John and Gillia's Adventures

June Travelers

2009-06-29T14:04:00.000-07:00

We were so excited when my sister Nara came this month! She came well-dressed for the sun, heat, and cold that was the last week of June.

Our first full day together we went to Pompeii. (We had already taken a tour of Historical Naples, but unfortunately our camera had no batteries at that time, so no pictures.)

We realized by the time we finally found the Villa of the Mysteries building (our primary destination) that we desperately needed a guidebook. Nara bravely went to find one and came back with the key to our Pompeiian enjoyment, this guidebook. We subsequently found the famous Villa of the Mysteries frescoes and the other points of interest that we wanted to see.

The very famous frescoes after which the Villa of the Mysteries is named; they depict the Dionysean rites. Dionysus seems to be the favorite god of this part of Italy - he pops up over and over here, in Amalfi, and in other cities in this region.

Nara was very excited about the Villa of the Mysteries. Here she is snapping a picture of an old hinge/hinge mold still affixed to the remains of wooden shutters.

We were really happy to be all together in the Ruins...

There were some amazingly detailed fresco works still visible.
Can you find Pegasus?

The weather was extremely finicky the week she was here, unfortunately, and also the day we went to Pompeii - we were broiled and then rather dampened. But we were gregarious antiquarians and continued on bravely.

John entering the Pompeii colosseum dubiously.

The colosseum.

Coming out of the colosseum; Nara seems to have survived.

Very important, the every-20-minute photo replay after a photo-taking junket.

For once, Nara is not the Tall One. She doesn't look very happy about it though, does she?

The panorama upon leaving Pompeii.

After Pompeii we took a drive across the mountains and up the coast to Amalfi.
The coast views on the drive to Amalfi... so amazing.

We stopped along the way for some treats.

At the sweet shop we were served by a very nice Pasticciera, who told me the difference between a pasticcio and pasticciera... a thing and a person, as it were.

The Basilica/Duomo (?) of Amalfi. So beautiful! Moorish arches and Norman-Arabic architecture... an ode to middle age trading to the East.

At the Taverna degli Aposteli underneath the duomo of Amalfi,
finishing our amazing meal at the restaurant - highly recommend anyone going to Amalfi to go there for dinner.

We miss Nara.

After we finished dinner we walked out on the pier and looked back at the starry city of Amalfi, lights studding the mountains that rise from the sea. John took this picture of Nara with the lights of Amalfi illuminating.

After this, the next day, we went to Berlin with Nara for the weekend, where she was attending the christening of her godchild, Benny.
Henry was not happy we were leaving for four days.

Despite the promptness of trains in Berlin, there is no better photo spot than a platform. The boredom and the presence of the whole group makes it ideal. This commemorates our first night in Berlin, when we went to Friedrichstrasse to take the train... well somewhere else (not that familiar with Berlin.)

Waiting very hungrily for the train to come so we could meet a friend of Nara's/get some food! But it provided a good photo op...

Coordinating with Nara. Due to being unprepared (we also missed our flight home for the same reason) we were in a hostel about 20 minutes away from our cousin Jeffy's house, were she was staying. This caused us to have to do quite a bit of plan-ahead for trips out with her.

A very cool Berlin manhole cover in Alexanderplatz. See all the landmarks?
They aren't close together like that.

A really beautiful Schinkel statue; one of a series that outlines the "warrior's journey." Here we see him almost dying in battle - I think. A must for any warrior.

Nara and John discuss Schinkel architecture and his influence on Berlin in the early 1800s.

On our architecture walk, Nara pointed out an interesting example of East Berlin 80's reconstruction that actually was pretty cool and quite lively-looking.

Before Nara left us to go to spend time with her godchild, she escorted us to an amazing doner, the turkish food that is fast becoming a Berlin staple. mmmmmmmm.

Pergamon Museum marble halls.

The Ishtar gate at the Pergamon, imported from what is now Iraq, and pieced together from many many fragments of glazed brick. It is so impressive and absolutely overwhelming.

