Carlsbad Caverns - A trip into the Deep

Down I Go

Big Cashew is trudging onward, although it seems much more difficult to motivate oneself.  I definitely feel something is missing and that feeling will probably be with me for some time.  But, be that as it may, I am in the midst of another "adventure".  I am hoping my travels help me get past my loss.  Only time will tell.

This time I am in South Eastern New Mexico, visiting the Carlsbad Caverns National Park.  This is a totally underground experience which is a dramatic change from all other trips I have taken in the past.  Lets see how my claustrophobia handles things.  Oh boy, I can hardly wait. You might ask why am I subjecting myself to such terror.  Well, one reason is that I have read about and wanted to visit here since I was a kid (when I did not suffer from this condition) and it is one of the National Parks which are places I have vowed to visit while I am still able.  So lets get started.

Carlsbad Caverns is not an easy place to get to.  It is located in the South East part of New Mexico, and seemingly in the middle of no where.  It is about 245 miles from Albuquerque, and near the same distance from Santa Fe, the only two major cities in the state.  It is closer to El Paso, Tx., at about 145 miles, with no direct routes except driving.  This is the town you fly to for the shortest drive to the Caverns.  So, my day started early, 4:20 to be exact, catching a 7:25 flight out of Philly, which took me to Chicago.  From there, I switched planes and we headed to El Paso, Tx.  As you can surmise, there is no direct flight to Carlsbad.  There was a bit of a wait while in Chicago, which amounted to about an hour delay.  Still, we landed in El Paso about 40 minutes late, but it was only about 1:30 Mountain Standard time.  I got off the plane and headed to the rental car counter, picked up the car and was on my way.  As I stated earlier, Carlsbad, the town, is about 166 miles from El Paso, so I still had a few hours to work thru to reach my destination.  The road to my destination made El Paso look like a major metropolitan city.  Once I had travelled about 10 miles, you actually leave civilization.  There is nothing but scrub brush, grasses and a few mountains.  You do not want to break down or run out of gas.  There are no businesses or homes to go beg for help if you do have problems.  Well, to be fair, there are some homes and maybe a business that was there, but everything is abandoned now and for some years.  You are really on your own.

For the most part, the drive is basically level.  There are more hills than mountains along the way, until you get closer to Carlsbad.  There you hit the Guadalupe Mountains National Park.  The road cuts through the mountains with winding curves and some steep inclines.  When it rains, the roads become slippery, and you might want to ease off of the 75 MPH speed limit.  Just a suggestion, of course.  As you pass this area, there is not much to see other than the mountains as you are still about 30 miles from Carlsbad.  Oh, the road itself tends to be one lane in each direction.  There are some occasional passing lanes, but if you get behind a slower driver, you need to pass them, but there are  cars and trucks coming the other way, just a bit dangerous.  Caution might be the word of the day.
Since I would pass the park on the way to Carlsbad, I arrived at the park entrance at about 4:30 PM and decided to go to the visitor center.  The center closes by 5 so I did not have much time.  It is 7 miles in from the main road, and as usual with these NP's, the road is very winding and you are staring over a steep ledge at some points.  I reached the visitor center and got out to take a few pictures, then browse the store and get my bearings for the next day's activities.

I started out the next day headed to the park and start my actual immersion into the cave itself.  I signed up for the Kings Palace tour, which is lead by a park ranger and costs $8.  You also have to pay the park admission price, however, I have the senior pass I purchased 3 years ago.  It allows me to get in any NP at no charge.  Not a bad deal since it cost me $20 and I have gone to a number of parks since then.  Anyway, I checked in at the ticket office and was directed to either the elevator or the trail to the Natural Entrance.  I chose the trail (what a stupid decision) and stated walking.

 The trail takes you to the mouth of the cave.  It is about a quarter mile walk.  The walk does not prepare you for the hike to come in the cave itself.  You cannot even see anything resembling a cave until you were right at the entrance. You see this large hole in the ground that looks very dark.  At this point you start to get the impression this could be a long walk.  The Cave entrance is below ground and to get to it, you take about 2 dozen switchbacks, some of which are rather steep.

This is a theme that I found out repeats continually.  It is 1.2 miles of trail from the cave entrance to the Big Room where the elevators desend to from the visitor center, about 750 feet above you through the rock. The cave trail, itself, at times, is rather dark or should I say poorly lit.  There is lighting in many areas, but that is provided so you can see the various shapes and sizes of the formations that have occurred over many centuries.  There are sections where they lighting does not illuminate the trail very well.  These dark spots had me a bit worried as I was concerned about tripping and the thought of not being able to see where you going is a bit scary.  Add to that, the trail was also comprised of switchbacks with the same steep descents at times.  After what seemed like the first 100 switchbacks, with no end in site, my legs were becoming like Jello.  99% of the walk is down hill and you really feel it in the knees.  I had to stop and take a minute rest a few times along the way.


