Upon my first glance out my taxi-cab window confirmed what I had imagined before even arriving: Bruges was my kind of place.

My feet hit the cobblestone streets of this gorgeous time-capsule of a town within minutes of arriving. It was like stepping out of my favorite Dutch Baroque cityscape painting, the architecture, wealth and beauty in exquisite timeless detail.

A post-rain haze glazed the city, casting a shadow of mystery and intrigue rather than dampening our just-arrived excitement. With sweeping views of the city's canal, the Hotel Tur Duinen welcomed us with a tiny but warm lobby, handing over our room keys with a smile. A peak at the sitting area and breakfast room with antique rush-seats built anticipation for the promised "one of the best in Bruges" breakfast that lived up to its claim.   

Pomme frites (french fries), mussels, world-famous Belgian beer, chocolate and waffles were on our mind, and within a few hours we had consumed at least half of our must-taste list.  

A local woman spontaneously struck up a conversation with us as we strolled the streets, suggesting the main square, the Markt (market), as the place to find the best french fries. (And we did.) She also assured us that we "couldn't go wrong" at any restaurant in Bruges, and we were beginning to believe that statement applied to more than just food.

When in doubt, start exploring any new town from the main piazza/square/market. It's always a good starting point, as it was here in Bruges. Side-streets offering hours of fashion, food, history and most importantly, chocolate, cobwebbed off this bull's eye of a city-center making a decent map a necessity. (Most hotels or shops will offer you a fold-up paper version.) Following the original medieval street patterns, roads curve and dead-end, cross the curving canal with Monet-like arched bridges that splices and circles the city, basically going every where but following a grid-pattern. Delight in getting lost; there is no "wrong turn" in Bruges.

You may lose direction, but you definitely won't get lost in translation.

Everyone in this city speaks English, along with Flemish (dialect of Dutch), French, Dutch, and even some Italian and German. The friendly sweater-clad classic European looking man with glasses resting on his nose at the wonderful Het Brugs Theehuis  (tea rooms and tea shops abound) spoke 4 languages. He was also an expert on the loose teas offered for sale, and I quickly found myself splurging on an aromatic organic black-berry blend and unusual sweet-savory mint blend. Had I extra room in my luggage, I would have added a gorgeous Asian cast-iron tea pot as well.

Be warned: this is a city that ignites wants. You will want to drink, eat and acquire your way through this charming town.

Heirloom lace linen stores, an historic craft of Bruges, are on every block. Before you know it, you'll be plopping down a pretty penny (or many euros) on a hand-laced tablecloth with matching cloth napkins. (Just ask my friend Laura.)

Beating out lace, is chocolate. Glass-fronted stores chock-full of dreamy mouth-watering sweets tempt you until you say "Mercy!" and buy, buy, buy. Bright bows, pretty wrapping, clever shapes and tantalizing flavors will have you hooked on Belgian chocolate, so hooked we became repeat visitors at our favorite chocolatier, Dumon. (More on that later.) 

It's as if you enter a dream-book bubble of Medieval grandeur that whiles you away to countless hours pleasantly escaping "The World." Time stops, life is far-far away, and for a few days you can live in a euphoric vacuum of vacation bliss.

Ok, maybe my joy at having my first kid-free travel adventure with a great friend got to my head!

Really, for me, chocolate and beer, french-fries and waffles, with fantastic shopping in a scenic architectural gem, and topped by easy-going gracious people (they ride bikes everywhere!)... Well, that's just a match made in heaven, or Bruges, for me.

Count me love-struck.

Bruges is beautiful, historic yet modern and fresh. Quaint but diverse, lovely and sincerely beguiling.  I don't think anyone can resist her allure.

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You must see the collection of pictures I took here and here.

Also, more blog entries to follow including mouth-watering details on the foods of Bruges, the best way to view the city (hint: the canals), and the perks of being not the least bit shy - you meet interesting people along the way! Stay tuned...

