The car is HERE!! Yay! & other stuff

Good News! I think the jetlag is gone!  We are sleeping like normal people (besides waking to roll over on the hard, horrible bed) but now my allergies are killing me and I think I have a sinus infection.  Blah. The weather has still been nice here.  It’s not rained any day except a few sprinkles today and mild 60 low 70 temps with a decent breeze.  We have no internet or TV at our new home so we’ve been checking DVD movies and DVD seasons of our favorite TV show out of the library to watch on our computers after dinner (P.s. Military families- library is good place to go too when you are bored but they have to register you the first time you go there. Just go to the front desk and tell them you are new and give them your ID card. They have WI-FI & computers.  Then you can check out for free books, DVD movies, TV series DVDs, electronic games, audio books, etc).  It’s amazing how much we rely on things like television and internet to entertain us or practically run our lives.  It’s only day 5 but I’d say I’m doing pretty good through it.  During my time at home I’ve been practicing my Italian, clipped & groomed my ridiculously long toe nails that I’ve been neglecting, playing with Amber on her puzzles and coloring books, reading her books, cooking and eating and watching a DVD on the computer before bed.  Only 13 more days or so! I can DO THIS!!

Another bit of good news, while on the bus on the way home Tuesday we rode through the car delivery place and saw our car! Yay! It’s here!! Jonathan called them when we got home & left to go see if he could get it that day.  Like we figured since neither of us have our Italian drivers license yet we couldn’t get the car until Friday when Jonathan took his drivers test.  Even though we got our international drivers license before we left the states we still need a Military one to be able to drive in Italy for the next 36 months.  If you plan on renting a car when you come visit Europe make sure to get your international drivers license.  It’s like $35 and can be obtained at Triple A (AAA) or look it up online.  Pretty sure it’s only good for a year though so don’t get it too early.

Ok back to the house details. . . I’m posting pictures on FB of the place.  Of course it’s bare right now bc we don’t have any of our stuff and only loaner furniture but it’s nice and pretty spacious.  Our unaccompanied baggage came Wednesday which included just some bare essentials and our GRILL!!  Cooking has been different since we moved in.  Everyone here uses gas for their stove so that’s kind of scary with an open flame and a 4 years old acting crazy around the kitchen sometimes.  We don’t have a microwave so any leftovers have to be heated on the stove top or in the oven.  Jonathan and I wanted some popcorn last night so we opened a bag of microwave stuff and dumped it in a cooking pot with some butter, put on the lid and shook it lightly over the stove flame until it started popping! About 85% of the kernels popped.  It got a little dark but not burnt, and it wasn’t as fluffy as microwave popcorn but it hit the spot!  We are kicking ourselves now bc we decided not to bring our microwave but the Villaggio (our house) has American outlets and Italian outlets so it would have worked here L Oh well. 

The people in our housing complex are very nice so far.  We’ve been waiting at the bus stop numerous times and other residents with cars have offered us rides to post and from post to home.  Everyone is helpful with loading and unloading on the bus too.  People with lots of bags or children are helped with out hesitation here.  A lady I had just met and was speaking with at the bus stop had trouble folding her stroller as the bus was arriving so she asked me to hold her baby while she figured it out.  I ended up boarding the bus with her child and Amber and held the kid half the bus ride before the lady was like ‘oh, here I’ll take her back now’.  I’m glad I look trustworthy enough to hold a strangers child having only known them for like 2 minutes! Lol. 

