Today Jacqueline and I headed to the fall festival at her preschool. We made Halloween cupcakes with black and orange sprinkles. The festival started at 2:30 and we got home at 5:15!
They had a pumpkin and you could guess it's weight. I am not great at the metric system so I didn't guess. I did buy lottery tickets (all the money raised goes to buying new playground equipment) and a few Halloween items. Well, when I bought the lottery tickets, I didn't think about them calling the numbers out in Italian and the paper was different colors. I went and found an Italian who spoke English to help me out. I did okay with the numbers and it was a fun numbers quiz. YIKES. We won a dog mail holder and a temp. gauge. They even had a couch you could win!
I brought our cupcakes and set them with the rest of the goodies from the parents. Mine, needless to say, weren't as pretty as all the fruit tarts etc. I spoke with one of the Italian moms thinking (and hoping) the food came from one of the bakeries. Alas, it was not the case. They were all made at home and the mother looked horrified that I would even ask the question. I will say, my cupcakes were devoured. I also like these Italian school gatherings as they serve wine! Wonder how that would go over in the States?
Sunday 26 October 2008
Saturday 25 October 2008
Venzone
We had a surprise BLAST today going to the town of Venzone about 1.5 hrs north of here, close to the Austrian border. The town, destroyed in the 1976 earthquake, holds a medival pumpkin festival. The town is walled (and rebuilt obviously) and has many squares. Flags are flying everywhere and the town is decked out with pumpkins and mums. We just loved it. Plus it is circled by the Alps.
I don't know if Jacqueline liked watching the sword fighting or the fire eating more. Sparks were flying off the swords and Princesses were everywhere. They had old-style arts and crafts plus everything pumpkin to eat. I didn't feel like trying the pumpkin grappa, but I will next year. I bought a few ceramic pumpkins too.
Julia is talking up a storm. She's been saying Jacqueline's name for about 3 weeks. She says jack-a-LYNNNNN. It is so funny. I doubt I'll get her on tape doing it. If Jacqueline is doing something she doesn't like, she'll say "jack-a-NO." We are enjoying watching their relationship develop as sisters and friends. She has to do whatever her older sister is doing. Yesterday, we were washing dishes. Julia went and got a small chair and stood on it to help.
We are mourning the loss of our dear neighbor, Rico. His heart hasn't been well as of late and he's been in the hospital alot this summer. I brought a Dallas Cowboy t-shirt back for him. It turned cold too soon for him to wear it, but he liked it. The last time I was over there checking on him, he had to tell me my butt was cute. Typical Italian male for you, even at 85. I will miss his often repeated story of Jackie Kennedy coming to his hotel in Trieste. We muddled through our languages together and found a way to communicate.
I carved 4 pumpkins for Jacqueline's Asilo. All the kids would run towards me yelling "Zucca!Zucca" Then they would figure out what I carved and tell me what it was called in Italian.
Our run of good weather has continued. We are blessed the rain and cool weather has held off. Right now, we are trying to decide where to go for T'Giving. I am also trying not to get depressed over my many friends leaving this coming summer. We are also trying to decide whether or not to send Jacqueline to Kindergarten on base or keep her in the Asilo next year. I just want to keep her 4, but I guess that won't happen.
I couldn't believe my eyes the other day. Even though some would beg to differ, the Italians, in the north, are very hard workers. A seventy-yr old woman (at minimum) was out hauling large tree limbs around in her skirt and twin set! I am serious. This tops off how a few weeks ago, I saw another woman, in a skirt, about the same age, working the fields of hay with a sickel. I hope I have that much gumption and health at that age. My genes are with me thus far!!!
I don't know if Jacqueline liked watching the sword fighting or the fire eating more. Sparks were flying off the swords and Princesses were everywhere. They had old-style arts and crafts plus everything pumpkin to eat. I didn't feel like trying the pumpkin grappa, but I will next year. I bought a few ceramic pumpkins too.
Julia is talking up a storm. She's been saying Jacqueline's name for about 3 weeks. She says jack-a-LYNNNNN. It is so funny. I doubt I'll get her on tape doing it. If Jacqueline is doing something she doesn't like, she'll say "jack-a-NO." We are enjoying watching their relationship develop as sisters and friends. She has to do whatever her older sister is doing. Yesterday, we were washing dishes. Julia went and got a small chair and stood on it to help.
