Buon Natale

The holiday season is upon us....one of my favorite times of the year!  My dream job would be Santa's personal assistant!  I love shopping, picking out the "perfect" present, wrapping, decorating, cooking....I love holiday cheer.  I watched the West Jet holiday Santa video and was moved to tears....I would love to be a part of something like that.  I love holiday TV, The Grinch, Charlie Brown, Frosty, Rudolph, It's a Wonderful Life....the list goes on!

Christmas to me is not about presents, it is about giving and sharing time with family and friends.  My immediate family can attest to the fact that I can be somewhat obnoxious about it.  I love giving presents, even if they are silly little things.  I love planning and plotting about what to get for who. Wrapping them so they are beautiful and fun and may even win the award for Best Dressed Presents! But mostly I love that it is the time of year where we share our time.

My fondest Christmas memories are not of the presents that I received, they are moments that we have shared.  I remember as a child, going to St. Mark's Church with my parents for Christmas Eve services.  How pretty the church was, the advent calendar, the candlelighting, the hymns (mostly because it was about the only time I knew the words).  I remember rushing home and my dad telling me I had to hurry to bed because the red light up in the sky was Rudoph's nose and Santa would be landing on our roof soon. (Really the red light was the radio tower at WEMD, but I believed and I still look at it every Christmas Eve)  I remember one year it snowed and we couldn't go to church so we lit candles and a fire and read the Chrismas story from Bible, each taking turns reading a passage.

I remember the event of decorating our tree.  It was almost like a party.  There were beautiful glass ornaments, garland and tinsel.  I loved tossing the tinsel in the air and having it land on the branches (I don't think Mom was that thrilled).  The tree always looked beautiful to me in those moments (even if the pictures captured a scraggly looking tree). We would invite our friends, the Foxes, over to participate in the decorating. They would reciprocate by inviting us over for candle lighting at Hanukkah....ahh, the memories!

Time shared, is the best Christmas present of all.  As I approach middle age (yes, I plan on reaching 100) I realize that time is the only gift we can't exchange for a larger size or more gigabytes.  I would love to have more time with loved ones that are no longer with us. Christmas makes me a bit sad in that regard, but it reinforces the desire to make more, long lasting memories and to experience the joy of now.

We have had many wonderful adult Christmases as well.  I love a tradition and our family gift auction has been one of my favorites.  Each person brings a wrapped gift with a value of $5.  We play a game to see what order you get to pick gifts and then the unwrapping and gift stealing begins.  One year the game was musical chairs and we were rolling on the floor watching as the chairs dwindled and the battle for the remaining chairs ensued.  I was seriously afraid that Mom was going to get knocked down for a chair, but she held her own to the finals.  One year the game was Mad Gabs and I thought I was going to need oxygen from laughing so hard (not to mention, new pants....Sorry Pat!)

Another tradition we started was a Christmas Eve open house for family, friends and neighbors.  We started this to bring festivities to my brother-in-law who was too ill to travel.  Oh, the Christmas hats, Holiday massages, smiles and great cheer!  What great fun....and food (even when the oven was broken).....and cocktails!! It has always been an adventure and a wonderful time!

This Christmas will be my first in Italy.  We have loved exploring the Christmas markets in the area. Most towns have them in their central area.  They put up wooden sheds and decorations and local vendors sell a variety of items and there is always a Vin Brulee booth. The Italian nativity scenes, Il Presepe are absolutely stunning and a focus of their holiday decorations  It will truly put you in the Christmas spirit.

We went to our local market yesterday at the Villa Caldogno.  The dogs were dressed in their Christmas attire and they were a huge hit. It was the first time we were able to go inside the Villa and we were in awe of the beauty.  We met several local vendors, and Dario, our "wine guy" greeted us as soon as we got there.  Everyone was friendly and welcoming and it was a great part of celebrating Craig's birthday. Coincidentally, it was also Dario's birthday.....I knew I liked him for some reason....maybe the wine!  

We finished up by bringing our tree inside (it is a potted tree that has been in our yard since we moved here) and decorating it.  It is reminiscent of Charlie Brown's tree, but as his was; ours isn't such a bad little tree!  I had Christmas carols playing and we had a ball!

While gathering presents to ship back home to everyone, something occurred to me.  This will be the first Christmas in my 49 years of life that I have not been "home" with my family and friends.  I will miss being the "caterer" for Christmas Eve and concocting the holiday cocktail.  I will miss being an elf and handing out presents (hmmmm what order will they go in this year?) Christmas day.  I will miss the present auction and the stealing of gifts.  I will miss my family and friends and the moments we share.  I am lucky that we have Skype and the gift of technology and I plan to utilize them to the fullest this Christmas!

