against the Soviet Union. After sitting for a few minutes, we walked down to see the Shoes on the Danube Promenade. There is not much here and it is hard to cross the street, but it is a good place for reflection.

From here we headed toward St. Stephan's Basilica. An elevator serviced our trip to the top, so we took Nolan up for the view. The elevator ended in the middle part of the dome which made for an interesting view inside the dome. The views were pretty nice from the tower. Afterward we wandered the church for a few minutes before deciding to hit the Opera house before going to the Synagogue. On our way Kacey spotted a North Face store, so we went in looking for some deals. They were ok, but she only ended up with a sweater.

We arrived at the Opera and found out it is not open except for a few tours in the afternoon and we had missed them. Not a huge deal as the subway was right there and we rode over to the Synagogue area. But unfortunately we had just missed this as well and would have to return in the morning to view it. From here we decided it was time to find some food but not before a quick stopover at the hotel. We walked down the street toward the Ferenciek tere area and looked for food. We stopped at one of the first places we saw and liked the menu, so we ate at the Corso Étterem. The food was pretty good, wine cheap, but my dessert was not great. After a long day, we got back to the hotel for bed. While Kacey was putting Nolan to bed, I ran back down to the river to take some night pictures. This was a little hard from the bridge as traffic was causing the bridge to vibrate a lot, but I was able to get a few to turn out.

The next morning we slept in a little; partly because nothing opened super early and partly because it was pouring rain. We wandered downstairs for breakfast and by the time we packed up and got ready to go, the rain was done! We headed to the Dohány Street Synagogue for a walk-through of the world's second largest synagogue. After learning that our backpack was too large, we decided to just take turns and let Nolan play in the grassy area outside. After we each had our tour, we decided to hop on the subway to head towards Hősök tere, or the Heroes' Square. We were hoping to find some food out here, but no. Finally near the Castle of Vajdahunyad, we found a little restaurant. At this point we were getting pushed for time, so of course we had extremely slow service, even for Europe. This meant we didn't get to explore the castle (and the views were wrecked due to construction) and had to basically run to the subway and hope there was not a line at the train station. Oh yeah, by the way, due to our issues with finding transit upon arrival, we had forgotten to buy our return ticket and knew only that the train was supposed to leave around 3pm.

So, after rushing to the hotel, me running to the hotel to get our bags, rushing to the train station, trying to buy tickets at one counter, they said not here, then rushing to another counter with a huge line, then realizing that we could try the tourist office, me waiting in a shorter line there, expecting to have a huge mark-up, and finally getting tickets in hand around 2:48, we had 15 minutes to spare and our return trip only cost 14,000 ft. total (~$64)! So after finding about the last table seat left on the train, we settled in, let Nolan eat a little pizza, and enjoyed the train ride back to Vienna.

Pictures from Budapest


Back in Vienna
We found our hotel, Hotel Papageno, pretty easily, settled in, and walked out for some dinner. We were recommended to try the Hofbauer. The menu was limited, but my goulash with spaetzle was pretty good!

We woke up at a decent time and headed down for breakfast. We were pretty sure we wouldn't see any other LGOs at breakfast because they don't have a traveling alarm clock. We really wanted to check out the Naschmarkt, only a few blocks from where we were staying. This was really neat! Tons of food, spices, desserts, swordfish, asian ingredients (which we purchased), people selling junk, and lots more food.

We walked back over to the hotel and people were up and getting ready for the day. Unfortunately it was trying to rain some, but we had packed two umbrellas so we ventured out and headed downtown via street car and started walking near the Opera. We started walking clockwise around the ring in the direction of Hofburg in hopes to take in it's vastness. We mostly just walked around and gazed, from there entering the Volksgarten for more views and water fountains. Next we crossed the street to check out the Rathaus, where there were many food vendors for the film festival. We ate some food and started walking toward the city center to see the two large churches there.

First we came to the Peterskirche. This is the smaller of the two but had some nice views inside. After our quick stop we walked toward Stephanplatz, the city center and home to Stephansdom. This is the big church with limited abilities to walk around inside unless you pay, but with my camera I was able to get shots of the alter area anyway. We really wanted to go up the north tower (taller than south, but no lift) so we left a sleeping Nolan with Donovan, Kevin, and Emily at a hotel nearby. The views of the city were pretty nice and the view of the brightly colored tile roof of the church was interesting as well.

Our last stop for the day was Karlskirche. Nolan found a playground next door so while Kacey played with him there I went in with the rest of the group to check out the church. I first I thought the entry fee seemed steep until I realized that the price included a ride up the lift inside the church where renovation was being completed on the dome. It was awesome! We went right up to the very tip top of the inside of the dome. The pictures I take don't quite do it justice, and although the views of the city were limited, the internal views were incredible. That night we walked around the Schwedenplatz area on the Danube canal and grabbed some food.

The next morning we knew we would be up early and we wanted to get out and see a few more sites. The weather was great and we headed up toward Hofburg to go inside something. Kacey did some reading and she picked the Imperial Treasury Schatzkammer. It was a little expensive, but it was pretty cool. We walked through in about 45 minutes and saw a lot of the Imperial Treasury. While dark, I was able to get some shots of the items there. We then wanted to check out the church at Hofburg. When we first arrived at Augustinerkirche mass was still in session so we grabbed some pizza for Nolan, fed him, and then entered the church. The church was still filled with the smoke from incense but it was still nice to see.

Next we walked toward Stephansplatz to look around, grab some food, get photos of sites in sunlight, and catch the subway out to Schloss Schönbrunn. This is where we met up with the other LGOs. They were just finishing up a tour when we arrived. I had already grabbed some Apfelstrudel and a coffee while Nolan ran around and threw rocks in to the fountain. We then all walked to the gardens behind the palace. Check out my photos, but this place is vast! I was able to put together some panoramic photos to show the size. We all slowly walked up the hill for some great views. After walking around for a while, the other LGOs wanted some food and since we had already ate, we headed for another site.

We took the subway back in to town and headed to the Belvedere Palace. While nowhere near the size of Schonbrunn, it was close to the city and also beautiful. We walked around for about 30-45 minutes then headed to our hotel to grab our bags and get to the airport.

