A small island in Italy...

is where we decided to live for close to 6 weeks. I know a lot of people think its a bit weird that we want to stay in Capri for that much time, but it has been awesome and a really good place for me to be while Arnold is back in Canada.

I had to give up my dream of living in Paris, but I am very, very happy to be here vs France - mostly because I don't think the weather is nearly as nice and I definitely do not have the clothes for cold temps. My backpack consists of shorts, tanks, and flip flops (hence me nearly freezing to death when we arrived in Rome - forcing me to buy pants and shoes, oh darn! haha). So yes, that's where we currently are and will be until about mid May. We rented a really cool flat that is about a 1 minute walk from the main plaza here. It has a kitchen and wifi - all a gal really needs. After eating every meal out for the past two months, it was VERY nice to have a kitchen and the ability to cook meals vs going to a restaurant every day. BUT I should mention that there are only two elements on the stove and no oven. Plus the cooking utensils pose a bit of a problem - I had to use a pot to make scrambled eggs. Anyways, I have learnt to be a bit creative when it comes to cooking and so far so good. Also, my flat gets cleaned every day - is it bad that I LOVE someone cleaning my place every day? Because I could seriously get used to that haha - not that I leave it a mess at all, but not having to clean is pretty awesome. Something I do not miss doing.

I buy my produce from a little shop in one of the alley walk ways here, my groceries from a tiny, tiny market around the corner and my bread from one of many amazing bakeries here. For me, that is the best part about living here - going to small little shops vs Safeway to get your groceries and just buying what you need. I am finding that I do not waste food at all (unlike back home), but its also way easier to do when you live about 30 seconds (walking) from the store.

A couple of people have been asking me about the shopping and if I have been shopping - anyone that has been to Capri, KNOWS how amazing the shopping is here, IF you have a massive budget haha. It is mostly super high end designers here: Prada, LV, Gucci, etc etc. So no, I definitely have not been shopping, but they do have a couple cute boutiques here that I might check out this weekend and do a little "window shopping". Unfortunately, my bag is already heavy enough and I'm terrified to add to that weight, so no shopping for me. I think that's why Arnold is happy about backing packing - he knows I can't buy anything because I won't be able to carry my bag if I do.

Anyways, off to bed for me. I hope all is well back in Canada. And ummm, I heard it is snowing yet again - that is just crazy. I'm sending the good weather vibes your way.

Love Melissa and Arnold

PS. Is anyone as excited as me about the Royal Wedding tomorrow. I can't wait - weird? I know, but for some reason I am just so excited for it. I will be watching is all morning. Set your PVR's

ciao ciao

Flying Solo...

Unfortunately (for Arnold), he had to head back to Canada for three weeks - so I am flying solo in Italy. Booohooo ... hahah, but not really. It's rather funny because a lot of people are giving Arnold a hard time about leaving me here (but actually, it has only been the guys causing a stink) and I can't really figure out why. I would be more upset if he left me in Calgary for three weeks haha. Don't get me wrong, I miss my little Yoshi, but, ummm, I'm in Italy. I'm pretty sure I can find things to do to pass the time.

Currently the weather is +20 (every day) and I am within walking distance to the beach. PLUS, Prosecco is pretty much cheaper then water. What is there to complain about, really?? Life is good!! And I think Arnold is having a hard time with being home - first thing he said to me when I called was "it's cold here and I want to get back to Italy" haha... See what I mean.

I think I started making a list of things that I would like him to bring to me the day he booked his ticket home haha. There are a couple of things that I have decided I need and have already placed orders online that should be arriving in Calgary next week. Hopefully he has enough room in his bag to pack some clothes for himself ;) Another added bonus of him heading back to Canada, was getting rid of all the gear that we didn't need. Ugh, we now have one less bag to drag around with us. If only I could figure out a way to get my bag to weigh less, then we would really be golden.