In the Islamic art section of the Pergamon Museum, this was from the Alhambra in Spain. Now I definitely want to go there. This ceiling and cornice section was all carved wood and was in an observatory tower in the castle in Spain.

At the Altes Museum, whose motto is "All art was once contemporary" or something similar, we dashed in to see the Nefertiti bust. It was, indeed, very beautiful. And quite large. But I was less impressed upon actually seeing it in person. What was cool was how it affected creative arts at the time, and how it uses color that is still so vibrant today!

A bodyless group... great minds? These are busts of Roman senators and other important figures, I believe.

Finishing with a strange encounter between the past and the present.

After a long day of museum-ing, we crossed the bridge into the more shopping-district part of town, and I took a moment with the beautiful neo-baroque Berliner Dom.
Noone likes the Dom but us, however, according to reliable sources.

Through the wall, at the Wall Park. This is one of the few remaining fragments of the wall that separated East and West Berlin for so many decades.

Inside the sanctuary in the wall park - it was really amazing, I loved the lines and the architecture. It was built on the site of a church that was caught in the no-man's land between East and West Berlin and subsequently bulldozed because of its placement.

John, enjoying our last full day of Berlin inside the wall sanctuary.

May Fun...

2009-06-29T13:58:00.000-07:00

Nothing very specific happened in May... but the cat came! It was sooo exciting.
Here she is destressing in John's arms underneath the desk after 15 hours of flying.

John organized the paintball team at the Capo Olympics (his navy base's 'olympics')
The remarkable thing about this picture is that their athlete for the arm-wrestling is the guy next to the tree- the blonde one who is roughly the same size.
Needless to say, they won that competition.

When we cook, we cook. We only got about one day to cook in May, so it was pretty special.
Life has been so horribly busy. Thank god for summer!

Easter Cake

2009-06-29T13:54:00.000-07:00

For Easter, a fellow teacher made me a wonderful Naples-style cheesecake, and so we had to make a wonderful dinner to go with it. In this case, A lovely roast, mushrooms, and almonds.

Then we had the cake...

!!!!!!!!!

Italian Field Trip

2009-03-29T07:45:00.000-07:00

In early March, John and I accompanied my Italian class on a fieldtrip through historic Naples,
we met them at Piazza Dante, with the great statue of Dante in the center.
My Italian professor's father, Enzo, stands in front of Dante, his intellectual ancestor.
Everywhere in the city the new, the ancient, the religious and the
secular abide and fight with each other.

From Piazza Dante, we headed through Port'Alba, one of the historic gates of the city,
and across Piazza Bellini, which is the hangout of professors and students from the nearby University, into the warren-like streets of
Via Dei Tribunali and Spaccanapoli.
It was a beautiful day, and the domes of Napoli rose against a robin's egg blue sky.

This is the small alley that leads to the Capella di Sansevero, where John and I had already visited. So instead of paying the 6 euro fee to enter again, we took a little walk with Rosanna (my Italian professor) and her family into Piazza di San Domenico Maggiore,
and then into the church itself.
Chiesa di San Domenico Maggiore, one of the most historically and religiously significant churches in Naples, where Thomas Aquinas both studied (at the annexed monastary), and taught, as well the church was the first seat of the Dominican order in Napoli (I think).
For more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Domenico_Maggiore
Inside, the architecture is a surprisingly fantastical mix of baroque, gothic, and renaissance decorations and architecture. It is rather astounding.
The tomb of the first Catholic bishop from New York, who, supposedly, died while having relations with a prostitute.
In this same room are many coffins of the Aragonese family, including King Ferdinand I, King of Naples during the 15th century.
Outside the church, a martyred monk (?)
There is much artistic (non-gang-related) graffiti throughout Naples - and this particular image appeared again and again
in different permutations throughout the historical district.
Heading toward the water from the historical center -
more creative graffiti contrasting with the classical architecture.
This is the main city post office, I believe.
With my Italian class and Enzo's Italian class (as well as some members of Enzo and Rosanna's family, and some extra Italian friends) we ate at a lovely little pizzeria,
Trattoria Medina, which was painted inside with vistas of old Naples.
The people from my class are on the left side - Lia, Joshua, and Joshua (II).
John and I with some new acquaintances.
Me and my Italian professor, Rosanna.
And with her father, Enzo.
After we had pizza, John and I headed home, taking the bus to Piazza Garibaldi, and then walking from there. The late afternoon was beautiful and John caught the light on the trees and the entrance to the Orto Botanico Real, which lives just next to our building.
Our street. Home.