Pictures from Vienna


This was a fun weekend, stressful only a couple times due to trying to see many, many things, and we enjoyed many great sites while checking two top sites off of our "Must See Things While Living in Italy".

Nolan's New Ride

We have been on the lookout to get Nolan a new toy for his birthday. We didn't find one in time, but we kept looking. Finally on Friday night, we stopped at the Manganelli Baby Store and found what we had been looking for... a trike! He has been completely fascinated with motorcycles lately, so we figured he should have a tricycle of his own. We wanted one not too expensive (as we will probably abandon it) with a handle on the back for me to push for a while. We found both. And, if it lasts long enough (it is pretty cheap plastic), I may be able to break it down for travel home! We will see in December...

But for now, he loves having a motorcycle of his own!

Pienza e Montalcino

This weekend was a little different than most. Todd and Dannielle took a trip to Budapest while we spent some time ,*gasp*, as a family! On Friday we went out and bought Nolan a new toy (that post is coming) and on Saturday we stayed in and went in to Siena for shopping and dinner. On Sunday we traveled to Pienza, the home of Tuscano Pecorino, and Montalcino, the home of Brunello. I am not a wine connoisseur, but I think Brunello is pretty well known here as well as the states.

Pienza
We found some free street parking and walked in to the city. We first hit the tourist information booth to get a map as Ricardo Stepheno did not have one in his book. Once we saw the map, I knew why. This is a small town! Well, not as small as Monteriggioni, but too small to get a map in the guide book. We walked immediately to the Palazzo Piccolomini to get a tour of the museum, supposedly a highlight of Tuscano. A tour in english was starting in 20 minutes, so Kacey did some shopping before they closed for siesta. Let me say that the main street smells like pecorino and honey, it was quite a delight. Every little store has stacks of pecorino (check out my pics). We hustled back to the museum for our tour just in time. Luckily, it was only us! The now museum was pretty interesting (no foto). It was not that big, but had a lot of dated paintings, armor, and furniture relevant to their beloved pope.

After the tour, we walked through a few more shops, the church, and looked for some food. It was getting late and we didn't quite find anything we really liked, so we grabbed a few slices of pizza, bought a little cheese, and hit the road to Montalcino. We snapped this panoramic photo along the way.


Pictures from Pienza

Montalcino
Of course Nolan fell asleep right before we got to town, so we took our time getting out of the car and luckily a 10 minute nap did him just fine. We accidentally parked right in the middle of town without even knowing, so we were nice and close to everything. There was a little market going on there too so Kacey browsed for a bit. While she put an offer on something, the only thing we ended up purchasing was some Brunello (along with discounted docg Chianti). We actually spent *gasp* €20 on wine! We usually spend €1-3.

The church didn't appear to be open, which was a bummer, but I did venture up the fortress for several photos. Here is my favorite.


I have one other panoramic photo I took up there I really liked as well, but I think this is my favorite. We looked inside a couple of other churches that were open and after our 2 hour visit, decided to get on the road.

Pictures from Montalcino

Pages That Someone Is Reading?

Apparently these are pages that someone is reading... I just passed 10,000 visits! Probably mostly family, but who cares! Stay tuned for our next few adventures. More hill towns, Vienna, Budapest, Palio, and Paris!

Switzerland

This past weekend we all drove up to Switzerland to visit some LGOs and see some sights. Thursday afternoon we drove up to Turgi, just north of Zurich, to stay with Karla. We arrived at about 1:30 at night. I was convinced the drive in was beautiful, but since I couldn't see a thing, I was kind of looking forward to the drive home.

Rhine Falls
Friday morning we got up and drove to the Rhine Falls near Schaffhausen. They were decent size for America, but one of the largest for Europe. We snapped some pictures and walked closer (i.e. near the tourist area). Just as we decided to eat some food here, it started raining. So we ate while waiting out the rain, but it never stopped. So we ran to the car and started driving to Zurich.

Zurich
Apparently our Garmin maps are corrupt or didn't load properly for Zurich because once we got downtown, the Garmin got real stupid. It had nothing. We drove for a bit, finally figured we were close enough to walk downtown, parked, and walked in. Luckily we were only a 5-10 minute walk from the main downtown area along the water. It was still raining a little, but we made due. We visited the Grossmünster church, which is much different from the churches we are used to seeing in Italy. No photos were allowed, but it seemed more like what a church should feel like; less ornate, less decorated. We didn't want to pay 5 chiefs (our term for franks, derived from the abbreviation CHF) to climb the tower as the view was probably minimal due to the weather. Once we stepped back outside the rain had finally subdued and we walked around a bit more. There were a lot of American shops, which was depressing. We wandered back down to the river to walk back toward the lake. We got back to the car for our drive to Basel, to visit some more LGOs and stay for the night.

Lucerne
The next day we drove down to Lucerne to see the sites of the mountains and lake. While the weather didn't quite cooperate, Lucerne is a nice little town. We saw the Blue Balls Festival, the Dying Lion Monument, the big catholic church, walked around town some, and took the Golden Ticket ride. This consists of a boat ride across Lake Lucerne to Alpnachstad, then a ride up the world's steepest cogwheel railway to the top of Mount Pilatus, and a ride back down to Lucerne on the gondolas and aerial cableway. Now unfortunately the mountain was covered in thick fog at the top, so the view was absolutely gone. We took pictures anyway. Upon return to the bottom, we hit up the Blue Balls Festival for some food. It was nice, all types of food were represented so we could pick whatever we wanted! I really wanted more swiss food (rösti and a brat), but Kacey opted for the delicious green curry thai. After our dinner, we got back on the road to drive back to Basel for a free place to stay.

The next morning we got up and got on the road for home. The views were amazing and we tried to capture a few through the windows of the car as there were no places to stop for pictures. Once we reached the east side of Lake Lucerne, there was a pull-off, so we snapped some pictures.


Pictures from Switzerland

The road system to drive from Siena to Basel is pretty good. You take the A1 through Italy, and a decent sized road in Switzerland. The swiss require you purchase one of their CHF40 road stickers for your car, which is ok considering the quality of their roads based on how hard they must be to build and maintain. And if you visit Switzerland, get ready for some expensive... everything!

Volterra, Monteriggioni and Montepulciano

This past weekend we did two days trips. Saturday we drove up to Volterra and on our way home stopped in Monteriggioni. Sunday we drove down to Montepulciano and to Lake Trasimeno.