Thanks Laura for a fantastic trip!

"Do the Italians?"

....I am asked each year by friends back home. Not really, but they are adopting bits and pieces of imported holidays like Halloween, especially because they have such a commercial side to them.

Fortunately, we have access to American-style pumpkins from our military grocery store which we carve and display just like at home in America.

The base also organizes a trick-or-treat night where people set-up tables and chairs outside their apartments and hand out candy to Americans. It's fun! Peanut and Buddy had a blast this year. (Last year, Peanut was very sick and we could not attend this at the last minute.)

Georgia, our Italian landlords grand-daughter with the kids

In our Italian neighborhood, we actually have trick-or-treaters; just a few. Maybe because quite a few kids live in our parco (closed neighborhood) and Americans have lived in this house and others for years, the tradition is somewhat followed here. Most Americans I know "living on the economy" (what we call it if you live off-base) do not have Italian trick-or-treaters.

We did not end up handing out as much candy as we bought because we spent more time at the military base trick-or-treating and having an impromptu party at our friends. (Thanks T & M!)

Buddy also had his famous Halloween party at his Italian pre-school. Once again, here is a school that has had Americans attending for years, and they have adopted the party side of the holiday. They go all-out, highly decorating and we all bring along goodies for the kids.

I hope you had some fun out there, wherever you are! Happy Halloween!

I feel like I'm getting ready to reveal the finale to Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol  instead of simply sharing my friend's house keeper's recipe for pesto. It's so good and anyone who has had it would love to get the recipe.

And now here's your chance!

The fact is, in the small  military circle that is here, Rosa's pesto is famous. It's so yummy and "Wow!" inducing. Our book club once went ga-ga over it.

What's the secret?

Compared to the recipes I've used in the past, her special twist is using both Parmigiano Regiano and Pecorino Romano. I've typically only used Parmigiano. She also uses only the best cheese, the highest-quality extra-virgin olive oil (only  extra virgin Rosa specified), and gorgeous Italian basil. Rosa also is a super nice person, with a big heart, and I swear she infuses the pesto with good vibes.

Look, the Italian flag! Rosa's white shirt, red apron and the green basil

One thing you will notice is how incredibly grassy green the pesto is, almost glowing neon-like. The iodized salt from Sicily she uses is the key, doing secret science to keep the finished results as green as the pretty basil that's the corner-stone of pesto. 

Speaking of basil, Rosa hand-counts the leaves (how quaint!), and I loved how she "Sshhh" us so we wouldn't interupt her under-the-breath counting. "Uno, due, tre... Cento!" She also gently cuts them with kitchen scissors after giving them a bath three times, to rid the leaves of any clinging dirt.

And on the topic of extra-virgin olive oil, Rosa once again helps us all out by buying in bulk an excellent brand - Olio Carli - that she "takes orders for" on a regular basis. We get it for a bargain that way. (See the gorgeous bottles below. You can buy it on Amazon here, and read a review here.)  

Rosa’s Pesto 

 *One batch filled about 8-10 mini-containers. We froze the extras.

It was a joy to learn Rosa's recipe, to be in my good friend's Laura's kitchen, on a sunny afternoon, the kids running around in the living room trying to keep baby Parker entertained. Or more like keeping their water bottles away from his cute hands! Thankfully, my friend Laura has more Disney movies than your corner Blockbuster (do they still exist in the States???), so the kids were quite content. Well, the plate of cookies Laura prepared for them was probably what really made them happy.

Me, I was happy to finally try the great cook Laura's wonderful tomato/feta cheese/phyllo dough baked appetizer. Now that's another recipe I need to get! (Laura's full of great ones.)

Because even a simple afternoon cooking with friends is extraordinary here in Italy, I thought I'd share a few pics I snapped out my window on the descent down from Laura's house on the mountain.

The Solfatara, next door to Laura's house.

Funny note, both Laura and I dressed in clothes with green - her striped shirt and my green pants. I think we were anticipating good green pesto when we dressed! 

