Cucinare con Vera

Translation: Cooking with Vera


Tuesday, October 12, Jamie and I had our first cooking class. It was supposed to be a group of about 15 or so, husbands too, somehow Jamie ended up the only male in the class. Vera, our teacher, LOVED him!! She really put him to work though!


Several of the people in the class I already knew, some I had seen before, and there were a few new faces and names to remember. But it was an excellent group of people, we had a blast!! Vera has quite the set up for so many of us to take part in creating the extravagant menu she has planned, each of us volunteering to do different steps of different recipes.


This class's menu:
Antipasto: Bruschetta, stuffed & fried zucchini flowers and Bresaola with rucola
Primo: Risotto with mushrooms and risotto with pumpkin
Secondo: Polpettone (Italian meatloaf) with carrot salad and potatoes with tomatoes and fresh onions
Dolce: Lemon Tiramisu


And every bit of it was DELICIOUS!!

I can't wait to go back for more cooking classes!

Io amo le Cinque Terre!!

Translation: I love the Cinque Terre!!

I'm a little behind in blogging... but we've been busy traveling. Here's what we've been up to lately.

Thursday October 7th, we left Napoli and headed to Camp Darby (Army base) in Livorno in our tiny rented Fiat Panda since our car's AC decided it needed a break. Camp Darby was our inexpensive little "home base" for a few days while we checked out several other places.



Friday morning, I ran my first real race since foot surgery. It was a 12k that started at Camp Darby and had a terrific finish line at the Leaning Tower of Pisa. What a great and interesting race!! For all you runners, you know how the chaos of registration and packet pick up can be?? Well, there were only two people sitting at one tiny table with about 12 shirts and race numbers. I thought to myself "Hmmm, I guess I should come in the top 12 or so..." We went and had breakfast and headed back to the start line where there were many spandex-clad, warming-up-like-crazy, serious looking runners... I ended up getting a bit nervous seeing how many people were at the official start, 336 so I was told. The gun went off and I was going solo along many larger groups of Italian military men, mostly speaking Italian. We ran past vineyards, kept on route by the Caribineri (military police), had significant others driving along side of the packs of runners to get a photo opportunity... all a bit different than running a race in the US. Coming into Pisa we ran along with what seemed to be regular road traffic, pedestrians and the local bus, but then through the old city walls down the last 1/4km along the Field of Miracles to end at the Leaning Tower of Pisa was pretty amazing!! The Italians that already crossed the finish line all line up as spectators and really rally their incoming friends as they finish, such spirit!! I was really proud of myself to come under an hour for the 7.3 mile long race!! I didn't expect to do as well, so Jamie wasn't expecting me at the finish line for a few minutes later so he, Riann and Lincoln were snapping photos, trying to keep busy and missed me finish. That's okay, I have more races to run!!



After my race, we checked out the sights that Pisa has to offer: the Leaning Tower, the Duomo and the Baptistery, then we headed out for our own little walking with the guidance of Rick Steves. Of course we did the typical cliche photos of pushing down and holding up the tower, Riann probably thought we were crazy but she did a great job of holding poses for us too.


We grabbed some food for a picnic lunch we ate near the Duomo and Leaning Tower, then headed for some gelato... the ending to many of our excursions to places as a reward to the kids for being good, and to us for managing another with touring with little ones.

We ended up packing up a picnic dinner that evening, headed to the beaches of Livorno, and found a nice spot in the sand. Riann and Lincoln had a great time playing in the sand (even without sand toys!), Jamie and I enjoyed the time relaxing, looking out at the rather calm sea and just having great family time.

Saturday, we took the scenic drive into Monterosso. What a trip!! We had about 20 kilometers from the autostrada up, down and around hairpin turns all the way into Monterosso. A crazy drive, but SO worth it to get into the first town of the Cinque Terre!! The views along the drive were spectacular!! I think I fell inlove instantly with the little town, though the largest of the five. Once in Monterosso, we boarded the train and took it to the fourth stop down to Manarola. What a perfectly quaint little town, I fell in love all over again!! We walked down to the marina and all along the water... no beach, not much keeping you from going into the water, but absolutely beautiful! We took the "easy" walk/hike, Via dell'Amore, from Manarola to Riomaggiore.


