November 6, 2010, Saturday Germany weekend

This weekend we were invited to spend with friends from Germany that Eric has kept in touch with over the years. Guenter and Luzimar live in a beautiful neighborhood in the countryside town of Laucheim. From the deck of their beautiful home you can see a castle up on the hill and horses out their back. We enjoyed the beautiful views from their very nice home. When we arrived Luzimar greeted us with open arms and we relaxed for a bit until Guenter came rushing in from the store, with bags of supplies for a party they were throwing for us that night. Guenter is very excitable and high energy and Luzimar (a free lance artist who speaks several languages) is much more laid back. Both very, very nice and wonderful hosts. Eric and Guenter met on a job over 20 years ago and remained friends, and have seen each other over the years a number of times. I had not seen Guenter since our first meeting 20 years ago just after Taylor was born and I had never met Luzimar. Guenter pulled out pictures from 20 years ago when we first met and we had a good laugh at the hair and clothing styles, and how young everyone looked. Guenter had also arrived with a giant apple cake he asked his mother to bake for our arrival. So we enjoyed cake and drinks and quickly reunited. Guenter was thrilled to see what a wonderful young lady Taylor had grown into, he remembered seeing her as a baby for the first time. After our cake and conversation we headed for the Limes-Thermen spa. These are natural mineral water hot springs baths. They had several different rooms with large pools of very warm natural mineral hot springs. We started in the outside pool and then moved to a room with nice blue lighting and gentle scent that was very relaxing, then to the large center pool where they have a live jazz band, then to the hot tub and to the cold tub and back to the hot tub. We had a great time and it was so relaxing and wonderful. The water was so clear and soothing. It was getting time for the party so we went back our hotel to get ready and Guenter and Luzimar went to prepare.

Guenter and Luzimar had invited two other couples, one whom Eric had met on his last visit and another who were recently married and good friends of Luzimar. They all spoke English very well as do Guenter and Luzimar. Jeff, one of the guests is actually from Michigan and we had a great time getting to know all of them. As soon as we arrived Guenter went to work preparing a traditional Brazilian drink called Caipirinha (Luzimar is Brazilian born). It was so good, strong but so good. I drank mine and most of Taylors. It is made with lime, sugar, lots of ice and cachaca which is a Brazilian liquor. So so good, I loved it! We had some munchies and red wine and many many other drinks. Guenter almost makes a hobby out of his liquor collection and his very happy to share.

They grilled some awesome steaks and we all sat down to the most fabulous meal of steak, potatoes, salad, breads, and much more. All extremely delicious.

We ate and drank and talked and ate and drank and talked. We all blended very well and had such a great time. I learned alot about Germany and what it is like to live there. After we were over stuffed Guenter suggested we bundle up and head out for a walk. It was cool and a bit raining but not bad and the fresh air felt great. It was fun to see some of the other homes in the neighborhood. We returned to the house and settled into the living room where we talked and drank a bit more until after 2:00. Guenter had already set up a ride back to our hotel, so we were escorted to the hotel and it was a good thing because Eric passed out as soon as he hit the bed and I was certainly in no shape to drive. What a blast of an evening and a great party.

Taylor was given quite a nice gift from Guenter. You'll have to check out her blog!

November 4, 2010 Thursday

Okay so yesterday (as you could tell from my blog) I was all sentimental and gushy, and then today I come back from a quick errand, and there is a delivery guy at my front gate with a huge box. The huge box had my name on it! I signed while he rattled something French to me and I just smiled and thanked him. I told Taylor this box will come in handy for shipping stuff home in too!

I think there are 50 of them. I tried to count but lost my way. Thank You to my wonderful brothers and sisters for the stunning 50th birthday gift! Looking forward to seeing you all again very soon.

Love You All

November 3, 2010 Wednesday

Today was one of those fall days when you get outside and just feel blessed. I was watching the sky all morning and it continued to be dark with little breaks of bright now and then. It looked cold, but with all the eating I've been undertaking I have to get out every day for excercise. Today, I decided to bundle up and skip the run and just go for a long walk. When I stepped out into the gloomy sky I was quite surprised by the warmth of the light breeze. Then as I walked along the sky would brighten every now and then bringing the spots of fall colors to life. It was the kind of day where you could walk forever and just reflect on all you have. I thought about all the wonderful birthday wishes I received in the mail and over facebook and email. I reread in my mind the poem my special aunt wrote for me and sent me in the mail. When you get one of Aunt Kay's poems written for you, you know you are loved. Thank you all so much for sending your thoughts my way, I appreciate everyone of you.

So my gift to you is this display of photos from the new fall plantings in the little village I currently reside. They just replaced all the summer arrangements with wondeful fall colors. Enjoy!

