Far-Far Away Flusches: July 2010

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

A Day of Down-Time

Day 4: July 5th, 2010

We spent our fourth day in Italy enjoying some much celebrated R&R! I was happy to read (in it's entirety) "The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner" which was an early birthday present from Lauren. Paul and the boys played and napped like they were professionals! That evening we went for a drive to downtown Naples. We were in search of some excellent food and Naples did not disappoint!

We drove by a place that I thought would be a winner, quickly we parked our tiny gray rental car and ran in the direction of the delicious smell. The smell was coming from Pizzeria Sophia. The pizzeria was so cute, it had 10 tables max and the coolest mosaic floor and oven. The only thing better than the atmosphere was the staff. Founded in 1950, the owner and his family run the place and you get the distinct impression that all those who enter are part of the family - so nice and welcoming! The cooks and waitresses fell in love with Gavin and wouldn't put him down. They passed him around the restaurant and by the time we got him back he was covered in kisses and was convinced his name was Bello! ;)

Tomorrow we are Roma bound!!!

4th of July (Italian Style!)

Day 3: July 4th, 2010

Happy Independence Day America and to celebrate your BIG day we are going to salute you all the way from Italy!

Our 4th of July began as all should with pancakes made by your's truly! We were going to need some serious belly fuel for all the swimming we planned to do in Sorrento. However Sorrento had other plans for us. The traffic was ridiculous, two hours into our "45 minute journey" and we were only half way there. Naaaa, we had better things to do with our day than sit in bumper to bumper traffic. We exited the highway in search of another beach to play upon. Next we found ourselves in the costal community of Torre Annunzicta just west of Pompeii.

We wandered into a cute little restaurant in search of Cokes and found ourselves eating lunch on a great outdoor hilltop cafe overlooking the Gulf of Napoli. The atmosphere was relaxing, the food was fresh and tasty, three cheers for plans changed unexpectedly!

We asked our waitress for a beach recommendation and she pointed out a spot close by. We only stayed a short time but the boys had a ball! Tanner liked the coarse black sand, we explained that the black sand was courtesy of the volcano we learned so much about the day before (in Pompeii).

After the lunch & beach we were in the need of a good nap (and shower) so we returned to the hotel to rest up for our BIG night! The Navy hosted a grand party at nearby Navy-owned Carney Park. Carney Park offers a 96-acre recreation area with a variety of outdoor activities. Founded in 1966, the park has multi-purpose sports fields, children's playgrounds and an Olympic-size pool with six water slides, a kiddy pool and a Tiki bar. The main features of the night however were the carnival and concert hosted by MWR (Moral Welfare and Recreation). Tanner enjoyed riding the carnival style rides and jumping on the bounce house equipment. Gavin's favorite part was sitting and standing barefoot in the grass (GRASS GLORIOUS GRASS!!!!)

We all had a blast listening to the bands who entertained the troops, their families and local Italians alike. Our favorite performer was Natalie Stovall. Natalie is one of the newest sensations out of Nashville, she has a great voice and can play a mean fiddle! It's pretty well known that our young Tanner has quite the crush on the beautiful Natalie! ;) After the concert she greeted Tanner with a BIG high five and signed a CD for him as well. He was so cute telling her "I really like your music, you are really good!" Awwww, a crush on a rock star, it starts so young, right!

A great day was had by all! Nothing compares to 4th of July on Grand Lake, OK. with my family but this comes pretty darn close! ;) Happy 4th of July Y'all!

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Hooray for Pompeii

Day 2: July 3rd, 2010

Pompeii Day! The day started out with The Flusche gang driving out to the support site base to participate in the Firecracker 4th of July fun run. We all did it but some had more fun than others, Tanner thought the Navy was experimenting with new forms of torture. The weather was beautiful and in the low 80's, after spending the summer in Bahrain I almost needed a sweatshirt (laugh). After a quick lunch and shower it was off to the once ash-burried city of Pompeii.

It confounds me that the whole community of Pompeii is still so intact and erect. Destroyed on Aug 24, 79AD by the volcanic ash of Mount Vesuvius, the town became buried. Covered in 30 feet of ash the town was forgotten until it was rediscovered in the 1600s. Excavations began in 1748.

Tanner loved seeing the "old rooms" and I'm still in awe over the elaborate community that once lived there as well as how preserved some of the ruins are.

Welcome To Pompeii! We entered at Porta Marina

Prior to the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius the port was at the bottom of the hill.

The gang "strolling" up the main entrance, it's quite a hill. All the roads in Pompeii are the original stone streets.

Paul, Tanner and Gavin standing in the Forum with the Temple of Jupiter (The Supreme God) in the background.

Tanner in the Forum

Welcome to Via Abbondanza ("Main Street" Pompeii!)

Jann crossing the stepping stones on Via Abbondanza. It was common practice to flood the streets to wash them. The stepping stones were used like crosswalks so as not to wet or soil their sandals.

Jann at the Temple of Isis.

Gavin walking around above the Theater

A fountain at The Baths of the Forum

Tanner declaring that enough is enough... this is when Mommy and Daddy pull the "Gelato is right at the exit" card. Needless to say he found the strength to carry on (laugh)

Statue of the Dancing Faun which is located in the largest house in Pompeii. The house is called The House of Faun, it boasts 40 rooms and is a little over 27,000 square feet!

The House of Faun

Jann, Tanner and Gavin in The House of Faun

The House of Faun

The arches in The House of Faun

Fresco

Tanner with Frescos

Ahhh, can you see it? The gelato shop! At this point Tanner is jumping with glee!

Now, THAT'S a happy kid!

Following our big Pompeii excursion we decided to find the best pizza in Naples. With maps in hand we set out to find the highly acclaimed L' Antica Pizzeria da Michele. Rick Steves (who wrote our travel guide) describes the Margherita Pizza as for pizza purists. He was spot on, it did not disappoint. The pizzeria has been around since 1870 obviously it's a favorite of the locals. They only make two varieties of pizza: 1) Margherita and 2) Marinara (which has no cheese). Simple menu - delicious pizza!