The New York Rewind

I don't know if this blog thing is for me. When I get back to the hotel room every day, I can think of 50 different things I would rather be doing than writing in the blog. This is why I never kept a diary... It's been a few weeks since I posted, and a lot has happened. But before I get carried away, I need to catch up. For this entry, I'm going to rewind a little bit to a week before we came to Italy.

I wanted to share a little bit of our madcap misadventures while we were visiting our great friends Bob and Jen who live in the little town of Oswego, New York. It's upstate right on Lake Ontario. We flew in to Syracuse airport on May 1st and Bob and his little daughter Gianna came to pick us up. Gianna was born on the same day as my niece Emma, so cyn and I always considered her to be our niece too. It's been a couple of years since we've seen little "G-dog", and we figured that she wouldn't even remember us because she was so little the last time they were in Hawaii. But Bob told us that in the days preceding our arrival she got more and more excited about our visit. She asked Bob & Jen to tell her stories about being in Hawaii and to show her pictures. One night she even asked her mom and dad, "Do you think Uncle Mike and Aunt Cyn will remember me?" A cute girl like that; how could we ever forget...

We enjoyed a wonderful dinner of stuffed shells with Bob's family that night. They make their pasta using this fantastic pasta sauce that is made and bottled locally by an Italian family that moved to the region. I'm moving to Italy, but I like the pasta sauce from upstate New York. Go figure.

The next day we set out on our grand adventure to Niagara Falls. Neither Cynthia or I had ever been to the famous landmark, and to be perfectly honest I was much more excited about spending time chatting with Bob than I was about seeing the falls. I mean how impressive could they be?

The weather conspired against us, and as we drove on the freeway the storm clouds continued to gather. By the time we reached the Niagara Falls parking lot across the street from the Hard Rock Cafe, a steady sprinkle of cold rain was filling the sidewalks with puddles. Although it was the middle of Spring, the temperature was in the 40's, and if I hadn't stolen a jacket from Cynthia's nephew, Josh, I probably would have caught pneumonia (Thanks Josh!). Instead I just caught a cold...

For those of you planning a trip to Niagara Falls, I have a few bits of advice.
Do NOT under any circumstances go to see the IMAX movie about the history of the Falls. The word "egregious" doesn't even begin to describe the fetid horror that is this film. Frankly I can't believe the people at IMAX would have their name associated with this production. Save your 10 bucks.
DO go on the Maid of the Mist boat ride. Remember earlier when I asked "How impressive could Niagara Falls be? Pretty damn impressive!! The guy driving that boat is like an aquatic daredevil, ferrying the craft right into the thundering heart of the deluge. The relentless roar of that cascade fills the air with a deafening din while a driving wind pelts your face with icy sprays of water. If you are brave enough, go to the upper deck of the boat where you are exposed to the full force of this natural wonder. But be warned that the flimsy blue souvenir poncho they provide can't adequately protect you from the power if this awesome spectacle of nature.
And finally if you are going all the way to see Niagara Falls, DO bring your passport, and go to see the Falls from the Canadian side. Bob and Jen booked a couple of hotel rooms at the Marriot in Canada. Every room in the place has a giant window overlooking the Horseshoe Falls. The view of the falls from this vantage point is hypnotic, and Cynthia and I spent a long time sitting in our hotel room, sipping some Starbucks, and being completely mesmerized by this incredible display of nature's grandeur.

The next day we checked out of our hotel and took the long way home through the Seneca region of New York. Unbeknownst to me, this area has a rich history of winemaking, and the Ruggio's took us to a few of their favorite vineyards to sample some of the local vintages. After the third stop (and who knows how many samples), the redhead started to get tired, and my jokes started to get inappropriate, so we all agreed to head home.

Cynthia and I are incredibly lucky to have such good friends as Bob and Jen. And we wanted to thank them from the bottom of hearts for inviting us into their lovely home and showing us such a wonderful time. We hope to return the favor when they come to see us in Italy.

Aloha Italia

We have arrived in Vicenza! After a lovely (but too short visit) with Nate, Dara, and the boys, we loaded our 8 bags/200 lbs of luggage into the minivan and headed for the airport. Our KLM flight to Amsterdam took off on time at 9:10 PM. I spent the entire 8.5 hour redeye flight watching movies and Cynthia spent the entire time squirming into a variety of torture positions trying to get comfortable enough to sleep. First covering up with a blanket, then foregoing the blanket and even taking her socks off. The endless tossing and turning managed to break the wire on her BOSE headset, so that only exacerbated the unhappiness. But the real treat occurred at the end of the flight when Cynthia realized that she couldn't find her socks. While the aisle of the plane filled with passengers eagerly waiting for the crew to open the cabin doors and let them out, Cynthia climbed about on her seat trying to find her socks. Her antics soon attracted the attention of a kindly German gentleman sitting in the row behind us, who inquired what we were looking for. After we explained the situation, he eagerly joined the hunt. And it was lucky for us, because he soon found the errant footwear under the seat, and intrepidly fished them out and handed them to the confounded and embarresed redhead. Yeah it was that kind of flight.
We then spent the next couple of hours in the Amsterdam Schiphol Airport which is huge, and yet the bathrooms are ironically small. I mean seriously small. I've never seen an airport bathroom with only 2 stalls/urinals. Cynthia said she had to jockey for position just to get in there. The flight to Venice was much quicker, and much less eventful. There is a shuttle that runs from the Venice airport to the base. The 40 mile ride took almost an hour due to the rush hour traffic, but I spent the time soaking in the italian landscape. The city was very urban with crowded roadways, rusting train tracks, and unsightly graffitti. But the rural areas between the cities was full of small family farms, orchards, and vineyards. Cynthia wouldn't know this because she managed to sleep most of the way there.
We arrived at the Ederle Inn at about 7:30 PM local time, exhausted from our long journey. We had enough time to get some flame broiled Whopper sandwiches from the local Burger King. It was strangely incongruous to be at a fast food restaurant staffed by Italian workers proceeding at their leisurely pace. They kicked us out at 8 pm, because that's when they close. And since everything closes around here early, we headed back to the hotel for an early night.
Saturday in Vicenza was absolutely sparkling. Cool (about 70's) with a crystal blue sky artistically dotted by gentle puffs of clouds. We spent the better portion of the morning exploring the base and shopping for supplies, and spent the better part of the afternoon watching TV and napping. At 6pm we watched Iron Man at the base theatre. How cool is that!!
We are very excited and happy to be here. We miss you all and hope to hear from you soon.