Next stop... Italy!

No, I'm not going to Italy again, but I realized I hadn't finished sharing photos from our cruise in June. The first stop on our trip was Monaco and the second found us docking in Livorno, Italy. Look toward the top left side of the map, and right above where you see "ITALY" in red, you'll notice Florence and the Arno River. That's where we toured, with a brief stop in Pisa as well.

Never having been on a cruise before, we were more than a little clueless about how to do everything. We wanted to make the most of our port stops, particularly those in Italy, so we could see as many sights as possible in the short amount of time the ship would be docked in each location. We'd heard about a reputable private tour company and eventually booked tours with them.

The tours are quite expensive, and whether our van held just the 4 of us or was at full capacity (7 people plus a driver), the cost was going to be the same. We talked to friends who had sailed recently and they recommended checking out this cool website where we were able to correspond with other passengers in hopes of finding 2-3 people interested in joining us on these excursions, thus lowering the cost for each of us. That's exactly what we ended up doing and before we knew it, we had a full van for each tour.

Of course the idea of traveling with total strangers seemed a bit out of our comfort zone. I mean, seriously, we didn't know these people from Adam! What if they were weirdos and it was uncomfortable? It's a chance we decided to take, and we couldn't have been happier with our travel companions.

From the port in Livorno, we traveled to the city of Florence, capital of the Tuscany region, with our driver, Arten, who was seemingly very knowledgeable about the area.

This is a replica of Michelangelo's "David." We would see replicas of this statue many times during our tour in Italy. We saw the real deal at the Accademia Gallery, however, we weren't permitted to take photos, although I saw lots of cameras flashing anyway.


This was a big square located on the top of a hill overlooking the city of Florence. Vendors were there selling various items to tourists.


One of many gorgeous views of the area


The Arno River runs through the center of Florence.


There wasn't a view I didn't find beautiful.


Another beautiful view


It thrilled me for the boys to be seeing places like this at their ages. I'd never even been on an airplane, and had rarely been out of my home state of Kentucky when I was a teenager.


This is a closer view of one of the bridges over the Arno River. The Ponte Vecchio is a unique medieval bridge with shops built along the sides. We walked across, but only window shopped as it's a very expensive area. Arten even told us not to purchase anything there because it's so over-priced.


The cathedral, called the Santa Maria Del Fiore Church is pictured in the background, on the far left. We got a close-up view of this beautiful structure.


Zooming in on the cathedral


Could you get used to seeing sights like this every day? I believe I could.


This is our driver, Arten.


The boys check out the views below.


I've said it before, and I'll say it again... We are easily entertained! We even found the cigarette machines intriguing.


I'm sure people were thinking how we were just silly American tourists, taking photos of photos. I couldn't help it. I'd just ducked into this small restaurant to use the facilities when I saw Rhett and Scarlett. I do love "Gone with the Wind," don't you?


Got Nutella? Nutella is popular where we lived in Spain too, but I didn't know what it was for the longest time. It's a delicious chocolate-hazlenut spread and I understand it originated in Italy, which makes total sense that we should see this big display of it here. Here's a little Nutella trivia for you from Wikipedia (in case you're interested)... "Under Italian law, it cannot be labeled as a chocolate cream, as it does not meet minimum cocoa solids concentration criteria." Oh, and the 5th Annual World Nutella Day is scheduled for February 5, 2011... really! Don't forget to mark your calendars!

Moving on...

I'm such a people watcher. This lady was standing in her high heels, chatting on her cell phone, and I wanted to see if she was really going to get on this motorcycle and ride away. She did! How does one do that in a skirt like hers? You go, girl!


We visited San Miniato (St. Minias on the Mountain) Church, constructed during the 11th century.


A tour group was listening to the gentleman in the long robe speak. I liked his socks and sandals.


The view beyond the San Miniato Church


Inside San Miniato... It was very difficult to get good photos as the lighting is very dim, and I'm not the best photographer.


Very serene


Mesmerizing!


Here we are with our excursion companions. We toured with the same three people for two days.


This is the crowd of people waiting to get inside the Accademia Gallery, where we would see Michelangelo's original statue of "David."


I didn't take this photo, but found it online to show you because it was of personal interest to me. These panels illustrate the biblical story of Esther, an Old Testament heroine. I had just finished a Bible study called "Esther: It's Tough Being a Woman" by Beth Moore. By the way, if you've never had the opportunity to participate in a Beth Moore study, I highly recommend you give one a go. She's awesome!

