A Lovely Birthday

Had to work this morning...I believe this is Day22 since we returned from Italy and I have not yet had a day off. Last week was especially hectic with work in the mornings at Hoffman Haus, then running home to change clothes and driving to San Antonio to teach. By the weekend I had laryngitis. Saturday was our 5th anniversary and I told Scott that I was giving him what every man secretly wants as a gift from his wife but would never ask: a day of her not speaking! I took a long nap that afternoon when I got off work and then made a wonderful dinner of Claudio's mothers' Seafood Pasta. I found Nocciola (Hazelnut) gelato at the grocery store...the REAL stuff-imported from Italy!...and then we took a walk to see our neighbor MaryAnn. It was a wonderful anniversary, even if I hardly spoke a word. But we did kiss alot!

So this morning I went to work as usual, fed the small group at the Inn and was heading out when here comes my sweet grandbaby Natalie across the Great Hall (the "meeting room" of Hoffman Haus) with a little ladybug balloon in her hand. "Gramma, here!" She handed me the balloon and then scrunched up her eyes a bit, trying to remember what she was going to say. Then she brightened and yelled, "Happy Birthday!!" What a very sweet moment. Marta gave me a hug and also wished me a happy birthday. We said good-bye to Martha and Courtney in the back offices (any opportunity to show off Natalie) and then we were off. After a quick stop at the grocery store for a bottle of Chianti, I headed home. Scott and I packed a quick lunch-boar salami and Parmesan we bought in Italy, some whole grain bread, 2 wine galsses, some goat cheese, pistachios, fresh organic strawberries, a bar of 85% chocolate and a tablecloth-and we drove away. It took us almost an hour and a half to get to Lost Maples State Natural Area in Vanderpool. The day was a bit dreary and overcast. a few times we had to use our wipers, but it never rained hard. The park was deserted for the most part, which was fine with me. We were starving and headed down to the Sabinal river to eat lunch at a picnic table perched on the bank. It drizzled a bit more, but we didn't care. We hauled our leftovers back to the car and found the trailhead. What a glorious walk we had! The entire park was in bloom! I never realized that there were so many Mountain Laurels up there! We were walking in a sea of grape perfume! About half way through the East Trail we started climbing...1.5 miles almost straight up. They have made crude (yet perfectly serviceable) rock steps out of the many boulders in the park and we kept stopping to catch our breath. Some of the boulders were thigh high on me, I kept telling myself how good lunges were for my legs as I huffed and puffed my way to the top. About 2/3's of the way, I got hot, so I took off my shirt. I was wearing a sports bra and it resembled a bathing suit top and, well, there was no one else on the trail and it felt so good! We walked and walked, stopped at streams and ponds to splash our faces, watched a blue heron catch fish in a creek, took pictures of wildflowers and scenery below from the highest points in the park. By the time we got back to the car about 3 1/2 hours later, our legs felt tired but strong and we were very happy. I almost fell asleep on the ride home I was so relaxed.
When we got home there was a key lime pie on the table with a note from Marta. We each grabbed a fork and dug in...no plates, just forks and we ate almost half of it (it was a SMALL pie). Yum!!

So now here I am- 50 years old. I remember a time in my early 30's when life was particularly tough. I was raising the 3 girls alone and felt quite discouraged about how difficult life was. A thought popped into my head"...just wait till you are 50!" I don't know why it cheered me but it did and I have held on to that thought for about 17 years. And here it is. I have reached this day and it is a good one. I feel healthy, strong and extremely happy. I don't think that 17 years ago I could've envisioned HOW good my life would be at 50. I never knew this could be possible. I am blessed.

