RAN TODAY!

Days are getting colder but it is still warm enough to run. :)
I got through another day of running. It's great for the mind and the body. Do you know that when you are free from stress, free from any negative thoughts, free to just be in the moment, running can be very relaxing. I was able to run...with a few breaks for an hour. It was amazing. The fall colours of the forest helped. The trees are brown, yellow, green in colour. It's great. I love it here. As I came home from volleyball on Monday, i felt at ease. I felt right at home. I am starting to feel comfortable here, even with all the stares. I know, I'm Chinese, and Germans have not seen many Chinese people, but I'm just another plain old Jane!!! HAHAHAHA. NOT!  I'm not plain what so ever. I'm unique and so are you! Everyone has their story. Everyone has a plan. Everyone has their history in the making. It all depends on which door you want to open. I opened an amazing door that I can't close and will not close. This door has changed my life and will continue to be incredible. When you find that door, you will know that it was the right one you opened.
Life in Laughter!!!! What more can you ask for but smile to those who you love, smile to those who you don't know, and especially smile to those who hurt you as you are much stronger than them.

Work!!! Did I tell! I had an interview last week, and got the job. Now I just need students. They interviewed me to add to the staff. We'll see if I get something for November. :) hehehe. Otherwise, i'm still on the search.

I hope you are all enjoying the pictures and stories. There are a lot more to come. I'm taking time so that you don't get overwhelmed to try to keep up. There is always time in the day.

I hope you all have a great and safe Halloween Weekend. It's a holiday on Nov. 1 so we are going to a Halloween Party on Sunday. It will be great. It's like going to PNE, but in Germany!!! HAHAHA.

NAPLES!!! Never thought we'd stay this long!

NAPLES!!! 

Was scheduled for only 2 days. But we ended up stay for 4. Why? Good Question! Tanya!! I think we stayed because of Giovonni. He made a good impression I guess.
So getting to this hostel, Hostel Giovanni's Home was quite a challenge in the RAIN, at 10pm, when all the books says it's a place of pick pocketer, gangs, mafia, and more. So what the heck are we doing in Naples!!!! WELL, as we learned from our great host, Giovanni, it's a place with rich history and food.
Besides my breakfast over on the left. HAHAHA.
This is my breakfast to cut down on cost. A can of tuna, cracker toast with olive paste and an apple. Rich in protein!!! hahahaa. Not the best way for a breakfast, but it will have to do for now.
Alright, so when we did get to the hostel at 10pm, we were greeted by a balm headed man, who smokes in the hostel, in his last 40's or so greeting us to his humble home. I went in circles to find his place. We got the Police to help as they saw us with our bags in the rain that they probably wanted to make sure we were safe. And I'm sure glad we did. I wasn't happy with where we were. NAPLES of all places late at night. YIKES!!!

So we were tired from the travel and wanted to get into bed. But, we weren't able to. Giovanni had to give us his full tour guide of where to go and what to do at 10pm. We didn't finished until 12...which means we didn't even get to bed until 12:30 or 1am. What a day. He was so excited to talk to us that he showed us a song that my name is part of. I never heard the end of it.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-oTYuw-JlA

This clip was taken during our stay in Naples when the whole hostel was listening and Tanya and I dancing to my song. You will be able to meet Giovanni in this clip. Check it out.  It will be a memory that I'll never forget.

One reason we stayed in Naples a bit longer was the influence of Giovanni. He has great intentions for his travelers, but I think he does get lonely sometimes. 2nd reason, there was a mud slide where we were going. Weather created a slide that there was still one person missing. I don't think it would be a great idea to go somewhere that may not be very nice due to the mud slide. Especially when Giovanni knew the place we were staying at and their kitchen was ruined in the slide. Not the safeiest place to be. So we stayed a little longer in Naples. NAPLES isn't as bad as all the reviews. We didn't have any problems....as long as you don't stay out to late or anything else. But everywhere.....Italian men are.....hum....not worth trusting. Head some scary stories from other travelers who went with a guy. She sure put herself in a bad situation. Gladly, she was okay. Men just want more than just a friendly visit.

