In late April, we had a visit from our dear friends of over 20 years, Bill and Ro Boston. When we met them, I was 18 and Bryan was 19 and we had to call Bill "Colonel Boston," because he was our ROTC Detachment Commander at Mizzou! They have always been a third set of parents to us, so we were thrilled to have them come! And I have to say, they were really easy! They enjoyed seeing all the simple real-life places right around Aviano that make living here in the Italian culture such a joy -- the Italian grocery store, the latteria, the wineries, the mountain trails, the plant nursery, the local restaurants, etc. They stayed for over a week, and we spent a lot of time on our porch, and also kept very busy doing nothing important, but it was great!
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| The dinner spread on their first evening with us |
When we weren't grilling and eating on our porch, we took them to our favorite restaurants like Artugna's for pizza, and BEFeD Brewpub for beer and chicken!
Bill even put together all my new dining room chairs for my "new" antique table!
One afternoon we hiked up the mountain to a cute little church...
And of course, we had to take the train to Venice one day...
Ro immensely enjoyed the Italian grocery store and the gourmet restaurant supply store.
We also went to the nursery and planted a lot of flower pots, but mostly we sat on the porch, drinking either coffee or vino!
One evening, I served up such perfectly heavenly things that I had to take this shot!
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| Perfection! |
Our big trip was to Assisi. Unfortunately, Bryan didn't get to come with us because he hurt his back. Poor thing was miserable, but was better off at home than riding 5 hours in the car and climbing the steep hills of Assisi. We stayed at an agriturismo (bed and breakfast/farm/vineyard) that I had stayed at before, called La Podere di Fornace. As always, it was beautiful. We spent two nights.
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| View from our little balcony |
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| View of Assisi from over the vineyard at our hotel |
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| The cute little kitchen in our apartment at the hotel |
The place is beautiful and the poppies were in bloom, so this was the perfect chance to get some new shots of the kids, for the grandparents...
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| Sara at age 9 |
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| Andrew at age 13 |
This was my third time to Assisi, and honestly, it never disappoints! I always see things I didn't see before. This time, there was even a medieval festival going on.
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| Big crowds for the festival |
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| Awesome costumes |
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| In the cloisters at the Basilica of St. Francis |
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| Front of the Basilica |
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| View from the Basilica |
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| We had dinner at my favorite place in Assisi, La Lanterna |
We also went to the town of Deruta to look for some pottery, but it was rainy and most shops were closed. The last morning, I dropped Bill and Ro off in Florence, so they could enjoy a few days there alone, before they had to head home. We were so sad to see them go. It was a wonderful visit!