Volterra
Volterra is supposedly rated high for places to see, and Monteriggioni is a fortress on a hill we see each time we drive home from Florence (so it has piqued our interest for a while). Volterra was nice and situated high on a hill, but nothing too great. We walked around the duomo and baptistery first and then ventured to Piazza dei Priori. After realizing there was no opportunity to climb up anything for a better view, we decided to venture down to the Saturday morning market. After buying some fruit and basil plants, we decided to head back up for lunch. Along the way we found a scenic overlook of the valley and of the Roman Theatre. After lunch we found the famous Etruscan gate, Porta all'Arco. We found another scenic overlook on our way back to the car and then headed to Monteriggioni.

Pictures from Volterra

Monteriggioni
Monteriggioni was right on the way and always looked interested, so we set our course for this fortress on a hill. This town is small, but nice. There was a wedding going on so many people were mulling around the piazza. We walked in to a few shops, watched the wedding party come out, and headed home for dinner after a long day. We didn't take many photos as we expect to come back; and next time we visit I plan on viewing the hillside from their wall-top walkway.

Pictures from Monteriggioni

Montepulciano
On Sunday we got up and drove down to Montepulciano. This was a nice little town high up on a hill. We made our way up to the piazza near the duomo. We saw that people were viewing the hillside from the tower so we quickly climbed up for some photos. While it didn't really get us that high, it was still some good views. The duomo here is pretty nice and luckily for us the organ was being played while we visited. After eating some lunch, we got on the road to head to the lake.




Pictures from Montepulciano
Video #1 of the organ
Video #2 of the bells

Lake Trasimeno
This is the largest lake in Italy's peninsula. We drove to what is the nicest beach on the western edge of the lake, Castiglione del Lago. Of the beaches we have seen in Italy, this was probably the nicest so far. There was some real sand, surrounded by a large grassy area and the water was very warm. Although the edge of the lake is seaweed, mud and clay, once you venture out 20-30 feet, it becomes much more clean; this is where everyone hangs out. We played at the playground and in the water for a couple hours then ventured back home.

So I learned while in Montepulciano that both this town and Volterra were the setting for a recent, popular movie, T_wilight. While I was not real familiar with it, it seems many people are. We learned that while it is supposedly based in Volterra, it was actually partly filmed in Montepulciano. As small as this town is, I can't imagine what it was like filled with h_ollywood types.

Nolan is Two Years Old!

Well, we made it! Our little boy turned two years old on Sunday. While we only officially entered the "terrible twos" on Sunday, I think we started venturing down that path toward the end of May. Don't get me wrong, Nolan is a wonderful little boy, but he is definitely entering a stage where he wants his way and he knows how to "work us over". He is counting to 6 (8 if you say seven for him). He is a super active little boy and loves to run, play, jump, and bounce on the bed. For a couple months now he can repeat just about any word we throw at him, and does a pretty good job remembering them too.

Nolan has done very well at adjusting to Italy. We teach him some Italian words and sometimes he uses those words, but in general he probably won't be speaking fluent Italian when we return. Most of this is probably due to the fact that Kacey and I don't know enough to really speak it around the house much (we do some).

As for Nolan's stats, we are unofficial at this point as he won't really get a check-up for the rest of the year. I am going to try to find a place to weigh him, but not sure where at this point. He still doesn't have a butt, but oh well.


Outside our Villa


At one of our two playgrounds
Update: Nolan is about 35 inches long!

Orvieto

This past weekend we traveled down to Orvieto, one of the coolest hill towns in Umbria. Every time you drive to Rome, you pass a town very high on a cliff right off of the A-1; this is Orvieto. The duomo here has quite the interesting facade. We also had some very delicious gelato here.

Pictures from Orvieto

We stayed the night just outside Orvieto and the next morning, drove to Lake Bolsena. We drove toward the water in Bolsena in hopes to play at the beach for a while. We thought for Nolan's birthday, he would like to do that. We played for about an hour before getting on the road for lunch and to get home. We didn't have a good chance to take some good pictures of the lake unfortunately (it was beautiful), but on our way back to the A-1, we captured this panorama of Orvieto.

Roma: A Whirlwind Tour

Saturday my mom arrived into FCO airport on her first transatlantic flight ever. We got in the car around noon and headed in to our hotel near Termini. By time we got on the train to head to our Vatican tour, it was almost 2pm and our ticket was for 3pm. We grabbed a few pieces of pizza and got a move on. The combination of the heat (90's) and a late plane arrival, we didn't have much time for relaxing for a few minutes. When Kacey and I visited the Vatican 3.5 years ago, the line was huge so this time we booked tickets online. We arrived at a surprisingly line-less Vatican around 2:45 and prepared for our entry. We gave ourselves about an hour and a half to reach the Sistine Chapel. We had to start rushing at the end, but we still got to see quite a lot.

We took the back door exit to St. Peter's after the Sistine Chapel. I was looking forward to seeing my mom's reaction to the size of this church; I think she enjoyed it.

After the Basilica we took the subway to the Trevi Fountain area for dinner and a night viewing of the fountain. It was crowded as usual but mom was still able to throw her change in the fountain. I also attempted a panorama picture here. We then took the subway to see the Colosseum at night, which was pretty cool. By time we got back to our hotel and got the A/C working, it was after 11.

The morning we headed toward the Forum. This was pretty cool, but not as cool as Pompeii. Kacey and I didn't have time to see the Forum when we visited a few years back, so it was also nice from that aspect. While taking my shots for the panorama it struck noon and all the church bells started sounding! I took a video of the action, check out the link below. This was also my favorite panorama I got.


Video from the Roman Forum

We exited the Forum and walked toward the Colosseum. We were very glad we had our Roma Passes; there was at least a 2 hour line in the heat! We walked right in and spent about 90 minutes walking around and taking pictures. I also took a few panorama shots here.

After a short walk to St. Peter in Chains we got back to the car for the 2 hour drive home. Although very hot and pretty busy, the trip was pretty successful.

Pictures from Rome

Parma, Modena, and Bologna

This was a nice little weekend. We left early Saturday morning in the new Ford C-Max. This car will make for much nicer weekend trips! Wider back seat, more leg room, bigger trunk area, better mileage, and cheaper diesel fuel. This time Cynthia was in town for work so she came along on the trip.

