Walk for Williams

John and I just registered for a 5k in Oakland next month to support the:

(Picture via here)
Our little nephew has WS, so we're excited to meet other families and learn more about it. Also, this is my first time ever participating in an organized run, so I'm a little nervous. Let the training begin!

Where To?

Our jar needs a new name.

John's thinking Caribbean cruise. I'm thinking Disney World. Any other suggestions? Or votes? Or potential travel buddies?

Celebrations

John decided birthday presents need a tree just as much as Christmas ones do. Luckily my cupcake tree (seen here in his Easter outfit) was available.

Then he made me a giant pb&j sandwich.

Just kidding. He covered his creation in marzipan and we had a princess cake! It was actually well made and extremely delicious. "Always the tone of surprise" I know. No faith.

Twenty-three. And I'm in my jams because it wasn't finished until after 10. But John was determined to finish it that day because a birthday isn't complete without cake.

Then we celebrated the Sharks' first playoff game at Mark's house. Which they won in overtime. Go Sharks! I tried a chicken savory squares recipe my coworker Don told me about. Amazing. And easy. Double win in my book.

Lastly, our housemate Josh had a birthday, so we tried making Boston Creme Pie for him since it's his favorite.

Okay really I made it. I just wanted people to assume it was unattractive because John had a hand in it. But I am to blame. Luckily it tasted better than it looked.

Back to Real Life

By the time we made it home, John's left eye wasn't opening.

John had to have drops in his eyes 4x a day, which was no picnic for either of us. He's such a sport about being sick . . . with the exception of eye drops. I have never seen a more dramatic production.

Sometimes the 2 minute wait was enough to knock him out cold. He looks so pathetic here. Poor kid.

Luckily he was well enough to cook for me. Good man, John.

Spinach and ricotta ravioli. I'm thinking we need a pasta maker because my arms had a workout rolling out that pasta.

And strawberry tiramisu, which we learned how to make in our class.

Amanda came over to help with quality control.

Yum!

Day 11: Sorrento

We hopped town again to visit Sorrento. After Naples it was a breath of fresh air. Literally.

So beautiful. Slower paced, polite people, less crowded. Next time we'll come straight here.

We walked down to the water.

Which was clean and calm.

We found an authentic gelato place and enjoyed our cones right on the coast. And in the coast.

It was a perfect relaxing ending to our whirlwind trip.

Even our shadows were happy.

We leisurely walked back up into town to look around. Sorrento makes all things lemon and this shop was no exception. The owner was singing and offered us samples of things. There was another worker in back we watched making fresh candy. We brought some lemon pasta and chocolate lemon almonds back home.

Then we meandered.

It was nice to be away from the busy city for a day.

Leave it to John to discover a waterfall.

We happily took the metro back to town, where we collected our things and said arrivederci to Naples. Shockingly there were no tears.

We took a sleeper train overnight to Milan. Then took a plane to JFK Tuesday morning , and finally landed in SFO Tuesday night California time, Wednesday morning Italy time. It was a long travel home, but well worth it. We loved Italy and can't wait to go back.

Day 10: Naples and Pompeii

Sunday we attempted to go to church in Naples. Little did we know our excursion would include a funicular ride. (no, John, that link is safe from my rick rolling ways, but you don't need to read about them anyway, since you were there with me)

The address we had for the building was closed, presumably due to General Conference. We rode the funicular all the way up to enjoy the view and make sure our trip was not for naught.

It was a peaceful area and we walked up the sloped sidewalks to a castle, then rode back down to change clothes.

We started looking for lunch when we got back, but most places were closed. Weird. Maybe because it was Sunday?? We had a hard time believing Neapolitans were more devout than other Italians, but couldn't think of another explanation. Then, while walking along, minding our own business, we heard some crazy noises. Like fireworks/cannons/gunshots. People came running out into the streets screaming bloody murder and scared the daylights out of me. Cars started honking and John realized they were cheering. Naples' soccer team had scored a goal.

Mystery solved. The only places open for business had the game on. Everyone stopped what they were doing when things got exciting again. So we joined in.