Anyways, in two weeks time, my Yosh will be back in the Land of Carbohydrates and I can show him around town, now that I am a local here.... So everyone, stop bugging Arnold about leaving me here - I am actually really busy and have a nice little routine going. (Massage appointment booked for tomorrow actually haha)

More updates to come

Love Melissa and Arnold

The Italian People

Now, don't get me wrong, I love Italian people and I have lots of Italian friends, BUT dayum, they can be  bit rude and mean haha. After spending two months in Africa, you get used to people being over the top friendly and speaking English. So I guess you could say, we got used to that and were a bit spoiled. After arriving in Italy, it was a bit of a shock for us or more so, me. First being, that English isn't commonly spoken, even at the tourist places. I sort of assumed that more people would speak English and especially at train stations, hotels and restaurants. I think it was a bit ignorant on my part not to learn some basic Italian before arriving because they really appreciate it when you try to speak their language. So definitely a mistake on my part. Second shock is how pushy and rude they are. Now, I don't think they are trying to be mean, I just think that is how things go in Italy. They don't believe in line ups, they just head straight to the front and push their way past you - so of course, us being Canadian, we just wait until its our turn.

One experience that we had, which is pretty funny now, was when we arrived at the train station in Napoli (Naples). After spending 5 days in Rome, we headed to the Amalfi Coast - and one of the ways to get there is by train from Rome to Napoli and then a local train from Napoli to Sorrento. After arriving in Napoli, you have to go to another ticket agent to buy a ticket for the local train in order to get to Sorrento, but on the day we arrived in Napoli, the local transit had decided to do a 24 hour strike. Not knowing this we went up to a ticket counter to purchase our ticket and this is what the agent said back to us "NO tickets!! NO tickets today, 24 hour strike". Not kidding, totally like the Soup Nazi guy from Seinfield hahah ... So she kind of told us about some other platform and mumbled something about the ferry. So we decided to go to the information both and see if he could help us - he then told us to go downstairs to buy our ticket for the local train - great, we thought that we were on our way. But no, definitely not, he had no idea what he was talking about and we were totally getting the run around and people weren't too happy to help us either haha.

Anyway, we made it to Sorrento and learnt after that, yes there was a strike, BUT the trains were running from 1:30pm-5pm that day so we could have just waited an hour and a bit at the train station and then could have taken the local train - but I guess the ticket agent didn't want to share this information with us. LOL. Like I said at the start, I do love the people here and not everyone is mean - most people are super sweet, you just get the handful that are a bit crazy haha ... And now that I can speak some Italian, I have them eating out of the palm of my hand ;) haha kidding.

Buonasera,

Love Melissa and Arnold

Local Transit

As mentioned previously, we have been using local transit to get around and well, it is the ONLY way to get around. Not because its easy or cheap, but for the pure entertainment value provided. Italian people are HILARIOUS!!! Local transit is our form of daily entertainment and you can't beat it. Every day on the bus we would experience some form of Italian drama and it would keep us laughing all day long. I'm not sure what it is about Italians, but it seems like they are non-stop drama. haha but maybe its because I can't
understand a word of what they are saying??

On our way back from the coast, this Italian lady was pretty much crying because the bus driver wouldn't stop by bus when she wanted him to. "Signore, Signore, Signore" was all she kept saying. And we weren't laughing because of her issue, but more so because of the commotion is caused on the bus. Everyone knows an Italian person or two, and when they talk, its in a very excited tone, with a lot of hand motions and it just sounds like drama (even if its not). By the time the bus stopped and she got off, most of the Italians on the bus were having a bit of a laugh over the situation (BTW, you should have seen her face when she finally did get off - man, if looks could kill hhahaha). Then the next day, same bus, different city and some guy was mad because the bus was too hot. Once again, talking loud with a lot of hand movements, and walking around the aisle opening windows.

I honestly, can't get enough of the amazing Italian drama we would encounter on local transit. And it seemed like every where we went, whether it was bus or train, there was always something. But I think its because they talk in such excited tones and don't know the meaning of quiet voices. hahah Either way, local transit
is the best in Italy.

