2008: A year in pictures Part I

I copied Jessica on her "2007 year in review" last year and seeing that she's already done her post (you are so on top of things!), here's a look back at the first six months of the year.

January

We rang in the new year at home, barely making it through our "The Amazing Race" game that I found for $10.





February

Our long-lost friend, Mary, visited.



March

Probably the busiest month of the year - we bought the front house...



...celebrated St. Patrick's Day (Scott with Steve)...



...and spent Easter at Loretta and Jay's ranch...



April

I turned 31 and Ryan did a lot of work on the outdoor ambience....



..and Kris introduced us to "Chicken Shit Bingo" at Little Ginnie's Longhorn saloon.



May

I went back to Salt Lake City to see my brother graduate from college, celebrate my grandparent's 70th anniversary, and get the news that I had been promoted....



...we also replaced the roof on the front house...



...and our Aero Saarinen table finally arrived!



June

One of my favorite months this year! Day trips, weekend trips, loads of fun. Ryan went to a week-long advanced course at Vidal Sassoon in Santa Monica (his first long trip all by himself - he did great!)...



...after we spent a wonderful weekend relaxing in Orange County, including time at Huntington Beach...



...and walking the canals in Venice, California (the first Venice of the year!)...



...and under the watchful eyes of Melissa, big kitty Grete awaits our return...



...we also headed to Lockhart for some BBQ love (for better or worse)!

Photo Recap: Days 4-6, Ljubljana Slovenia (Europe 2008)

From my journal:

"Heading here has been the craziest idea since Ryan first popped the, 'Do you want to pick up a BMW in Germany?' back in June 2006. Go to the place Ryan's great-frandfather emigrated from in the 1930s? Heck yeah!

"And as our train enters Austria, I am sad and am missing Ljubljana already. I know we had certainly checked off the tourist sights - but I found myself wanting to start learning the language and not feeling the intimidation I feel with Deutsch. I already miss some of the Jabortnik things, the last vestigates of a Communist era under Tito, but mostly the vivaciousness of the city center - one for the residents, not just the tourists."

Three favorite things:

1) The beautiful Slovenians, especially the Kuhano Vino sellers
2) Buying Ljubljana/Slovenian patches and a pin for Ryan
3) Ordering a wine and lunch all in Slovenian



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Tschüß!!

Me and my hubby

Awww, a long day of hanging out, getting some great bargains at the
mall, and now a beer and split sandwiches. Awwww....

Parma, Buffalo Mozzarella, & Orecchiette #2

In Milan, after walking somewhat bleary-eyed through the city after landing at 9:00 in the morning and only meeking out a an hour of sleep, we decided a big feast was in order. (This happened to come directly after our 18:30 appt with The Last Supper. Chuckle.) The hotel recommended a neighborhood restaurant that was along the same tram line and within walking distance to Santa Maria delle Grazie. We finished being tourists at about 18:50 and walked through wide and dark streets that reminded me of the upper west-side of Manhattan until we found the restaurant.

Strangely, no one was in there and the lights were off. Ryan tried the door and it didn't open. I know it's Monday night, but... Hm, we walked around the block, and by 19:05 the lights were on and someone was tying their tie at the front desk. Nervously we approached. Part of me felt the big "T" revealing itself on my back, heading to dinner at a little after 7 p.m., "ahh, tourists...American tourists...grab the English menu with the day-old dishes from Sunday night, they'll happily slurp it!"

I tried the door. Pull, pull, it wouldn't move. The guy inside is looking at us a little strange. Push, it opens. Doh, our first intro to Italian street-front door mechanics. We motion for two and he kindly directs us to a cute table by the window in the quiet restaurant. He says some things in Italian, we nod and smile, he gives us the menu and he's off. I reach in my bag and pull out my petite, discreet English-Italian dictionary and start to translate. Next thing I know, a English menu is quietly sat on the table, without fanfare. I'm starting to love this restaurant.

More people came in, eventually, including about 50 children coming to a birthday party in the back; some arriving with parents, some just showing up alone (and probably took the tram alone too). We settled into our groove and not only ordered appetizers, but a primo, and secondo as well. Why not? The food was incredible!

Our favorite - was the Parma and Buffalo Mozzarella we ate for an appetizer. Not only was the Parma the most delicate, melt-in-our-mouth flavor and texture, but the Mozzarella left us speechless. No, it wasn't just sliced up Mozz...some was runny, some was in the middle, all of it was delicious.



