Cyn's First Post

Michael has been doing a great job sharing our adventures on our blog but I think it’s time you hear from the female perspective.

It’s been five weeks since we first arrived in Italy and we are still thrilled and amazed. We are fortunate to ease into our new Italian life style with the benefit of having the comfort and familiarity of temporarily living in our modest hotel room on the American Army base. A great deal of our time has been consumed with the “in-processing” procedures of filling out forms, getting military I.Ds, Italian driver’s license, house hunting and registering with various government organizations.

We have ventured out into the Italian community visiting our nearby town of Vicenza, navigated the narrow passages and canals of romantic Venice and even traveled to Romeo & Juliet’s home in Verona. Some of Michael’s colleagues at the clinic have generously taken us around to local stores and to some of the surrounding town’s festivals. Over the summer, each town has their sagra or festival, usually showcasing a type of produce or product their town is known for in the community.

It was during these festivals that we felt we were experiencing the true Italy. Imagine walking down a cobblestone stairway to the heart of the small town, the local church bell chimes, letting you know it’s seven o’clock. Rows of tables are neatly set next to a pavilion where you sit after you get your plates of local Italian pasta dishes accompanied with smooth, flavorful wines. The wine is so delicious you are certain that you will never have better. Some of the locals kindly converse with us and we are pleased when one brave young girl practiced her English, making us all laugh and praise her effort. The live band starts to play various Italian pop music and both young and old take the dance floor and move smoothly through their steps with accomplished skill. Michael and I were quite impressed with their abilities. The night was capped off with a small display of fireworks. Lovely.

For those of you who are wisely considering a trip to this extraordinary country you will not be disappointed. For those of you who will ask, “what should we see?” or “what cities should we visit?” be prepared to respond to our question back, - “what types of things do you like to do?” Italy has it all from the arts to museums, to shopping, to fishing, camping and hiking/biking, spas and tranquil villas in the country side. The top four cities that people visit in Italy are: Venice, Rome, Florence and Verona. Be prepared to walk a lot and be patient with queuing in lines and getting service. It will all be worth it.

The city of Verona is only 35 minutes from where we live in Vicenza. Verona is the home of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The story of the star-crossed lovers is fictional but the homes of the Montagues and Capulets exist. The town convincingly displays Romeo’s casa and Juliet’s balcony and tomb that are big tourist attractions. Our visit to Verona was brief but we were able to see their 1st – century arena (smaller in size to Rome’s coliseum), stroll down their “main street” Piazza Bra, take in unique architecture and statues and pass by Romeo’s house and Juliet’s balcony. If you rub the right breast of Juliet’s status in her courtyard you will have lasting luck in love. Yes – we couldn’t resist giving her a little rub.

Next week we move into the home we are renting. It’s a three bedroom duplex in a small town about 15 minutes from the Army base. We hope we are quick studies in our Italian language classes as our lovely landlady speaks very little English. We are fortunate that there are several people available to translate for us if we have any “problemas.”

Once we are settled into our new place – we will gladly continue our exploration of bella Italia.

A Poker Tale

I got to play in one poker tournament here on base. It was hosted by
MWR; $20 buy-in. They had nice chips, but it was still ghetto because
we played on cafeteria tables. And the tables were really small, so we
had to push 4 of them together. Trying to pick up the deck and deal was
a serious pain. I busted out in the middle stages, but I was still one
of the best guys there (still got it baby!).

I became the table chip leader kind of early on when I was in a pot with
2 other guys. I had 85 suited and snuck in to a family pot. I had made
trip 5's by the turn, and both of the other dudes were on club flush
draws. I hit the 8 of clubs on the river; the perfect card, giving them
their flushes and me my full house. I was first to act and checked it
hoping to get some free action. The next guy bet, and the third guy
raised. I re-raised again, and got both of them to call!

After that I settled down, because I had this total maniac on my right;
all-in, all-in, all-in. He kept getting lucky and hitting his draws,
and he personally eliminated 4 guys from our table. I just stayed
patient and sat on my fat stack, knowing that sooner or later I'd nail
his ass. The maniac had taken the chip lead, but I was in second place.

I woke up on the button with QJ suited. The little blind raised the pot
pre-flop and me and the maniac tagged along. The flop rolled out K-10-9...
Perfect! The little blind led out with a small bet, and the maniac did
what maniacs do best, pushed it all in the middle. Being the greedy
son-of-a-bitch that I am, I didn't call all in right away, hoping that a
little "hesitation weakness" might get the little blind to come along
for the ride too. He thought about it for awhile, but eventually folded
showing his pocket jacks. Mr. Maniac flipped over 2 pair: K-9 suited.
The turn was a brick, but he hit the 9 of clubs on the river. I guess
since I was the dealer, I got no one to blame but myself. It was a long
walk home. I heard that MWR tries to run a game about once a month, so
at least I'll see some action, until I can get my own game rolling.

Ahhh... Venice.

Last week Cynthia and i attended a "Bienvenuti" class session. Bienvenuti means "Welcome", and the three and a half day course is designed as an intro to Italian culture. I could only get out of work for a day and a half, but one of those days was the trip to Venice, so that's pretty good...

Vicenza is about 45 miles west of Venice, and it's very easy to get there even if your only car is still on the slow boat from Honolulu. We woke up at about 6:30 AM to have enough time to get ready and have a little continental breakfast before we began our long walk. The bus stop is right outside the main gate to the base, but that gate and our hotel are on completely opposite ends of the post. Our Italian instructor, Cristiana, told us to be at the bus stop at 8 and it was important to be prompt. All of the students were there by 8:05. Cristiana showed up at 8:25. Like I said the course is designed to teach you about Italian culture...