I guess it’s just the atmosphere that makes people so trusting.  The crime is very low here.  I have walked off post many times for miles through tunnels and ally ways just me and Amber and I’ve always felt safe (I’m still aware of my surroundings don’t get me wrong).  Jonathan told me there is no concealed carry, weapon registration, or any other type of permission for residents or visitors to have a weapon in Italy so I guess unless they are doing it illegally no one here has a gun on them.  The police are obviously allowed to have guns but they drive little European cars that resemble something like a Geo Metro with a bigger back seat.  On the driving test it says a police man may pull you over by sticking a red sign out the window versus the sirens and lights.  I think this is because of the noise ordinances in some parts of town.  Jonathan also told me that he learned that fighting is an ‘eye for an eye’ type thing.  The main crime in Italy is burglary/theft and with guns or weapons outlawed here there’s not much for the burglars to be scared of until the police arrive.  Cars get broken into often so make sure you lock your valuables where they can’t been seen or don’t keep them in your car.  If a man were to slap him all Jonathan could do is slap the guy back or he would be in serious trouble.  If someone breaks into your house you can not assault or fight them to get them out of your house.  All you can do is close the door and block it with your body but you are not allowed to lock it and you must call the police and tell them you are putting someone under Citizen’s arrest.  If they assault you trying to leave then you can assault them in the same fashion but nothing more.  I heard if your car door is left unlocked, expect to find your car ransacked when you return.  Another regular occurrence is car accidents.  People have told me about having parked somewhere and came back to find their car had been hit with no note or anything.  Also a lady said she walked out of a store and saw a man back into her car 3 times trying to parallel park and he just got out of his car and walked into the store like nothing happened!  It’s normal to see a car with marks or dents like it’s been side swiped here.  The roads, like I explained before, are really tiny, there are crazy traffic circles, and there are minimal shoulders.  It’s just the road then a concrete barrier or fencing.  I’m kind of convincing myself maybe I want to be a bus rider instead of a driver every time I think about the roads here!

Since I’m at the library using the computer I don’t have much time to write anymore so in my next post I’ll explain about things to pack if you are traveling here for vacation!

Some useful info for incoming families

We’ve moved into our town home!  I guess now we are officially living in Italy!!  This blog post is going to mostly be for the military families moving here but the post after this one I’ll get back to my usual blogging about our experiences this past week. 

The process of getting settled in isn’t hard but it is just complicated & overwhelming a bit I think.  During the first week or three here the soldier does all this running around (in processing) and spouses/children kind of just sit around and wait until a meeting they need to attend comes about.  If you are a spouse with children what I recommend doing is going to the play groups with your kids under 4yrs old.  The ones I know about are every Wednesday from 10-11:30 and a Child Development Center (CDC) building on the Caserma Ederle Post.  There are also activities post on the glass doors and on bulletin boards in the ACS building (also on post) like arts and craft days, etc.  Sitting around in the hotel room was BORING so I always had us out doing something mostly that consisted of a playground.  You can’t really or you are not really suppose to (but I did) go off post until you are in processed which happens at about day 8 after your arrival (soldier takes you to be finger printed, etc.) 

Another thing I was able to do was help with the house hunt.  Housing is in a yellow building with tall red gate around it about 50 yards from the gate on 6^th street.  The Gate guards are Italian and some of them don’t speak English well so make sure you have your ID or you might be given a hard time getting back on post.  
Mentally prepare yourself to deal with housing. They are a different breed of people.  I'm not really sure what their problem is or why they think they don't have to be polite to people.  Every person I've talked to including myself has had a bad experience at housing so no matter how nice you are to them,they will seem annoyed with you. 
The Soldier will probably have to go first to housing or you go together and you will be given an appointment to go see a house.  Getting into and out of the housing building is like Alcatraz. I'd explain how to get in but I'm sure they make it difficult for a certain reason so I better not explain it here...