So many picture perfect photo moments, I could hardly help myself!! We even stopped for a photo at one point and a woman asked if we would take a picture of her with her daughter, and she would take one of all four of us. Long story short, she was originally FROM Syracuse, went and graduated from FM about 8 years before my mom, which meant only 2 years before my Uncle Allen. The woman didn't recall my uncle's name, but still, what a small, small world!!
Once we got into Riomaggiore, we walked around the town and had lunch at a small restaurant with an awesome view.
We left Riomaggiore via train and got off at Vernazza. Each town has its own personality, and each one I loved more! We enjoyed some delicious gelato, walked around the town, checked out a few shops, and found the marina. Riann and Jamie walked out on the huge rocks, took some photos, and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. Walking around so much and working up an appetite, we shared two slices of local pizza with fresh buffalo mozzerella and pesto... Mmm, mmm!!


By Riann's request, we took the ferry from Vernazza back to Monterosso. What gorgeous views of the coast from the ferry, perfect for more picture taking!! Lincoln fell asleep on the ferry, he is one heavy little man!! The ferry dropped us off in Old Town Monterosso and we walked (me, carrying the Tank the whole way) back to the new town where we parked earlier in the day.
20 kilometers up, down and around hair pin turns, we got back to the autostrada. Good bye Cinque Terre, we WILL be back, next time for a few days at least!!

Sunday, we loaded up the car and headed to Lucca. Lucca is a town that has its city wall still fully intact. There is little road traffic within the city, but there are plenty of bikes and places to rent bikes, too. First we did some walking, found what is left of the old amphitheater that is now Piazza Anfiteatro (eateries, shops, etc), and some sightseeing including climbing the 200+ stairs to the top of Torre Guinigi where there is a small garden and a few trees (yes, on top of a tower!!) and amazing views of Lucca.


We then rented two bikes, each with a kid seat and biked around the town on the wall which was much wider than one might think. I loved Lucca, the bikes were a saving grace for Riann and Lincoln who were both tired from so much walking and gave them a new perspective of sightseeing, but the town itself seemed so much more kid friendly than many other places we've visited so far. A lot of open fields to run and play, several playgrounds and kids just about everywhere you looked.


We had lunch, did a little more riding around on our rental bikes, then called it a day. But Lincoln was beyond tired and fell asleep while I carried him all the way back to the car... again.

4.5 hours later, we were home, always such a great feeling to be HOME after even a fantastic trip!!

La vita ordinaria in Italia

Translation: Ordinary life in Italy

The past week has been a pretty "normal" one, especially after our trip to Germany. We needed some downtime to recoup.

Riann and Lincoln enjoyed their first week of preschool.
Riann is going Monday through Friday, and Lincoln goes Tuesdays & Thursdays. They are both loving it!!







Thursday on the way home from dropping them off, I was driving back to the highway. Thinking I wasn't focusing, I slowed down only to realize the road was "fuzzy" being crossed by a herd of sheep. There had to have been at least 500 or so, with several sheep herding dogs.
Holy sheep!! Of course, I had to take a photo! Afterward, I went with a friend to a market to stock up on fresh produce, one of my favorite weekly excursions!


Saturday, I ran my first race since foot surgery! Friday night at the playground, my friend Suzanne and I were making plans meet to run in the morning. Someone overheard us and asked us if we were running in the race in the morning. With that, our plans changed to run the 5k for September 11th on base at 9:30am... a bit later than what we are used to!!
Prior to the race was a 1 mile family fun run, Riann said she wanted to run with me, however she was done running after the first 1/10th of the mile. I made it a better workout for myself by giving her a piggy back ride the rest of the way. The 5k was a fun, easy little race, but it was the warmest day we've had in a couple weeks... or maybe it just because the sun was up before we started.


Saturday night, Jamie and I had "date night" which really means "no kids but game for anything". We made plans with our friends Glenn & Tina, and my running friend Suzanne and her husband Scott. We went to a place called Arbustum. I had heard a lot of great things, and Suzanne had been there before too and wanted to go back. The restaurant has no menu, they just begin serving you as soon as you sit at your table. They have a set menu - several courses of delicious, delicous food. We had bread, antipasta, vegetables (the first time I've had eggplant and LOVED it!), 2 types of pasta dishes, the main dish that was some sort of beef and potatoes, melon and then dessert. Also, the wine & water flowed as quickly as we could drink it. Thanks to Tina for capturing our evening...


