European Festival (Volume 2)…

In the blink of an eye summer has begun and full-swing festival season is upon us.  The weather has been wonderful and the weekends full of opportunities to be out and about, but we are still a little wistful about last summer and our amazing European vacation. The European Festival was a good opportunity for us to get our fix of all things European, and so we did!  Beginning, of course, with the childrens’ passports. My little list maker was on task and focused so we were sure to collect a complete set of stamps:

I always love the cultural displays. There is nowhere else in town I could possibly find this much embroidery and pottery all in one place…

One of the things I miss from Europe – slivovica!

Gorgeous pysanki – Miss G. tried her hand at the age old art for the first time too!

Boleslawiec from Poland… If I ever get there I will load my suitcase with these lovely pieces…

Amazing dancing…

…which put us in the mood for a little recreation of our own…

…before running into our favourite traveling minstrels! (Named after my favourite brandy. Coincidence?)

This year the feature country was Turkey. Their booth was gorgeous too… Hopefully we will get there in person someday soon…

 On our way past the food carts we ran into Uncle Trevor and his yummy looking snack…

…but we hadn’t finished seeing the cultural displays. Back on task!

One more pass by the grand stage…

…and a quick moment to relax before heading out into the sunset…

…only the beginning of a summer of adventures. So many places in the world to wander…

Europe… Boats

Over the last few months (since Christmas!) I have been going through the fun but time-consuming process of organizing our most recent travel pictures for the “albums”.  (I guess I should say “photo books” – so modern these days…)

It has been a very slow process sorting through photos from weeks on the road in multiple countries with various cameras but every minute I spend looking at the pictures it brings me back to the trip, and I could spend every minute doing it with pleasure!

Some time in the last few months the author of a lovely travel blog I enjoy reading posted some photos of boats that completely stole my heart… the light she captured in her pictures brought back summer for me completely.  Some of our favourite “family scavenger hunt items” when traveling are boats.  As I discovered them again when going back through the (seemingly endless) photos, just for fun I thought it would be nice to post them all together…  

G.Jr. was a boat lover on our trip too – wearing his captain’s hat he proudly saluted (and was saluted by!) sailors in the street.  (Sailors are a common sight in the many port towns around the Adriatic…)  Maybe he has a little sailor in him, passed down from his Papa.

I hope you enjoyed looking at the boat shots as much as I have… they put me in the mood for another adventure.

“I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.” (Louisa May Alcott, Little Women)

Europe… Street Art

For the last few days I have been reminiscing about our summer holiday and posting some fun photos of our traditional family scavenger hunts (food, cars…) but this  post might be my very favourite… On this last trip, more than any other, I was struck over and over by the abundance of informal “street” art everywhere we went.  By the end of the summer all of us were joining in the search and sharing our discoveries.

For your entertainment:

Umago…

Portoros…

Piran…

Venezia…

Firenze…(Art installation)

(Street Art)

(Renaissance paintings – reimagined with a scuba theme?)

   

(Altered Street Signs)

Pisa…

Genoa…

Switzerland…

Trieste…

Have you noticed any amazing urban art lately?  I am loving the way it surprises me in unexpected places…

“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” (Edgar Degas)

Europe…Vintage Cars

Another one for the car lovers in our midst… I have  been a fan of vintage European cars since before they were vintage – as we are aging together I think it’s important to give them some well deserved love and attention.  Of course, for a North American girl, the best way to find European vintage is to visit Europe!  As we travelled around this summer I was thrilled to see so many well cared for classics out and about as daily drivers.  For your entertainment: In Grisignana… In Rovigno… In Pola… In Buie… In Firenze… In Pisa… Driving north (the further north we went, the more volkswagens we saw…) a gorgeous Volkswagen Type 2 Microbus with a split window coming up behind us on the freeway… …and heading off (maybe home to Switzerland?) In Bellagio… (Lago di Como in the background…) Sirmione (Lago di Garda in the background…) In Trieste… …and in Renata and Ferruccio’s garage in Cranzetti.  I am hopeful that they will lend this one to me next time… Looking through these photos is making me wish for spring time weather so that our own classic car can get out of the garage and back on the road!  Wherever your road leads you today, I hope it’s filled with fun and adventure…

Europe…Grocery Stores and Markets

Although things have been busy as usual around here, many of our friends and family are deep in the mid-winter blues and dreaming about spring… Whenever I get a moment of feeling blue these days I spend some time reminiscing about our summer holiday in Europe.  I posted so many photos that you might have felt like you were there with us, but I saved some special ones for just this time when I knew I would be dreaming of the next holiday.