As for the view, it really was incredible.  The lighting is what makes the trip worthwhile.  You cant see anything without it as there is no light from the surface.  We found this out the old fashion way when during the ranger tour, she turned off the lights.  It was pitch black and you could not see your hand if it was touching your face.  That experience seemed to last forever, which was way too long for me.  I was starting to breath short breaths and had to calm myself down a bit.  That total blackness was the issue.  When the Ranger lit a lantern, that little bit of light was all I needed to feel OK.  You could see enough to move even if it was just a short distance.  The point of this was to show us, the dumb public, what the initial explorers of the caves had to put up with.  Since there are many paths one could take, it is amazing that these explorers ever found their way out.  The trails lead to rooms that a rather large with very high ceilings if you can see the ceiling.  Many times there are holes in the ceilings so it is just the black of darkness that you see.

Back to my trekking down the path to meet the Ranger for the tour.  As I continued on my way, I passed a number of people who  were also walking the path instead of taking the elevator.  As long as you take your time and look around, you get quite a view of all the formations. They are all around you, coming up from the ground, dropping down from the ceilings or even growing out of the walls.  The case was moist but not the wet.  There was some water along the trail, but you never heard any water running, such as a stream.  The temperature is a constant 56 degrees.  This might seem a bit cool, however, the hiking, even though down hill, was causing me to sweat.  At about the halfway point, I took off my jacket to try cool off a bit.  I was partially soaked from the walk, I sweated so much.  At least I got my exercise in.  I continued on my way until I got to the Big Room.  From there you can start exploring the Big Room or head to the bathrooms and snack bar to get some refreshments.  The Big Room is called that because it is the largest underground singular room in the northern hemisphere.  The path around this room is over a mile long.  There are more prominent formations here than in other areas of the caverns.  The sizes and shapes are incredible and the lighting in this area is much better.  Since they like to illuminate the formations, the sheer number of these provides the better lighting.  Don't get me wrong.  It is still a bit dark in the cavern, but you definitely see the sites more clearly.

There are 5 different Ranger tours, each one unique in where it goes and what is seen along each way. The Ranger tour I took takes you to different areas that you cannot not go to without someone directing you.  They are blocked off with iron gates that are locked.  All the other tours are longer and more strenuous than the one I took.  These other ones last from 2 to 5 hours and a couple require you to crawl on your belly to move from one section to another.  You also are given a miners helmet which has a light affixed to the top so you can see where your going.  This is a bit beyond my requirements.  It was tough enouph to walk thru two sections that required you to move through a man made tunnel that was basically unlit and required you to duck when inside.  It was about 20 feet long and only 3-4 feet wide, but you could see light at the end of the tunnel, so I did OK.  The walkways do go both up and down, but again, mostly down.  However, the walks uphill tend to be rather steep and seem to get your heart pumping.  Fortunately the sites are amazing which takes your mind off these inclines.  But you do need to watch where your going as the side walls due hang over a few places or some stalagtite hangs low from the ceiling.  You would most assuredly knock yourself out if you ran into it. We were taken to a number of "rooms" that you need the guide to direct you.  It could be easy to get lost if you took a wrong turn, and just like other caves, if you were lost and yelled, all you would here would be your voice echoing various times. If someone was looking for you, the echoes would only confuse they as to a direction.

A Trip to the Shore (NJ that is)

A Day at the Beach???

I am trying to get back to my travel blog.  As you most likely know, it has been a difficult time and I have not provided many options to one's insomnia in the last few months.  But even I, sooner or later, realize that I have a duty to you non-sleepers out there to create these opportunities for a restful night.  So here goes!

Due to the generosity of the Kinnier's, I have been allowed to stay at their palatial beach estate in Lavallette, NJ for a few days.  This is the area that was devastated by Tropical Storm Sandy seven years ago.  The house had to be rebuilt from the ground up.  What they have now is a very cozy two bedroom plus a loft home with an updated kitchen, bathroom and main room.  The central air is great as the last two days were rather on the warm side, like 93 degrees, and the sitting area on the ground level is mostly shaded and usually gets a nice cooling breeze.  Of course that was not yesterday.
Well, anyway, I asked if I could crash here a few days and they said go ahead.  Now you might wonder what I am doing at "The Beach" being a rather non beach person.  As it is well known, my idea of a day at the beach is to go to the mountains or anywhere there is no beach.  But if I have to beach it, then I would like a very comfortable chair and the necessary umbrella or tent that provides me total shade the entire time I am on a sandy soil area.  I do not need to take a dip in the water nor get a tan.  The main reason for me to choose this haven on the ocean is to make use of the rather flat geography by biking the length of the island or as much of it as possible.  I am also taking advantage of the ground floor sitting area to read, drink heavily and enjoy the breeze.