My wish for the holiday season is that everyone shares the gift of time, make the most of it and most of all make wonderful memories!

Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo!

Ciao for Now!

Mangia, Mangia, Mangia!

Ok, lets talk about one of my favorite subjects......FOOD!

Most times I plan my day around eating.....what am I going to eat, what time am I going to eat, where am I going to eat....it's an event for me, not just nutrition.  Welcome to the land of pleasant eating. Eating in Italy is an event....places shut down for riposo, right around the noon time meal, and stay closed for a couple of hours.  Not just office buildings, retail stores.  Can you imagine Lowes or Walmart closing for 2 1/2 hours at lunch time?  It happens here!

Fast food is the exception here, definitely not the rule!  And for that, I am eternally grateful!  I have never been a huge fast food fan and I laugh at the McDonalds signs here.  You can find a McDonalds and even an occasional Burger King, but they are not every 1000 yards (or even meters) like in the states.

When you have a 2 hour lunch break, there is no need for fast food.  I can get a pizza with pretty much anything I want on it (including french fries and hot dogs - I know - kinda gross) from a wood fired oven in less than 10 minutes.  Not a doughy mess like Dominos.....a real pizza with fresh ingredients.

Now that I have mentioned fresh.....fresh food is amazing!  You do not find prepackaged, processed foods here like a US supermarket.  You can find them, but the majority of food here is unadulterated.  I am not a fan of shopping at the commissary, sometimes it is a necessity for our "American" items, but most often, I have adapted quite easily to the Italian Supermercato.  In fact, there are quite a few American things that are banned here....No Easy Mac - food coloring.....American Breads - bromate....No BHA or BHT in meats, cereals & butter - its made from petroleum.....you get the gist. Fresh fruits and vegetable abound here.

I have explored with some foods and have a few items that I was unsure of or didn't know existed, but now....WOW!

Salad dressings - you won't find them here.  Primarily they use oil and vinegar, but I have come up with a few conncoctions that I am pleased with...one is a vinagrette with an avocado base...delish!

Cheese - I could spend a whole year on cheese, but one has particularly surprised me.  Smoked Ricotta - Ricotta Affumicato.  Oh my, is this ever good!  It is the consistency of a very crumbly feta, but it packs such a flavor punch, you can't even imagine.  Mostly I have just topped a basic pomodoro sauce with it, but I will definitely be experimenting more!

Pasta - What's not to love!  I have recently acquired a pasta maker and have tried my hand at some pasta recipes.  It is quite easy once you get the hang of it.  I have successfully attempted fettucine, tortelloni, ravioli and even pierogis.  They turned out quite well, if I do say so myself.  I even went a little healthy and made quinoa pasta.  I made raviolis by hand, some stuffed with broccoli and ricotta and some with mushroom and brie.  Delish!  Don't tell Craig, but I snuck some cauliflower in with the mashed potatoes for the pierogi....he never noticed!!

Fettucine, tortelloni & pierogi

All finished

Making it one by one

Quinoa Ravioli

Ham - I know there are some shocked looks at the inclusion of this one.  Some of you know my feelings about ham.....not only do I not care for it (as my mother taught me to say)....I HATE it (sorry Char) ! There is something unnatural about a pink spongy slab of meat on my plate or in a sandwich...ugh!  Well, who knew the Italians could make me like the dreaded ham......now let me clarify that.  They have a "ham" called speck.  It is made from lean pork legs and then salt cured, dried and smoked.  It is quite tasty!!

This ham...I like!

Wine - Again, this could be a multi year discussion, but here's a few wonderful things about wine here.  You can buy fresh wine and BYOB....you own bottle, doesn't matter the size, they will fill it. No preservatives.....no headaches... and it is cheaper than soda and even gasoline! And they let you taste it before you buy it.  I'm trying to figure out a way to ship a whole cask of fresh wine back home!!

Dario - the wine guy...filler up!
Notice the number of taps and the tasting glasses above!

Dining out....we have had many wonderful experiences.  I feel quite comfortable with my Italian in most restaurants.  We had an enjoyable meal this past weekend in Posina, a small town on the mountain that we wandered to.  We went to a restaurant....I was getting Hangry....and our waitress knew no English.  I could make out some of what she was saying, but she decided to just bring us samples of everything.  What a treat!  We had gnocchi and bigoli (fat spaghetti) with six different sauces, including duck ragu and artichoke.  Then came two different meats with 3 vegetables.  We were stuffed, until she asked Cafe' e Dolce?  Coffee and Dessert?  She didn't wait for an answer, she just brought out 2 plates of tiramisu, torte di mele (apple cake) and gelato.....holy moly, unbuckle the belts! It was truly and event....and a great way to cap off a Sunday drive.

