Sock Kitty

Martha keeps a book/list of quotes that come out of the mouths of our children.  I think it's probably some kind of investment we hope someday can be used in a situation where we need to come up with some material.  Some time last year, Grace saw a sock money doll somewhere and the quote came out:  "If I ever get a sock monkey, I'll love it FOREVER!!"

Forever began last week:

Now, Furlums is technically not a sock monkey, rather a Sock Kitty, but otherwise meets all of the other requirements deserving love forever.

Furlums started out as a pair of Martha's socks (grey with red toes and heels).  Both Martha and Grace worked on sewing and stuffing him.  The following days were full of making little outfits for Furlums.

Martha wants everyone to know that her sewing machine is in storage in Redmond and all work on Furlums was done by hand in the Rames sweatshop with Grace supervising the laborer extremely closely.

Slow moving on the Italy pictures

Sorry about the delays, but I've finally managed to get some of the Italy pictures up and available for viewing. I created some little slide shows that take a few minutes to go through, but with 800 pictures, I didn't think it would be right to shove the whole lot at you. This is only for a few days of the vacation, so I'll let you know when I get others up.

https://plus.google.com/photos/108161373252991360450/albums/5710614443954473249

Last Day in Italy

The last day in Italy was not today and it was not yesterday.  We actually flew out on Thursday evening.  We arrived in Dublin rather late and there was no chance of me sitting down and putting coherent thoughts together.  I went to work the next day a little groggy.  So groggy, that I actually forgot my computer at home and had to have Martha deliver it to me.  A bit embarrassing, but I got over it.  I'll give you a rehash of the last day and hopefully will get the pictures together for you to see this weekend.  We had about 800 AFTER the purging of self-portraits gone bad, birds, and pictures of feet.

JJ woke up on Thursday a bit better.  I wouldn't say it was a great night's sleep, but it was better than the night before.  Our flight was scheduled for 7:50PM, so we had a good day to get there.  Our journey started a bit slow with the train from Pompeii to Naples a bit late.  We made our connection to the fast train and were in Rome before noon.  That gave us around 5 hours to explore, so we decided to see if the Colosseum and Forum were opened.  The weather had warmed up enough to allow me to shed one coat and the long underwear and had apparently  melted enough of the ice/snow to allow for tourists to fill those venues.  So we hopped on the subway for two stops and were there.  The lines were pretty long, so we paid to go on a tour at a fiver/head.  We were also fortunate that when I produced my Irish driver's license (temporary still), the kids got in for free.  So we went on a 45 minute tour and hung around for that much again to walk around the place.  After that, we went to Palatine Hill and the Forum.  All this time JJ was deteriorating.  I would guess he coughed 500 times during the day, but he was quite the trooper.  I think we stopped at two pharmacies for medicine and cream for his nose and restocked on tissues.

Our search at the forum for the giant foot that Martha and I remembered from our honeymoon ended in failure.  The foot was about 6 foot in length and was part of the Colossus of Constantine.  The whole statue would have been 40 foot high.  Later research showed us that it was moved to a museum that we didn't go to during our visit.

It wasn't the highest quality visit, but the kids will certainly be able to say they were there.  It would have been a bit disappointing to get to Rome and not make it in the Colosseum or to the Forum.

The travel from the train station was quick on the Leonardo Express.  It could have been earlier for some (read: Martha), but we made it.  We almost had a crisis at security when the security team pulled out of our souvenir bag the gladiator helmet Rod had chosen.  It's a scale helmet made of steel that has pyramid shapes affixed to the top.  The security guy was putting his fist into it like it could be used as some sort of fighting tool like brass knuckles.  The female security screener brought it over and said they would let it go, but we should not remove it from the bag during the journey.  We agreed.