Last night, we went in search of a replacement dish. We tried Whole Foods, but they had pulled all of their Parma di Proscuitto because they asked the Italian makers if they used nitrates and didn't receive a response...go figure...so no more Parma there and the Buffalo Mozzarella was $9 for one chunk. We couldn't think of any local Italian deli shops in the entire city...and were about to head to Central Market when Ryan remembered that Costco had some...?? Costco?? To our interesting delight, Costco had a bountiful 12 oz package of Parma for $16. (Remember, in the deli case it's $27 per pound.) While they also had some Buffalo Mozzerella, we had picked up regularly cow mozz at Whole Foods and wasn't sure we were ready for the big Costco package that cost $8 and included several balls.

The results were fantastic...we loved every bit of it...and can't wait to use the extra Parm for a wrapped pork roast or something yummy like that.

Oh, then we made Orecchiette for the second time in a week. F-a-b-u-l-o-u-s. Note the new Le Creuset dish...merry christmas to us! This, along with a new iron (to replace the one I accidentally dropped and dented) made up a functional but fun Christmas.



The pasta was a bit thick and and while Orecchiette technically means "lambs ears" in Italian, we like to think they are pasta contact lenses. Here, Ryan displays the proper application...might want to leave the salt out of your solution.



Tschüß!!

Gemüsegulyas (von Schwein)

A good goulash is always perfect for a wintery evening - when I made this last week, it happened to be cold and foggy here in Austin. Although I now write this in the balmy 60s, I'm thinking back on the two cold nights we had Goulash on our recent trip...first, in Ljubljana Slovenia, and the second in Salzburg, Austria.

So, what is goulash? With its hungarian origins, it's basically a meat and vegetable stew or soup...depending on how thick you make it...with the key ingredient being paprika. Traditionalists say that thickening agents should come from fatty meat not flour and taste should come from paprika not tomatoes. I like a good standard chameleon goulash that does a little bit of everything.



I used a recipe from my "The German Cookbook" by Mimi Sheraton, written in the 60s, and the influences of the decade are clearly present. To me, that's a good thing since I am a fan of 60s and 70s based food. I used pork sirloin roast, since it's both flavorful and cheap, and loved the use of whole, peeled tomatoes!

The two aforementioned times I ate it in Europe used game, whether just deer or a mix of deer and wild boar (Carolignian boar, a regional type) and it was amazing. There is always the fear of deer being "gamey" and I frankly don't quite know where I'd go to get some...but maybe we leave that to the Slovenes and Austrians and my memories.



Notice the cute Christmas tablecloth; thankfully it fit on our table. We bought it last year at the city-wide garage sale and couldn't resist it...it is homemade, a cute print, and other than trimming the yarn fringe it needed no other repairs.

Time to figure out what I should do with the leftover bits of Honey Baked Ham that we have. It's been amazing and I know there is a soup or stew in our future...just not sure how the honey aspect will play into it. Hrmmm...

Tschüß!

Photo Recap: Day 3-4, Venice (Europe 2008)

One of the highlights of our trip; an amazing two days and one night with Silvia and her family. We met Silvia at the Hofbrauhaus in München on our October 2006 trip and kept in contact ever since. Going to Venice was a last-minute change to our trip but the best decision we've ever made!

I still can visualize meeting Silvia at the train station, walking through labyrinth-like alleys and streets to find their 200-year old house, petting their beautiful cats (Tommy, Lady, and Tommy II), eating Oreccetta and drinking wine for lunch, enjoying grappa in espresso, the special tour on their family boat, walking through the streets and hearing Silvia's papa singing somewhere in the distance, drinking amazing Cappuccinos, a foggy walk in the morning, pizza with Silvia translating back and forth, hearing "Trinque, Trocque, Balokey" which is used to say "etc, etc, etc" but sounded like she was making fun of Ryan's slavic background, seeing the market full of locals, watching Silvia and her papa saying ciao to others, having Silvia's mama grab my head and say beautiful Italian things that I didn't understand to say goodbye (then hearing it again on the cell phone the next day, "ciaociaociaociaociaociao"), learning how to curse at Berlosconi with our hands, climbing into Silvia's upstairs on a winding wooden stair, seeing groceries chilling on the windowsill outside, walking through crazy alleys to find the beautiful staircase............a dream.



