My Family Tree

OK, as I said yesterday, forget the web page, I am now making my family tree.

I always knew my great grandfather came from Ireland, but couldn't get any info from my dad, and my grandfather is gone.

Anyway,w as doing searches, and through the death record online that I can buy, I found my grandfather's mother's maiden name, which open up a whole bunch of new information. I got the passenger list when she came across.

Anyway, am getting info on my dads side in, then my moms side (sorry mom, all the dad's side is on slips of paper , need to get them down first, here's the site.


family tree

Random thoughts

Even though I love Italy, I really don't mind leaving to go to Germany.

Chinese food tastes good in any country.

It's easy to get Jess mad, just flick toothpicks at her when out to dinner.

I'm really not much of a wine drinker.


My son Nick, with his first piercing. He just got it..... GRRRRRR

I miss wireless internet, or any kind of internet at home.

I've just discovered that I am lazy and I DON'T WANNA GO BACK TO WORK!!!!

I'm worried I will stop losing weight when I get to Germany.

I have applied to about 30 jobs in Germany.

This whole writing in blogs thing kind of comes and goes. It's fun to do when I have done touristy things, otherwise it's not so fun.

Oh yeah, forget my new web page, I am already bored with it.

I like to sleep until noon.

I'm bored. A whole week til I leave for Germany.

Night.... :-p

web page

ok, I have been farting around for the last few hours while downloading Linux for my computer, it's hosed..

So I decided to create a webpage. Hey mom! (or anyone else for that matter), click on the link below to go to my webpage, then click on Live chat. If I am online, we can talk!! And if we get Jess on too, all htree of us can talk to each other.

http://www.dianaleavesamerica.bravehost.com/

Keep an eye on it, great things will be coming.. I will have chat on it, so maybe I can even talk live to someone!

Weekly poll, etc. Should be fun, or it will die a sad death if I never have a chance to work on it... YOU decide..

tomorrow

Getting late today, but just wanted to post. I've been online trying to come up with a way to fix my pc that doesn't want to boot.

I've been spending HOURS finding the cheapest way to get to Germany.
I also deceided to go to Tues Sept 6th (6th??) because Ryanair had airfare to Frankfurt for 4.99 euro. Can't beat that with a stick. Ends up with taxes being 25 euro. I'll need to take a train to the Pisa/Florence airport for about 10 euro and from Franfurt to Heidelberg for about 13 euro. So for 50 euro or about 65 US dollars I can get from Italy up to Germany. Not bad. Train fare WITH a special through Munich was going to run 144.00 euro.

Anyway, a week later than I wanted to, but that's ok.

Will make a HUGE effort to remember to write a decent blog here tomorrow. - di

Phase Three

Ok, no question mark on this keyboard, well at least I can not get to it.

I kind of ended in the middle of the Germany trip, last time I blogged.

Basically we headed back through Austria this time to avoid the traffic. No such luck, then it rained so hard, it flooded Germany, Switzerland AND Austria.. I didnt do it!! *short version*


Today was the last full day we had the rental car, so we went back down to Naples to see Pompeii.. We actually got in this time!

The joke of the day for me was.. Hey Jess, look over there... MORE RUINS!!! She was pretty mad after the first 30 times I said it to her..


Trust me, once you see the people they dug up, it-s no fun anymore, at least to me. But Jess loved it, it is HUGE, the people in front of us were Americans, saying they had an hour and a half to do it... Fools.. We were there like 3 hours, it was too hot, no water anywhere to be found, etc, so we left. But you could spend way more time there....

Of course Mt Vesuvius was sunny, but we had taken too long at Pompeii, so no looking into the volcano.

Pictures will be online tomorrow.

Right now we are in a mini crisis. Funds getting low.

Jess is waiting in Italy until her books that she shipped from the US come, that could be another week or two. We have the apt until Oct 1st, and can legally be in Italy until the 3rd of Oct, but I need to start making money.