 Several years ago I read "Julie and Julia" simply because I ran across a fun review of it. And I love food, and the stories of foodies.

This book is the true-life memoir of a young woman in the midst of re-defining her life, marriage and self-worth, who on a whim, decides to complete the 524 recipes in Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" a seminal cookbook originally published in 1961.

For Julie, life had been a series of unfinished "projects" that left her feeling less than successful. With a dash of self-reflection and a dose of her supportive husband, she realizes cooking and writing are her two great passions, and by combining them through a cooking challenge (524 recipes in 365 days) and blogging about it, she can prove her self-worth.

I loved the book, light and easy, full of funny cooking success (and failure) stories with a big side of personal growth and growing pains. Her blog was wildly successful, the book too, and then what followed was every writer's dream: a movie deal.

Yesterday I saw the movie at the military theatre on site. It is fun too, and will leave you laughing in your seat. A few slow moments creep in, and unless you really enjoying cooking and all things food, you might find yourself a bit bored. But only for a minute or two. Before you know it you'll be chuckling again at Meryl Streep's dead-on portrayal of a delightful, spirited and all-together hilarious Julia Child. Streep does a fantastic job mastering Julia's mannerism, accent and smile.

Go see it! It left me longing to cook more, to get back to my Tuesdays with Dorie, and explore new recipes. I'm also planning on reading "My Life in France" the autobiography of Julia by Julia. I've heard nothing but good things about his book!

Sometimes first impressions aren't everything. As such, I recently gave Sorrento another try. She showed her charming pretty side this time.

Late last winter just before the spring weather turns the coastal towns into warm, dreamy escapes, we ventured down to Sorrento. It was a cold, slightly wet Monday, and we had a new co-worker of my husband in tow. (My husband was his "sponsor" as we call fellow military folks who help you transition to a new place.) The kids were in school, so we were limited by the restraints of drop-off and pick-up times. Sorrento is only an hour and a half away, so no worries.

Except that our GPS (friend? enemy?) took us on a ridiculous route that drove the back-seat driver (ME!) crazy, and tacked on a few extra minutes to our trip - and a few stressful moments in my marriage. We arrived, finally, at the tourist city positioned like the lower lip on the chin of the Sorrentine peninsula.

Maybe the journey there jinxed any chance of a really good time. Maybe it was just not in the cards on a cold Monday. The town just felt sleepy, un-inviting, and not open to visitors. Sure, there were gorgeous views: the knee-knocking-high Amalfi cliffs, the turquoise waters stretching out to the famous Isle of Capri, and an impressive panoramic view of Naples across the Bay. Plenty of Italian restaurants too, all offering translated menus in English and tourist (trap!) "set menu" prices.  Regardless, I just left feeling so-so about the town, and wondering what all the hype was about.

Things changed after revisiting Sorrento a few weeks ago, even with the kids in tow.

It was Saturday, and slightly rainy, but the city still glowed with life. Shoppers strolled the endless streets of open-fronted stores spilling out with interesting gifts. Many items caught my eye as I added them to my growing mental Christmas list. The friendly old man in the antique-picture store smiled at the children, and practiced saying their names. The perfect English-speaking Russian waitress at L'Osteria del Buonconvento was all smiles, served us well, and even hung the children's drawings up on the kids' wall at the entrance. The food was quite exceptional, my gnocchi alla Sorrentina the best I've had to date. (The gnocchi was homemade, obvious by the multi-form, handmade shapes.) At times, even the sun broke through the gray clouds splashing late-fall pinks and oranges across the sky. "Festive" was the city's vibe.

Parking is easy, just north of the main square (Piazza Tasso) is a pay-garage (on your right, as you are headed down to the square) that is relatively inexpensive and has a pay-bathroom that cleans itself completely in-between users. The kids get a kick out of this. Exiting the garage and headed south towards the Piazza, we were once again impressed by the fresh fruit and vegetable store on the right offering GIANT lemons, the fruit Sorrento is most associated with. You must try limoncello here, sold in just about every store in every bottle shape and many flavors other than just lemon. (Melon, orange, walnut, strawberry.)

