Mae Abroad

This is the look Kyle gave me when he pulled out his camera and saw that there wasn't a memory card in it...which was my fault. But the look didn't come till I pulled out the card reader from my purse that had the memory card still in it, that is when this look came. Kyle actually had today off which was so nice! Our tour today wasn't until 3:30 so we had a small breakfast then headed over to base so we could go to the Navy Exchange (NEX) which is pretty much the Walmart of the Navy. They have everything there. We bought a bunch of stuff that Kyle needed for his place that I've been make shifting all week without, like hot pads...poor kid the Navy really doesn't teach them much about living on your own, but he can tie a knot like no ones business and get a ship underway no problem. Essential life skills right there. We went over to the tour bus on base and it was us and a lady and her baby. We figured it would be a small group. But the bus went over to the ...

I had another Italian market experience today, I needed to make brownies for tonight so I headed downstairs to Conad. These are all the ingredients that I got today, such a different experience. Sugar is Zucchero, and vanilla comes in little powder packets instead of a jar of liquid. Tonight was my first time on base. We had to go on because we were going to dinner at Kyle's friends house, Sean. He lives in base housing with his wife Ann and two kids Tess and Joe. They are super cute and were so excited to have company to play with! We had a lot of fun, they are really nice people and everyone knows that I love kids so that was nice, made me miss some kids from back home though. Tess got ahold of my camera and took about a hundred photos of everything haha here are a few: Kyle Sean and Ann Tess Joe We went to Madigans when we got back and Jesse and his girlfriend Emily came to meet up with us. Jesse works with Kyle too and they live right up the street. M...

Since I couldn't be here for Kyles actual birthday, I made him a cake today instead! Today was the first day I went out on my own. I accomplished ordering a cappuccino and going to the market all by myself! Such an accomplishment. I loved going to the market and looking at everything. I'm pretty sure I was asked like 10 times if I needed help because I would just stand there and stare at all the packaging. This is what I bought to bake a cake with, they even had candles too! It took me about an hour to figure out how to use the oven though. I pretty much took the whole thing apart (not the first time I've taken an oven apart) to find out that you need to light it with a lighter. Luckily the internet was working today so I also went online and searched for the manual for about 30 minutes. Once I decoded that I was ready to bake a cake! Now baking in another country, not terribly difficult...but baking in Kyles kitchen?! Thats another story. The poor guy doesn't reall...

I believe it was my father who jokingly asked me what about the 17th Chapel when I told him we went to the Sistine Chapel. I miss that humor! Our hotel provided breakfast but we slept through it so we grabbed cappuccinos and I got a chocolate croissant from a cafe down the street. We checked out and packed up the car then headed toward the Metro so we could go over to the Vatican. We made it there and the line was pretty small so we made it up to the front door fast and were instantly turned away because my dress wasn't long enough. Stupid California outfits. I wore my longest dress too! But it was just above my knees and needed to be way below them, which I'm pretty sure doesn't exist in my wardrobe. So we went back up to the shopping area and bought some leggings. It worked out perfectly actually because we grabbed lunch right as it started to pour hard. Once it cleared up we worked our way back to the Vatican and this time made it inside. The line moves fast because...

Guess what? Its raining in Rome. Typical. We made it to our hotel, Hotel Saint John. Its really close to the Colosseum so we just walked down there. Actually the San Clemente Church is right across the street, I didn't bring pants with me though so I need to get something to cover up my knees because all I have in my wardrobe are dresses. I have a cover for my shoulders, I was told that before I left but I read in many books today thats its proper to have your knees covered as well. Since today is Sunday a lot of places are closed but we did stop at this small place down the street for lunch, Kyle got pizza which he wasn't too impressed with. He's too spoiled with Naples pizza now, hes ruined for life with all other pizza places. I just got the house insalata caprese (caprese salad), the mozzarella di bufala (buffalo mozzarella) is heavenly over here! L for Laura! This was laying on the street and of course I had to pick it up, Kyle thought it was gros...

We are on our way to Rome right now. The weather has been beautiful so far today! It's made for such a wonderful drive. Much better than yesterday's adventure through the rain. We had amazing cafe freddos (sweetened iced espresso) at the little cafe down the street from Kyles place. We booked a hotel in Rome at Eurostars Saint John Hotel which is near the Colosseum. I think that will be our first adventure, the Colosseum and Imperial Fora which includes the Trajan's Markets and the Arch of Constantine which I want to see more than the actual Colosseum. Freaking LCAD did that to me haha. Then off to the Foro Roma (The Roman Forum) and if we have time the Pantheon. We are going to see the Spanish steps for sure but not till nighttime as well as the Fontana di Trevi (The Trevi Fountain). ♥   Mae

Today was the first day that Kyle got to sleep in. It also was the first time this trip I had heat exhaustion and was pretty dizzy. Luckily the cloud cover came in and it ended up raining later in the day so I went and sat out on the balcony for a bit and felt better in the cool morning air. I wasn't the only one out on a balcony this morning. The Italians love doing this, they all just hang out outside on their balconies and stare around at the world and take in what's happening down on the streets. It's amazing, I love that. You just look around and see just individual people on their own taking in the morning, such a difference from the craziness in a California morning. Kyles Building Kyle and I made breakfast burritos and planned out our day to Amalfi. It wasn't the best day to go there that's for sure. Once we got on the road it started sprinkling on and off and then really bad once we hit the winding hills up to Ravello. We did not expect that road to ...