At some point during the day we stopped and had pizza (Hello! We're in Italy!) for lunch and it was magnifico!

The tall, slender structure is Giotto’s Campanile (Bell Tower), located in the heart of Florence. It's part of a complex of buildings that make up Florence Cathedral on the Piazza del Duomo, one of the most visited places in Europe.


This is the Battistero di San Giovanni (Baptistery of St. John), also located on the Piazza del Duomo. According to what we were told, many notable people were baptized here during the Renaissance period, and until the end of the 19th century, all Catholic Florentines were baptized here.


The Santa Maria Del Fiore Church (also known as the Duomo) was being cleaned and under maintenance during our visit.


The cathedral is quite impressive in size and beauty.


I love the aerial view of the Duomo! I didn't take this photo, but borrowed it from a website, giving credit to Paradoxplace.com.


Gorgeous architecture!


Artists set up camp near the cathedral, trying to sell their work to tourists.


"Pinocchio" is seen everywhere in the area, as the fictional story of the wooden puppet who longed to be a real boy originated in Italy.


Walking across the Ponte Vecchio (Remember the medieval bridge with the expensive shops I told you about?) and doing some heavy-duty window shopping. That's all we could afford to do.


The shops were gorgeous and simply oozed money.


A view of the Arno River taken from the Ponte Vecchio


Mmmm... gelato!


Naturally pizzerias were plentiful, and these two had great curb appeal.


The Palazzo Vecchio serves as the town hall. And guess what stands in front? A replica of the statue of "David," of course. ☺


This is a photo of a photo of Fattoria di San Michele a Torri, the winery we visited, which was unplanned, but we had the time, so we opted to stop. Wine? Oh, alright... twist my arm!


Touring the winery


After the tour we were given the opportunity to sample some of the wine. We weren't driving; Arten was driving. Wine? Don't mind if I do!


These guys aren't in to wine. Never fear! They have hand-held electronic games with which to entertain themselves.


We weren't sure if we'd have time for one more stop (an important one) before returning to the ship. We kept our fingers crossed, and as luck would have it, we had about 5 minutes to spare, so Arten pulled into in this parking lot to see what lies behind this wall.


We literally ran so we could get a view of this. Wondering what you're seeing? Look at the building on the very end.


We're getting closer...


It's the Leaning Tower of Pisa!


We hastily took the photo that everyone takes when in Pisa.


Sure wish we'd had more time for photos here, but when I said we had 5 minutes, I wasn't kidding. We did well to get these photos.


Now the boys will have the memory of being here, and photos to go along with it.

We had a jam-packed, fun-filled day with Arten and our new cruise friends. Our feet ached and we were hot and tired, but it was so worth the time and money invested, as we saw so many wonderful places. Thanks to Arten for his knowledge, safe driving skills and friendly disposition. It was time to rest up for the next day's adventure... Rome!

¡Adiós, España!

Our 2 years in Spain came to a screeching halt, or at least that's what it felt like last week. We departed Rota on Wednesday, 28 July, and made our way to Illinois, traveling a total of 25 hours. We're very sad to be leaving Spain, as we've enjoyed our time there very much, and we'll greatly miss the wonderful friends made over the last couple of years. We carry with us some incredibly fond memories... of new experiences, traveling, Spanish food, beautiful beaches and sunsets and, most important of all, special friendships.

Upon discovering we were going to be stationed in Spain, I was excited, and yet somewhat nervous for various reasons. It was our first overseas assignment and there's so much planning that goes into an overseas move, especially when one's job doesn't even exist, as was the case with my husband's new job at the time. He was going to help start a new Air Force organization on a Spanish Navy base, which had its own set of challenges. We knew we'd be out of our element and comfort zone with no idea what to expect.

Although we knew months in advance where we'd be moving and what my husband would be doing, his official orders were slow in coming. Anyone in the military can tell you that nothing... I mean NOTHING... gets done without a set of orders in hand. We eventually received orders about a month in advance of our arrival in Spain. There was much to be done in very little time, but somehow it all fell into place and we arrived in Spain, weary from travel and suffering a bit from culture shock.

We still talk about the welcome we received upon touching down at the airport in Jerez, Spain, about 20-30 minutes from Rota. There were people waiting to escort us and all of our luggage to the base. They'd managed to secure a house for us, stocked our kitchen with snacks and drink, ordered pizza to be delivered for dinner and put toilet paper in the bathrooms. It was, hands down, the warmest welcome we'd ever received at any location, and we were greatly humbled.

