When in Rome...

All is well here in Texas. We're still having far more rain than usual (flash flooding!) which means that while the temperature is ramping up (getting close to 40, so is the humidity (ick). Our Friday nights sitting outside at the pub are more like a mass group sauna session! The dreaded lurgie has all but moved on leaving me with a residual cough that may be more force of habit than any great morbidity. Jo has survived her first few weeks of full time work at the Foundation and already knows the names and locations of more people than I do! She's fitting in really well and seems to be the "Nanny McFee" of our research group ;)

This post is horribly delayed for many reasons, including a general level of slackness and the fact that I have been poked and prodded for a few weeks by specialists, ending in minor surgery last Thursday to remove a breast lump. Looks like it's all ok but I get the results sometime this week so I'll keep you posted.

The other news is that Jo's parents are winding up their world tour with a stint here with us in San Antonio. They were supposed to arrive on Wednesday night after flying from the UK, but their flight out of Chicago (the last one) was cancelled! Leaving them bagless in a "Super 8" motel with red walls and far too many mirrors... The eventually arrived in San Antonio late Thursday, again bagless! Anyhow, all is well now and their bags have finally joined the party, and the rest if fodder for another blog entry!

However, back to Italy and the promised update on Rome. This is a tricky entry to write because we managed to pack so much into our six days there, so I'm going to be led more by the photos than anything else.

In short we spent the first 4 nights in a very mod but swanky hotel with a stunning rooftop pool but very odd rooms. You can check them out online - it was like living in an Ikea catalogue. The room came equipped with a huge lawn-green shagpile rug, a lamp contained within a big white balloon that blew up to a huge ball on the wall when you switched it on and fruity bathroom products in shotglasses...



We managed to get to the Trevi fountain at night, the Spanish Steps just before sunset, a full day at the Coliseum and Palatine Hill (my favorite) just wandering through all the ruins and a day at the Vatican. We had wonderful dinners (fortuitous timing for asparagus and porchini mushroom season!), lovely local wine and even some great cheese, olives and other deli delights from markets and corner stores. I had some wonderful coffee and even learnt (the hard way) how to order one at a proper Roman bar. We didn't get to the Pantheon (it was closed) but we did hit a great modern art gallery where we got to see a range of wonderful surprises including 'the wounded angel' (and some wonderful bronze sculpture which I never dreamed I would like!)

But I know that all you guys are really interested in are the pics so here we go...

We hit the Spanish Steps on a public holiday, destroying our plans of handbag shopping, but we had fun just wandering. Sadly the holiday meant the pantheon was also closed, but there was plenty of other stuff to look at!

A tiny Roman street in Trastevere on a lazy Sunday afternoon...

We had a great pocket guidebook, which is incredibly daggy and touristy of us perhaps, but it came in handy on more than one occasion!

A tiny grocer in one of the back streets

Aside from billions of tiny tiny cars, Rome was also brimming with vespas! I had such a craving to ride one but Jo wasn't so keen. I can just imagine how fun (and scary) it must be to fly along those tiny cobbled streets!!

We found this scene in a tiny back street while walking from A to B.

We decided that if we ever lived in Rome, this is the apartment we wanted to live in! Not only did it have a spunky shape and great outlook it had an amazing looking rooftop garden Gorgeous :)

This is part of the old wall surrounding Rome (I think)

The photos of the Coliseum and Palatine Hill might have to wait for Rome part 2 or this will end up being my most epic post yet!!

Knockers

When we first arrived in Rome Jo said "Whoa this town has great knockers!" And she was right...



Good looking mail boxes too.

Torino (Turin) and the first leg of our trip

Well, we're back in San Antonio, safe (but not so well - I came down with a chest infection the minute I set foot in San Antonio!). At the moment we're working on digesting the 600+ photos we took during the trip. The most tragic part of the whole adventure was that my beautiful pentax SLR packed it in on the first pic and was dead weight (she's not light you know) for the remainder of the trip, so we were stuck with mr stinky mini-digital for sharing our memories with y'all.

Anyhow, onto the trip! We left the US from Chicago and flew into Frankfurt in serious cattle class on an American Airlines plane. Don't fly with them. They've taken everything bad about flying and concentrated it into one high definition experience. Blergh. Frankfurt was my first ever experience of Europe and consisted of a spunky elfin boy at the check in telling me I wasn't on the flight to Turin and security guards barking commands at me in German then pulling me out for a full on body search in which they attempted (vainly) to find my bra and after giving up proceeded to stick a very cold metal detector down the back of my jeans 0_o When we made it to the gate we discovered that the flight was overbooked (leaving me off the list) but thanks to Jo's magical people charming skills I not only ended up on the flight to Turin, but in first class! So my entry to Italy was with champagne in hand, prawns in my belly and a stunning lemon panna cotta for dessert (while poor Jo got water and a tiny toblerone).