November 1, 2010 Monday travel day

Up on time and packed to leave our quaint, friendly B&B in the Tuscan countryside. We took one more look at the view of the countryside with the olive trees, from our vantage point on the hill. We were able to get a quick cappuccino and pastry before loading into the again very expensive taxi. I actually think we got ripped off by the taxi driver, but what are you going to do, stand there and argue with him in front of the train station.  I think not, so we paid the astronomical fee and headed to our train. We enjoyed some very good company on our first stretch of the trip from Florence to Milan. There was a mom and her son from Virginia traveling all through Europe together sitting right next to us. It was so good to hear and talk in a language I can understand with people whom we had so much in common. We talked about adventures, where we've been and where we still plan to go. It made that stretch of the trip fly by. We did see some flooding in Italy on this stretch. We heard that this was very unusual weather for them. Of course, during the few days we were there. We changed trains in Milan, which is a very neat train station.

We made our way through Italy, and Switzerland, which was again breathtaking. We treated ourselves to lunch in the train car that is set up as a restaurant and enjoyed the food and sights. Another full day of travel, but back to Strasbourg by around 5:00 pm, so Eric had time to chill before having to go back to work the next day.

October 31, 2010, Sunday Halloween in the US and my 50th

It's true what they say about turning 50. I got up and looked in the mirror and did not recognize that person. How did this happen? I've just been going about my business, living my life, raising my family. All of a sudden this older woman with wrinkly eyes is looking back at me. Who is she? How did she get to look like this? Where did the 20's, 30's and even 40's go? Not to sure about this. It kind of threw me off for the day.
I meandered back into the room, after my rude awakening with reality, where Eric and Taylor were still sleeping and looked at Eric's watch. Oh no! We overslept, it was after 9:00 and we have 10:30 reservations for the Uffizi Gallery that were very pricey to get. And heaven forbid we should miss our wonderful buffet breakfast. I woke Taylor and Eric and we dressed warmly for what looked to be a very wet day. We hurried down to breakfast only to find another couple looking confused and wondering where breakfast was. No one else was to be found. We were just about to head out for the bus when in came the girls who prepare breakfast. There had been a time change and we were clueless to it. Perfect for us though, because now we can have breakfast and still get to the gallery on time. We enjoyed another wonderful breakfast, packed up the umbrellas and made our way to the Gallery. We found many lines when we arrived and because we had advance reservations we were sure the shortest line was where we should be. We stood in that only to find that it was for information of where to stand in line if you have reservations, so we made our way to that line. We stood in that line to get our tickets so that we could stand in line to get into the gallery. It was all a little crazy considering I paid an extra 30 Euro, 42 USD to not have to stand in line. It really wasn't too bad though, when you consider those without reservations were standing in a 2 to 3 hour line. In the rain. Anyway, this is obviously a very popular tourist spot. Touring of this museum began in 1591 making it the oldest museum in the world. It is massive and is filled with sculptures and paintings from long, long ago. We saw paintings from Michelango, Leonardo Davinci and many more famous painters. We saw sculptures and sculptures and more sculptures. If you love art and history you must see this gallery. This was the perfect day to stroll the gallery because it was not nice outside. Very rainy.

After the Gallery we were starving and hopped into one of the first restaurants we came across to get out of the rain. It turned out to be really neat with very good pizza made like they enjoy in the Southern region of Italy. The sauce was a little different and the pizza crust edge was just a little thicker, but not thick compared to pizza at home. Again, very good. We shared a slice of cheesecake that was very light and fluffy for dessert. Yum, more good eating.

After lunch we purchased another umbrella and did some more leisurely sightseeing amongst the many other umbrella laden people in the city. I was amazed at how many people were out in the rain on a Sunday in late October. I can't imagine what this city is like during high tourist season. We did a bit more shopping, and tired of the wet,  we headed back to our B&B. The hike up the gravel road was wet and muddy and we were all feeling a bit travel weary. I think the weather was getting to us. We changed into dry comfortable clothes and discussed dinner plans. None of us were too excited to go back out into the wet and mud in the dark, so we broke out the few snacks we had left from our travel, and sat on our bed and played cards all evening listening to the rain. I had a terrible headache and Eric went into the kitchen and made me some tea. It tasted really good. So that was Halloween and my birthday. Not quite what we had in mind, Taylor and I didn't get our grappa or limoneade after dinner drinks, but we just couldn't do the rain and mud again. We did get a visit from the gray cat that lives on the grounds and made great friends with Taylor and Eric. But no trick or treaters! We set the alarm this time for an early morning to catch a taxi to the train station.

October 30, 2010 Saturday in Florence

I woke up Saturday morning to the birds chirping loudly in the Tuscan countryside. The weather reports all said upper 60's and sunshine for Saturday in Florence. However, when I got up to check out the birds singing to us, the sky said  dark cloud cover, and the air temps said cold. Why do I read the weather reports? Then Eric said he wasn't feeling so good and I was worried our day was off to a rough start. I think the over indulgence of magical pizza and smooth red wine so late at night was not sitting to well for him. We layered up for the day and headed down to the breakfast room where we had a wonderful buffet breakfast. I cannot believe the number of calories I continue to pack in. I lost all sense of watching what I eat since I left home. Sure I'll have two giant pastries for breakfast with bread and olive oil and fruit and juice and and and..... What is wrong with me, I just had a half bottle of wine a whole pizza and a thousand calorie chocolate dessert late the night before. That scale is dangerously awaiting my return. But it is all so good.