Parma
We drove up to Parma first to walk around and have lunch. We walked the main street and there were many little food shops and a market in full swing (looked mostly like clothes and shoes). We walked far enough and found the grassy area. We figured we would eat a picnic style lunch with some food from some of the bars across the street. We had pizza, pastries, and a few other random things. It was pretty good. After lunch we started our walking tour of the town. Unfortunately, most churches and sites had closed for siesta (usually doesn't happen) so we have only outside pictures of most places. We ventured over to the large park across the river before stopping in at a couple stores for gelato and cheese. It is Parma!

Pictures from Parma

Modena
We then drove about half an hour to Modena, hoping that Nolan would get a quick nap. Of course he didn't fall asleep until we were almost there, but he is a trooper and the quick nap was good enough. We didn't want to spend too much time here as we still had to drive to Bologna to get checked in for the night. We walked down the main street and checked out some little shops and were once again disappointed by a closed tower. We walked around the square, took some photos and then realized we could go in the church! This was a nice, big one made of brick. We walked around for quite a while then figured we should get a move on. Of course on our way to the car we stopped in and bought some balsamic vinegar!

Pictures from Modena

Bologna
We drove our 40 minutes to Bologna so we could get checked in, sit for a few minutes, then find some dinner. The Zanhotel Europa is a pretty good deal! Deeply discounted on the web, a decent breakfast, and pretty nice rooms! We were recommended to eat at Ristorante Bolognese. While we got a pretty good taste of local food here, their desserts were not good. At this point we realized the US v Ghana game had just started, so we got back to the hotel to relax and watch some soccer.

The next morning we walked to the city center and checked out the sites. We wanted to get them in before lunch/siesta. This town is known for it's two towers, both of which are leaning. We climbed the large tower (Asinelli) as the smaller one is under construction. This was quite a hike with a little guy on my back! But the view was great and I attempted some panoramic shots. From there we went back to the piazza to check out the church and were delighted to see such a wonderful fountain outside! (Check out the pictures) The church was in service but we were allowed to stand in the back. It was pretty nice to witness part of the service, although it seemed pretty much like a catholic service in the states. We walked the streets for a while until lunch. I saw a sign for Trattoria Pizzeria La Mela, which means pizza but we can sit down inside. The pizzas were decent and there was a wide selection. After this the heat picked up outside, and everything closed, so we got on the road back home (with a stop at Ikea in Florence, of course)!

Pictures from Bologna

Owning a GPS

Now that I am a co-owner of a Nuvi, and living in Europe, I am very interested in POIs. But, I have found very little explanation to the different options I have in the way of speed cameras, and sites that provide the data for free.

What is the difference between Mobile Cameras and other things? Why does the speed limit shown by a camera on the display many times seem to be less than the speed limit on the road?

What are some good sites for getting up to date information for free? I have found gps-data-team.com and while they claim most "safety" data is free, I can download very little for free.

My favorite POI so far? ZTLs!

Please leave your comments!

Our First Few Weeks

We have been in Italia for almost three weeks now. It has taken some time to get settled, but we are close. We have also been on a couple more trips.

Cinque Terre
Back in 2006, Kacey and I visited Cinque Terre during our trip to Italy, but it was the off season and there was not much open. So this time we all set up our base camp in La Spezia on Friday night and on Saturday morning took the train to Riomaggiore (the southern most town). That Friday night we arrived late in La Spezia and after some traffic and hotel mix-ups, we headed out for a late dinner. While most things seemed closed, we finally found Antica Trattoria. The food was good but it was late by time we were done, so we headed off to bed.

After our quick morning train ride to Riomaggiore, we hiked the ridge from Riomaggiore to Manarola (Lover's Lane) and walked around Manarola for a bit. We then hiked the ridge some more to Corniglia. We ate lunch in Corniglia, and prepared for our mountain hike to Vernazza. This was a pretty good hike with some nice views. We rested in Vernazza by the water for an hour or so, ate some gelato, and then took the train to Monterosso. We walked around Monterosso for a while, found the wine and olive oil shop we liked 3.5 years ago (Enoteca Internazionale) and purchased two more bottles of Benza Olive Oil, and ate dinner at Ristorante Via Venti. We barely caught the 8:30 train back to La Spezia and found some gelato to eat while watching the US v England World Cup match.

Pictures from Cinque Terre.

On our way home we bit the beach for a bit in Massa. While the public beach was about the size of 4 beach towels, it was a chance to catch some rays. We ate lunch at a water-side bar and Nolan and I walked around a bit and played at a playground. The cooling of the temperature indicated it was time to go and just as we were getting in the car to leave, the rain started. Perfect timing.

San Gimignano
We traveled here last Saturday for a quick day trip. This was a nice little town, known for it's many towers. We were able to walk up the tallest, Torre Grossa, and snap a few pictures before the fog completely encapsulated the tower. I also took a panoramic shot from the tower.


We ate lunch at Ristorante Perucà. The portions were a little small, even for here, so while we left hungry the food was pretty good. We decided to just walk around the town and avoid the rain as best as possible. We went in and out of many little shops but didn't quite find what we were looking for. We decided to find a place to eat dinner on our drive home, which would go through a few little towns.

Pictures from San Gimignano.

Our drive took us through Colle di Val d'Elsa and as we left town we spotted Il Casato. The sign said Pizzeria (we were all craving pizza) so we stopped without delay. We walked in at 7:10 and they said we could sit and order drinks, but they didn't open until 7:30. After glancing at the menu, we didn't care. It was full of pasta AND pizza! We found it strange that the rather large dining room was full of tables and most of them had reserved signs on them with different names. Between 8:15 and 8:30, we learned why. This was definitely a family-friendly local joint! Lots of big families with kids came here for dinner. So if you are ever in the area and want a good dinner, stop in!

Napoli, Round Two

There were some things I didn't write about during our trip to Napoli, Pompeii, and Vesuvius. Here we go with some more details!

Napoli
I have now uploaded photos of Napoli showing the town. We also took a couple pictures of our Friday night dinner; fried pizza. We thought we were ordering calzones, and while they look just like calzones, they are fried. While they were ok and interesting, they were not traditional pizza that we were hoping to sample while in Napoli. The good thing about dinner: two fried pizzas, a bottle of water and two beers, and the seating charge was 14 euro. I also uploaded some pictures from our Saturday night walk around the beach and waterfront. Their beach isn't much, but they love it.