Home again, home again, jiggity, jig

For two nights now Scott and I have awakened in the dead of night not knowing where we were. In the dark, home seems foreign. By the light of day, it is a delight.
After arriving home about 5 p.m. on Tuesday, I began dinner while Scott unloaded the van. I had already decided on the drive home from Houston that I was going to make one of my favorite dishes from Italy (and one that I wrote of in the blog) of spaghetti with anchovies, capers and hot pepper. We had stopped at the store on the way home and I picked up some arugula, a few blood oranges and looked at the fennel, but passed them up as they were small and gray, obviously past their prime. So a simple salad would accompany the pasta dish. We had brought home a stash of anchovies in olive oil and the giant capers they use (I have seen them here but at about 6 times the cost of the ones we bought...however, not buying them might have helped offset the 90 Euro charge from the airline for overweight luggage), so as Scott unloaded the van, I began tearing through the suitcases for provisions. And I proceeded to try to recreate the dish I ate so often in Italy. I have to admit I was anchovie shy, not wanting them to overpower the dish. In retrospect, I wish I had doubled the amount of anchovies. When dinner was just about ready, I realized we'd have no where to eat as the dining room table was stacked with a months worth of mail and various things I'd pulled from the suitcases while looking for ingredients. Scott said, "I'll take care of it..." and dashed outside. A few minutes later he walked back in and made a few spritz (he'd found the bottle of Campari we'd hauled home and there was, remarkably, an ice cold bottle of Italian sparkling wine in the fridge from before we left) and said, "Let's go eat!" and he led me outside. He had set up 2 hay bales in the driveway, one as our seat and one as our table. He'd opened the van doors and dialed the radio to our local classical station. We set our plates down on our makeshift dining table and breathed in the warm, sunny Texas Hill Country air and felt so glad to be alive. We looked around and Scott said, "Do you know what we would pay for a hilltop like this in Italy?" Indeed, I could probably make an educated guess and for right now, our hilltop is heaven. Yeah, when I went to our local grocery store this afternoon, I realized so much of what I wanted wasn't available but, on the other hand, I encountered a neighbor and caught up on some local gossip, saw that the blood oranges were on sale (and I stocked up) and felt happy with the familiarity of the place.

I have plans for a new garden, one based on what I saw on our trip. I brought home seeds for me and to share and hope to be able to better recreate some of the meals we had with some fresh produce from our garden. And of course, we are busy planning our next trip to Italy, probably in October/November of 2009.

Life is good.

Goodbye to Florence

Well, we are off to the train station to go to Rimini for 2 days. Our last morning in Florence was full of packing (can we really fit all this stuff in the 2 new suitcases we bought?) and then caffe, caffe and more caffe. We went to the corner to the shop where Anna always has breakfast but she was not there. We had a caffe and went to our favorite shop in the market to have another and say
good-bye to Benita, the proprietress. We shared a piece of freshly made apricot tart and then she brought us out a piece of chicken liver pate on toast. Not exactly breakfast food, but it was the best we have had yet. We wandered through the vendors stalls on the way back to our room and when we returned, Marco invited us to breakfast. We walked to the other corner and had caffe and a pastry with Marco. So now we are all caffein'ed up and ready to haul our very heavy bags to the train station. Ciao ciao Florence...we will miss you!

Art and Food

With all the warnings I had read about the Uffizi...long lines, surly staff, odd hours...we had an extremely good experience. Walked up to the window, paid for our tickets, went and ate lunch and when we returned we stood in line for about 15 minutes before we were let into the gallery. FIVE HOURS LATER we exited. It was exhilarating and exhausting! It was a good idea I think to go on a Tuesday as it was not crowded at all and we could linger in front of the paintings that captured us (most all of them). There were no photos allowed or this page would be full of them. There was a painting that I can't get out of my head. It was a portrait of a young man, a teenager really, by the painter Perugino. It was from the 16th century, I believe, but the picture could have been a photograph of a teenage boy today. He just had the same careless look, half bored, half arrogant, that I sometimes see on adolescent boys. Like perhaps his father had forced him to sit for this painting and he was not very happy about it. I liked that the painting was ancient and contemporary at the same time.
The morning of our Uffizi trip, we went to the market. Scott had told the wonderful folks that run our "hotel"; Marco, his gal Natasha and his sister Anna (marcosplaces.com) that I would make dinner for them. Marco is a vegetarian so I decided on a big salad of arugula, shaved fennel and the wonderful blood oranges that are everywhere here now. When I got to the market, the raspberries were beautiful also, so I decided to add those to the salad. I made a light vinaigrette out of the juice of an orange and a lemon, some of the great olive oil here and a bit of salt. I bought some roma tomatoes, small zucchinis (with the flowers still attached) and pine nuts to make a sauce for some pasta. Anna added a jar of broccoli raab that her mother had sent up from Southern Italy. It is spicy, similar to the taste of mustard greens and wildly delicious. I served some over the pasta but also ate it piled on some bread we got at the bakery. A bottle of Chianti rounded out the meal. It was a simple meal, but the company at the table made it great. Marco and Scott talked a lot of politics and Anna made us espresso afterwards and served some wonderful sweets she and Natasha had picked up at the pasticceria (pastry shop) at the corner. These folks are so much fun. Marco is a card, 28 years old and itching to make his mark. Natasha is from Russia and incredibly beautiful. Anna is so sweet, I feel like she is one of my own children. I just want to hug her all the time. They have made our stay here in Florence extra special and I would recommend this place to anyone.