We caught the bus into Florence for the day and wandered through this old, historic city. Our first stop was the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella. This is very near the train station.

Our next stop was the Duomo. This basilica is one of Italy's largest, and the dome is the largest brick dome in the world. This was beautiful and huge. We were able to get inside and look around at the beautiful painted dome and stained glass windows.

Eric and I at the front door entrance of the Duomo. Incredible.

We walked all the way around the Duomo and enjoyed the Piazza Duomo. Of course being in Italy and all, we had to have some gelato. It was a bit chilly for it, but worth it. So good!

The dome from one of the many alley's. We walked the alley's of Florence and enjoyed the many surprises around each corner. Taylor and I were constantly distracted by the many, many shops everywhere. Leather, leather everywhere!

We came upon the open air market of San Lorenzo where Taylor and I got sucked in, in a big way. We spent lots of time shopping the rows of booths and made some fun gift purchases for some special people back home. I think you will be pleased Robin! Oh and Eric has become a scarf wearing European now! He wasn't going to do it but he looks so good. We all got new scarves. We also wandered into the cast iron constructed indoor San Lorenzo market where many shops are located, selling fresh food products, many of them specialties from the Tuscan countryside. We saw some very unusual meat items, not to sure about those.

We warmed ourselves with a real Italian spaghetti dish with red wine for lunch. It felt good to sit down, warm up and chow on this delicious pasta! Ah, spaghetti in Italy! Do I have to tell you it was superb.

After lunch we did some more aimless wandering and came upon the Palazzo Vecchio where there were many statues including a copy of Michelangelo's David. Every where you turn there is history and art in this city and it is easy to go with no plan and just wander to see the sights.

This is Ponte Vecchio, the first, which makes it the oldest bridge in the city. It was really something. It was a bridge of jewelry shops.

The shops sparkled brightly with lights, and every girl's best friend. I had no idea this was here, but it was very crowded. It would have been fun to purchase a little souvenir but how would you ever decide?

From here we found a bus stop for our route and headed back to Fattoria Settemerli to warm up and get ready for dinner. The owner was there when we came in and she gave us some history on the old farm house. Really interesting. We then went back to Galluzzo to another little pizzeria for dinner. The pizza was again amazing and we had a Tuscan speciality of dips and bread with it. We had ice cream desserts and noticed both nights out, that everyone around us would finish their meals with what looked like a shot. It was Grappa a very high % alcohol drink (70 to 120 US proof) only produced in Italy. It is made from the leftovers of winemaking and is used as an after dinner drink to help digest heavy meals. We also saw lots of  limoncello, which is also a strong alcohol content after dinner drink made in Southern Italy. It looked really good. Taylor and I decided our last night here we would each try one.

October 29, 2010 Friday train to Italy

Italy here we come, but first a long train ride all day Friday. The sun was shining and we were excited to add Italy to our list of visits. We had the most wonderful, scenic train ride through the Alsace region of France, and then all through Switzerland into Italy.  The fall colors on the hills, with the Swiss Chalets sprinkled throughout, and the snow covered Alps for a backdrop was amazing. So hard to describe how this scene would draw you in. The awesome scenery and blue sky made for a fabulous day of travel on Friday.

The sky was turning dark as we changed trains in Milan to arrive at our destination of Florence. Once in Florence it was dark and we had a difficult time finding the bus to get us to our B&B, Fattoria Settemerli. We were able to get some help finding the bus and the next hurdle was to find the B&B. We had read that it is very hard to find so we went with very specific directions and maps in hand. This was all fine and good except that we were on a packed bus in the dark heading for the Tuscan countryside, looking for a small alley that lead to the 14th century farmhouse on a hill.

Lucky for us there was a woman watching Eric look at the maps and look out into the dark streets. She spoke English and asked him if he had any idea where he was going, guess he looked a little panicked. She just happened to be a tour guide and lived somewhere near Galluzzo, the little village near our B&B. She told us when to get off the bus.  So there we were in the dark without a clue which direction to walk. We headed down the dark street looking for a sign and discovered we were headed the wrong way (of course, we did this often). Anyway, we did find the little alley and headed up the long, gravel hill with our luggage in tow and the moon lighting the way. I was so happy to have a darling English speaking gal meet us at the gate. We must have appeared road weary because she quickly showed us to our room and before we could open our suitcases, she was back at our door with glasses of local made Chianti and little tarts. It was close to 9:00 pm now and we were quite hungry, so Eric and I made our way back down the hill into the little village of Galluzzo and found a wonderful little pizzeria named Pepe Rosa. It was noisy and busy and we had the most delicious pizza we have every had. This is what we came to Italy for! We shared a bottle of the house red, which had no label just a little tag around the neck that said "vinci tosces ole tovole".  Seriously smooth red wine, and the pizza Eric described as magical. I think that is the perfect description. Even though we ate a whole pizza each, with our choice of toppings, we ordered a chocolate dessert. It was like a chocolate volcano cake. I was having a good time in Italy! I was happy for the hike back to the B&B. It felt good to walk in the cool air, under the starry night sky with my sweetie, and a very satisfied tummy.