The plan is for me to fly up to Germany this Sunday night. You can fly Ryanair for 40 euros, takes two hours. Then I can stay in a hostel and look for work and a place to live.

Ryanair is one of my friend Eric-s airlines.... YEAH!

Hopefully getting that will coincide with her, then I will rent a van, drive it down to Italy, pick up the gang, and drive back up to Germany.

Boy, it is getting interesting now!

I have applied to a ton of civilian jobs at the military bases in Germany, and about 6 private companies.

OK Wayne, before you say anything about how come I would work for the US if I want out of the country, hey. We get paid dollars and spend them in Germany...... Plus we are not in the US......
Though I would much rather have a German job that gets paid in euros, I will take what I can get right now!

Ok, going to do some job searching, will post photos of Pompeii tomorrow.

BYE!

On to Germany

A couple of shots of when we took off to Siena last week for the Palio (horse race) We never stayed for the race, the crowds were too intense.

Siena

Siena

Siena

On Satuday morning I even managed to get up at 4:00 am to start off for Germany! We left about 5:40 am and didn't get to Heidelberg until about 10:30 that evening. the drive should have taken 10 hours, I added on another 2 for us stopping, but it took about 15 to get there because of a traffic jam in Switzerland. Everyone was coming home from their vacations. There is a loooooong tunnel in Switzerland when the road goes form 2 lanes into 1. That was what hung us up for two hours.

I really hated that tunnel because it pretty much cuts right through the Alps, so we missed seeing so much, though I am sure I would love it if I had to travel through Switzerland in the middle of winter when it was snowing like crazy.

Below is a picture of the border of Italy and Switzerland. They pretty much waved everything through. Of course when it came to our turn they waved us off to the side.. I swear, if there is any kind of security check, they see me and grin.

Luckily it wasn't a security check (though I had nothing to hide). Unluckily we had to buy a 30 euro sticker to to put on the windshield to allow to drive through Switzerland.

We were also mad because not ONE border stamped our passports. We were going to ask them to do that on the way home, but neither the German or Austrian border even had people there. Grrrr.

The border between Italy and Switzerland.

I could barely stand it once we got into Switzerland. I had been dying to see the Alps since I first started planning the trip to Italy. I was even considering flying into Zurich so that we could drive or take the train down into Italy when we first arrived in Europe. No wishy washy hills for me, I wanted to see MOUNTAINS!

One of our first glimpses of the Alps

A peek at some of the higher mountains in the distance


I love how the clouds hang

You would be driving and suddenly there would be littles waterfalls coming down the sides of the mountains!

As luck would have it, all of the peaks were covered by clouds that day, no sun or anything.. I missed the ALPS!! *LOL* I never used to feel like an unlucky person, but I have to tell you, I am starting to wonder if I left my luck in the US.

Unfortunately the day we went (and came back) All the peaks were covered in clouds. I was so mad!

A little village at the bottom of one of the mountains

We passed by an amazing lake, the water was green like you would see in the Caribbean. I would love to see it when it was sunny out.

It is starting to get late tonight, so I am going to just leave you with some pictures for now. I will get more into the adventure tomorrow. Enjoy!

What I am assuming was a glacial lake along the way. Unfortunately with the long drive we really didn't get a chance to stop and find out about any of these places. Next time!!

Any kind of open area was beatiful and green. This was the same in Germany. The color doesn't even begin to show how bright and green it really was.

I know this is blurry, but each one of the rectangular shapes was actually a window box shaped planter actually embedded in the side of the highway with plants or flowers growing it it. This was in Germany.

A sign in Germany.

Jess caught an amazing German sunset on film!

The view from the window of our hotel in Heidelberg, Germany. This was on the Neckar river.

Again, the view from our hotel window.

Amazing view!

A shot of our hotel room (for mom to see)

We saw several groups of people rowing against the current on the Neckar river.

A view of the front of our hotel. Our room was a floor highter, which was made up of soffets (sp?)