The children immediately caught eye of the sight-seeing train sitting in the main square, began immediately begging us for rides. (We didn't, but will next time). When I mean train, I mean the Disney-ride kind of train that cruises the streets. Surprisingly, this one looked classy, painted a crisp winter white. Nothing like the jazzy-colored Conch Train of Key West. Eventually we worked our way pass the statue of St. Francis and made our way to the cliff-side square to steal grand views of the coast.

Afterwards, we had lunch and then meandered the pedestrian-only streets just off Piazza Tasso, stopping for gelato for the children. (Ah...well... us too!) 

All-in-all, it was a thoroughly delightful day. And place. I am sold on Sorrento now, with plans to get down there again soon.

I hear the city decks itself out during the holiday, complete with a giant Christmas tree in the main square. I think it would be a great place to catch and spread a bit of holiday spirit. See you in Sorrento soon!

  Sorrento last weekend

The Simple Things That Make Me Happy

1. Mutual rolling of the eyes by me and my husband over something funny the kids did.

2. Walking my daughter to the bus stop in our "parco." Early morning sunrises, crisp falls breezes and the three of us (my son too) just make for a magically, innocent 15 minutes of life.

3. The hour or so in the morning before school with just my 4 year-old son. He's so sweet and tender.

4. Hearing the kids talk about "Paris" and "Germany" and "Prague" and "Sorrento" in everyday conversations.

5. Late nights chatting with my husband on the couch with glasses of wine.

6. Listening to the kids giggle over a funny book or catch a joke in a movie. Or watch them work to make each other laugh. Humor elevates life.

7. When my daughter says "Mom, I love school." (I did too!)

8. Seeing expressions of love from my son. "Mom, I love Braden, Char-wee (friends' dog), Ms. Amy, Mr. Scott (the list continues).... I love everybody!"

9. The long, sleepy hugs in the morning when the kids are still in bed, resisting the waking day, and just in need of mom's love.

10. Watching my husband walk through the door in the evenings. We all get excited, especially the children. "Daddy!!!!"

Life is good! 

Us in Puglia, E's nose still a bit swollen from his surgery.

I've received a rash of emails over the last few months from new readers (which I love!) and I earnestly want to respond. I will! Thanks for your patience, and hopefully now that the 5-week run of family-in-town is done, I can carve out the proper time to get back with everyone. Please don't interpret my tardiness as any indication of the level of interest in replying. It is not!

Expect an email soon!

Ciao, ciao!

Like a swift bird, the time here has flown. In many ways, I still feel like a newbie on my maiden voyage flying solo after just leaving the nest. The view of life here is still fresh, and I seem to uncover new angles and perspectives on life abroad. Napoli also offers up a bit of turbulence, here and there and almost always unexpectedly. However, I am not sure any amount of "flight hours" would prepare you totally.

In other ways, I'm very much the mother-hen now. I have my beak in just about everything around me, and I have grown a fondness for newcomers to Italy, many of which contact me through this blog or the "Living Abroad in Italy" group I started on Facebook about a year ago. (If you haven't checked it out yet, please do.) I loved attending the International Bazaar at NATO last Friday. I spent as much time saying hello to friends as I did shopping, and it felt good to have a strong community that I enjoy and feel an integral part of in Napoli.

Like all Navy voyages, they must come to an end, nonetheless.

Our initial date for departure was March 2010, and now I am almost certain (never 100% when your husband works for the military) that we'll be here through summer/fall 2011. WOW! Almost 2 more years, and 1 and 1/2 more than originally planned.

As I briefly mentioned several weeks back, my husband switched positions from the Navy side of things (Capodichino) to the NATO side, at the "Allied Joint Force Naples," an altogether different job in the military at a different base, but still located here in Naples. As such, we've taken on a new "set of orders" as we call it.

