I haven't forgotten to update this blog, I just haven't made it a priority. You know, life happens and all. Also, since we moved into our house (yayyyy!) we haven't had internet (booooo!) so when I've had access I've been doing things like paying bills, taking tests, and seeing what everyone else is up to on Facebook...
Our movers came just over a week ago, and we were very happy with the quality of service we got on both ends of the process. One of my bookshelves has a nice ding in it, but otherwise we haven't found a single thing broken. Even all of our foodstuffs and glassware survived the transatlantic voyage just fine. The house is coming together nicely, and we are really happy with it. It's starting to look like a home, now that we have a few things on the walls and my shoes are scattered all over the place. I think this weekend we will concentrate on some of the nice finishing touches, though of course it'll take a while for us to be fully settled here. We keep finding little quirks in the house, but there's nothing major or too annoying (yet). I think the funniest things are bathroom-related. We had to rig up two shower curtains in the main bathroom, because the tub has two exposed sides and one curtain was too short. In the other bathroom, the shower curtain doesn't reach the floor, so we haven't used it yet, although the wooden door has some water damage so we know previous tenants experienced the same problem. I'm sure we will eventually rig up something, but in the meantime it's just something to smile about and live with. One of my personal pet peeves overall is lack of storage space, shelving, and closets. A trip to Ikea helped a lot, but since we didn't really bring any office furniture we still have to find a home for a lot of random paperwork and our computer stuff. On the plus side, I love our main balcony and the view of the trees from our upstairs windows, plus the sounds of birds chirping. I'm pretty sure there's a dove nest in our palm tree, and our roses are in full bloom!
This afternoon I took my final exam for my government budgeting/finance class, which was much more interesting and enjoyable than I ever expected it to be. I think it went well, but it'll be a week or more before I get my grade. I decided to sign up for only one class next term as well; I'll be traveling for 3 weeks smack in the middle of the term and don't know what my workload or internet access will be. I think the tradeoff will be better for my sanity, and I'm still hoping to be able to finish up by December. Next week I don't have any school, since the summer term starts on May 26th, but next week I'm enrolled in Benvenuti class Wed-Fri. This is my Italian Cultural Orientation class! I'm excited for it; we get a crash course in how to ride the buses and trains, and get to take a couple of field trips. Hopefully I will meet some nice new people and find a few more fun places to visit.
A couple weekends ago Tony and I went to the Camisano Market. It's held on Sundays in the town of Camisano (duh) and is one of the bigger markets in the region. We knew that little tidbit going in, but we didn't understand just HOW big until we got there. We are talking several city blocks of vendors. Tents and tables full of fruits, vegetables, clothes, kitchenware, artwork, curtains, shoes, cheese, plants, and who knows what else! We walked around for a few hours and came home with a bunch of produce; we ate lunch while we were out and really enjoyed the experience despite the crowds. It's not too terribly far from our house, maybe 7-8 miles, and I can see myself whiling away many a Sunday morning there.
I'm trying to think what else we've been up to. Tony's been working very consistently now that we are pretty much settled in, and he's staying very busy. This job will require a lot of travel, and he may get to see more of Europe than I will! [Challenge accepted] While he worked the first half of this week, I went to Red Cross newcomers' orientation. Basically, I signed up for a bunch of accounts and took a bunch of online training, and completed a basic lifesaving course. I still have a lot more training to do now that my accounts have mostly been processed. A couple of them I have already taken through CG duties, but now I have to re-do them through the Army's databases. BLECH! Cyber-security awareness, phooey! (Just kidding, Big Brother, I know it is important and I promise to protect PII and not spill sensitive information to the Bad Guys.) I also had to take a FEMA course, but it took a few days to process because FEMA couldn't reconcile my SSN with my last name. Go figure. And my HIPAA training was expired, but I couldn't get in to take a refresher course; the old training kept popping up as completed and the only completion certificate I could get was my old one. These are the kinds of administrative kinks that make me twitchy, but I'm resigned to accepting that things are just different now, and may be redundant, and it's all just part of the process. Eventually I hope to volunteer in the pharmacy and as part of the Red Cross Disaster Assistance Team here; cross your fingers for me!
