Camp Fimfo!

Way back in March, our friends told us about this amazing property way out in New Braunfels that offered the experience of camping, with a little bit of the comfort of home. You can come out and stay in nature, but you don't need to pack the kitchen sink to be comfortable. You can bring your own RV, pack it all and come tent camping, or stay in a cabin - which is what we did. We booked adjacent cabins with 2 other families and Labor Day weekend was planned!

Camp Fimfo is an awesome place with a strange name, and it made us all happy for the weekend. 

This is about a 3.5 hour drive from where we live so we left Friday afternoon, hit a whole bunch of long weekend traffic, and arrived around sunset. Quick dinner, unload and then we went exploring.

There is a concert venue right next door, so we took in about an hour's worth of a free show, then stopped at the jumping pillow and returned to our cabin for the night. 

The next day started with fishing for the boys (and one very patient adult) and jogging for the adults. It is in hill country, and the hills felt like mountains, but it was beautiful outside with less humidity and it was nice to get out in the fresh air. 

The property is gigantic, and those that knew what they were doing rented golf carts to get around. All 400 golf carts were rented when we arrived, so it became pretty obvious that we were there with a crowd. It became even more obvious when we got to the pool and waterpark, the place was PACKED. 

There were so many things to do, but the crowing jewel was the alpine coaster! We had these cute little cars with a hand brake that we had complete control of, you had to push down to keep moving, if you let go your car stopped. It was a blast! Despite nerves (mostly from my & Graham's car), we immediately wanted to ride again. This was super fun, and a great view, but a little too pricy to go more than once in a single weekend. 

Graham and I got to be riding buddies because riders under 9 go with a friend.

Our final day activity was a float on the Guadalupe River. We started all smiles and sunscreen and ended with some valuable lessons learned. Tying tubes together is a good thought, but bad idea. The water level is actually more dangerous low than it is high. The ages of the kids we went with is the youngest I would ever take. Black inner tubes get super hot in the sun. Always bring a hat that you're willing to lose. 

Otherwise, our weekend was filled with the outdoors, fun group dinners made in our little cabin kitchens, hanging out late enough that sleeping 5 to a cabin was a breeze and just general silliness. S'mores ares still possible, even during a burn ban. 

Camp Fimfo was a blast. Worth the drive and the wait and even better with friends. We would recommend and return, maybe skip the tubing. 

South Central Italy

 The town that Gran and Poppa have a house in is extremely small, and in a pretty remote part of Italy. This makes it a bit more complicated to access, but opens up a door to parts of the country that didn't make our original vacation list. We were able to get out and see a whole part of the country that we wouldn't have gone to otherwise, and it was stunning!

Close to Pietracupa in Agnone was the Marinelli bell foundry. I was skeptical that the making of bells would keep everybody entertained for the duration of the tour, but I was surprised at how interesting it was to see how bells are made. Like big church bells - which they have in abundance in Italy. Historic bells like the last bell to be rung in the leaning tower of Pisa, or the Jubilee bell presented to Pope John Paul II that hangs in St. Peter's square. If you think about it, bells are present for many important events, the most common of which is telling the time. 

Jon and I were able to go exploring on our own for a weekend while our kids stayed with their grandparents. We took the opportunity to go to Sorrento, Positano and Capri, all three places were truly beautiful, mountains like I've only seen in photos, gardens and greenery galore and clear blue water. They were also HOT. We explored the cities as best we like to, on foot, so we logged nearly 10 miles each day. We earned our aperol (or lemon) spritzes. 

We were on a boat! With a super skilled captain who either gave us a deal, or stole us from one of his captain co-workers. Probably both.  

Panorama Capri, it took work to get there, but was an outstanding place to catch lunch.

We are on the side of the road here. This is the view from the road!

Juliana recommended this restaurant, O'Parruchiano for dinner in Sorrento. Reservations are full weeks in advance so we stalked the staff at opening and were first in line for a table for two. The land started as a lemon grove and they decided to build a restaurant on top. Or, better wording, throughout. The tables were amongst the lemon trees, flower and herb gardens.

It was a unique place to have a meal after a really incredible day. 

Italy - Cascate di Caprinone

 We had a full night of rain, which very temporarily lowered the temperature enough to inspire us to get back outside. We found an attraction called the Cascate de Carpinone that was less than an hour from Gran and Poppa's house and decided to check it out. Once we found the town, just about every sign pointed (literally) to the entrance for the waterfall hike. The trail was well maintained and perfectly marked, but extremely muddy from the previous night's rain.  After every 100 steps it felt like I was wearing platform shoes made of concrete, so I'd stop and scrape off the mud, and continue on the next 100. This made the hike slower than it usually would be, but a small price to pay for some cooler air. 

The waterfalls were beautiful and serene! There were so many rocks just waiting to be skipped! We were the only people around, so we could explore the area to our heart's content while taking a break from the mud. 

I was really surprised at these sweet little spots that we found, they were not at all what I had in my mind as what Italy would look like. It's nice to be pleasantly surprised on vacation, it felt like we found a hidden gem that got us moving, and kept us cool in the very warm summer. 