Sunday, I headed with my friend Sonja and her daughter to Napoli's "Shoe Alley", a market that sells shoes, TONS of shoes and so much more. I was easily overwhelmed part way through the shopping experience but not before I bought myself my first Italian-made shoes and two pairs of "dress up" shoes for Riann for 1 euro each. I can't wait to go again soon!

Tuesday after I took Riann to school (and Lincoln did not go due to a stomach bug he had all day Monday), I went with some friends to a shop in Teverola (the little town a few minutes down the road from us) to check out demijohns. What are demijohns, you ask?


These are demijohns and you see them EVERYWHERE on base. American's love them, Italians think we are crazy. You can find them anywhere from 5L to 50L or more. You can always go on a demijohn hunt out in the country and find them on the side of the road, as Italians think of them as junk. They areThey are almost always clear or green, but the place we went Tuesday has them in a variety of colors, shapes and sizes. Since Lincoln was with me and he was being a little impatient, I couldn't make a deicison and will go back again very soon.

Some things we have had to get used to since living in Italy are the various "strikes" the workers go on. I joke that it is the Italian's way of having a day off. But Tuesday, Jamie told me to make sure I went to the gas station to fill 'er up because the gas stations were scheduled for a strike and would be closed the rest of the week: not just the gas stations here, the gas stations in the ENTIRE country. I must have picked a good time to go because there was no one waiting, and I got my full tank of gas. The next day, one gas station I passed had a line down the road... 10+ cars at least. Of course, the strike must have been canceled because I saw gas stations open this morning.

Still loving Italy, even when life is just ordinary.

Avventure in Germania

Translation: Adventures in Germany

After FINALLY getting definite word that Jamie had a work trip to Germany (we had done plenty of research, I would truly have been disappointed had it been canceled), we began our adventure on Saturday August 28th. We managed to pack well for a week with chilly temperatures in the forecast, saving room for a lot of shopping I was hoping to do. We couldn't pack enough snacks as little snack monster Lincoln eats and eats and eats.
The drive was gorgeous!! North of Rome, the landscape is beautiful: hills, mountains, vineyards... the closer we got to our first destination, the scenery became even more picturesque (and I took plenty of pictures of the drive alone!!). Innsbruck, Austria...

I could move there and never leave, but I'll have to learn to ski really, really, really well... there are no bunny hills in the Alps. We had a perfectly located little hotel, Hotel Innsbruck, next to a great pedestrian-only area which also is home to Goldenes Dachl, The Golden Roof built in 1500, a roof decorated with 2657 fire-gilded copper tiles for Maximilian I. The only downfall to our short visit to Innsbruck was most of the cute shops were closing as we arrived.


Sunday, August 29th we left Innsbruck and headed to Fussen, Germany.

I didn't think our drive through the Alps to get to Innsbruck could be topped, but this wild, curvy road adventure had us stopping on multiple occasions to snap a few photos, including views of the Zugzpitze, the highest mountain in Germany. Everything in Germany is so lush and green, and by green, I mean GREEN!! Our stop in Fussen was to see and tour Neuschwanstein, "Cinderella's Castle". We took a bus up from the small surrounding village up to the castle, but took a little detour to the Marienbrucke (bridge) that overlooks the castle. It was a (terrifyingly!!) high, narrow bridge made of steel and wood boards (that you could feel moving with all the other tourists walking on it) that offered amazing views of the castle and the landscape of as far as you could possibly see.




We only had a short 2 hour drive from Fussen to Stuttgart, Jamie had work Monday and Tuesday mornings at Stuttgart that we had to be there for. We stayed at Kelley Barracks, had a HUGE hotel room that made our two rainy days in Stuttgart that much easier to tolerate since Riann & Lincoln could run around. The hotel also had free DVD rentals which we made good use of to pass the rainy weather by. While Jamie was at work, our only adventure was a walk to Subway to get lunch... not really what I had in mind for Germany. It was a blessing in disguise though, since we ended up having a really busy next few days.
Tuesday, August 31st, we left Stuttgart and headed to Ramstein Air Base & Landstuhl, Jamie had some meetings and people to meet between two bases in Ramstein and Kaiserslautern. We stayed at the hotel on base at Landstuhl right next to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC). The hospital looks tiny from the outside, not exactly what I expected to see after hearing so much about how many troops have been treated there before being sent home or to Walter Reed Medical Center. I kind of felt depressed being there too, with the thought of how many troops had been transported via the ambulance BUS that we saw a few times. But LRMC is the only place on base where you can get breakfast, which is where we ate Wednesday morning before leaving... I was shocked to see how enormous this place is!! Hallway after hallway, wing after wing... Enormous, I think, is an understatement.
Wednesday, September 1st we left Landstuhl and Ramstein and headed back towards Stuttgart, but we had a little fun planned with some of the guys Jamie works with: wine tasting!! Jamie's boss, who used to be stationed in Germany, has a friend, Herman and his wife Erika, who own and run their own winery in Ilsfeld. Though they were not open for business that day, they opened their doors to us and treated us all like old friends. The wine... YUM!! I have become a red wine drinker Since moving to Italy. It is NOTHING like what we get in the US. It is SO SO SOOOO good here!!! We tried all the wines they make,