Turin was gorgeous. It took us a while to realise that the Winter Olympics were there last year (slow I know) but that meant the city was all spanky and cleaned up still. My boss quickly moved us from our nursing home style conference hotel to stay with him at the stunning Principi de Piermonte that was opened the same day as the games! It felt like rags to riches, but there was surprisingly little difference in price between the two...and a whole lot of difference in quality. The conference hotel had camp beds and a shower the size of a coffin! The best moment was when Jo opened the curtains and let out a little involuntary scream!

I won't go on about it too much, but the hotel was a big player in making out time in Turin so wonderful. The room was gorgeous and so lovely to come home to after spending all day at the conference (which was held in some industrial hotel on top of a hill on the edge of the city so you were trapped there) and had the most incredible bath.

The other brilliant thing about the Principi was the barman, Flavio, who not only made incredible drinks and great conversation (like the time he visited Australia and ended up in the middle of Mardi Gras) but he also had excellent food recommendations. Flavio got us in to a couple of different restaurants that specialise in local cuisine and we had some wonderful meals as a result. The highlight for me was a dinner we had with some friends we'd made at the conference, great girls from Norway and Finland who were so much fun to hang out with, as well as my boss John and his partner Jo. We went to a little restaurant called La Campannia where the owner, a little old Italian man, took charge of us and planned our menu for us. We started with an incredible raw sausage (yep, raw, but amazingly well spiced), followed by a range of meat based antipasto that I wish I'd taken pics of but I was too busy devouring, followed by multiple pasta bliss then a dessert trolly that made my eyes bulge! Throughout we had wonderful local wines and we, of course, ended with homemade grappa and lemoncello. Every meal we had in Turin was good! IF anyone is heading to Europe and wants to sidetrack for a little R&R and some great eating, I'd highly recommend hitting Turin and the Principi for a few day and let Flavio be your guide (he also makes a wonderful aperol and champagne cocktail). Although every time he recommended a restaurant to us he sent us there with a little blue envelope addressed to the owner and we still have no idea what they said!

Believe it or not, this one was the lowest on our list of good meals we had in Turin!

The other place he sent us to was the Museo Nationale Del Cinema (National Cinema Museum) which was just wonderful! It's housed in a wonderful old building (the Mole Antonelliana) that is one of the icons of the city. The museum is basically a mass collection of installations that progress you from the earlier forms of moving image (shadow puppetry, magic lanterns...) through to dedications to modern film genres and mechanics. There's a lot of interactive stuff including a bike you can ride that bluescreens you into ET along with the other flying kids! We were pretty over stimulated by the time we got to the end, but it was a great experience.

On our second day in Turin we had an amazing moment where the skies, that had been gloomy and overcast since we arrived, slowly cleared to reveal the snow capped Alps all around us!

The view from our window where you can see part of the mountains.

More mountains...

And even more Alps...

Snow!

Anyhow, that's probably enough about Torino for now! The conference well, my talk was ok and we had a wonderful and relaxing time (I guess that could have been enough of an entry right there!) I'll leave you with the usual mug shot :) More Italy coming soon so stay tuned!

Teaser....

Just a little teaser to let you know that we really are in Rome and we're having a lovely time...too lovely to spend very long on the blog at this point! You'll have to wait till we get back to San Antonio for a real update. So far the trip has been amazing, cigarette smoke and petrol fumes aside.



(and by the way...this post is complicated by the fact that blogger has decided to only speak to me in Italian!)

One ring to bind them...

The other bit of news, which I'm hoping most, if not all of you know by now is that I proposed to Jo on her birthday. No big surprise to anyone really, but we want to be able to have some kind of celebration of our relationship at some point down the road to share with all the people we love so dearly and who have been so supportive of us and such a good example to us. And also the fact that Jo has been going on about wanting a "sweet ring". Lucky for me I had already bought one! I bought it last year when she was still in Australia, and had been carrying it with me everywhere because I couldn't find the right 'quiet' moment. Anyhow, it's from Tiffany's (because I'm a romantic sucker for the film) and not too flashy and the stone is peridot.

And now for all of you who have been demanding a squiz...



We are just as happy as always, but it's been lovely to share a little of that with you all.

Jo's Birthday

Hi everyone, just a quickie to let you know that Jo had a wonderful 30th birthday and to thank every who helped to make it so special.

