We finally made it to Italy! After months of planning, some unbelievable stress and one hell of a long drive we arrived on the 3rd of July. The dogs had to go with us rather than be shipped over so we were traveling with 2 German Shepherd dogs in the back of our truck, a 3 year old, me nearly into my third trimester of pregnancy and of course R driving. We had a roof box stuffed to the hilt on the top as well as the back passenger seat as full to bursting as possible! It's amazing all the stuff you need to bring along. It wouldn't have actually been that bad but we were going without our furniture for a month and having to live in a hotel most of that time so needed to make sure we had at least some of our creature comforts, especially for our daughter...we used everything we brought too! We departed England on the night ferry(23:45) to Cherbourg which arrived in France at 04:30 the next morning and 3 very tired people walk down to the loading deck to find our dogs had broken through the dog guard and were sitting in the front seat...funny now but not then! Got them situated and finally drove off the ferry to the customs section where the poor guy had no idea what to do with my passport...long story ... anyway finally let us through and weehee off we go tired but excited about the journey ahead! Driving through France was interesting to say the least, we encountered some very rude people and some very interesting bathrooms at the rest stops...I will have to post a photo, words just won't do any justice! Put it this way for now I actually had to walk back out of the bathroom and look at the door sign to make sure I was in the ladies! Most of the people seemed nice enough but I never once thought to learn a little French because you know we are going to drive through France...right? Well it would have come in handy! No parla vous frances came into play an awful lot! I wish someone here would have warned us about the toll roads too! My friend S had told me there were a few but I had no idea they would last the duration of our trip! I think we ended up spending £140($275) in tolls! We got to claim it back after we got here but when it's an unexpected expense it can throw your travel budget off. We drove through the longest tunnel system I have ever seen in my life just outside Firenze Italy, it was literally tunnel after tunnel for almost 100 miles! We also got to drive right through the Swiss Alps which was pretty cool!
So two hotel stops and three days later we find ourselves in Latina. The driving here is insane! I knew it would be a little more aggressive but OMG!! If there is not a lane they make one, you can be sitting at a traffic light with two lanes and they will edge up the side of you to make a third and even a fourth just to get further up in the cue. The kids here are very rarely in a carseat, I have often seen them standing in between the front seats or all squished together in the back seat! Also people will be riding their mopeds and motorcycles and texting at the same time and thats not to mention the kids standing on the foot rail of a motorcycles holding the side of the handle bars while Dad's leg is wrapped around their body to "keep " them from falling off!! I could go on about the jaw dropping driving experience here but I will spare the boredom. It is unimaginably hot here and has taken some serious getting used to but we seem to be acclimating quickly. The first two days were miserable though because our hotel room was supposed to be air conditioned but wasn't so poor H actually got sick from the heat. Kept her full of plenty of water, juice and fruit and she was fine but it was still scary! After 4 days of this we were moved to another room which was great for 5 days and then the AC went in that room too! That just figures! We did get the keys to our house on the 14th of July but still couldn't move in because we had no furniture and I couldn't hack an air mattress that long being as pregnant as I am so spent the duration of the week in the hotel and moved in here on the 19th used an air bed for the weekend and our furniture arrived in the 21st. Everything came in one piece with a few minor flaws and the movers actually unpacked every box onto the floor so we were left with one very big mess. This house is amazing! I will post lots of pictures! It is a converted barn so it's all on one level aside from a huge study upstairs, the yard is massive and surrounded by a security fence so our dogs don't bark at everything that moves...nice for a change! Plus H loves being able to run around in the space and does it all day if you let her! We have a 3 car garage and two covered porches so it's great to be able to sit outside and not worry about getting sunburned. The inside is big too, you walk in through an old barn style door which itself is almost 6 inches thick, all the floors are stone tile and the study is hard wood, the doorways are all exposed brick work and there are some exposed wood beams in the living room and entry way too. The kitchen a pretty big too it's twice the size of our last place and has a 5 burner cooker top with a built in microwave and stove and one of those old fashioned wood burning cookers..I have never used one so will have to figure it out! The bathrooms are nice one has a shower come sauna and the other has a jacuzzi bathtub in it, H already loves having baths in there and I will get to try it out someday. All the bedrooms are a nice size and in all honesty we are having trouble filling the place with our furniture because there is so much more room than we are used to. Oh and we have a listed building in the yard too from Mussolini's day. Listed just means it's a historical building which can not be knocked down or changed in any way, kinda neat to have a bit of history right out the front window!
We are surrounded by mountains on all sides and the beach is only four miles away. There are three 11/12 century villages set into the side of the mountains that we know of and it's really pretty to see the lights at night. We have been up to one called Sermoneta and it is absolutely beautiful! I will take my camera next time but the streets are all lined with slate and stone and old stone houses and there is an old castle still standing in the center of town. The local town of Latina is not at all what I imagined when I thought small Italian village but it's still pretty. I suppose if you consider that the city used to be swamp land and has only been here since the 40's it's not that old so no stone streets or buildings but lots of greenery and very friendly people! I can't get over how nice the Italians are and how much they adore children! Everywhere we go people oh and ah over our daughter and talk and play with her. She makes friends easily though so chats away right back to them even though neither one can understand the other. R and I learned a small amount of Italian before we moved over but I wish we had actually taken a course of some sort since it seems more needed than people lead us on to be. The locals do try to help you along though if you at least attempt to speak to them in Italian. The food is amazing too it's all so fresh and tastes so good! The vegetables are all so big and smell wonderful and the meat has virtually no fat on it. Going to the deli counter is an experience, they have a side of cow, pig, etc hanging and you tell them how much you want then they cut it off for you. The fish counter is the same, I don't like going up to order my fish though because there is always a center display of this enormous fish head just sitting there staring at me...it's just to much! If you want to get your shopping in it either has to be early morning or late afternoon because all of the stores and shops close between 1 and 4. That took a little getting used to but it's the hottest part of the day so everyone apparently goes home to rest!?
I am able to use the Naval hospital in Naples to deliver our baby which was a relief for me the only downside is that it's 2 1/2 hours away! I will be scheduled for a c section though so will know when I am going down, I really didn't to go that route but I had no choice in the matter since I had an emergency c/s with our daughter and the doctors there don't allow VBAC. The hospital is fairly new so it's all sparkly and clean and everyone there seems nice enough. My midwife travels up to see me every couple of weeks and I have local doctor care in case anything happens. There are 3 hospitals in Latina in the event I go early and can't make it to Naples though! So in about 8 weeks we will have our new bundle with us. I won't find out the exact date until next week. My Mom is coming over to give us a hand and look after H while I am in hospital so I am really looking forward to seeing her since it has been almost 3 years!
Overall life here is good and I think we will enjoy our time here. R is already talking about extending which I am all for! I love the area and the people and of course the house and everyone I have met from the military side of things are all very friendly. It's a breath of fresh after after our last posting! Anyway, I guess that's it for now but will try to post something new every week so please stay tuned in!
Lots of love to all from the Wiggins!!!