We went to Croatia - Porec is the town. It was terrific. The water is truly turquoise. The beaches were rocky so it was a little bit of challenge with kiddos. We spent most of our time in the pool anyway. The food wasn't nearly as good as it was in Slovenia. We took a ferry ride to Porec from our hotel and it was fun being out on the Sea. I threw caution to the wind and wore a bikini.
Most of the people wear them in Europe. When I went to the beach the previous week I was the only person in a one piece. I love how the Europeans just don't care. The 70 yr old women were all in bikinis. The men, needless to say, were all in speedos. Yes, even the 70 yr olds. It was not a pretty picture. The Germans, who rarely see daylight, really really needed more fabric. I didn't see any black socks with sandals thankfully. And much to Michael's chagrin, only a few topless women.
Where did we get so hung up on body image? Celebrity? I don't know.
It finally cooled off this week. On Tuesday, it never got out of the 60's. Whoo hoo. I am still going and bugging the guy at housing to call my landlord to get a/c.
I'm back to my Italian tutoring - acccck. I have homework and all I want to do is play.
We are dog sitting for some friends. Jacqueline keeps walking the dog around the outside of the house. She had to eat lunch outside today with the dog and sleep with the dog on her bed.
4th of July was interesting here. It was like being in a small town. Michael played in a baseball game and then we had a dinner that evening with our Italian counterparts. We missed the fireworks as we drove on to Croatia. The girls looked cute in their 4th of July outfits. We certainly did miss being in the parade back at the lake in Dallas.
I ate lunch at Raffe's this week. One of the best meals I have had. We started with Prosecco. I can just stop there, right? We had her famous bruschetta, she fried zuccini flowers (one of the best things I have ever eaten - like the fried sage leaves), then orchetta pasta with zuccini and alot of garlic, turkey with a caper sauce along with sauted yellow peppers (and something else), and to top it off, homemade tiramisu.
Yes, Cheryl is working on a cookbook with Raffe. And, you must have it. It will be ready by Christmas. Start the drooling now.
Thursday 10 July 2008
Tuesday 1 July 2008
Summer in Italy
Okay, so things have been busy, but that has come to a halt with our stifling 90+ degree temps. I guess people adapt to having no a/c, but it's hot. And why come to Europe in the summer? I don't get it unless you have school aged children. We sit in our house in the afternoon with all the windows shut including the blinds with the fans blowing on us. We also jump in and out of the pool or the slip n slide. I can't believe it is so hot b/c 2 1/2 weeks ago we still had snow on the mountains and our high was only 60. I had to pull my sweaters back out. One evening I couldn't believe my eyes that I saw snow on the mountains in Slovenia and I mean it was covered. The next morning our landlord confirmed that it had snowed over there (this is mid-June hello) and in Austria!
My partner in crime and her family left a few weeks ago. I miss you - it's too quiet here without you!!! Another friend left today and another will leave in August.
Okay, so in the middle of May we started having friends and family come. We had a terrific visit with a friend of mine from Austin and her new hubby. We did Prosecco Road one day and found a fabulous cantina. The woman was a riot. I took my parents back there. They did Venice and then moved onward.
My parents came in at the same time and we threw them in the car the day after they arrived. We headed to a very rainy Tuscany and then, thankfully, a very sunny Cinque Terre and Genova. Tuscany is incredible. The rain put a little damper on it (and it was very cool). We had one winery where the rain literally stopped when we drove up. The vinters are the 31st generation growing grapes here. Francesco was an excellent tour guide and host. The grandfather maintains the American cemetery in Florence either once a week or once a month. We sat overlooking the vineyard eating salami, olive oil, bread and cheese; and of course, drinking a very fine Chianti. It was just one of those amazing days you have in your life. We also went to Siena, Volterra, Lucca, Montepulciano and some villages in the Chianti region. I ran into a Texas Tech person who was in DC the same time I was! We ran into him again in Cinque Terre. A friend of mine said the light is different in Tuscany. It is true. Add some poppies in with the blossoming grapevines and... whew.
We moved onto Cinque Terre and stayed in a 14th century farmhouse near La Spezia. We headed to Cinque Terre which are 5 towns on the Mediterranean protected by UNESCO as a world heritage site. You can easily walk between the first two towns (along and sometimes over the sea). Breathtaking!!! My daughter decided in one of the villages that she had to swim - she ran in with all of her clothes on and entertained the crowd by jumping up in down in the water. I will add as an aside that we went to a terrific beach on the Adratic last week so JD went swimming in the Adriatic and Med within 5 weeks. Pretty cool! We also visited the aquarium in Genova. It is a huge city especially when driving a Tahoe. It was a great aquarium (of course, not like the one in Atlanta etc.) so we were pleasantly surprised. JD is really missing "museums." We ate dinner in Santa Margaurite Ligure. It is a beautiful town also on the sea. Mom and Dad enjoyed getting their fill of seafood.
The last day we traveled to Portevenere, another seaside town. It was so different than the others, b/c it had some old fort ruins. It definitely wasn't as touristy so I think it ended up being all of our favorites'. We took a boat ride too.
