Getting Acclimated

I made it!

As of this evening, I think I've pretty much settled in. The flight was uneventful enough, though it did remind me why I hate flying with airlines based in the US. Seriously, US Airways/American? We're only allowed water or juice after dinner on a 9 hour flight? I understand budget cuts, but it's not like the ticket was free or anything...

But I digress. Other than that minor quibble, travel day went pretty smoothly. I picked up my car from the airport, managed to not get run off the road while driving from Rome to Cassino (apparently stop signs are treated more as suggestions than law, at least near the airport), and checked in with my AirBnB host. I don't have too much to say for this first post since I'm still getting the lay of the land, but I do have some pictures of my the town, my apartment, and my car to share:

Most of the city looks similar to this. The town as well as the abbey were completely leveled by the allies during WW2, so everything in town is relatively recent.

There are some fragments left, though. This is embedded into one of the main squares in town. These are remnants from a church's campanile, or bell tower. At least in the town's central area, these are the only things that I've seen that predate the war.

This, on the other hand, definitely predates the war. When I was here last summer I was told that this was an old Norman castle, which means it is most likely from the 12th century. As far as I know it isn't open for visitors, but I intend to investigate further...

This is a view of the abbey itself. It was rebuilt after the war, as closely as possible to the original design. There are some ruins and fragments up there as well, which I'll include next week. Also, that's the hill that necessitates my renting a car for the next 2 months. The castle from the previous picture is behind the building to the right.

My apartment as seen from the front door. It's definitely...let's call it cozy, but it'll do for the next two months.

Adorable puppies on the wall! You can also see my guitar practice setup for the coming months.

Plus a lovely patio, complete with washing machine and drying rack. Sorry for the over-exposure!

The building also has an elevator that is disturbingly similar to the one that crashed while I was in it in Alba, Italy about 7 years ago. I think I'll be sticking to the stairs, for the most part. It even looks frightening, doesn't it?

And of course, the pièce de résistance, a brand new car that I get to drive for the next 2 months! It's a Renault Megane Coupe RS 265. Think Subaru WRX or Ford Focus ST: fast and sporty, but not insane. I had to get a car thanks to the less-than-ideal public transit situation in Cassino, which wouldn't have allowed me to get to the monastery for long enough each day to do my research. My only complaint with the car so far is that rear visibility isn't great, but I'm more than used to that.

I'm quite pleased with the interior as well. Coming from a 15 year old Mustang convertible, this is blessedly rattle free and chock-full of nifty technology, like GPS, Bluetooth, a backup camera, a speed limiter (sort of like cruise control, except you tell the car the maximum speed you want to go and it'll keep you from speeding. I can see this being incredibly useful as speed cameras become more prevalent), and even power mirrors that you can fold in towards the car when your parked, to keep them from getting clipped by other cars on some tiny medieval street.

And while I don't expect to have many, if any, passengers during this trip, the back seat is at least semi-usable. All of my luggage even fit into the trunk, which--if you've ever seen my suitcase--is no mean feat.

I think I'll leave it there for this update. I plan to follow my schedule of 3 updates per week next week, beginning with an overview of the history of the Abbey of Montecassino. Hope you enjoyed reading!