Italy.....Vivere la Dolce Vita!

Yes, we have moved again. Boring you say? Tired of updating our address?? Well how does Italy sound to you?? DOLCE!!!!

10 years ago we took a whirlwind dream trip to Tuscany and fell in love with Italy. Ever since we have been inspired to "one day" go back and see if it is all that we remember.

We hoped, but never expected to be posted outside of North America....when the Career Manager called and asked Shawn if we would like to move to Italy she was given a VERY prompt YES!!!

So, just shy of two weeks in....we are officially residents of Italy. Specifically in Lago Patria which is about 25min outside of Naples. Granted we are still in the hotel as our shipment most likely will not arrive for another 2-3 weeks. (We are slated to move into our place on the 1st of Sep.)

The experience of finding a rental here was very entertaining. We (not the landlords) were able to negotiate and ask for things. We asked to be able to pick the paint for the outside of the house and they said yes. So last week I went on a field trip with my new landlord Pepe (who speaks NO English) and his wife Pina (who speaks a bit) to the paint factory and picked out the colours. I have picked a soft butter yellow for the outside and a cream for the interior. We also asked for a Brick Pizza Oven to be built and they agreed to that :) Guess I now not only need to learn to speak Italian, I also now need to learn how to make proper Italian Pizza.

Yes, once again I have packed away the uniform. I was not planning on working while here for the three years.....however, I have accepted a position as Villa Manager and Travel Consultant. The pay is pretty good and my boss is super cute....so I am pretty sure I will enjoy it ;)

We head to Tuscany for a week of wine and leisure on Mon. We are so excited to get back there and see if it lives up to our memories. We plan to fill the car with wine so when our wine fridge arrives we will already have supply to fill it.

OK.....time for a re-fill on my coffee.

Thanks for tuning in!

Ciao

Day 10 - Done

Sault Ste Marie to Ottawa 796km

OMG.....we were so happy to finally pull into the Westin here in Ottawa. It meant we were done!!!!! Finally Home. Ok, well almost....we still need to get the keys to the house and actually move in. But.......we are here!!!!! All said and done we drove 4,640km (for our American friends that is 2,833 miles).

Back to the Westin for a moment.....N.I.C.E.....please and thank you.

Last day of driving.....we were up super duper early so we could get a jump on the day and be able to stop and visit with friend's in North Bay. We were supposed to spend the night, but the snow storm that landed us in Thunder Bay for an extra day bit into our overnight stop.

North Bay is where our good friends Mike & Sonia live. They have four...yes four boys, and their eldest Brandon is one of our God Sons. So we were very motivated to get a stop in to at least say hi.
We were greeted with many hugs and a feast that left us so full we were barely able to eat dinner when we got in to Ottawa 4+ hrs later.

From Left to Right: Jordan, Ryan, Brandon, Shawn & Cameron.

Nice one!

The "Boys" let me squeeze in for a picture.

Goofballs :)

After lunch we headed back on the road to finish this road trip off. Why does the last day, especially the last 30km feel like the longest part?? Anyways....we finally saw Ottawa in the distance and started to realize we were "home". 

We pulled up to the Westin and handed our car over for valet service. They guys had a good laugh at how dirty it was. They handed it back to us the next morning all sparkly!!! Thank you!! (I do realize that the outrageous valet fee we pay covered the cost of it being washed....but it was still a surprise all the same!)

OK, so now all we need to do is hand over the biggest cheque we have ever written and get the keys to our house. 

Day 9

Thunder Bay to Sault Ste. Marie (FINALLY) 754km

Today we woke up to Sunshine!!!! (Cold, but sunshine!!!)

This was a long one....8hrs once all was said and done with pee/coffee & lunch stops.

When we headed out this morning it was such a 180 from yesterday. Blue skies!!! Sunglasses were a must. Here is my first view of Lake Superior. This is just a small section....but so beautiful :)

So...this is our 5th time doing the cross country road trip....to date we have only ever seen ONE Moose (it is was a juvenile one at that.) So we are always on the look out. One day left on this trip and still no sighting. Sheesh. LOTS of signs warning us of their presence....but nada. However we did see this sign below and it made us laugh. Anita...this is for you.

The sky may have been blue but man o man the roads were WET and all the flying mud and rocks left our poor car dirtier than we have ever seen her. Also 2 new cracks in the windshield compliments of the rock perps of Ontario. Boo.

Lunch time came and went so we finally decided to stop for Tim Hortons. I actually prefer Starbucks, but for some reason the majority of Ontario hasn't figured out how good Starbucks is, so Tim Hortons won by default. I used to really like Tim's but now it just gives me gut rot. ugh. But, when you have a 8+ hr drive to get through caffeine is a must. 

Our first Tim's Donuts in forever. I might not love their coffee, but man they make the best Boston Creams EVER!!!!! And yes, Shawn's is the Sour Cream Glaze. Yum.

Ok, so with out much else to report we finished our drive and landed in Sault Ste. Marie. We were so knackered that we picked up a pizza and hunkered down for what remained of our evening. We knew we had a VERY early start the next morning now having to head straight to Ottawa. 

Shawn was passed out by 10:21pm precisely.

I stayed up till midnight though. Reason being......My best friend Becca and her Husband are expecting, and they hosted a "Sex Party" to reveal the sex of the baby. For you people with dirty minds, it's not a "Sex" party........but a "Sex Party"....lol....what happens is someone other than the couple are given the results of the ultra sound. That person then fills a box with either pink or blue helium balloons and seals it shut. Then at said "Sex Party" the couple ceremoniously open the box and the balloons fly out revealing the sex!!!! Super neat idea! And a fun excuse to have a party :)

By way of the wonderful world of the internet, family and friends were able to participate live via "gotomeeting" (much like Skype). With the time change (they live in Yellowknife) the reveal didn't happen till Midnight for me, but that's ok....it's what best friends do. XOXOX

YIPPY YIPPY YIPPY.....drum   roll.....it's.....a......GIRL!!!!!!!!!! EEEEEEEE!!!!!

