USMC Birthday Ball

Last Saturday, Karl and I went to the USMC Birthday Ball to celebrate the 232nd birthday of the Marine Corps; it was in a beautiful hotel just outside the city and the weather was perfect. It was a wonderful ceremony and Karl even got to escort the cake! We went to the Ball with our friends, Matt and Mikki, and had such a great time- the five-course dinner and guest speaker were both fantastic. Wish we could have birthday ball more than once a year!

Mikki and I

Karl escorting the cake :) He looks so good in his uniform! Dirk after a few drinks... Me in the lobby of the beautiful hotel Karl and I Cigars for the boys Happy Marine Mikki and Matt

Thinking of You!

Last week I just couldn't resist taking these pictures-it's such a beautiful view we wanted to share it with everyone! I also wanted to let everyone know that I figured out how to call us from the states (sorry to those of you who tried to call using the number I gave you before!). If calling from the US, dial 011-39-081-303-6190. Miss you all!

Random Pics

I thought I would share some pics from a few different occasions that I never got a chance to post about before. Karl and I live in the heart of the Campania region which makes it easy to take day trips to some pretty amazing places...have I mentioned how lucky we are to live here?!

Last weekend, Karl, Kerry, Andy, and I went to the Castle St. Elmo in Vomero (part of Naples about 20 min. from our house). Vomero is on the top of the mountain that overlooks downtown Naples and we had the most spectacular views of the city!

From the top of the castle looking at Naples, the port, and Mt. Vesuvius Karl, Andy, and Kerry with the volcano. Kerry and I found each other in a job orientation training- we went to Tech together and knew each other through our friends (we were both in sororities and hung out with the same fraternity all the time). Kerry and Andy (her awesome boyfriend) just moved here from Prague and live about 10 min from us. Kerry and I are getting a VT Alum chapter going out here and it's so great to have a friend so close (we even have Italian class together). Karl and I (the volcano we live on is the one in the distance) Moving onto another night...Karl and I are so lucky to have so many great friends here and we had an awesome time celebrating Karl's 27th bday bowling with two of our fav. couples, the Zook's and Chaney's. This is Judy, me, and April. The husbands...Greg, Jason, and Karl Karl lovin on the ladies Another memorable night was when we went to the Oktoberfest celebration at the NATO base with our neighbors. Each year, the Germans at NATO put on their own version of Oktoberfest....you know, beer, sauerkraut, sausages, pretzels, and more beer. We had way too much fun and we left before Karl could start dancing on the tables like the true German he is. These were the steins we got :)

Our wonderful neighbors (me, Lisa, Kevin, Mark, Rick, and Cindy)

Weekend in Assisi

Great news from Italy...we finally got the internet today! Now I can blog much more often and keep everyone better updated with our Italian lives. Sorry in advance for such a long blog, but I just had so many great pictures to share with all of you! The last weekend of October, Karl and I took a long weekend and went to Assisi, Italy (northern Italy in the Umbria region) to celebrate Karl's 27th birthday. We had a truly unforgettable time; Assisi is the most beautiful place I've ever been to and there is soooo much history there! Assisi is the hometown of St. Francis and St. Clare and it is famous worldwide for it's art and religious mouments (this is the area that started the Italian Renaissance). This midevil town is remarkable and built with pink stone on a steep hill (it was finished being built in the mid-1200's and has barely changed since).

The view of the walled town of Assisi as you drive up

A view of Assisi from above at the Rocca Maggiore (one of the castles that guarded the town in the 14th century)

Me and the valley

The streets of Assisi are postcard perfect- cascades of flowers fall from wall sconces and sunlight seems to fill all the tiny streets

The Temple of Minerva in the Piazza del Commune in the center of town. Assisi was built on top of a Roman city that was very active around 1 B.C. and the Temple is what you can see of the old city (the original Roman Forum of the city in located under the Piazza). Our hotel was actually right across the street from the Temple. The Temple of Minerva is said to be the best preserved Roman temple in Italy after the Pantheon in Rome.

The Duomo di San Rufino dates back to the 16th century and under the church is more of the Roman city (Karl and I went underneath and walked some of the original Roman streets). View from our hotel room :) This is a very historical church- the Basilica della Porziuncola. The basilica is built around the little chapel that St. Francis preached from and spoke to his followers (the Porzincola). Another shot from the Rocca Maggiore Watching the sun come up in the morning is amazing as it burns the fog off the valley Sooooo beautiful! A view from the Rocca Maggiore of the Basilica di San Francesco (the famous church of Assisi). As art lovers, this is where Karl and I spent a lot of time- every wall is painted with a fresco detailing the life of St. Francis. This is where many of the famous works of Giotto, Lorenzetti, and Cimabue are located. We couldn't take pictures inside, but we encourage you to google the Basilica and see some of the art. Italy is going to make me fat! mmmmm.... A view from outside the Basilica di Santa Chiara. This basilica is home to the famous crucifix that spoke to St. Francis and inspired him to renounce all his worldly possessions and the "repair the church". Nighttime was so peaceful here- we spent both of our evenings just walking around the empty streets and taking it all in.

A view from the other window in our hotel room Trying to catch the nun on camera Outside the Basilica di San Francesco Karl with the monestary behind him Looking up at the Rocca Maggiore