As you can see from the last post of pictures from the day, we took a trip. It was the longest road trip since moving here and let’s just say, we appreciate how close everything is in Europe. We were reminded of the day long trips from Mississippi to Texas and do not miss those days. However, covering three countries in one day is pretty impressive to me.
The drive here was long (11 hours or so) but beautiful.
The sun was shining which made the drive through the mountains even more exciting (you know me and you know how much I love my mountains…I was giddy) that is, when you could see them. The Austrians prefer to build their roads through the mountains, instead of around them. So it was kilometers and kilometers of tunnels, and then bam! daylight and oh, maybe a castle or two (NBD)…and then tunnel again.
For the next few days we will be enjoying our time at our temporary home in Italy. We have already been warmly welcomed by our fellow Viper community here. One of the spouses even recognized me from the blog! (Raise the roof, what, what!!) It’s so wonderful to make new friends and get to know these wonderful people in our F-16 family!
The down side to being in Italy is that I will never be able to eat pizza or spaghetti again. Unless, of course, it is in Italy. I love my schnitzel and dumplings, but it doesn’t even compare to the food here. Not even close. Be prepared for some epic food pictures, you guys. According to Rick Steves, every day the average Italian consumes two servings of pasta, a half-pound of bread, and two glasses of wine. Now, I’m not certain, but I’ve adapted this routine so easily in the past few days that I’m convinced that there’s Italian in my lineage. 🙂 I downed my spaghetti al pomodoro so quickly yesterday that I completely forgot to take a picture. Our first night here we went out for what was quite possibly the most amazing ham and sausage pizza I’ve ever had in my entire life.
{I may or may not have had two of those enormous slices…and washed it down with prosecco. So much for that extra 10 pounds I was going to drop before summer…yeah, right.}
In the past couple of days we’ve been enjoying the sunshine, the friendly people (Italian is such a fun language to listen to!), and the fresh and amazing foods!
When I look out the window of our temporary living room, I’m reminded a little of Colorado Springs. My sister said that she can see why I love it here so much. There is farm country here, and we’re not far from a beach, so I told the Viper Pilot that if he wanted to retire here to farm, I would be a-okay with it. Today, the sun is shining, but the mountains are covered in clouds. No complaints from me…especially with the temperatures in the 50s! This is t-shirt weather! Well…almost, but I’m donning my short sleeves and flip flops anyway.
Our home away from home is cozy, it has a “kitchen” complete with a (extremely loud) fridge and microwave. Without the stove, there won’t be much cooking for me but I suppose that is fine since the cuisine here is exquisite.
We aren’t here on vacation, well, I should rephrase that. The Viper Pilot is not here on vacation, I most certainly am! But he still has to work every day. It isn’t a bad thing, I’ve got a pretty nice view of his office. 😉
For the record, Downton Abbey is so much better than my office.
Well, I must get back to planning our trip for this weekend. La vita è buona!
CIAO!