We had a brush with fame on the flight.  Sorry, Bonnie, Bono was not on the flight...  AerLingus does not have classes on their European flights, so everyone gets coach.  Someone, the Rames clan got row 1, with 5 of the 6 seats.  Nice, but no where to put our stuff, so we took up our share of overhead bin space and then some.  Next to Martha was a distinguished women who stood while the plane was loaded and didn't say anything.  Just before the flight was to take off, the pilot came out of the cockpit and walked directly to her and shook her hand and said something we couldn't hear.  It was obvious she was someone, but we didn't know who.  I told the guys at the office about her the next day and they said it sounded like Mary Robinson.  I did a Google search and sure enough, it was her.  Who's Mary Robinson, you ask?  She was the 7th President of Ireland from 1990 to 1997 and later the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights.  Former Presidents of Ireland do not have the benefits of a large security detail and government travel perks, so she just sat in the front row next to the Rames' who were so tired, the eyes closed and were excellent travel companions.

I'll work on getting the pictures together for viewing as we prepare to re-enter the reality of school and work in earnest.

Capri out, Herculaneum in

Last night was full of wake ups and poor sleep.  JJ was up for a couple hours coughing and ended up in our bed.  The thought of getting up at 630am to make another early train to get to a ferry was too much.  Alarms off. We slept in and detoured to Herculaneum.  You've probably never heard of this place, but it's a much smaller version of Pompei.  It's also in the middle of a city.

Not nearly the traffic as Pompei, but the site had really cool stuff.  It is down near the ocean and was hit with pyroclastic flows, versus ash, so what was left was well preserved.  Where Pompei was a town of 10000, this was a town of 5000, and most of the population was only there in the summer to escape the heat of Rome.  And only about 1/4th is exposed as the rest is underneath ash and there would be a lot of unhappy landowners if they decide to uncover the ruins and remove their homes and buildings.

The trains were quite unreliable today and left us waiting for extended times, but we wanted the day to be low key.  We'll save Capri for another visit.

We ate at very close place tonight called Addu i' Mimi.  Very nice and friendly.  After we paid the bill, we were offered a limoncello and a bottle of the house wine.  The 100 foot walk back to the BnB was very enjoyable.  The meal was a simple pasta or gnocchi with veal or calamari.

Travelling tomorrow.  Can't wait to be in complete control of the thermostat and have our own pets back.  The stray dogs and cats in Italy are nice and friendly, but they aren't Radley and Tuna.

Pompei

We had ambitious plans for today.  Train to Pompei at "O-dark-thirty".  Climb Mt. Vesuvius.  Visit the ruins of Pompei.

The italian train system was a bit more to form in terms of timeliness.  Our train to Naples was 15 minutes late leaving Rome.  Normally not a big deal but when you run to your connection and see it pulling away, it becomes a bigger deal.  It meant we had to spend an extra hour at the Naples train station.  Train stations have never been my favorite places to hang.  (Read previous post on odours.)  Naples is a gritty  town.  We had our first experience with gypsy folks.  Very indirect, but they harassed and dirtied the café we went to for a hot chocolate and snack to burn some time.

We've found hot chocolate to be rather different here.  It was so thick today that the spoon would rest on the surface.  We had to request more milk and put more sugar in it to make it palatable.

That hour got us thinking about our ambitious plan.  As we rode to Pompei, Vesuvius loomed in the background.  The cold weather of the past couple of weeks left it snowcapped.  Today's temps were again in the single digits.  As sunny as it was, we just couldn't make the climb.  JJ is still coughing and there is still a chill in the older bones.  We didn't come prepared for a climb in the snow.  We checked into our B&B and headed for the site which is about 5 minute walk from our place.

Spent the whole afternoon going thru the ruins.  Pretty cool place and the kids had a good time.  Ran out of space on our camera and joe had to clean up so we could get thru the last couple days.  It seems Grace is a pigeon paparazzi because during her time with the camera yesterday, we had at least 20 bird shots.  Rod seemed more interested in taking closeups of peoples eyes or nostrils. JJ does not partake in the photographic arts.  Joe seems to take two of everything.