Oh, and yesterday I went rock-climbing! One of the women I met at the Red Cross Orientation mentioned it; I'd been on the fence, but she told me MWR was on the verge of canceling it due to low registration numbers. So I got to be a hero and save the day! I mean, I succumbed to peer pressure and signed up. Whatever, it was fun. The Outdoor Recreation Center put together a women-only climbing day. For $25 we got transportation to a real live outdoor climbing location (Lumignano, about 20-25 minutes away) and all the gear, plus instruction. It ended up being 4 customers plus two female ODR workers and we had a really fun time. They set us up on 5 different 10-meter routes; nothing too difficult since we were all beginners. I've climbed at a few different indoor gyms, but this was my first outdoor experience and I really enjoyed it. I finished 4 of the routes, but the last one I kept slipping and losing height, and after many attempts I finally gave up even though I only got about 2/3 of the way to the top. Oh well, next time, right?! I'm quite proud of myself. My body is feeling the exertion though. I definitely used some muscles I haven't worked out in a while; it feels great! On the way back to base we stopped at a little cafe and treated ourselves to ice cream. I think I deserved it. :)
Showing posts with label Outdoor Rec. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Outdoor Rec. Show all posts
Friday, May 16, 2014
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Ambras Castle and Innsbruck, Austria
Last week we swung by the base Outdoor and Recreation Center during a moment of down time to see what services they have available. In addition to gear rentals for things like rock climbing, camping, and snowboarding, they also put together trips for military people to take advantage of. Some of them are local field trips, others take you to the far corners of the country, and a few take you to other destinations in Europe. I've got my eye on a five-day scuba diving trip to Croatia...
There were three trips scheduled for this weekend, and two of them were already full. Darn, no horseback riding in Verona...this time! However, there were seven spaces available on a bus ride to Innsbruck, Austria. For less than a hundred bucks, we got transportation, tickets to the Ambras Castle, and a guide. What else were we gonna do? We haven't gotten our Italian driver's licenses yet nor freed the car to get it registered and inspected, so our options are relatively limited. We met on post in front of the Outdoor Rec center at 0630 and snagged seats on a tour bus. It was a four-hour drive, with a stop in the middle for restroom break and food (unfiltered apple juice, yum!), but ye olde Google maps tells me by car it's 3 hours and 4 minutes from here. The drive was BEAUTIFUL, and best of all, we didn't have to navigate, pay tolls, or pay for gas, which is currently running about 1.56 Euro per liter. We drove right through the Dolomites and Alps; Innsbruck is basically the first major city you get to when crossing into Austria on that route. We passed the Olympic stadium and an enormous ski jump; if memory serves, Innsbruck hosted the Olympics in 1964 and again in 1974. If I had an editor I would ask him/her to fact check that for me, but I'm too lazy to look it up myself, so we'll just assume I'm correct and move on.
We arrived at the castle around 1030, and had until about 1230 to explore. It's a midieval castle that was updated to a Renaissance one by Ferdinand II. To say that Ferdinand was a collector is a giant understatement, and I enjoyed looking at all his stuff. Even back then, he started one of the first "modern" style museums, and many of the items on display noted they were part of an inventory taken in 1596, so most of it has been around a while. The first three rooms or halls were filled with weapons and armors, of all shapes and sizes and styles. I got quite a kick out of looking at the kids' armors, but even much of the adult equipment was quite small. I've heard that people used to be significantly shorter, but it was fun to have visual evidence of that fact. We also wandered through the Hapsburg portrait gallery and Spanish Hall, and got to take a peek into two of the chapels on site. I liked that it was a self-paced, self-guided tour, but one of the pieces of feedback I gave when we got back was that two hours was really too short. I'm one of those kinds of people who can wander around museums and cultural sites for days at a time, but I think most people would agree on this one. The grounds were beautiful and though we skipped it, there's a little restaurant on site that has some outdoor seating.