Once inside you will sign in and then be called to the desk and then be sent upstairs.  The lady upstairs, Sarah is who we delt with, is probably the nicest person we encountered there but she still had her days. She will make you sign this paper saying they are under a mandatory government quarters something blah blah.  All that means is there are a abundance of houses operated by the US government and they want you in one of them.  (That changes often so you might not need to sign it) You can decide you want to live on the economy if you want which means you find your own rental and deal with your own landlord and pay your own utilities and rent, and get no OHA.  I do not recommend that from stories I've heard from other people who live in private rental!  Most landlords are older and don't speak very good english so there is often a communication issue when you need things repaired or have other concerns.  Utilities are a pain in the BUTT to set up (we waited 15 days to get a response about internet and we have great credit). The plan we have costs 69 Euro for 2 months ($117).  I’ve read the average gas bill is converted to $300/mo and rent for a 2 bedroom is usually over $1100 plus electric, cable, internet, water/sewer.  In government housing you don’t pay rent or utilities and in the Villaggio neighborhood AFN cable is included but internet and phone are not included.  
If you tell the housing office you have a car currently or car on the way they will offer you a property that’s far away from the post (we made that mistake).  A person who works for the housing office plays the role of your taxi driver and property inspector.  He/she will meet you at ACS building to take you to the property at your appointment time.  Of course they will try to sell you on it but my recommendation is not to take the first one you are shown even though they will make it seem like you have to take it.  From my experience and others I’ve talked to, the first property they show is usually the crap one and is far away from post and they are just trying to load it off on a unsuspecting renter who doesn‘t think they have other options. 

The property viewing process needs to be done quickly so if you are available to make an appointment really early in the day the taxi driver can take you back to the housing office after you view the property and you can schedule to see another one right away.  If you decide you don’t want a property you have to sign a form saying it was shown to you and you decline it.  If you see other properties and decide you actually want one that you originally declined you can still have it, if it is still available.  The taxi driver will drive you to up to 5 viewing appointments.  We specifically asked to have a place in the ‘on post housing’ even though it’s not on post, it’s gate guarded, has MP presence, and is treated like the military post.  
The first day we were told nothing in Villaggio was available so we saw a place about 15 minutes east of Vicenza called Grisignano.  It was on the 3^rd floor (2^nd European floor) and smelled of animal and pee.  The doorbell from down stairs was broken so you couldn’t ring anyone up and it was tiny.  I was trying to keep an open mind but I actually almost cried when we saw the place bc I just couldn’t imagine myself and my family living there.  The following day the housing girl was on leave so the day after that we made an appointment to see another property and luckily a place at the Villaggio opened up so we saw it and accepted it that day.  You can’t pick your move in day so even though we didn’t have anything here yet except for the baggage we checked at the airport with we were told we had to move in the following Monday.  The housing office allows you to borrow things like beds, dressers, couch/chairs, kitchen table, bookshelves, end tables, etc until your shipment arrives.  After you tell them which items you need they are delivered to you on the move in day.  Also the Villaggio has American electric outlets and Italian ones!!  Off post just has Italian outlets.

ACS building has a Lending Closet and I went there to borrow things like kitchen knick-nacks, utensils, plates, bowls, cups, cooking pots, etc.  No electric stuff like microwaves or toasters and no linens but you can get electronics for cheap at the thrift store across from the PX.  We had to buy linens for the beds, pillows, and towels which are all sold at the PX but are more expensive than I wanted to pay.  Unfortunately the beds are very uncomfortable.  No springs just padding, it’s horrible.  If you can bring a air mattress, linens, pillows, towels with you on the plane, I recommend it so you won’t have to buy it. The bad news for us was that our unaccompanied stuff came 2 days after we moved in so we spent $100+ on stuff we only needed for 2 nights because we had linens, etc in our unaccompanied baggage.  Grrr!  
Our car is not here yet so we have been riding the bus from Villaggio to the post and walking which takes me about 25-30 minutes (pushing a stroller) depending on which part of Villaggio you are walking from and which part of post you are arriving at.  The walking path from Villaggio to post is kind of hard to find.  Message me or something if you want exact directions and I’ll work on getting road names and better details this week so I can make it easier on you all than it was on us! This info can only be sent to an AKO email account for security reasons. 
The Villaggio shuttle comes to 4 stops almost every hour in Villaggio starting as early as 5:30am and as late as 7pm. The bus comes to our stop every hour except the 6 o’ clock am hour and noon hour.   
Here is some info on the bus: It’s free! You must show your ID when you get on.  Kids do not need safety seats.  The bus is usually late.  The bus is sometimes a blue/white school bus or a white van.  If the bus is full the ppl left standing have to wait for the next bus.  Soldiers have priority on the bus over family members.  So far this has not happened but it’s been close & my husband ask the driver (in Spitalian, lol) what happens when it’s full and that’s what we were told.  Some drivers speak little English and some are American.  The bus stops at the clinic and commissary on post then goes to Villaggio, the vehicle/registration place, Lerino rigger posts, and then back to the main post and starts over again. Sometimes it skips certain places and goes different routes so check the schedule to be sure it’s going where you need to be that round.  You must show your ID every time the bus comes up to a military gate including the entrance to Villaggio .  Usually a gate guard boards the bus and checks Ids.