We are mourning the loss of our dear neighbor, Rico. His heart hasn't been well as of late and he's been in the hospital alot this summer. I brought a Dallas Cowboy t-shirt back for him. It turned cold too soon for him to wear it, but he liked it. The last time I was over there checking on him, he had to tell me my butt was cute. Typical Italian male for you, even at 85. I will miss his often repeated story of Jackie Kennedy coming to his hotel in Trieste. We muddled through our languages together and found a way to communicate.
I carved 4 pumpkins for Jacqueline's Asilo. All the kids would run towards me yelling "Zucca!Zucca" Then they would figure out what I carved and tell me what it was called in Italian.
Our run of good weather has continued. We are blessed the rain and cool weather has held off. Right now, we are trying to decide where to go for T'Giving. I am also trying not to get depressed over my many friends leaving this coming summer. We are also trying to decide whether or not to send Jacqueline to Kindergarten on base or keep her in the Asilo next year. I just want to keep her 4, but I guess that won't happen.
I couldn't believe my eyes the other day. Even though some would beg to differ, the Italians, in the north, are very hard workers. A seventy-yr old woman (at minimum) was out hauling large tree limbs around in her skirt and twin set! I am serious. This tops off how a few weeks ago, I saw another woman, in a skirt, about the same age, working the fields of hay with a sickel. I hope I have that much gumption and health at that age. My genes are with me thus far!!!
Friday 24 October 2008
more pictures
Hiking in the mountains behind our house in Dardago.
Mangia, Mangia, Mangia!!!!
First Day of School at the Asilo in Vigonovo for 2008-09 school year.
Pictures
I am going to add some pictures from our recent Lake Bled trip. For those of you that live here, you must go!!! Although you have missed the incredible fall colors. I bet winter is spectacular with the churches and castle covered with snow.
The one sunflower pic is on our porch with the mountains in the background. JD and I grew these from seed and they were huge!!!!!
Tuesday 21 October 2008
Visitors continued
Okay, it is Colombus Day and we take everyone to Venice (but leave Michael and Julia at home as changing diapers in Venice is challenging). I am in short sleeves just shaking my head at the weather these Texans brought. We stumbled accidentally into a store a g'friend had told me about. The woman who owns it is British and gives Americans a ten-percent discount on anything in the store. She was wonderful to chat with. Trish stocked up on Christmas presents and the others, including myself, bought a few things. We parted ways with Adriana and Claudia since they left their kids at home and didn't need to be bothered with ours. We had fun watching all the boats bring merchandise to the docks and unload it. Who knew that could be so interesting?
We found a good place to eat sandwiches except I needed some caffine and a Diet Coke was 3 euro! YIKES. We met up with Jan Benson from KBH's office at San Marco and then went around the corner to get her something to eat. Her hubby couldn't believe we found each other since the crowds were pretty thick with 5 cruise boats being in port.
We all enjoyed getting on the Vaparetto back to the train station.
Monday night the 8 adults went to Raffa's to eat. They had to experience her cooking and personality! We ate polenta with Mantasio cheese, zucchini crostini (and something else) then her famous bruschetta. She made melt in your mouth pumpkin risotto. Our main course was lemon chicken -oh so easy to make. For dessert, tiramisu with limoncello to top it off. Claudio and Raffa enjoyed the evening, which was full of much laughter at Patrick's expense as they know Spanish and three of the women at the table speak it fluently. Patrick only knows how to speak Tex-Mex...terribly.
Tuesday I took Trish et al to the train station to go to Sorrento and Rome then Jan and Butch to Sacile so they could head back to Venice. Jan, Butch, the girls and I sat at a nice cafe across from the train station sipping our coffee's and hot chocolate. A man sitting there just loved the girls and gave them candy. This happens often. I try to steer clear of candy, but people are just always handing it to them b/c they are so darn cute.
Julia is adorable right now with her little "ciao." I can't believe she is 2 next month. I am afraid, very afraid! Plus sad at losing my baby to toddlerdom.
Adriana and Claudia went into Venice on Tuesday. They had another terrific day there falling in love with Venice as I have.
