Dad's New Toy (aka The Power of Carlos P.)

A few weeks ago, I got an email from my Dad and at the bottom of the email it read "sent from my IPAD." What???? And then, the next email was a description of the new double wireless router system (with schematic diagram). I just got SMOKED in the technology world by my Dad.

This all happened AFTER Carlos P. and his film crew spent a few days at the house. Carlos sold Dad on it and now Dad has scanned 40+ years of photos and has the filed on his iPad in folders. He showed it to me on SKYPE. Wow, never did I ever think I would type/say those words from a man who still has an AOL email account!

One Month Without Shaving

This is the season of my experiment with facial hair. After one month, without shaving (I had to shave around the mouth as that was driving me nuts), here's what we have. Now, it's time to sculpt and try different styles. Pictures to come!

Here I am with a county commissioner (and host dad) on the left and the governor of the province of Viterbo on the right. The politicos came by on Monday to welcome the students.

Capri

After orientation, on the coast south of Rome, I headed south to Naples, again, to get on a boat to spend a day on the famous island of Capri. At this point, I would post a picture of the island as the boat approached it, but I was hanging off the back of the hydrofoil puking my GUTS out. It was a one hour ride, but it felt like it took forever. I would venture that 50% of the passengers were vomiting. These rough seas meant that the famed "Grotto Azzurra" was closed. Bummer. But, I had great weather regardless and enjoyed myself. I mean, how can you not, in a place as beautiful as Capri.

The Isle of Capri has the eastern end (Capri town) down low near the sea and the western end, high on a bluff (Anacapri). Right on the edge of that bluff is Villa San Michele which was the home of Swedish doctor Axel Munthe. This is the chapel and the sphinx which is perched right on the edge.

Here's the view of Capri town from the villa.

The Villa San Michele has beautiful gardens and you find statues everywhere.

Munthe was a jack of all trades, doctor, author, animal lover and architect to name just a few talents. He directed the construction of a number of buildings in Anacapri, this Casa Caprile being one of them. Why did I care? The Casa Caprile is NOW a hotel and it's where I stayed. Totally coincidence.

The famous Chiesa San Michele in Anacapri is known for its floor which depicts the expulsion of Adam and Even from Eden.

It's amazing because its actually a tile mosaic. Here's Adam's head.

I always have to take a picture of the elephant!

From Anacapri you can take a chairlift to the top of Monte Solaro, the highest point on the mountain.

Recognize that building? It's the Casa Caprile from the chairlift.

From the top of Monte Salaro, the view west. Capri town below, on the right, the Faraglioni Rocks and in the distance, the Amalfi coast!

From the top of Monte Solaro, I hiked down to Anacapri and from there I descended to Capri (and the boat) via the Phoencian stairs. These stairs (just over 1,000) were the only way to get from Capri up to Anacapri until the road was built in the late 1800's.

On my way down, I struck up a conversation with this very nice Swedish woman (making a pilgrimage to Villa San Michele as it's something the Swede's do) and turns out she's the mother of former #10 in the world tennis player Jonas Svennson. You never know who you run into.....

Getting off the island was quite a decision as well. Wanting to minimize the time on a boat, I chose to take a boat to Sorrento (the closest point on the mainland) and take the train from Sorrento to Naples. It added an hour to my journey, but I saved myself from the threat of another "incident." I would make that choice every time.