Thank You

If you served one year or thirty years, if you did it with honor, thank you.

Thank you for hurrying up just to wait.

Thank you for dealing with the stress and the heartburn.

Thank you for the endless inspections and exercises.

Thank you for the Real World too.

Thank you for all the TDYs, PSCs, ORIs, PT, & BS.

Thank you for the blood and sweat.

And thank you for the tears.

Yours, your spouse's, your parents', your children's.

Thank you.

Hey, Cullligan Man!

In the past, the Aviano area has had problems with the Culligan delivery service. It was very unreliable, to put it kindly. Because of that, many customers dropped the service, and newcomers heard about the poor service so they didn't sign up.

If you are interested in having delivery service, you'll be happy to hear that we have a new Culligan Man! The new guy, Robert, is very reliable. He has not missed one of our scheduled deliveries and answers emails and concerns promptly. What a relief!

So if you were turned off by the spotty delivery and iffy service, give them another look. It really has improved tremendously in the past few months.

The Exchange site has the prices for the service and answers most any question you might have. Prices for cooler rental range from about $12-15 per month. Or you can purchase one at the Area 1 Shopette. Or they show up on the Aviano Classifieds all the time. The five-gallon jugs are $7.95 each {fluoridated or not, your choice}. There is a $5 deposit on each delivered jug, but you get that back with each jug you return. So as long as you are doing a 1-for-1 trade, it's irrelevant. They also deliver cases of water bottles in a variety of sizes.

For us, it's one less errand in our busy week. And now that it's reliable, it is such a relief. If you're tired of lugging bottles of water from base to your home every week, Culligan is definitely worth checking out.

{I am of no importance to anyone at Culligan or AAFES. This is solely based on my experience with said service. Take it for what you will.}

Ah Darn It!

These don't work here.

Save yourself the trouble and take my word for it.

{Source}

At least not on the walls...it scrubs off the "paint". I say "paint" because I don't think the walls are really painted. It seems to be more of a wash over the stone. In any event, these things take it right off, which is really too bad. If your walls have been painted with regular semi-gloss type paint then I'm sure they'll still work just fine for you.

I have used them in small doses, dabbing here and there for small fingerprints and smudges. But if I end up with a large spot, say a footprint on the wall, I don't know how I'm going to deal with that!



Alice in Wonderland

Tonight at 1900, several of the children from Aviano will be performing Alice in Wonderland at the Elementary School MPR. Tickets are sold at the door for $6/child and $10/adult. Family and student discounts are available also.

If you can't make it to opening night, no worries! It will be performed on Thur and Fri at 1900, with a matinee on Sat 1400.

Don't miss it!

{Look for the handsome Doorknob on Friday night!}

Aviano Blogs

I began this blog because it was difficult to get good information about the area before {and even after} we got here. I wanted it to be a place for advice and information about the base and area. After several PCS's over the years, this has been a real tough one for a variety of reasons. I have heard many people express frustration about the base, the area, housing, and Italians! I feel like being well-informed makes everything a little easier. So I thought throwing a little information out there might help.

Fortunately, I have made a couple of local bloggy friends who felt the same way. There are 2 other lovely ladies who also run blogs here at Aviano. The funny thing is I think we could all write about the same thing and you'd get 3 completely different takes on it!

So without further ado, allow me to introduce the adorably funny Ms. Tessa at Ciao, Blogga. A new military spouse who cracks me up with her funny pictures and stories. She definitely has a unique and fresh perspective on the military life and life at Aviano!

The other Aviano blog that you simply must check out is Aviano Dolce Vita. Ah, the sweet life! This blog has links for just about anything in and around our area. She is great at posting all of the local festivals. And there are a LOT of those! A great source to reference for just about any local information.

Do you have an Aviano blog that I could add to my blog roll? Or do you visit another site that has tons of great Aviano info? If so, let me know about it!

Festa dell Zucca

It's time for the annual Pumpkin Festival in Venzone!

October 22-23

Italians have festivals celebrating everything from saints to mushrooms. But there are a few real standout ones that are not to be missed. The Pumpkin Festival in Venzone is one of them! It seems like a great way to kick of all of the celebrations from autumn through winter.

Venzone is about an hour and half north of Aviano. It was established around 900 A.D. and still has the Medieval walls and towers surrounding it. It is really interesting to see with or without the festival.

The festival includes Medieval reenactments, costumes, musicians, and anything you could think to cook with pumpkin! Pumpkin soup, pumpkin bread, pumpkin grappa...{I'm channeling my inner Bubba.}

You can easily drive there from our area, but parking really looked to be a mess. The train stop drops you within a 5 minute walk from the festival entrance. Normally, we purchase tickets one way at a time while traveling here, but since this is just a stop, not a station, we had to hunt down a bar in town that sold tickets to get back home. Then, not knowing the times for the returning trains, we had a long chilly wait at the platform. I'd still take the train again to avoid parking there. Just this time maybe I'd shoot for a little better planning. 

ITT also has a trip planned if you'd rather take a bus. Check out the ITT flier for a little more information on the history of the town and festival.

However you get there, you will be sure to have a good time!

Fin!

