Overseaing Harrison

#%&* Schengen–Our Favorite New Curse Word

Carlene and Kim

So, we’ve been silent for a while now. Why? We’ve cheated…we’ve both briefly gone to America–not because we wanted to leave this fabulous new life of ours, but because of The Schengen. What is “The Schengen?” you’re asking. Yeah, that’s what we asked ourselves while watching “Roman Holiday” the first night Carlene arrived in Rome. My friend had mentioned “The Schengen” and “visa” prior to our departure, but she thought, as I did, we could just head to Switzerland (not in the EU, but turns out IS a Schengen member) and get a stamp in our passport and be fine. Not quite that easy as it turns out. Schengen is an area made up of 26 European counties that banned together for international travel purposes. There are no border controls between these countries; however, as a US citizen you are limited to a maximum of 90 days in the Schengen Area within a rolling 180 day period without obtaining a visa (nearly impossible in the age of Covid). Not great news when you’ve already pre-booked 3 months of AirB&Bs. So… we needed to lose 11 days in order to avoid being deported with a hefty fine from Paris next month. The solution? Egypt initially–that’s where I had wanted to start this adventure from the start, but due to Covid restrictions, reentry to The Schengen from Egypt requires quarantine. Schengen! Lots of options were blocked due to Covid restrictions. Next, we looked at the UK, not a member of Schengen, but we are already going there for the month of December. (Side note–Americans are allowed 6 months in the UK without a visa…in case you were wondering).

This is where the perks of the airline job, aka free plane tickets, has come in handy. On our short trip to Dallas, we got to trade in our summer clothes for fall attire since as of October 1, it suddenly turned colder here in Italy. Another bright note is we got to go to the Texas State Fair with close friends where Harrison won the biggest possible stuffed dog by making two shots in the basketball game. It will most likely be his most impressive fair win of all time! We got to see Finney, get hair cuts and see a few friends on the down low. Our next trip home will take us to Canyon for an early Thanksgiving with our mom, who we’re hoping to convince to come back to Paris with us (kind of hard since she’s taken in all our motherless pets while we’re away). That will put us at 89 days in Schengen on December 1, when we head to the UK.

On a fun note, we really have turned “Schengen” into our favorite new curse word. This will most likely come back to bite me in the Schengen when we get back to reality because Harrison is in on this action. Our favorite was when he correctly called out the obnoxiously loud woman on the train by leaning over and whispering into Carlene’s ear, “I wish that woman would shut the Schengen up.” We all did — and great use of the new word! All isn’t lost in homeschooling. Life lessons? Check.

Tuscany

Carlene

I have to admit that we were all a little sad when our time in Rome came to an end. Our month there flew by, but by the end of our stay, we were comfortable – starting to know our way around without Google maps, discovering a few restaurants we loved, our favorite gelato places. And yet, Rome never stopped astounding – the history, the architecture, the pasta. We knew nothing could compare, but Tuscany was waiting…

Kim and I had visited the Tuscan town of Cortona about twelve years ago, after both reading the popular book, Under the Tuscan Sun. We remembered sitting in the piazza drinking Campari and orange juice and wandering in shops along the charming streets and tucked into narrow alleyways. When we were planning this trip, we agreed that we wanted to return and spend more time here.

Life in Tuscany is definitely slower-paced yet still offers plenty of beautiful sights and adventures of its own. We are staying in a charming Tuscan villa about two miles outside the city of Cortona. The house is beautiful and rustic and looks exactly the way a Tuscan villa should – all stone walls and floors, hand painted tiles in the kitchen. The only complaint I have is that stone tends to be cold. The daily highs here have been in the 50-60 degree range, but it has been dipping into the 30s some nights, and the thermostat is set to 61 degrees, which feels a bit nippy for indoors. As someone who is perpetually cold, I have stacked three blankets on my bed and sometimes sleep with socks on my hands at night, but I remind myself that I am in Italy, which makes it all worth it.

We rented a Fiat 500L for our month here. It’s a stick shift, which I haven’t driven in close to 30 years, but it comes right back – just like riding the bike! The road to our house is narrow and winding – one lane only. If a car comes from the opposite direction, one of you has to back up to an open spot and let the other pass. Cortona is a city high on a hill, so the drive up is all hairpin turns in low gear, but I have gotten used to it, and I make the slow drive up the hill every day for pasta and a cappuccino. Interestingly, in Tuscany they offer different pasta dishes from those in Rome, so I have even more options to sample on my quest to find the most delicious pasta in Italy.

