Spring in Mercogliano

Getting Mail
The first real mail we received in Italy was a momentous occasion! It took a couple of months for the landlady to get us a mailbox key and in the meantime we missed several utility bills and who knows what else! Once we got the mailbox open, we cleaned out months worth of rotting, wet ads and circulars. So the arrival of real mail was quite an occasion!

We are now "on the  map" with the post office and receiving regular mail. It costs $1 for a card or letter from the US. It costs us 1,60 Euro to send a letter to the US. That is about $2. Go figure.

First mail

Johnnie has a friend visit


The first part of May, Johnnie's fishing buddy Mike came from the US for a visit. They toured Rome together and then around the Naples area. Since both of them are walkers, they did quite a bit of exploring around Mercogliano. Mike had difficulty finding food he likes here but they did find a pizza place that became their regular spot. The owners got to know them and what they wanted every time. They also made the gelateria a regular stop as well.

L-R Mike, Johnnie in Rome at the Colliseum

 They did the hike to the top of Mt. Vesuvius to get a look inside the crater of the volcano. From the description of their trip, it was a pretty strenuous hike. They jeep/buses take you part way up narrow winding roads, then you hike the rest of the way.

Looking into the mouth of Mt. Vesuvius volcano

Another view of the volcano

Johnnie's Wheels


We leased a car for Johnnie so he has transportation. He is not a car kind of guy -- he is a truck guy. Don't think he ever had a car since he was a teenager. No sooner did he get the car home, it died on him and had to go into the shop to replace one of the injectors. It was in the shop about a week but seems to run fine now. It is a 2007 Audi A3 with about 100K kilometers on it. It was previously leased by another Boeing expat. As you all know my husband, he immediately started polishing and working on his "new" car. It has "Napoli kisses", so will never be the perfect shiny specimen like his truck in Everett, however, it drives and handles nicely and the price is right!

Johnnie's ride

Of course, he had to get a GPS as well, or be perpetually lost. He had two different TomToms before he got one that worked. Must have been a bad batch. He managed to navigate everywhere while Mike was here and only got lost a few times. All part of the driving experience in Italy!

More flowers
In the bed between the stairs we have more flowers planted. With all the nice rain we are having, things are looking very pretty.