Then next day will drive to Calitri (Where the Gervasi’s roots came from and stay at Jason’s loft) and stay there until the 9th. We will be planning side trips to Naples, Amalfi Coast, Positano, Capri, and Serranto.

Then go to Rome until the 13th.While staying in Rome, will plan to do a side trip to Cerveteri & Tarquinia or The Castelli Romani or Viterbo. I will need to do more research and discuss it with Letty and Jason! (Any suggestions?)

I hope I will be able to post when I am in Italy!

Arrivederci

Whew! Today was the toughest I have ever experienced! Felt like I am on the Biggest Loser show! I sweat like a pig! But it was a great workout. Before when I did boot camp in October and November last year and this one is TOTALLY different! Eric, the trainer, really our Sergeant (a sweet one), had some new equipment for us to use.  I guess he must got them for Christmas or something! Ha.

What we did today-

First 10 minutes warm up with jumping jacks, leg stretches, and arm stretches (both most common in sports when warming up before game or practice)

Then the Sergeant had this 3 big board with all of the workout written down for everyone to see (also help them to remember when is next etc-perfect for us deafies)

1-lying press-20 reps for each arm

2- mountain climbs-40 reps

3-jumping rope-60 jumps

4-step up (on box that is like knee high!) 20 steps

5-Medicine ball (so big that you have to hold with your both arms 10 or 15 pounds) run to each cone then do 5 jumping squats (there were 5 cones)

6-Lunges (across the parking lot-about 20 lunges)

7-Box Dip-20 reps

8-Dumbbell (DB) Thrusters-20 reps

9-DB X-lying -20 reps

You keep it going for like 40 minutes. Like doing it over and over again! I only did 3 times. I know some people who are fit did like 5 or more times!

Then 10 mins of plank, like a push up but you stay in one place, and sit ups (we did it like 3 times of each)

Then ran around the park (about 50 yards like in football field)

5 mins of cool down!

Tomorrow we will be doing upper body workout! My favorite!

Cheers!

Today’s workout was mainly focused on the lower body. Alot of jumping jacks, did lunges with dumbbell, burpees (hate that shit), plunge with kicking back, and others I can’t remember what they are called. Maybe I can find pictures and I can show it to you! Of course we did warm ups and cool down!

Have a good day!

Snack: nuts and strawberries

Lunch: grilled chicken with veggies

Snack: yogurt and 3 pieces of cookies (oops! Girl Scout shortbread)

Dinner: Turkey meatloaf, two small rolls (oops-but they are low fat hee) and asparagus.

Snack: salad with hard boiled egg, tomatoes, peppers, and radish with my homemade dressing (olive oil and balsamic with secret spices) This was supposed to go with my dinner but I was full from the dinner-and I already made the salad so didn’t want it to go wasted!

Of course water with every meal and in between!

I strained my glute-because I didn’t do it the right. I stretched throughout the day and took some Advils. I feel little sore from the Monday’s workout. I also drank alot of water which helped. Also moved around alot so it helped.

So this morning I got up at 450 am and got to the boot camp at 5. Eric, the trainer, weighed me, measured my arm, waist and leg. Also measured my fat -OUCH! (he pinched my fat in my arm and waist but it wasn’t bad in my leg. I think because I have more muscles in my leg. I won’t get the information on my weight and measurement until end of the month-RESULTS!

I will be going to the camp 5 days a week! I also am following the initial 7 days meal plan this week.

The way we’ll do this is by getting rid of these “bad foods”.  The first 7 days
of this plan require you to stop eating the “bad foods” completely.  These
foods include the following:

Sugar (including artificial sweeteners)
Alcohol
Caffeine
Processed Foods
Dairy Products
Red Meat

Next week I will be able to add certain food back like dairy products, red meat and CAFFEINE!

Here is the manual you can use for yourself!

Saturday, February 14.
Arrive Frankfurt, Germany
10:50 am.
Get rental car
Go to Sven’s for couch surfing (stay for one night)
Visit Frankfurt

Go to Brewery

Sunday, February 15.
Leave for Amsterdam in the morning
Arrive around Noon.
Check into Durty Nelly’s Hostel (60 euros total)

http://www.xs4all.nl/~nellys/nellmain.htm

Museums:
Anne Frankhuis: The clear and haunting words of a young Jewish girl trying to survive and grow in unimaginable circumstances have moved millions since they were first published in the aftermath of World War II. It’s a melancholy but unforgettable experience to spend a reflective moment in Anne Frank’s stark hideout from Nazi terror.

