Thursday, January 25, 2018

The Birthday Boy

LW turns THREE today.

Remember, times flies when you are having fun!

The last three years have gone by in a blur but also have been filled with wonderful memories.

From the last night before he was born when BHB and I had Tex-mex together until now when Hubby D and I spend weekends with him, we have been enthralled with this little guy. It is great fun!


Now, that is not to say we don't have fun and enjoy the other grandkids (they get upset when I blog about LW so much). It is just I have been able to spend a great deal of time with LW since before he was born. I never had the opportunity to do this with any of the other grandkids. Now I know how much I missed.

From the moment I first held him in the hospital. . . 
And, when Hubby D traveled from Bahrain to hold him, we have enjoyed this little guy beyond words.

During the past three years, there have been some great memories and lots and lots of fun. LW was the happiest baby I have ever seen. He is still so very cheerful. You can always get a chuckle out of him.





His first birthday was fantastic. Unfortunately I was sick for birthday number two, but I am looking forward to the party for number three!



Hubby D and I have been surprised by how much we enjoy having a young grandchild that we spend time with frequently. In fact, we are very surprised. It is so much more fun than we expected. I am also surprised how much Hubby D has enjoyed the experience.





Along the way there has been some wonderful memories and terrific fun. Every time LW comes to our house or when we go somewhere with him, there are more memories to be made.



Airplanes, big trucks and trains -- our world has expanded!

As luck would have it (my good luck), LW's birthday is on a Thursday this year and it is also the night of a presentation at school that BHB and RB need to attend. LW is coming to my house for dinner!  We are going to put icing on his birthday cake and make home made ice cream together to eat after dinner. 

OH, WHAT FUN IT IS!

Cheers,
Brenda



Monday, January 22, 2018

The Amazing Ruins of Pompeii

According to the hotel concierge, it would be easier for us to take the train to Pompeii than to drive through Naples. We opted for the train and the ride was uneventful, but even from the train the view of the City of Naples was depressing.




There is a significant amount of graffiti throughout Europe and Naples had more than it's share. I decided to not take photos because trash was everywhere. While writing this blog I found an entire web site dedicated to graffiti as an art form and I regret not capturing some of the images.




The ancient Roman City of Pompeii was more impressive than I anticipated. It was so well preserved that you could really feel how the people lived. We had an excellent guide and spent several hours exploring the streets and buildings.


Some walls exposed three different styles of construction that occurred over 3 centuries. 


When they constructed the streets, they placed small chips of white marble in between the stones. These were called cat's eyes and they reflected moon and lamplight in the paving stones to guide travelers home.

There was a great deal of mosaic stone work inside Pompeii. During our travels in the Middle East and Europe, we have seen many beautiful mosaics and purchased a few for display. They are framed and mounted on a wall in our new Florida home. The most expensive mosaic was created by Ilio Filippos (center one in the picture below) in Florence, Italy. The Pitti Mosaici marble sculptures (as they refer to them) are amazing.


In Pompeii they used stone mosaics to create carpets in living areas and entry ways. They also created borders and decorations in walk ways. Their skills were very advanced in this art form.



Even along the sidewalks there were mosaic designs.
This was at the entry to one villa and indicated you should be aware there was a dog.


It was amazing how well the mosaics were preserved.  However, I was most impressed with the preserved paintings on the walls.






If you have ever read about Pompeii and the volcano that buried it you know that Pompeii was a prosperous seaside town. The Romans traveled there for vacation. 

Pompeii had a sophisticated underground water system and streets were flushed daily of sewage and trash. The paved streets had stepping stones so pedestrians could cross without stepping in the mud and the carriages could still pass.


There were theaters, chariot races and gladiator fights. 

This is the area behind the theatre where the gladiators trained.
At the time when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79AD there were over 10,000 residents. National Geographic Kids has a good description of the eruption and life in Pompeii. 

Archeologists are still uncovering artifacts and have areas of the city yet to be explored.

Scientist can study the people who were killed in the eruption. They cast their forms into plaster by filling the voids found in the rocks where their bodies were covered with ash. 




Our guide told us that the Romans invented fast food. Cafes were set up along sidewalks on the edges of the street with large clay pots to keep the food hot. They could serve easily to those passing by. 

Here is one of the marble counters for a "fast" food restaurant in Pompeii.


The counter was next to the sidewalk and close to the street. 
As we left Pompeii I passed by a sculpture that was just recently placed in a large open area close to the city center. Pompeii has been inviting artists to create sculptural works incorporating archaeological fragments from the ancient Roman site near Naples. It was a striking site.


After our exciting adventure in Pompeii, we went back to the city center in Sorrento for a lovely dinner. The wine was delicious and the people watching was very entertaining.

We ended the day enjoying the nighttime view from our wonderful terrace. 



Another great day. 

Ciao,
Brenda






Friday, January 19, 2018

An Exciting Drive Leaving Spello

On the day of our departure from Spello we spent the early morning walking up to the top of the town again. This was a bit earlier than normal and we were surprised to encounter children on their way to school.


We also saw several workers speed by in their BIG TRUCKS.  LW would be disappointed in these trucks because they are NOT very big, but I thought they were really cute.



It was also trash day and all the residents had their trash out to be picked up. The residents here are very ecologically aware so there was not that much trash. It was impressive.


After our walk and a few good byes to Roberto and Irene, we headed out of the town.

It was hard to say good bye to this wonderful family. They are just amazing and our time there was fabulous.


The road into Spello is one way and to leave town you must go all the way to the top and back down again. This was a thrilling trip with Hubby D at the wheel.

This is a video of our drive out of Spello. I highly recommend watching this video. It is a hoot.

If you are reading this in an email, you will need to go to my blog to view the video.


Now you can see why we saw so many of these around Italy. THIS IS NOT A PICTURE OF OUR CAR!



We set out on our way to the Amalfi coast and our new adventure in Sorrento. As we took the ramp on the highway, we saw a road sign to Foligno and Montefalco where we toured vineyards. Awe – what great memories!


Along the way on the highway we kept passing Medieval hillside towns. Hubby D was obsessed with them.






Pretty soon we had our first glimpse of Mount Vesuvius, the volcano that covered Pompeii in 79AD.  And, then our drive took us through the suburbs of Naples. We were not impressed with Naples at all. I had been warned that it was a pretty dirty city and this was very true.


Sorrento was just a short distance outside of Naples, but a completely different atmosphere. Our hotel, Grand Hotel Angiolieri was the perfect example of 5 star, old world charm and elegance.


The hotel foyer had two Murano chandeliers. Seems everywhere we go there is Murano glass.
Our room had a large, elegant terrace that looked out over Naples and Mount Vesuvius. It was a truly stunning view.



The floor in our room was a very unusual tile, quite lovely.
After settling into our room, we headed out to downtown Sorrento. Although our hotel was elegant, it was a hike to downtown and we would need to take the local train.

Trains in Italy were okay, but most local trains were a bit shady. It was sort of like the subway in New York City back in the 80's.

Regional trains were pretty nice.
Local trains were basic.  Notice the man leaning out on the left. He is the conductor making sure everyone is inside the train so it can start to move again.
We sat at on the terrace of a restaurant on the main town square and watched the people. It was a very enjoyable early evening. The next day we would be heading out to Pompeii and we wanted to be rested.

Ciao,

Brenda