We Need a Vacation!

Scott and I need another vacation. It's so hard going back to work after having a week off. For Scott, the Admiral has a surge going on, meaning they work 7-days a week and for long hours. So, Scott's been working all weekend. I'm fortunate to see him for lunch. As for me, the kids came back to school with a renewed sense of energy. Fortunately, it rained on our first day back so several students stayed home. They don't like to go out in the rain. Poor little spoiled princes & princesses! I love that their parents keep them home when it rains. I've also been told by other teachers to expect half my class to be gone by the end of May & early June. Apparently, parents don't like sending their kids to school when it's hot! I'll have to see this to believe it.

On a funny note, the kids had to bring in their Science projects last Thursday. I gave them a month to do this project. It was on landforms. They had to pick a landform, write about it and include pictures. It could be on regular paper or on a poster. I really didn't care. You should see these projects. They look like advertisements for rivers, valleys, mountains, oceans & sand dunes. They are amazing. I was so proud of them until they told me their mothers did their projects for them. Only 3 students did their own work. The mothers of the other kids did everything! So, I had them all come up to present their projects. The majority could tell me NOTHING about their project. It's not like I can call the parents about this. The parents decide if their child is promoted to the next grade, not me or the administration. Weird stuff. I'm just accepting this and moving on. They are great kids and I'm already upset about saying goodbye to them in a couple of months.

On Thursday as I walked in the door after work, Mary, our cleaning lady came up to me with some news. She said, "Madame, I have to tell you something you will not believe." I almost had a heart attack. She went on to tell me that she was going back to the Philipines to see her kids because they were having some family problems. She would be leaving on Saturday. "Darn it." I thought to myself. I knew she was too good to be true. She went on to tell me that she had a friend who could fill in for her and that she was outside at that moment. I didn't remember seeing anyone. I had literally just walked in the door. She went out and got her. Of course, Benny jumped on her and was running around like a fool. He gets so excited when we have visitors. She liked Benny & shared stories of every home she's cleaned that has had a dog or cat in it. Her name is Erlita (I think) and she is very chatty. She wants the job and she starts tomorrow. We'll see how it goes. We really liked Mary, though. Oh well!

Since it's sooooooo hot now, I've decided to try out aqua-aerobics.......at home. I've never taken an aqua-aerobics class but I've seen many old ladies jumping around in city pools. I've always heard how good it is for you. So, today was my first workout. It went well. I was careful not to go into the deep end until I learn how to swim. My left foot slipped once & I almost freaked out. I tried to get Benny in the pool with me. I thought at one point he might do it. He was waving his right paw at me. But, no luck! All he did was lick up the water that splashed out of the pool. He also sun bathed while I jumped around and ran in place. Hopefully none of my neighbors saw any of this. I'm sure I looked like an idiot, especially when I slipped & thought I would drown. I've gotta say that it was a pretty good workout. My legs are tired, so that's a good sign, hopefully!

Next week I won't be writing the blog. I have to work Saturday for parent/teacher meetings & report cards. Should be just as interesting as last quarter. I hope they stick to their appointment time this time. Last quarter they just came when they felt like coming. It was a big mess! I didn't know who was who and I had organized all my files by student based on their appointments and it was all messed up. Those of you who know me know that I like things organized! These people drive me crazy!

A Man of His Word

Well, Scott kept his promise. He promised me a trip to Italy as soon as he could arrange it. It was a great birthday surprise. We had a fabulous time. We left Bahrain at 11:30 pm on April 1st and landed in Qatar at about 12:30 am on April 2nd. From Qatar we flew in to Rome and landed at about 6:30 am on the 2nd. We were exhausted but ready for our adventure. Getting through the passport line at the airport was painful. Too many cutters! I hate people that cut. The best part is they do it right in your face & can care less. No one says anything to them. Everytime I was about to say something, Scott would stop me. That really got on my nerves! Anyhow, we made it through the line & found the driver we had arranged to pick us up. He was waiting with one of those signs with Scott's name on it. He drove us to the hotel which was about 30-minutes from the airport. We checked before leaving Bahrain and had been told that we could check in early as long as there were rooms available. Our plan was to get some rest, shower up & then hit the pavement. Well, of course, there were no rooms available when we arrived at the hotel. What a pain! We left our suitcases & headed out. We were so pooped! We had our backpacks which we couldn't really empty out. Poor Scott had to carry his laptop the whole time. Anyhow, we got a map & started our walk. We quickly stopped for a panini & espresso. Once we were re-energized we headed to the Spanish Steps which were beautiful. We sat down and people watched for a while. Then we headed over to the Trevi Fountain. I threw my coin in and made my wish. It was packed with people. The Trevi Fountain was so crowded we could not even sit around it.

