Pompeii, Italy

As we all know from history class Pompeii is a ruined Roman city near Naples. It was destroyed during a eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. The volcano buried the city under many feet of ash and it was lost for 1,600 years before its accidental rediscovery. Since then, its excavation has provided an extraordinarily detailed insight into the life of a city at the height of the Roman Empire. On my day off this week in Naples or Napoli, as it's called here in Itay, I went to Pompeii to check it out.

This is Porta Marina which has the city walls.

Here I am standing under the Arch of Caligula.

Here's the Basilica. This is where court was held and commerical and financial transactions took place.
This is the Odeion or small theatre as you will. It's in the Greek style using the naturally sloping ground. With the stage below the audience, it makes every seat in the house a good one.

When the city was found, they were able to fill the empty spaces produced by organic decomposition of the bodies with plaster. These show people in their final moments:

Here's a smattering of some other pictures from Pompeii:

It's quite amazing how well preserved some of the things are like the frescos and the mosaic floors.

Well I'm off to another day of work here in Napoli. The building this week is quite difficult, but we'll get through it.

An American/Italian Thanksgiving

On Thanksgiving, we were lucky enough to find a resturant that would cater an "All American Thanksgiving Dinner" for us. It wasn't all exactly "all American" it did have some Italian flare to it, like the meat plate: It's an anti-pasta dish, an apetizer if you will. That really really red meat in the center is cured horse meat and it was YUMMY!!! Later they brought out the birds:

Our waitress brings our turkey to the table.

Mel tries to take a bite out of the turkey before it's carved.
Funny, I thought she was a vegetarian?"B" (as we call him) decides that he will do the carving honors.Tony goes straight for the leg.
Mitch (Mr. Bossman) takes over the carving.Joey dives in next.Sheelena and I practice a very American tradition, breaking the wishbone!We both get our wishes! Sheelena and I broke the wishbone evenly in half!

All in all, my first holiday away from home wasn't that bad. Sure, it wasn't subs on the beach with Mom and Dad. . . . but it'll do.

Milan, Itay

In Milan there is a beautiful church called The Duomo. I went to see it on my day off this week.

Here's a picture of me freezing my butt off in my silly hat in front of the Duomo.

My birthday is this Saturday, we had a great Thanksgiving dinner the other night. I hope to share pictures soon!

Oh Italy!

Oh Italy, how I like you so! It's very lovely here in Italy. Here are some pictures from walking around:
It's quite cold here in Torino, a special thanks to my Dad for the long-johns!

Oh Italy, how wonderful you are

Arrived in Torino, Italy on Monday.  You will be shocked to know, that Italy is just like it is in the movies.  We're at the base of the Alps, so it's pretty cold here.  Good thing I brought every long sleeve shirt I own with me.  I hope to post pictures soon.

Sick in Barcelona

Hey everyone, just a quick update to let you all know I´m in Barcelona now. Somehow, I´ve managed to come down with a cold. Internet access is really expensive here. . . so don´t expect anything fantastic anytime soon! Oh yeah, the fire at GatorLand made CNN World! Freaky!

Happy Halloween

My Halloween day in Sevilla, Spain, started by taking Pooh and Tigger to a local hospital to visit some children. Normally if I was to be with Pooh and Tigger on a special outing, I would take pictures. However, my heart was just broken to see these children with tubes coming out of them. When Pooh went to play with this one little boy, he kept shying away. The nurse told us that the little boy was ashamed of being sick. . . how heartbreaking!! Tigger made a special friend in the Cancer Ward, and I'll admit I got really choked up and began to cry. Words cannot explain how happy it makes me that my job allows me to bring happiness to children all over the world . . . . especially special ones like the ones we met Halloween morning.

After our hospital visit, Pooh and Tigger went back to the hotel and I went to work to make Pooh yet another sweater. (Sometimes, honey just doesn't come out.)

Charlie and I whipped Pooh up a sweater and went home early to prepare for our annual Halloween party. I went as Anna Nicole Smith. Obviously, fat Anna Nicole.

To add to the trashiness of Anna Nicole, I drank Sangria out of a box most of the night. It was pretty funny. We had a good time. Other costumes included Kevin as the Joker, Michelle was half devil, half angel, Keiko was full devil, Mike was a Priest, Izumi was vampire, Aikele was a cowboy, and Adrian went as Angel from Rent. Some other people dressed up as well, but those were the best.

Well, I'm off to the 100 Acre Woods again!