Wednesday I put them on the train to Florence very early! Then back to "real life for a few days." I had key spouse training (helping out other spouses in our FW) then Love and Logic, spouses club, and a dinner over the next days.
Love and Logic went out the window on Wednesday as I went to p/u JDW at school. I was thrilled to see her then stopped in my tracks. She was wearing my brand new Murano glass ring! At school! On the playground. I was so shocked I just told her the answer today is no to everything! I couldn't remember any Love and Logic gems. She saw a little girl getting in trouble later in the day and she said, "look Mommy, she's in trouble too." At least she got that part.
Now she says she can't hear me sometimes b/c her ears are too small. Ohhh. Can't wait for those teenage years since this reasoning is pretty good now.
The guests came back and on Saturday we went to Padova (barely making it). One of us was in charge of getting the tickets, which must be validated before getting on. I was standing by the train getting on with the girls when we discovered they weren't validated. The ticket puncher made Claudia run back downstairs instead of using the one on the platform. Everyone is yelling at her about where it was. Thankfully, they held the train for us or we wouldn't have been going. Let's just say it took awhile for all of us to calm down. We also barely made the train leaving Padova too!
Another beautiful day. We walked down to the cathedral of San Antonio which was built in the early 1200's. It is a place of pilgrimage for the sick. It was very crowded. Now, if you read this regularly, you know Italian art is not my thing; however, this church is spectacular. The frescoes, statutes, and mosaics are beautiful. Jacqueline throughly enjoyed seeing the relic of his tongue and vocal chords. A priest also saw JDW and sprinkled holy water on her and gave her a blessing. Out of all the churches we've been in, I've never seen a priest and at this one, I couldn't keep track of how many we did see!
We had a good lunch at a place where Rick Steves recommended. My bean soup hit the spot. We then headed to the Botanical Gardens, which is the oldest in Europe. One of the trees was placed there in 1640 and I can't recall how old the palm tree is/was/
The girls insisted on the pizzeria - 3x in a week!
Our house is now sadly quiet, which is probably why I haven't minded JD missing school these past two days.
We found a good place to eat sandwiches except I needed some caffine and a Diet Coke was 3 euro! YIKES. We met up with Jan Benson from KBH's office at San Marco and then went around the corner to get her something to eat. Her hubby couldn't believe we found each other since the crowds were pretty thick with 5 cruise boats being in port.
We all enjoyed getting on the Vaparetto back to the train station.
Monday night the 8 adults went to Raffa's to eat. They had to experience her cooking and personality! We ate polenta with Mantasio cheese, zucchini crostini (and something else) then her famous bruschetta. She made melt in your mouth pumpkin risotto. Our main course was lemon chicken -oh so easy to make. For dessert, tiramisu with limoncello to top it off. Claudio and Raffa enjoyed the evening, which was full of much laughter at Patrick's expense as they know Spanish and three of the women at the table speak it fluently. Patrick only knows how to speak Tex-Mex...terribly.
Tuesday I took Trish et al to the train station to go to Sorrento and Rome then Jan and Butch to Sacile so they could head back to Venice. Jan, Butch, the girls and I sat at a nice cafe across from the train station sipping our coffee's and hot chocolate. A man sitting there just loved the girls and gave them candy. This happens often. I try to steer clear of candy, but people are just always handing it to them b/c they are so darn cute.
Julia is adorable right now with her little "ciao." I can't believe she is 2 next month. I am afraid, very afraid! Plus sad at losing my baby to toddlerdom.
Adriana and Claudia went into Venice on Tuesday. They had another terrific day there falling in love with Venice as I have.
Wednesday I put them on the train to Florence very early! Then back to "real life for a few days." I had key spouse training (helping out other spouses in our FW) then Love and Logic, spouses club, and a dinner over the next days.
Love and Logic went out the window on Wednesday as I went to p/u JDW at school. I was thrilled to see her then stopped in my tracks. She was wearing my brand new Murano glass ring! At school! On the playground. I was so shocked I just told her the answer today is no to everything! I couldn't remember any Love and Logic gems. She saw a little girl getting in trouble later in the day and she said, "look Mommy, she's in trouble too." At least she got that part.
Now she says she can't hear me sometimes b/c her ears are too small. Ohhh. Can't wait for those teenage years since this reasoning is pretty good now.