The weather was chilly. The lows were in the 40's and the highs were in the low 60's. The sun felt great, but it was hard to find sunny spots. The roads are so narrow & the buildings high that the sun would be blocked off from most streets. After the Trevi Fountain we continued walking. We saw so much that first day. We found our way to a popular pizza place. We were not too impressed with the pizza. It was good but not great. Having lived in Italy for 2-years, Scott's pretty familiar with the food & told me it wasn't the best pizza he's ever had. Another plus to Scott having lived in Italy was that he served as an excellent tour guide. He knew his way around so well. We lived on the Metro....taking it whenever possible.

Friday night we headed to the Colliseum to see the Pope. He was holding a Good Friday candle light service. We got there early but were stuck outside with thousands of other people. I was bummed we couldn't get in. We were able to see the Pope, though. He was up on a really high platform so that people inside and outside the Colliseum could see him. He was far away but we saw him. That was exciting to me! The Colliseum looked beautiful all lit up. Unfortunately it was raining on and off that evening. I have noticed that the weather is always pretty bad on Good Friday. Even in LA where the weather is generally gorgeous, on Good Friday it was always gloomy.

After the service we walked around looking for a place to eat dinner. We found an Argentinian restaurant. We decided to eat light since we pigged out on the panini & pizza. I ordered a salad that would be comparable to a cobb salad. The winning ingredient was the "bacon." Oh my...it was chunks of smoky pancetta. It was so good. When I left I felt worse than when I went in. So much for a light dinner! Scott & I just kept saying it was ok because how often are we going to do this? So, we enjoyed ourselves.

We headed out very early saturday morning to the Vatican Museum. We had luckily pre-purchased tickets to enter at 8:30am. We ate an amazing breakfast provided by the hotel and started our Metro ride and walking at about 7:15am. Thank God we got there early because by the time we left at about 10:30 the line was going around the building and down the street forever. Those people must have waited hours to get in. We had the place to ourselves. We feel very fortunate. So, our advice to anyone thinking about going anywhere in Rome, get there 30-45 minutes before it opens or your scheduled appointment. We did that for everything & we did not suffer at all. Fortunately, we get up very early & are used to being on the go.

After the Vatican we were exploring and found The Holy Stairs. There was a Japanese tourist standing there with us as we were looking up at the steep stairway. He asked if we could go up & I told him I didn't know but we could go together. So, we climbed the narrow stairway & ended up in a beautiful church. This church we came to find out was run by the Dutch. It, as all the churches we went into was gorgeous. We must have visited a dozen churches in Rome. There are over 900 churches. We could never visit them all. Each one was so beautiful. I lit some candles & we toured each one as if it was a museum.

Next, we headed to the Pantheon & then to one of Scott's favoite piazzas, Novona. It's a bit like Venice beach to me. A lot of odd balls there. I loved looking at all the art. I tried my first authentic gelatto there (pistachio). It was creamy & delicious. It was nice to just sit and relax in the sun for a while. As we continued walking we came across The Circo Mossimo where they would hold chariot races. Now, people picnic there, make out, or run their dogs. It was pretty cool to see. I loved spotting all the American tourists. They were so easy to find. Generally speaking, they were the really loud and/or obese people. I'm only speaking in general terms here. Honestly, though, they stuck out in the crowds.

We took it relatively easy on Easter Sunday. We woke up late (7am), ate breakfast and walked another 8-10 miles. We figured we walked a minimum of 8-miles everyday. We needed to walk off all the food we ate. The bread was amazing! The sweets were even more amazing! We spent mostof the day touring the Colliseum and The Forum. They were both very impressive! We went to a touristy area for dinner. Scott had a full Italian meal with the starter, 1st sourse, 2nd course, salad & dessert. I had veal. We really enjoyed that meal as well.

Monday was a big day. We woke up early, ate breakfast at 6:30am & left our hotel by 7am. We took the Metro to the Vatican area and got in line to tour St. Peter's Cathedral. There was a fair amount of people, but as usual, we were early & reaped the benefits. We decided that we wanted to climb all the way to the top of St. Peter's dome. According to the sign there were 320 steps to climb once you got off the elevator. We did not take the elevator. We climbed all the stairs.....from bottom all the way to top. It wasn't so bad at first. The steps were wide and it seemed very easy. Then, the stairs narrowed big time, became steep and spiraled. That part of the climb was tough. I'll admit, I was sweating a little. Not bad, but a little. Scott pretty much skipped up to the top. It was really sad because there was a very, very, very big girl who was out of breath and standing in a little area off the stairs. She was bright red and out of breath. Her mom was yelling something to her in Italian from above. I felt so bad for her. She should not have even attempted to get to the top. Honestly, I don't know that she could fit on the stairs at the top of the climb. Scott said he saw her at the top before we left. The views from the top of the dome were amazing. You could look down into St. Peter's Cathedral and then out on the roof you had views of Rome all around you. It truly was spectacular and we were glad to have done it. The best feeling was going down the stairs. What a difference form the climb up! We then toured the Cathedral which is indescribable, I did a little shopping & then we left. When we left, the lines were unbelievably long again. We couldn't believe how lucky we were. We worked up an appetite after the climb. Off we went to eat again!