Ok my brain is fried now from trying to remember all that but I sure wish someone had laid it out this black and white for me so that’s why I’m doing it for ya’ll.  As time goes on I'll post other useful stuff that I learn too.

We found a townhome and ate at an authentic Italian restaurant!

We’ve had a busy few days but got a lot accomplished!
On Wednesday we were had planned to go to an authentic Italian restaurant so we headed to a place, Regina’s, that was recommended to us at about 4:30pm. We still don’t have a car so we walked but it’s only about 1.25 miles away so it didn’t take us long. Unfortunately when we got to Regina’s it was closed and so were all of the other eateries near by. The sign in front of the restaurant actually said that the name of the place was Regina’s Family Restaurant. As we walked back towards post, Jonathan asked an Italian man what time most restaurants opened here. Luckily Jonathan can speak Spitalian (a word I made up which means a mix of Spanish and Italian, lol) because the man didn’t speak much English. He told us the places open between 6 and 7pm. We ended up eating at the Popeye’s Chicken at the PX that night & decided to try Regina’s again the next day.
Thursday was the BUSY day! We are still living in the hotel on post without a car and until Wednesday evening we were with out a cell phone too so communicating and getting around is a pain in the butt! Luckily the housing office provides transportation to their rentals so when we went to see another property Thursday we didn’t have to walk! Yay! This time the neighborhood was only 3/4miles from post and in a neighborhood specifically created for only Military families called the Villagio.  It was a town home that we looked at on the inside (The building has two units on each end and two units on the inside). When we walked in, we were in the foyer which had a door to a storage area, half bath, and entrance to the living room. The living room was shared with the dining room which lead into the kitchen on the backside of the unit then out onto the patio. Also from the living room there were stairs leading up to two normal size American bedrooms, a full bath, and a small room or office (about 6x7ft). Again the floors & stairs are all tile including bedrooms. The bathroom is normal America bathrooms (no bidet, lol). The backyard is a concrete patio with about an 8 foot long concrete privacy fence on each side then it open up into a medium size yard which can be privatized with a fence or kept open to share with neighbors. We decided almost right away that this is the property we wanted. We’ve heard the neighborhood is full of drama, the stereotypical ’Army wives’, and nosey neighbors but we are not worried. The elementary school and childcare center are on the Villagio property so I can walk Amber to school each day. There are also multiple playgrounds and a bus that takes you for free from Villagio to the Army post about every hour starting at 5:34am.
Thursday evening we headed to Regina’s again but this time not until about 6pm. It was already open when we arrived so we went right in. The first thing I noticed was how small the place was! Seriously the dinning area was maybe 15ft x 13ft wide. There were no more than 8 tables (five tables seating four ppl and three that seated two ppl), a small bar that was being used as the checkout counter, a window looking into the kitchen, and lots of artificial but vibrant flowers hanging from the ceiling. The flowers actually were the ceiling it seemed because there were so many you could not even see the ceiling its self. The restaurant had customers but there was no wait.  The Italian waitress (who I’m thinking was the mother of the family) seated us.  Her daughter was seated at a table behind us doing what looked like homework and there was a man at another table near the kitchen who I’m going to assume was the dad of the family using a laptop with lots of papers spread out on the table.  That man later moved into the kitchen and cooked our meal. When the waitress brought us our menu they were in English so it was very easy to order.  There was an American guy sitting near us eating who kept telling us about the menu and how great this place was as well as other places near by that we should not eat at.  Regina’s had a special going on which was your choice of one pasta, one meat, one vegetable, one liter of wine or one liter of water, and a coffee or cappuccino for 10 Euro.  The waitress spoke decent English and we were able to communicate well with her.  