After Ambras, we hopped back on the bus for the 20-minute drive down into the town of Innsbruck. I say town, but I'd guess a couple hundred thousand people live there. We parked very near to the "old" part of the city, and walked through a park to get to the proper entrance. Our guide gave us a very brief tour and explanation, and then left us to our own devices for the next few hours. We found food first; Tony had a meat dish with sauerkraut and potatoes, and I had a Hungarian goulash with rye bread dumplings. He thoroughly enjoyed his meal but I only thought mine was so-so. On the other hand, the house wine was cheap and delicious, so that was a nice offset. I think it was a cab sav/Merlot/something else blend. In any case, after that we went to the St. Jakob basilica and the Imperial house, where many of the Hapsburgs stayed when they were not in Vienna. The basilica was notable for the paintings on the ceiling, some of the first examples of perspective to paint a domed look on a flat ceiling. (Our guide kept calling the ceiling the "roof" and correcting herself. She also referred to mustard as "the friend of mayonnaise".) We popped into a speck shop and had samples, and Tony bought a gelato. There's a small Swarovski shop/museum there, and we stopped to get a look at their fly display and take note of where the free restrooms were. Unless you are a restaurant patron - and even then it's not a guarantee - many of the restrooms are pay-only. So it's always good to know if/where there are free ones. There's your European tip of the day. :) We also wandered down to the Inn River and took a few pictures. Innsbruck is an incredibly scenic town; you turn a corner and oh look! mountains. It's also very pedestrian-friendly and clean, and most people were obviously multi-lingual. I felt bad for not having a very good grasp on ANY of those languages, but since it's a popular tourist location all of the servers and shopkeepers helped us in English. Give me a year...I also made sure to get a picture of the infamous Gold Roof, but aside from looking very different, it wasn't as impressive as I thought it would be. I enjoyed the rest of the buildings in the square as much as I did that one.
We sadly had to hop back on the bus around 5:30, but by then we had done a good bit of walking and sight-seeing, so it was okay. We stopped at an AutoGrill on the way back, but just got snacky type foods instead of a meal. I had leftovers once we got back to our room, which was a short and pleasant walk back from where the bus dropped us. It was in the 50s all day, and a few people who've been here longer than us complained a bit. I guess it was very nice and spring-y the last couple of weeks, but it's been gray and cloudy since we got here...until today! We stayed pretty close today and caught up on a few things, but we did go for a walk and buy some groceries. I think it got up to about 80, and the birds have been chirping and I even saw quite a few lizards out sunning themselves. Tomorrow we have an appointment with the housing office, so hopefully we'll have a better idea of what our options are by the end of the day tomorrow.
There were three trips scheduled for this weekend, and two of them were already full. Darn, no horseback riding in Verona...this time! However, there were seven spaces available on a bus ride to Innsbruck, Austria. For less than a hundred bucks, we got transportation, tickets to the Ambras Castle, and a guide. What else were we gonna do? We haven't gotten our Italian driver's licenses yet nor freed the car to get it registered and inspected, so our options are relatively limited. We met on post in front of the Outdoor Rec center at 0630 and snagged seats on a tour bus. It was a four-hour drive, with a stop in the middle for restroom break and food (unfiltered apple juice, yum!), but ye olde Google maps tells me by car it's 3 hours and 4 minutes from here. The drive was BEAUTIFUL, and best of all, we didn't have to navigate, pay tolls, or pay for gas, which is currently running about 1.56 Euro per liter. We drove right through the Dolomites and Alps; Innsbruck is basically the first major city you get to when crossing into Austria on that route. We passed the Olympic stadium and an enormous ski jump; if memory serves, Innsbruck hosted the Olympics in 1964 and again in 1974. If I had an editor I would ask him/her to fact check that for me, but I'm too lazy to look it up myself, so we'll just assume I'm correct and move on.
