Girls' Getaway!

Ahhh...a wonderfully fun and relaxing girl's weekend in the Umbria region of Italy. Laura, Angela and I left on Friday afternoon at 1pm and drove 5 hours to Assisi where we had an inexpensive 2 bedroom apartment to stay in. No kids, no hubbies, no pets, no cooking, no cleaning, no laundry, no responsibity -- a lot of shopping, a lot of food, a lot of wine, a lot of fun, a lot of freedom, etc. Here we are upon reaching Assisi. I think it's quite clear how we were feeling...


This was my second trip to Assisi and it was just as clean, picturesque, and charming as before.







Oh my goodness!


Fabulous dinner and dessert! Don't we look so relaxed and serene?



Shopping in Deruta...



Another fabulous dinner the next night, with some unusual foods. My antipasti appetizer course was called a "crunchy egg". It was a soft boiled egg, breaded and quickly deep fried, sitting on a bed of shaved zucchini. It was yummy, but different! We also shared a bottle of a 1999 Pinot Nero. Me and Laura...


Angela (and a fake Mona Lisa)...


My crunchy egg...


Our sweet waiter and our vino...


Our last morning, we visited a town called Gubbio. There, we were just about the only people speaking English! It was such a cute little place. We only had a few hours, but wished we had more time. The little shops were great.







No matter where you go, there's a beautiful church...




Now there's something you don't see everyday! We were surprised to stumble upon a parade of about 50 Ferarris! I took pictures of a lot of them, but I can't hardly tell one from the other, so I just put a few here. If you are a real Ferrari buff and want to see more, I have 'em!





On Sunday afternoon we headed north in order to be home with our families for dinner. What an awesome weekend it was! Grazie mille miei amici!!!!

Colle Umberto

There was a Grape Harvest Festival in the nearby town of Colle Umberto last weekend. It was another great day with friends, but with MUCH less wine this time, since we couldn't just walk home. Another difference from our last grape harvesting event was that this was only for fun. We weren't actually working to harvest the entire crop, just cutting a few bunches for the photo op. It's a good thing too -- this was not someone's small private garden -- it was a huge commercial vineyard that bottles thousands of liters of wine and prosecco. We would have been there for DAYS if we had to harvest all those grapes!!




The best part about this harvest was that the kids got to experience the old fashioned grape stomp! They loved it! Here are Andrew and Sara in the barrel, with their friends Cindy and Lizzie...




And here we are with our friends the James and the Linds, at the festival luncheon. They served us pasta, salad, and cinghiale (wild boar) with polenta. It was yummy!


We also got to tour a 600 year old villa, owned by a real Contessa. It has been in her family all this time. She also owns a palace on the Grand Canal in Venice. The villa was huge, but we only got to see the public rooms and the yard. All of the walls, ceilings, stucco, floors, windows, etc. were original!







The villa has it's own small chapel...


We sipped prosecco in the back yard.


Cheers from the Contessa....


This photo is of me and Esperia, my sweet Italian friend, who helped plan the festival, and who also takes very good care of me. She is a treasure trove of stories, having been raised in Paris as a little girl!


Two views from the tower...



And a view of the vineyard...



Luckily, we got all of this in before the downpour!

Croatia

Italy's neighbor to the east, across the Adriatic, is the Republic of Croatia. For us, in northern Italy, it's just a short drive across a teeny little part of Slovenia to get there. Croatia, like Slovenia, used to be a communist state, but has been an independent republic since 1991. It was a quick trip for us, just one day and one night, to the town of Rovinj (pronounced Ro-veen-ya). It is an old city, and from 1283 to 1797 it was part of the Republic of Venice. Rovinj turned out to be one of the most colorful cities we've visited.



We stayed in a little apartment resort across the bay. Right away, the kids had to swim in the Adriatic! The water was very clear and they could see schools of fish. There was no sand -- only rocks...



Our view of Rovinj from across the bay...


Here's what Bryan did while they swam...


Sara, being Ariel, the little mermaid...


There was also a salt water pool and slide. But, the kids didn't stay here long when there was a sea to swim in.


In the evening we took the boat taxi over to town. We had dinner and walked around looking at the shops and markets. This was one of the prettiest little markets we've seen. SO much fruit! I can't imagine they sell it all!





Some views of the city...




We were treated to a beautiful sunset on the boat ride back to our room.



Next morning, we headed home. Croatia is not yet part of the European Union, so we don't get to just breeze over the border. It took over an hour at the Slovenian border to get back in, but we all got a nice new stamp in our passports. ;o)