Pictures from Napoli

Pompeii
I uploaded some videos to Youtube from Pompeii. They show the Forum, the Ampitheatre, and Apollo's Temple.

Pictures from Pompeii

Vesuvius
I created some panoramic shots while hiking up Vesuvius. I have included one in this post and the others are available by searching for the panorama tag.

Pictures from Vesuvius

Buongiorno da Italia!

Well, we made it! We arrived in Siena on Thursday afternoon and were dropped off at our villa. Todd and Dannielle were already here, but sound asleep. We started unpacking a little and then decided to plan a weekend trip!

Friday around lunch we rented a car (we don't have our cars yet) and drove to Napoli (Naples, and for future reference, I will use the Italian spelling as we have no idea why the english renamed their cities). It is about a 4 hour drive. We ate at an Auto Grill along the way (roadside gas and food joint), which was decent. While the GPS helps tremendously, it has a hard time keeping up due to quick road changes and roads very close to one another; it gets confused if you took a turn or not. After a few u-turns on my part, Todd successfully navigated us to our hotel in downtown Napoli. We had booked two rooms for two nights at Hotel San Giorgio via Expedia. Considering the trash hole that is Napoli, this hotel was decent. We walked a bit for some food and also walked around the docks a little before turning in. Pictures from Napoli are here (http://www.chrisandkacey.com/Vacation/Italy-2010/Napoli/)

Saturday we woke up, ate some breakfast at the hotel and drove to Pompeii. Pompeii was quite an experience. Todd had been before so he was able to direct us off the beaten path somewhat. Pictures are coming soon. After about 4,5 hours in Pompeii, we ventured toward Vesuvius in hopes to do the hike, but we were unable to get there in time before it closed. To that end we drove back to Napoli to walk the nicer beach/park area and eat along the sea. We ate at Gusto&Gusto‎; while the house wine was poor, the food was decent again. Pictures from Pompeii are here (http://www.chrisandkacey.com/Vacation/Italy-2010/Pompeii/)

Sunday we decided to attempt the Vesuvius hike again as no one had done it before. Sure enough, we were able to get in! The hike, while not too long, is a bit strenuous. I hiked Nolan up on my back. We also have many pictures of this that I will post soon. The views were beautiful and Vesuvius was steaming just a little bit. At this point, we drove home in hopes to buy some groceries. Pictures from Vesuvius are here (http://www.chrisandkacey.com/Vacation/Italy-2010/Mt-Vesuvius/)

But alas, everything is closed on Sunday afternoons. With no food or car, we were forced to order delivery pizza. It is not the greatest, but in a pinch we will definitely do it again.

Pompeii was high on my list of things to see in Italy, so the trip was great for me. My bottom hurts more from driving than my legs from hiking, but it was worth the trip!

Craziness

So it has been over a week since we left Cambridge. There was much craziness last week. Here is a recap...

Saturday the 15th - I loaded the car and took a load to storage. Kacey packed some more stuff up while I was gone and once home I did some more as well.
Sunday the 16th - I rented a U-Haul 10' truck and took a load of things I could carry by myself. I took many boxes, a desk, and some other things we didn't need around the apartment. The day involved much more packing, too.
Monday the 17th - We had to get everything ready to go on the big truck I was renting Tuesday. The beds, desks, all the big stuff had to go while I had some help on Tuesday, so everything had to get ready.
Tuesday the 18th - This was the day all the big stuff had to go. Cynthia came over and watched Nolan for about an hour so Kacey could get stuff ready with me. Thanks Cynthia! Then Chris Hopkins came over to help me load up all the big stuff. Thanks Chris!!!!! This was a massive task; we had way too much stuff in Cambridge. I want to leave it all in storage when we get back, it is just too much! Once Chris and I got back to Cambridge, we met Kacey, Nolan, and Todd for dinner. Oh, about half way through loading the truck, I realized all the big stuff would not fit, so that meant I was renting another truck on Thursday, the day we were leaving the city. Tuesday night I was able to sleep somewhat on the air mattress, mostly because I was pretty tired.
Wednesday the 19th - Kacey had her final in the morning. Nolan and I did some playing and then daddy got busy packing up all the remaining crap we still had left. I sectioned off an area with the gates and put everything there. While there wasn't too much big things left, there was a lot of small stuff. Wednesday night, I could not sleep.
Thursday the 20th - I picked up the truck and Todd (thanks Todd!) and we loaded up the remaining things. Then I drove them down by myself while Kacey drove our stuff and Todd and his stuff to comcast. Turns out that I returned the truck just after they got back to Central Square. Since I finished so early, I grabbed a sandwich and helped Chris, Todd, and Cynthia load up their things in their truck. We finished around 4:30 so I walked home and started getting the car ready for our drive back to the midwest. Our goal was to leave around 9-10pm and drive until we got tired, then pull off for a quick nap during the night. We grabbed some dinner at The Friendly Toast and went back to finish off the loading. I administered the cat meds around 8 and we spend the next two hours packing, throwing away trash, and saying goodbye. It was kind of sad because this is where Nolan first walked and spent a lot of his life to that point. But by 10:30pm we were on the road. I drove until midnight, then Kacey drove until 2am. We stopped for a 3.5 hour nap at a rest stop in New York somewhere. At 5:30am, I started driving again and we arrived in Ft. Wayne at 5pm Friday. We were done!

We have been doing a lot of visiting while back in the midwest. We started off with my family on Saturday down at my cousin's house in Martinsville. It was a fun day of running with the kids and chatting with family. On Sunday we went to our old church and then had lunch with our old small group. After lunch we had a cookout with the Indy Rose Pikes at Tom & Jenny's house. It was a very fun day!

On Monday we got to visit with my grandparents. We had not seen them since August and probably won't see them again until next June. We had a very nice visit. On Tuesday we had lunch with a couple of Kacey's friends, dinner with Adam and Sarah, and play time at the Charltons house that night. On Wednesday we spent more time with the Charltons after lunch and then had a nice dinner at Adam and Amanda's house. This is where we said our final goodbyes as we were leaving Thursday for Toledo.