Jonathan chose the 10 Euro option and had Gnocchi (pasta stuffed with cheese and covered in white alfredo like sauce), Steak, Broccoli & water. No coffee or cappuccino.  I ordered linguini with jumbo shrimp and a spicy clear/orange sauce (idk the name of it) and water. We were served the water in a 2 liter glass pitcher which we had to pour into our glasses ourselves. Next came the bread.  Just regular white rolls which we dipped in the oil, vinegar, salt, & pepper that was on the table.  Jonathan got his pasta first, then my entrée came a few minutes later (which I shared with Amber).  When Jonathan finished his pasta the waitress brought his steak and broccoli. The steak was a flank like steak cooked medium well (she didn’t ask him how he wanted it when he ordered). The Linguini I had was very yellow compared to the usual look of the pasta we cook in America.  The linguini noodles were not smooth round but more like hexagon shaped but it was not really noticeable. I’m assuming they were made in the restaurant because they tasted very fresh.  The shrimp was tail on (which I HATE when mixed in pasta) so I had to take the tails off before I ate them but they tasted good even though I think they were frozen previously or over cooked.  When we were finishing up an old Italian woman walked in carrying some groceries and other things.  After she unloaded the goods, she helped out in the dining room clearing dishes from customers who were done eating & resetting tables for new customers.  As we finished up she and the waitress cleaned up our table. I read that in Italy you have to request the check when you are done eating because things are very casual here and eating is a time for conversing and relaxing.  I noticed that after our order was taken our ticket was placed above the cash register and since it was only about five feet from us we just stood up and went there to pay. There was a sign that said the restaurant accepted Dollars and Euros as payment but not debit or credit.  We paid in Euros. It was less than 20 Euros total. There was a box labeled ‘Rebecca’s Tips’ on the side of the bar which we placed a tip.  I also read somewhere that tipping is not customary here. Usually the tip is included with the price of the entrée or if you want to leave a tip a few Euros is sufficient.
As we walked back to the hotel on post we passed what I am getting use to seeing everywhere. . . Lots of trash cans and recycling bins! Italy is HUGE on recycling.  It is rare to see a can labeled strictly for ‘trash’. Most receptacles are separated into four parts. (now lets see if I can remember what they are, lol) one is dry waste (non recyclable stuff), one is plastic, another is paper, and the last is aluminum or glass (it’s in Italian and I don’t know either of those words). On the residential parts of the street there are large trash dumpsters and large recycling bins. In one area with the dumpsters I saw a sign saying (in Italian) something like this area is under surveillance and anyone seen not putting things in the correct bins will be prosecuted!  From what I’ve seen it looks like residents share large dumpster/recycling bins that sit on the street/partly on the sidewalk and they dump their refuse daily in those receptacles versus waiting days for the bag to fill up then setting them in the garage/outside until trash day like most Americans do. The trash trucks have lifts on the sides of the trucks and just pull up beside the receptacles, lift then up with mechanical arms, dump them in the truck, and return them to the sides of the streets. Obviously with all the receptacles all over the sides of the roads, parking and sometimes even walking space is at a premium.
It’s pretty funny to see the Italians parking job.  It’s umm. . . Well. . . They are not completely in the middle of the road so that’s good right?! Every parking spot is parallel to the buildings and most spots are not marked like in America. In front of buildings if there’s not a sign specifically saying you can’t park there then you better expect to see a car parked. On the way to Regina’s we actually saw cars parked two wide parallel so the inside cars wouldn’t even be able to get out! Luckily most of the cars are SUPER tiny so who knows maybe they could get out. People here also ride a lot of what look like really nice moped style motorcycles and they ride them fast. They are probably not driving much faster than how cars drive but it seems faster I guess.
We noticed a lot of mopeds and bicycles when we went downtown Vicenza on Saturday too. I posted pics of facebook but I'll blog about it shortly.