Disneyland Paris

Who doesn't love that mouse?

Disneyland Paris was a little taste of America in Europe. Definitely a nice break after being here for a year and a half. Admittedly, Disneyland Paris does not hold a candle to Walt Disney World in Orlando. But it was still a good time.

I read somewhere that DLP is much more colorful and detailed than the other Disney parks because the skies in France are usually grey so they needed to add a little more to make it stand out against the dull atmosphere. In true Disney fashion, every detail was spectacularly beautiful.

The first day we were there it poured and poured...and poured. After we were completely drenched, I ducked into a shop and bought 4 ponchos. We put them on outside, getting even wetter, and walked around the corner to see the parade ropes were being put out so we stopped to watch. And the sun came out!

Along with that beautiful rainbow!

The Mister insists that the rain dried up the second I bought ponchos, but it looks to me like Mickey brought the sun and the rainbow around the corner with him!

Disneyland Paris is made up of two parks {Disneyland and Walt Disney Studio Parks}, and Disney Village. Many of the rides at DLP are the same as at other Disney parks around the world, including Hollywood Tower of Terror, Aerosmith's Rockin Roller Coaster, Flying Dumbo, Phantom Manor, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and, of course, It's a Small World.

Disney Village is modeled after Downtown Disney in Orlando. You do not need tickets to enter. It is full of restaurants, shops, and hotels.

One stop I think is a must at DLP is Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. This is a dinner show and you should plan to make reservations because the show times are limited and it fills up pretty fast. Admittedly, this is a bit pricey, but I felt like it was worth every penny.

If you've ever been to a Medieval Times, it's similar to that but with Cowboys and Indians. The meal was chili, cornbread, potatoes, and various meats. I suppose everything they think we, Americans, eat. Or would have eaten "on the range".

There were horses, buffalo, and a rifle shooting competition...that the Boy won! {I'm pretty sure it was set up but don't tell him that. Shhh!}  "Annie Oakley" had to help him hold the rifle up because it was too heavy. Mickey and Minnie came out and gave him a badge. He was pretty sure that he was awesome that night!

As a Disney fan, I felt like Disneyland Paris was a "must see" on our Paris excursion. It may or may not be your thing, but I doubt you'd be disappointed if you spent a day of your Paris vacation there.

It's hard not to enjoy yourself at Disney!

Partie Trois

Ahh, the Louvre

You could spend a week in the Louvre and still not see everything. It is absolutely astounding. I wish I had a more suitable word, but this is the type of place where words can fail you. While I don't feel compelled to revisit Paris, I would definitely consider another trip to the Louvre worthwhile.

Of course everyone rushes straight in to see this lovely lady...

Yes, that is one terrible picture, but don't expect to get one much better when you go. That room is absolutely packed with loads of visitors just trying to get a look at this tiny painting. The barrier alone keeps you at a good distance and the security guards are on their toes if you try any funny business.

But there is so much more to see...



Gum Gum!

Do you have any idea how hard it is to pick just a few pictures to share! I took so many that my fully-charged battery was dead when we left. We spent about 5 hours there, but didn't even make a dent.

There is a shopping area {not just souvenirs, but those too} and a few food court type areas, so you can take a break to have lunch and let it all sink in before going back at it. We walked until our feet hurt and our brains were spinning from everything. It really can be overwhelming!

All of the art in the Louvre is fantastic, but don't discount the Louvre itself. The architecture is just....

Wow!

Tomorrow we're off to Disneyland Paris. See you there!

Partie Deux

Let's start here

When we got here, we were exhausted from a day full of sightseeing. Of course we considered it a "must see", but we {Me & the Mister} were perfectly happy to snap a few pics, grab a kitschy souvenir, and head back to the hotel. The Boy insisted that he would feel like he missed out if he didn't get to go up into the tower.

We looked at the long line snaking from the ticket window and sighed. The Mister and the Boy got in line for tickets while the Girl and I went off in search of a restroom. The restroom behind the back left leg of the tower had a long line itself, but it was our only option so we waited. And waited. Finally, we made our way in and back out to find that the guys were already at the front of the line purchasing tickets. The line moved very quickly!

I pleaded with a security guard to let me and the Girl in the side way assuring him that our tickets were already purchased. Fortunately, he was a nice guy!

I have never been so glad that the Boy insisted that he just absolutely had to do something. He is a very insistent {and persistent} young man and often feels that his life would simply be incomplete if he didn't just do "this one thing". Well I think he was right about this one!

Lift tickets to the 2nd floor are 8,20E {adult}; 4,10E {children 4-11}. Lift tickets to the tippy top are only 13,40E {adult}; 9,30E {children 4-11}. Tickets are CASH ONLY, so plan for that so that you don't get to the front of the line and get turned away! Or you can get tickets online here ahead of time.

On each of the levels there are souvenir shops, restaurants, and amazing views!

Yes, the Eiffel Tower is pretty amazing! But I think people often overlook the park that you get to when you get off the Metro at the Eiffel stop. It is so beautiful and deserves its own moment.

And the River Seine...

Ooooohhhhh! Aaaaahhhhhh!

Lovely, now off to the Louvre...