The biking yesterday morning was like a reintroduction to this transportation mode (it has been 8 years since I last rode one).  I had to figure out the gears since there are 21 unique settings that you have to coax into position as they slip a bit before catching.  Then there is the wonderful, so comfortable seat that seems to want to shove itself up my ass.  Oh it feels so good.
So I started out around 7:40 in the morning, which was partly cloudy but clearing.  I wanted to get out early as the temp was expected to soar by mid-day.  I felt good, there was a bit of a breeze, some clouds but mostly sunny.  I headed down West Cove to Rte 35 S.  Once I got to the end of West Cove the wind showed its true colors.  It was a steady breeze that seemed to come from any direction I rode in.  But I was not to be deterred.  I decided I wanted to explore the area so I headed down Rte. 35.
I took many side streets and rode to their end.  Some were very short and some were about a 1/4 mile long, all ending at the waters edge.  The exploring I was doing was to revel in the marvelous homes that only money can buy.  On the bay side of 35, probably 90 % of the homes back up to water, either on the bay itself or the short canals that resemble streets.  Almost all the mansions on the water are unique.  There is no track housing here.  The majority of the homes are 2 floors, with some 3 floors and I did see one that had a fourth floor.  They are all impeccably maintained with some minor landscaping, as many have stone or brick for lawns.  Grass is at a premium here.  Still, the home are incredible to look at from the street.  I can only imagine what they are like inside.  The one point I can make is that there is no end to the number of windows in these houses.  You can view the water from any point in the house.  If you could get the cleaning contract for windows in the area, you could run a very large company and never run out of work.  I have provided a picture of one I passed on my ride.

Now, back to the ride.
You can take 35 down to basically the end of the island.  That would be Island Beach State Park.  It is about 12 miles from West Cove to the end of the road in the park.  Since its a state park, there is a charge to enter and I did not feel like paying up so I turned around once I reached the park entrance.  I got on Rte. 35 N and started heading back.  This takes you, first through a fully residential section of a town called Seaside Park.  The homes here also run from small bungalows to multi floor mansions with rental properties interspersed.  As I move further North I reach the boardwalk and amusement park at Seaside Heights.  Another shore town that attracts tourists mostly during the summer months, but is great to visit during the shoulder seasons in the spring and fall.  Since it is September, the boardwalk businesses are mostly closed and the park rides are shut down.  But the people who are more year round townies take to walking the streets and boardwalk every day.  It is much more peaceful and quite.  
I continue my ride which takes me through Ortley Beach and back to Lavallette.  I pass though the business sections along the route and note how many businesses are open for the locals.  There are still plenty of restaurants, liquor stores, food shops and drug stores.  A major difference now is that there is plenty of parking available too.  People who live here must relish when the tourists leave as they get their town back.
I decided to keep riding when I reach West Cove Way, and head up to the Wawa.  No particular reason.  I just wanted to continue the ride a little longer.  Once I reached Wawa, I took a brief rest and then headed back to W Cove and finished my ride.  It felt good to get out and I got some exercise to boot.  The ride was about 13 miles.  Today is cloudy, rainy and windy.  No ride today.  But overall, a trip worthwhile.

I am trying to get back into the travel routine and I have two more trips already planned.  The are to Seattle and Arkansas.  I hope to squeeze in a few more, but with Dani expecting and due 11/8 we will have to see what will be possible.  As usual, I will keep you bored and informed!

A tribute to Two Women who Shared their lives with me

It is now late September, but this is not the usual installment in my travel log.  This is a difficult time and one that will take an many months or years to overcome.  If your looking for some interesting or not even half funny points or comments about a recent or existing trip, that will have to wait for another time.  This is just an installment to perhaps allow me to grieve and heal, although the healing part does not seem possible at the moment.  For the second time in my adult life, I have had to deal with the loss of my wife.  Chiara passed away in August after basically four years of living with and battling lung cancer.  She deserves all the credit for lasting this long as she was told more than once to get her affairs in order over these four years.  She was a courageous women who I am missing so much and will for a very long time.  I am grateful for having known her and I have more memories than I can ever list.  She made me very happy and that should tell it all. 

As I mentioned above, this is not my first time.  I lost my first wife, Janice, to cancer also, although she was diagnosed much later in the development stage (stage 4) and there was no real cure for this cancer.  That was 11 years ago, but these last four years brought a lot of those memories back.  Jan lived only 11 months from the original diagnosis, but there were so many similarities to what they both had to endure.  I am not going to note what they went through, but I will tell you they had similar goals for the time they had left.  That is what made both these women special and proved to me just what a lucky bastard I was to know them.  This point still eludes me as I do not understand what I did to deserve them but I guess I knew a good thing when I was hit over the head with it. 