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p.s. This is my 201st post! Thank you for coming along for the ride!

Tschüß!!!

Heavenly Capuccino

Ryan makes the prettiest Capuccino! In a beautiful new cup/saucer!
Thanks Melissa and Spencer! :)

Our Christmas bird is very happy with his gift

Orange Christmas Morning Rolls

They are really called Orange Breakfast Rolls, but since I always have tied Christmas morning with them - I'm changing the name when it's Christmas morning. These are one of my all-time favorite bread dishes, ever - and it's silly I haven't asked for the recipe until now. Some part of me always thought they were difficult to make, but they're rather easy!

Special thanks to Melissa and Spencer for the Monkey Bread bowl that subbed for a Bundt Pan. The only bundt shape we had was a silicone one shaped like a rose. Ummm, no. So we pulled out the Monkey Bread bowl and it was perfect!!



Mom, you were right about the gooey aspect, two potholders got slobbered on with the sticky, yummy, orange syrup (with orange peel bits and all).

Time to relax, nap, and enjoy the day off, and play with the little goodies we bought eachother. Our trip to Europe was Christmas (and more...) so we set a small budget for stocking stuffers and that made it a lot of fun! One of my favorites is "Dirty Italian" a language book that teaches slang, swear words, and more. Watch out Silvia, I might be able to talk with your papa after all!

Tschüß!

Orecchiette

The afternoon we arrived in Venice, Silvia and her mom made the most delicious lunch I've ever had - it was simple, tasty, and beautiful on the table. I got the recipe from Silvia two nights ago and made it. So good, so beautiful, awesome. The pasta is called Orecchiette and it has broccoli, a bit of butter, some pasta water, and ricotta cheese. Simple. Let me know if you want the details.







Tschüß!!

Photo Recap: Day 1-2, Austin to Milan (Europe 2008)

After a busy week getting back to work and cleaning things up before everyone else leaves for the holiday, I'm also diving into our pictures and so happy with the results! I'll be posting them periodically through the next few weeks.




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Tschüß!

Almost home

Already, Ryan received a compliment on his Slovenian hat. "Is that
near Slovakia?" she asked. Poor little maligned piece of heaven!

Almost home

14 days of carbs, great drinks, walking, and learning. Ahhhh....

Mid-day Over Iceland

See the moon peeking out of the left corner? A very large and orange
moon. 11 hours and four movies later, we are chilling in Memphis.

Ciao Europe

Heading to the airport now, we will miss you Europe!

At the Heineken Brewery

Last night in Amsterdam

Quite an international mixup here, but we are both sad to leave yet
happy to come home and see our babies.

Saw the Anne Frank house (we both cried), many Rembrants at the
Reiksmuseum, and toured the Heinekin brewery. Then topped off with a
few at a local bar and are back and ready to sleep.

It has been a long but incredible journey that would have not been
possible without the care and love of temporary Austinites Rich and
Sandy. I think they know more about our city than we do and can't wait
to see them. Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!

ryan has sent you a video message - recorded at the Heineken Experience, Amsterdam

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scott sent a video mail from the Anne Frank House

			scott recorded a video message for you in the Anne Frank House. Click on the link below to watch the video message. If the link does not work, copy and paste it in your browser's address bar.     http://annefrank_engels.bitmove.tv:80/bitmove/annefrank_engels/index.jsp?uid=B9F436EA0C26B5139D544673FE2E05EA&format=wmv     Also, go to the leaf that scott left in the virtual Anne Frank Tree.

scott sent a video mail from the Anne Frank House

			Dear scott, You left a leaf in the Anne Frank Tree and sent a video mail when you visited the Anne Frank House. Click on the link below to watch your video message. If the link does not work, copy and paste it in your browser's address bar.     http://annefrank_engels.bitmove.tv:80/bitmove/annefrank_engels/index.jsp?uid=B9F436EA0C26B5139D544673FE2E05EA&format=wmv

From our hotel window

Can you believe it? Westmarkt church, canals, bikes, so cool. Just
woke, great night of sleep, ready to take on Amsterdam!

Hotel staircase #2

Looking down...

Our hotel staircase

Seriously, it's like climbing a ladder!!

Oh, and other than the drug pushers, the red light district is quite
interesting, like being in Vegas...but it's all serious! Strange.

