Grappa. Enough Said.

November 20, 2009

Friday, we took it slow and easy. Here we are at coffee at our regular spot.
Evan's Thanksgiving office party was today, and I baked green bean casserole. Here we are about to leave for the day. Evan was able to leave a little early because of the festivities so he joined us at the wineries, which was great because he never gets to go with our visitors.

Again at Gelisi Antonio winery. I just might have my own parking spot by the time our three years is up.

You can now see the canisters that are used for the locals who bring in their demi-johns (large glass bottle surrounded in plastic and sometimes a basket) to be filled with wine. Then they take it home and drink it for a party/get-together or they bottle it themselves. It is a very cheap way to consume the local drink.

Another winery and several tastings later.
Picture of the day. The guys tried the grappa sold at the winery. Grappa is made from the stems and seeds (basically the leftovers) of the grapes after the wine is made. It is very strong, clear, and resembles hard liquor in smell and strength. Evan and Dad then tried the homemade grappa that is not allowed to be sold which Kurt makes for himself and keeps wrapped in a brown paper bag. Ugh that stuff was strong. Hence Mom's face in this picture and the title of the post!

The Blackwells Visit Sacile.

November 17-19, 2009

Mom and Dad arrived late Tuesday evening. Wednesday was their tour of base and watching the F-16s taking off, landing, on the runway, in the air, and everything in between.

Thursday, we ventured to Nove. Nove is a well-known town for its pottery and I have been once before. We drove through beautiful countryside, finally saw the sun after 2 dreary, cloudy days, and raked in some good deals! Below are some pics of my purchases.

Red dessert plates.








Tree dessert/salad plates that display all four seasons.








Vietri soap dispenser that retails for $67 and I purchased for $16.












And finally, an olive oil dispenser for our 5 liters of olive oil!

Only in Italy...

Sunday afternoon we drove to San Leonardo to spend the afternoon with the James family. Their town hosted Porco in Piazza, or a pork festival. We had VIP parking since they live around the corner from the town center.

A little band playing a jig.
Need any cheese?

Tiffeani and her daughter Emma enjoying some of the local food and drink. Where else, but in Italy, is it normal to walk around with a pitcher of wine?

They even had a hot air balloon.

The more we walked around, the more we noticed a lot of American folklore items. You just don't expect (in Italy) to walk around the corner, hear a Dwight Yoakum song, and see country dancing.

Buon Compleanno!

Today is Cash's 2nd birthday and we are missing our friend--so this post is all about him. He's enjoying Texas, we just wish he could be with us.

Making his nest among the clean clothes.
He spent a lot of time on our deck. His lounge chair. Gotcha! He sees me spying on him.
Waterdog at it again. He loves his dummy.
I love this because he has to shake off and Olivia happens to be standing in his spot.
On the deck with his bucket.

His birthday last year.

Of all the pics we have of Casher, this one is my favorite.

Piancavallo.

Saturday we drove up to a nearby ski resort, Piancavallo, to check out the snow and take a few pics. It was a little foggy and we could see the clouds moving around us.

On our way home we stopped at an agriturismo for lunch. They had goats, chickens, rabbits, a horse, and interesting decor. The "saloon" was decorated with Native American decor, random U.S. license plates, and played Garth Brooks and Toby Keith songs from 10 years ago. We thought maybe they would serve different food based on the surroundings....nope, Italian food. Surprise, surprise! Here are some of our favorite decorations.

To Everything There Is A Season,

And A Time To Every Purpose Under Heaven.We have enjoyed a full fall season here in Sacile. The oranges, reds, purples, greens, yellows, and all the shades in between have been beyond bright, colorful, and cheerful. But Fall is turning into Winter day-by-day. This past week we had dreary and cold weather mixed with equally beautiful weather. Below is the result.

Seriously.

I have been asked a few times about the daily issues that come with living the Italian life. We try to go with the flow most times. It helps just to laugh it off when something that should be open (grocery store) is closed, or something that should not happen, (leaf blowing at 5 a.m.) happens. So I will try to post something, every now and then, that I find interesting, funny, outrageous, or just a little odd. Some of them may happen in the U.S. and some may not--either way, here is your introduction.

So let's discuss parking. At a nearby grocery store, I was waiting on a few friends, when this car pulled up. Count it. The minivan took up three parking places. I know you might think it's an American because it's a minivan. Nope. Full-on Italian and on her cell phone to boot. But I'm sure she was just in a hurry.

Venice. Where everybody knows your name.

October 28th, 2009

We caught a morning train to Venice. Early morning and a long, but well-traveled day.
Our first stop, on our trek to the north shore, we went through the original Jewish Ghetto. The word ghetto was coined here for a geto (copper foundry located here at the time). Jews were only allowed to live in Venice beginning in 1385, and in 1516 they were almost ousted from the entire city, but instead they were allowed to live in this one area--so they built up. Six-story skyscrapers still stand today. Below is a synagogue.
Hebrew signs.

They made use of all available space.

After lunch on the go and a short vaporetto ride, we arrived in Murano, where the glass is blown. Shop after shop on the left and the right in this picture are full of Murano glass.
Ross and Janet back on the main island.

Their final picture in Italy. On the Rialto Bridge--a great way to end their trip.

Janet and Ross left Thursday and we look forward to their NEXT visit already!