On Wednesday, we visited the Accademia which houses Michelangelo's David. It is a small museum with David as its' centerpiece. And what a centerpiece. It takes your breath away. They have a fine collection of paintings and it was nice that each painting was accompanied by an explanation of the artist, what the symbolism in the painting represented and details about the restoration. Some descriptions even showed sections of the paintings before the restoration work began. Fascinating!

We walked and walked that afternoon and got lost in the maze of back roads that lead up to the Piazzale Michelangelo. This is the point at which you are overlooking the entire city of Florence and some of the surrounding mountains also.

Lucca in Bloom

Back on the train and another 20 minutes or so and we were in Lucca. My fascination with this city lies in the ramparts that circle the city. These walls; which are 40 feet high, 50 feet across and with a circumference of 2 1/2 miles are from the 15th century and remarkably preserved. On top it's like a promenade, where townfolk take their evening strolls on foot or bikes, teenagers congregate to raise hell, old men gather on the benches to argue and parents bring the kids to run around the playgrounds. There are places where you can peer over the edge of the wall into enclosed greenspaces where catapult balls {I assume them to be catapult balls} are strewn about the grass. You enter the walls through enclosed walkways, really tunnels, that gradually take you higher and higher until you exit at the top. You are overlooking the city up here and what a grand city it is! Incredibly clean and well laid out, the grid of streets are clearly visible from the top. During our visit the trees that lined the streets were all in bloom, great cup shaped flowers in pink and white, and we walked out of the ramparts to the city inside the walls to experience the fragrance. We didn't have much time in Lucca, it was getting dark and we had a train to catch back to Florence. But we decided it was a town that deserved more exploring on the next trip.

Pisa-Town of the Leaning Tower

The train ride to Pisa was short, maybe 20 minutes, and I was having second thoughts. I mean, The Leaning Tower of Pisa??? It seemed so...touristy! But it was on the way, so we got off the train, bought 60 minute bus tickets and hopped a bus to the Campo di Miracoli, the Field of Miracles {not to be confused with the Field of Dreams}. It still seemed kinda' cheesy when we stepped off the bus with about 20 other folks. We walked towards a rock gate with vendors on either side {anyone for a genuine plastic replica of the tower??} and passed into a wonderful {and yes, tourist filled} expanse of gorgeous green lawn. Hundreds of people were sprawled out on the grass...some reading, some making out, some sleeping...and beyond them were the Baptistery, the Camposanto and...gasp...THE LEANING TOWER! It was pretty darn cool to tell the truth and well, we were tourists I told myself, so get over it.

A Trip To The Ocean

On Monday as we were heading to the train station Scott suggested we go to Livorno first to "stick our feet in the Mediterranean" and then head on to Pisa and Lucca on the way back to Florence. It was about an hour and a half train ride and by the time we got to Livorno, it was about 60 degrees and sunny. A beautiful day! We didn't know where the train station was in Livorno in relation to the ocean, but we headed off in the direction of the breeze and made a direct route through downtown and to the sea. It was a long walk but extremely pleasant. The ocean was so blue and quite clear. There were huge ships, cabin cruisers, tug boats and little rowboats all coexisting at the docks. We made our way to a rocky shore and climbed over the rocks to the water. Tiny crabs scrambled out of the way and I finally sat on a flat rock near the waves, took off my shoes and socks and dipped my feet into the icy water! It felt so good! We strolled back to shore and stopped at a little restaurant half a block from the ocean. We ate seafood of course, and lots of it: polipo {octopus}, squid, shrimp, smoked fish shaved like proscuitto, all on a bed of rucola {arugula} with warm crusty bread to mop up all the juices. We smiled through the entire meal. The waitress enjoyed our rapture. We finished the meal with some creme caramel and caffe {espresso}. We left the restaurant very happy and sauntered back through town to the train station to catch a train to Pisa.