Italy - Punta Aderci Nature Reserve

Italy didn't realize that we were trying to escape the heat this summer - so we had some really hot days. The mornings and evenings were beautiful, but we were seeking out water to help chill out the hot afternoons. We were on our way to a beach on the Adriatic Coast when Jon suggested that we drive a little bit further to a more highly rated spot. My natural instinct when my husband recommends how highly rated someplace is, is to doubt the reliability of the general public's view on things, but we took his advice and continued on to the Punta Aderci Nature Reserve. 

Yelp was right, this place was super cool. 

After parking, we hiked down, down, down a sandy stairway to get to an almost empty beach cove. Someone had assembled these log teepees which provided a tiny bit of shade, and a great place to dry your wet clothes or towels. Other than these makeshift huts, the beach was ours! 

The water was safe and calm, just a few small waves and warm enough to walk right in. It was not as crystal clear as some other beaches might be, but you could see your feet for awhile and the water was very salty, which will naturally make it a bit more cloudy. 

The real challenge was hiking back up the steep, sandy staircase to make it back to the car. It was a leg burner, but we made it up in one piece. Now lunch was on our minds. 

There is a consistency that we have come to expect in the US. During the day, assuming it's not a holiday, we expect that restaurants will be open. This is not the same for many of the other countries that I have been to, Italy being in the unreliable category. So going out to eat is often an adventure in itself; the place is closed on Tuesdays, closed from 1:30 - 5:00pm, the owners are on vacation, the list goes on. We were happy to find
Trattoria Toscana, that was open, with delicious food options for everyone in our group. Thankfully for me, they didn't skimp on the prosciutto.

We went back for some necessary afternoon naps, and called the day a success. 

Once we woke up, and of course, were hungry again, we got ready for dinner at La Fontana. This pizza restaurant is our local friend's favorite pizza in the country, so clearly it needed to be tried. Thankfully, Juliana joined us and worked double time as a translator and recommender of favorites. We settled on everyone getting their own pizza (a mistake for some) and olives, pepperoni, and eggplant veggie pizzas, each one was better than the last. They were much larger than we expected, so next visit we will know to share, but this was the kind of place I expected from small town Italy, outdoor seating, no English on the menu or from the waiter, and pizza for days. It wasn't fancy, but it was really good. 

 

Italy, the Forth Time's the Charm

 Jon and I have been talking about traveling to Italy for over 15 years. We had a plan to go with friends in 2009, riiiiiiight before we found out that we were relocating to Argentina, so our plans pivoted from "European vacation with friends" to "Get ready to move to South America". So we waited for a milestone, and decided that we would go for our 10th anniversary in 2018, riiiiiight before I was diagnosed with cancer. When we were over the peak of that mountain, we planned to go in April of 2020, all planned, booked and ready, riiiiiiight before COVID-19 shut down the world. In my mind, that was it, the world was telling us that Italy was not going to have us, look somewhere else. 

But then. Jon's parents decided to buy and renovate a home in a very sweet, very small town smack dab in the center of the country. Italy was calling us back, and now we were taking the whole crew. 

We have been master travelers, especially good at traveling with children, but we haven't exercised that muscle in a long time. So the littlest Gill has never taken such a long trip, and he had an endless stream of questions. In the end, all of the kids rocked the travel. Three hours to Newark, then another 8.5 to Rome, then a 4.5 hour drive to Pietracupa (should have been 3, but a highway shutdown caused a serious delay) and everyone was still excited and awake when we arrived!

Bienvenuti a Pietracupa

We made ourselves at home with a mixture of Gran and Poppa's hospitality and the local flavors from home businesses like the ladies who make béchamel lasagna out of their own kitchen, or the next town over who's home business fills house made ravioli, pasta and gnocchi orders via text message. 

 In this midst of our food-filled days, we got out in the mornings to jog the town. This was a rude awakening after running the flattest of flat streets of Houston, and then trying to keep speed with the extreme pitch of these cobblestone streets, and the intensity of the summer heat. My ankles were not pleased.

It didn't take long for our kids to remind us of the delicacy that Italy is known for. We enjoyed a midday snack on day 2 in the next town over, though we showed our hand at being foreigners by arriving at 3:00, which anyone in Italy will tell you is a risky move. There is an afternoon break observed by most businesses that involves a multi-hour closing in the middle of the day. Gelateria Italia happened to open at 4:00, so we needed to pass some time before the opening. No one complained, even with the heat, knowing that gelato was at the end of the rainbow. 

Gretchen popped up with "Posso provare il cioccolato" (can I try the chocolate) like a native thanks to Google translate on her phone. What an incredible tool to have! These were some happy kids with gigantic gelato cones topped with the real REAL whipped cream (Alex said: "Mom, I think the whipped cream is  different here, it's making me more full." Yes, yes it is.) The place looks, smells and tastes delicious, makes the gelato fresh everyday and became a favorite spot during our trip. The cutest detail that was consistent with most gelaterias was that their taste testing was given out in a tiny waffle cone instead of a plastic spoon. 

Everyone did well acclimating to the time change, but we had full, hot days that were active and filled with pasta and gelato, so even the best of us can't fight the urge to sleep. This little guy got up too early and then crashed mid-morning. Thankfully he had a soft place to lay his head and sleep off the time difference.