The view to one side of our hotel .Beautiful! Cobblestone streets everywhere in the town.

The street on the right side of our hotel

We were laughing when setting this picture up. You have the beautiful architecture and then this "Sex Shop" sign!

A beautiful hotel.

I took this picture to also show the flowers the run along the mid section of this. They don't show up here, but were bright red and looked wonderful!

Looking down the main street. If you like to shop, this place is for you. It is FULL of great shops.

This building had a lot more gold on the upper part, but I was shooting into light and if I tried to get more of it, the picture would black out.


From a Christmas store. Mom, maybe you know of this person? There were so MANY beautiful things, but these were all I could afford, they cost .75 euros each!


A picture across the square from where we sat and ate lunch.

A slightly different view. Mom, they all ride bikes here, you'd love it!

The castle up on the hill. We didn't have time to visit it. Next time.



Jess loved that the radio stations in Switzerland would show the name of the song and the artist. Pretty slick!

WOW

That´s all I have to say about the ALPS, and we didn´t even get to see the good ones. 2 hour delay on the road, we thought there was some huge accident ahead, turns out to be everyone driving home from vacation and going from two lanes into one to get into this tunnel the was like 15 miles long. You bypass all the good stuff.
Anyway, the 10 hour trip we thought would take 12 for us turned into something like 15 hours! we got in at 10:30 pm. Luckily, since I didn´t have to secure with a credit card, I had written to let the hotel we would be in by late afternoon, but that we would be there.

Anyway, we xhanged the route and are coming back through Austria. Dang it, I plan to hit as many countries as I can.
Anyway, I am sitting at an internet cafe in Heidelberg, WE WANT TO LIVE HERE.

Man, stores like crazy here, siyes we can wear, even a couple of Subways!

Mom, you will go nuts with the Christmas stores. It will give you TONS of ideas of things to make. Will keep tou busy for years!

Anyway, it´s already almost 1 pm here, so I will be driving til like midnight. I am going to stop here and will write tomorrow sometime and have pictures of the trip too.

Bye!! Love Diana

Just a bit sidetracked

I received a nice comment about people rooting for me back there, and not to give up the dream of living in Italy.

I just wanted to let you know that in no way I am giving it up. If I was, I would be heading back to the US.

Unfortunately the dream hasn't quite gone as I had planned. Money, as usual has gone much faster than I thought it would. I had also planned on getting a year student visa, which would allow me to work PT to supplement my money.

Well, the reality is, no student visa, which means that for now, we have to leave Italy by the 3rd of October. Also, since no student visa to work PT, no extra money. Going to Germany is only a temporary situation, to recharge the bank account etc. We were lucky enough to find a country where we could apply for a visa without going back to the US.

So don't worry, the dream is not even close to dead, it's just including some travel time to Germany!!!

Speaking of which, tomorrow morning, early, we are heading out to drive to Heidelberg, we'll be staying overnight in Germany, and driving back to Italy some time late Sunday. The hotel we are staying at has a wireless LAN, so hopefully we can get some pictures online of the trip.

Anyone that knows someone in Germany that can rent us a place to stay temporarily, speak up! I just spoke with a temporary housing agent from Heidelberg, no rentals for us unless I have a job and no places for cats. (Good grief, must EVERYTHING be so hard??) *LOL*

Here is a picture of Heidelberg in the fall (from an online site) :

Heidelberg - amazing!

Blockbuster Italian style!

Yeah!we went to Blockbuster today!

Before I write any more,make sure to read the entry under this one, it has pictures from the cemetary, etc.

Anyway,Blockbuster!!!We have movies. Ok, they are olderfor the US but I don't care,they are movies.... We rented Hostage, Hide and Seek and Alien Vs Predator.

Even though I knew my card number, it didn't work, as I figured. I had to start a new account which was just your name and address, and my drivers license showing I am who I am. Forget needing a major cedit card, she didn't even want proof of my address here.