Got back to the room and took a bit of a rest before dinner, but apparantly not long enough.  Went out for food around 645 and all the real restaurants were still closed.  We settled on a pizza joint and had some nice pie, but it was not exactly what we wanted when heading out.  On our way back we stopped for gelati and saw that restaurants were finally coming to life at 730.

Heading to Capri tomorrow.

Quote of the day:  "To bad that volcano had to destroy the place."  JJ after hearing that the house we were in was that of a prosperous person and would have been quite elegant in its day.

Pagan Day

Our plans were a bit derailed today.  We slept a bit late and made our way to the mercado (market) for provisions.  Tired of spending silly prices near tourist sites, we stocked up on bread, meat, cheese, fruit, and drinks.  Then we headed for the Coliseum and Forum.  However, our plans were foiled.  Because of the cold and snowy weather, the sites were closed due to snow and ice lingering on the sites.  A lot of tourists milling about hoping they would open in the afternoon.  We decided to move on.  We headed up the street to see the forum from the street.  We stopped at Trajan's Column for a bit of lunch.  Interesting thing about that column was the presence of St. Peter on top.  There is a consistent rebranding of Roman monuments by Popes.  After they add their Saint, they put their own name on it.  We moved along in front of the Palazzo Venezia, which was a built in the 1400's by a pope from Venice.  Mussolini used it to cheer on his supporters during WWII. We stopped at a cat sanctuary housed at an archaeological site.  Cats galore that were happy to be scratched and fed as they wandered around unhindered by anything resembling a cage or fence.   We were moving our way to the Pantheon.  This is probably the best looking 2000 year old building around.  Another structure built around AD 115, it was donated to the church around 600 and has been a church since. 

Unbeknownst to the kids we were slowly making our way from the coliseum to our hotel.  It was just after we left the Pantheon that Rod realized the plan.  A slight revolt was put down and we moved on to the Piazza Novena.  Performers and artists and lots of people.  We had caricatures of the kids made and began our last leg of the journey by the Castle St. Angelo, which is right around the corner from our hotel.  Dinner at the trattoria around the corner with Grace getting rabbit, JJ pizza Napoli (anchovy, of course), Martha lasagna, Rod spaghetti, and Joe a bean soup knowing he was going play cleanup.  Followed by some canoli and bed time.  We're heading to Pompeii tomorrow on an early train for the last leg of our journey.

Quotes of the day:
"I love that smell."  Grace upon exiting the subway at Termini.  What most discerning noses would recognize as damp urine-like smells present in nearly every metropolitan subway system.  "It smells like ice cubes."  I'd like to state for the record that no ice cube in my house EVER smelled like this.

Martha:  Did you see all the people with their IPads going around looking up things as they go?
JJ:  Yeah, and all we have is a book...
Which Martha was dutifully reading out of all day.

Mass at St. Peter's and other adventures

Martha and I have been blessed to visit Rome twice.  We came on our honeymoon and nearly 16 years later we brought our kids.  We origionally planned to visit today, but moved things up due to weather.  Today we went back to go to mass, climb the dome and visit the crypt.

Mass was great.  We were a bit late (some things never change).  Took our seats as the procession of 20 or so priests and bishops passed by.  We were at the very front of the basillica between both of Bernini's incredible masterpieces (altars) about 30 rows back.  Joe held Grace for most of Mass and Rod asked what time it was repeatedly (some things never change). 

We climbed to the top of the dome.  Another 500 steps.  Then we went to the crypts to see St. Peter's tomb and many more.

Then we moved to the Capucian Crypts.  If you've never seen thousands of skeletons disassembled and reformed into little chapels, this is a must see.  Onto the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain before we had dinner at a recommended joint (from the boys principal) near the fountain.

Tomorrow is pagan day.  Coliseum and forum.

Quotes of the day:
Grace:  "I'm hungry."  Not an uncommon phase, but when said in a stage whisper in front of a creepy display of bones from 100's of monks, it was classic.

