travel in italy
I love living without responsibility. Last year was a true joy for me. Sure, I had a little bit of responsibility, but I was beholden only to myself because I was taking college classes. Ah…college…the best time of life. Our only job is to learn stuff. My grand high goal remains to find a job that will pay ME to learn a language. That's why I have taken the Foreign Service exam four times.
The purpose of vacation is to decrease the degree of accountability weighing on our lives. Since Italy is only a ferry-ride away, we decided we would spend some time there. Maura is going to going to begin our time off with a trip to Spain. The day after school closes, on 12 December, she leaves for Barcelona. Her idea of a Christmas/birthday present (her b-day is on December 21) was to get away from us. On the Sunday night after she leaves, I plan to take the boys to a friend's house where we will watch the weekly NFL games as they come in over the Internet. The games at noon in the States start at 7 pm here. I've been over to watch once so far this season. It's fun to be able to cheer for the Vikings (although on THAT evening, they won't be playing until 3 am.) On Monday, the boys and I will travel by ferry, with our disgustingly large SUV, across the sea to Bari, Italy. (We bought the truck while we were still in Kazakhstan from the person Maura replaced here in Albania. We are fixing it up with the goal of selling it.)
I wanted to see if I could arrange a farm stay in Italy. I found a website called helpXer. It's designed for backpackers who are traveling around and would like to stay cheaply at hostels in foreign countries. My ambition was to find something that would allow me to get a taste of real Italian farm life—not a petting zoo or pony ride. During the time that I am without her, I wanted to find farm work for me while at the same time, some kind of supervision for the boys. As it turns out, late December is not really olive-picking time, but my inquires did yield some fruitful opportunities.
After sending MANY requests for information without finding any suitable situations, I received perfect offer. we would be happy to host you and your 2 sons in december, for accommodation either in a large bed-room in the house or in a separate dormitory, we would charge 30 euro/day and 4 hrs work a day in exchange for food (we mainly cook vegetarian dishes) . hope to hear from you soon. I've talked to them about the work I'll be doing—"Oh…cleaning up downstairs, chopping firewood…there's always something."
We will leave the hostel/farmhouse on the 19th and drive a few hours to Naples where Maura will meet us after she comes back from Spain. We'll see Naples and Pompeii before going to Rome for two nights. I'm most looking forward to seeing the cats that inhabit some Roman ruins. There is a Roman marketplace that has been excavated to about 10 meters below the level of the sidewalk. There is a "save the cats" organization that takes care of strays. In 1997 Maura and I spent several hours watching them from above. I might buy another leather belt. I'm still wearing the one we bough the last time we were in Rome. Roasted chestnuts are also a nice treat in Rome.
From the 22 – 27 December, we will be housesitting in a house near Firenze (Florence—you should ask Maura about her disdain for the fact that people have to change the names of towns. It's easy to say such names as Firenze and Roma and Moskva—why did we have to changes the name to Florence, Rome and Moscow?).
On the 27th, we are driving to Bologna, outside Venice. After a night there, we are going to drive around the Adriatic, through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Montenegro back to Tirana.
The purpose of vacation is to decrease the degree of accountability weighing on our lives. Since Italy is only a ferry-ride away, we decided we would spend some time there. Maura is going to going to begin our time off with a trip to Spain. The day after school closes, on 12 December, she leaves for Barcelona. Her idea of a Christmas/birthday present (her b-day is on December 21) was to get away from us. On the Sunday night after she leaves, I plan to take the boys to a friend's house where we will watch the weekly NFL games as they come in over the Internet. The games at noon in the States start at 7 pm here. I've been over to watch once so far this season. It's fun to be able to cheer for the Vikings (although on THAT evening, they won't be playing until 3 am.) On Monday, the boys and I will travel by ferry, with our disgustingly large SUV, across the sea to Bari, Italy. (We bought the truck while we were still in Kazakhstan from the person Maura replaced here in Albania. We are fixing it up with the goal of selling it.)
I wanted to see if I could arrange a farm stay in Italy. I found a website called helpXer. It's designed for backpackers who are traveling around and would like to stay cheaply at hostels in foreign countries. My ambition was to find something that would allow me to get a taste of real Italian farm life—not a petting zoo or pony ride. During the time that I am without her, I wanted to find farm work for me while at the same time, some kind of supervision for the boys. As it turns out, late December is not really olive-picking time, but my inquires did yield some fruitful opportunities.
After sending MANY requests for information without finding any suitable situations, I received perfect offer. we would be happy to host you and your 2 sons in december, for accommodation either in a large bed-room in the house or in a separate dormitory, we would charge 30 euro/day and 4 hrs work a day in exchange for food (we mainly cook vegetarian dishes) . hope to hear from you soon. I've talked to them about the work I'll be doing—"Oh…cleaning up downstairs, chopping firewood…there's always something."
We will leave the hostel/farmhouse on the 19th and drive a few hours to Naples where Maura will meet us after she comes back from Spain. We'll see Naples and Pompeii before going to Rome for two nights. I'm most looking forward to seeing the cats that inhabit some Roman ruins. There is a Roman marketplace that has been excavated to about 10 meters below the level of the sidewalk. There is a "save the cats" organization that takes care of strays. In 1997 Maura and I spent several hours watching them from above. I might buy another leather belt. I'm still wearing the one we bough the last time we were in Rome. Roasted chestnuts are also a nice treat in Rome.
From the 22 – 27 December, we will be housesitting in a house near Firenze (Florence—you should ask Maura about her disdain for the fact that people have to change the names of towns. It's easy to say such names as Firenze and Roma and Moskva—why did we have to changes the name to Florence, Rome and Moscow?). 
The owner of the house is going to visit her relatives in Great Britain. She wanted someone to keep track of things and take care of her four cats. This is a super-cheap way to live—free. It might not be something that the house owner would want a back-packer to do—a family, tough, is ideal. I'm trying to find some place that will allow us to do some work feeding homeless people or something during the Christmas season.
On the 27th, we are driving to Bologna, outside Venice. After a night there, we are going to drive around the Adriatic, through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Montenegro back to Tirana.
posted by James Martin at
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