AnnaBelle's Laugh

AnnaBelle, our little parrot

Someone is going to be a great Dad

B&B on our way to Naples

So it's Sunday the 28th and we're leaving Vanni's parents house to drive back up to Naples to where Phil and Vany live. After packing the car to the point that you could not have fit a deck of card in the truck we say our goodbyes and get on the road. We're not driving straight thru but stopping in a little town called Civita in a bed and breakfast that they stumbled upon during one of their previous trips. We drive up this winding mountain road and arrive at the B&B well after dark. The place is beautiful. All coblestone paved and stone architecture. We unpack the car and check into our rooms. They're beautifully decorated with tile floors and antique furntiure. We are then invited to dinner with the owners of the B&B, a treat that not everyone is privy to. Jean Lucca and Eva are amazing hosts. They live in a home next door to the B&B and has been in the family for a long time. She is of Polish decent and he is of Albanian descent and the town of Civita was and still is an Albanian colony of sorts. Dinner is a traditional Albanian Christmas dish that's a lasanga of sorts but its made with spinach and a wheat based crepe(not like desert crepes). It's one of the best things I've ever eaten!! We also have salad, bread, a homemade wine, and a sausage made from wild boar. Everything is delicious! We converse and eat the night away. Somewherer in the conversation over the evening we are told about a surprise waiting for us in the morning. We don't have a clue what they're talking about but they assure us its a good surprise. We call it a night and head off to bed. The next morning we wake up and having forgot about the surprise I go the the window to check out our view. Remember when we arrived it was dark and we couldn't really see where we were. I openned the window to find myself looking at one of the most spectacular view I have ever seen. The B&B is situated on the edge of a deep canyon with our window facing the opposite cliffs. Far below I can hear the rush of water below. It's breathtaking. I close the window and crawl back into bed. I don't tell Mia cuz I want her to see it for herself. Ten minutes later she goes to the window and I warn her not to look. She asks why and then opens the window. As she stares in amazement like I did I then tell her if she doesn't close the window it'll take her breathe away. And it does. I've been to alot of beautiful places and seen alot of amazing things. This definitely rivals any of them! After soaking in the view and waking up we go down for breakfast. Breakfast was great. Pastries and juice and toast and chocolate cake! After breakfast we were invited to take a hike down to the river with Jean Lucca and Eva. They take this particular hike all the time but do not normally invite their B&B guests to go along with them. We were under the impression that it would be a short hike thru town and then down to the river. Man were we wrong! Turns out what we were invited to was a 2 hour hike down to the river and thru part of the largest national (park) forest in Europe. Again I was blown away by the beauty and vastness of where we were. The pictures we took won't give justice to what we hiked thru. Deep green forests and meadows filled with olive trees. All I have to say is that I'm going back to that place again someday. It was truely a unique gift that they gave us in sharing that with us. We made it back to our rooms worn out completely but satisfied with our trek. After a hot shower and a little rest we said our farewells to our newfound friends and checked out of the B&B. We had lunch in a local restaurant and then got back on the highway for the rest of our drive to Naples. Driving thru Italy was great, so many sights to see along the way. We made it into Naples right after the sun went down. Naples sits close to Mt. Vesuvius so we got to watch the sun go down behind the mountain/volcano. We got to Phil and Vany's house, unpacked the car, and relaxed around dinner and a couple episodes of Smallville(Phil and I are both Superman fans). Then crashed with dreams of what is to come!

AnnaBelle watches herself on TV

Arrival in Sicily, Italy 23 Dec

After 27 hours, 6 movies, several naps, a hamburger in Rome (from McDonalds, classy I know) we finally made it to Sicily . . . . only to find that one out of our three bags made it with us. It's okay though because this has happened every time I have gone to Italy so I was smart this time and we both packed a few days worth of clothes, all our underclothes and the essentials in our Carry ons. The only problem was the things that we did not have were the Christmas gifts, Christmas outfit for AnnaBelle etc. So we called the next morning to find out that 6000 bags were stuck in Rome trying to get out, oh well we made it at least. We had an amazing time in Sicily with our Italian Family, AnnaBelle, Christmas, enjoying the sites etc. We had a hard time adjusting to the time difference.... not the one from USA to Italy but the one that Vanessa's family stays awake until about 2-4 am and then wakes up around noon. We will post more pictures later but I thought I would at least catch you up with the beginning of the trip. We hope that your Christmas was as amazing as ours!!! Take care!

Early Birthday Gift

A few weekends ago while I was visiting my grandma she surprised me with an early birthday gift. The card had this great and beautiful prayer on the inside that just blessed me by reading it. As I opened the gift, I realized what it was an started to tear up immediately. She had given me a small old rolling pin. Let me explain . . .
When I was younger, my mom, grandma and I would make tortillas together, as well as many other cousins and children. She had this small rolling pin for us that was about 10 inches long and solid wood. Nothing fancy, no handles, just a wooden rolling pin that was just our size. I remember my mom and grandma teaching me and my other cousins how to roll out the dough just right for the tortillas. We would go back and forth in many directions to make it just right! And then the adult would put it on the skillet or on the stove top and cook it for us as we anxiously waited.
Grandma doesn't make homemade tortillas anymore, its something that I only get to have in my childhood memories, so for her to give that to me, it was like passing on a tradition to another generation. I love my family more then anything else, and I understand that I am getting older each year but I'm not ready for them to age as well.
But she gave me a wonderful gift that I hope to pass on to my children in the future and to my grandchildren as well. She has given me a wonderful gift that has many great memories attached to it. I could have asked for anything better!