So here's a story to be told. One of the 4 nights we were there, Giovanni asked me to go with him for coffee. I said sure. It's just coffee right! It was about 5 or 6pm as we were heading out for dinner soon. We were going to go with the peeps at the hostel. I though it would be 5 to 10 mins tops....it ended up being like an hour or so. We went down stairs to get his motorcycle. HIS BMW motorcycle. By now, i'm thinking to myself, what the heck am I getting myself into...but on the other hand, he's the manager of this hostel. What would the worst that could happen??? We get hit by a car??? I didn't think much as he knows the routes more than I do. We go to this fancy place in town for a coffee. I hate coffee and he said I had to have it. It's an espresso with coco around the little cup and in it. It was actually pretty good. I wonder if i was going to sleep that night....i did. Then he took me up to another area where I got to see the view of Naples from high above. It was as if you take someone to HORIZEN's up at SFU to see the view of Vancouver. Yeah, a bit far, but it was amazing. We only stayed for like 2 mins, but I got back safe. He said it was a little mini vacation when he ride's his motorbike. I'm glad to be able to make someone happy!!! Never thought I'd get to ride a BMW motorcycle in Naples, Italy!!! hehehe

Alright, back to the pictures. So with all the info that Giovanni told us, we had lots of walking and sightseeing to do. So this picture is the old theatre that is underground from Naples now. Back the the day, Naples was a small town until they needed to build more so they covered up the old stuff and build up. This theatre was just discovered with in the last 5 years. Isn't that amazing!!! The family there didn't realize that they were living in and under history back in the day. They got a lot of money and moved out and bought a villa. Now that is amazing to have stumbled upon.
On the right is the entrance of the tour. There were 2 parts. This theatre and the water system that they had in the olden days. We went done about 25 meters underground. It was a bit scary. But still had a smile on my face. hahaha.


There were plants growing underground as well for an experiment. It was cold underground so that the university of Naples wanted to see if living organisms will grow without water. So the lights are on a timer for 6 or 7 hours of the day and the water from the air is what keeps these plants alive. It was quite interesting, but Tanya asked why? Why not try growing veggies instead! Now that would be a great experiment.

 

 Here I am with a candle as we went into the are of the water system underground. Where workers use to work and ensure that the city of Naples had water. Interesting system they had back then.

Alright. After our tour, we had to have PIZZA, as Naples is where the best pizza is and was originated. I had a calazone. It was huge. I can't believe I finished it. We didn't want to carry it around with our hand so we carried it with our stomach. YUM! I can have their pizza everyday. 

Besides the pizza,

 Italy had a lot of lemonchello and pastries. I couldn't keep my eyes off these goodies. So bad for you!!!

The Castle in Naples. It's like a museum and all museums were free that day. What a bargain for our buck. We sure saved a lot of money.

The Harbour of Naples to Capri and other island.

Other tourist places. I forget the names of these. Opps. Sorry. It's p retty though!!!





 A couple getting married. We saw a few of these during our visit in Italy. So romantic.

Tanya posing her new jacket!! I hoped to get one too, but they didn't have my size. I needed a rain jacket just in case it rained again. Don't want to get sick. I ended up getting a green one. Lovely!

FOOD!!! It took a while for us to eat at a restaurant again since the last time in Milan was an arm and a leg. Sit town dinner with a bunch of new friends is always nice. We finally had some greens. I was so craving greens. The olives were huge. I wonder what they pumped into those things. It was sure a mouth full.  So during our stay in Naples, we met so fun travelers who were all traveling on their own. There was a Calgarian, Australian, British, & Irish with Vancouverites. :)  It was a lot of fun. We had some entertainers to finish off our fun night, but they weren't that good looking. hahaha. One looked like a movie star!!! Who was it again....Brad Pitt!!! No, I think the guy from Pirates of the Caribbean.

That is all about Naples. Humm...did I miss anything!!!

Must see!

The Cinque Terre! YOU MUST SEE IF YOU GO TO ITALY!!!

It is an intense hike. There are 5 different towns. We asked the locals how long it takes. This young couple said that they did it all in 3 hours.