Some of the beautiful pictures we took on our Exploration Sunday Drive!

This experience is just amazing.....If you ever have the chance to come here....COME!  We've even got plenty of room!!

Next up....Paris for Thanksgiving!!  A big bucket list item for moi!!

Ciao for now!!

Ovunque tu vada, vacci con tutto il cuore!

Wherever you go, go with all your heart. ~ Confuscious

This journey to Italy, is indeed travel, but within the grand scope of moving for three years...we have the luxury of additional travel.  While there are lots of European adventures ahead, we have done some local travel and find that every day, we are truly blessed by where we are living.  There are so many things to see and do, really within 30 minutes of our home. And we are meeting wonderful people along the way!

Asiago!! Cheese, what's not to LOVE! Well, there is so much more and boy did we have a wonderful time exploring.  First up, we met some friends who live in Asiago and they were gracious enough to be our tour guides for a great weekend!  Our itinerary included a Cheese Factory Tour, fireside drinks, a lovely bed and breakfast, fantastic dinner, and wandering to a few beautiful sites.

The cheese factory, Caseifico Pennar, has been around since 1927.  It was beyond spotlessly clean.  We went through the process from raw milk to fresh cheese to aged cheese.  It really was fascinating.  And for those of you who only think of Asiago as a substitute for Parmesan cheese, you are missing out.  After the factory tour, we went to the cheese shop and tasted. Seriously, who knew cheese could be this good.  Smoked, fresh, aged 1 year, 2 years, or 3 years....Delicioso!!!  And we learned to keep it in paper, not the dreaded Ziploc bags that bring on mold.  It was Fabulous!!!

After our cheesilicious afternoon, we met up for fireside cocktails at our B&B before heading off to a delightful dinner.  In the morning we dined on a traditional Italian breakfast before doing a bit of exploring.  We saw some beautiful sights, including a bit of a traffic jam.  If Little Bo Peep is missing her sheep, I know where they are!

 We stopped by a beautiful golf course and spa for an afternoon beverage.  The views, as you can see, were spectacular.  I really am going to have to pull out the thesaurus for more superlatives, because stunning, just doesn't cut it.  Thank you Sarah and Mauro for hosting us on a great weekend getaway!

 

After such an exhausting and trying weekend (just kidding), I needed to unwind and it was a good thing that I had signed up for "Wine Down Wednesday", one of the events that the Army Recreation Department puts on....for the Alphabet Soup Acronym fans....that is MWR. 

The green is the mountain!

 Wine Down Wednesday, is a trip to a vineyard for what else...wine tasting.  Oh, and a tour.  This beautiful winery is located in Bassano del Grappa and is built into the hill/mountain.  They do spectacular things, using nature and the environment in their wine production.  Lenora, was our lovely tour guide; she is the daughter of the owners, and it was her 21st birthday. She explained how the mountain keeps the wines at an even temperature, without any electronics.  The casks are kept  at a cool even temperature using only mother nature.  It took the stone mason one month just to cut the stones that line the ceiling of the room.

Tasting room view

The beautiful view from the tasting room, overlooks the vineyard.  The family runs the winery, a restaurant and produces olive oil.  We were treated to a lovely lunch and some of the best wines.  I forced myself to limit my purchases to 2 bottles, one white and one red....and a bottle of olive oil that they also use grapes it.....delish!!  Oh, and conveniently, the wines go just perfect with the cheese that we purchased in Asiago, the neighboring town!

After our wine tasting, we stopped in Marostica for a quick visit. I think it was to sober up the moms who were due to pick their kids up from school, but don't tell anyone! 

Marostica is best known for it's live chess matches, complete with living pawns and horses.  In the town square, the chess board is hard to miss.

Town Square and Chess Board

The Castle wall is gorgeous and boasts 360 views from the top.  Not enough time to walk around it, but that will definitely be another day's adventure!

Panoramic view from the Alpini Bridge

Well, after my Wine Down, I decided that I needed to see a bit more of Bassano del Grappa, so I drug Craig along....no kicking and screaming involved.  He readily agreed to go for a ride up the hill with the top down!  Our main attraction for the day was the Alpini Bridge.  It was built in 1569, by none other than Andrea Palladio (a very busy man!) and is wooden.  It has been rebuilt several times, including, after being destroyed in WWII.  The bridge, also known as Ponte Vecchio, spans the Brenta River.

