Injury and Recovery

This blog update isn’t about Europe and all of our wonderful travels, or the crazy drivers in Naples. This update is about recovering from injury… actually the interesting thing that I learned is that recovery starts before you are injured.

It has been six months since I slammed into a tree snowboarding. I suffered a partially torn ACL, MCL, and Meniscus. Before I crashed into the tree I was doing a workout called Cross Fit pretty religiously. It is a workout regime that combines Olympic weight lifting, running, gymnastics, and calisthenics. The program is designed for people that are fire fighters, cops, and military, and gives anyone an overall good level of fitness. The workouts are killer, but only take 20 minutes in some cases. I had been doing Cross Fit for almost two years when I hit the tree, and I was probably in as good a shape as I had been in since the end of Navy Dive School.

Suddenly, with one bad turn on a snowboard, my leg was busted and ligaments in my knee were torn. A severe injury that might require months of rehab and surgery. Because the wonderful Navy docs kept my leg immobilized for 11 days the recovery process got off to a slow start. 12 days after the surgery I was on a bike trying to turn the pedals on level one and I wasn’t even able to get the machine to register that I was riding it. But I kept pressing the rehab, and working out as hard as I could pushing the injury as far, and slightly further than the docs wanted to let me go.

It is almost 6 months to the day since the injury and without surgery I am back to 95% of where I was when I was injured. The last 5% seems to be the biggest challenge, but I am back to my Cross Fit ways just like before I was injured. For me, the moral of the story was to stay in shape so that recovery would be easier later once you do get injured. And also, that no matter how bad you are injured, you need to keep training to get back into shape for both your body and your soul.
Ciao, for now. More fun Europe stories to follow.

Travels in Europe

Sorry it’s been so long since I updated the blog, I’ve been traveling and moving jobs, so this is really my first free time to write anything. I’ve been having trouble finding time to post photos on Facebook. Enough excuses… you know what they say about excuses.

May and June have been great. The weather started to get warm, and for the most part it stopped raining. Naples is so close to so many wonderful places that you can really explore the area when the weather gets nice, and you have daylight until 9PM. Next year I strongly recommend May for visitors. From what we have been told it starts to get hot in July and August, but we will keep you posted.

Toward the end of May, Melissa and I were getting very excited to have “the girls” some and visit us in Naples. For clarification, “the girls” include Nicole, Andrea, Liz, and Lexi (whom I hadn’t even met). I was all ready for the visit, one week of work left before the holiday weekend, and ready to have some fun… when my boss walks over and says, “What are you plans for the weekend?” That is a loaded question when you are in the Navy. Well, to make a long story short, I ended up in Lisbon, Portugal… the next day. It wasn’t then end of the world; I only missed “the girls” visit to Rome. I was back in Naples in time for the rest of the trip, good times. BTW – Portugal was great except I was working 12 hour days. But I would definitely go back to Portugal, and stay right on the beach, a great surf destination.

We had a lot of fun in Naples with “the girls.” We hit the beach bars for the first time this year. Basically Naples is like New Jersey in so many ways. Picture Joey Harrison’s surf club on the beach in Italy, and that is exactly what you have at several beach clubs in Italy. In so many ways Naples reminds me of New Jersey, you pay for the beach, the Neapolitans build beach clubs right up to the water, cutting off access and charging you to get in. We hit the Briganti football team’s playoff game, watched them win, and then attended the post game Toga party… oh yes everyone had a blast.

And then we were off to Dubrovnik, Croatia. We drove across Italy, and caught an overnight ferry from Bari, Italy to Dubrovnik. I slept like a baby on the boat, but I don’t think that the girls fared quite as well as I did, it was a little bit rough that night. So we arrived in Croatia in the morning rested (sort of) and ready to rock. We rented a great apartment right in the heart of the old city. Dubrovnik is a walled city that has stood for the last 11 centuries. The ramparts surrounding the city are still completely intact, and the wall around the city has protected Dubrovnik as recently as the 1990’s, when the Bosnians laid siege to Dubrovnik and shelled the city with artillery. It was really pretty amazing to walk around the city. The first thing that we did was walk the wall around the city looking at the amazing views and vistas. The food was fantastic, and we spent some time in a bar that was through a hole in the wall overlooking the rocky coast.

Dubrovnik also had fantastic food and bars. The city is small and somewhat crowded, but the small restaurants and bars just overflow into the streets. One night we saw a live performance on the steps going up to the town square. I recommend a visit to anyone; make sure you go in the summer time.