Thursday Eric came down and we dropped off the car at my mom's house and loaded up Eric's car with our stuff. We drove to the Fort and Eric spent some time playing with Nolan. It was a nice visit. Then Mike and Maggie met us for dinner and drove us up to Toledo.

In all this madness, Kacey has been dealing with visa issues. We find out Tuesday around lunch if we are allowed to leave for Italy this week. I hope so - I don't want to sit indefinitely and have to change multiple flights at great expense.

So in all our craziness, there are many people who helped make it all possible. Cynthia, Todd, and Chris all saved our butts by helping us move out of the apartment. Karl and Nancy took in our kitties while we are away. Eric gave us a bed AND drove to get us in Indy. Vince and Sharon offered us a bed in Indy for 5 nights. My mom arranged a family get-together and took in our car. Mike and Maggie made us yummy food and came and got us in Ft. Wayne. And a thanks to my little boy who had to live through this, being in a car way too much, and not having toys and not getting the attention he deserves (it made me sad). Thanks to you all!

What Is Going On?

It has been a little hectic around here. But so some day I can look back and reflect on what we did, here we go with an update...

Kacey, of course, has to continue going to class and turning in projects and giving presentations. But now, she is mostly done! Just a few more study sessions and one more final to go!

We started packing little bits a few weeks ago. I also put a deposit down on a storage unit that about 6 people will share. Slowly and surely I would pack a little more each day. Then about a week ago, I started assembling boxes for "real" packing. Kitchen, bathroom, clothes, random junk... you know, stuff that makes your apartment look like you are moving. I took as many boxes as would fit in the car yesterday morning to acquire our storage unit. Today I rented a small U-Haul truck to take boxes, a desk, some tables, and lots of large items that are just in the way and ready to go. Too bad it still looks like we have a ton of crap! Tuesday, the plan is one of Kacey's classmates will come over after class and help me move the items I can't do by myself. TV, bed, couch, three dressers, bookcase, another desk. Then we will also grab a few of his things. So by Tuesday night, our apartment will be naked. Then I will probably have to take a couple car loads Wednesday and Thursday.

That is ok because Thursday night we get in the car with the cats and drive through the night until we reach Indiana! We figure since Kacey is used to staying up until like 1am, she will drive from 9pm-1am. Then we will stop and if I feel up to it, I will drive for a few hours. If we need to stop for some short naps, we have plenty of time to reach Indiana by Friday afternoon. We will be in Indiana for about 5 days. Not much planned yet, just visiting friends and family. Then we get driven to Toledo (our car is staying in Indy, I think), with a stop in F-Dub to visit with Eric, and stay in Toledo until June 1. Then we fly back to Boston, spend the night, then get ready for our flight to Florence on June 2!

It is funny. This is half a brain dump for sharing and half for me to think about how we are going to do this :)

My Red Sox Game at Fenway

While Adam was in town, we hit a Red Sox game at Fenway. While I was not much of a baseball fan growing up, I think I can now call myself a Red Sox fan. So going to Fenway to watch a game was awesome! We went to the May 3, 2010 game versus the Angels, and it was a blowout! This was good for three reasons... 1) We saw a win, 2) we saw a lot of shots go over the green monsta, bringing on lots of cheering and 3) lots of people left early so we were able to move down almost all the way!

Here are the pics we shot:
http://www.chrisandkacey.com/Boston/Red-Sox-Game-2010/

Here is a video I shot before the game started:


And here is a video I shot during the last pitch of the night. Unfortunately, the memory card filled up right as the crowd started reacting. Oh well...


It was an awesome night!

Week of Firsts

This past week was jam packed with some firsts. While Grandma Maggie was visiting, we were given some opportunities to do some new things on the east coast.

Boston Marathon
Monday April 19th was the 114th Boston Marathon. We of course had to check out the action on what was a beautiful day. We debated how to get close to the action and while I wanted to walk the 3 miles to our meet-up point with friends, Kacey wanted to try the T. So we took the red line to Park and switched to the green-C. After waiting 15 min for our train to leave the station, we then waited another 20 trying to move but the traffic was just too bad. We determined it would be faster to walk, so we exited at the next stop and hoofed it.

This turn of events, though, led us right to the finish line, about 3 minutes before the first elite runners got there! We got pictures of some wheelchair finishers, the first woman, and the first man, who also set a course record! After 10 minutes of cheering, we walked further down the course toward Mass Ave and stopped along the way to view more runners. So while we never actually made it to the group we were meeting, we got to see some pretty good action.

www.chrisandkacey.com/Boston/Boston-Marathon-2010/

Martha's Vineyard
I had been wanting to visit Martha's Vineyard at some point and luckily my mother-in-law wanted to as well. On Tuesday we drove down to Fox Hole (near Falmouth) to catch the ferry to Vineyard Haven. It only costs about $15 round trip per person. Once there, we walked around for a few minutes before catching a bus to Edgartown. Most of the island had not really opened up yet for the season, so finding a place for lunch took a bit. We ate lunch at David Ryan's Restaurant. The homemade fries and chips were pretty good. We walked around a bit, took some photos at the water, and caught the bus back to Vineyard Haven. After walking through a few more shops, we caught our boat back to the mainland.

On our way back to Boston, we stopped at Plymouth to see Plymouth Rock. There is a nice little park near by with free 2 hour parking. We walked down the shore line for a while and found Wood's Seafood for dinner.

http://www.chrisandkacey.com/Vacation/NewEngland/MarthasVineyard/

Newport, RI
Each year Sloan holds a Gala, aka MBA Prom. Every other year it is held in Newport, RI. This year, for our 6th wedding anniversary, we went to MBA Prom at Rosecliff Mansion in Newport. Since my mother-in-law was in town, she stayed back in Boston with Nolan. So while Kacey and I have both been away from him for a night, we had never done it together. We stayed at the Inn on Bellevue. It is a nice little place. Before the gala, we walked the Cliff Walk near some of the mansions. We then drove around a few more before returning to prepare for the gala. We toured the mansion once there, enjoyed some really tasty appetizers, ate a decent meal, and danced the night away. Oh, and of course ate some yummy dessert! It was a fun evening. The next morning we drove around with a few friends viewing a few of the parks in the area. Unfortunately due to rain, we didn't get to walk around much. We were also able to stop at the Touro Synagogue. It is the oldest synagogue in the country and a National Historical Site.

http://www.chrisandkacey.com/Vacation/NewEngland/Newport/

My next first... Red Sox game on Monday with my brother!