Then we took the metro over to Pompeii. The lemons in this area are amazing. There are many varieties, some of which are the size of John's head. The lemonade they make is delish, although not as sweet as I'm accustomed to.

We learned that before the eruption that covered Pompeii, the two points of Mt. Vesuvius we see now joined at the top into one large volcano. Pretty crazy.

John with a plaster person. The archaeologists noticed air pockets while excavating and filled them, then removed the surrounding debris. They were left with these human shapes.

I'll try to tone down the history lessons now. I just find these tidbits of knowledge so fascinating.

Admiring what frescoes Napoleon apparently didn't find interesting enough to steal.

Streets. The city was so big, we only explored sections of it.

Including this brothel. The bed and pillow are made of stone. Comfy.

A "fast-food joint" as Rick Steves calls them. Surprisingly, people ate out a lot back then.

Ampitheatre

Walking back

They also have homeless dogs throughout the site intentionally. They feed and care for them, but also encourage guests to adopt. A little strange, since I assume most Pompeii visitors are from out of town/country. But cool idea I guess.

An overview of part of the city.

John was anxious to get home and back to bed. Poor guy. I finished several crosswords that night.

Day 9: Rome and Naples

Before we left Rome, John took a picture of me in the hotel shower. It's hard to see, but there is a drain and curtain, but no ledge. Water was relatively contained, but the splatters would get the floor drenched. Our housekeepers must have thought we were idiots because we had no idea how to use their shower.

We left Rome early in the morning to make sure the strike wouldn't prevent getting to Naples. Everything was fine, and once there we discovered a little lunch shop. I didn't know what was in this fry bread calzony looking thing, but it ended up being ricotta and heaven mixed together. We found the Naples duomo, because no city is complete until we tour their duomo. (Although I think in England cities are determined when they have a cathedral. Or so the bishop's wife in Oxford told me) We used our Naples pass (same plan as Roma) to go to the Naples Archaeological Museum, where Napoleon stored all the artifacts he stole from Pompeii. Michelangelo helped restore this Farnese Bull. Kind of cool myth behind this one, too. The husband leaves his wife (pregnant with twin boys) for another woman. Fast forward and the sons tie the mistress onto a bull while the mom looks on pleased. Morbid story, but amazing detail, and all carved from one block of stone back in the 2nd century. In the great room, where students used to assemble when the building was a university. Since the museum was large and nearly empty, we practiced our mimicking. It helped us notice the details and appreciate the models that had to pose for the artists. It also helped stave off exhaustion, because we'd been awake and moving for a long time by this point in our day. John loved this little pig. We also went through rooms of artifacts, mosaics, and erotic art from Pompeii. When I started to boogie John thought it best to get me out of the museum before someone else beat him to it. We next went to Via something Gregorio something or other, where the shop owners all make nativities. They make them into villages, which I think is so cool. We saw people making the bases and carving the figures out of terra cotta. You can get them assembled, or pick your own. The possibilities are limitless. Really, because they're continually making more. John was overwhelmed by the choices after only a few stores, but he couldn't stay in the street because of all the smokers. Catch 22. Naples, it turns out, is a filthy city. Crime is rampant, beggars and street salespeople every where, 1/3 unemployment rate, massive BO issues, 99% of people are chain smokers (observed statistic, not proven) and frequent trash strikes provide a general feeling of dirtiness. Exhibit A: Overflowing dumpsters on every block, which cars drive through and drag bags of garbage through the street. Smells amazing. The best (only good) part of Naples? The pizza. A note of explanation. Pizza in Naples was cheaper than anywhere else we ate, like lia euro twenty or thirty for a slice. We wanted to eat someplace sit down, and the menu had pizza for 4 euros. We figured because it was a restaurant, not a take-out place. Well, the pizza "slices" come, and they're not really slices. The embarrassing part is I almost finished mine. We had a small lunch, the crusts are thin, and it's not loaded with cheese or other toppings like american pizzas. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. John didn't eat much pizza because he hadn't been feeling well. The germs of this new city were probably not helping, so I put him to bed early. And yes, Naples gave us single beds even though we reserved a "double". Not twin beds, because singles are much tinier than that. John kept getting sweats and chills all night, though, so I can't say I minded having my own set of sheets.