Love Melissa and Arnold

The Blue Ribbon Highway

Aaah, the "blue ribbon highway" hahah .... I don't know if I can ever explain this well enough, but I will try. From Sorrento to Positano and Amalfi, you have to get there via "The Blue Ribbon Highway". And when I say "highway" I don't mean a typical highway that you would see in Canada. HA HA umm no!! From Sorrento to Amalfi, it is only about 35kms, BUT it takes you two hours to get there. YES, you read that right, 2 HOURS! The highway is pure switch backs, winding around the coast on a road that is not meant for two cars, but one at the most. We took the local bus to get to Positano and Amalfi (each on a different day) and it was quite a treat. The highway was built for horse and carriage, so at most turns, only one vehicle can fit. Here we are on a big massive bus and it can barely make the turn. At every corner it would honk, sort of to warn oncoming traffic we were coming. The highway is right on the cliffs, one side is mountain, the other side, cliff, 1000m down to the ocean straight! No room for error at all. The speed limit is 50km/h and I would dread going any faster then that (and really, I don't think you could go any faster even if you tried).

You have to be a damn good driver to be on that road and you are definitely paying attention. At points on the drive, we would come to a stand still because the bus couldn't fit around the corner due to oncoming traffic and it wouldn't just be one car, but multiple cars. So each car would have to get as close to the wall as possible and back up until we could fit through the turn. Like I said, the highway is meant for a single car, let alone a two sided highway with non stop buses passing through. I think that this has been my favorite Italian experience since arriving here. Arnold even said that there is no way he could ever hire a car and drive this highway - you leave it to the professionals. The Italian bus drivers (even the regular drivers on that route) could teach us North Americans a thing or two about driving. I think we both were close to puking by the end of the two hour bus ride and said a quick thank you for arriving in one piece. It is definitely a white
knuckle ride from start to finish (highly recommend it).

Love Melissa and Arnold

PS. I am slowly getting caught up on things that have been happening with us over the past couple of weeks since we got to Europe - plus I'll update everyone my daily life in Capri. Thanks for reading!! Hope all is well.

Next Stop, Amalfi Coast

After spending a bit of time in Rome, we were off to the Amalfi Coast - anyone who has been there, knows how stunning the cities on the coast are; Built into the cliffs with the ocean 800M straight below. The "highway" between the cities is enough to make even the best driver in the world sweat buckets, holding on for dear life. We booked a hotel in Sorrento for 6 nights and used that as our base point for the coast. Every day we would head to another town to check out the sights. Positano, Amalfi, Pompeii, and Capri. All equally beautiful, but each in their own way. My favorite being Capri (but for different reasons) and the next being Positano. Positano, is incredible!! Our friends, Grant and Nat, spent their honeymoon there and we now know why they would go there. My descriptions would do the city no justice, so if you have a chance
just google the city and see the pictures for yourself. We spent our day there in a restaurant by the sea sipping on wine and soaking in the sun. I think half of the reason why its such a great city is due to excitement of getting there.

The 6 days on the coast were really relaxing and a good mix between sight seeing and relaxing. We ended up picking a hotel that was a bit out of the city center and couldn't have been happier with our choice. The hotel had a washer and dryer for the hotel guests to use. Clean laundry when backing packing, is like the BEST thing ever!! Plus we weren't being charged $7/shirt to be cleaned - just fill the washer, put 5 Euro in and you are on your way. LOL anyways, enough with my tangent, but clean clothes seriously make us so happy.

Sorrento was a really cool city, sort of a big city vibe, but felt small (if you know what I mean). The prices at restaurants, clothing stores and most places in general were cheaper then all of the other cities on the coast - so you could load up on stuff you needed without paying a small fortune for it. I plan on heading back into Sorrento one of these days to hang out and maybe load up on a couple items that are pretty pricey in Capri.

Off to sleep now...

Much Love

Melissa & Arnold

When in Rome ...

After leaving Tanzania - we were off to Rome. I know that a lot of you guys reading the blog have been to Rome (if anyone still reads this blog haha), so I won't spend too much time on every detail of Italy/Rome, but I do want to tell you guys about our experience here and our daily life. It was my first time in Rome and maybe, Arnold's third (possibly fourth time). So everything, to me, was incredible beautiful and breathtaking. I still can not believe how beautiful this city is and was blown away by all the history. At every corner there is an extravagant fountain or an amazing building, so for me, it is a perfect city.