From Dubrovnik we drove to Montenegro, a very nice costal country that has only existed as a country for the last 2 years. It’s amazing to realize that the area was torn by war just a decade ago. The area has recovered nicely. We drove down the coast from the rocky shores of Croatia to the rocky shores of Dubrovnik, but when we finally got out to the coast in the city of Budva, where there is a much smaller walled city on the coast, surrounded by beautiful beaches. It was a great trip and a very nice drive.

After the girls left town we did a long weekend in Prague with our Navy lawyer friends here in Naples. Prague could be my favorite city in Europe so far. But based on the legal council of the people I was traveling with, I can only tell you about certain parts of the trip. Let’s just say the Prague might be the Vegas of Europe.

So, we spent 3 days and 3 nights in Prague, and we still weren’t able to see all the sights that we wanted to see. We started with a walk through the Jewish Museum on our way to a bike tour of the city. The Nazi’s were such unbelievable scumbags that I cringe when I see some of these sights in Europe. Prague has an unbelievable preserved Jewish quarter, because Hitler hoped to us the Jewish area of Prague as a museum to the EXTINCT Jewish race. When I hear stuff like that it makes me so angry that humans allowed that type of thing to happen, and we just need to make sure that it never happens again.

So, Prague is pretty amazing, fantastic food, great bars, cheap beer, and a killer party scene… who wants to go back with me?

Ok, that is all for now. More stories to follow.

Ciao,

Joe

Paestum Photos (Melissa)

Paestum in about 90 minutes south of Naples on the coast. It is the site of the most well-preserved Greek ruins in all of Europe (that's what they told us anyway).

I did a great bus trip there with a couple of friends. Our half-day trip consisted of a tour of the ancient Greek town, the Roman town that was built on top of the Greek ruins, the museum of ancient artifacts, and a quick lunch at a cute cafe with bright yellow umbrellas (very Italian). While I was in Paestum, I took about 30 photos of amazing Greek temples and artifacts. After returning home, I show my husband my photos of these magnificent sights that I was humbled to stand before...yet there is only ONE photo that insights any remark of excitement from him. It's the one photo that I took of my lunch.

Of course I specifically took the photo of my lunch because I knew it would be the most interesting thing to him out of everything that I had seen all day. You can decide if you agree...here are the photos:

A few items from the Museum...


And finally, here is lunch :)

American Football by Italians? (Melissa)

Disclaimer: Joe should really be writing this since it is about football…but I’m going to start it and he can “revise” as necessary.

Photo: Joe with our friend Michela and her brother Alessandro who has played on the team for close to 20 years (if I understood Michela correctly).

Yes, the Italians have an American-style football league. Who knew? I thought nothing beats soccer over here. But we met a guy that used to play for the Jets (just had to be the Jets, right?) and then he played for some other team, and then he got hurt...so now he's coaching the Naples football team.

We were told that we didn’t have to buy tickets and that parking was 2 Euro. Seemed odd. When we got to the stadium parking lot, it was packed! Little did we know it was because there was a kids dance performance going on in an adjacent building. There were actually only two other people in the stadium. So we did pay 2 Euro to park, and then walked into the high-school style stadium with no gates, no guards, and no ticket-takers. We even brought our cooler of snacks and beer without any problem. I think we could have rolled a BBQ in there and started grilling in the stadium without anyone saying ANYTHING to us.

Eventually about 10 other people showed up to watch the game with us. The game was great, Naples has been undefeated so far this year. I'm sure Joe would have lots of commentary about the plays they were running, but it all looks about the same to me. The funny thing was they didn’t have a good kicker (imagine that!) so they never kicked any field goals. Which may have been a good thing because they were actually playing on a soccer field – so they tapped big orange poles onto the top of the soccer net to make an upright on the top of the soccer net. Not sure that would have worked out so well. It was a lot of fun to be watching American football in Italy.

At the end of the game (Naples won!) the players lined up and did a dance for the stadium, which was hysterical. The teams were very respectful with a sincere “good-game” line-up of high 5’s. They also chanted and cheered for the opposing team the way I’ve seen girls softball teams do in the states. Of course after all this, a few of the Italians got into a fight on the field. Yeah, Italia!!

All in all, it was a great day and a lot of fun!

Namesake Restaurant (Melissa)

After Joe and I found our house in Italy, we realized there was a sign for “Il Casale Ristorante” pointing to our street. Obviously we found this amusing; to get to our house, just follow the “Il Casale” sign. Eventually our curiosity got the best of us and we decided to venture out and find this restaurant that was located on our street (sounds pretty simple to find a restaurant on the street you live on, but you don’t live here so you’ll just have to TRUST ME when I tell you that it was an adventure to locate this place). We find the restaurant tucked away a mile up the road, but we are not dressed for dinner and the place is busy so we don’t go in.