One of my favourite things to do on any trip is investigate the various grocery stores.  It is extra fun to do so in foreign countries!  You really never know what you might find. Continental Europe has a fascination with English and uses it rampantly on random products. While Nonna shopped I had many laughs with the children trying to find strange and silly examples on the shelves. Also fun and fascinating: searching for unique products that don’t exist in our part of the world. Every place has its own specialty, and we were in the land of my favourites!  Bread, pastries, cheese, sausage, ice cream, wine… I was in love.  Every time we shopped it was like being in the best European deli ever, except it really was Europe… Delicious.

Fun with labels:

 

Off the shelf options that are gourmet wish lists here at home:

First sign that Europeans take their coffee very seriously:

Endless sangria mixing options:

Pastry case from paradise: (this one is in Venice – the meringues alone are making my mouth water…)

Chocolate bar aisle in Switzerland: (very serious – do not fool around with less than amazing chocolate…)

Things I wish I could buy at our local:

The largest (and cheapest) selection of wine and (Mr. Martini approved) beer:

This five litre bottle of wine was 20$.  20$.  Why am I still here?!

Grocery store takeout: (one million times better than the hot dog stand at Costco, and cheaper…)

But the very very best thing about being a food lover in Europe is the easy abundance of roadside groceries…

These photos are just a tiny slice of a pretty wonderful  holiday – I hope your world has something delicious in stock to tide you over until your next vacation too!

European Farm Life…Finale

We passed our final days in Europe with visits from friends and relatives as our children cemented their status as real locals.

They participated in the tomato sauce making process (sugo, fatto in casa!) so for dinner we had a roast and pasta, accompanied by sauce from tomatoes which, that morning, were just growing on the vines in the fields. Amazing. The children spent the best part of their time “helping” with the canning in the yard, and ferrying the various parts of the process in and out of the cantina during sudden spurts of rain. One other highlight: a visit to the pumpkin patch, and then the required scrubbing of two very dirty farm children!

Our final beach excursion was to Zambrattia – a very family oriented beach with an easy lagoon for the children to play… Perfect weather as it was not too hot. We finally had a chance to bake the cold and damp of our northern adventures out of our Canadian bones!

We were back in Matterada in time to freshen up and head out for dinner in Petrovia at Kantina Melon. All thirteen of us this time – a great family send off.

I had to have the truffles.  The ravioli was perfect: stuffed with soft cheese and covered in shaved truffles. I soaked up the sauce with crusty bread to savor every mouthful… I could eat this meal every day and never be tired of it!

Still, I coveted Matteo’s volcano pizza. Next time!  The other options – especially  the meat platter – were incredibly well received all around the table…

We finished the day back in Matterada for grappa (gooseberry?) and evening conversation… this really is the good life.

Another day meant more cousins coming to visit, and then a special trip to the cemetery and a candlelight mass.  I hope my children never forget how much love was poured out for them in that tiny church…

After mass and a farewell visit with the priest we ran into more cousins again just outside. We said more goodbyes before walking home to find another festa underway – the sampling of the latest pride of Matterada: sour cherry liquor.  It was a bittersweet ending for our last night in the village…

On our very last day Nonna and Zia were outdoing each other in the kitchen. We ate all day. Pancakes and thick crispy bacon for breakfast, then a packing marathon to make all of our gifts and souvenirs fit. (Mr. Martini is the champion of the luggage scale, and eventually it all worked out although we have to leave some things behind… )

For lunch we had the last of the homemade food: pasta with homemade sauce and sandwiches with prosciutto, cheese and olives… More visiting friends and then a last minute visit to Cranzetti – I can’t believe we only made it here at the very end! Renata and Ferruccio’s garden was as beautiful as always.

For our last meal:  fried potatoes, chicken cutlets, bean salad, muscato… Apple hazelnut struccolo for dessert with ice cream from Trieste (my favourites: hazelnut and pistachio… ) and then one last festa out front with everyone gathered together and prosecco to toast…

Then – the saddest part of every trip – the long goodbye.

Our village-to-Vancouver journey had countless incidents and anecdotes too, but the most meaningful one for me was this – a quote I noticed in the movie I watched on the long flight home:

“To travel is very useful, it makes the imagination work, the rest is just delusion and pain.  Our journey is entirely imaginary, which is its strength.” (Celine, Journey to the Edge of Night) (Quoted in the movie “La Grand Bellezza”… great film!)