We did all sorts of lovely things... On the Friday after work we went to a real Texan outdoor drinking establishment (La Tuna - I've mentioned it before) for beers and wine served out of a little shed and drunk at outdoor tables under pecan trees. It's the place where the ground is covered in bottle caps instead of pebbles! The plan was to move from there through some of the other boutiquie pubs on that edge of downtown, but it was such a lovely afternoon and we were all enjoying it so much that we just stayed!


Later that eve we went to one of the well known Mexican restaurants here, La Fogata, well known for its margaritas that is! Jo was serenaded, not once, but twice by the mariachis, much to her delight. We also had a unique kind of birthday 'cake' with all sorts of yummies (including chirros, my favorite).



On the day of her actual birthday we had a big fry up at home, then she set to opening presents (many of which made her cry!) We had a lovely visit from Oscar and Leo who brought her a ziplock bag full of mud and water with a few flowers in it, as only kids can. Collected with much love I am sure!


That night we had an amazing dinner at a restaurant called the Grey Moss Inn. Grey Moss is on the outskirts of San Antonio in a place called Grey Forest and it was so beautiful to drive out there and be in almost rural countryside, but with trees and even the odd hill! Again it was a truly magical night for sitting outside, and we did so under the enormous oaks strung with long tendrils of swamp moss. The food was gorgeous. I had fresh Hawaiian tuna with foie gras and a leek custard and Jo had an amazing looking filet (yes, steak) cooked on the charcoal grill. I won't go into too much detail because I know some of you complain about the blog being all about food (I love food!) but amazing desserts, wine and even hot tea were present and accounted for. It was also a lot of fun because we all decided we'd frock up for the night (yes, even me, in a dress).



The next Saturday night we had a birthday bash in the evening which was pretty much a repeat of the superbowl party, just with a different reason for celebrating. We made chili and sushi and I became the bar queen and made mint juleps and mojitos with the fresh mint we'd been growing on our deck. It was pretty amazing to see all the people there and realise just how big our social network here is. We are very lucky to have so many good friends both here and at home.

A general life update

I thought I should put up some kind of more general update on what's currently happening in the lives of Jo and Jac, because there's actually quite a lot going on!

On Tuesday Jo found out that she's been offered a job here at the Foundation! The job has the swanky title of "Research Coordinator" and it's primarily a PA position for my boss that will involve grant management and all that other fun stuff that keeping a team of scientists on the ball involves. Jo has also been volunteering for the library here on a collection of personal and historic documents they hold from one of our key philanthropists, so we're hoping that part of her job will also involve a more formalised component of this work. The paperwork for the job should come through today, then we need to leave the country to apply for a new visa for her (yay) but more about that in a sec.

I put in an abstract for a conference in Italy and it looks like I've been given an oral presentation. The conference is in Torino at the end of May (26-29) so we're off to Italy! Jo is coming too (of course), and we're going to Rome after the conference finishes so that we can visit the US consulate there and apply for her new visa. There are still a few kinks to work out, but here's hoping everything will be fine. I spent a frustrating few hours on the phone to USCIS the other day trying to work out what to do about her nearly expired B2 visa and ended up having to trick the robot into letting me talk to a real person (going silent doesn't work - it just obstinately says "I'm sorry, you did not answer" and repeats the question over and over and over). The problem is that we applied for an extension to Jo's official "length of stay" and have a receipt from USCIS to say that they received the application and they're processing it (there were at least speedy in cashing the $200 cheque). The instructions said to send the application in 30-45 days prior to expiry (which we did)... However, on checking their site, it seems they're only just finalising applications that they received in December, 2006! Anyhow, after much swearing and then having to pretend that I'd filled the application out wrong and needed to change the address, I got to speak to a real live person who said it was ok, Jo didn't need to leave the country immediately (which was our big fear) and that the USCIS receipt to say the application was received allows her to stay until we hear back from them. Weird system!! I don't think that leaving the country on an expired departure card will be a problem, it would only be a problem if the visa application in Rome is denied but I'm hoping that is unlikely. But who knows, I certainly don't pretend to understand it all...

Um, so the short version is we're going to Italy on the 25th of May and coming home on the 5th of June, or something like that! Should be fun :)

It's Jo's 30th birthday tomorrow (Saturday) so we've been busy planning for that as well. Tonight we're going downtown, to a side of San Antonio known as Southtown, which is the artsie part of the city. On the first Friday of every month they run something called, well, First Friday... which, by the way, I've never managed to get to! From what I've heard it's a mix of galleries, pubs and restaurants opening up along a stretch of Southtown and you kind of wind your way through it. This Friday seemed to be perfect timing, so we're taking some of the after work crowd and going to check it out.