Frenetic Florence

Ahhh, it is so lovely here in Florence. We had a wonderful lunch yesterday at a small trattoria down the road from our hotel. I had an amazing {and amazingly simple} dish of spaghetti with anchovies, capers and chilis. Anchovies here are different than in the states. They are not terribly salty, but more flavorful and rich. Scott had papparadelli pasta {very wide ribbons} with a wild boar ragu. We had a mixed meat platter as an appetizer, which we have very often in this landlocked part of Italy. They slice the meat right at the counter on these beautiful bright red meat slicers that look like works of art. Indeed, some restaurants display the meat slicers in the front window. We usually find a gelato stand for dessert and I'll tell you, my waistline has suffered from rich gelato everyday!

Last night we walked the Market Road which has stall after stall of vendors hawking their wares. Hundreds of stalls! Beautiful leather goods, incredible cashmere and silks, gorgeous pashimas {I bought quite a few of these}, glassware, souveniers of Florence, knock offs of designer sunglasses, sculptures of David and on and on. We stopped to look, JUST LOOK, at a booth of leather coats, one booth of probably 20 or more. The salesman had us walk into his shop behind the booth to try on coats. The smell was wonderful surrounded by hundreds of coats. He kept pulling out coats and helping me into them, "Now look, look into the mirror...how beautiful it is on you!" Most of the coats were priced at 400 Euros or more {a bit less than $600} and he said not to look at the price tags...ahhh, yeah! He pulled out a calculator and said, "Here, this coat I sell you for this..." and he shows me on the calculator 201 Euros. Wow! Half price, but ah...no thanks.

We bought a bottle each of Prosecco and Campari last night and "drank" our dinner while viewing on the computer all the pictures Scott has taken thus far {maybe 400 or more}. I was amazed at how great they have turned out on our inexpensive little digital. He has a good eye.
We sat and drank our "spritz" and ate hazelnuts and grissinis {super skinny breadsticks that I am addicted to...I want to ship a case to Hoffman Haus to use with Friday night hors'd'oeuvres...they are incredibly cheap, but look so elegant perched in a glass} and by the time we were done looking at all the pics we could barely make it from the desk in our room to the bed. I woke up at 4 in the morning with a splitting headache, took a few aspirin and went back to bed. Felt much better this morning when I woke up and after a shower and an espresso was raring to go.

We walked the Piazza della Signoria today and stood in awe in front of the statues. Scott took many pictures. Most of the sculptures are from the 1500's and some are startlingly violent. Cellini's Perseus {sculpted in 1545} shows Perseus, dressed for battle, holding Medusa's severed head. Medusa's body is at Perseus's feet with "curly" blood spilling from the neck. A copy of David is also in this Piazza {I believe there are a total of 9 David's in Florence, including the real one in the Accademia} and he stood regally with a pigeon perched on his head. We had hoped to go to the Uffizi, but it will have to wait until later in the week. It being Sunday, the town was full and the line to get in the Uffizi Gallerie snaked about 3 blocks.

Tomorrow we will take the early train to Lucca and Pisa {you know, the leaning tower...} and be back here by dark. Tomorrow may be the last sunny day until we leave so it will be a perfect day to be outside.

Just a note...we have no access to our e mail here. I don't know why, but KTC shows an error sign every time we log in. So if you have e mailed us, we are sorry, but we can't respond. Boy, will it be a mess to deal with when we return!

More later. Ciao!

We Have Landed in Heaven!

After Bologna, the Gods have smiled on us! Our hotel here in Florence is one block from the train station, on a lively and busy street. No hauling our bags on and off busses and the train station had no stairs so we could roll our bag dolly {one of the best purchases we have made} all the way from the train to our hotel. It is the 4th floor of an old building and run by a young man named Marco. He reminds me so much of Emilio, the husband of Laurel, same friendly, outgoing attitude, ready to accomodate and have a good time. When we hauled all our "stuff" up here and they showed us our room, I almost fell to my knees! A double bed! The first we've seen in Italy! And the room is large! And comes with a computer with internet {and it is free...we have paid dearly for internet access}! And they have a washer and dryer for us to use! AND A KITCHEN!!! I can go to the magnificent market they told us about and buy produce and COOK!! We immediately asked for 2 more nights in addition to the 3 we have already booked. Now THIS feels like a honeymoon! And we are done doing motorcycle stuff, so no appointments to make, no one in particular to see, just Scott and I and TIME to ourselves.
The train ride from Bologna to Florence was spectacular...like coming from San Antonio {flat and non descript} to the Hill Country with terraced rolling hills filled with olive trees. It was like every picture you have seen of Tuscany and I was immediately smitten!
Scott had splurged and bought 1st class tickets so we had room to stretch out and drink service. So nice! If you had asked me yesterday {or two nights ago when they kicked us off the bus because it had no where else to go}, I might have said, "Okay, I am ready to come home..." but now I want to stay here forever!!