They keep all movies behind the counter, all boxes on the wall are empty. We spoke with the girl behind the counter, she knew some English. She said they have the same problem with theft so they don't even use the locks, they just keep all DVDs in the drawers.

We bought taco chips, salsa and guacamole! (in a jar) who cares, it was great!

They have the same junk food by the counters, etc. The movies we got all said they had some sort of english version, hoping it is the audio and notjust subtitles. We will only be able to watch them on Jess' computer because they are region 2, so our DVD player will not be able to play it.

Jess is so happy she is even talking of coming home early and not partying all night, so she can watch movies... (sheesh!!)

EVERYTHING is closed in this town, with the exception of this internet cafe. Even the gas stations, you can get self serve, but the inside is not open. Tomorrow is a huge holiday, Ferragosto.

When we got gas, I used the wrong credit card and overdrew the US bank account. AAUUGHHH: There goes $30-$40 down the tubes.
Cats will also be eating spaghetti or something, we only have one can of food left for them, but a couple of cans of tuna. Poor things..

Ok, just rambling now, am going.

Yes! Just made a hotel reservation in Heidelberg for next Sat night. Here is a link to the hotel:
hotel in Germany

15 minutes late to the end of the world

That's what we will be, when it happens.

Yesterday was our trip down past Naples, to the coast. I wanted to drive to Salerno, then bus toRavello, see the town, the Mediterranean(sp) and have a nice day. *LOL* Didn't I say that after the fiascos in Rome that I would only take tours of places, not try to do it on our own?? Yes, yes, you can call me all those names you are thinking of.

We were supposed to leave at 6 am, but there was no way I could crawl out of bed that early, so we ended up leaving about 9. It is about a 5 hour drive to where we were going, but I figured with the way speeds are on the autostrade, we could make good time.

Those of you who know Jess and I well are probably laughing. Driving anywhere always takes at least a couple hours longer than it should for us, we like to stop to see things, etc.

First stop, gas for the car. I was on half empty, and diesel cost me about 33 euros for that half tank, about $41 US dollars for 1/2 tank on the tiniest car known to man! (be glad you are only paying $2.40 a gallon, it costs at least $4.8 for diesel here, though the cars go WAAAY farther than American cars go on a tank of gas.) I grabbed a cafe (espresso) also, and water.

As we were passing Naples, I said to Jess, "wow, look at that mountain, that looks like a volcano!" "No, no, no, that's not a volcano." she says.

"YES! I remember reading that Naples lies in the shadow of MT Vesuvius(sp)".

After almost passing it, she agreed that maybe it looked like a volcano.

We managed to get lost getting to Salerno, and by then were bickering. We ended up taking a windy road down into some town, and parking on a hill and walking to the beach below.

It wasn't sunny, and you couldn' see too far out, and being grumpy, we weren't too impressed, which is bad, because I usually love everything about Italy. Either way, we went in and did some splashing in the water. We didn't have suits, but got our feet wet. Still, at this point we were pretty grumpy.

We started driving in the direction of Salerno, hoping to come across a sign to Ravello, but nothing. My first complaint about Italy, it can be so hard to find places. Even tourist spots, there is like one tiny sign on some side street, and that's it. Minimal advertising of some of the wonders of the world. *G*


We ended up giving up, and finally found our way back onto the autostrade, and back towards Naples. It was only about 4 pm, so I stopped to take a look at the map we had. I thought we could go to Pompeii, we should still have enough time.

I found the general direction to go, and off we went. The way we went ended up going north and the west around what we now knew was Mt Vesuvius.

Trying to find Pompeii, I noticed a sign pointing to the volcano. No way that I was going to pass up driving up a volcano! Of we went, with Jess mentioning that she really didn't like volcanoes too much, and when we started up the side of it, along twisty turny roads, she was NOT thrilled.

Before we had started up, we had noticed that there was a pretty big cloud (or fog) starting to cover the top of it, but figured that as long as we were there we'd keep going.