Yesterday, I set out on a long hike from town in search of Bramasole, the house from Under the Tuscan Sun. Now, I do not fancy myself Frances Mayes or Diane Lane, but traveling (especially alone, I’ve discovered) does tend to make one feel empowered and open to life-altering events. I am reading the perfect novel for this week, Women in Sunlight by Frances Mayes, and that title describes exactly how I feel here – glowing and warm, looking up and basking in the beauty of my surroundings. I am trying to let serendipity guide me in these months abroad. The book mentioned the song “Nessun Dorma,” so I found it on YouTube and listened to several artists’ renditions (Pavarotti, Andrea Bocelli, and others – all stunning). The next day, I came across a restaurant in town with the same name, so I stopped there for lunch and had a delicious asparagus risotto that I never would have experienced otherwise. Moments like this make me smile, and this trip has given me the chance to slow down and honor them.

I rode the train to Siena one day this week, and it was worth the trip for the spectacular views of the Italian countryside in the fall – colorful rolling hills dotted with stone farmhouses. Siena has a stunningly beautiful gothic cathedral that houses a frescoed library with manuscripts copied in the 1470s. Also impressive is the enormous Piazza del Campo, where a famous horse race is held every summer – bareback! I would love to see it.

I am starting to feel at home in this small, ancient town. I know the main streets, take walks and read on benches in the gardens, and sit on the sunny steps in the piazza listening to people calling “Ciao” to the friends they meet there. I am starting to recognize people I’ve seen before by the dogs they are walking. I have a favorite cafe that serves puffy almond raisin cookies and always makes a heart in the foam of my cappuccino. In these past two months, I have been offered very different (yet equally wonderful) glimpses of Italian life, and I have discovered something about myself. While city life is vibrant and invigorating and I will always long to explore the world’s most fabulous cities, when I come home and am ready to settle down, small town life is the life for me.

Home in Rome

Kim

We took a bit of a vacation from our… well, vacation, this week with a five day trip to Naples. It’s funny that we’ve been in Rome long enough to feel like it was a real getaway and upon our return for Harrison to say, “It’s good to be back home in Rome.” This is the advantage of being in a place longer than a few days and of staying in a real home rather than a hotel–it feels like home now, and we are all sad to be leaving in just two days. How has a month gone by so quickly?

My first impression of Naples was dirty and chaotic, but I will admit, it grew on me. After our train ride from Rome, we had a walking tour of the old city. Coming from Rome, it seemed somehow lesser, which is totally unfair because very few cities –maybe Jerusalem and Athens?– can compare from a historical standpoint, but Naples was full of surprises. Our guide, Chiara, told us the people there were both religious and superstitious at the same time. We were fortunate in our timing, just missing the “Miracle of San Gennaro”. A vial containing the dried blood of the fourth-century martyr is put on public display in the cathedral, and three times a year the blood liquifies, thus the miracle. So, even though we missed the actual day this happens, September 19, the vial of liquid blood was still on display the following week, so we got to see it. The priest stands in the front of the cathedral, people line up, and he turns the liquid blood in its vial for each believer to see individually. Not being Catholic myself, I found this disturbing initially, but the more I watched, the more fascinated I became. If the blood doesn’t liquify (which has only happened a few times), it is a bad omen for the city of Naples–not a good thing for a city sitting at the foot of Mt. Vesuvius, but that is another story.

We did go to Pompeii the next day. Also quite impressive. Harrison said it was his favorite historical tour we’ve done so far. Running around the massive excavation site, I think he was dreaming of a paint ball war.

We rounded off the trip with two relaxing days in Capri and the Amalfi Coast. Those places are not to be missed, and I will go back and spend time in both Capri and Positano if possible. The problem with the new found feeling of “vacation” is it puts my sister and me in shopping mode, which we are trying to avoid given our limited packing space and the length of this trip. Did I buy lemon-themed espresso cups? Possibly. Another coffee maker? (Yes, but it’s an authentic Naples coffee maker that goes on the stove and then reverse drips–I needed it to go with my Slovak espresso maker, the one I got in Jerusalem that boils and settles on the stove, my regular coffee maker and my Nespresso machine. I’m seeing a French press in my near future.) Sandals? You just pick out the style and leather, and they make them for you right then. I do love paper, and they make the best in Amalfi! You get the point, but the actual highlight was going to the beach with Harrison and swimming out looking back toward the beautiful cliffs and thinking, “I want to remember this forever and hope Harrison does too.”

So, we are back in Rome. My shopping has stopped, and we are about to have to try to pack up all my new treasures and lug them to Tuscany. Rome has been amazing, and my heart is breaking a bit at the thought of leaving. What a blessing to have had this time to get to know this city a bit more intimately than I had before. For Harrison to call it “home” made my heart leap a bit. He’s getting it!

Harrison’s 747 Trip

Harrison

Since I was five years old, I have wanted to fly on a 747 because it had two floors. It was exciting because there are not too many still flying. Also, United does not fly them, so we had to buy a ticket on Lufthansa. Upstairs!

When we got on the plane, we got warm nuts and orange juice. Also, I got to go to the cockpit before the plane took off for the ten hour flight. The large cockpit has four throttles and a lot of buttons. There are four pilots in the flight deck of the 747. The captain said that it was his favorite plane.

For dinner I ate veal and got Coke. Then I watched Aladdin, and I went to bed with the eye mask and pjs they gave us.

