I travel with Major D and the "smalls". We are part of the USMC, and Major D will soon be working for Nato in a planning-type role. We have been abroad before (sans smalls), are fairly seasoned travelers, have great interests in dining (at all levels), culture (particularly theatrical events), and we have been trying to convince the US Government to send us to a foreign post for quite the long while. We succeeded.
We arrived in Naples on Sunday morning, just shy of afternoon. No sleep for myself who was attempting to make the trip as event-free as possible for Smalls and our flighty neighbors. Probably a nap is first priority, but heck, there has been a plethora of sleep depravation in the last eight months, so why stop now...
Thank you Jackie for meeting us at the airport! Well, us, our Smalls, and our many bags of not-so-necessary items. And for the transport to the Navy Lodge at the Support Site a bit down the road.
Hello Naples! And I am almost too tired to care, or rather... I know that this is a marathon, not a sprint, and the process of moving, which started almost 2 months ago, will not be complete for another month or two (until we secure our permanent housing), so I can't really enjoy it fully yet...
Our room at the lodge is... rustic? Shabby sheesh. But our friends who are also stationed in Italy, although a more remote location, have provided us with a care package to help with the transition... Illy coffee, these twisty chocolate cookies, italian crackers (that look like tortellini), fresh fruit, meats and cheese... heaven to the sleep deprived.
Smalls is off her clock, so we blur days and nights for a bit. But remarkably she adjusts, and so do we, quickly, and we scout the area for a pleasant place to reside, a car to motor about in.
But we are still in America.
Rather we are staying on an American base. And while there are untold adventures just beyond the gate, here, on base, I round the corner at the Exchange to hear a gaggle of wives with southern accents grumping about all-things-irrelevant. Taco Bell is at the end of the building. I take a pass through the Commissary to see most things familiar and boring... I am deflated by the mini-excursion - until I wander down aisle six - where there is something strange in the floor. Approaching, I realize that it is a clear plexiglass floor showing off the ruins of an old stone well. Old. And I am elated. This kind of history. Right. In.The. Commissary. This makes my day.
And as I reach down to get the camera out of the stroller, it tips backwards, threatening to dump my sleeping daughter to the floor. I somehow catch the handle mid-tip. Smalls continues to nap. I take this stroller threat as a warning... I think this will be more of a balancing act than I have anticipated. Bring on the prosecco!