Soon enough we start hearing from other people that Il Casale is their favorite restaurant in Naples. People gush about how much they love it there. We decide we must go. The neighbors tell me that I have to make the reservation (duh). I find the number and call…I immediately ask if they speak English because I’ve never actually made reservations speaking Italian and I don’t know how well that will go. No luck, they say they don’t speak English.

So here’s how it all goes down (feel free to read with an Italian accent since the rest of this story actually occurred in Italian). I do my best to tell them I want to make a reservation. They must understand because they ask me something that sounds like a request for a date or time or something. Great! I tell them what day, and then what time. They were clearly asking for how many people because they then ask me WHEN I want to come in. Oops. Luckily the time and number of people are the same word, so it all works out. I now have a reservation for 8 people at 8:00 on next Tuesday. Whew!

Then they ask me for my name… I say “Casale, Melissa Casale”. There is a pause, and then they say a bunch of Italian words…I think informing me that they know that I want a reservation at Il Casale, I just called Il Casale, so what is the name for the reservation? Again, I say “Casale. (speaking slowly with emphasis) MY NAME IS Melissa Casale”.

Bingo! They get it. They immediately sound joyful and excited. I get a bunch of thank you’s and they confirm my complete reservation and then I hear “Grazie, ciao Signora Casale. -kissing noises- Ciao, ciao! -more kissing noises-“. Hmm. I’ve never had kissing noises before. I hope we get a good table.

So we’ll bring the camera (and maybe the family tree) and follow up after dinner next week. Ciao! –kiss-- --kiss—

The follow-up:

Allora, as you have already reviewed in Joe's comments the Casale name had no tie to the restaurant name...but we did still get a major discount off the bill and the food was great. Overall, I would say it was a success.

Amalfi Coast Photo Montage (Melissa)

Last weekend we drove from Naples down to Sorrento, and then along the Amalfi Coast. We stayed at a B&B in Ravello, which reminded me of the movie The Sound of Music for some reason, maybe because they have a huge music festival there in the summer. Overall, absolutely loved it, completely breathtaking, and these photos simply CANNOT do it justice!

Coffee on the patio of our B&B


The piazza in Ravello


Exploring Atrani



Villa Cimbrone with our neighbors and their kids



We only stayed Friday and Saturday night, leaving early on Sunday. Who knew such perfect paradise could be just a little over an hour from the house? Next time we'll hike The Path of The Gods. Based on what we've seen so far, I'm guessing there's a good reason for the name. Stay tuned!

Is it Thanksgiving? (Melissa)

I cannot believe the Italian meal. I’ve been completely puzzled by it. Almost every time we go into a restaurant, they attempt to provide us with as much food (if not more) than Thanksgiving Dinner. And I’m not exaggerating.

From my experience so far, restaurants typically do not offer a menu. And from watching Italians, they typically do not use a menu. It seems like everyone just knows what they want, asks for it, and the restaurant provides something along those lines. So, since there is no menu, the way has been working is the waiter comes over and gets a drink order and ask if you want antipasti. Sometimes there is a choice of antipasti, sometimes not. So not knowing what to expect, you say “yes” to the antipasti…and then the parade of food begins.

One by one (or sometimes on a separate rolling cart brought over and left beside the table) they bring out 7, 8, 9 plates with various snacks on them. The food is delicious and they are only small portions, so of course you are going to eat it all. But after a half-dozen little snacks, one tends to start feeling full. But this is only the beginning.

After you polish off all the antipasti, the waiter appears again and now asks what primi piatti you would like. Well, you are kind of full, but the pastas they are offering sound wonderful (even though you are still wondering if you are ever going to see a menu during this meal) so you decide to try a primi piatti. They bring you the most delicious pasta you have ever eaten and surely you assume the meal is over.

But no, the waiter is back asking what your choice is for the secondo piatto. You are confused and looking around to see what other diners in the restaurant are doing. Not sure what else to do, you take the secondo piatto. Of course it is also the most delicious thing you have ever eaten (meat/fish/whatever). They ask if you want any contorni (side dishes) – luckily you say no and give a sigh of relief that you can now roll yourself out of the restaurant.

Not so fast – there is still dessert, caffe, fruit plate, cheese plate, digestivo. It goes on for about 12 rounds of fun. And the food is all heavenly, but you are so stuffed that you feel sick. So how on earth do the Italians have Thanksgiving dinner every single night?

Fortunately, I met Pierpaolo and had the good sense to ask him about this, because I was getting concerned about my waistline. Naturally he laughs and tells me “no one eats every course of the meal (unless maybe you are at a special event and plan on having a huge meal), you just pick and choose the ones you want”. Thank God! Now I know.