We Left Our Hearts in Parma and Our Money in Modena

Scott showed up with another hour internet card and it will be 30 minutes before our pizza arrives so I can write more.
Today (in an effort to escape Bologna) we took the train to Parma and Modena. As soom as we got off the train in Parma, I knew I would love it. Slow, laid back, small enough to walk everywhere. A university town (a small university, unlike Bologna, which houses the oldest university in Europe), the youthfulness is palpable. Shopped at an open air market, got many packets of seeds of classic Italian vegetables-radicchio, rape, mache, tomatoes, eggplant. Ate one of the best restaurant meals yet-Scott had pumpkin ravioli and I had tagliatelle with porcini mushrooms. Stunning! We walked and walked and had a great time. The open air fruit and vegetable market was a work of art and I longed to buy armloads and find a kitchen. I made Scott take pictures.
Took the train to Modena and went and sat in a park with ducks, geese and chickens(?). It was so nice and quiet. Then we went shopping in earnest. I found some amazing boots half price (it is the end of the season on boots and I have been drooling over them since we arrived) and Scott got some cool shoes...I had to talk him into them, but it wasn't hard. He is a worse "shoe horse" than I am! We found some stuff for the kids and then went to a shop specializing in balsamic vinegar. It was like a fine wine shop. We were given tiny spoons and tastes of 5 different vinegars, from 3 years old to 20 years old. They got sweeter and sweeter the older it got until the 20 year old had no acid taste at all and was like syrup you would use over fruit or ice cream. Needless to say we bought a few bottles (an 8 year old and a 15 year old) for our personal stash at home. By the time we left Modena our pockets were just about empty (we made sure to leave enough for the train ride to Bologna), but our hearts were full. I loved Parma and if we look to be anywhere for a good block of time (like to live for awhile) Parma gets my vote at this point.
Well, dinner is here and we still have packing to do, so I will sign off. We miss everyone, but am having such a relaxing (mostly) and lovely time.

