Vendemmia

In Italy, September means it's time to harvest the grapes -- the vendemmia! For the second time, we got to go help our Italian friends do this! It was the MOST GORGEOUS day! Like last year, we started with the work and when that was done we commenced on the really fun part -- lots of food, wine, grappa, and laughter! It was a great mix of Italian and American friends in the best of spirits for the day! They know a little English, we know a little Italian, and it works out just wonderfully!

Giuseppe (Bepi) Zambon and his vineyard

Bellissima!

Mia bella figlia, Sara

Andrew Lind and Bryan

Me!

Andrew, working hard!

My amicas -- Camille, Ebri, Laura, and Audrey

Bepi and Andrew putting the harvested grapes in the stem separator

Casa di Zambon

Everyone!  Tutti!



Louisa and Silva with a huge pot of pasta ragu!  Yum!



Bryan and Andrew start in on the grappa!

We all sang Happy Birthday (Tanti Auguri) to Bryan and Bepi!

They had so much fun -- Bepi, Bryan, and Alberto

Rogero, bringing out the wheelbarrow to cart home the grappa drinkers!

Grazie mille to the Zambons! We will miss you, and this day so much next year when we are living back in the states!

Air Force Ball

Happy 65th Anniversary to the Air Force! Here we are before the Air Force Ball on September 7th.

Labor Day Weekend

Over Labor Day weekend we took a couple of short day-trips, trying to cover some of the little things we want to see before we move back to the states next summer. Our time is ticking and the list is still long! So, we are trying our best to take in as much as we can!

The kids and I had been before, but Bryan had not been out to see Valdobiaddene, on the Prosecco Road -- the region that produces most of Italy's version of champagne, a light, bubbly white wine. We like Prosecco MUCH better than champagne! It is so beautiful here in August, when the grapes are full, just before they are harvested in September. Bryan needed to see this! We stopped at the Ca Salina Winery for our views.

Tasting Room

This is the catering area at the rear of the winery. I want to hold a party here!

Natural gazebo

I'm pretty proud of this shot -- it's just an amazing view and it's hard to capture just how pretty it is...

We also went to the town of Vicenza, just 2 hours away. There's a US Army base there, so we also dropped in to visit their BX and see what the base was like. The town is famous for it's Palladian architecture. Considered the last great artist of the renaissance, Palladio was the 16th century architect who gave us the arch and columnal style, used in many buildings, including Thomas Jefferson's home of Monticello (look at the back of a nickel).

Exterior of an old Roman amphitheater -- closed that day, so we couldn't go in

Besides this we had dinner with our good friends the Pappas' and had a lot of down time to relax! Much needed!

First Day of School

August 27th was the first day back to school for the kids -- Sara in 4th grade and Andrew in 8th! I can't believe it!  Sara was so excited to be going into Mrs. Burk's multi-age 4th/5th classroom at Aviano Elementary.  Andrew was happy to be homeschooled again (because he loves his teacher SO much), but he'd rather have his summer last forever!

Sara, 9-1/2 years

Andrew 13-1/2 years

Summer Trip Part 5: Colmar, France

Our final stop was Colmar, France. It was only a few hours from Heidelberg, just inside the border of France. We spent one afternoon, evening, and night there before heading home through Switzerland. Colmar, for us, was just ok. It was our least favorite place we visited on this trip. Maybe we were just tired of traveling and didn't give it a fair shot, or maybe, after seeing all the super-cute German towns, it just didn't rate, but we all felt the same way. We did have some good food though. Many dishes are a mix of the French and German cultures.

Many of the 16th century buildings were top-heavy with each higher floor getting larger, like this one. That is because they used to be taxed on the square footage of their building that actually touched the ground. So, they built up and out!

My pretty flower!

There was some very good French wine!

Ice cream always makes us smile!

In all of our European travels, this was the first peeing fountain we have come across! We weren't drinking the water out of that one!

We saw this sign as we drove home. The kids were so excited because this would mean seeing grandma and grandpa! But alas, it was St. Louis, France! Pretty cool though!

So, we drove home, through beautiful Switzerland the next day, thus ending our FANTASTIC week of summer vacation! 

Summer Trip Part 4: Espenshied

So, how cool is this?!?! My grandmother's German ancestral hometown of Espenshied was near to where we were going on the Rhine river! We spent a few hours just strolling and photographing the small little place. I think we only saw 4 people! We started with this awesome welcome sign as we drove in...



Established in 1187!


First, we headed for the church. There weren't any old family gravestones, since in Europe they turn over small cemetaries every century or so. These were all from post WWII. The church itself, though, was built in the 1600's.

It was a cute, quiet and clean little place. Three restaurants/bars, one church, one gas pump, and no grocery store to be found! I guess they drive to another town!

Slate tiles...

This house wins the "cutest" prize!

We had an interesting lunch. We only speak but about 20 words of German and in this little town, they don't speak ANY English. Lucky for us, we know the important words like bier and schnitzel!!! We tried telling the lady why we were there and she understood, but we couldn't get any other information.

I took a lot more photos, but with those I created a photo book for my mom, uncle and cousins. I think my grandmother would have loved it here, and would have been thrilled that I got to go. I have been in touch with one Espenshied cousin who lives in Germany and he told me that they have an Espenshied family reunion in the town every 2 years -- the next one will be in May of 2013. I'm hoping to be able to go while I still live here in Europe!