As for these similarities, both women decided immediately that they would fight this disease with all they had.  Whatever the medications were, and there was Chemo, radiation, steroids, nausea reducing meds or any of the other dozen or so prescriptions that were required during their sickness, they took them religiously.  They also decided to live life to the fullest as long as they could.  They knew I loved to travel and they never took a back seat.  Jan's time was limited and there was really just the one trip to Colorado and Wyoming for sightseeing and experiencing the natural wonders of Rocky Mt National park, the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. It was a trip we, my daughter and I would never forget.  She received support from family but also from work friends and her students who sent in hand made get well cards and posters.  At her viewing, it seemed as if the entire Chester County Intermediate Unit came out to pay their respects. 

As for Chiara, her situation was different and she was graced with a longer time span to take life by the horns and ride it as long as possible.  We were able to travel to many places in the past four years, most notably Italy 5 times, Seattle (like 7 times), Alaska, Maine, Arizona, New Orleans, Miami, Boston, and just this year, Hawaii, Lourdes France and Barcelona Spain, to name a few.  She pushed herself as hard as she could and, when things got more difficult, she focused on her granddaughter to give her the strength to carry on.  Our most recent trip to Italy was extremely difficult as she fully believed it to be her last trip back home.  And it turns out she was right.  She approached it as a time to see all her family and friends one more time. 

I was equally impressed by the support she received from her family from her first marriage.  There were numerous visits to our house by those in the Trenton and Dubois areas.  The Dubois group had to travel 3.5 hours to see her, and they did it multiple times.  But everyone was there to see Chiara and provide support that just amazed me.  They were even here on that fateful day in August and stayed until late into the evening as Chiara passed away.  I would have to say that if you want to look up family in the dictionary, I think a group photo of them is in that dictionary also. 

And now, I am once again, left in the aftermath of watching a loved one die before my eyes.  Experiencing this again only served to make it more difficult to live through, as I knew how she would suffer towards the end and I could not do anything about it.  I cannot help but feel that I still did not do enough to support her as there were numerous times I raised my voice at her because she did that to me.  She needed someone to dump her frustrations onto and I was not always able to take it without becoming angry myself.  This experience is one that I would never wish on someone else,  Each day brings its own set of ups and downs.  The house is filled with memories and they have a way of breaking you down.  I am in the process of slowly clearing things out so it is easy to spend long periods of time crying and remembering what we had together.  So far, each day has brought a minor change to my grief, and it is a little bit easier to face the day, but the sadness will be there until who knows when.  All I can do is try to bring my life back to some form or normalcy and see where it leads me.  I wonder what to expect.  Ten years ago I still felt myself to be young or at least new to middle age.  I met Chiara and she made me feel young again.  I feel much older this time around and I have my doubts about reaching a similar outlook.  I guess I will need to hold on to my granddaughter and my soon to be grandson just a bit tighter from now on.  Maybe they can take me to that place Chiara brought me to back then.  I can only hope. 

Italy 2019 - Installment #4 Apartment Living(?)

It has been 9 days since we arrived in Italy.  I have noted the activities that have occurred and noted the non-activities also.  This is to be expected.  We are not tourists traveling to an exotic land that we only know about through travel guides.  This is family over here, at least for Chiara, Nello and Maria. And the main reason we are here is for Chiara to be with family.  I have stated in the past that these Italians make me feel so welcome that they are like family to me who just don't speak to me (only because I don't speak Italian and they don't speak English or very little).  Actually, they do speak to me, but I don't understand most of what they say.  There is no blame or negative connotation here.  Its just a point of reference.

As noted in previous writings, we are in an apartment, which presents it own challenges and some comic relief.  This is a three room apartment, consisting of a kitchen, a living room (used as a bedroom), and another bedroom, plus the bathroom.  It is Europe so it tends to be on the smaller size which is standard for here.  We have (now) 6 people living within these confines.  Five adults and one 2 1/2 year old.  That puts three people in each bedroom.  So you have to accommodate things based on the environment.  We have no truly set schedule but 6 people using one bathroom does take some creative thinking or you just try to work around each one's daily needs.  Some sleep later in the morning.  Others are earlier risers.  You do your thing when you see an opening and try to do it quickly.  You do your best to work within the accepted norms of where you are.  That includes where you are visiting.  The most difficult change for me is the meal schedule.  Here, lunch is not at noon, but more likely, around 2ish.  I am a bit hungry, but I can work with it.  The real issue that develops for me is what the meal of lunch really is to Italians.  This is their main course of the day.  They eat rather large meals at this time, much more than the lunches I am used to, like a half sandwich.  Pasta is like a basic requirement for lunch, but only one of many options.  There are cold cuts, cheeses, possibly sausage and or other meats, vegetable offerings and enough bread to choke a stable of horses.  If I partake of it all, and it is insulting to the host to not eat heartily, then I am over full, uncomfortable and sleepy.  So do I nap, try to walk it off or just vegetate while the rest of the crew chat up a storm without any of the issues I noted above.  These are quandaries that I must deal with on my own.