Milan and Beyond

Scott says that I have to write about the Bologna experience, but honestly I would rather forget it...perhaps later in the blog (and completely out of sequence) when the sting has faded a bit...I mean, I haven't even written about Milan yet and that was days ago! Milan is such a big city, bombed heavily in WWII, but what remains is pretty spectacular! The Duomo took 5 centuries to build (makes me feel great about the slow progress on our house) and has over 3,400 statues perching on the exterior. It is a spectacular thing to see! Very delicate in some ways, almost lacy architecturally, but amazing. Off to the side of the Duomo stands the Galleria, a "mall" of sorts. I believe it was the first indoor shopping center in Italy. It is many stories high with a glass ceiling (or at least that is what it looked like). The upper stories are all offices and the structure looks very old...maybe 18th century (not very old by the standards here). The bottom is all stores. Marta would be in heaven...Prada, Mercedes-Benz, etc. Beautiful, pricey stores, but wonderful to window shop.
We got around by bus and the Metro. The subway was fun, albeit a bit confusing. We would head somewhere and after 2 stops realize we were going in the wrong direction and get off, cross over to the other side and get on another subway going the correct way. We had passes so could get on and off at will, which was great! Public transportation is very cheap here: bus, subway and train and we have utilized all three (the Nightmare on a Bologna Bus story is yet to come). Our room in Milan was in a hotel that was 5 flights up in a great old building. The elevator (like all I've seen in Italy) was tiny. It would fit either us or our luggage, so we would pile all our luggage in the elevator and then run up the 5 flights of marble stairs to meet it (feel the burn, Scott would tell me, and indeed I did). The room was simple and smelled constantly of sulfur. But it was clean and had a bathroom (which many did not, the common bathroom for other guests being next to our room hence the strong sulfur smell). We had a huge floor to ceiling window that opened out to a courtyard 5 stories below. We left the window open day and night. We found great paces to eat in Milan, dropped a pile of $$ at a restaurant called O'rologico for dinner the first night. It was lovely and romantic and we ate, drank, laughed and lingered until we were glad for the long walk back. The second day we met with a man named Massimo Novelli who has a shop called Motorcicli Veloce (basically Fast Motorcycle) and Scott shopped with a big grin on his face. Massimo was a wonderful man and I fell for him immediately! He had a smile exactly like my son-in-law Justin and was so sweet and mild mannered. He has a cafe named Motorcicli Veloce Cafe (catchy, huh?) and it has motorcycle memorabilia everywhere. He treated us to a wonderful meal, complete with some of the best wine we've had here. His partner, Marco, was quite a card. At one point, when Marco brought us our appetizer (a beautiful plate of assorted meats) he was explaining each meat (proscuitto, speck, etc.)and he got to one that was completely white and sliced extremely thin. He said "Lardo" and I looked up at him surprised. He held up his finger, "Wait, wait, don't eat yet..." and he ran back in the kitchen only to show up a minute later with a piece of toast that glistened gold on top. "This way," he instructed and placed a piece of lardo on the toast. Okay, I thought, lard on toast, this is something to tell the kids and I bit down. The toast had honey on it and since it was warm, the lard practically melted into it. It was heavenly! However, it is one taste treat that I probably won't make at home.
Tuesday evening we were to eat at Laurel & Emilios' home. It was a long subway ride (great for people watching) and then a 4 block walk through a cool part of town. Their place was great and we were so excited to have a visit with them, the last time was at Laurel's brothers wedding in Boerne in April. What a meal Laurel made! The best fish we've had on this trip (and Venice is known for it's fish!)...salmon served on a bed of grilled fennel with capers and topped with an orange slice. But the meal started with a scrumptious pumpkin risotto. Creamy and succulent, it was a dish to remember (this I will make at home!). Emi cheered us with many different kinds of wine and spirits (boy, did I have a hangover the next day!) and we were finally able to ask about all the oddities of Italy (what IS it with the bathrooms anyway??? another story that will come later...) We laughed and caught up and I was so impressed with this young couple, they are open, gracious and wonderful! Thank you Laurel and Emilio for making our last night in Milan our best!

We are now on our last night in Bologna and I will be glad tomorrow morning when we wave goodbye from the train as we head for Florence. It hasn't been all bad...had a fabulous meeting with Biancamaria at Dream Engines about the MotoGiro and then we were given a private tour of the Ducati factory and Museum. Fascinating! But had the worst food of the trip yet here (a shame and a travesty here in the food capitol of Italy!) and then the Nightmare Bus Story. Suffice to say that I walked along a deserted road late at night about 30 Km from our room, sobbing. Yes, Scott was with me, he was walking ahead of me speaking very calm, soothing words, wondering where to run if I completely flipped out. He finally called a taxi (when we got somewhere where a taxi could come get us...I am not kidding) and he had them drive us back to our room. I rode the whole way with my head on his shoulder, glad to be with him and heading back.

Well, I am running out of time on my internet card, so more later from Florence. Shopped like hell today-oooh boy, did we get goodies!
Ciao!

Driving in Italy

We took the bus to the airport in Venice to pick up a car and I could imagine what people were thinking as they looked at all the bags we were hauling, "...those Americans...". So much stuff! It was nice to finally have a turtle shell in which to keep all our belongings. Our Fiat Punto was small (as most all cars are in Italy) and zippy and although I was nervous at first, it was great fun to drive. I thought that after we left Venice proper we would encounter coutryside like what we have surrounding Fredericksburg. Instead there is tiny village after tiny village with a medium sized town every now and then. There are few traffic lights, but what are called "roundabouts" (I don't know the word in Italian) where you enter an intersection and head right (ALWAYS right) and merge and continue around the circle until you hit the road you need to take off the intersection. It was a bit disconcerting at first, but I grew comfortable with them and found them fun to drive after a while. Scott commented after I passed a few cars on the impossibly narrow roads, that I was driving like a true Italian!