they served us TONS of food... everything was so fresh, so delicious... YUM!! We ended up buying 12 bottles at this winery. Also, I just found out that you can do a separate WINE shipment back to the states (as in addition to the express shipment, regular shipment and your car shipment...), it is considered a "collection" and you can bring as few as 30 bottles up to 500 bottles of wine. I am SO excited!! The view from their winery was unbelievable too!
Lincoln was popping grapes from the vines into his mouth, Riann and the other girls we were with got to feed and watch horses.

This was probably my favorite part of our trip!!
As if we didn't get enough "wining" in already, we got settled back into our hotel in Stuttgart only to leave and take the U-Bahn (mass transit train) downtown to the Stuttgarter Weindorf (Stuttgart Winefest). So much FUN!!! We nestled in with the locals, tasted more fabulous wine, ate some more delicious food, let the kids play, all the while being in a beautiful part of downtown Stuttgart! Lincoln LOVED listening to the music being played by older men dressed in lederhosen, with their accordions...
the music was very rhythmic and soothing to one tired little man. But the wine drinkers made it that much more fun as they danced and sang along, one woman fell in love with Lincoln, I think she ended up dancing half the time just to entertain him.

Jamie had one more day of meetings in Stuttgart on Thursday, afterward we decided to go back to the winefest for some more local fun.

We took Riann & Lincoln into a local toy store, Riann was in Barbie heaven, and there were so many toys out for kids to play with, Lincoln especially loved the cars and trucks. Some delicious wine, all kinds of sausage and cheese spaetzle (German noodles with cheese), ending our evening with some of the best berry strudel we've ever had, YUM!!
Friday, September 3rd, we left Stuttgart and headed to Gunzburg to take Riann & Lincoln to Legoland Deutchsland.

Such fun for them, and a lot of fun for Jamie and me too!! Rides, playground after playground, so many things created out of Legos like Munich, Amsterdam (yes, the actually cities were rebuilt by Legos and someone who has a lot of creativity and patience). Jamie was going to take Riann on a "big" roller coaster (good for 10-12 year olds maybe, but much too big for a scaredy cat like myself) but half way through standing in line she wanted to leave. I think she was just distracted by a few other rides nearby. So when we saw a "little" roller coaster for younger kids with a little uphill climb and small hill down and a few twists and turns, Jamie suggested that was a perfect size for me. I told Riann it made the ride more fun if you scream on the way down the little hills, so she masked my screaming with her high pitched scream and I felt like I looked like I was just trying to have fun. I was a little terrified but I would do that roller coaster again. But yes, I am not a big fan of amusement park rides and I don't usually do roller coasters. They must have had a lot of fun because Riann and Linc both fell asleep quickly in the car for our drive to Munich, only about 100km away.

Ahhh... Munich. So much to see, so much to do...
Our hotel was great, (Hotel Concorde) the location was right near Marienplatz, Hofbräuhaus, and all the other must-see sites on our list. Unfortunately we woke up to rain and gray skies Saturday morning, but we didn't let it stop us. We visited the Residenz





the Hofgarten (Court Garden)


the Theatinerkirche (St. Cajetan's Church),

Feldherrnhalle ("Field Marshals' Hall"),


and stopped by for the 12:00 noon "play" at Rathaus-Glockenspiel.



