Christmas in London turned into Christmas road trip Italy! We got a bit lost trying to find the airport and missed our flight and then there wasn't anything going out for 2 days so we just started driving. We spent the first night in Florence and visited the city Christmas morning. Almost everything was closed but we went to mass at Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. It was pretty amazing to be there with all the locals for Christmas. They had an amazing choir and an organist. Then we headed on towards Milan and decided not to stay there but kept driving up to Lake Como where we ended up in Bellagio and couldn't find an open restaurant or hotel. We asked a couple walking along the lake side and they told us about the place they were staying. It was a great little 2 star right off the main strip and it was only 60 Euro. It was such a sweet little hotel and all remodeled. We loved it. We ate dinner that night at the only bar that was open. It snowed during the night and left a nice layer on the rooftops, trees, and the top of our car! We left the next morning and headed to Venice. We stopped in Verona and visited the arena there and Juliet's house. We got to Venice in the evening and decided to go into the city for dinner and to walk around. By the time we were done eating everything was closed so we walked through the little streets back to our shuttle stop. The next morning we had a good breakfast and went into the city again. We had a great time wandering around the shops and eating delicious food before heading out. We drove home that night through a beautiful snowfall. It was a great trip, even though it wasn't what we had planned!

Christmas in Europe

We hope that everyone is enjoying the holidays back in the states! Kirk and I are having a great time living out here and trying to make the best of the holidays with just the two of us. This past weekend we visited Pompeii and took a nice drive down the Amalfi Coast. We had gelato in Amalfi and drove through the amazingly picturesque streets of Positano. Tonight we're having a our Christmas dinner and tomorrow we are flying up to London for Christmas! Can't wait to actually post some pictures on here. When we get back I'll make sure to put them up. Merry Christmas, everyone!!! All our love and best wishes for the new year!

Day 55... or something

Sorry it's been so long, folks! We moved into a different hotel and don't have internet anymore so it's tough to get around to posting. We have found a new place to move in to and we're just waiting for all the inspections to be done and then we'll be able to set a date with the movers. Vivien is living with the next door neighbors right now and we're dog sitting for them for a couple of weeks. She's doing great! The house is in a town called Monte Rusciello and it's a quaint, hilly area really close to the ocean. We have a bit of an ocean view, though it will be a lot nicer to look at when the sun is shining. On the other side of the house is a small vineyard. The house is two stories with three bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs, a bathroom downstairs and a really nice kitchen. There's a pretty big yard with some palm trees and an orange tree. So far we haven't seen too much of the area but we have eaten at a really good restaurant that's walking distance from the house. There's also a fish market, a Christmas store and a drive-in movie theater. We're looking forward to seeing more of the area but there hasn't been the time. We can't wait to move in to our first place. Hotel living hasn't been all bad though. We're pretty much in a big apartment with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a washer and dryer, a big living room and a full kitchen. Kirk has been researching for our next trip and we're trying to make it for either Christmas or New Year's. Any suggestions?

Don't drink the water!

The house we wanted to rent so bad just ended up in a no lease zone. The Navy has been testing the water all over the place and they keep finding bad stuff in it so we can't move into the great house that we found. Back to square one! We've been looking at houses the past couple of days and it's just nowhere near what we had going. I'm flying back to the states for a few days to get some paperwork and the cat so hopefully Kirk will be able to keep searching and find something amazing! We're really hoping to get into a place before Christmas. We did do some exploring of the city here and it's been pretty interesting. There are some really neat castles that they now use as art museums, offices and events arenas. The harbor is beautiful with a couple of islands (Ischia and Procida) just off the coast. There are some really nice areas of the city and an intricate network of busses and metros that make it pretty easy to get around. It has been super cold here the past couple of weeks so for anyone who might visit during this time of the year, bring a coat! Kirk says, "Keep on keepin' on!" Peace!

Alive and well in Italy! We've spent some time in Rome and a lot of time looking at houses here in the Naples area. We're pretty much settled on one but we don't have and pics yet and we have to get things signed before it's official so we'll update when we know more. We spent a few days in Rome they were fantastic! We have a lot of pictures to post as soon as I can find a cord to connect the camera. Living in a hotel is a strange feeling. We're in the overflow hotel and it feels like a tiny, cramped apartment right now but we're about to be moved into the normal hotel for in-betweeners. We do have a beautiful view of Mount Vesuvius from here though. So far, so good. We're enjoying our time here and we've gotten to do some neat things. We've taken lots of train and metro rides, seen some of the most beautiful art and architecture in the the world, made friends with some gypsy dogs, eaten some great and some not so great food, and done a lot of walking. Today we bowled for a bit after looking at houses. Tomorrow we have some orientation classes to take and we'll get some housing stuff taken care of. Hope all is well in the states. We are so excited to have visitors out here once we're all settled in!

Moving to Italy

The last couple of months have been absolutely wild for us! We've moved in and out of about 6 places, had a wedding, shipped a car, shipped all of our belongings, stayed in at least 9 hotels, took a trip to Nebraska and Missouri, visited several beaches, done countless amounts of paperwork... and had a great time doing it all! Today, Kirk flew off to Italy while I get to wait for my Visa to come through. Hopefully all will go amazingly well and we'll have a place for the cat to stay when I bring her out. I just wanted to set up this blog to keep everyone up to date on our adventures and basically just to document the next 2 years of our life as we take on Europe and beyond! We sincerely hope that you consider visiting us if you're ever in Europe but if you really love us enough we'd be completely flattered if we were your main agenda! Give it a couple of months, I'll let you know when we can accommodate guests and then you can get that ball rolling! Until then, start saving up. I took a big cup of coins to coinstar the other day and they gave me $47. Yeah, it's really worth it. You should do it too and then put it in a savings account for a trip to Europe. And then take all the money you save and buy a nice plane ticket in first class! Oh, and speaking of traveling, if you ever sign up for Marriott Rewards please say that I referred you, ok? We'll both get extra points for it.

So here we are! Kirk and Nicole, day one of our great journey. We hope that you enjoy reading about it. Wish you were here!!! Ok, well, I'm still in CA so it's not that exciting yet. Maybe we can start that over again when I get to Italy.

Ciao!
Nicole