We're retiring early to make the most of our day in Amsterdam. Unlike
the Slovenes and Ryan, I have no resemblance to the Dutch, really.

Rothenburg

I am writing this from the train to Amsterdam...quite a long ride but
we are almost there.

We left Munchen/Munich mid-morning and arrived in Rothenburf Around 2
and had enough time to rumble our suitcases through the cute medieval
town, check in, do a self guided tour, and walk the old old old wall.
We loved it! The entire countryside had snow on it, and we enjoyed
getting local specialties from the bakeries and cramming them in our
mouths while watching the white forest below.

After another fantastic German meal (we both had Scnitzel which is
technically Austrian) we walked to the main square for the
Nightwatchman's tour! The guy has done it for 17 years and must enjoy
it! He took everyone who gathers on an hour tour with history, facts,
stories, and lots of laughs. We both enjoyed it and laughed when we
saw him later doing a German version.

We ended the night at a wine bar in a cute old house, tried Pear and
Plum brandy, and were in bed by 11.

This morning we saw the Nedieval Crime and Punishment Museum, a
chilling collection of artifacts that make me happy to live in the
21st century! Next we grabbed our bags and headed to the train station.

We also are celebrating out 12th anniversary today and tomorrow!!!
We'll have a late meal because the train is late...but it will be a
good one!

Tschüß!!!

We love München!

We have always loved this city, the approachable size, the Bayerische
food and drink, and the happy spirit of the city.

Of course today we went to the Deutsches Museum, and of closed early
fir an annual staff meeting but we had an hour and a half of free
visiting...it is amazing!

After, we walked on the Englischer garten and then walked for hours
around the Schwäbing area on a misty day.

Night ended up at the Jodel Wirst, upstairs in a small space with the
pictured singer/accordianist/yodeler who made the house roll with
laughter! We didn't understand too much but knew when he was making
fun of the Texans in the room. soo much fun!!!

We hear that Rothenurg has a lot if snow so we are not sure what
tomorrow's travel plans have in store for us...another fabulous
adventure, I an sure!

For Mark

We saw this on the Munchen u-Bahn/subway!!!

BMW Welt

Munich

Munich

Hofbrauhaus!!!!

Ja, I am writing this from the HB haus!!! We had a great day in
München seeing the sights and totally loving the new BMW-Welt and
museum.

We had Weißwurst in Virtulienmarkt and the city is full of yule.
(Jessica...the lush ferns and mosses are beautiful!)

Salzburg night and Munich morning

The lack of updates were to a lack of good wifi in salzburg. What a
beautiful town!

Took an early train to Munich and are ready to eat and drink! More
later!

Tschuess Vienna

Afterva looooong day of heavy sightseeing (man, we hit it hard
yesterday and got so much done, thank you Rick Steeves) we had
traditional Viennese food in a great labyrinth Beisl and pondered the
world from a pew in St. Michaels cathedral.

We ended up at the Bermuda Pub or something like that and people
watched for hours, having a riot of a good time.

I know that Vienna is a favorite for many, but we are longing for a
small town. Tough to find one that is not deserted in winter...that's
why we are packed and heading to Salzburg! "doe, a deer..."

Ohhh we miss our babies super much today but know they ate happy and
well taken care of. I got some egg shell in my bread and Ryan asked if
I was molting! Hahahajaa

Vienna's Bermuda Triangle

But in the place named for something that sounds touristy we actually
found locals, good beer, and a perch to enjoy for a good while. A
brisk walk, and it is nearing 1 again. Oh boy, we need the solitude of
Salzburg to relax our eyes. We are maybe taking an early train tomorrow.

Vienna is windy

Cold and windy and beautiful...lots of museums, walking, and sub-par
mulled wine compared to Ljubljana. This is a big city full of tourists.

Vienna yuuuuuum

Minute 5 of 360

We are in Vienna after a 6 hour train ride and 20 minutes on a bus
from the Sudbahnhof. We did laundry and are exhausted with a busy day
ahead tomorrow.

I can pick these hotels...the second right next to a club. Haha we
should be partying there! But...we'll settle for some ambien.

Adijo Slovenia

Cockta is a coke equivalent that was made when coke was not imported
in the communist days. Ryan liked it!

We are off to catch our 6 hour train ride to Vienna.

Ciao!

On the road...

Heading out for some sightseeing and shopping at the market stalls
before our afternoon train. Didn't sleep as well as we wanted but are
excited for the day!!

