A Collection of Memos from my Phone

I started to write this blog on why Scotland is totally underrated as a tourist destination by Americans.  But half an hour in, it was starting to look more like a thesis than a blog post. So, moving on.

Sometimes when I am walking home from work, I think of something I want to blog about. So I stop and whip out my super-wimpy smartphone (it doesn't even merit a capital S) and click on the Memos icon.  I am still a fairly rudimentary texter, so my Memos are often mis-spelled, but my hope is that when I look at them later I'll be able to figure out, as the Brits say, "what I was on about." So here goes.

Memo 1: Blog on best toys.

Tad and that $3 cape I bought at Savers. Seriously, Tad, of Leapfrog fame, has got to be our most long-lasting toy.  My aunt gave him to us when Audrey was 18 months old. We started using him as her "going to sleep" music (he plays 10 minutes of night-time music if you sqeeze his hand twice) then, and he's still going. With only about 3 battery changes...we play him every night. He even goes on vacation with us. Audrey is now nearly 7. And the $3 cape. I bought it on a whim at Savers, the thrift department store in Rhode Island, when Audrey was about 4.  It's shiny green on one side and black on the reverse. It has been a princess cape, a fairy cape, and is currently serving as Hermione's cape from Harry Potter, complete with the Hogwarts "coat of arms" badge that I bought in London sewn on.   

Memo 2: Flying thru Amsterdam

My attempt to capture our flying trip through Amsterdam.  It was supposed to be an afternoon, maybe getting to see the Van Gogh museum. But thanks to airline delays, we got into the city in time to check into the hotel and seek out dinner. It was a cool city. We saw a stand with about 8 varieties of what Rhode Islanders would call "fried dough"  - mostly apple-based. There was a skating rink, but it was quite melted in places. Even in the north, the weather was too mild for an outdoor rink.  We also saw a big sculpture/place to take selfies written "I Am sterdam" - the letters were probably 8 feet tall but people were climbing all over them for pictures.  We ended up in a hotel on the 3rd (well, they call it the 3rd but counting the flights of stairs you would call it the 4th) floor having to open out windows to the December air because the heating was on full blast and we couldn't adjust it. 

Skating Rink/Swimming Pool

Selfies galore

Apple/Dough stand at the airport

Memo 3: Could you possibly...

A note to myself about the possibility of a blog about polite British ultimatums.  Stemming from my boss telling me that when she says, "Could you possibly..." to her teenage children, they jump up and do whatever she's asked, because that phrase is eqivalent to her saying, in American terms, "F-ing do it, or else!"

Memo 4: What the...

Notes about a possible blog (or blogs) about how the UK did not recognize us as having a life or history beyond its borders, and the parallels with a workshop I took on creating a fake identity (in the name of research, of course!).  In reality, all the steps the workshop runner explained for creating a fake identity were things I had done in the previous 6 months to establish myself as a legitimate person in Scotland.  The only difference was I had a letter from the University stating I was employed by them, which made me "legit" instead of "fake."

This memo was also about being culturally lost in the grocery store, and being intially unable in Dundee to find a store that sold tissues (hint, not the pharmacy) or basic office supplies (hint, the post office). But that while I was on my tissue hunt I ran into both my choir director and my boss. Typical small-town Dundee. 

Memo 5: More Amsterdam.

This memo was about how impressed I was in Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport to find that someone had designed a seating area with a built-in slide. Adults rest, kids climb the stairs and slide down over and over and over...brilliant!  Also in the same airport, I spotted a store called "Philosophy" - they really sell everything in airports nowadays. I almost bought slippers in the shape of wooden shoes. But I resisted. And for some reason I also remembered in this memo that it was snowing lightly when we visited L'Academia in Florence.  

Hope you have enjoyed this trip down Memo-y lane.

Italy Trip Part 1: Amsterdam, Naples, Pompeii, Vietri!

When I found out that my best friend's husband was going to be stationed in Naples, Italy, with the Navy during our time in Scotland, I started hatching a plan.  It involved traveling to Italy to see her and her family. I became a little obsessive about planning this trip (as both Margaret and Paul can attest).  But I wanted it to be great. Since we were traveling at Christmas, I also didn't want any unwelcome surprises like "Oh, the train from Rome to Naples on the 23rd? That's been fully booked for 6 months." Yeah, okay, so, obsessive. But the plans came together. Involving lots and lots of transport - the kids and I counted how many planes, trains and buses we went on over the trip...here are the totals:

Transportation	Number
Planes	4
Trains	9
Buses	6

But ridiculous amounts of transport aside, our goals were modest. I just wanted to see Margaret and her family and enjoy more light than we see in Scotland in December (not difficult, since Scotland is about level with Southern Norway and it's very dark in the winter...).  Paul just wanted us all to be (relatively) calm and get along.  So it began.First stop: Amsterdam for an overnight stay. Got there too late for the Van Gogh museum...but we saw the outdoor ice rink and the I Am sterdam sign, both pictured below.


Next day, we continued our journey to Italy. Once we arrived we had a couple of days preparing for and celebrating Christmas - "gingerbread" houses and Christmas cookie-baking pictured!


After Christmas we visited Pompeii. It amazed us because of the vastness of the site - we felt we explored a lot, but there were many parts of the city we didn't even get near. The day alternated clouds and sun, which made for some lovely pictures - a photographers paradise, even for an amateur photographer like me. Top row: view with trees and mountains, kids on ruins. Bottom row: Paul and Audrey in the amphitheater, artsy shot by Paul of a bit only he explored.


We visited Vietri (properly, Vietri sul Mare) with the Rudmanns as well, on the Amalfi coast and known for painted pottery as well as dramatic views of the city seemingly tumbling down the hillside toward the sea. Top row: Margaret, Nora and I pose in the mirror of one of the bathroom setups in a ceramic tile store. Bottom row: view of the sea and part of the city from the beach below.

Our last trip with the Rudmanns was to downtown Naples.  The traveling party was much reduced; just Margaret and myself and the middle (6 and 7 year old) girls. The itinerary included Christmas Alley (more properly the Via San Gregorio Armeno, a bit of a side street off the Spaccanapoli, the main street in the historic center of Naples) devoted to presepe, or nativity scenes that feature not just the traditional characters, but everyday people and even celebrities too) and one of the two places in Naples that claim to be "the birthplace of pizza" (L'Antica Pizzaria da Michele). But before we set off, we had to get re-accredited at the security office at the base; I had Paul take a picture because we spent so much of the first week of our vacation at the security office (due to the holidays, we could only get visitor "day passes" that had to be renewed every day) it needed to be included in the photos! Top row: Mike and I at the security office, day 5 or 6. Large figures for presepe, including the Queen (in pink toward the front of the table). Bottom row: This just made me laugh...street decoration of the magi adoring Jesus...and a pizzaria. The crowd outside L'Antica Pizzaria, as we waited for our number to be called. 

Stay tuned for Part 2, where we leave the naval base (and our going-native guides) to venture to the (temporarily) frozen north of Florence, and then return to Rome before heading back home!