Sunset

I forgot to post this a while back when I was trying to be artistic. Of the series I took I like this one the best.

View of the Amafi Coast

A random shot from Ravello this fall when Chris, Emily, and I drove the Amalfi Coast. I put new scratchs on the car getting up here, but I get a new car in 8 monthes.

This is just some house I saw in Fredrick. Hey, that town's named after my favorite king of Southern Italy, Fredrick II. 

This is a photo from when I was in Harpers Ferry visiting my brother. We had a nice long walk and a light ethopian meal afterwards. 

Cincinnati, Ice Cream Show

Last night a film was on TV that was made right down the road in Lecce and the Salento area. I watched it very closely to see the local scenes that were used throughout the movie. I recognized most of the places immediately and Italian movies love to use scenery shots with very specific landmarks in the background so isn't hard to know exactly where they were. The leading man and woman in the movie were both police investigators. He lived on the coast near Otranto (great for views of the sea) and she lived in an apartment overlooking the old city center in Lecce (great for showing the local architecture in every shot). The storyline was the poisoning death of a person at a large wedding (the bride was supposed to get the poison it appears, oooooo). So it was a fascinating show to watch but more for the scenery than the acting.
Another very funny thing I saw yesterday was at the United Colors of Benneton store. I walked by this bastion of Italian clothing design and I saw a bright orange hooded sweatshirt with purple and white writing on it. In the middle in big block purple letters it said “Cincinnati” and above that was written “Ice Cream” and below “Show” in white. It’s so ridiculous because it makes no sense. I see this so much. They put something on the shirt or pants just so it has something and it’s almost always in English. Right now they also have sweatshirts that say “Are You Friendly?”

Christmas Ugh..

Christmas is coming and I haven’t done a thing. I haven’t even started my Christmas shopping yet but it’s because I don’t have a clue what to get anyone. I think I’ve already bought everyone the typical Italian things and I don’t feel like flying home with an over-weight bag of wine or olive oil again. There has to be a better way. I can always claim that Christmas snuck up on me. Without Thanksgiving and cold weather I just don’t feel like it’s really a few weeks away. Never mind that the center of town has lights strung across the streets for the holiday. Well I’m sure I can work it out.
Local news is pretty slow right now. We have a big holiday coming up on Thursday, the Immaculate Conception. I plan to go to Turibio’s house for some ultimate Frisbee and lunch. We played a little ultimate last Sunday morning on grass. This is strange because there isn’t much grass around here. In the summer it’s too dry so no one bothers with a lawn. All the soccer fields are dirt except for the ones in the stadiums! So where did we find grass…at a place where they train attack dogs, no kidding. They have field next to the kennel with obstacles and an area to attack people. Even while we played a German shepherd was going through the paces attacking a guy in padding. This was a real German shepherd because they even spoke to it in German!! That was an interesting morning. Anyway the holiday is Thursday and I hope to have a good time at Turibio’s. Most people take Friday off too but I don’t have the time left to do this, besides I have work that needs to get done before the end of the year. As of right now I’m not sure when that is. They haven’t said when the plant will close for Christmas. I do know that it will be closed until January 9th after Christmas. I have my paperwork together for my new work visa. Now I just need to go to Detroit to file it before Christmas.