Every day at 11am, 12pm (and 5pm in summer) it chimes and re-enacts two stories from the 16th century. It consists of 43 bells and 32 life-sized figures. The top half of the Glockenspiel tells the story of the marriage of the local Duke Wilhelm V (who also founded the world famous Hofbräuhaus) to Renata of Lorraine. In honor of the happy couple there is a joust with life-sized knights on horseback (thanks Wiki!!). We ate lunch at the world famous Hofbräuhaus, drinking Radler (beer and lemonade, sounds weird but tastes good!!) and an Oktoberfestbier. It was a little overwhelming that our waiter did not speak much english and everything of course is in German. We asked for the menu in English (I know, we cheated) but the English and German version didn't match up in the order it was written... again, the language barrier... We asked for milk for Riann & Lincoln, first saying "Milk??" and he looked like we were crazy, so we said "Latte?" which is milk in Italian, and he kind of shook his head and then said "Oh, okay" and brought us two little tea cups of sweetened, warm milk with an almost-coffee taste to it, so I drank it, it was GOOD but I also found out later milk in German is "milche"... gotta love that language barrier! We can usually figure out most things here on the menu in Italy because we are certainly more used to eating Italian from the US and everything is pretty self explanatory but German menus... and German food... words are 43 letters long sometimes and with the exception of a few dishes of authentic German food, I don't know much German food by name.
Jamie took care of nap time while I went out to do a little shopping though I was disappointed in how little I purchased.
After nap, we headed back out to climb the stairs of St. Peter's church bell tower, some 300+ stairs to the top... I had Lincoln in a ergo carrier, what a workout!!
We also revisited the Viktualienmarkt (food market), had dinner and polished off the night with what else: Gelato! Yes, gelato in Germany.

We had planned to drive half way back and stop in Bologna on the way home, but after getting an earlier start, making good time, having no traffic issues, we ended up making the 11 hour drive all the way home Sunday night.
3,331km in 8 days, so much fun and so many great memories!!

Quando a Roma...

Translation: When in Rome...

After 2 long weeks without a car and half that time Jamie was in the U.S., we got a rental car and took off for a day adventure to Rome. Now that is something I won't be able to say in 3 more years, but it is certainly fun to say now!!
Rome is only a short 2 hour drive, so easy for a day trip!
We left early Sunday morning, Jamie (being Human MapQuest) had a plan for our day, with parking options and a walking tour that had a few variations... with kids you always have to plan alternatives just in case!

We parked right by the Colosseum... just driving upon that was amazing! You can see a million pictures but to see it with your own eyes is beyond spectacular.


Call us crazy but we decided to not wait in the hour-plus long line to go in, figuring we'll have many more opportunities to go inside with visitors (who's coming to visit us first??) and because Rome is so close.



From the Collosseo we went along Via Dei Fori Imperiali, which was closed off to road traffic which made it that much better for Riann and Lincoln to walk a lot. We checked out views of Foro Romano (the Roman Forum) eventually stopping inside the Monument of Victor Emmanuel II... a small name for such a massive structure!! Jamie & Riann stopped on the steps for me to take a few photos but had the Vigilanza (rent-a-cop/security) blowing the whistle at them to stand up - oops, no sitting here!!

We stopped at Colonna Traiana and headed to Piazza Venezia, "the center of all national celebrations in Rome" snapping photos along the way.
We found our way along Via del Corso making our way to Fontana di Trevi (Trevi Fountain) with a stop, for what else, gelato!! Sadly, Lincoln slept through this tasty part of our visit, but it also saved a big clean up.
Trevi Fountain was, as I'm sure it almost always is, packed with tourists. Once again, pictures do not do justice to this place. Said to take 30 years to build, it is an amazingly detailed, beautiful fountain.


We left the fountain and worked our way to Piazza di Spagna (the Spanish Steps) finding ourselves first at the fountain of Barcarccia (Old Barge). Riann and I walked up the Spanish Steps together while Jamie stayed with Linc who was still taking his little siesta.
On our way to the Pantheon, we took a few side streets where it was a lot less crowded and more shade to get a break from the sun. We arrived at the Pantheon... wow!! Even being under refurbishment on the outside, it was well beyond what I expected. And the inside... not bad for being built nearly 1900 years ago!! Really though, it was incredible!



We grabbed a bite to eat and sat behind the Pantheon before we called it a day. We took a few more pictures on our way back to the car knowing that we will be heading back to Rome again soon... many more times to see ALL of Rome.