The lunch then tends to stay with me for some time, like the rest of the day.  But just because lunch is a big meal does not mean there is no dinner.  Quite the contrary.  There is always a dinner and it could rival the lunch you just had, but at the very least it will still have substance to it.  Now, since lunch is like mid afternoon, dinner is certainly not at 5 or 6 PM.  You are lucky if you start by 8 or  Many times it goes well past, as it has for us the past couple of nights.  Dinner has started around 9PM, and can go until 11 or even midnight.  And it can consist of home made or restaurant pizzas, large helpings of fish and/or seafood, sausage, cheese again, and just about anything you can think of.  And don't forget the bread.  Its fresh and always on the table.  What this means is that, if I am not full still from lunch, I will need to eat my fill at this late hour and then try to stay up even later as I cannot get a comfortable sleep with a full stomach.  This is happening a lot this trip.

This schedule can cause problems as it throws ones schedule out of whack.  This is especially true with a baby, whose is also use to a routine.  The late dinners are the ones you really have to look out for.  These keep the adults us til late and the baby might try to stay up or heads to bed.  When its time to leave you end up waking her up and it is then difficult to get her back to sleep.  We haven't figured out everything yet, but the baby is having a grand ol' time.  Kids seem to be able to find the fun in just about everything.  They are resilient.

As for what we did the last couple of days, I can certainly advise you that we did eat and saw family.  Tuesday was pretty open.  There was nothing scheduled except for dinner at her brother's restaurant.  And that was enough to talk about.  It followed the pattern.  We arrived just before 9 PM at La Fortuzza.  Here is a look at the view from his business.

It was a slow night and there were only 2 other couples there at that time.  This time is the normal dinner hour for people here.  A few more couples came in after us but it was a fairly slow night.  Well anyway, we had the usual incredible dinner feast.  A total of 9 courses.  Here are some pics for your enjoyment:

This is his usual presentation and his business has always done well.  He actually has two restaurants.  The other called Villa Chiara.  It is just a short distance from his and it is run by his son.  He has set both sons and a daughter to take over his business.  He even has another site picked to possibly build another restaurant but it has been a fight since he bought the land like
 years ago.  Many neighbors have tried to hold up the construction for whatever reason and they were successful for a long time.  He now has all approvals but he is dealing with the city inspectors for construction so it is still a bit up in the air.  It remains to be seen when or if he will build there.  But the family is well set to carry on his businesses.  That is how things are done here.  Someone starts a business.  If it becomes successful, they run it until there is family to teach the business to.  They then take over it, or rather, one gives it to his children and the legacy is born.  That is how the world turns in Italy.

One additional point to note.  Tomorrow I take Maria to the Rome airport.  She is flying back home.
She had only 10 days from her job and they have now been used up.  I am the driver as no one else seems to want to and I like the freedom we have with a car.  It is about kilometers to the Rome airport, so my trip is double that since I have to come back to Bacoli.  I was going to try it be memory, but I will have GPS to keep me straight.  We will see how straight since I have to be by 5:30 AM to get out of the house and on the road on time.
Sunday we fly to Barcelona, Spain.  We then will rent a car and drive to Lourdes, France to visit the shrine of the blessed virgin who appeared to Bernadette.  They offer a blessing in the water from a stream that comes through the rock.  It is supposed to have recuperative powers.  This is for Chiara.
I have never been to Spain, and in reality, I have only been to England, Belgium, France, and Italy up til now.  I guess I will cross off another country from my list.  Be back in Italy on Wednesday.

That should do it for now.  Hope this was at least interesting for you.  Until the next time.

Italy 2019 - 3rd Installment

The same old same old!!   

As I stated in my earlier blog, we had no really specific plans of where to go and what to do on this trip.  We are visiting family and friends and if something tickles our fancy then maybe he head out.  But that's a maybe alright.  You can use the last two days for confirmation.  Like they say: you plan your work, and you work the plan.  Boy are we ever working the plan, or non-plan would be the better take.  Just read on and you will see.