Gillia's Birthday

2009-03-01T03:38:00.000-08:00

My birthday was last Friday, and John came
home early from work with an armful of beautiful flowers.
Then we got ready to go out for a lovely dinner at one of the most famous tourist restaurants in Naples - Zi Teresa. Known as a hangout spot for American military during WWII, now it is much more chic, but retains its amazing view of the Castel del Ovo, and the Borgo Marinara, as it is built right on the pier.
Due to the length of the walk down to the waterfront, we decided to take the subway/Metro, a very confusing network of underground, overground train, and funiculars. However, it did get us about one third of the way there, and then we just gave up and walked the rest.
Because of the fact that there were grand plans for centralizing, modernizing, and generally making the system work, the stop by our house is very lovely, clean, and still has that
"new subway smell." (Complete with public art not yet graffiti-ed.)
On our walk to the restaurant, we ended up for the first time in the ultra-famous Piazza del Plebescito, which we had not until that time had a chance to go to see. It was trule lovely, and awe-inspiring at night.
That night, we were far too tired to eat any cake, but the next day (yesterday), John presented me with this lovely carrot cake and cream-cheese-frosting confection.
I quickly blew out the candles, and we apportioned the cake -
This large piece did not last long, and neither did the following
small piece that I sneaked!
Num Num Num.

Evenings at Home

2009-03-01T03:23:00.000-08:00

Lately, we have been having cooking parties where we try to cook basic Italian dishes. This is a modified La Putanesca - which is amazingly delicious!
1 can peeled tomatoes, two garlic cloves, 2 tbsp. capers (washed of salt), and one sauteed onion.
MMMM

It's best when eaten with Mezza Luna bread - but unfortunately, it's difficult to find that anywhere but Southern Italy.
For valentine's day, John brought home champagne! That was a nice night, I believe we went out to dinner afterward at La Vecchia Cantina and had very delicious steaks.
And lastly, we while away the evenings with me painting and
John tinkering with his new record player.

Our Little Tiny Mini-ature

2009-02-19T22:53:00.000-08:00

We bought a Mini Cooper - 1986 version. Although, upon further research, Austin didn't make Minis in 86, so it may be either a little older or a little younger.

However, I like the idea that we are the same age.
She is much shorter, however.

And we are not at a circus - that is the wall of our garage.

Herculaneum

2009-02-19T04:15:00.000-08:00

John and I visited Herculaneum as a group with some students of Italian
and Italian students of English.
Enzo Milano, the father of my Italian teacher Rosanna,
put the outing together, and managed to get us all there through the winding streets of Ercolano.

The view of the city - from the surrounding walls. Herculaneum is slowly being revealed under some 20 metres of 2000-year-old volcanic mud, so it is easy to look down upon what was once a beautiful seaside resort town.
Our guide, a trilingual Italian who had worked on the excavations of Herculaneum for thirty years, kept us all excited about ancient everyday life with a mixture of the energy of a peacock showing his feathers and a mother bear with her cubs.

What was once the ammonia vendor's shop - i.e., a urine distillery to make cleaning supplies.
It was a beautiful, sunny, and very cold day.
It snowed a few days later - a light dusting that turned Vesuvius completely white.
Some shopfronts/homefronts along the street.
In the women's baths there were amazingly preserved mosaic work.
This was some of the mosaic design in the foyer.
A detail from the tile patterns in another one of the anterooms.