The guests came back and on Saturday we went to Padova (barely making it). One of us was in charge of getting the tickets, which must be validated before getting on. I was standing by the train getting on with the girls when we discovered they weren't validated. The ticket puncher made Claudia run back downstairs instead of using the one on the platform. Everyone is yelling at her about where it was. Thankfully, they held the train for us or we wouldn't have been going. Let's just say it took awhile for all of us to calm down. We also barely made the train leaving Padova too!
Another beautiful day. We walked down to the cathedral of San Antonio which was built in the early 1200's. It is a place of pilgrimage for the sick. It was very crowded. Now, if you read this regularly, you know Italian art is not my thing; however, this church is spectacular. The frescoes, statutes, and mosaics are beautiful. Jacqueline throughly enjoyed seeing the relic of his tongue and vocal chords. A priest also saw JDW and sprinkled holy water on her and gave her a blessing. Out of all the churches we've been in, I've never seen a priest and at this one, I couldn't keep track of how many we did see!
We had a good lunch at a place where Rick Steves recommended. My bean soup hit the spot. We then headed to the Botanical Gardens, which is the oldest in Europe. One of the trees was placed there in 1640 and I can't recall how old the palm tree is/was/
The girls insisted on the pizzeria - 3x in a week!
Our house is now sadly quiet, which is probably why I haven't minded JD missing school these past two days.
Sunday 19 October 2008
So much to do and so little time left
We are close to our 1.5 year point here in Italy. I made a lengthy list of all the "big" places to go, but there are so many little villages and hill towns to explore here in Italy too! So needless to say, I am FREAKING OUT.
We just said good-by today to our last guest until December. Michael asked why we have everyone come at the same time. I told him, I just told everyone to come.
Trish and her family came almost two weeks ago now (she lives in Austin and we met as single gals at church), then my college g'friend, Adriana, and her sister, who was a sorority sister at AC of mine, came a week ago Friday, then Jan, from KBH's office, came last Monday. One night we had 8 people here. Now, I have terrific friends here too. One friend put two of them up in her house. Others gave me cots and blow-up mattresses plus sheets to sleep on. One friend even drove people to the train station as I had 3 trips to make in one day. We all had a ball needless to say. I am grateful for the wonderful friends from my life who trek over here to visit us. The laughter and memories are just terrific. Plus I get to make new memories here in Europe with them, which is the cherry on top.
The day after Trish and her kiddos plus hubby arrived, we headed to the medival town of Gorizia. We went to a castle built in 1001. It was just as you would picture a castle to be - the gray stone with all the towers. They also had some of the weaponery of the time and it wasn't pretty to say the least. The kids loved it especially gathering rocks and throwing them. We were the only people there most of the time.
Now, we did stop in the town for an absolutely delicious lunch.It was hole-in-the-wall restaurant. The waitresses mother was the chef and the special of the day was homemade pumpkin gnocci (little pasta dumplings). Oh my, my tastebuds just exploded as there was smoked ricotta on top too! Jacqueline had vegtable soup with orzo and ate it up. The server suggested it as her 3 yr old loves it. Julia had a penne with ragu. We had polenta with the local Montasio cheese melted on top and sipped Schipotto (I have to check the spelling) wine outside. Oh, we also were treated to homemade olive bread. I gained 10 pounds just from that!
The next day, Michael headed to the airport to p/u my fellow Roos while the Raglin's and I plus Jacqueline headed to the mkt in Congleiano via the train. It was a delight of the senses especially in the seafood section of the market. Most of the fish are completely intact - you should have seen the kids eyes. Then, there was a bag full of live crabs and we watched one escape. One of the shop keepers picked it back up and threw it back in the bag, but not without taunting the kids with it. We ate gelato twice, I think.
The Texans brought unseasonably warm and sunny weather with them.
Our other guests arrived and we sat on our porch drinking prosecco and eating cheese on a glorious fall day.
Saturday morning we all packed up and headed to Lake Bled. Trish was a real trooper b/c the front door to the BMW isn't working and she crawled in and out the window anytime we stopped. Oh...it was funny. Before we went off to Bled, we had a tour of the mosaic school in Spilimbergo. It was enjoyed by all. The drive to Bled through the Alps was spectacular. The fall colors were in full display. Last time I went to Bled, it rained most of the time so it was great to go in perfect weather. Claudia said it was one of the most beautiful places she has ever been - just out of a storybook.