On Tuesday we took the train to Florence. Oh did I love Florence. It really looks like a village in a story book. I absolutely loved it! We stayed at a great hotel right along the river. The hotel was run by a cute, older couple. They were adorable. It really was a very small town feeling the whole time we were there. Emmanuelo served up a great breakfast every morning. We toured all the big attractions of Florence with the most important being the Duomo & The Statue of David. They were both amazing. We also made it into a few churches. The weather was perfect while in Florence. Temperatures were in the upper 60's to low 70's. The views were amazing & the shopping was unbelievable. All the fancy shmancy shops were there.

Our first night in Florence we ate what has become our favorite meal of the entire trip. Emmanuelo recommended the restaurant, Fagiola, to us saying it served authentic Florentine food. It's a family run business. Shortly after we sat down, the place was packed. We were speechless after that meal. I ordered the tortelli stuffed with potato and fava beans. It was topped with a meat sauce. The spinach was amazing as well. Scott started with the pomadoro soup which was a tomato soup with Italian bread soaked in it. Then he had the roast pork. Oh my!!! That's all I have to say about that! For dessert we shared biscotti stuffed with melted dark chocolate. It was pure heaven! We will forever remember that meal. An old lady and her little dog entered the restaurant just before us. She went to what seemed to be her table and sat down. She was obviously a regular. They brought her out a bowl of soup & a glass of wine immediately. The entire time she was talking to the dog. Once I started eating I lost track of her. She left at some point. She was adorable, though.

Our final night in Florence was a special one. Scott had been dreaming of this restaurant he went to before that served, "The best Florentine steak." We made our reservation from Bahrain. We got there 30-minutes before they opened and there was already a line. So, we got in line like most normal people do. However, so many people just cut in once the doors opened. Have I mentioned how much I hate cutters? It was worth it, though. We ate so much. Scott was happy with his steak & that's really all that matters!

We absolutely loved everything about Florence. I can see myself retiring there. We spent a lot of time walking through the open air market. We picnicked and bought some good dried pasta to bring back home. We both overdosed on espresso. I've been going through caffeine withdrawal since coming home. My head has been throbbing! We'll definitely be back in Florence one day.

Thursday morning we packed up and left Florence by train and headed back to Rome. Once in Rome we caught the train that takes you to the airport. Our experience at Rome airport was.... I don't know......ridiculous!!!!! What a mad house. Going through security, you're supposed to line up but of course it was a pushing and shoving game the entire time. At one point this man was screaming at a lady that just walked all the way to the front of the line while the rest of us waited. I couldn't understand a word, yet I got it! I started clapping when he was done. What was ridiculous is that he called for one of the workers & told him what this lady was doing. The worker yelled back something that made everyone who understood laugh....in disgust. The workers could care less. It was just horrible & by the time we made it through we were exhausted. I really can't even properly describe that experience.

The good news is that both flights back were 1/2 full, so we moved to emptier areas and did not have anyone in front or behind us. That was great. We flew Qatar Air, and I must say we were very pleased. They are much more luxurious than the Northwest flights I used to take from LA to Memphis & back. We arrived in Bahrain at about 2am. It was 87-degrees when we landed. Can you imagine?! I still had my scarf & vest on from Rome where it was freezing. I was in bed by 3am and slept in until 8:30. It felt great to be home, in my shower & in my bed. It was also nice not to have Benny home yet. He is very needy & would have woken us up at 5am like he does everyday.

We had NO food at home. I spent the morning doing laundry & then we went grocery shopping. Once the groceries were away, we headed out to get the boy. He was as nutty as ever. When he saw us, he was running around like a maniac.....with his ball in his mouth, of course. We got a positive report from the boarding people which was expected. Everybody who meets Benny loves him! They took good care of him & he is a bit chubbier than when we dropped him off. The lady who runs the boarding facility is an older British lady. She told us they mix some special chicken from Australia into the food every day. Benny obviously loved it. He's been home a day already. He woke us up at 5am today. He is being his usual pain about eating and wants to play non-stop. It's over 90-degrees and so humid outside. This is only the beginning of what's to come. Yikes!

We're gald to be home but at the same time wish we were back in Italy. That is an amazing place!