On Saturday night we're going out to dinner with a smaller group of some of our closest friends from here. Not entirely sure where we're going yet but of course there will be a follow up food post - this blog would not be the same without one! Then next Saturday (slightly delayed to fit around everyone's busy schedules) we're having a bit more of a party type get together. Drinks, nibbles, that sort of thing. I'll make some sushi and I might even see if I can replicate my superbowl chili recipe!

As for other news, it's well and truly warming up here. We've had to put the AC on in order to get any sleep, and it's unusually muggy at the moment which only makes me more sticky and irritable. The days are up in the 30s, and only dropping to the mid 20s at night (and this isn't even summer!) We're also well and truly into the spring storm season and we've already had some amazing thunderstorms. Eerie green skies (that usually mean hail) pink lightning, the works! This year we've also had a lot of tornado watches (which means the weather is favorable to producing one) and a few tornado warnings (which means one has been spotted nearby). We didn't get any last year, not even watches, because we didn't have anywhere near as much moisture. There actually haven't been any tornadoes in the San Antonio area yet, but the ones that you might have heard about on the news recently were in Eagle Pass, which is only about 200km away. They've had a few bad ones recently :(

That may be enough of a wall of text post for now! I'll leave you with a few pics of the amazing bromeliad that Jo bought me from one of the nurseries here. It has the most incredible flowers ^_^

Hamster Cam - Part 2

Here's a slightly smaller one in case you're having trouble streaming the other one. This one has a bit more character, with Lumpy sitting in the foodbowl stuffing his cheeks then burrowing, and Busy just keeps on running.



I'm not sure if you can tell from these vids but their cheek pouches are really full! Cheek pouches is kind of misleading because they actually full up near their shoulders, so they have little bulges above their front legs.

Hamster Cam - Part 1

Here they are...



As you can see...two in the wheel doesn't work so well!

A pair of robos to call our own...

As you may know, Jo and I had been visiting the pet store every few days to visit the gerbils and hamsters, a novelty to us Aussies. Our local petstore, which is just near the supermarket hence the frequency of visits, has a great range of hamsters, from the humungo fat ones to the tiny dwarfs. Our favorites were the robos (Roborovskis - Phodopus roborovski), one of the dwarf varieties with the most amazing faces. You'll notice this is past tense...

Not that long ago we were at said petshop watching said rodents, when a young lad sidles up behind us as says "you don't want a couple of hamsters do you?". We immediately thought of illicit backyard breeding programs and extra pocket money and attempted to quietly extract ourselves from the situation. Our lad looked pretty nervous, about 18, and a little bit punk - he also looked genuine. Before we'd extracted ourselves fully his flatmate came in for backup and they explained that they were going away, that the hamsters were going to be given to one of their mums (poor mum) and that they'd been a recent impulse purchase. At that point we were wavering, but the killing blow came when they mentioned that they were a pair of robos... All over, we were sold. The lads were at the petstore to buy bedding and a new water feeder, so we offered to get them while they ducked home to get the beasts (you'll be pleased to note that not even free hamsters could lure us to some lad's apartment). Standing outside in the full light of a (hot) San Antonio day, we suddenly wondered if we were now the butt of some highly complex joke, and realised that if they didn't come back we'd be forced to go out and buy ourselves some hamsters! But our lads did return, with a well kept and very clean cage and the two most gorgeous hamsters you've ever seen!


We never found out the names of our benefactors, and we didn't get to say much more than "are you sure?" and "thankyou!", but I hope they know what a brilliant gift that was! Similarly, we never found out the pre-existing names of the beasts, but in true Jo and Jac style they are now known as Lump (mine) and Busy (Jo's). They are real characters and lots of fun to watch. We moved them from their little travel cage into a larger glass tank, and bought them a silent wheel (the original one drove us BATTY), and now they pretty much replace the TV in terms of night time entertainment. I've attached a few pics for now, but watch this space...HAMSTER CAM COMING SOON!

The National Public Toilet Map

I kid you not...

Not only is there a "Toilet Map Helpline" but if you are having trouble finding what you need you can "visit other sites about continence"...and I have no idea what the "my toilet map" option does.

Who comes up with these things? I would have loved to be a fly on the wall as this one was pitched. Yay for tax dollars. I love Australia!

The prodigal returns...

Hello lovelies, sorry it has been so hideously long since I updated the blog! Argh. The lapse is due to a series of unfortunate events and a little laziness... I had two total hard-drive failures on the laptop, went through a phase of being allergic to every bit of plant life in this crazy city and then got the flu! I have decided to attempt to overwhelm you with a mass of photos in order to distract you from the fact that I've been so horribly slack, mwahahahaha...