After probably 15-20 minutes of driving in second gear most of the time, and first around the corners, we got as far up as the road would allow us. This was like a major tourist trap area, figures of tiny volcanoes made out of what looked like lava and spray painted luminous colors of green, orange, red. Books, calendars, you name it. Preeeetttty tacky.

Even an ashtray made out of what looked like volcanic ash or rock, with a marijuana leave painted on it he inside in glow in the dark green paint. (Sorry Nick, I was going to get it for you, but I was pretty sure that you had outgrown that phase.) :-)

After parking, we could see that there was a path leading up to what we figured was the mouth of the volcano. You couldn't really see anything unless you went up there, so we went to buy tickets.

"Sorry, the man at the gate says.. We're closed."

"What time is it?" I ask him.

"6:15." he says.

"What time do you close?" I ask?

"6:00" he answers.

Groaning, we head back to the car, by way of a gift shop where Jess buys a book about Pompeii that has clear sheets that go over pictures of the now ruins, that would show what Pompeii looked like before it was covered with volcanic ash.

Did I mention that we paid 2.5 euros to park? UGH!

Anyway, driving back down the road there were a couple of spots where you could pull off the road and see where the volcanic ash/mud/ whatever you called it was, which was pretty cool as the clouds/fog was moving down into the valley. Also driving down you could catch glimpses of the lava fields, but I was really dissapointed that I didn't get to go up to the mouth of the volcano and look in.

Anyway, again, I should know by now to book tours to these types of things.

After stopping along the road, we noticed a tour bus coming down that said Pompeii on it.

"Follow that bus!" said Jess..... and we did.

It ended up stopping in the middle of some suburban street where we almost hit the back end of it, and were forced to pull back, and keep going down the street. We finally gave up trying to find Pompeii... no signs anywhere, and went to get back on the autostrade. While paying our 15th 1.40 euro toll of the day, we asked the man at the booth where Pompeii was. He said to head back towards Salerno... UGH....

So back again we went, and low and behold, a SIGN that said here was the exit to Pompeii. YES!

I had heard somewhere that it was open until 1/2 hour after dusk, so I knew we had time.

We actually found Pompeii! We parked along another really touristy road of souveniers(sp) and walked up to the entrance. They had audio tours you could rent, and I figured that would be the way to go. We went up and I asked the man in the booth how much for the audio tour, and he said 6.50 euro, 10 for the both of us. Great! I asked Jess if she wanted one too, because at first she said she didn't want one, and she said "sure, why not."
"We'll take two!" I told the man.

At which point he says. "Oh, but the site is closed for the evening."

"Excuse me?" i said.

"Yes, can't you see the ticket office is closed?"

I said. "Ok, but I know for a fact that you are open until 1/2 hour after dusk."

"Sure," he said but the entrance is closed at 6 pm and everyone has to be out of the site by 7:30.

With a sigh I ask: "What time is it now?"

"6:15" he says.

I figured it would be.

Off we went, to drive the 5 hours back to Perugia.

Did I mention that we would only go places with a tour guide from now on?

Did I also mention that we are driving 6 hours up to the border of Italy and France tomorrow to ride up on a cable car thingy to the top of Mont Blanc which is on the border, and you can see the Alps from there?

Wish us luck...............

One thing that happened in Perugia while we were gone. I guess about 6 police came into the internet place we used, were checking what was on the computers, asking people for papers etc. I would have been pretty scared if I had been there. They had their big uzi(sp) type guns out and everything. They want the owner to copy down the name and address of everyone who used a computer, but I don't know if he will be doing that. Can you imagine what a headache that would be and how it could drive business away. But then again, the police have a very legitimate reason for doing this. My guess is that many internet places have been where people involved in terrorism have gone. It would make sense.