Some more changes and a correction

First of all I need to make a correction.  The Commissary DOES have frozen vegetables!  Apparently when we went shopping the first day we totally missed part of the frozen food section.  I'm gonna chalk that one up to jetlag, being exhausted, and having only been in Italy for 5 hours. lol.

Next order of business is. . . I cooked the fresh green beans that I had to de-string then cook from raw and they turned out good.  We don't have any seasoning except salt and butter so I've not been using any when I cook and food actually tastes pretty good.  They sell seasoning here I just have decided not to buy any since I tend to season EVERYTHING and I really just want to taste food as it here.

I'm sure most of you already knew this but the units of measure are in metrics so the temp is read in Celsius (it's about 20C here right now, that's 68F). Distance is meters instead of feet so the sign in front of most of the buildings saying "no smoking within 50 ft of building" also reads in Italian saying no smoking within 15 meters of building (the actual conversion is 15.24 meters so if you are reading it inItalian you can stand a few inches closer to the building than people reading in English, lol)  The speed is read in Kph (kilometers per hour) so when we were in the taxi today and the driver was going 145Kph we were doing 90MPH! No wonder I got car sick from the back seat! Ugh!! The time is read in Military time or astronomical time basically meaning the 24 hour clock versus the 12 hour AM/PM time we use in America.  I'm ok with figuring that out but it still takes me a second to convert it on certain numbers (ie: 13:00 = 1pm, 22:00 = 10pm, 24:00 or 0:00 = midnight, etc). 

Another thing I'm going to have to adjust to is the floor levels.  Here in Italy the bottom (1st) level is floor 0 and the second level is floor 1, 3rd level floor 2, etc. On the elevator in the Lobby of the Inn when we push button 3 for the third level is stops on the third level but the elevator reads that we are on the 2nd floor. It's strange.  When we first got here we just stood there when it stopped & said 2 and were like WTH is wrong with this elevator! then pressed 3 like a million times and nothing happened. Lol- we finally realized what was going on and thank God no one was around bc I'm sure we looked like idiots!

I got confused again today baout the floor levels when we went to look at an apartment.  The guide said the apartment was on the 2nd floor so when we walked up the first flights of stairs I expected him to stop but Nope. . . 1 more flight of stairs because 2nd floor actually means 3rd level. Blah! I'm sure I'll get use to it.

We realized before we even came here that most of the apartments and houses do not have carpet so when we arrived at a apartment about 15 minutes out of Vicenza today we were not surprised to find cold 1x1 tile in each room.  We also had been told that the rooms/houses were smaller here in Italy than in America. Unfortunantly, this too was true. The livingroom/dining/kitchen shared a space and was about 13x16ft with a little 4x10ft patio. The bedroom was maybe 10x11ft, the bathroom was good sized with a stand alone sink (just sink, no counter space), toilet, bidet toilet, & detached round tub & shower (I'll have to find a really wide shower curtain to go around that entire tub/shower). The master bedroom was more normal sized for a master. I'm gonna guess it was about 12x12ft with a door leading out onto another patio.  There are no closets but there is a bonus 'room' that's about 5x7ft that can be used as a closet I guess.  We also saw the garage. It was in the basement (I guess that's called floor -1, lol) it too was normal sized for a single car.

