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!