Fun with Pano

I was looking over some old trip photos and remembered I had not even stitched a photo together from Australia. So I decided to stitch it and now I want to post some of my panos. No, they are not great. Send your tips and thoughts.

Kata Tjuta (The Olgas), Ayers Rock, Australia

Stitched from 7 photos

Mt. Britton Tower, El Yunque, Puerto Rico

Stitched from 20 photos

Yokahu Tower, El Yunque, Puerto Rico

Stitched from 8 photos

Prospect Mountain, Lake George, Adirondacks
Lookout #2

Stitched from 4 photos

Lookout #3

Stitched from 5 photos

Prospect Mountain Summit

Stitched from 4 photos

Buck Mountain, Lake George, Adirondacks
South View from the Summit

Stitched from 6 photos

North View from the Summit

Stitched from 3 photos

West View from the Summit

Stitched from 6 photos

Toddler TV

I know, evil words. We have not really let Nolan watch TV yet (he watches some sports). But, as he is nearing two, and our life is changing, I feel we may need to find a couple good shows for Nolan to watch. While we understand Nolan and he understands us, he is not really putting words together yet. Every baby is different, but our situation is we will be soon living in a country where he will not hear English except from us. So, it is time to find a couple good shows that we can buy on DVD and take with us.

We don't want just any show. We want something relatively simple with hopefully real or animated children. We want him to learn, but the show doesn't need to focus on learning so much that it isn't fun to watch. We mostly want him to hear kids speaking English. Some singing would be nice too.

So far I still love Sesame Street. My friend Matt mentioned that he watches Caillou with his daughter and so far I like this show too. I am looking for recommendations of a few shows that we can take with us (or watch on the SlingBox). Don't hesitate to leave a comment with your thoughts and why!

A Big Step for Nolan

Today Nolan and I were at MIT for an event around lunch. The room we were in had many steps and Nolan wanted to run around. The steps weren't huge, but they weren't tiny steps either. As if he had been doing it for weeks, he quickly and confidently stepped right up them without any help and then turned around and came right down them without any help. I was excited!

Life Insurance... Yeah

I am so happy to be working on this... we need to update our life insurance. I currently have a whole life plan I am going to do away with. We are going to get two term plans that we can adjust as needed. We have looked in to a few big name companies so far.

How have you, random readers of this blog, picked a company? What gotchas should we look out for? Don't hesitate to comment!

Spring Break in Puerto Rico

This past week we spent 5 days in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Those of you that know me well, yes, I ate my words and went there for vacation. That just tells you how good the deal was we found. For those who have no idea what I am talking about, I spent a lot of time there for work a couple years back. So while it is nice knowing where to go and where to eat and how to get around your vacation spot, there are certain things about the place I wanted to avoid, including thoughts of work.

We got direct flights on JetBlue, which sweetened the deal. This was my first time on JetBlue and I was pleased with them. Free first bag and no first class, so no lines of people wanting an upgrade. They do have expanded leg room rows, but they don't give them away, even at the last minute. So again less clutter. The regular rows have a decent amount of space, so traveling with an infant wasn't too bad. They don't, however, have family rows like some airlines have (i.e. you call the airline after booking and can get better seats). Each seat has an entertainment screen and XM radio, so bonus. And, free snacks and drinks, with which they are not stingy. Lastly, they take your drink order and bring it out on trays, so they keep the isles clear. So, enough of my JetBlue review.

We picked up our rental car, which even for Puerto Rico took a while, but oh well. We got a compact SUV for $85 for the week, another bonus to the deal. We stopped by the Pueblo to get some fruit and snacks for the room and it gave me a chance to show Kacey where I used to hang out and live while there for work.

Travelocity gave us a sweet deal at the Conrad. That's right. And since we are Hilton Gold, that means a free room upgrade and free breakfast. So, my expectations were pretty high of this place, even for Puerto Rico. Well, we were a little wrong. This is not a super nice hotel, but I don't want to spend my time writing about the things wrong with the hotel. If you really want to know, ask me. Just know that a fancy name and a decent location do not a nice hotel make.

The first afternoon we were there we hit the pool and the beach. We enjoyed the slide very much and also the little dolphins that spout water in to the pool. They also had a salt water pool, but it was too deep and us to take Nolan in. We walked down the Condado strip and ate dinner at Café del Angel. Our goal when traveling is to generally find the best values; so good food not marked up because of the location. We succeeded here.

Our first full day we went to visit the forts in Old San Juan. They are part of the National Park Service (one of my favorite things), so Nolan was able to get his National Parks Passport stamped twice more. We first visited Castillo San Cristóbal, the eastern most part of the fortress. We walked through the tunnels and up to the top for a view of San Juan and Old San Juan. We then ventured west to El Morro. There were a few people out flying kites on the lawn of El Morro (I have pictures from 5 years ago when many more were out). We decided to eat some lunch before our tour of the fortress. We had a small list of possible places and ended up at La Bombonera. This was a decent lunch stop and I recommend it. We walked back over to the fort and walked around a bit. We went all the way down right as a cruise ship was coming through the channel, so check out our pictures for that. Then on our way up Kacey took the circular stairs. By this time Nolan was starting to get sleepy so we walked to the car and drove back to the hotel. Then, it was pool time again! For dinner that night we ate at Hacienda Don Jose just down the street from the hotel. This is another good value place right on the ocean.

Dinner at Don Jose

On Tuesday it was time for the rainforest, El Yunque. I had been there 5 years ago on my first trip to the island but Kacey loves a good rainforest too. We decided not to do the El Yunque peak trip as we didn't take the baby backpack. We hiked down to La Mina Falls and Nolan played in the rocks for a bit. We then hiked up to Mt. Britton Lookout Tower. Both of these walks are pretty easy, but the first one does have a lot of steps. Nolan fell asleep being held on the way down from Mt. Britton so when we got to Yokahu Tower, Kacey and I took turns walking up for the view (so two sets of pictures). After our two trails in the rainforest, we drove by Lilly del Caribe in Carolina so Kacey could see the plants there. We then hit Lupi's for dinner, a place I visited a few times during my stays to the island. We sat outside and Nolan watched all the people and trucks go by. If you are staying near Isla Verde, try Lupi's.