JJ:  "I can't get enough of this place."  On going back to St. Peter's.

Florence

Our day started out early and cold.  We had a 7am train from Rome to Florence.  We left the hotel at 545.  We found that heat in this hotel goes off at 11 and comes on at 6.  At about 4 there was a Chinese bed firedrill as children were awake and cold.  Dad gladly took the solo bed...

Our train was fast and punctual, something you don't often hear in the same sentence in Italy.  The snow was still on the ground in Rome, but upon arrival in Florence, it was just cold.  Like about -2C cold.  Plans were again adjusted.  Went to climb the Bell tower and cupola at the Duomo.  Needed to warm up and hit those before the cold sapped our energy.  It was still cold, but we made it.  Great views! Most interesting conversation was around the art work on the Brunileschi built dome.  Another hell, purgatory, and heaven theme. Explaining why the demon was sticking the flaming hot poker into the wrong end of the unfortunate soul.  Martha's explanation of the people viewing this scene in the 1500's, when it was done, couldn't have imagined an experience more undesirable still rang true in 2012.

Long warm lunch at a very nice place near the Medci chapel.  Rod had boar, JJ a hearty mushroom soup, and Martha and Joe had the special likely because it came with a glass of Chianti.  It was a pork and white bean dish with a delightful gnocchi with raddichio and gorgonzola.  Grace was not satisfied with her tomato soup which turned out to be more like a tomato stew.  It was good but didn't meet her expectations.  Did the chapel and wandered over to see David.  He was good and Joe and Grace were able nap a bit behind David where an inordinate number young ladies seemed congregate looking David's backside.  I'll admit it, he's got good form.

Joe carried Grace the rest of the day between venues.   To the Palazzo Vecchio.  To the gelati store.  To the train station.  We actually got an earlier train back to Rome as we just couldn't see freezing any more with one that wasn't walking and one beginning to complain of ear and throat pain.

Snow still on the ground in Rome.  Mass at St. Peter's in the AM and finish up there and we'll see where it takes us.

Rome

Arrived yesterday...Had a good travel day with no complications.  Practiced standing in line at passport control.  Apparently, the Rames' and half the population of China were travelling on Thursday.  It was a bad day to be in the non-EU line.

Today, changed our plans as weather looked cool.  Decided to go to Vatican instead of pagan Rome.  Good call.  It started raining while we were at the Sistine Chapel.  Then started snowing as we went to St. Peter's.  Didn't get to everything so will go back on Sunday.

Heading for a daytrip to Florence tomorrow.

Will get so pics and more words when I'm not using my phone.

Quotes of Day:
"That must of hurt."  Grace on viewing the scene of a flayed martyr in the Sistine Chapel being pulled up to heaven.

"The art was better in the Sistine Chapel."  JJ on the comparative merits of St. Peter's versus the Chapel.

A visit back to the States

No, the Rames Family didn't hit the states, buy I did head back for a brief visit.  It was a very hectic couple of weeks.  I had a workshop for our new customer in Norway (the reason we're in Ireland) on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.  Those are always pretty tiring.  Long hours and lots of work.  A late flight back to Dublin on Friday led to a reasonably quiet weekend.  Then on Monday, I headed to the airport for a 10:40AM flight to New York.

Now anyone that moves from a comfortable life in the US to Ireland has a period at around 3-6 months where you miss some things.  Where you look at things you had and things that are available to you and yearn for a trip to a "real" store.  A "real" US store.  Target, Costco, BestBuy....  Our list of things we wanted was pretty simple and basic.  We have very little space here, so big things weren't on our list.  It was the simple things in life that were either very expensive (as compared to our US standards) or just not sold in Ireland.  Our list was something like this:

Camera:  Our Canon point and shoot was a great camera, but it was nearing it's end of life as downloading pictures using the cable was not working anymore.  The lens covers (those little doors that close as you turn the camera off) were broken and manually removed about a year ago to keep it in service.  It was rather frustrating when you would take a picture and go to look at it and find the doors had half opened and you had a sliver of a picture.  We consulted some of our camera buff friends and did a bit of research and some preliminary shopping here.  The prices were pretty high.  Ireland has a 23% value added tax on all stuff and pairing that with the normal cost of living items made it too hard to swallow, especially when looking at the prices on-line in the states.  Put it on the list.