The plane was smaller than I thought it would be. The stairs were short and blue. The seats were bigger and had more room than I thought they would. The flight was even better than I hoped it would be.

Thank you for reading about my 747 flight. I hope you enjoyed it. Go check out EuroPickle on YouTube.

“Don’t film it, dance it!”

Carlene

I have been in Italy for a week and a half now and can honestly say every day has been full of so many wonderful experiences – unbelievable sights around every corner, rich, delicious tastes at every meal (and snack!), even the traffic horns and sirens sound exotic here. I cannot quite believe that this is my life for the next few months, and I am trying to live in the moment and soak it all in.

On my third night in Rome, we went to a multimedia light show at the Forum. As we walked home, we came across a street musician playing on the sidewalk. An Italian couple strolling by stopped in the street and started dancing. Many passersby (including us) stopped to watch, a few with their phones turned toward them to capture the moment. The musician then shouted out, “Don’t film it, dance it!” Kim and I immediately looked at each other, recognizing the impact of that statement. She said, “We have to remember that line!” and I was already digging in my purse for my notebook to write it down (sorry, the Notes app on my phone is just not the same). I have thought about that statement quite a bit in my short time here because it feels so relevant. Now, I am not a dancer – never have been and never will be – but I do wish I were the type who could just break out dancing in the street. I am far too self-conscious and worried about what other people might think, but I’ve always been envious of people who just dance. Of course, the statement resonated with us so strongly because it applies to all aspects of life: Don’t just be an observer, be a participant!

This trip was an incredible leap of faith for me. My children are now grown, but I have spent the last twenty-two years primarily focusing on needs other than my own. I struggled with the idea of doing something so outrageous just for me. It felt selfish and irresponsible somehow, but I knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance that I could not pass up. So I decided to Ieave my very stable job and nice house in the suburbs for the chance to travel and really explore who I want to be in this new phase of my life. While I am here, I hope to embrace every opportunity that comes my way. I want to say yes even if I am afraid or uncomfortable. I want to absorb every moment and be filled with gratitude that I am here. Yes, I will try to take lots of pictures, but even now I realize that I will not remember the names of all the churches, statues, and piazzas that I capture with my phone. What I will always remember are the precious moments laughing with my sister and nephew, the way I feel every single time I walk out the door of our apartment and see the Pantheon looming at the end of our street, eating creamy, delicious pasta every night (often well after my previous bedtime of 9 p.m.). I want to be present for every moment, and sometimes that means not taking out my phone to record it. I am grateful we had that moment with the street musician so early in our trip because he gave me a motto (altered just a bit), hopefully not just for this year but for the rest of my life – “Don’t film it, live it!”

How’s it going so far???

Kim

This is the question everyone I talk to has asked, so I thought I would start off here. Overall, it has been amazing! I’m not going to lie, we are so lucky to have this opportunity, but not only that–we were brave enough to take it. I had talked a big talk leading up to our departure, but the day before heading to the airport, I freaked out! What was I thinking? I am not the homeschool type of mom! And we’re doing this during a pandemic when nothing is certain. Days before we left, the EU put the US on their “red list” meaning they really don’t want us to come as tourists. There was a lot of confusion as to whether or not Harrison, being too young for the vaccine, would have to quarantine in Germany for the first five days of our trip. In that case, should we skip staying in Germany and go straight to Italy? My friend who lives in Germany told me not to tell immigration my plans of traveling to homeschool and maybe talk up the pilot thing in case they gave me trouble. I lost sleep over this–about a week’s worth.

We were finally in Los Angeles waiting for our flight when I realized I didn’t have the correct forms downloaded, and the lady at the lounge was not helpful at all. I had received an email back from Germany saying they received my form, but I didn’t get the correct response email I needed to show upon arrival. As I filled out the questionnaire for the second time, the list of approved reasons for travel had me second-guessing myself once more. The list included things like: I have joint custody with a German and need to see my child or I am a healthcare worker coming to help with Covid or I am a scientist coming to work on cancer research…none of these applied to our situation, so I chose “other”. The lovely flight over was interrupted by one constant thought in the back of my head–what if they don’t let us in? I got to the counter at immigrations ready to be sent back to the US. The agent asked me where I was going. I told him Wiesbaden and he asked if I was in the military. I told them no, but I was visiting my friend who was, which was totally true, by the way. He told us to have fun and stamped our passports. Just like that, we were in! No questions or quarantines, he just let us in.

All this is to say, we all spend so much of our life worrying and losing sleep over things that never happen. I’m not usually a worrier, but I had been thinking nonstop about the bad “what-ifs” surrounding this trip. I was second-guessing all the planning and kismet surrounding this adventure from its inception. I am so glad I didn’t let the worry and what-ifs stop us from being here. So in this long answer to the initial question, it is going great! We took a leap out of our comfort zones and sometimes that is exactly what we all need in life.