Wednesday was pool and beach day. At this point I was having trouble relaxing (what's new) so I was looking forward to not doing anything except play with Nolan and Kacey. For lunch we walked over to Waykiki and due to their lunch specials, we got a good deal and some pretty good food. I don't think their dinners would have been such great deals, though. After Nolan got a quick nap, it was back to the beach. We did some high speed continuous shooting with the Nikon of us coming down the slide with Nolan. We also did a video now on my youtube channel. For dinner that night we met up with the Deacons at Yerba Buena Cafe. The food here was good, but just a little pricey for us (it was ok for one dinner, though). After some nice conversation with friends, we walked home to start packing.

Thursday we flew home after some breakfast. A travel note for those of you who have never flown through SJU, GO EARLY. Ticket lines are insane here, mostly because the locals show up right before their flight and then get to cut line, backing up the lines for everyone else (this is why being American Gold is nice, but we didn't fly AA). The security lines on the other hand are not that bad.

So we made it home with all our stuff, hopefully just a little more relaxed, and maybe a touch less pale.

Pictures can be found here.

Might Get A Netbook

I am thinking about getting a netbook to take to Italy with us. As the tablet we currently have will serve as TV, internet, movies, thesis writing, and phone for us, it might serve us well to have another option. I don't want to spend much money and don't need too many options as it is really a backup. (Yes, I know there is no on-board optical drive).

The Dell Mini 10 looks good, but there are a few options available in terms of video chipset and processor. I have not yet been able to find good reviews of whether these options really matter. I also like the price point.

The Toshiba looks promising as I have found a few deals online for their machine. It also appears to be upgradeable to 2 GB of RAM.

Both the Acer and Asus websites don't quite cooperate with how I want my information, so after a couple attempts, I just don't know about them. I am interested in an Eee PC, though, as this seems to be one of their better markets.

What about you? Do you have one of these? Advice on chipsets?

Week One of "Knowing"

So it has been about a week since we found out we are moving to Italy. So far we have meet with the 2 other students that will be living in the same city and met with the student who was there last year. We have all started talking about ideas for moving and living there. We have also started talking with all the other students who will be in Europe to determine where all we should travel. The list is probably too large...

I have also started my Italian lessons. I think the partner company will probably pay for Kacey to learn some Italian, so I am on my own. I have Pimsleur Italian. I have 90 30 minute sessions to get through. My goal is to do one every day during Nolan's nap. But as you can tell, there is no way I will be done before we leave, but it should definitely out! I have already done 3 lessons and can effectively say "I do not understand Italian", along with a few other phrases. I hope I can keep on task.

Finally on a Nolan note, last night he threw up for the first time. I mean he spit up when little, but he has never thrown up. It just so happened to be the night we had people over for dinner and he threw up four times. It wasn't violent or bile, but it still made him cry. He seems fine today and is slowly starting to eat some food. Check mark for another first for us!

Italy, It's Official!

It is pretty much officially official... we are moving to Italy! Kacey has landed an internship with Novartis in Siena, Italy (near Florence). For years we searched for a means within Lilly to get an overseas assignment, but it just never worked out. And now we have the opportunity of a lifetime to live in one of our favorite places ever visited for 7 months! Logistics and planning are going to be tiring and stressful; I am not even going to start listing things here. But we are looking forward to learning Italian and living in a new culture.

We are also looking forward to visiting some European cities as weekend trips that we normally would not get to see. This list has also been started too. (If you have any recommendations, definitely let us know!!) On the list so far: Moscow, Prague, Berlin, London, Glasgow, Dublin, somewhere in northern Africa, Paris, Budapest, Basel, and Warsaw.

We have no idea how big our studio/apartment may or may not be. Hopefully we have room for an air mattress as we hope to get at least a couple visitors. Of course Kacey's parents are up for visiting Italy again. We are hoping we can convince my mom, with the aid of lots of medication, to get on a plane (I am already looking in to non-stop flights to Rome for her). If you are *seriously* interested in visiting with a potential free place to stay, just let us know!

Anyway, I am sure that we will be posting information along the way as we figure out details.

Web Hosting Fun

I just wanted to get a little information out there to anyone looking for some web hosting. I have been with ipower (or ipowerweb) for almost 5 years. Their price is ok and their service is bad, so just hope nothing goes wrong (even though something goes wrong almost every year). Even though they have given me 150GB of space, if you use more than 25GB, you are in violation of their newly revised Terms of Service, and they start deleting files. This may be the last year for chrisandkacey.com as I am about done with them and will transfer all pictures to Flickr. I have already had to move all my videos to my youtube channel.

Happenings

I write this for you, but mostly for me - to someday remember what life was like here.

Nolan is doing great. We started playgroup back up this week at MIT. It is volunteer ran and this semester I am helping run it. Mostly, I just lug the toys around for the kids, but I am glad to help.

I believe Nolan really understands shapes and colors. We have a couple different books where he can point out shapes and colors (probably half memorization and half learning). He can only say a couple colors, but he can say most of the shapes. I think he is finally starting to learn the number three. He can't quite say it properly, but he is getting close. I frequently count to five with him as I figure the next step shouldn't be four but five. Also, I believe Nolan's first real two syllable word is pasta. For a week or so now whenever you ask him what he wants to eat, he says pasta. Even for breakfast. He got a set of little pots and pans and he likes to make pasta in them! And lastly to add to this long, rambling paragraph, Nolan will now shrug his shoulders with his hands up if he doesn't know something, it is really cute!

This week we should find out where we will be moving this summer. Where ever it is, it is going to be a planning nightmare. We have to find a home for all our stuff, our car, and our cats. We are really, really hoping we can find a student in town who might cat sit for us (if you are reading this, we will pay for food and litter!!!). As for the car, I still don't know if I will drive it back to the midwest or find a cheap place here. A storage unit just for our stuff will probably run us $150/month if we are lucky.

We are also trying to determine if we should do something for spring break. We have considered many things, but don't want to spend too much money. Everything from renting on RV out west to the US Virgin Islands. I guess we will see what deals pop up first! Any suggestions???