Jamie needs to sit down and blog about his all-guys getaway weekend for Oktoberfest. THE Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany. Or as they renamed it, OktoBROfest. I'm sure it would be simply amusing. Then again, you can probably imagine the shenanigans and crazy antics the Germans and Oktoberfest tourists endured when they saw six goofy American guys pulling up in a van in their authentic lederhosen and feather-donned hats.
Or maybe he shouldn't blog about Oktobrofest. I saw pictures and let's just say your imagination doesn't even quite do it justice.
Gigi & G-Daddy (Jamie's parents) came to visit us again at the end of September. Riann had just started soccer for the season so their first full day, post jet-lag, Jamie and Riann took the G's to Riann's soccer game, then to climb Vesuvio. It was a beautiful day for it!!
Gigi was spending her 60th birthday with us so we figured we had to show her a great time in Italy. The second weekend of their visit, we headed up past Rome and to Civita di Bagnoregio, a tiny town only accessed by a walkway / narrow road that only allows for pedestrians and motorscooters.
The agriturismo we stayed at, Le Mandrie di San Paolo, is a working olive farm, an old farm house that has been fully renovated. The view was spectacular as we could see for miles and miles and miles. It also proved to be a great location for our stay as we had planned to visit several towns/cities throughout Umbria over the long weekend.
Up first was Assisi, the birth place of St Francis.
with a brief visit to a gum museum... Okay, not really but it was a funny memory of visiting Assisi. See for yourself. Yup, that is all pre-chewed chewing gum.
Since it was so gorgeous out and we were finished seeing the highlights of Assisi, we decided to drive to Gubbio, another town in Umbria. We saw the amphitheater as we parked, then walked up to the hillside town...and up further to see most of Gubbio. And as with every trip, we stopped in for some gelato for two hungry kids and four hungrier adults. Gubbio is a great little picturesque town!
The next day we made our way to Perugia, a town well known for its chocolate and it's chocolate festival, only we were about 1 week early, but we did see them setting up for the festival, and of course there was no shortage of chocolate!! We also happened to arrive just as some sort of processional was going on through the streets, the only clue was a sign that held up a sign that translated to Lord of Miracles, but there was some chanting, burning of essence, and music being played.
Since that was only a half day visit, we had time to visit Cortona - I think this was one of my favorite towns in all of Italy! Antique shops, enotecas (wine shops), so much detail to the old buildings... beautiful!!!
We made quite the hike up the winding brick and cobblestone roads to to Santa Margherita de Cortona (church), which houses the remains of Saint Margherita. On the way back to our agriturismo, we ran into rain, a vibrant rainbow, and once we got up the hill to the agriturismo, the view was out of this world!
We also ate at the farmhouse's restaurant on site and indulged in some of the very best Italian cooking I've had since moving here. Their vegetable lasagna was piping hot and so, so good! After all that good food, and a long day ending with rain and some chilly temps, it was time for bed.
Our last stop in Umbria before heading home was Deruta, a town I actually knew about from my working days at Williams-Sonoma. Chuck Williams brought back a "chicken pitcher" that has been sold at the company since it was opened. The town itself is known for its ceramics, some of the very best ceramics around. Our first store (rushed, you know, because a ceramics shop is not the place to bring two kids, one who also happens to truly be a bull in a china shop / tank in a ceramics shop) had me eyeballing quite a few pieces, but since it was only our first shop, we thought we'd come back... And we did, only it was closed for riposo (siesta, lunch) and we wanted to get back home before dark. Lucky me, we still have 18 months to live here and hopefully a few return trips to Deruta to pick up some treasures.
That was the end of that adventure, but we also had several more days with the G's in town.
Jane and I went to a cooking class.
Riann took part in her school's vocabulary hat parade (her hat was the word "greenhouse".
I took Jane and Dan to the International Bizarre that was hosted by the NATO base here in Napoli. Each NATO nation represented had a booth of goods from their country, everything from wine to cheese, beer to leather goods, furniture to ceramics and scarves. Oh yes, and the food... My favorite: Germany for the bratwurst and sauerkraut and Spain for their Paella and Sangria.
Lastly, Jamie and I had a weekend away while the G's hang out with the grandkids. Unbeknownst to Jane, our trip was to include a stop in Florence to pick up a bracelet she had been looking at for a few years... the previous year they visited us and we were in Florence, she happened to see the bracelet in a jewelry store there. I was in contact with the owner and he had helped us obtain the bracelet almost in time for Jane's 60th birthday. Hooray, mission complete!!
Jamie and I had fun reexploring Florence (this time without kids, always a little easier!) including the Salvatore Ferragamo Shoe Museum (not exactly Jamie's favorite),
Back to Napoli for us, and back to Syracuse for the G's... It is always nice to be HOME again.