Heineken International Brewing Company

Rent bike
Canals
De Wallen
Red Light District

Monday, February 16.
Amsterdam
Van Gogh Museum: The world’s largest collection of Vincent’s works is housed here — some 200 paintings and 500 drawings — ranging from Sunflowers to earless self-portraits. Here, you can trace this great, tragic painter’s artistic and psychological development.

Rijksmuseum: The State Museum houses some of Holland’s most important artworks: Rembrandt’s world-famous The Night Watch, four of Vermeer’s miniatures, and numerous pieces by Frans Hals. In all, this is one of the world’s most impressive Old Masters collections.

Tuesday, February 17.
Leave for Belgium-Brussels in the am
Stay at Christian for couch surfing

Kasteel Beersel This 13th-century castle just 8km (5 miles) south of Brussels, looks to be the ideal place for pulling up the drawbridge and settling in for a siege — and if the owners have had the foresight to amply stock the rustic Auberge Kasteel Beersel restaurant inside, the proceedings need not be too burdensome. This is a castle just like Disney makes them, with turrets, three towers, a drawbridge, a moat, and the spirits of all those who have, willingly or unwillingly, resided within its walls.

Hôtel de Ville (Town Hall; Both the inside and the outside of this magnificent Gothic work repay careful study. The sculptors who created its intricate exterior decoration had a sense of humor — or at any rate what passed for a sense of humor in the Middle Ages — as well as skill. And the interior is lavish enough even for the extravagant tastes of the imperial aldermen who ruled over the city from here.

Galeries Royales St-Hubert (St. Hubert Royal Galleries; One of Europe’s oldest “shopping malls,” the Italian neo-Renaissance style gallery with three connected wings opened in 1847, and is still a fine place to shop and to stroll through window-shopping.

Snap Up a Bargain at the Flea Market Each day from 7am to 2pm, the Marché-aux-Puces in place du Jeu-de-Balle offers everything from the weird to the wonderful at rock-bottom prices.

Visit the Comic-Strip Museum: Cast aside any thoughts of Superman and Batman. Belgian comic-strip art is an altogether more sophisticated product, though its most famous creation, Hergé’s Tintin, proves it can also be fun.

Wednesday, February 18.
Belgium-Bruges-the Chocolate City!

Thursday, February 19.
Belgium

Friday, February 20.
Leave for Frankfurt, Germany in the am
Stop by Charleroi
Just drive through…
Visit the Gervasi and Margotta families.
Drive through Luxembourg
Arrive Frankfurt, Germany
Stay with Annew for couchsurfing (two nights)

Saturday, February 21.
Frankfurt, Germany
Visit with Daisy
Stay with Annew

Sunday, February 22.
Leave for Arizona
11:40 am

2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Buy a lock if you have to.

3. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement,

• ‘My purpose is to________ today.’

4. Eat more foods that grow on plants, and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

5. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli, almonds & walnuts.

6. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

7. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead, invest your energy in the positive ,present moment and people who are worth it .

8. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.

9. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.

10. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

11. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

12. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

13. Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.

14. Don’t compare your life to others’. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

15. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

16. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: ‘In five years, will this matter?’

17. Forgive everyone for everything.

18. What other people think of you is none of your business.

19. GOD heals almost everything. . . and He can heal everything if it’s in His plan. We just need to trust His bigger picture.

20. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

21. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

22. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements:

• ‘I am thankful for _____.’ ‘
• Today I accomplished______.’

23. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.

Hop aboard a glass-topped tour boat for a cruise on Amsterdam’s storied canals. From this vantage point, you get the best possible view of all those gabled Golden Age merchants’ houses. Ignore anyone who tells you it’s a tourist trap — it is a tourist trap, I suppose, but it got that way by being justifiably popular.