The Bridge!

View of the mountains from the bridge

 It is much larger than the pictures seem to show and gives such striking views!

Beautiful Rapids

We had lunch at a small cafe, just beyond the bridge.  The sun was shining and the smoked chicken salad was heavenly!!

Strolling across the bridge

 After enjoying the bridge and all of the splendid views, we wandered through town and came upon the Grappa museum.  Now, I have not tasted Grappa yet.  Craig's opinion is that it tastes like sticks and grass, of course, I thought boys liked sticks and grass, but apparently not.  I plan on setting up a Grappa tasting soon, because with all of these bottles, there has to be more flavors than sticks and grass!  

Now that's a lot of minis!

Part of the museum had a fantastic "bouquet" display.  You could press a button and smell the different aromas from the different flavors of Grappa. They were wonderful and definitely ones that I would like to try.....and somehow they missed setting up the sticks and grass scent! 

This was a beautiful copper still that was used in the Grappa production. The museum was great, in that you could just wander through and see what you liked.  I can't wait for our Grappa tasting!!


I didn't realize that with this move, I would become the Cruise Director on this Love Boat, but I sure am enjoying it!

Next stop......Panettone and Nove Pottery!!  And we'll see what other hidden treasures I can find!

Ciao for Now!

Amare l'Italia - Things to Love about Italy!

Well, after about 4 months of living here, I decided to come up with some things that I absolutely love about living in Italy.....and maybe a few things I miss about the states.

First - Sizes of Most Everything
Things in Italy, generally are smaller, from cars to coffee cups to clothes.

It definitely makes things interesting.  I have been giving Craig a hard time about parking.  He keeps driving around looking for the perfect parking space and I keep telling him, "They are all the same size...none are going to fit this land yacht".

I didn't understand all of the people standing up to drink their coffee....well, it is because you don't have time enough to sit down before you have finished your tiny cup.  Well, that is not really true, they do sit in the afternoon and enjoy their cafe' or spritz.  But, they do pack a wallop of caffeine in those tiny little cups.  No French vanilla creamer yet....but I am managing!

Second - Shopping Carts

They have the best shopping carts.  They are 4-wheel drive and you can even take them on escalators. No slipping, sliding and you can go sideways.  And the best part is they don't flop and squeal like the US carts.

Third - Plants, Flowers & Shrubs
Many streets are lined with Crepe Myrtles.  Not typical in the US, but here, they groom them like a topiary. None of the bunches of limbs coming from the ground.
These are neat and beautiful.

Also, the beauty of your house can be measured by the fluff and
fall of your windowsill petunias....Gorgeous!

            

Fourth -Getting Around

I think bikes are more popular than cars here.  You see everyone riding their bikes, to work, to market, to school, to the wine store....everywhere.  Young or old doesn't matter.  It definitely keeps them from a sedentary lifestyle...one that we should adopt!

Fifth - Traffic

This is a mixed bag....some I like, some....not so much.  I love/hate the traffic circles.  They keep traffic moving, but boy those Italians are aggressive drivers.  Typically the traffic circles have two incoming lanes and sometimes the outflow is only one lane.  There is quite a bit of jockeying for position.  Driving here is not for the timid.  Oh, and if you are a motorcycle/scooter/4-wheeler, just drive where ever you want, especially down the center line.  Mamma Mia!

No kidding, he passed me on this!

Sixth - Drinks

One thing you won't find here is Supersized Drinks.  For those that know me, my beverage capacity is quite large.  I've been know to down 3-4 Diet Pepsi's at lunch, most particularly at Plaza Tapatia.  Not only are the drinks small here, there is no such thing as unlimited refills...no how, no way.  Let's just say, my diet soda consumption has gone way down.  Especially when you consider that a small can of light cola runs about 2,50 Euros.....yup, that's about $3.40....EACH.  Gone are my Big Gulp days......sniff sniff!

The Italians are very friendly, my use of the language is getting better.  I was even complimented on my Italian accent.  For the most part, they don't care that you mangle their language, just that you try.  I've had people ask how I like Italy...my standard response is......What's not to LOVE!!

Stay tuned for the next blog post......Asiago Tour, Monte Berico, Nove and Winedown Wednesday!!!!

Ciao for now!

The slow boat to China arrived in Livorno and my car was on it.....Yippee!!!