Saturday dawned early, or at least earlier for some.  I was awake before 7 and after a short time trying to get back to sleep, I decided to get up.  I took a few extra minutes to get awake and ready, and then headed out for my morning brisk walk.  It was a bit overcast and rain was in the forecast starting tomorrow, but the sun did some peeking out during the day so basically we had a cloudy but OK kind of day.  My walk around the take takes me past this one parking lot that turns into a bazaar every Saturday.  When I was passing it, the bazaar was coming to life.  Not being a bazaar type (some might argue this point) I usually have no interest in these gatherings.  But, hey, I am in Italy and this could be interesting.  I stopped and decided to walk around.  I had no money with me so looking was all I could do.  The lot was completely taken over by the vendors although a few were still setting up.  I guess the wares that were offered are similar all around the world, but maybe not.  This one had numerous fruit and vegetable stands with a wide array of items.  The peppers were very bright red, yellow and orange.  The celery, carrots and arugula were also brightly colored and everything looked bigger than what you get in the states.  There were many clothing vendors, toy vendors and such along with pastries and candy.  Being Italy, there were also olive vendors with like 10-12 different olive types in barrels and other sundry items.  I can't say this is any different than the states, but I can say that it was before 8 AM and the place was a mob scene.  Half the town was there and the other have was either on it way or just leaving.  So you go early and make a big strike, then go home  to begin supper preparations with your spoils.  I got back on my walk and headed back to the apartment.  I made my cup of tea and waited for someone to show up.  As it turned out, someone was up early.  Maria wanted to go to the beach.  So she arose about the same time I did and headed out on her own, after I had left.  Out side of the fact that she left the inner door to the apartment open and unlocked, it was a rather uneventful morning.

I ended up having a second cup of tea, just to kill the boredom.  The place didn't stir much until late morning.  We had nothing planned, but then a call from Angela and we were invited to her house for lunch.  This would be a 3rd visit for lunch since arrival.  But, a free meal is a free meal.  Once everyone got up and got ready we headed out for our noon luncheon that started around 2:15.  It was again, pasta, bread, salami and fruit.  You don't go away hungry, but I do go away sleepy.  It is too heavy for my sensitive stomach.  I feel over full and I know that I eat too much.  Just that way it is.  And it tends to impact my dinner, which I am too full to eat.  So that was one of our two exciting activities of the day.  The other was our trip to church which is up the street from our place, about 2/3rds of a mile.  As we got to the gates for the lot, there were no spaces.  There were no spaces outside the church either.  So we went to this lot that had one space open.  We took it, wondering if we were illegally parking, but sometimes you have to live on the edge.  We walked back to the church and finally realized that mass was like half over and we basically missed it.  We slithered back to the car and then parked the car at the apartment (more later) and settled in for the evening.  Another exciting day has passed on by.

Sunday was not much different that Saturday, except that I did not walk the lake path.  It was raining in the AM and on and off for the remainder of the day.  The day did start a little earlier as Nello was coming in to the Naples airport and I had to pick him up.  So everyone except Maria came along.  He was due in at 11:35 and arrived soon after that.  But we had to wait for him to deplane and get through customs.  We arrived at 11:30, found a place to park the car (I think is was one of the 1/2 dozen spaces for Uber like operators, but we stayed there anyway.  Nello showed up about 12:08 PM and we headed back to the apartment so he could shower and change.  Once he was done, we headed back out to go to, you guessed it, Angela's as she invited us again.  Lunch was fruitte de mare (seafood) with spaghetti, bread and some cold cuts, plus pastries.

Again, ate too much and got tired.  Went back home and stayed until 6 when we headed back to church for mass.  I have included a few pics of the church. And that was the day again.

Now, to give you and idea about driving and parking in Italy, I have a few pics of the car, the driveway and the street we are on.  As you will note, the car is a mini van called Alahambra.  It easily holds 6 people and up to 8 total.  So its not a compact.  The problem there is that most of the cars are compact or just slightly larger.  They fit anywhere.  Mine does not so easily.  To get into the parking spot at the apartment, I have to maneuver back and forth multiple times to get into the spot and then to get out.  If I do not do it correctly, I will scratch up the car very badly.  The driveway has walls on both sides and is about 18 inches wider than the van, but there are pipes sticking out of the wall that makes things a bit antsy.  The car beeps when you are close to an object, and this car is like a symphony going down the driveway and when I try to park.  There is also another car of someone who lives there so I have to out maneuver that too.  It is very tight.  Its not much better on the road, with cars parked everywhere and buses and trucks taking up half your lane.  But its Italy, so you learn to deal with it.  Look at the following to get an idea.

Its hard to get the true picture from these.  You need to be there and experience it.  But that is not practical so this is the best I can do.  And so ends this blog.  I hope there will be more activity in the coming weeks.  Just try to overlook the lack of excitement.  Who says writing has to be interesting?

