COVID-19

Resurrecting the old family blog.  Hope to use this to document our days of social distancing together as a family unit during this scary, strange crisis.

Stober/Murray visit and Puglia vacation

We had a very full, very fun week. We spent Monday exploring Pompei (along with half of Italy, it seemed!).  Nora had the adult audio guide and enjoyed acting as our tour guide as we visited the old baths, House of the Tragic Poet and House of the Fawn, while Caroline and Joe explored on their own with the kid audio guide.  We finished up by late afternoon and then Joe came back to our house for a sleepover while Mary Lee, George, Uncle Henry and Aunt Connie had some grownup time in Sorrento and had fun eating at the Inn Bufalito, which specializes in buffalo cheeses and meats (the Naples area is famous for its buffalo mozzarella).  Back here at the house, the kids had a blast. Joe loved being up in Caroline's bunk bed and didn't put up any resistance when she informed him that he would be sleeping next to her that night.

The following day, we spent time visiting with the Stobers and Murrays here at the the Naval Base until it was time for them to return to Sorrento for their last night in southern Italy.  The following day, the Murray/Stobers took off for Rome, and our family took off to Puglia for our first getaway as a family of 6.  We stayed in a small town called Gorgofreddo outside of the city of Monopoli (in the Puglia region) in a house called a trullo (trulli plural), which is a circular stone hut with a conical roof that is the traditional farmhouse design dotting the countryside in Puglia, especially in the towns closest to us.  Our trulli had been renovated by a couple, Marcella and Roberto, Rome residents who spent their springs and summers in Puglia.  They reside in one half of the trulli and rent out the other half as a B&B.  It was such a unique experience, and Marcella and Roberto were wonderful hosts. Nora and Caroline got to sleep in their own trullo house, since there wasn't enough room for us to fit in one together.  They loved it!  Nora took most of the photos.

During the next few days, we explored the nearby Adriatic coastal town of Polignano al Mare, which is built into a cliff overlooking the sea and has breathtaking views and cliffs.  The next day, we went to an animal park called  ZooSafari (that gets its own entry!) and finished up hanging out by the rocky shoreline near Porta Rossa.  The following day, we stopped by the UNESCO designated city of Matera, a town that dates back thousands of years and features houses built out of/into caves.  We had lunch in Matera, explored a bit, and then hit the road again for our 3 hour drive home.  It was so wonderful to get out and see a new part of this beautiful country.

Famiglia Stober in Italia per la Pasqua

Although they arrived in the heaviest rain I've ever witnessed in Italy since being here, and although we had to drive through some hail to get to them, we had a warm welcome waiting for us from Uncle Henry at the Hilton Palace in Sorrento yesterday.  We unloaded all sorts of goodies from the car (a big duffel bag full of food and wine....and Mary Lee and I were surprised to learn that we had each brought a traditional Neopolitan Easter cake to share with the group, so we had more than enough cake!).  Once we unloaded, the kids ran off with George to participate in the hotel Easter egg hunt and the rest of us schmoozed and ate in ML and George's room and drank the bottle of Sicilian Nero D'Avola wine that mom bought as a welcome present. Then we went for a dip in the hotel pool, which seemed to incorporate some of the bedrock the hotel is built on to make the room look like a grotto. All the kids enjoyed getting their "fins" back after a long winter hiatus...Joe was showing off what he learned in his swimming classes, Nora and Caroline had a blast diving off the rocky ledges, and Thomas hesitatingly immersed himself too.  Then we dried off and headed into downtown Sorrento for dinner at "L'Antica Trattoria," where we dined on some local style food and, at the very end of the meal, were treated to some live Sorrentinian guitar music.  Uncle Henry was very pleased with the red wine he chose (Lacrimi Christi del Vesuvio), as were the rest of us!  It was so busy, I didn't get any pictures of just the kids in their Easter best (except a quick couple of shots of Anna with a small smile on her face), but I snagged a photo of Uncle Henry testing the wine (with our photobombing waiter) and we did get a table photo...a blurry one WITH Joe, and a clear one with Joe hiding under the table (Joe and Caroline were inseparable, by the way).  Today it's off to Pompei and Joe might come back to base with us to have a sleepover.

Day trip to Sperlonga

Since we found ourselves with a beautiful day on our hands yesterday, we decided to explore Sperlonga, a coastal town of historical significance 1 1/2 hours north of us. It was gorgeous...the old town center, where we had lunch, is built into the cliff overlooking the sea. Then we took a steep walk down to the beach, where the kids had a blast. Can't wait to go back in warmer weather and maybe visit the museum about Tiberius' villa and the grotto for which the town is named: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sperlonga