We booked a hotel for 4 nights, so it felt as though we had some time to see some of the sights and relax at the same time. Our hotel was in a great location - LOVED IT!! (the same area that Arnold stayed in last time when he was in Rome with the boys - yes, we walked past Harry's all the time. "One more Peroni"). It was close to the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain. PLUS the breakfast at the hotel was sooooo good. (BTW, I base my ratings on hotel food and towels haha) So obviously, our hotel was money in the bank if I said the breakfast was good. Every morning, I would go for a run while Arnold slept for a bit longer. I felt pretty lucky to have chance to run in this beautiful park in the city center (and up and down the Spanish steps daily). After not being able to run for the past two months, I was so pumped to be able to finally run and the added bonus was that it was in Rome. We spent our days walking around checking out the sights and soaking in the Italian lifestyle. Arnold would have chestnuts from the vendors and I would get my gelato. BEST dessert EVER. It will be a small miracle if I leave Italy without weighing in at 300 lbs. The food here is ridiculous.

After spending two months in a third world country, it was sort of nice to be back to more of a "normal" state of life - meaning we were able to walk around without worrying if anything bad will happen to us and leave our hotel after dark. I truly enjoyed every moment in Rome. I think its a city that everyone must visit once in their life time and you have to take the guided tours of some of the historic sights. Paris is still my favorite city, but Rome might be taking the second spot on my list - I don't have one complaint about the city (and the shopping is AMAZING!!!!)
Love Melissa and Arnold

Land of the Italians

Sorry for being such a slacker with the blog for the past couple of weeks, but some things came up and I didn't have a lot of time to sit down and write. But now we have some time and I can slowly update everyone on the past couple of weeks. I just posted a couple new posts, so scroll down to get caught up.

Currently we are in Italy and its been BA - especially the food. I will be lucky if I don't leave weighing 300lbs. We spent 5 days in Rome and then headed off to the coast.  It is my first time in Italy and life here is so entertaining that I wish I could just sit at a coffee shop all day and watch the locals. LOVE the Italian people and all their drama - it really makes me smile.

Anyways, we are on the hunt for a flat and have decided to spend the next 5-6 weeks on this little island. Hope all is well with everyone and will be posting more stuff soon.

Love Melissa and Arnold

"Gut Bomb"

On our first night in Stone Town, we stumbled upon this market that had about 30 different vendors all selling food. Since we were on our way to a restaurant, we decided that when we came back to Stone Town for our last night we would go have dinner and try out the local food.

So on our last night - we headed back to the square for some delish eats. Had I not gotten sick, I probably would have tried some of the food, but there was no way I was going through that pain all over again, so I made Arnold try all the food for me and stayed far away from any street meat. (Plus I was still on antibiotics and knew that it would just make me feel worse).

At the first stall - Arnold had a chicken kebab, samosa, salad and bread. I would have never have had the chicken and/or the salad - haha, but Arnold enjoyed it. I told him about all the signs that I saw for "Zanzibar Pizza" so I told him that he should try some. I thought it would just be your normal pizza, but I was definitely way off. We got up to one of the pizza stalls and saw how they were making them. First he would make a flat round disc (like a pancake or I guess a very thin "pizza crust") and then add in ground "beef" (or as I like to say Baboon meat), egg, mayo, onions, veggie mix, cheese, tomato and maybe another couple of surprise goodies. Then he would wrap everything up like a little parcel and fry it in his pan with a bit of egg. After it was cooked he would cut it up into squares, add a little sweet chili sauce*, thousand island sauce* and you were on your way (*could be those sauces, but I am pretty much guessing). Arnold said it was the best thing he has tasted and that it reminded him so much of Korean food, who knew! haha...