Some wood that was still preserved - covered now in glass for protection.
However, here and there life was still breaking down the material.
Is it lucky if it's a clover?
One of the most amazing preservations of an intact frescoe with all it's paint colors still bright.
The middle design is a mosaic, but the red forests on either side are frescoes.
To the left of the other amazing frescoe/mosaic wall is this one.
A close-up of some fragements.
Some of the statues were amazingly well-preserved.
Alchemy perhaps?
A half-eroded decorative sculpture panel.
A frescoe dedicated to Augustus - the laurel crown represents him.
More bright and lovely preserved pigments. *sigh.
In the palaestra/gymnasium - a fountain of Hydra that rose up out of the pool.
Yes, the pool.
An exterior fragment showing some of the designs used on the buildings.
Nice and beachy, isn't it?A variegated-color marble floor.
More marble work - large areas of this still exist.
Interceptions of new scaffolding and ancient brickwork.
The tile entryway of one of the larger, richer houses near the shore.
Outside one of the largest mansions that faced the sea.
And its courtyard populated by finely-wrought marble statues of a drunken hercules and cavorting woodland animals.
Spring Break, anyone?
One of the roads leading to what was once the seashore.
Impressive lintels.
Memories of passages.
And the work, still continuing.

For a first-hand description of the eruption by Pliny the Younger, you can visit this website.
http://www.smatch-international.org/PlinyLetters.html

La Nostra Casa (Our Home)

2009-02-17T10:14:00.001-08:00

Our new apartment building is on Vico Dei Venti (the alley of the twenties) and Santa Maria Degli Angeli (Santa Maria of the Angels), which is named after the enormous church which presides over it.
The door to the left, in green with the elegant ironwork,
is the door into the all-marble foyer of our building.
It is a very nice building, despite the fact that the area is slightly gritty;
as well, we are just on the edge of the historical district.

Inside, our apartment is newly renovated - beautiful and spotless.
The building was built in the 1400s, which means
that archways and floor-to-ceiling windows abound.
However, what makes us happiest is the fact that we are finally HOME.
Here John is cooking pancakes in the kitchen - this is the view from our living room.
Our living room. The shutters on the outside of the window are a staple here in Naples - everyone has them, and there is a mass-shuttering around dusk. It's quite impressive to see.
The office - with a view of the building behind us.
But it has all our projects in it, and is very dear to us.
One of our bathrooms has instructions - which makes it ideal if we have any drunken Navy parties. However, that seems like a less-than-likely possibility.
The other bathroom - the one across from our bedroom - has really amazing arches.
Right now everything is all a mess there, so this is really the only nice view of it (!).
John from the office - still cooking.
The view out the kitchen windows, across to the Orto Botanico Real (Royal Botanical Gardens).
The view up the street from our kitchen balcony.
Santa Maria Degli Angeli is truly the mistress of the street and the gardens.
The view down the street, toward downtown Naples.
The Orto Botanico - with our little tiny view of Vesuvius.
(For those of you to whom it is not *obvious* it is the little slope of blue between the trees.)
Ah. They are ready. We are finally at home in Italy.
When are you coming to visit?

A Second Christmas

2009-02-17T10:11:00.000-08:00

My mother sent us gifts that arrived about a week and a half after Christmas. We were able to open them in our new apartment, and were very happy to have another whole holiday, complete with festive wrapping paper.

Christmas on Base

2009-02-10T03:09:00.000-08:00

We were forced to spend Christmas in the Navy hotel on Capodichino base, directly outside the airport. However, this did not prevent us from buying a little tree at Ikea and decorating it, nor from going out in town and purchasing gifts for each other.

The can in the front of the computer is an ice bucket that became a cookie jar, because it was Christmas! So there were cookies!
The computer stands in for all the family we could not have around us on the holiday - it was our way of feeling close across thousands of miles and wishing everyone a Merry Christmas.
Unwrapping gifts in a flurry of excitement.
Being without wrapping paper, some gifts were both wrapping and personal adornment. In this case, John received a lovely blue scarf with fur pompoms around his wine bottle.
He seemed overjoyed.
We found some wine with Lambert in the title - Lambert pluralized in Italian no less!
We were very happy to have a personalized bottle for Christmas.
We fixed a Christmas dinner of citrus chicken, new potatoes, stuffing, and green beans using the hotel's hotplate and microwave (no stove provided during our month and a half stay), and enjoyed every bite.
And for dessert we made a cheesecake - with a mixture of mascarpone and neufchatel cheese! It was quite delicious, and helped us not stay on a diet for a good three weeks afterward.