We arrived at the castle around 1030, and had until about 1230 to explore. It's a midieval castle that was updated to a Renaissance one by Ferdinand II. To say that Ferdinand was a collector is a giant understatement, and I enjoyed looking at all his stuff. Even back then, he started one of the first "modern" style museums, and many of the items on display noted they were part of an inventory taken in 1596, so most of it has been around a while. The first three rooms or halls were filled with weapons and armors, of all shapes and sizes and styles. I got quite a kick out of looking at the kids' armors, but even much of the adult equipment was quite small. I've heard that people used to be significantly shorter, but it was fun to have visual evidence of that fact. We also wandered through the Hapsburg portrait gallery and Spanish Hall, and got to take a peek into two of the chapels on site. I liked that it was a self-paced, self-guided tour, but one of the pieces of feedback I gave when we got back was that two hours was really too short. I'm one of those kinds of people who can wander around museums and cultural sites for days at a time, but I think most people would agree on this one. The grounds were beautiful and though we skipped it, there's a little restaurant on site that has some outdoor seating.
After Ambras, we hopped back on the bus for the 20-minute drive down into the town of Innsbruck. I say town, but I'd guess a couple hundred thousand people live there. We parked very near to the "old" part of the city, and walked through a park to get to the proper entrance. Our guide gave us a very brief tour and explanation, and then left us to our own devices for the next few hours. We found food first; Tony had a meat dish with sauerkraut and potatoes, and I had a Hungarian goulash with rye bread dumplings. He thoroughly enjoyed his meal but I only thought mine was so-so. On the other hand, the house wine was cheap and delicious, so that was a nice offset. I think it was a cab sav/Merlot/something else blend. In any case, after that we went to the St. Jakob basilica and the Imperial house, where many of the Hapsburgs stayed when they were not in Vienna. The basilica was notable for the paintings on the ceiling, some of the first examples of perspective to paint a domed look on a flat ceiling. (Our guide kept calling the ceiling the "roof" and correcting herself. She also referred to mustard as "the friend of mayonnaise".) We popped into a speck shop and had samples, and Tony bought a gelato. There's a small Swarovski shop/museum there, and we stopped to get a look at their fly display and take note of where the free restrooms were. Unless you are a restaurant patron - and even then it's not a guarantee - many of the restrooms are pay-only. So it's always good to know if/where there are free ones. There's your European tip of the day. :) We also wandered down to the Inn River and took a few pictures. Innsbruck is an incredibly scenic town; you turn a corner and oh look! mountains. It's also very pedestrian-friendly and clean, and most people were obviously multi-lingual. I felt bad for not having a very good grasp on ANY of those languages, but since it's a popular tourist location all of the servers and shopkeepers helped us in English. Give me a year...I also made sure to get a picture of the infamous Gold Roof, but aside from looking very different, it wasn't as impressive as I thought it would be. I enjoyed the rest of the buildings in the square as much as I did that one.
We sadly had to hop back on the bus around 5:30, but by then we had done a good bit of walking and sight-seeing, so it was okay. We stopped at an AutoGrill on the way back, but just got snacky type foods instead of a meal. I had leftovers once we got back to our room, which was a short and pleasant walk back from where the bus dropped us. It was in the 50s all day, and a few people who've been here longer than us complained a bit. I guess it was very nice and spring-y the last couple of weeks, but it's been gray and cloudy since we got here...until today! We stayed pretty close today and caught up on a few things, but we did go for a walk and buy some groceries. I think it got up to about 80, and the birds have been chirping and I even saw quite a few lizards out sunning themselves. Tomorrow we have an appointment with the housing office, so hopefully we'll have a better idea of what our options are by the end of the day tomorrow.
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