Clothing:  There were quite a few clothing items that were on the list.  Clothes and shoes are really pricey here. We had the advice about shoes and managed to acquire a few extra for the kids before we came.  But growing kids and general wear and tear and some new needs required a shopping trip.  Jeans, underwear, t-shirts, sweats, socks...Just the normal stuff.  Put it on the list.

Food:  Food isn't that different here, but there are a few things that people were Jones'n for.  I got a few requests.  Hershey Bars.  Rod was really missing a plain old Hershey bar.  Apparently the Cadbury company has cornered the chocolate market in Europe and about all you can find are Kisses.  On the list.  Cheetos:  J.J. was missing Cheetos and I'm not talk about his cousin's cat Cheeto.  Some good old fashioned American junk food!!  Syrup:  It could be that pancakes aren't real popular around here and there's no point in having good syrup without good pancakes.  The syrup in the local Tesco comes in a container about the size thimble.  Okay, I'm exaggerating, but not by much.  The REFILL was in a tin can a little bigger than a soup can!  When was the last time you actually had to use the sharp point on your ancient can/bottle opener.  You know that utensil.  It's the little silver one in the back of the drawer with business on both ends.  In my house about 99.9% of usage comes with the one business end on a beer bottle.  About the ONLY time I every use the pointed end is with a can of evaporated milk.  Who would think a tin can was a good way to deliver syrup?  The Irish....  Mrs. Butterworth's is on the list.  Taco Bell Hot Sauce:  You may be wondering who thinks this is the best thing we have in America?  Martha.  She loves the stuff.  She didn't actually ask for it, but I had it on my mental list.

Teddy Bear:  A separate category for teddy bears?  Yes.  Grace had been giving subtle messages (as subtle as a 7 year old can be) that the only thing she wanted from NY was a teddy bear.  On the list.

That was pretty much it.  So I packed my bags and took a large dufflebag acquired for the trip over in August.  It was pretty much empty as you can imagine as clothes for a 1 day trip to NY are pretty minimal.  As my Aer Lingus flight approached JFK, I spied a Costco, Target, and Best Buy below.  I arrived pretty early in the day, so I got a rental car and headed to do my shopping.  I decided to go for the 2 stop shopping.  Target and BestBuy.  I found my camera, kind of.  They had it on display, but not in stock.  But they happened to have it in stock at another store in New Jersey, closer to my intended location.  Bought it there, but then had to pick it up at the other store.  On to Target.  Ah, Target.  Nothing like the smell of cheap Chinese goods to make the American heart thump wildly.  The whole list was picked, except for the Taco Bell Hot Sauce.  Sorry Martha.

Got it all back to the hotel that evening and began to repack by back for the journey back.  The back was stuffed.  So stuffed that I didn't dare put the Cheetos in bag in or risk have Cheeto dust on arrival back in Dublin.  I then remembered that Martha's sister Anne was going to send me some stuff to my hotel for me to carry back.  ...Reduced to a clothes mule...  This was a little concerning for me.  I didn't know whether I was going to receive a suitcase of stuff or what.  Fortunately Anne's package was smaller than a bread box and I managed to get it stuffed into the bag.

I was supposed to use a USD Xmas gift card received from our wonderful Aunt and Uncle to acquire some of these things, but Joe can be forgetful.  On the way to my plane, I found a few souvenir t-shirts and my shopping was complete.

Everyone was happy with their stuff and I'm sure the next trip back will mean fewer things, because we're finding that we need fewer things as time goes on.  This morning's pancakes were definitely better with the addition of Mrs. Butterworth's.

Manhattan from Jersey City, taken with the new camera