We miss everyone and hope that your holidays were warm, cozy,
and filled with good friends and good food!

Welcome to Naples

2009-02-08T01:41:00.000-08:00

We finally arrived in Naples, only to be put into a base housing hotel, where we were far from anything remotely cosmopolitan. However, we soon found methods for entering downtown, and taking in the sights. At first glance, the city was entirely graffiti.

But we did find the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, and wandered it's many cold, marble rooms to take in the cold, marble statues. Prominantly featured were sculptures from the Farnese collection, including the Hercules - which is fairly famous. As well, they have a room entirely devoted to ancient pornography and sexual talismans.

One of the most wonderful things about Naples are the many hidden treasures. This is not a city of tourists. There are beautiful, completely unexpected architectural wonders around every turn of the street corner(without any directing signage whatsoever). This 15th c. tile floor, for example, is tucked away on the Via Dei Tribunali, in a tiny funeral chapel for a saint whose name I do not remember.Naples during the non-traffic hours.

The view Northeast from a hill overlooking the city.
Naples city planning - a conglomeration of Greek, Roman, and 500s-1800s Spanish, Italian, and French construction. As well, there is some more modern building.

We took a trip up to Castel St. Elmo, which sits on a hill overlooking Naples and the bay. The castle, much like the city, is the outcome of centuries of different rulers who utilized it as a fortress, garrison, and watchtower.
Now it serves as a part of one of the art museums, used for special exhibitions, and also houses some university (I believe history department) offices.
Mount Vesuvius and the bay to the Southeast.
Ischia and Capri to the Southwest.
Though the beginning was rather rocky, we did discover that Naples is rather a bewitching city, behind it's traffic and streetvendors hawking umbrellas.
As we have wandered, we have even found some good routes for historic 'walks' on which we can take our unsuspecting visitors.
(Nara and Chance should come armed with sturdy shoes.)

Georgia Goodbyes

2009-01-14T14:37:00.001-08:00

We drove back down to Georgia, to John's brother Jeff's house, so that we could drop off John's car (Jeff kindly is selling it for us) and say our goodbyes to Jeff, Karen, and John's new nephew, Fenton.
John and Fenton got along like ducks and water... Due in part, I suspect, to the general mesmerizing quality of John's glasses for Fenton.

We did not get to spend very much time with Jeff and Karen, as Karen was not feeling well, but they very kindly opened their home to us and made us feel welcome anyway...
And we did manage to play a game of Scrabble despite the rushed nature of our visit!

Thank you again to Jeff, Karen, and Fenton. We hope to see you soon!

While I Was Away, and When I Came Back...

2009-01-14T13:42:00.000-08:00

During our stay in NY, I had to fly back to Seattle to pick up my Italian visa (waiting for me at the Naval Base Kitsap, of course - finally!). This meant leaving John to the devices of Nara and Chance. Eclairs were everywhere.

As well, Chance took this opportunity to ignore Nara and John and keep the much more congenial company of his Ipod - well 30 seconds of it, anyway - for every time he "won." (The field of contest was unclear.) Winning, of course, was decided by Chance.
When I returned we went to the MOMA, and took in quite a bit of modern art. *sigh. I love museums that are like Art History books.
On this second trip to MOMA for me, I found the whole museum/museum-goer interaction fascinating. So many people, all conversing with something hanging on the wall, and not with each other!