We also have some pretty big news about us. It looks like we will be heading to Germany to live next. I don't see anyway of staying here after our 90 days are up on Oct 3rd. The questura (police) says no to extending our tourist visas, plus I see no job in sight and our money is starting to run out fast.

Our sources tell us Germany is a good place to be able to stay, looks like we can get a one year visa. Also, both Germany and Austria allow you into the country first, and then you can apply for a visa, so we won't have to go back to the US like we would if we wanted to stay in Italy. There is some sort of agreement that we can do it from within the country, so that rocks.

I really wanted to go to Austria, but I kept reading about the muggings in Vienna, and the crime etc, it made me nervous. We have gotten REALLY used to being able to pretty much walk around Perugia any time day or night and feel pretty safe.

I don't think Salzburg will be a big enough place for me to be able to get a job in IT. So Germany it is, at least as of today! :-)

Heidelberg Germany has two huge companies that hire IT people, I THINK at least one of them American, one a huge software company.. I put in my resume there yesterday. I just started reseachign the whole Heidelburg thing a day ago, so things could change, but as of now, that is where we are planning to go.

I know Heidelberg has a big US military presence there, which does not thrill me in the least, but I really need somewhere we can settle for a bit and replenish our funds. Plus the rent here Perugia is killing me, about $750 US a month, I know we can get places for much less.

Anyway......

Here is the picture of my snail from dinner a few nights ago:

Now this is a slow trav meal

Some other odds and ends of pictures we've taken:

Kitty - AKA "Devil Cat" (note mom, she is in the fountain that is up in our bedroom of the apt.)


A now demure, unpossessed(sp) Kitty in the fountain.

Gizzy, only half possessed in the fountain.

We finally got back to the cemetary with cameras this time. Jess took some in black and white that need to be developed, these are some I took with the digital. Have I ever said how much I love that little camera? It takes great pictures.
Please make sure you double click on these pictures to see larger views, they are beautiful.

One of the walls of tombs. Notice all the flowers, both fresh and silk. People come every week and replace flowers, clean graves etc... Pretty amazing.

A row of above ground tombs. Again, notice all the flowers!


An example of the statues all over the cemetery.


An example of one of the family crypts or mausoleums(sp)Many have figures carved into it or statues outside, in the middle is the gated door into it. There is usually an alter for candles, pictures of the deceased, flowers etc. I have seen praying benches inside also.

the inside of the previous picture

One of the beautiful carvings.

A closer loook.

The view along one of the walkways.

Inside another, to show that many of the tombs have pictures of the deceased, obviously before they died.

Some of the plainer graves that are in the center of the cemetery. In the background you see part of one of the long covered walkways that have some of the ornate tombs.


Some of the carvings, though beautiful, also have a haunting, even scary feel to them, like this one.

A view down the walkway, there is one on each side of the smaller graves in the center of the cemetery, to the right in this picture is where each family has their vault and carvings, etc.

The ceilings along these walkways are painted blue, with gold stars.



One of my favorites. It looks like part of her gown had been painted at one time.

A different view of her.

Although still amazing to look at, the carvings of the people themselves who had died are sometimes a little uncomfortable to look at, not sure why, but they are.



You can see how ornate the whole area can be.

A closer view of the last picture, notice how the angel is repeated and fades out along the marble next to it.. Amazing....

These stairs lead down to an underground room the length of the walkway, with tombs in the wall on both sides, nothing ornate, but like the ones outside (the first picture I showed)that just have urns for flowers on them. It was too late in the day for the pictures I took underground to show.

A closeup of another of the beautiful statues



Another view down one of the side paths.

Amazing tiles on one of the outside mausoleums.

Some of the "less ornate" graves. Jess said they belonged to miltary, but I am not sure where the information came from....





No words could do this justice.

The whole view of the previous statue

Again, beautiful in an unnerving way.

Any of the pictures not shown here are on Jess' photo album. Here's the link:

http://journals.aol.com/itvixen/RomePictures/

Make sure to click on guest if you want to see larger images of her photos.