I guess you can do it in 3 hours!!!! That's if you don't stop and check out the view. To them, it's like the grouse grind.

This is the grouse grind I was talking about X 3 during the early postings. We only went to one town. AND IT TOOK 2 and a half hours. No including lunch. We stopped and smelled the roses!!! hahaha. Actually, stopped to think about how we can go get fruit. hahaha. There were veggies and fruit everywhere....because there were families living in the area. It is their year supply of food. How could we.

You got to be there to really check out the view. The trail can be narrow especially when there are so many tourist. They sometimes have to close down a section because it's too dangerous. Can you believe it. Mud slides and ruin the trails. But what a beautiful place.

We are up in the sky. Can you even believe that this is real? We thought it was fake, but it is 100% real. No photo shop what so ever!!! Perhaps I should enter this photo in a contest. hahaha.

This is the small time we hiked to. Each one is when we are getting closer and closer. Are we there yet!!!

Here we are, just moments away.




We're here. We made it. "Can we take the train home now?"





One last photo before we leave. It's such a beautiful place. Why didn't we stay longer. This area is also known for the catus fruit ice cream, called loco d'inda. The ice cream was good, but the actual fruit isn't so good. Unless I bought an over ripe one. Not very tasty to me.

How to Make Wine

OUR WINE TOUR IN FLORENCE

In Florence, we went on a Tuscany wine tour. We went to 2 different places to try wine. We got to know what the process is and be part of it. Now it's your turn to see how it's done.
1st of all, I had to try to eat an olive tree. hahaha. We stopped at a place to take a picture of a town, but instead, we went off the beaten track to take picture of a vineyard close by and an olive tree. We are all about an adventure. We then had to wear these green bandannas. It showed us that we were wine pickers.  Wine picking was so much fun, when you can pick a punch and eat a punch. hahaha.

So here are the pictures of what we started with in order to make wine. You gotta pick them 1st. In the 1st photo, the cart full of grapes were picked by the workers. I just wanted to eat it.
 

 

 

This is the start of the wine process. The grapes are put into the machine to take all the stems off. Then the grapes get pumped into the big machine to get pressed into juice. Fresh Grape juice is so sweet. It's to die for!!!

 

 

 

I'm sorry about the white space. Didn't know what else to write. It's all about the pictures. Well, I can tell you that I'm still unemployed and looking for work. I did get a 30 min session for a mock class to teach. My theme, Special event. My topic, Halloween. hahaha. There must be some vocab for the students to learn about. Like monster and goblins and ghosts. 

 

 

In the past week, Jan and I are trying to get into the rhythm for his schooling, and me participating in volleyball. I played drop in yesterday and didn't know where to go. I played with the beginners. I did not break a sweat and was playing like a beginner. YIKES! We are trying to make our own bread instead of buying it at the store and making a lot of apple crisp. YUM!!! Espeically when it's hot out of the oven with ice cream. What a life I'm having. What more can you ask for. Living up the European lifestyle I guess.

Alright, and during our wine tour, there was a competition between 2 teams. We had to press wine the old fashion way. I was a team leader and Tanya got to press the grapes. What a battle. It was a long and hard fight. It was more for
fun. Winner got a bottle of wine. Unfortunately, we got pressed out by the other team....because they got more grapes to press then we did....or we just had so many Asians on my team!!! hahaha. (There was a group of HK students there)
None the less, the tour was great. I ended up buying a small bottle of wine and olive oil.


Our next vineyard was held at a school. So they say.  The was the culinary school for wine. It sure didn't look like a school. There were so many tables to fit the whole group and there was another session outside. There were a lot of wine bottles everywhere and the barrels. We tasted some good wine, but not sure how good. I'm not really a wine drinker. I try to be, but it's too hard. I did end up buy a Truffle Olive oil and 45 Euro Balsamic Vinegar. It's a must get. YUM!!!! If I have any left, i'll bring home back the rest of my bottle. It better last me for a couple of years. 45 EUROS!!!! And why did I spend it on Vinegar????

After a full day of wine tasting, we are now ready for a good nap. :) Here is Tanya with her purchases. What a good day it was.