We found the home of the Laverda's and they welcomed us like long lost friends! They are the most gracious and accomodating hosts! They live in an 18th century estate of Palladia design. It took 20 minutes for Luisa to give me a tour and we didn't see it all. I counted 3 kichens, one with a hearth large enough to roast a whole hog, which Luisa told me her father did often when she was a child. This kitchen, which Luisa called the "summer kitchen", had a long (maybe 8') stone trough where the dishes were once washed. It was now used as storage. The fireplaces were painted tiles inside with marble mantles and surrounds. Our room was on the third floor and was quiet and comfortable with a window over the desk that looked up the hills to the estates further up the mountains. The road was so narrow that as you rounded corners you honked (or in the evenings, flashed your lights) so drivers coming the other way would pull over so you could pass. From our window we could see the road snake up the mountain until the switchbacks disappeared into the deep woods. A heavy fog had moved into the area the day before our arrival and it gave a timeless effect to the view. Our first evening at Luisa & Piero's, they drove us into Vicenza to show us the old city. We walked downtown and Piero kept a running commentary about the architecture. It was fascinating! We saw a cannonball imbedded halfway into a rock wall from a battle of Napoleon's in 1805. The old buildings (most late 17th and 18th century) were turned into shops, restaurants and bars and we went into a cafe/bar for a tapa and an apertif. We had a "spritz", a mixture of wine, water ("frizzante" or bubbly water) and bitters and it was amazingly good.

We headed home to have a classic dinner cooked by Luisa consisting of risotto with porcini mushrooms, fennel au gratin and pork sausages cooked with sage. A word here on the risotto. I have made this dish at home a few times and I have to say I really enjoy it. Creamy rice cooked with broth and wine and whatever else you wish to throw in. But it is a time consuming dish to prepare so I don't make it often. Luisa made it in about 10 minutes in a PRESSURE COOKER!!! And it was as creamy and flavorful as my 45 minute version with no standing and stirring for all that time! It will be a winter staple at our house from now on. She makes polenta the same way! My first Italian cooking lesson! We finished dinner with a yeasted cake made with grappa and finely minced dried fruit. With this Luisa served up tiny cups of dried fruit soaked in prune liquor that she had made before Christmas. It was so good and Scott had seconds and I got the recipe! After 2 bottles of wine with dinner (a white with the risotto and a red with the sausages) and an after dinner liquor we were ready for bed and climbed the 3 flights of stairs VERY carefully.

The next day, Piero had a meeting with a man from Germany who had driven down to buy a motorcycle frame. Thomas was a pleasant getleman who spoke excellent English with no German accent. I commented on this and also the TX sticker on the back of his van and he said he was born and raised in Austin! I told him Scott and I lived not far from Austin in the Hill Country and he asked where. When I told him Fredericksburg, he opened his jacket to show us his t-shirt from a Fredericksburg restaurant! The guys headed out to the shop to play with the bikes and Luisa and I drove up the mountain to go for a walk. We took Belo (sp?), their sweet dog and we parked by an old church. We walked for a few miles into the woods and thank goodness for Luisa's more than competant english as we were able to converse the entire way. I recognized more than a few plants and was surprised how much the land looked like home.

After the walk, I went with the guys into Breganza to visit some of Piero's motorcycle friends. We ate at a small trattoria where I had homemade spaghetti with rabbit. The pasta was astounding...thick and chewy and so flavorful! Scott had pasta shells with tonno (tuna).

We made the rounds of the bike shops, the first being Guiseppe Andregetti's (this may be spelled wrong), a wonderfully happy faced man with a shop floor painted brilliant orange (the color most often associated with Laverda's). Thomas and Scott were in heaven amidst all the Laverda parts that I'm sure they considered almost unobtainable prior to this visit. Thomas told me he felt like a kid in a candy store and he was both glad and sorry he had come with a pocket full of Euros! I know Scott felt no sorrow for the bundle of Euros in his own pocket, only for the lack of room in our suitcases! He envied Thomas' almost empty van! I had a great time watching the guys discover treasure after treasure in the small parts house.

More on the visit with the Laverda's later as Scott wants to go have dinner now. I am still full from lunch (pizza in the park surrounded by pigeons), but Scott eats constantly here! Ciao!