In the weeks and months to follow, we learned a great deal about the Spanish language and culture, attempting to soak it up as quickly as possible, knowing we'd only be there for 2 years. My husband and I took a Spanish language course together and I followed up with another course. Our kids made friends quickly, as did we, which is the beauty of living on a military base, particularly in an overseas location where communities are naturally tight-knit. We lovingly referred to Rota as "Mayberry," due to its small size and the "everybody knows everybody" atmosphere.

My hubby's job ended up requiring lots of travel, more than we'd anticipated. We managed just fine, but really wished he could have been around more to enjoy our little slice of paradise. The weather was fabulous 9+ months out of the year and we eventually moved into a house with a view of the Atlantic Ocean. See Rota? It's located on the top left side of the map, along the coast. That's where we lived.

The travel opportunities were incredible and we took advantage of that every chance we got, which wasn't always easy considering my hubby was frequently away from home. We ended up adding several countries to our "Places Visited" list... Gibraltar, France, Portugal, Germany, England, Monaco, Italy, and Egypt. Of course we visited many locations within Spain too... Sevilla, Granada, Ronda, Cádiz, Arcos, Cape of Trafalgar, Punta Umbria, Huelva, etc. We feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to visit these amazing places. We saw horse racing on the beach in Sanlúcar, took in bullfighting in El Puerto de Santa María and enjoyed wine tasting at bodegas in Jerez. We did our best to bloom where we were planted and embrace the culture whenever possible.

We found ourselves invited to occasional gatherings of Spanish Navy personnel. Now there's a statement I never imagined I'd utter! The Spanish were always very warm and welcoming. Many of the officers knew English, as did several of their spouses, however, there were those who knew no English, which made me very thankful for having picked up some Spanish (albeit "cave man" Spanish); otherwise conversation might have been quite challenging. The whole "You can't teach an old dog new tricks" is so not true. I'm living proof! I might be just a tad slower at learning than I used to be, but I can definitely learn!

Friendships were formed quickly and easily, as I mentioned before, which was such a blessing for me. With the boys in school all day and my hubby frequently on the road traveling, life could have potentially been very lonely and isolating on teeny tiny Rota Naval Air Station.

I attached myself quite literally to a group of fabulously fun girlfriends, mostly Air Force with a sprinkling of Navy gals who reached out to me as I reached out to them. We did a whole lot of things together... took Spanish classes, went on trips and explored new places, shopped at the gypsy market and local malls, drank tinto and sangria, lunched in a number of places, attended Bible study, sat in one another's back yards around the fire pit, attended military functions, went to each other's kids' birthday parties, worked out, took walks, scrapbooked and rubber stamped and hung out at the beach and the pool. We also complained, complimented, celebrated, laughed and cried together. Thankfully there were more laughs than tears. Military spouses are a rare and special breed of women, and I loved spending time with my little circle of chicas (girls).

These special women (and their families) are the reason it was so difficult to leave Rota. I loved the location, view, weather, food, travel opportunities... all of it! But I loved the people more. These people are the ones who entertained our kids when we were busy with our move and had multiple things to accomplish. They brought us dinner or invited us into their homes to dine with their families. They gave us thoughtful farewell gifts. They took care of tying up loose ends after our departure by storing items to give to the family moving in behind us, delivering donations to various places when we didn't have the time, etc. They loaned us vehicles when ours were being shipped back to the States. They drove us to the airport at 5am and they sat outside in chairs to wave good-bye, holding signs that read "Adios, Campbells!" and "We will miss you!" as we drove out of the neighborhood. And they hugged us and cried with us when we said our good-byes. These are the kind of people we are grateful and proud to call "friends." ¡Adiós y muchas gracias por todos, amigos! (Good-bye and many thanks for everything, friends!)
So now we're currently staying in temporary lodging at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois (near Belleville in southern Illinois), getting ready to close on a house we're buying in a nearby town, and awaiting the delivery of our household goods in a few days. We're starting a brand-new chapter in our lives and, while we're sad to no longer be among friends in Rota, we're very excited about what the future holds for our little family in Illinois. We already know lots of people here, as Scott is headquarters for Air Mobility Command, our bread and butter. We're looking forward to seeing familiar faces, cultivating friendships and once again blooming where we've been planted.