We dubbed the food that night as a "Gut Bomb" because we thought he was definitely going to be feeling that the next day, but of course he didn't - it barely even phased him.  I have come to the conclusion that Arnold has a lead stomach and for him to get sick, he would pretty much have to lick a toilet seat or something repulsive like that. Had I eaten half of the stuff he ate, I probably would be stuck in the bathroom for days and days.

I definitely recommend trying to make a "gut bomb" next time you are away in a third world country.

Love Melissa and Arnold

Stone Town/Zanzibar

Zanzibar was our last stop for the African part of our trip (well we were supposed to head to Egypt, but had to change all of that due to the conflict in those areas right now). Anyways, Zanzibar is pretty much all about the beaches - so it was our last stop and meant for pure relaxing after two months of non-stop sight seeing. It was a perfect way to end our African Adventure. We ended up extended our stay - so we were on the Island for 11 days (I think) and it was amazing. Stone Town is probably my favourite city in all of Africa (from the ones we saw anyways). There is so much going on, so much to see and its actually very safe. It was the first (and only) city that we could walk around after dark without too much worry.

After spending a night in Stone Town, we headed north to Nungwi and spent 9 amazing days at a beach resort soaking in the hot, hot heat (+34 every day). Arnold hated it (well the heat), but I loved it. The resorts location was stunning - I have never seen water so blue like that before - and it was sooo warm, like bath tub warm. It was honestly, one of the nicest places I have ever been to. We have pictures, so hopefully, I can load them up so you can see what I mean. We played tennis (yes, Arnold won, but not by much), went sea kayaking, and layed by the pool.

On our second last night there, we went on a sunset cruise on a sail boat - and no, no not a fancy sail boat, but an old wood sail boat. They took us around to the other side of the point (we were on the east side of the point) and it was like bustloose beach vacations. Vacation braids, drunken dudes, and pretty much everything you would see if you were in Cancun. It was hilarious, because our resort is so quiet, very sleepy and then you head to the other side and its a whole different story. We got out on the party beach and swam for a bit in the nicest ocean water ever - even the sand was soft with no rocks.  After the sunset, we headed back to our hotel and in order to get back on land you pretty much have to swim to shore (a very small distance and you can almost touch right away), but you still have to swim. It's dark and I'm not a fan of the water to begin with so I'm terrified, but I have no choice but to jump in and swim. Our boat guide might have held my hand for a minute on my swim hahah...

I was sad to have to leave, but it was a perfect way to end our time in Africa.

Spice Tour

Zanzibar is well known for all their spices and back in the day, they used to be a major supplier of spices. Even though it's not the case today, you can still go on a tour of a spice plantation and see all the spices that are grown on the island. Since we only had one night in Stone Town we wanted to make sure we got the spice tour in. After setting our bags down, sorting out our laundry situation, we grabbed the cameras and went on spice tour.

I must say, it was such an incredible experience. I don't think Arnold or myself was expecting to be blown away by the tour. It was just us two and our guide and his helper. They would pick leaves and bark off trees for us and then we would try and guess what spice it was by the smell. In their plantation they grew: cinnamon, lemon grass, coffee, vanilla, pepper, cloves, curry, aloe, plus lots of fruit (and more spices I can't remember). They know everything about all the plants around them and how each plant cures different sicknesses and acts as their own local grown pharmacy.

The people in the village are very, very poor, but so unbelievable smart. In Canada we have everything at our finger tips, but I could never in a million years walk into the forest and know what berries to eat, let alone which ones would cure my stomach ache. We spent two hours in the spice plantation, smelling the various spices and then sampling all the fruit that they grew (Coconut cut straight from the tree and into our mouths). After the tour was over, we had a traditional lunch, served with all the spices that they grow and more fruit. The fruit in Africa, is probably some of the most amazing fruit you could ever have. It is soooo good! We left the tour blown away by what we saw. Our guide for the tour was my age and could already speak 5 languages and knew how to clot the blood from a cut by using the sap from a plant. Definitely the best $25 we have spent.