NY All Dressed Up

2009-01-13T05:20:00.001-08:00

The rest of our trip to NY was rather whirlwind. We visited a lovely wine bar with Nara, where we drank and ate dessert, talked and felt very warm and cozy...
The next day, John and I went on a long walk around the city (guided by Nara's proxy, a napkin-map she drew for us while at breakfast.) We began by leaving Brooklyn via the Brooklyn Bridge

After crossing the bridge into Manhattan, we took the train up to Fifth Avenue, where we walked by all sorts of sights - not the least of which was this one:
It was definitely Christmas in NY, and John and I got to see all the lovely decorations.
The Christmas music-box windows at Lord and Taylor,
The NY Public Library dressed in state,
Rockefeller center had a tree (though it wasn't lit yet as of December 4)
And was decorated with toy soldiers...
And the star hanging over Fifth by the edge of Central Park was lovely in the gloaming light of the city.
Then we went for a little walk through all the lovely lights on the trees surrounding what I believe was the Astor Hotel (though I'm not quite certain).

2008-12-22T14:03:00.000-08:00

On the first (full) day in NY, we went up to Queens to visit the P.S. 1 museum.
This is not it. The P.S. 1 didn't open until noon, and we were there at 10-ish, so we walked around and saw the Supreme Court of New York - at least that's what it said it was.
I think it was the Supreme Court of one of the borroughs - maybe. :)

After that, to take some time, we traversed down Manhattan-way to visit the Strand bookstore, bought books on Naples and ate at a very old-style NY diner. It was great - I had chicken salad and it was amazing.
We did end up going back to P.S. 1 museum and actually seeing it - unfortunately, they did not own any of the artwork, so no photographs were allowed, except for the huge, interactive mirror-on-the-ceiling exhibit, where the mirror, a tipped, flat sphere suspended from the ceiling, rotated and thus became closer and farther away from the stationary viewer.
Outside P.S.1 museum - it was a cool footprint, and I needed to image it. :)

More NY to come... but my internet connection is molto slow, so I will break for the evening.
Buonanotte, tutti - e auguri! (goodnight everyone and best wishes for a happy holiday!)

From New Orleans to New York

2008-12-18T03:50:00.001-08:00

We drove the long stretch up through Tennessee, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and New Jersey to New York in two days - most of the drive looked like what you see below.

I wish I could say more for the Appalachians, but unlike the Olympics or the Cascades, they are low and unassuming.
I'm sure a hike through them would have been lovely - but we were driving, and it was not fall but winter, so the leaves were brown and great swaths of naked trees carpeted the hillsides, interspersed with evergreens that looked somewhat like bushes...

Predictably, as soon as we got to New York, we hit Traffic, and lots of it. It took us two hours to get across the George Washington Bridge into Manhattan!

However, the wait was well worth it when we got there, and we were surrounded by friendly faces and (for me) familiar and exciting places!
(This is the subway stop for Nara and Chance's neighborhood, Greenpoint.)
Nara - in front of the fire AND The heater in a very nice little Greenpoint restaurant they took us to.
John and Chance, deeply interested in a discussion - no doubt of economics or something equally snore worthy... :)

New Orleans for Thanksgiving

2008-12-17T04:06:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, due to our unrelenting schedule, we had to spend Thanksgiving without any family, but we were able to find a full Thanksgiving dinner in New Orleans, and spent a rather magical night wandering through the French Quarter, which we both enjoyed a great deal!

We stayed that night in a hotel that was made out of three separate buildings and a connecting courtyard/alleyway. It was very lovely, even though it was a hotel chain. In fact, John and I had a truly wonderful time in New Orleans - all the people were helpful and friendly, and we both hope we can go back someday for a much longer visit...

A Little Movie of the Grand Canyon

2008-12-17T03:21:00.000-08:00

Arizona Days

2008-12-02T05:53:00.000-08:00

After leaving the Grand Canyon, we wound our way down through the
many, many surrounding canyons into Sedona, AZ.
The drive was lovely.

I also thought this would be a good time to work on John's scarf,
though the weather expected in Phoenix/Glendale was roughly 70 degrees F.

Upon arrival in Glendale, we were given a wonderful room at Granma's house,
(Sharan's mother), and were greeted by her two cats, Harley and Blade.
This was the only picture we could get with both of them.