I took mom and dad to Prosecco Road and then Mel and family came in too so we had a house full. We took a short trip to Lake Bled in Slovenia. I highly recommend Slovenia as the food is great and most of the people speak English. Over 55% of the country is forested. The only new drawback is they are making you buy a toll tag to drive on the autostrada for 35 euros (it lasts for 6 months). We took the boat out to the island with the little church on it. The girls all took turns ringing the bell 3 x for good luck. We took a horse drawn carriage up to the castle the following day. It was the only time it was sunny during our whole trip!
We also ventured to Sacile, Trieste, and Venice. Plus we took the girls to the butterfly house in Bordano. This town was destroyed by the 76 earthquake and they rebuilt it. The townspeople built the butterfly house in honor of their town in symbolizim. Many of the houses had butterfly murals painted on them.
I know there is more and I will publish pictures of our terrific trips soon. We are headed to Croatia. YEAH. I'll have to start planning where we go next.
Oh, and yes, this Dallas shopping girl is very excited that the new mall in Pordenone opened. It's terrific (okay, not by Dallas shopping standards) for us.
Michael threw a great surprise 40th celebration for me while we had all the company here. He did a terrific job. I am still in awe that my g'friend, and fellow Texan, had it as her hubby just returned from Iraq the week before. It's that military/Texan combo.
WOW.
It isn't letting me edit the post so please excuse the spelling - I am typing while I have 5 minutes!
My partner in crime and her family left a few weeks ago. I miss you - it's too quiet here without you!!! Another friend left today and another will leave in August.
Okay, so in the middle of May we started having friends and family come. We had a terrific visit with a friend of mine from Austin and her new hubby. We did Prosecco Road one day and found a fabulous cantina. The woman was a riot. I took my parents back there. They did Venice and then moved onward.
My parents came in at the same time and we threw them in the car the day after they arrived. We headed to a very rainy Tuscany and then, thankfully, a very sunny Cinque Terre and Genova. Tuscany is incredible. The rain put a little damper on it (and it was very cool). We had one winery where the rain literally stopped when we drove up. The vinters are the 31st generation growing grapes here. Francesco was an excellent tour guide and host. The grandfather maintains the American cemetery in Florence either once a week or once a month. We sat overlooking the vineyard eating salami, olive oil, bread and cheese; and of course, drinking a very fine Chianti. It was just one of those amazing days you have in your life. We also went to Siena, Volterra, Lucca, Montepulciano and some villages in the Chianti region. I ran into a Texas Tech person who was in DC the same time I was! We ran into him again in Cinque Terre. A friend of mine said the light is different in Tuscany. It is true. Add some poppies in with the blossoming grapevines and... whew.
We moved onto Cinque Terre and stayed in a 14th century farmhouse near La Spezia. We headed to Cinque Terre which are 5 towns on the Mediterranean protected by UNESCO as a world heritage site. You can easily walk between the first two towns (along and sometimes over the sea). Breathtaking!!! My daughter decided in one of the villages that she had to swim - she ran in with all of her clothes on and entertained the crowd by jumping up in down in the water. I will add as an aside that we went to a terrific beach on the Adratic last week so JD went swimming in the Adriatic and Med within 5 weeks. Pretty cool! We also visited the aquarium in Genova. It is a huge city especially when driving a Tahoe. It was a great aquarium (of course, not like the one in Atlanta etc.) so we were pleasantly surprised. JD is really missing "museums." We ate dinner in Santa Margaurite Ligure. It is a beautiful town also on the sea. Mom and Dad enjoyed getting their fill of seafood.
The last day we traveled to Portevenere, another seaside town. It was so different than the others, b/c it had some old fort ruins. It definitely wasn't as touristy so I think it ended up being all of our favorites'. We took a boat ride too.
I took mom and dad to Prosecco Road and then Mel and family came in too so we had a house full. We took a short trip to Lake Bled in Slovenia. I highly recommend Slovenia as the food is great and most of the people speak English. Over 55% of the country is forested. The only new drawback is they are making you buy a toll tag to drive on the autostrada for 35 euros (it lasts for 6 months). We took the boat out to the island with the little church on it. The girls all took turns ringing the bell 3 x for good luck. We took a horse drawn carriage up to the castle the following day. It was the only time it was sunny during our whole trip!
We also ventured to Sacile, Trieste, and Venice. Plus we took the girls to the butterfly house in Bordano. This town was destroyed by the 76 earthquake and they rebuilt it. The townspeople built the butterfly house in honor of their town in symbolizim. Many of the houses had butterfly murals painted on them.
I know there is more and I will publish pictures of our terrific trips soon. We are headed to Croatia. YEAH. I'll have to start planning where we go next.
Oh, and yes, this Dallas shopping girl is very excited that the new mall in Pordenone opened. It's terrific (okay, not by Dallas shopping standards) for us.
Michael threw a great surprise 40th celebration for me while we had all the company here. He did a terrific job. I am still in awe that my g'friend, and fellow Texan, had it as her hubby just returned from Iraq the week before. It's that military/Texan combo.
WOW.
It isn't letting me edit the post so please excuse the spelling - I am typing while I have 5 minutes!
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