Ideale per le vacanze compleanno poco

Translation: Perfect little birthday vacation

As my birthday quickly crept up on me again this year, Jamie and I were trying to figure out where to go that was very close or on the beach, affordable and had availability - not an easy task when it is July in Italy. All the Italians seem to migrate to the beach and they spend from sun up to sun down there too. Many other Europeans also head towards the sea for their vacations, so vacancies in desirable locations in better hotels are not in abundance, that's for sure!
Riann has frequently requested to go to the beach this summer, and I just wanted to see Riann & Lincoln having a good time, maybe sip a few good drinks sea-side or pool-side and get a little reading done. We finally decided on a hotel in Pontecagnano which is found just a little further down the coast from Salerno. It was only about an hour drive, and we were able to spend most of Friday afternoon on the beach. To watch Riann's face light up as she dug holes, made sandcastles and ran in the surf was enough of a present for me.
Friday night we went to a restaurant off the beaten path from the main street of our hotel, "Giardinello" was recommended as "the best" in town by a staff member from our hotel. The only problem was we got there and it was not even 7pm yet, and in typical Italian fashion they were not yet open. Riann and Linc usually go to bed at 8pm, so we kept our fingers crossed and waited outside like stalkers until it opened. Most of the seating was outdoors with a playground in the middle. We were the ONLY people there for our entire meal but Riann and Lincoln were happy taking turns eating and running around climbing on the playground.
Saturday we woke up to clouds and a lot of wind. We had planned on spending the day between the pool and the beach, but it didn't seem quite warm enough. (It is sad that we have acclimated our bodies to thinking HOT is above 95, and it "feels cold" below 85.) We ended up making a quick decision to go into Salerno, do a little walking around, check out some sights and probably get gelato. We stumbled upon Duomo di San Matteo, a beautiful old cathedral,


and we walked around the little cobblestone side streets lined with shops. And of course, we found gelato but "gelato on a stick". The sun came out and it got hot, so we headed back to our hotel. We walked over to the beach but it was so windy and the seas were really rough.

We spent a few more hours at the pool before dining at our hotel's restaurant. The hotel also had a playground near by the dining area, so dining with the little ones was a pleasant experience once again.
Sunday was my birthday and I woke up to Riann delivering several handmade cards about a foot from my face and a little "It's your birthday Momma" whispered in my face. We had a nice breakfast at our hotel then headed home so Riann and Jamie could create my birthday cake. With a quick stop at a little road side market to get watermelon and peaches, we got home before noon and had the rest of the day to play.

Due giorni, due avventure continua

Translation: Two days, two adventures continued

Last Saturday after Spaccanpoli, the four of us were at a barbeque with some friends. Our barbeque was right next to "Central Park" here on base to watch Gary Sinise and the LT Dan Band. We met up with some other friends who ended up inviting us to tag along with them on their Sunday adventure...
Sunday morning we got up and met our friends for the 30km scenic drive from home to Casertavecchia. We did zero research, we had no info, so we had no idea what we would find at the end of our drive, but we trusted our friends to take us to someplace pretty cool.

We drove up, up, up the hillside of the Tifitani mountains, around all these hairpin turns with seemingly nothing else around and ended up at a dirt parking lot with a few restaurants at the bottom of another hill. We walked up this long hill to find ourselves at the start of the little medieval village of Casertavecchia. Again, a place that you picture when you know you are coming to Italy. A one lane, cobblestone road about as wide as a car, we were often moving over to let a small car or motorscooter pass us. The ruins were closed off but I was able to hold my camera up, point and shoot, getting some pretty amazing pictures.





There were church bells chiming for several minutes before we reached the bell tower. I'm not sure if she liked watching the bells or hearing the sound they made but Riann kept saying they were beautiful. To live life through the eyes of your own child is a pretty fun experience, it makes you look at things again in a completely different way and really look at something instead of just walking by.
We stumbled upon the church that must have just let out, and then through an archway we spotted several people watching something... being curious, we deicided to look too. What we found were two men in full suits of armor on horseback. What we ended up finding out from an Italian spectator was these men were practicing for an upcoming jousting tournament. It was pretty cool to see, and something I never thought I would...



We ended up having lunch with our friends at a wonderful little restaurant where, of course, the food was delicious. Pasta and pizza for all of us, and then a stop at the bottom of the hill we had to walk back down for gelato before heading home.