Jo and I are doing really well. Spring has well and truly sprung, as you will see. It's the third wettest San Antonian spring on record! We've had storm after storm and bucketloads of rain in between. As I've mentioned, the roads here are cleverly designed to keep all the water on the roads, so we're getting used to the flash flood warnings. Everything here is insanely green and beautiful! I had no idea Texas could look like this, since my last experience of spring was totally dry and desert-like. The oaks, which are usually a sickly shade of grey-green, are now a stunning mass of shiny apple-green leaves (however they're also responsible for the mass of toxic pollen covering everything so we're not on best terms just yet). It's wildflower season at the moment and the roadsides are covered in colour! We've taken a few trips out to the hill country in recent weeks to check out one of the wildflower farms that grow the flowers for seed.

Enough talk, I'll let these pics speak for me for now...

Photos from our trip to Fredericksburg and the Wildseed Farms wildflower farm (the same one Kath and I went to last May...very different this year!)

These "Blue Bonnets" are the national flower of Texas, a kind of tiny lupin.

The mixed poppies are my favorite

No clue what the yellow ones are...

It was lovely to see California poppies again because we accidentally grew so many of them when we lived in Sandy Bay!

The red poppies are by far Jo's favorite...that's why there are so many pics of them!


But they were pretty amazing...

Woot, you made it to the end!

Strange Fruits

One of the most amazing things about being here is the variety of fresh food that we can get hold of. We recently went to my favorite Chinese grocer for supplies such as noodles and peking duck, and came across packets of fresh water chestnuts! They were amazing! I had no idea they tasted so sweet, almost like fresh coconut, and so light and crunchy. I googled them to make sure they could be eaten raw (yes), but we also had some in a green curry (which also had the yummiest fresh bamboo shoots that we found!) They are, however, a right pain to peel.


The second example is Jo's valentine's day present... They're called ugli fruits, for good reason! They seem to be a delicacy here, although I didn't like them much! Lucky for me Jo did. They're like a grapefruit, but with more pith and less flavor, but the insides break into segments more like a mandarin. The fruit itself also feels like a mandarin, but tastes a little like a watered down lemon. So really, an odd collection of bits from a wide range of citrus, non of them particularly striking except for the look! Ugli...

Easter

I'm going to slip a few extra posts in here while you're all still snoozing and cursing me for being a slacker. We had a lovely but fairly quiet Easter. Easter Saturday/Sunday happened to be the peak of my sicko phase, so I wasn't much use to anyone. Jo spent Easter Sunday (from 6.30am!) cooking a huge hot lunch for 125 people with some of the crowd from Church which they then went on to serve to homeless people under one of the major bridges in San Antonio. It was a horribly cold and wet day so the turnout was a little lower, but I think it went really well and everyone involved had a good day. Lunch consisted of hot baked ham (the Easter tradition for lunch here), green beans, mashed potato and other yummies, as well as dyed hard boiled eggs.

Egg dying for Easter is a big thing here. Chocolate eggs are not. You can get some solid chocolate eggs but not the big eggs full of X. The tradition here is to have little plastic eggs that you pop open and fill with various types of candy, but mostly jelly beans. I guess it's a little less messy to hunt for them on a hot Easter morning than finding the slick that was Mr Rabbit... Hot cross buns are also non-existent, which means that we are STILL totally craving them. I think I'm going to have to be brave and attempt to make some, so if anyone had a foolproof recipe feel free to fling it my way.

On the night of Easter Sunday we went to our friend Lorena's house for yummy dinner. She's vego so we had an amazing meatless spread. Jo's favorite was of course the green bean casserole which we mentioned in the Thanksgiving entry. It's basically green beans, mushroom soup and crunchy fried onion bits on top but it is very tasty and Lorena makes it with a good hit of chili. My favorite were the tamales, a Mexican tradition where corn meal paste (basically polenta) is spread over a corn husk, and topped with various fillings (usually meat) but in this case black beans, then it's all wrapped up and cooked. You pop the middle out of the corn skin and it's very tasty! A must have if you make it to San Antonio. I'm thinking I should learn how to make them.

Our Easter loot... The plastic eggs were filled with jelly bellies, sugar babies, red hots and other extravaganzas of sugar...

Lorena set us up to do some egg dyeing, so I thought I'd snap the carnage!

Many an egg was dyed...

Jo's eggs

My eggs...one of them is supposed to be a dino's head... (I was tired ok!)