The Eagle Has Landed (I'm Back)!!!
I'm safely back in the good old US of A. :)
Monday, August 13, 2007
Friday, August 3, 2007
Boats & Sun (Part 2 - Additional Photos)
Boats & Sun (Part 1)
This day began as the rest have, very uneventful. That is until Sal, our Italian God, arrived (more on who exactly Sal is in another post and why he was given this moniker). Sal was looking for something to do today, something outside his usual excursions. He asked Haley, Cami and myself if we'd like to rent a "cigarette" boat, a.k.a. a speed boat, to tour the Amalfi coast - from Sorrento up to Amalfi and back. Naturally everyone said yes, including myself. Now, for many of you, I'm not sure if you are aware of my deep-seated fear of water, but for me to say yes was a big deal. Oh, I should mention, that trip was like my 4th boat ride this summer, so I was extremely proud of myself for breaking out of my comfort zone. I was still nervous as hell, but when in Rome..... Back to the story. Haley asked if Javier and Allen, two recent college grads who were staying at Mami Camilla and we'd befriended, would want to tag along. So Cami, being Cami (more or her in another post, tentatively titled Watermelon & Fried Chicken), runs along to see if the guys are awake. Should have mentioned that it's approx. 9 AM on a Saturday morning. Cami returns to say the guys are up for the adventure and will be along shortly. Now, we (Cami, Haley, Sal & myself) have an ulterior motive for inviting along the guys. In short, the more people, the less it will cost to rent the boat. Simple math really. *smile* Now, Sal, the girls and myself are waiting on the guys. We waited about 15 minutes, which in my mind was too damn long for two guys to get dressed. It's hot as hell outside, we're going on a boat all day, how long does it take for t-shirts and shorts!?! So, Haley asks that I go "retrieve" them, light a fire under them so to speak. I walk over to the other side where the dorm is, and Allen is just walking out, while Javier is on the computer checking his email! I think they could tell by the look on my face that Alexis was not a happy camper. The next thing I hear is "Morning Alexis, we're on our way". I asked if they were almost ready since we've been waiting about 20 minutes at this point. Lordy, they actually told me they weren't aware we were waiting. {shaking head} Once everyone is assembled, off we went. I should point out that we were still unaware as to whether we would have success renting a boat. Specifically due to 1) it was an absolutely beautiful day and everyone was trying to get out on the water; 2) the boat rental price was still an approximation - it could have been more or less. Turns out our Italian god knows everyone and was able to get a very nice hook-up - only cost us 30 euro (approx 50 USD) each, which included gas for the boat.
The ride out was, as usual, the most amazing time I've had in my life.
This butt-ugly photo is only posted so allow you guys to see how fast the boat was going. The water spray in the background is real. I held my camera up and pointed, hoping I'd catch both the spray and cliff side as background. And, I want to point out that I look a mess, ONLY because the boat was going so damn fast and all semblance of style goes out the window when wind and salt water are beating the hell out of you.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Funny Story (Alexis' Version of Italian)
So many of you know that I studied Italian for the first 4 weeks of my stay. So, into the second week, after we'd learned how to say plate, cup, knife, fork, spoon, etc, our instructor holds up flash cards of items we've learned, and we have to recite the name in Italian. So she holds up a picture of a cup, and I proceed to say "cazzo" with all the confidence I can muster. Well, by the looks of the expression on her face, you would think I slapped her. She said, "Alexis!!!!! Don't ever say that word again!!! Ever!" Ok, so now, I have a stunned look on my face - what the hell, all I said was cup, in italian. My instructor is still trying to recover from the shock, and I'm still sitting there dumbfounded. She proceeds to tell me, that no only am I not saying cup, but I am so far from it, it's not even funny. She tells me that what I'm saying is "prick", well, the literal translation is "dick", not cup! Cup is tazza, which, to my defense, sounds, or rhymns with cazzo, right? I told her this never would have happened if they had taught me the curse words FIRST, then the other stuff. I can remember curse words!!! Duh!!! *smile*
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Ischia Photos
Ok, so Ischia was an adventure. Not much English spoken there, and we basically were trapped on this island for 7 hours. There is only one ferry over, and back each day (9:30 AM departs Sorrento, 5:30 PM ferry leaves Ischia). So, when we arrived, none of us could read, or speak Italian, so we basically hopped on a bus thinking it would take us somewhere interesting. Let's just say, the bus took us to the top of the mountain, and brought us right back down - seems out of the 15 buses, we picked the most boring one. Then, while on the bus, we were befriended by a gentleman who felt it was his duty to point out a few sights to us. Oh, did I mention that he only spoke Italian, and the little old ladies on the bus kept looking at us, then him, then making motions to indicate the guy is nuts. He was very adamant in his overview of sites. The kicker for me was, there was a man on the bus with his dog. Obviously the dog had been on the bus long enough and decided to relieve himself on the bus. The man hits the dog upside the head and says "Stupid dog!" Rightttttt, like the dog choose to get on the bus for a long journey. Funniest thing in the world to me. Oh, since this was during the time I was suffering from a cold, and my nose was slightly out of whack, the two other girls with me had the pleasure of experiencing all the bodily smells associated with a packed, over-crowded bus on a very hot summer day. *smile*
Anyway, below are a few pictures of Ischia. Nothing overly exciting, since again, we ran into the wall that is siesta. And this one was the worst of all since, there was nothing we could do from 12 - 5, since everything was closed, and our boat wasn't slated to leave until 5:30 pm. We sat on benches looking like refugees awaiting US-intervention. Oh, the fun I'm having. :)
Our boat to Ischia
Alexis before the trip begins. The staff passed out barf bags before we got underway, let's say when we arrived in Ischia, I needed to rest for 20 mins. My stomach did not feel good at all.
Alexis & Haley on the bus up the mountain (after the conversation with the crazy man)
This is Cami, just enjoying being in Italy, no matter that we have no clue where the hell we are going.
Ok, WTF!!!! These gold shoes were everywhere!! Is is just me, or are these FUGLY!!!!! Oh, the pictures were taken on shoes in two separate stores. And there were more, but there were the most offensive to me.
You wouldn't have believed the name of this store without a picture!!
This is what you get when you order a green salad. For those of you who notice that there is pepper on the salad, that was added by Haley. Green salad means lettuce only. Who knew!
A very good meal indeed. The only redeeming point of this whole day.
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