Traditional Slovenian cuisine

> By chance, we are in ljubljana on the celebration of the Christmas
> market opening! We were walking back from shopping and saw a crowd
> surrounding the tree in Preseren Square and eventually men dressed
> as devils with chains and long tongues came across the Tromostovje
> (Triple Bridge) that crosses the Ljubljanuca River; they taunted the
> children who were pressed against traffic barriers.
>
> Then, they handed out strange candies that looked like a long
> tootsie roll pressed into a brown pod shape and smelled like anise.
> Then, a guy dressed like a cross between Santa and a catholic
> cardinal emerged from a cart driven by a devil on a 4-wheeler and
> with angels behind him, they handed out bags with candies,
> tangerines, and a baked bread. We even got one!
>
> Singing, dancing, and so on...after, the riverside promenade opened
> with shops, and stands selling mulled wine...MMM we had a few cups
> of red while strolling with hundreds of locals and tourists,
> enjoying the brisk night and lucky break from the rain.
>
> We even practiced out newly-learned Slovenian phrases:
>
> "Dober dan! Rat bi dva Rdece Kuhano Vino prosim? Hvala, adijo!"
>
> That means, "Hello, I'd like two red mulled wines please. Thanks,
> bye!"
>
> Only the basics...after a few of those and a long walk through the
> medieval town we had a traditional Slovenian meal of soup in a bowl
> (mushroom and onion) and I had Game Goulash (deer, boar, etc)
> pictured on the background, and Ryan had pork with mushrooms.
>
> After more strolling in the rain, listening to American music from
> all decades on the speakers and a live singer, as well as Christmas
> music through a Disney-style soundsystem through the streets, we
> have returned for a good night of sleep.
>
> Tomorrow we need to hopefully get rain-free pictures, souveniers,
> and sightseeing before our 4 pm train to Vienna. We get in a bit
> late, but will be sad to leave this beautiful country. It is a true
> gem in an already star-studded vacation.
>
> Lahko noc.....

Traditional Slovenian cuisine

Jabortnik Bathroom

Don't you love a combo bathroom/shower/toilet? 77 euros a night!
Yeaaaaaah....

Laundry aisle heaven

At Mueller, a department store chain in Ljubljana...Ryan was
thrilled...we pay 9 bucks for Vernell and here it is under 2 euros!

Slovenian wine

Ryan secretly snapped this at lunch today...it's a slovenian wine and
was fantastic!

Wet Slovenia

We missed snow in Milan, the flood in Venice (we arrived two days
after), but we got hit hard with rain this morning.

No whining on this trip! We pressed ahead with our morning walking
tour with Marijan, a native Slovene who speaks impeccable English and
is a walking encyclopedia! 3 hours of amazing facts, history,
architecture, and culture through the cutest hidden town we have seen.
I selfishly almost don't want to talk about it.

But it deserves to be seen!

With big smiles, and wet shoes, wet socks, wet everything, we are
drying things off with a Jabortnik-looking hairdryer before heading
off for coffee and cakes or maybe some Schnitzel.

Ljubljana morning

Day 5 - Ljubljana

First, thank you for the comments and emails! We are happy to have you
along with us. We certainly gave grown in travel skills from our last
trip - things that used to trip us up be cause worry and nervousness
now become an opportunity to see a different part if the city. (for
example, turning right instead of left out if the train station last
night into a bleak area of town, or Scott in the WC on the train when
the conductor comes to check tickets, and they are hidden in his bag...)

This brings us to magical Ljubljana. Being here us special to us both
because ryan's great grandfather cane from here. The streets were full
last night of students and young tourists, drinking hot drinks, beer,
and talking in the freezing night air, compounded by the brisk river
that barrels through the city center.

We couldn't pass it up and walked around until about 1 am. I can't
imagine what day will bring to the sights...the bridges, the castle up
on the hill, the church that serenaded us all night (along with rain)...

We meet Marijan, our guide for the morning, in 40 minutes so we better
get going.

Hvala! (thanks in Slovenian)

Tschüß

Drinks in Presersen Square

Wednesday in ljubljana are happening!

Dinner in Ljubljana

I think someone has found their roots..,.

Insider note...our favorite Croatian blog drinks Union beer... Nas
drovska!!

Ljubljana fun

Hello (Dober dan) from Slovenia!