For our two days there, we met John's brother Jeremy at his work to have lunch.
This was our last day there, when we dropped by to break the bad news and
have some food together to say goodbye.

It was a sad day that we left - we went by Sharan's and Granma's work, as well,
to say goodbye in person and take pictures.

Goodbye Arizona.
(John picks (pretends to pick) a lemon to commemorate. )

National Parks - National Drive Throughs?

2008-11-30T19:31:00.000-08:00

On the road from Utah to Arizon we stopped at a cafe/steakhouse in Utah. We asked for the steak rare - we didn't realize rare meant somewhere between "just butchered" and "warm." This was, indeed, cattle country.

Somewhere between Utah and Arizona we found a magical device!

I thought I was alone, and then...

John appeared!

Apparently, this same area was also a source of women.
Soon we found ourselves driving through Zion National Park at 10:30 at night.
This was the little cafe just outside the park, right next to the amphitheatre.
The park was beautiful and completely amazing, even though we only were able to see the landscape that our headlights lit...
We then spent the night in the car so that we could see the Grand Canyon at sunrise...
This picture is actually of the waystation near where we slept, but the sunrise clouds were lovely!
Driving to the Grand Canyon
This is the main "Watchtower" which gives the fullest view of the Grand Canyon.
It was very early, and very very cold outside this watchtower, as well as being windy. But I sat on the cold bench anyways in order to get this picture.
The Canyon was quite Grand. Especially with the morning sun lighting it.

And I wasn't the only cold one...
Man made ruins from roughly the late 1800s.
We saw a bunny rabbit in the underbrush! It was very exciting.
There were also many ravens in the park - they seemed old and wise.
The ancestors of the local tribes built what is hypothesized to be a meeting place and living quarters in this area. We walked around the excavated architecture.
You might not believe it, but this bald eagle was actually eating the remains of a cougar - on the side of the road!
Goodbye Grand Canyon.

Familiar Faces/Familiar Places

2008-11-30T09:41:00.000-08:00

Our first Road House experience - somewhere between ID and UT at the Western Inn.
Yeehaw.

We arrived in Salt Lake City and visited with his mother and sister, Catrina, there.

Pictures were requisite all around.
Unfortunately, we had to move on rather quickly.

As we left Salt Lake City, we were able to get some wonderful pictures of the landscape at sunset.

On the Road Again

2008-11-28T09:18:00.000-08:00

In Oregon, across the blue mountains from Vancouver WA, we stopped at the Hamley Steak House and Coffee Shop, where we got some very good - though overpriced - BLT and Turkey Sandwiches... They were enjoyable, obviously.

Despite the fact it looked delicious, I thought I should poke it first just to make sure - you never know how rarely things are going to be cooked in a Western restaurant.
The Road...

We stopped in Boise, ID to look at the places John used to live, and went to visit his friend, M. McManus, who now goes to Boise State. It was great to see a familiar face and warm our hands by his fire.

Kyall and Candace's!

2008-11-27T07:05:00.000-08:00

We arrived at Kyall and Candace's house on last Thursday evening, and were welcomed by Kyall, Candace and Pepe...

We promptly spent quality time on our computers together - it was great bonding!
We then did something that we could actually interact over and played the Scrabble game Mom gave us before we left (a hand-me-down from Nara and Chance that they bought while they were adventuring hither and yon...)

Kyall and Candace then took us out to dinner at a restaurant just down the street - Beaches. They had an Almond Roca basket full of Ice Cream!! John and I did not escape unscathed.

Pepe

The next day, last Friday, we went to eat at a Cuban restaurant in Portland - I don't recall the name, but I do remember they had outside heating, and banana ketchup (Jufras!)

It was delicious! I had "Old Clothes" - Riojas something-or-other and we all took advantage of the Oaxacan Hot Chocolate - mmmmm.

After that, we went to Voodoo Donuts - Open Late! John had the Arnold Palmer, Kyall had the maple with bacon on it (bacon!!!) and Candace had the cranberry apple fritter. I just had a maple bar and liked it Very Much. Cravings MUST be satisfied.
Late night Scrabble tournament with all of us...
Kyall showed us a flying game on his computer... and then we all went to bed. It had been quite the Night.

