The Ocone Winery Tour with Aldo

We're in luck, today is grape harvesting day at the winery.

The beautiful Benevento valley

Aldo and Senor Ocone

It's a glorious day!

The baskets are layed out for todays harvest

Ahhh...the 2007 vintage grapes!

Aldo shows off the gemini or twin bunch of grapes.

Oo...ooo...ooo...I'm getting to help with the harvest!

We're done with our little harvesting adventure...time to get to the tasteing!

A quick tour of the facilities..........

Ooops, you lost me at food and wine....trust me it was wonderful!

A great day had by all....some chose to continue drinking on the bus ride home....most slept....and a few of us simply chatted with new friends.

We're Moving on Friday!!!!!

We signed all of the paperwork this morning and made arrangements for our "Flinstone Furniture", loaned to us through the Navy as well as having the few boxes we sent over earlier delivered. It will be so nice to get out of the hotel in time to celebrate Taryn's birthday on Sunday in our new place!

Unfortunatly we probably won't have phone service for up to a month and then another few weeks to get the computer up and running. Be prepared for little to no contact for quite a while. I had high hopes of getting a lot of blogging and email writing done but am afraid it will be few and far between. I'll check my email when I can at the support site.

We bought a TomTom gps system yesterday and love it. It will make driving so much easier...several couples have told us it saved their marriage. It speaks to you as you are driving and tells you exactly where to turn and when. Earl poo pooed it at first and how he can't believe how useful it is and how much it can do.

Ciao for now, Danette

The Bay of Naples

This is overlooking the port where lucky little locals and tourists catch the ferries and hydrofoils to get to the outerlying islands of Ischia, Capri, Procida, Sicily and Sardinia. The mountain in the background is the dormant volcano Mount Vesuvius.

Quite the little joiner...

We took a whirlwind trip to Napoli with our Inter Cultural Relations class last week. In only seven hours I had walked, driven, rode the bus, caught the train, ran for the Metro, and jumped on a trolley...reversed it and did it all again. This is me on the trolley coming down from the Verona area of Napoli.

In order to expedite the "CULTURE SHOCK" and get to the point where I am comfortable navigating the ins and outs of life in Napoli I have signed up for the following classes and excursions for the upcoming month. As you will see from the long list I ought to be kept busy while we wait for the house to pass inspection and our shipment of household goods to arrive. Although I must admit I am still just plain freaking out I know I will have honed my skills as a tour guide before I know it. I'm also checking with the college campuses on site to see when I can get into my Italian lessons.

TRIPS:
Duamo and it's Archeological Underground (with Aldo)
Exploring Aversa
Agnano Spa
Napoli, using public transportation and exploring famous pizzarias

CLASSES:
Wines of Campania
Neopolitan Cooking
Assissi and St. Francis
Unification of Italy
Neopolitan Proverbs
COMPASS (a three day class on being a good little Navy wife)

CLUBS:
Welcome to CNE-C6F Wives Brunch
Welcome to PWOC Fall Kick Off Coffee
Welcome to the Navy Overseas Spouses Club Coffee

For those of you who had a hard time visualizing me when I joined the PTA as vice-president in Hawaii, this all should give you at least a giggle. I'm really looking forward to making some friends, learning some of the history, and finding my way around.

Thanks for all of your love and support...you're all great cheerleaders!!!

The Royal Palace in Napoli

Click here for a link that gives you a brief description of each king of Napoli

Here's a blog viewers tip: YOU CAN CLICK ON ANY INDIVIDUAL PICTURE TO HAVE IT VIEWED AS A LARGER PICTURE IF YOU WISH TO SEE MORE DETAIL.

Neopolitan Gelato, Bakery, Deli, and Fish Stand

MMMMMMMM....I can't wait until I have a refridgerator to stock full of these goodies. This is just a sample of what we saw on the streets of Napoli.

Vietri...a little town on the Almafi Coast

We got a late start Saturday morning and headed off for a drive to Vietri. Taryn read aloud from the back seat about Mt. Vesuvius and worked out an action plan for our family should the dormant volcano decide to wake up while we are here. Vietri is known for it's dizzying array of ceramics and we admired our fair share making mental notes of items that might suit the new home. We had a delicious lunch of green olives stuffed with sausage and cheese, breaded and deep fried, a pizza with yet more sausage, cheeses and rocket (aka...arugula...aka fancy lettuce), pasta with pesto, a glass a red wine (I've been instructed to have a glass a wine for just about everyone I know and I intend to do just that), and a lemoncello. Then we went next door for some gelato, limone for me (lemon), pistacchio for Earl (pistachio) and vaniglia for T (vanilla)...they were all very good but the vanilla was out of this world! We walked it all off and headed for home...we drove up the coastline on the way back and oh my gosh...am I ever going to get used to Italian drivers and roads? I was positively green with all the curves, buses, motorcycles zipping by two inches from the driver's window (which was NOT me!), honking, fist shaking, brake slamming, people walking out in front of the car...honestly...it felt like driving through Main Street at Disneyland during a parade at peak season while suffering with the flu. I'm sure I'll grow to love it and can't wait to actually be the driver with a few of you riding shot gun.