We all got to ring the bell of the church again. We also ate dinner at the same place we did in June. Everyone's food was delish and a nice change from pasta. Patrick couldn't believe the beer. Our meal was only 108 euro for all of us (and on Thursday lunch was 90 euros) so as you can see, Slovenia is a much better deal than Italy! The next day, we all did our own thing. Michael and Jacqueline did the luge (pics to follow) down a mountain side. She was screaming with delight all the way down. I was so proud of her as I would have been screaming something else.
We all piled back in the cars and headed home. We went to eat pizza again in Dardago as no one could get enough on Friday night.
Okay, it's beautiful outside again, so I will continue this post later.
We just said good-by today to our last guest until December. Michael asked why we have everyone come at the same time. I told him, I just told everyone to come.
Trish and her family came almost two weeks ago now (she lives in Austin and we met as single gals at church), then my college g'friend, Adriana, and her sister, who was a sorority sister at AC of mine, came a week ago Friday, then Jan, from KBH's office, came last Monday. One night we had 8 people here. Now, I have terrific friends here too. One friend put two of them up in her house. Others gave me cots and blow-up mattresses plus sheets to sleep on. One friend even drove people to the train station as I had 3 trips to make in one day. We all had a ball needless to say. I am grateful for the wonderful friends from my life who trek over here to visit us. The laughter and memories are just terrific. Plus I get to make new memories here in Europe with them, which is the cherry on top.
The day after Trish and her kiddos plus hubby arrived, we headed to the medival town of Gorizia. We went to a castle built in 1001. It was just as you would picture a castle to be - the gray stone with all the towers. They also had some of the weaponery of the time and it wasn't pretty to say the least. The kids loved it especially gathering rocks and throwing them. We were the only people there most of the time.
Now, we did stop in the town for an absolutely delicious lunch.It was hole-in-the-wall restaurant. The waitresses mother was the chef and the special of the day was homemade pumpkin gnocci (little pasta dumplings). Oh my, my tastebuds just exploded as there was smoked ricotta on top too! Jacqueline had vegtable soup with orzo and ate it up. The server suggested it as her 3 yr old loves it. Julia had a penne with ragu. We had polenta with the local Montasio cheese melted on top and sipped Schipotto (I have to check the spelling) wine outside. Oh, we also were treated to homemade olive bread. I gained 10 pounds just from that!
The next day, Michael headed to the airport to p/u my fellow Roos while the Raglin's and I plus Jacqueline headed to the mkt in Congleiano via the train. It was a delight of the senses especially in the seafood section of the market. Most of the fish are completely intact - you should have seen the kids eyes. Then, there was a bag full of live crabs and we watched one escape. One of the shop keepers picked it back up and threw it back in the bag, but not without taunting the kids with it. We ate gelato twice, I think.
The Texans brought unseasonably warm and sunny weather with them.
Our other guests arrived and we sat on our porch drinking prosecco and eating cheese on a glorious fall day.
Saturday morning we all packed up and headed to Lake Bled. Trish was a real trooper b/c the front door to the BMW isn't working and she crawled in and out the window anytime we stopped. Oh...it was funny. Before we went off to Bled, we had a tour of the mosaic school in Spilimbergo. It was enjoyed by all. The drive to Bled through the Alps was spectacular. The fall colors were in full display. Last time I went to Bled, it rained most of the time so it was great to go in perfect weather. Claudia said it was one of the most beautiful places she has ever been - just out of a storybook.
We all got to ring the bell of the church again. We also ate dinner at the same place we did in June. Everyone's food was delish and a nice change from pasta. Patrick couldn't believe the beer. Our meal was only 108 euro for all of us (and on Thursday lunch was 90 euros) so as you can see, Slovenia is a much better deal than Italy! The next day, we all did our own thing. Michael and Jacqueline did the luge (pics to follow) down a mountain side. She was screaming with delight all the way down. I was so proud of her as I would have been screaming something else.
We all piled back in the cars and headed home. We went to eat pizza again in Dardago as no one could get enough on Friday night.
Okay, it's beautiful outside again, so I will continue this post later.
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