Tomorrow we leave Venice and head for the Laverda's home in Vicenza. We will stop in Breganza first to visit with some of Scott's associates. It will be the first day of driving in Italy. Venice has been surreal, we have walked so much and gotten lost multiple times a day...part of the joy of being in Venice! It has been cold and we know not to leave the hotel in the morning without gloves, scarves, jackets and double layers. When we get too cold we stop in a cafe for a quick espresso and then head back out , walking with a bit more life in our step...
Food has been great, everything from fresh caught seafood to incredible polenta to our paninis this afternoon-proscuitto and buffalo mozzarella for Scott and grilled radicchio and brie for me.
Finished reading Eat, Pray, Love last night when I woke up at midnight and couldn't sleep (still struggling with the time change). Thanks Janelle for the suggestion. It's an amzing book and I am going to pass it on to Laurel in Milan.

Here is the way NOT to start a vacation in Italy...on less than 2 hours sleep in 24 and carrying about 80 lbs. of bags about a mile in 45 degree weather. After finding our hotel -very nice indeed with everything in the room being varying shades of blue and gold and a stunning view from our 3rd floor window-we went out for our first stroll. It was a false start as the temp had dropped even more and after about a mile we headed back to dress warmer. Then back out to wander the streets. We had a gelato (mine hazelnut, Scott had tiramisu) even though it was cold out. Walked various palazzos and window shopped and finally stopped for a mediocre dinner at a restaurant very near our hotel. Scott had calamari and I had gnocchi (Ann had sent an e-mail: eat lots of gnocchi!) and then we went back to the hotel, took showers in our spotless but incredibly tiny shower and went to bed where I proceeded to have a meltdown. After about 12 hours sleep we woke up VERY refreshed and had an amazing breakfast in the hotel dining room. The coffee was perhaps the best I'd ever had and the rolls were crisp and slightly sweet. Off now to find a grocery store. Later...

Spent the night in Houston last night with our friend Claudio. He was born and raised just outside Rome. A wonderful host, he entertained us all evening while being Mr. Mom to his 2 children, Daniela (5) and Marco (4 months) while his wife, Ramona was at work. Dinner was amazing and started with a great antipasto plate of proscuitto, salami and smoked fontina cheese. He then made his mothers' recipe of pasta with mixed seafood sauce. Whole mussels and lots of octopus made up most of the sauce and it was incredible. It will be the first recipe in my Italy journal! I keep having to remind myself I am on vacation...I know it will seem real when we get on the plane in 6 hours. Ciao!

After a wonderful massage last week, Gaby began talking to me of the difficulties of staying present. A few days later she came into my "office" at work (the kitchen) and we picked up the same conversation. It has become my focus for days and now, hours from leaving the house, I am struggling with the idea. So many last minute things have reared up and now the van has a motorcycle tied down inside and an extra stop will have to be made to drop it off. Arrangements for work in April that HAVE to be taken care of now, e-mails to send...Scott and I each have lists that we are checking off as we buzz around the house. I just had to take a minute to sit and write a bit and B-R-E-A-T-H-E!
Scott received an e-mail last night from a business contact in Milan. He had hoped to visit this mans' shop. He read the e-mail to me- "I look forward to your visit. We can have lunch at my little restaurant...". Boy, did my ears perk up! Scott can pick his brain on bikes and I can get into his kitchen!

A month away from home...it is strange to think about. Even stranger is the thought of being on the other side of the planet. Thank goodness Scott speaks the language and we have friends to drop in on every week or so.

Planning for this trip-or in Scott's case NOT planning-has really shown me the differences between us. I am not a control freak or anything (although this could be debated by friends and family...I don't know as it has never come up) but I like to have plans. I like to know what is coming next. Scott's attitude has been, "We don't really need an itinerary!" and then when he's trying to arrange business meetings, "Hey hon, when will we be in Vicenza?". So he let me amuse myself and make reservations in a few places. Out of the 27 days, we now have 12 accounted for, meaning places we HAVE to be because we have paid for rooms or have dates with friends. The rest of the time we are free floating around the country.

We are flying from Houston to Frankfurt and then on to Venice where we will park ourselves for 4 days. After that we are roaming all over northern and central Italy. Padua, Vicenza, Verona, Milan, Parma, Modena, Bologna, Florence, Lucca, Pisa, Ancona, Rimini, Ravenna...I have studied maps for so many months I can see these places in my head. For Scott and I to be alone, to be looking forward to my upcoming 50th birthday (what a half century celebration!) and to be so completely out of our element...well, I just can't imagine anything better. Stay posted...