Italy Once and For All 2019

Big Cashew in Italy 2019 - Second Installment

I should say upfront that there will most likely be a day or two between blog updates.  Its hard to write when there is not much happening, or more precisely, just more normal, daily activities or non-activities.  But I will do my best to provide some form of entertainment although that has always been a difficult mountain to climb for me.
The reason for this uncertainty is that Chiara has been suffering from exhaustion for a few months.  There was concern she would have to cancel the trip, but we managed to drag her along, kicking an screaming, and if you really know her then you understand that kicking part all too well.  But I digress again.

The last two days have been long on hanging around and short on most everything else.  But I promised mind numbing chatter in my blogs so we push onward.  I should also note that my function here is basically to be the chauffeur for the group, try to keep Chiara up on her appointments (meetings with friends, family, Post Office Bank, etc., etc.).  I am not here to schedule local trips, sightseeing or meals.  I am just her man "Friday" and that is good enough for me. I eat well, even if severely late at night, and way too much for a man of my inabilities.

Yesterday was pretty much hanging around for the first half.  I was up and out by 7:30 for my daily walk around the lake in Bacoli.  Since I am not able to hit the gym, my normal routine, I use this walk as my exercise to start the day.  The lake is about a mile and half around and many older locals are out there with me.  The apartment is about 1,000 yards from the trail so it is pretty close.  I return to the apartment about an hour later.  No one up or even stirring.  There was no sign of life until after 9:30 and that consisted of just a peak as to who else was awake.  That was pretty much it for the time.  My lunch time was coming and still there were minimal sightings.  Even her sister Angela and Pietro stopped by around 10:30 to see if we wanted to take a walk around the lake, but the crew quickly shot that idea down as too strenuous and they were not yet awake.  Yes, I am surrounded by a bunch of woosies.

It took until after noon before we finally saw some activity and left the house, and that was to go grocery shopping.  This was the highlight of the day.  I was able to pick up iced tea, some English breakfast Tea, chips for snacks and a watermelon.  They have an earlier growing season here than in the states.  Once we returned back to the apartment, we went back into energy conserving mode (not doing very much).  Chiara did have a social gathering planned around 5:30 with some old friends, and after that we were invited out for dinner with friends of Angela and Pietro.  That tuned into a very late night as dinner started around 9 PM.  I just cant win.  I was up until after 2 AM trying to sleep as I was too full to feel comfortable lying down to sleep.  I think this could be the main theme for the rest of our time here.


Today was a pretty close mirror of yesterday, except there were no local family siteings.  I arose from my great night's sleep of maybe 4 hours around 8 AM.  I got up, got dressed and headed out for that morning walk again.  The excitement this time was that I went the opposite way around the lake.  They don't call me daredevil for nothing.  I arrived back at the apartment around 9 and after a few minutes cool down, I headed into the kitchen to make my morning cup of tea.  I ended up having 2 cups of my tea and a piece of bread.  I can barely contain the excitement.  We hung around the apartment until early afternoon.  Then we decided to head to Genaro's restaurant to pick up some fresh seafood he was holding for us.  We were going to visit for a while, however, his restaurant was booked for a couple of weddings that were just about ready to start, so we said our hello's and goodbyes and got back in the car.  We dropped the fish back at our place in the fridge and then headed out.  No one was sure where to go, so I name dropped the Gelato shop and off we went.  This suggestion was universally accepted.  We parked the car in one of the lots downtown and walked over to that spectacular local business and indulged in their wares.  After we had consumed our heavenly delights, we walked around a bit.  Then we found a small amusement shop open with kiddie rides and on them went baby Chiara.  She appeared to enjoy every moment of it, except for the leaving part.  Well, that's understandable.

We headed back to our humble abode and settled in for the time being.  Dinner was discussed and what accoutrements were still required, such as garlic and other spices.  Where we are located is along a street with the usual many little businesses.  Surprisingly many are fruit, vegetable and other sundry item shops that probably make a subsistence living.  There could be a dozen similar shops within yards of each other.  Anyway, we walked up the street and found one such place.  They are just mom and pop businesses and you get very good pricing for freshly picked items.  Many of this shops also carry a small gathering of wines.  No great selection, but the stuff the local families drink with their meals.  Yes, wine consumption is the norm here, but you rarely see someone drunk.  That's just how it is.  And another point to always remember when in these towns in Italy.  They close down almost all shops in the afternoon here, any time between 1 and 5 when they go home, have lunch and then rest until they head back and open up their shops again until about 8 PM.  Just that way it is.