Off we go, the dogs in tow....on a train to Pisa!  When we were shipping my car, there were only a few places it would arrive, so we picked Livorno, which is right near Pisa so that we could do some sightseeing.

It was an early morning, and we took the dogs on their first train ride.  Let me say that in Italy, dogs are well loved and welcome pretty much everywhere.  So we hopped on the first of 3 train changes and set off to pick up my pretty convertible! Train #1, no problem, a quick hop.  Train #2, even better....dining car, great A/C, plenty of room for the babies, beautiful views of the sunflower fields of Tuscany! Train #3....oops delayed.  No problem, we will wait for the replacement.  Hmmmm....delayed again.....well, apparently there was a bit of an accident and someone decided to check out via jumping in front of the train....not a great omen.

Finally train #3 and we are headed to Livorno....not so much A/C on this one....and did I mention it was a muggy 95degrees....oh and at the last stop all of the people that were delayed got on at one time...it was a hot sardine can full of Europeans.....not so fresh!!

Allora, we finally arrive, catch a cab to the port, just in time for our appt to pick up the car.  Not too much paperwork and we find the car in great condition and ready to roll.  Zip out of Livorno and to our hotel, so we can start off to Pisa in the am.  

I swear I didn't photoshop him in

Arrive in Pisa, thanks to Siri's directions and a kind sunglass vendor shows us right to a parking space.  Apparently he didn't notice that we both had sunglasses on and were not in need of a new pair of "Ray Bans" or "Maui Jim's".  He didn't look pleased!  Well, Pisa is not very large, and we could see the tower from our parking space.

Now my first memories of the Leaning Tower of Pisa are from Bewitched....the episode where Aunt Esmerelda decides she will straighten the tower....I know, I am dating myself, but I bet most of you know what I'm talking about!  And Craig and I decided that we would have to indulge in the cheesy pics of holding up the tower with our hands....with a twist, we settled on a "pushing" the tower shot.  Let me just tell you that it was difficult to get the shot in, because EVERYONE was doing the cheesy tower pose!!

The area was beautiful, as were are learning most of Italy is.  Once we pushed the tower over and looked around, we decided to head of to Florence, which was conveniently, on the way home.  Did I mention it was hot.....now above 98, and the dogs were a bit bored.

Hop back into the car, and set toward Florence.....ahhhhh, glad to be in a car with A/C!  Whoops!!! What happened to the A/C?????  We just paid for a new $1200 compressor, before we left the states!!!!!  No and I repeat NO A/C!!  YIKES!!  It is molto caldo!!!!  HOT HOT HOT!!!

After an hour of driving and now it is 105 outside, we scrapped the plans to Florence and headed home.  Let me just say that cranky, doesn't even begin to describe the ride home, and I'll leave it at that!!!  We were home a day early and the dogs were thrilled to be out of the oven car!

On Sunday, Craig decided he wanted to go for a ride.....Seriously??? Do I really want to get into a car again???  Ok, I will do it, but only because we are going in his car and I know the A/C works!  We decide to take a ride to Asiago....yes, the cheese place!  It is the mountain view that we see outside of the house.  And being a mountain, there were 2 things certain....a winding steep drive and it was about 10 degrees cooler!!  And it was a steep drive!!!  But gorgeous! 
 
We stopped for some cheese.  I always thought of Asiago cheese as similar to Parmesan.  Apparently, I was not aware that there is Asiago Pressato, the dry, aged cheese and Denominazione di Origine  Protetta or DOP.  DOP is delicious and we bought a kilo!! Yes, 2.2lbs of the stuff, it was that good! We are definitely going back, it is only a half hour ride from our home.

We truly are enjoying our life here in Italy.  I managed to pass the test for my driver's license, so I can drive in the oven/car now!  I have joined a local gym/pool, which is right by the supermarket so I can walk there for GPG....Gym, Pool, Groceries!  We are doing our first entertaining, this weekend, dinner with one of Craig's co-workers, so I get to cook.  On Tuesday, I am hosting a luncheon for Army wives that live in Caldogno, just an informal get together.  

I am settling in to "housewife" status....not the Bravo dramas, the cooking, cleaning kind.  I have adopted the Italian way of laundry....hanging clothes on a drying rack, instead of using the dryer.  I have yet to even use the dryer, I swear.  And no, it's not because I haven't done any laundry...I'm actually liking the rack.  And for those of you wondering, I am doing quite well with the small fridge, no regrets.  I am rethinking the no microwave choice that I made.....I may have to break down today and get one!

Hope everyone is enjoying the last bits of summer!  Where does time go????

Until next time......Ciao for now!