Love Melissa and Arnold

28 Hours in Jo'Burg

On our last night in Zambia we were checking our emails and trying to check into our flights for the following day (Livingstone to Jo'Burg and then Jo'Burg to Dar), and Arnold noticed he had received an email from the airline. They were informing us that they had cancelled our flight from Jo'Burg to Dar and graciously put us on the next flight, the following day!!! Needless to say, we were not happy. We had pre-booked (and paid for everything) for our first 24 hours in Tanzania. So our hotel rooms (one night in Dar, one night in Stone Town), our flight from Dar to Stone Town, our airport pick ups and transfter, etc etc.

After trying to do everything in our power to get us back into Tanzania for the following night, we realized that it wasn't going to happen and that we needed to start emailing the hotels and airlines and seeing if they could bump our reservations by a day and hope that we didn't lose out on the money that we already spent. After doing all that, the next task at hand was to book a hotel in Jo'Burg for the 28 hours that we were going to be there. Scary? Yes, but I have come to realize that I LOVE LOVE LOVE South Africa. It is honestly, my home away from home. After the initial dissapointment passed, I was excited to spend more time in SA even if it was in Jo'Burg. While we were in SA I got hooked on the Chai Teas from Mugg & Bean so I couldn't wait to get back and have as many as I could in the next 28 hours (which was sadly only two).

So what did we do for our 28 hours in the big ol' scary city of Jo'Burg? Well went to the movies of course - not once, but TWICE. hahah. I was too scared to venture far from the hotel and it turned out that there was a mall (that was somewhat ghetto) with a theatre in it right near us, so it all worked out perfectly. So now when people ask what I thought of Jo'Burg, I will tell them that I thought it was lovely ;)

As for the movies we saw - hahah lets just say they weren't very good. One was an Alien one - Battle of LA or something, and the other one was a local SA film "Game Drive" haha ... They were both equally bad, but it was really nice to go watch a movie - sort of felt like we were back home.

One last thing worthy of being mentioned, is at the mall they had an ice rink, yep an ice rink, right in the middle. Arnold nearly died. There were a bunch of (old) guys playing hockey when we were there - exactly like Arnold does back at home with all the boys. He wanted to put on skates, right then and there and jump on the ice with them. While we were waiting for our shuttle after the movie, one of the guys came out with his hockey bag with a big "Hockey Canada" patch on it - Arnold's face was priceless.

So that was how we spent our last 28 hours in SA and in Jo'Burg. Turned out not so bad after all.

Love Melissa and Arnold

Update on the curse of being a Mazunga

Just wanted to give you guys a quick update and let you know that I am back to my normal self (well hopefully anyways). It was definitely not a fun experience and I really hope that I don't have to go through that again - not sure where I got the bacteria infection from, but it could have been from anything.

I had to be on antibiotics for 5 days and was taking 6 pills day - three in the morning, three at night. It was somewhat of a nightmare because I couldn't take all three pills in the morning together and/or all three pills at night together. Plus it turned out that I was allergic to the one antibiotic so we had to bring the doctor back for that and then I needed to put cream on my arms, legs and stomach where the rash was. Throughout Africa we had been taking Malarone (for Malaria) which you are supposed to take with dairy, but with the antibiotics you couldn't have it with any type of dairy and if you did - it would have to be 2 hours before or after taking the meds. AND I found out the hard way and rather quickly that dairy was definitely a no go while you have a bacteria infection (I made the mistake of thinking that a milkshake would help calm my stomach, but I was wrong. Two minutes after drinking it, I nearly puked in the restaurant and had to go lay down for an hour). So I cut out dairy totally for the duration of the meds and stopped taking my multi-vitamin because I couldn't keep track of all the rules and times.

Also, the meds were pretty horrible and I just couldn't wait to be off of them. After taking them I would lose my appetite, have stomach pains and just a bunch of other problems. But they seemed to work, so I guess 5 days of pain, is better then being sick. haha. Anyways, its over and done with and I'm very happy to be feeling 100% again :) (back to having cheese and wine all day long - woot woot)

Thanks for all the conerned emails and messages. Things are all good now

Love Melissa and Arnold