We caught the number 1 bus that runs into the heart of Vicenza city center (or "Il Centro"in Italian). The main concern on the bus ride was the dark blanket of clouds filling the sky. Apparently the redhead and I brought a little spot of bad weather with us from Minnesota. According to the locals getting thunderstorms this late into May is very unusual. However heavy rains had already ruined our day trip to Vicenza the previous Saturday. The rain is a lot different than the precipitation in Hawaii. Unlike the islands where the rain comes in alternating waves of heavy showers mixed with periods of sun, here in the Veneto region the rain clouds roll in over the flat farmland, and an endless mist of rain falls continuously for hours. This was the dismal prospect we faced as we got off the bus at the Vicenza train station and bought our tickets on the Eurostar train for Venice. However luck was on our side, and as we sat on the train next to businessmen on their way to offices, the cloud cover began to break up and fade. By the time we got off at the end of line at Santa Lucia train station the sky was a bright blue and the air was comfortably warm.

If you're planning to come and visit us here in Italy start your walking program now. Especially if you're going to Venice. The city is a complex web of cobblestone alleys, hidden piazzas, steep bridges, and crowded canals. The entire day I was sympathetic to tourists dragging their rolling luggage across the rocky, uneven streets and bridges. For my first visit to this jewel of the Adriatic, I was really excited to see the classic sights: the Rialto bridge, Saint Mark's square, the Grand Canal. Most of the buildings in Venice have a street sign identifying the adjacent street or piazza, as well as directional arrows pointing the way to more popular landmarks like the ones I wanted to see. But whenever we reached an intersection our tour guide invariably went in the wrong direction. That goes to show what I know, because Cristiana took us to some really out of the way but very interesting spots.

Get out a map and you'll see that the Grand Canal carves out an S-shape through the middle of the city. Rather than cutting directly across the canal making a bee line to the southeast corner where St Mark's square is, we took a leisurely northern route around the entire canal. We turned down a dark alley, and all of the students wondered if we were going to get jumped! But apparently that's par for the course in this cramped Italian city. After a few more turns we were completely disoriented and in the middle of Cannareggio. This community was established in 1600 and is recognized as the first "ghetto"; a section for the exclusive use and occupation of Jews. None of us knew the origin of the word. By law they were locked into this area every night, and the tight corridors leading to the bridges connecting this section to the rest of the city still bear the remnants of the gates that once barred their passage. In Shakespeare's play "Il Mercato di Venezia" (The Merchant of Venice), the title character, Shylock, was a jew living in this part of Venice. At one point we found ourselves in the main piazza of Cannaregio surrounded by dozens of schoolkids out on a field trip. Our tour guide took this opportunity to strike up a conversation with a local shop keeper while we browsed for souvenirs. Although our trinket shopping took only a few minutes, her conversation took much longer, and we stood around patiently waiting for her to finish so that we could continue with the tour. Like I said; Italian culture...

The next few stops were both churces or "chiesa". In medieval times rich families showed off their wealth by supporting a personal church. Aside from its religious importance, the church became a repository of the family's wealth and art as they tried to keep up with the Joneses. One of them was Santa Maria dei Miracoli (Saint Mary of the Miracles). Although we didn't go inside (they actually charge admission to enter the church!), the outside was completely covered in white Italian marble and many refer to it as a jewelbox. It really was a miracle. We continued our meandering path through Venice stopping for a light lunch at a little cafe. After lunch we stopped for a few photos on the Rialto bridge (finally), which was crowded with vendors and tourists. By this point in the day, the weather had turned almost uncomfortably warm and we were getting tired, but we still had a lot more to do and see before we caught our 3:15 train back to Vicenza.

We continued to wind our way thru the city until almost unexpectedly we emerged from an arch into the middle of San Marco piazza. Although the weather was beautiful on that day, for two days prior it had rained heavily, and Venice has a serious flooding problem. Right down the middle of the piazza was a large lake of ankle deep water. The large masses of people, crowded on a dry day, were extra cramped on the various "land bridges" that formed on the uneven cobblestone square. At this point we were trying to get in to see St. Mark's Basilica, and it was impossible to navigate to the front of the church without crossing at least one major body of water. My intrepid sidekick was the first to brave the mysteries of the deep and strode across the biggest puddle while still wearing her Nikes. I, a little more cautious, took off my shoes and socks before wading after her. On the other side of the lake we learned that the Basilica, out of consideration to its visitors, had moved the entrance from the flooded front of the Basilica, to the side steps which were elevated and therefore drier. We waded back across the body of water again... Inside, the basilica was tremendous, but they do not allow any photos or camcorders as one careless tourist found out when a security guard yelled at him. Yelled at him right there in the middle of the church. Between that and the throngs of tourists, it kind of detracted from the sanctity of the place.

Afterward we were all pretty exhausted, so we made our way to the nearest water taxi stop. The water taxis, called Vaporetto, act like the local bus system, ferrying passengers back and forth down the Grand Canal and beyond. By this point we were getting a little worried about missing our train, and the line at the Vaporetto ticket office was agonizingly slow. We had enough time to pool our money so that we had the exact amount of Euro to buy our tickets, but once we got to the booth, it still took a minute for her to take our cash and give us some tickets. The Vaporetto ride, on the other hand, was quite relaxing and a great way to enjoy the wonderful architecture on the buildings lining the canal. We made it back to Santa Lucia and caught our train to Vicenza. On the ride back we noticed that the wonderful weather that we had enjoyed in Venice was giving way to the dark clouds from the morning. By the time we got off the bus in front of the base, fat raindrops were rapidly filling the street with water. Cristiana our tour guide was luckily parked near the gate, so we piled into her car and she gave us a ride to our hotel so that we could avoid a long, wet walk.

What a great day. What a wonderful place...

Ciao!

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.