Biking the City:

To pass for an authentic Amsterdammer, pick up a bicycle so ancient, rusted, and worn that no self-respecting thief would waste a second of his time trying to steal it (ah, but he will). Then charge into the ruckus of trams, cars, buses, and other bikes. Better yet, rent a bicycle that’s in decent condition — and go carefully.

Popping a Herring:

Amsterdam folk like their herring fresh and raw from a neighborhood fish stall. The best in the business is Van Altena. Eat your fish in the approved Dutch manner — whole, holding the fish by its tail, with your face to that wide Holland sky. Amsterdammers prefer theirs chopped, with onion.

Visiting the Anne Frankhuis:

The clear and haunting words of a young Jewish girl trying to survive and grow in unimaginable circumstances have moved millions since they were first published in the aftermath of World War II. It’s a melancholy but unforgettable experience to spend a reflective moment in Anne Frank’s stark hideout from Nazi terror.

Visiting the Flower Market:

The vast array of flowers and potted plants in their “floating” home on the Singel canal comprises the city’s largest and most colorful plant assortment. (if it’s still there due to cold weather)

Whiffing a “Coffeeshop”:

It’s true — smoking marijuana is officially tolerated in Amsterdam’s “smoking coffeeshops.” These aren’t your neighborhood cafes, and they’re not for everyone, but they’re an established part of Amsterdam’s alternative tradition. You’ll be able to buy and smoke marijuana inside, and no law-enforcement agency will hassle you.

Riding a Canal Bike:

Lifelong Amsterdammers — and even expats who ought to know better but aim to pass as natives — scoff long and loud at this. Let them. Pedal yourself through the water for an hour or two on your own private pedalo. Go at your own speed to view the canals in style (not much style, I’ll admit).

Trying a Rijsttafel:

Dutch settlers in the East Indies created the banquet-style “rice table.” Comprising from 10 to 30 little dishes, some as fiery as rocket exhaust, a rijsttafel is a great introduction to Indonesian cuisine.

Skating the Canals:

When the canals freeze — it doesn’t happen every winter — you’ll find few locals who’ll argue against the proposition that God is a Dutchman. Giving Amsterdammers the chance to go around on ice is one of the few ways to pry them off their bicycles. Strap on a pair of long-bladed noren skates and join them.

Walking on the Wild Side:

Stroll through De Wallen to examine the quaint 16th-century canal architecture, peruse secondhand bookstores, and observe inhabitants as they walk their dogs, ride their bikes to the shops, take the kids to school. Oh, and since this is the Red Light District, you’re bound to see certain minimally attired women watching the world go by through red-tinted windows.

Viewing Golden Age Paintings:

Usually it costs a bundle to see paintings from the Old Masters period of Dutch art. An exception is the multiple images of Civic Guards companies hanging in the Schuttersgalerij of the Amsterdams Historisch Museum.

Meeting Van Gogh: Van Gogh Museum:

The world’s largest collection of Vincent’s works is housed here — some 200 paintings and 500 drawings — ranging from Sunflowers to earless self-portraits. Here, you can trace this great, tragic painter’s artistic and psychological development.

Visiting the Begijnhof:

There’s a price to pay for stepping into the cloistered community that for centuries has been a residence for women of “sound character.” You need to be tolerably quiet and comport yourself with dignity — or you’ll get tossed out by the guards.

Taking in a Lunchtime Rehearsal Concert:

If you can live with the occasional duff note and a program that doesn’t always follow the script, treat your ears to classical music from 12:30 to 1pm at the Muziektheater (Tues) and the Concertgebouw (Wed), every week from October to June.

Beaching About Zandvoort:

Come rain, hail, or shine (and often enough, all three on the same day), Amsterdammers ride the rails for a short hop out to its brassy — but not classy — coastal resort. The bracing North Sea air blows away all that marijuana smoke.

Wandering through De Wallen:

Just below the low-life sin section of “The Walls” — that is, the Red Light District — is a contrast: this delightful southern district of Old Amsterdam encompasses tranquil canals lined with handsome 16th-century houses and the University of Amsterdam’s bustling campus.

Sailing the IJ Ferry:

The short ferryboat ride across the IJ channel between Centraal Station and Amsterdam-Noord (North) is a great little cruise and provides a good view of the harbor.