We had to leave early Saturday morning to drive to Utah, so Kyall and Candace rose early to cook us breakfast. On the menu:

Pablano pepper quesadilla wraps! With eggs! Yes, eggs!
And grapefruit - it was amazingly delicious. Thank you again, Kyall and Candace!
That morning while breakfast was being fixed, we took a small walk to the Columbia, but a few steps from Kyall and Candace's door...

And now, on to the Salt Lake City...

The Journey Begins...

2008-11-20T15:46:00.001-08:00

My Auntie Anne and Uncle Steve, who live in Bow outside of Mount Vernon, WA, were the first to open their home to us on our Grand Tour of the US...

My Grampa, who has just recently turned 93, was in his usual spot, ready to greet us.
It was wonderful to spend some time with him before we leave for our three-year Italian life!
As well, it meant a lot to let him get to know John a little better before we depart.

We also managed to catch my Aunt Diane, before she jetted off for one of HER many adventures, and eat a meal with her. The Brown Lantern in Anacortes has some lovely black-and-tans, fyi...

The Moon Over Lummi Island

2008-10-21T19:47:00.000-07:00

For our honeymoon, John and I spent three wonderful days on the smallest of the San Juan Islands - Lummi Island. We arrived Thursday, August 28 and left Sunday, August 31 for Vancouver, where we went to a music show at the Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park and generally got lost a great deal and drank at Irish Pubs.

We arrived on Lummi Island on this tiny little ferry in the evening of Thursday, August 28. We had spent our wedding night at Hotel 1000 in downtown Seattle, and the next day we spent at home, and then driving up the coast of the Sound to Bellingham, from which we took the county ferry to Lummi.

Lummi Island is very small - just 816 inhabitants (not counting my finger!), and I would say that was on a very nice day in the summertime.
It was lovely and a true retreat for us - a reprieve from all the wedding planning, dress making, and plans for the move to Italy.

Lummi Island is not very big geographically, either - here is John standing by the map of Lummi Island that greets you right after you get off the ferry.

There are country roads criss-crossing the Island and we took a drive around to see the sights. Many of the sights were beautiful trees with a glorious sunlit day shining through them.

Being an island, Lummi had miles of beaches - our favorite was the one with the path across fromt he llama farm (or were they alpacas?). We did a great deal of shell collecting, reading To Kill a Mockingbird, and general lounging. We also dared each other to wade in the icy waters flowing in from the Straits of Juan de Fuca!

Someone was Very Happy

Our Shell Bounty.

Mainly a fishing island before the tourists, there were plenty of picturesque fishing boat hulls, ropes, floats, etc - especially on the western side of the Island - the side toward the Straits.
I wanted to get the ropes, I must not have noticed I also got the car!
We both thought a puzzle would be great to do in the quiet hours (of which we had lots and lots, which was wonderful!) We bought this one in an art store in Mount Vernon on our way up to Lummi.

Unfortunately, I was running out film so this is my only picture of Vancouver - this is China Town, where we bought gifts for our dear friends who accompanied us at our wedding.

Wedding Album

2008-09-02T22:59:00.000-07:00

Thank you to Naraelle Hohensee for taking all the lovely pictures.

Getting Ready

Dress In the Kitchen

Towncar to the Courthouse

Parents (and Parents In-Law!)

New Yorkers Come Home

Crown of Stars

Our Wedding was Much Cooler Due to This

Excited!

A Marriage with a View

The Ringbearer

Judge Charles Officiates

Gillia Listens

John Listens,

Those from Near and Far

Stealing a Kiss

Our Wedding Dinner Menu

Cutting the Cake

Enjoying the Cake

Dancing for All the Right Reasons

Spinning

What a Wonderful World

At Our Table
Kyall and Candace Attend

Active Listening

Full Party Dress
There May Have Been Alcohol
as Well as Coffee

Ambience

Future Together

I will make for you brooches...