We said ciao to Silvia after another amazing meal that she Christina
(mama) prepared and jumped on the train. After 3 hours we were in
Villach, Austria and changed trains to one headed to Slovenia.

Day 4 - Venice

It's lunchtime and Silvia's mother already prepared lunch for us. (She left for work at 7, came home on our lunchbreak and made lunch, then left to go back to work. She is amazing.) Last night was fantastic, we ate homemade pizza with homemade tomato sauce and chatted for hours with Silvia's parents and friend, Lele. Poor Silvia had to work double-time to do the translation back and forth, and at some points I think everyone wished we could just all speak the same language! You sort of feel dumb that you can't understand someone who is absolutely smart and intelligent...and you know they feel the same way. But after a while, you kind of get what they are saying by watching their eyes and gestures and tone...although sometimes you can get it totally wrong. (i.e. the Ticky, Tocky Balocky comment I mentioned earlier.)

We went to bed around 11:30 and slept sooo well...didn't stir until 8:30. Took showers and went for a walk around a foggy, mystical Venice. It's so neat to take random alleys that lead to different Campos (squares), with beautiful picture opportunities at every corner. We have already taken 250 pictures of our trip plus about 30 minutes of video.

Continuing our tradition of yesterday, we hit some more Cappuchino bars (haha I went to pay for our last round and asked the wrong person so they were about to make 3 more until Silvia corrected me...lol). There are no tourists in the early morning. Lele works security at the airport and says he sees no Americans coming to Italy. Even flights to NYC are full of Italians and barely any Americans. I like that because I don't really want to see anyone else that is speaking American English but from an economy perspective, it is not very good for Venice. They rely on tourists.

Silvia took us to a cute shop to buy some Venetian glass souveniers...real Italian glass made in Italy, not the Made in China crap that a lot of places sell. Terrible, eh? But we have become pretty saavy at spotting the touristy places from the honest storekeepers who want to offer a real experience.

Oh, forgot to tell you the pizzas last night...one was Mushroom and Mozzerella (fresh mozz that comes in a plastic pouch) and the other was Speck and Gorgonzola plus a little Mozzerella. Speck is more smoky than Prosciuotto (sorry for the spelling in the blog, I am not able to spell check on this italian computer).

Ok, Silvia says that I better go eat lunch! Ciao!

Venice pictures

From yesterday

Venice pictures

From yesterday...

Cat and Ryan reading the ads

They have wine for €0,99!!!!

Computing in Silvia's house

Ryan is chatting with Lele, who we met last night at dinner, in
Venetian. Yup, it's different than Italian! Silvia's papa is always
searching for MIDI song files for his band that he sings in. I will
have to find a YouTube of him singing...they are out there!

We leave for Ljubljana in 2 hours and I will be sad to leave...

Venice through the back window

From Silvia's guest room window this morning.

Silvia, Scott, Ryan

Day 3 - Venice

When you picture the most ideal day in Venice - playing by our rules, of course, which means being more of a local than a tourist - what do you picture? Maybe the sweetest local person, a third generation Venetian that actually speaks Venetian (it's different than Italian) comes to pick you up and offers you to stay in her house with original Terazza floors? And walking in her, mother is cooking fresh lunch (Oreccete) with bread and wine on the table. And you are greeted with kisses on the cheek? And what if her mother's cousin worked at a local espresso bar, who teases you while gifting you espresso (with a shot of grappa of course) while chatting like a regular?

Sound good? That's the past 7 hours of our life. And it got better...

After that, we jumped in their private boat and took a private tour of Venice! The Grand Canal, peeking through tiny alleys, while being serenaded by an official gondolier singer...her father...who wasn't really meaning to seranade us but he just always sings. He is sitting on the couch singing something right now as I type on Silvia's computer.

We then walked for hours upon hours through tiny streets, saying Ciao to various friends of Silvia, checking out supermarkets, joking, learning Venetian and Italian and having an amazing time!

A friend of Silvia's has been invited over and along with her parents we are going to do homemade pizza. Haha, I was just trying to converse with her mother and apparently we were talking about how she loves Salzburg and they say that it is a mini-Venice.

Rick Steves would be proud. Actually, he would pee his pants with excitement on how surreal and cool this all is...all because we sat next to someone at the Hofbrauhaus two years ago and started to talk...which turned to sharing a Struedel...