Dinner this night was fish and Octopus with a little pasta.  The fish was leftover from our visit the night before.  We heated it up in the oven.  The Octopus was provide by Genaro.  It was fresh from earlier in the day and he cooked it for us.  Chiara made an octopus salad out of it.  Sounds good to me and I had my fill of it.  We also finished some left over chicken from the other night.  They do rotisserie chicken in a number of restaurants here.  There are two or three within a very short walk from us.  They are rather tasty and you get it right out of the oven.  I think we will be having this again in the coming weeks.  After dinner, we basically stayed in for the night, although 2 in our party decided to head down to the local bar/restaurant to check out the action!  Well that is the cover story, but they actually went to get some desserts and get out of our cramped surroundings.  They were back just before midnight but noted that the place was just starting to fill up as it was a weekend evening and the younger crowd loves to party.

So that is about it for this dissertation.  Time to close up and put the laptop away until next time.
Tune is one of these days for the next chapter of "As Bacoli Turns"  I know the suspense has you on the edge of your seat.  You will just have to be patient.

Buona Sera!!!

Big Cashew is Back in the Blog Again - Italy 2019

Well, it has been awhile since my last post from our previous trip to Italy in October '18.  I had actually written a couple drafts of our trip to Hawaii earlier this year, but I had laptop issues.  So I went out and bought a new laptop and now I have to christen it for your entertainment.  I figured it was about time to take up the pen in hand anyway and literally bore the socks off of what constitutes my list of followers.  That number varies greatly, even starting and ending at zero.  But I digress.  On with our Italian travels.

We are here in Bacoli, Italy.  That little town outside of Naples, right on the Mediterranean, where Chiara's family is from.  We will be here for over 3 weeks, taking in the sites, sounds, and tastes of the region, and all the pot holes I can drive into.  Yes, the infrastructure is crumbling, but what do you expect after two or three thousand years.  The food is great, the gelati is to die for and its nice to just sit around enjoying the views of the land and sea.  Now we just arrived yesterday after the usual all night flight, so we were just full of energy and ready to take on all comers.  And if you believe that, then I still have a bridge in Brooklyn that I can sell you.  There is not much to enlighten you on at this point, since we are just getting started, but the trip in does provide some insight into what I am sure will transpire to make this another "trip of a life time".

We did things a little differently this time around.  First, we did not fly from Philly.  We left from JFK (NY), which is about 2 1/2 hours or so from home, depending on NYC traffic.  JFK came into the picture when I discovered that the cost to fly from Philly was $1400 plus, while JFK was $800 and change.  Since it was (initially) the two of us, that was a savings of over $1200, which would cover the car rental and the parking at the airport with some leftover.  It seemed like a reasonable decision so that is how it came about.  As it turned out, I timed the drive to almost perfection.  We left at 11 AM for 4:45 departure time.  The drive is about 120 miles.  Traffic was light to moderate until we got to Queens, NY.  At that point it was bumper to bumper, but that was the last 15 miles of the trip.  We parked the car at an off-site lot (Jiffy Park), were immediately loaded onto the shuttle van and taken to the correct terminal. Taking into account the check in, security review and walk to the specific gate, we arrived at the correct gate a little after 2:30, so our waiting time was reduced.  Since we were traveling with a baby (more on the later) we needed to keep her from getting too antsy which this accomplished. We did have a hiccup as we were getting ready to board.  I was called up along with 30+ other people.  I was hoping for an upgrade but that was not the case.  They needed to see my passport (again) as something was not set up properly on their end.  I waited almost a half hour as they were so slow at the counter.  I gave up and got out of the line.  I then forced the stewardess to handle it as I was boarding the plane.  Still not sure what the issue was since when we checked in, everything was fine.  This caused some confusion and I forgot Chiara's jackets and hat, but Keila took care of them so no harm no foul. Such is life.

Getting back to the baby, as I noted, we were originally a twosome.  That changed when both Nello and Maria decided they wanted to go to Italy with us to see the family and show off little Chiara like they did 2 years earlier.  Suddenly we had a 5-some, with 6 people.  Sounds a bit strange but that's the truth!  As it turned out, Keila and little Chiara made reservations that matched ours.  Then Maria, decided she had to come and pooled her vacation time, and some she didn't really have, to splice 11 days together.  She then scheduled a flight, out of Philly by the way, to Rome, set to arrive 2 hours after we get in.  She will return on 5/31, out of Rome at 11:30 AM.  As it turned out, her flight was delayed and we had an additional 2 1/2 hour wait for her.  That was a tough break since we were already tired from our overnighter.  So Maria was the 5th person in our group.  But she was not the last.  Nello decides that he will make the trip also, but with different flights and times than Keila and baby.  He arrives Sunday, May 26 into Naples airport, so we become a 6-some for 5 days.  He stays until June 9th, leaving at 7 AM .  Guess who gets to drive them both to the airport for their separate departures?  I will need to put paper clips in my eyes to keep them open, I will be so tired!

I think that's enough for one day.  Watch for future updates in the coming days.  Until then!!!