Are you awaiting my reaction?

Am I happy, ready for more time like many of my fellow military abroad? Or upset, ready to leave practically on arrival, like some you find here?

Actually, I'm quite content and pleased. I'm not ready to leave. I don't anticipate being ready by next spring or summer. In fact, I was starting to panic a bit thinking about our departure, worried about running out of time to complete our "To See" list. There really is still so much more to explore.

Also, our life has a groove and rhythm now. Of course, we've had family in town for almost 5 weeks, and I'm quite ready to have the "Family 4" back doing what families do day-to-day, just in Italy.

Peanut is thriving in kindergarten at the Dept. of Defense school. She is successfully keeping up her Italian with a wonderful twice-weekly tutor that she greets with hugs and kisses. Buddy is still smiling and happy every day I pick him up at the Italian pre-school. We enjoy his dinner prayers recited fully in Italian. E has a very challenging but exciting job that is absolutely the pinnacle for him at this point in his career, a job that will transform him and hopefully his career in the Navy. Whew!

Now, ask me in a month or so when the relentless rains cause flooding and it's bone-cold and the air is thickly damp. Or when the winter blues of sick kids are wearing thin. Or when my daughter and son's Naples-based asthma kicks into full gear, and it breaks my heart. Or when I get another email from our renters with something wrong in our Virginia-based home, and I think "Why in the heck am I managing a rental by myself half way around the world?!?!" Aegh!!!

But that's life, right? No matter what country, what city, life is not free of challenges. They just come in different forms here in Napoli, and in a different time-zone than "back home." And, frustrations can't be soothed by a few hours shopping at Target or sipping the latest flavored latte at Starbucks. (Amy, I'm thinking about you on these!)

In contrast, I'm even more ready now, making a list of places to still see, local vineyards to visit, cooking classes to attend. Oh, and a list for my landlord! If I'm gonna be here almost 2 more years, I need a few things (i.e. my ripped window screens replaced; mosquitoes are like rabid racoons here, unquenchable).

So, for you readers, it looks like you get a few more years of vicariously "Living in the Boot" if you wish. I hope to keep up the good work for yah, which, by the way, hasn't been up to my standards lately due to lack of time. Posting more frequently is my goal!

Anway, looking forward to a few more years with you!

  Last weekend in Sorrento

Passing from baby to permanent teeth, a process we've all experienced.

"Peanut's" experience was backwards. Her permanent lower teeth actually started coming in well before her baby teeth fell out. They call it "shark's teeth" and though it sends many parents into panic mode, there is actually nothing problematic about this reverse process. In fact, it can take the baby teeth as long as 2-3 months to loosen and finally make way for the impatient permanent teeth, a surprisingly long but normal length of time. 

So was the case for Peanut. Finally she lost her firth baby tooth. (Can you see the hole?) And the next one over is very loose and ready to come out most likely today.

Just in case you are curious, the tooth fairy does visit American kids in Italy. Man, she's impressive, flying all the way over here!!

Peanut received American dollars, and though was quite thrilled, did indicate that she'd like "Italian money" for her next tooth. We let her know that a little note was in order to the tooth fairly, to give her the chance to gift Euros instead of dollars.

Smart girl! The euros are worth more with such a bad dollar exchange rate right now!

Danny is a lucky boy. For his birthday, he gets every kid's dream present: a new pet, his choice.

But wait, it's not that simple for Danny.

Everyone in his family has an opinion and offers up a new pet of their choosing, not Danny's. All he wants is a certain slow animal with a hard shell.

Through rhyming and colorful illustrations, we join Danny on his journey to fulfill his true wish, and the story does present a predictable yet delightful conclusion. Happy endings really are welcomed, especially in a children's world.

The Birthday Pet was an instant hit with my two children.  I hope it will be for yours too.

We found this at the library at our military base, a "New Book" and my guess is that you can find it too. Good luck!