Time for snacks, then more touring in the morning, and then we leave for Ljubljana at 2:55 tomorrow for another first...Slovenia.

More on Venice later.

Tschuess!

Day 1 and 2: Flight and Milano

Ciao! We made it here safely and just had an awesome first day here in Milan. The flight was fine, although we only slept maybe 1 or 2 hours. But we did drink our fill of some good wine so that probably didn`t help too much. As we approached Milan to land, one of the flight attendants handed us a bottle of dessert wine, saying something about not wanting to count it on their liquor sheet and wanting us to have a warm welcome to our Europe adventure. How sweet! This is the second time they`ve done that to us on a flight to Europe!

After landing, we took a 40 minute train ride from the Malpensa airport to the Milano Nord station and walked about 20 minutes to our hotel. It`s perfect, in a great neighborhood area, and a solid 3 star budget traveler hotel. At some points it reminds me of the Upper West Side of NYC with all the families and old ladies walking dogs...but then you see the Milano side of things. People of all gender and ages racing motorcycles down tight streets with streetcars/trams clanging by and small economical cars pushing through. Then, old men riding bikes through a quiet park with huge statues of some king here and Napoleon there.

On the sightseeing list today was Castle Szorza, a beautiful 1300 military fortress which was amazing to behold. We loved seeing the feral cats running through the grassy now-dry moat.

Next, we walked down Via Dante, a pedestrian zone that was carved out of a medieval bunch of streets to celebrate Italian unification, and ended up in front of the impressive Duomo. It seriously is a sight to behold...130 spires and thousands of statues. Got to even creep into the crypt and see an old, dead cardinal encased in silver.

Afterwards, we hit the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, which is something out of the movies. It is a glass-domed arcade lined with shops, four stories tall, built around 1870. We stopped for a cappuchino (yeah yeah yeah I know it`s a breakfast drink around here but it was 11:30 so I think we were ok) and some biscuits before moving on.

Milan is the fashion capital of the world, so we did the obligatory sidewalk stroll of Via Montenapoleone. The Italians are so well-dressed here, beautiful fashion, neat hair, great style. The other awesome thing is we really feel like the only Americans and not everyone speaks English, which is keeping us on our toes and making us feel a bit ill prepared.

Later, we saw the actual The Last Supper fresco in a tiny church...you walk through a series of chambers that takes you to the right humidity since they took 21 years to restore 500 years of grime and touchups. It was an amazing, if not simple, sight. After that, we ate very Milanese food at Cecco. I had Risotto Milanese, a risotto with saffron, along with Tagliate, which is thin strips of beef lightly seared and sprinkled with rosemary. Ryan had Bolognese (oohhh yeahhh it was amazing) and then a Margerita Pizza, which was quite different from U.S. style...thin homemade crust as always but tomato sauce and sprinkled mozz cheese and only one leaf of basil.

Oh and we started that whole feast off with Parma Ham and fresh Mozzerella cheese - two kinds, one that was more formed and the other more runny. Both were deliciouso!

It`s almost 22:00 (10 p.m.) which is my breaking point for staying awake. I`m enjoying one more glass of red wine (it is sooo cheap here! my gosh) and then off to bed. Wakeup call at 7, train at 9, Venice by 12 to see Silvia. We checked with her today and she`s all setup to see us!

A truly amazing start to a fantastic adventure.

Unique moments of the day:

- Again not knowing if service is included in the bill and probably overpaying.
- Going to dinner at 7 and feeling like old early birds since we were the first people in the restaurant. They go for drinks until about 8 or 8:30 and then go to dinner. By the time we left at 9 the place was packed.
- Ordering the house wine in a carafe and experiencing the best tasting italian wine I have tasted.
- Speaking German to bums who are trying to sell things...they can speak italian and english, but German shuts them up.
- Speaking German when I think I am speaking Italian. Not a good idea.
- Trying to type on an Italian keyboard...even more confusing than a german keyboard but less umlauts

That is all - thanks for the well wishes and we are also happy to hear that Sandy and Rich are making out great with the kids back in Austin!

Ciao and Tschuess!!

Awaiting in Austin

We made it to the airport, flight is delayed a tad. Luckily I found
that delta business elite flyers get access to the Continental
lounge! So, we are relaxing in style.

The kids will be super happy with the parents! Sandy even gave Grete
her inhaler by herself, hissing and all! We hope they have fun while
we are out.