Friday 11 April 2008

Rainy weather, gardening and fun

We haven't had the Internet for 10 days, and I was in serious withdrawal. So much has happened and spring has finally sprung here (still with much rain). And no, I still don't speak Italian.



Highlights:

Jacqueline turned 4!!!! I use to pretend cry when she was 3 saying, "you'll be 4 soon." She would say in return, "but I'm not 4 yet so you can't cry." Well, I did my pretend cry the other day about her turning 4, and she said to me, "it's okay, you can cry all you want now."



My college roommate and dear friend, Jennifer, and her husband and 8 yr.-old came to visit for a week. I hate to tell everyone this, but they have set the bar for visitors insurmountably high. Terrific guests - Drew did the majority of the cooking, they learned the important Italian words, game for anything, loads of fun and my house was so much cleaner than it has been, and much much more. We had a ball and discovered a few gems around here. And Drew, remember it's Grappa not Groppo (which is what Italian men do to women). I'll drink a sgropino and think of our visit and your eventual return. They (Jennifer and Drew and Benjamin) will tell you that you are missing out on not coming (and don't fly into Milan and don't bring travelers checks).

The Easter Bunny here doesn't bring toys per se, he brings big chocolate eggs filled with toys. The chocolate was incredible and the eggs so beautiful.



We went to Lake Garda last weekend for JD's birthday. We take her to an amusement park for her birthday so this time it was Gardaland! I have never walked right into an amusement park, but we did this time and on a Saturday too! It was nice and clean, but my heart still belongs to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg. Next year, we may head to Legoland. We certainly enjoyed a terrific dinner at Lake Garda and tasting the Bardolino wine.



My g'friend is leaving soon, and has depleted her wine cellar, so we went wine tasting on Wednesday in the Collio region of Italy (an hour from here on the Slovenian border) to replenish it. It was a fabulous day with some terrific wine! I did Prosecco road with Jennifer and Drew, which was just beautiful. One of the cantinas/wineries this old Italian woman, straight out of the movies was there assisting us. She took care of Benjamin, giving him juice and crackers then, of course, she had to pinch his cheeks. It was so quintessential Italy.



Oh, and when we went to Prosecco Road, in the Veneto region, their culinary specialty is horse. Yes, we all had a bite of horse for lunch. It was okay, a bit tough. Drew's cheese that was made at the restaurant was spectacular as was the risotto with white asparagus. Wednesday, Amy and I picked up white asparagus that had been picked 2 hours previously. I cooked it that night and it was delish!



I met another neighbor this week. Angelo lives near me and has a terrific vegetable garden. We spoke of the delights of minestrone. The next day, he came over with incredible veggies to make minestrone with! He is 75 and spoke English better than I speak Italian! The men here dress so dapper. Angelo was wearing a hat like my g'father wore with a nice shirt, sweater and pants. You rarely see men in jeans or tennis shoes.



My landlord came over the other day to trim the trees. We had a big pantomime act going on b/c the Italians just lop off the trees on top, on the side, and down below. Sometimes, they don't even resemble trees after this massacre. Can you tell I have a thing about trees? I didn't want him to trim too much as a) it looks bad, in my opinion and b) Julia is very fair skinned so I'd like some shade. I "won" on some of the trees, but not the others. He did, however, plant 5 rose bushes!



Oh, and my funny story of the month is that I made cupcakes for Jacqueline's class the day of her birthday. I put them in the front seat of the car. Now, I am not a baker and this is not my thing, but we as moms make certain sacrifices for the love of our children. As I was saying, I put them in my front seat. Well, Jacqueline is so excited to see Gabby on her birthday that she unbuckles herself and climbs into the seat and proceeds to sit on the cupcakes. Gabby's Mom, who has a wonderful Southern accent, asks me if they are salvageable. As my eyes are turning red, I open the door, and she says, "Oh my, I guess not," since the pan is totally demolished. I had to laugh all the way to school b/c of the way it was said in her accent. I gave them to her class anyway, but didn't know how to tell the teacher that Jacqueline sat on them. Probably a good thing.