We are going tomorrow to see if we can look at another place. If we can't, the place we looked at today may be our new home (yay, sort of, lol).  I took a few more pictures today on the death ride. . . I mean the taxi drive to look at the apartment until my camera battery went so dead that it wouldn't even turn on anymore. I did order one a few days ago so HOPEFULLY it will come soon.  I'm suffering from a mild case of PTSD I think over the taxi drive and a little still from the bus ride from the airport so I'll talk more about those experiences another time. It's 7:36pm here (19:36) so we are gonna eat a snack and TRY to go to bed soon. Jetlag or whatever it's called is still kicking our butts. We are tired all day and not sleeping good at night still. Blah. . . Buona notte!

I've noticed some differences so far. . .

So I left off about how we went shopping at the Commissary. . . Before the commissary we stopped at the PX and bought some outlet adapter things so our American plugs will work here. Even here on post they have the Italian roundish outlets versus the outlets we have in America so for our laptops to be plugged in we had to buy the adapters. Luckily they were only about $4.

The toilets here are different too.  So far we've not experienced any bidet toilets yet but so far all the public toilets here have been autoflush.  Our hotel toilet is not autoflush but there is no handle just a button at the top of the toilet that you push to flush.  The toilets hold very little water in the bowl.  It looks like the 'stuff' in there might not be flushed all the way down but when you flush everything goes right down!  The toilet seats are less round & more oval shaped too. Not a huge difference but my booty noticed. lol

Oh and forgot to mention about the Commissary's fruit and vegetables.  We were unable to find any frozen veggies & they only had a small selection of canned veggies so we bought fresh broccoli & string beans. I usually cook with fresh broccoli but I've never tried cooking fresh string-on beans before so this will be interesting.  I'm sure it's the same as if I got them from a can just different looking before they are de-strung and cut up.  I'm cooking them tonight so I'll update you on how that works out.

The time difference is definintely hitting us.  Jet lag I guess you can say.  We finally went to sleep last night about midnight (our time) and didn't wake up until about 11:30 this morning but were still tired! Amber slept til I woke her up at about 12:30. We missed the Inn's breakfast so we ate brunch in the room and went outside to tour the post & take Amber to the playground.  After our walk I was still tired but I'm trying to get on the Italian schedule so I didn't take a nap. 

We've not been able to go off post yet since Jonathan doesn't have to report until Monday but we walked around the post & can see outside the fence.  The most amazing thing was that it is 80F here but the mountains in the distance are clearly still snow covered! It's beautiful!  I'm kicking myself that my camera battery is almost dead! I'm actually gonna go order one online right after I post this.

We've made it!!

We are finally in Vicenza!! The trip started on a small plane in Raleigh that flew us to JFK. In JFK our tickets had us seated in 3 completely seperate parts of the plane so I had to explain to the Delta Agent that my 4 year old was NOT going to sit by herself on the 9 hour flight but he quickly reassigned our seats so that was great! When we boarded the 767 we realized our reassigned seats were the front row of Economy Class which gave us about 5 feet of feet/leg space!  Amber ussed the space to jump around for the entire 45 minutes that it took to load all 240 something passengers onto the plane & we took off about 8:10pm EST.

A movie was started that we could listen to in English or Italian on our headsets and dinner was served when we reached 35,000 ft.  We were offered a hot meal of chicken with rice & veggies or pasta with creamy spinach alfredo sauce.  Each entree also had a small side salad, roll, cheese stick, & a brownie. Drinks were the usual, sodas, juice, coffee, and tea. Since Jonathan and I vowed to go on a soda detox the next few weeks we drank juice and water. 

After dinner we were offered more drinks & the flight attendants cleaned up while we went potty. The bathroom on the plane was actually pretty nice.  And NO, the water is not crazy blue like in the movies but it does flush loud and is tiny!  After than experience we tried to sleep. . . Amber figited a little bit but finally went to sleep. Jonathan seemed to sleep ok too but even thought I took 2 nighttime sleep aids I only slept about 3 of the 9 hour flight.  The airline provided a pillow and blanket to each guest but we still couldn't get comfortable in those upright seats so everytime I would drift off my neck or back would cramp up. I've decided I need a stronger sleep aid next time or just plan to be awake the entire flight.