Day 8

Thunder Bay to.......Thunder Bay 0km (Yes.....0).

Well to be more precise we did do some driving today....50km out of the city, only to turn around again. We had been given the all clear to go...but go slow, and since we still have 17hours between here and Ottawa we really felt we needed to put some distance in. We got as far as 50km and after having passed a few jack knifed transport trucks, trucks that literally could not get a grip on the road, and really big gusts of snow that rendered us blind....we (me) finally said lets call it and go back.

This is the start of the drive.....not great, but you could see the road and we had good traction.

This was when we decided to turn around. 

All in all it was a two hour exercise that left us rather drained and in need of a nap. I'll hand it to Shawn though....he did a great job driving. (Even if I did have to pry his hands off the steering wheel when we pulled into the hotel parking lot.)

The Ladies at the front desk of the Days Inn were both pleased and sad to see us back.

This has altered our drive for the next two days somewhat. We were supposed to be in Sault Ste. Marie tonight. (7hrs 30mins from here) and then off to North Bay for a night then cruise on into Ottawa Sunday. Now we will sprint for Sault tomorrow as early as possible (weather dependent of course) and then up early again on Sunday to make the now 8 hour drive to Ottawa. Ugh.

On a silver lining note we get to have diner again with our friends from last night :)

Day 7

Dryden to Thunder Bay 350km

Yesterday's drive was quiet and uneventful. This whole drive so far has been pretty good. I guess we have used up all our quiet & uneventful chips?

We rolled into Thunder Bay about 3:30pm. Checked into our hotel Days Inn  (This is a new one and we were pleasantly surprised! Would easily stay here again.)

The snow had been off & on while we were driving yesterday, but that hasn't been unusual in the drive so far. Nothing to be worried about. Well, while we waited to go to dinner (met up with one of Shawn's old collage buddies Geoff "Abby" & his Wife Laurie) the snow started coming down seriously. The front desk lady told us that there was a storm coming and we could expect to see up to 20cm of white stuff.
Of course this "storm front" is in our direct path and want's to follow us all the way to our next stop which is Sault Ste. Marie and it's a long haul too.

Here is what our car looked like when we went to bed last night. (I don't think she is too happy.)

We have indeed woken up to a winter wonderland today. Thankfully we both packed boots, mitts & scarves! We are going to sit tight till lunch and then head out. We are told this is passing and if we let it get ahead of us we should be good. Don't worry though Mom/Mum....our friend from dinner last night is well connected with the OPP and said he would update us with the best accurate road information before we go. We have confirmed that our room here is avail for one more night should we need it.

Day 6

Portage to Dryden 450km

Today we crossed into Ontario!!!! 

One more time zone to go and Ontario is so big that we still have 4 days of driving to do. Ugh.

Here is a pic of us almost at our stop today. 6 days in....we don't look too tired?!

So today we were supposed to stop in Kenora. But when we pulled up to the hotel we sort of  wondered what we had booked. It looked nice on-line.....but ick. Standards people. So, we got back in the car and said where to? We found Dryden on the map and here we are. That helped shave 1hr and 45min off our drive tomorrow. Which is good because tomorrow include another time zone. 

We are staying at the Best Western.....not much to say....the "upgrades" that were done seem to have been mostly in the lobby. But, it is clean. 

Dinner was a mistake and our taste buds are wondering what happened. If you ever happen to stay here in Dryden.....please for your health and safety....do not eat at the B&B Roadside grill. It is here at the hotel and had received some fairly good reviews. Again....Standards. I just thew up in my mouth thinking about it.

Night Night

Day 4/5

Medicine Hat to Regina 466km

Regina to Portage Le Prairie 485km

I've combined these two days because well...really...it was the Prairies. Not much to say.

3 points about these two days come to mind.

1) My Sister-in-Law Andrea is from Saskatchewan as is my Brother-in-Law Josh. This was a shout out moment for them both.

2) I left my bamboo in the car over night. Ummm....it was -10 (Celsius) and in the morning when I rescued it, lets just say it didn't look so good. 

Here is what it looked like after we "saved" it.

Not terrible, but most certainly limp and lacked a certain.....umph.

Here is what it looks like today.

I don't think it's making a comeback. Sigh.

Back story about bothering to even travel all the way across the country with this bamboo. Well, two moves ago when we relocated from Vancouver to Halifax I brought my beautiful bamboo with us. Carefully transported each day in and out of hotels. Making sure it was watered. Finding a safe spot for it in the car. (That trip across was a full car....we also had Shawn's Sister Anita with us as well as Hunter.) So, 7 days into the drive we landed in Thunder Bay. On the 8th morning we drove off and headed for the HWY. I think about 1 hour in I pictured my bamboo sitting in the bathroom sink. We did not turn around and go get it. 

This trip I was determined to not forget my bamboo in some random sink. This time I clearly decided to take the approach of torturing it. Now just on principle (no matter how dead and soggy it gets) I plan on getting this to our new house. 

3) Dinner with amazing friends in Portage. 

Thank you to Danielle & Erik for hosting a superb dinner!!! (We hope your house sold?!) And of course it was a stupendously awesome bonus to also have Robbie & Kathryn there!!!