About 2 hours before we landed in Venice we were served a light breakfast of egg & butter on a hot english muffin and a banana on the side. The sandwich was pretty good kind of like the Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches you heat up in the microwave. The banana on the other hand was probably the best one I've had and I don't even like bananas so that was exciting!

As we approached Venice we could see what we are assuming were the Italian Alps (Huge snow capped mountains) and then part of the Mediteranian Sea. We finally landed at about 4:40am EST (10:40am Italian time which means we are 6 hours ahead of EST in case you didn't feel like doing the math).  After we got off the plane we went through Customs & a person with Jonathan's new post met us & a group of other new comers to direct us to the baggage claim area and let us call home for a few minutes.  The signs at the airport were in English and Italian so we found our way around with no problem.  I made my first Italian purchase there too! I grabbed a Gatoraide (labeled in Italian but I recognized the word 'arancia' which means orange so I knew what I was getting) & took it to the check out. I asked the cashier if they took 'dolloro' (American dollars) and he said 'Si' and then said hold on a minute in english. The total on the register changed from Euro to Dollars. I gave the man $4 & he gave me back .60 in Euros and I was on my way :) The exchange rate today for the Euro is $1 = .67 Euro but it changes daily from what I understand. (I've pretty much determined America's dollar is worthless to most other countries & the way prices are rising in the US IDK why we even have one dollar bills any more or pennies)

The bus that took us to Vicenza finally arrived at about 12:15pm (from now on I'm using Italian time in my blogs).  The bus was a large tour bus type with foot rests and adjustable arm rests and seat. The seats were more comfortable than the airplane seats and we all kind of napped on the one hour drive.  We didn't take any pictures because we noticed on the plane the battery was dying in our camera and the charger is packed with our household good somewhere on a cargo ship on it's way here.  The land was mostly flat with a lot of farming land and water ways (streams, rivers, ponds). The houses were different but not too much in looks to American homes. I'll take some pics and post later of those. The road/hwy we were on was VERY small with little or NO shoulder just metal or concrete barricades!  I'm glad we decided to bring the KIA RIO instead of my Explorer or Jonathan's Jeep. The large bus we were in took up every bit of the lane and when we passed 18-wheeler trucks I swore we would hit mirrors but never did.  Traffic here seems to be the same as America. People cut us off, changed lanes without signaling, drive too slow or too fast & they drive on the same side as us too so that's good news! The road signs were in Italian but same shape as in America so I'm sure we will figure it out. 

When we got to the Inn on Camp Ederle everyone was nice and the suite we have is large with a living room/pull out couch for Amber and a seperate bedroom for us.  We also have a stove top, medium sized fridge, freezer, & microwave. The only bad thing we've noticed is the heat is out! The room was 15C (below 60F) when we arrived and even after turning the heat up only cold air comes out. Luckily it's in the high 70F here so we opened the windows and heated the place up a bit until they fix it tomorrow.

We took a 2 hour nap then walked to the PX (Post Exchange, basically a mini mall on post just for Military Members) & Commissary (Grocery Store). They both were pretty crowded since the Government will probably shut down tomorrow & everyone thought those services would shut down too. (We received info they would be open til Sunday even if the shut down happens so that was good). The Commissary was much cheaper than regular grocery stores and had coupons on the shelves for most items! I was in saving heaven! lol. . . .
Ok that's all I can manage right now I'm wore out but I'll write more tomorrow. It's 9:20pm here so Good Night!

We're (ALMOST) in Europe!!

So as you all know we are soon going to be living in Europe for the next 36 months so my goal is to try and blog about our trip every few days. I'll post all the good, bad, and any other interesting things about Europe so when you come visit you all will know what to expect! Or if you can’t visit us you can still have a little taste of Europe from our eyes.

I'll post Pictures too!

We should be in Europe by this weekend so I will update you all about the trip soon!

Arrivederci!