This was the trip of a lifetime in many ways, and it is hard to accept that we are back home again with life “as usual” unfolding around us.  There were life changing moments every single day, and writing them out here has only made me more nostalgic for them – I am really counting the days before we get a chance to go back…

Something I am grateful for, although it wasn’t anticipated: the effect of Europe on my children.  The chance to see and live in a different place, with different languages, different money and different culture has changed the way they look at and experience their regular every day world.  It has opened their eyes and hearts and minds to the wide world beyond their own front step.  It has created questions and conflicts, it has intrigued and inspired, and most of all it has created a kind of curious empathy that is impossible to teach without real life experience…  They will never be the same, and for that above all else, I am so incredibly overjoyed, in awe, and overwhelmingly grateful!

Every voyage has a story – this was the story of one family on one voyage, and I hope that this is only the beginning of a lifetime of stories from all of us…

Sirmione and Lago di Garda…

Back into the world of summer – Lago di Garda!

(Photo by Miss G.   – the best one out of all the 500 or so that we took…)

The waves were giant and crashing against the shore.

We finished our epic day of travelling with a walk to enjoy the view of the lake and of the castle in the old city just across from our hotel at the tip of the peninsula.

We stopped for dinner at a restaurant that seemed quiet and unassuming from the front:

(Il Cavallo – specialty of the house is horse meat, although we weren’t adventurous enough to try it.  Seriously!)  We were completely surprised to find a great party underway out back on the giant and gorgeous patio.  This is where all of the locals are – literally all generations and personalities were represented.  Amazing!  Pizza for dinner (quatro stagione, capricciosa)…

…and then gelato of course – we are back in Italy!  (mandorlato, fragola, cioccolato – extra dark!)

It was nice to be down to only two languages, brief as it was. We stayed at the simple but serviceable Hotel Ganfo, where “Albergo” and “Bar” are separated by a partition only, and attended by the same Cameriere. A bit dicey for a while as our passports submitted for registration were lying on the bar next to the sliced lemons…  The kids were thrilled with their bunk beds though, and we were all in need of a good night’s rest!  It was calmer on the lake in the morning. Another travelers breakfast – chocolate croissants and cold cuts, yum! Our morning adventure:  after a tour of the local morning market we visited the historic town of Sirmione. We walked up the peninsula into the town – a huge wind and a stormy sky meant we had to put on layers – but we came over the moat through the town/castle gate into the land of holiday sun.

Look!  A lion!

Sirmione is a tiny gem, in spite of the hordes of gelato eating tourists. The castle is impressive, and the buildings are dripping with flowers and vines.

Not quite in the Veneto, but the Venetian flag is flying…

We wandered in and around the alleys, dodging the occasional car, and marveled at the loveliness of this tiny jewel of the lake… (rewarded of course with gelato: chocolate mint and mela…) then climbed back into our little car for the last leg of our circle journey…

Next stop: one last trip to the big city -Trieste- and then our emotional final days of the farm life that we love so very much…

Switzerland to Italy (beautiful, terrifying, inspiring, exhausting…)

A very big day on the driving front… we left north-east Switzerland in the early morning and headed south to Lichtenstein…

…and then back into Switzerland!  (Only in Europe…)

This was the moment when I began to register the end of our holiday – as we were driving south along the eastern border of Switzerland my eye caught the tiniest flashes of yellow leaves amongst the green leafy foliage; the trees knew it even if we weren’t ready to accept it – the seasons were about to change…

We continued on our way south, heading to the Italian border.

We stopped by the Marmorera Sea…

…and then through some VERY crazy hairpin turns and blind corners in tiny villages…  until we reached two kilometers above sea level (through the wild untamed mountains, where nothing dares to grow) at the Julierpass.  We stopped at the top of the pass to use the facilities and discovered it was only 7degrees with only cold running water – yikes! There was nothing but rock and scrub in every direction – almost no trees, but an occasional house here and there stuck out on the mountain face.  (Who could live up here in this wilderness?!  What kind of life would it be?!  I was fascinated by the wondering…)

We passed through Silvaplana…

…and then zigzagged back and forth again until we arrived at the glamorous and sporty Saint Moritz…

…then up again with glimpses of glaciers and waterfalls…

past Pontresina and Poschiavo…

…and into Tirano for a well deserved snack break.

(Don’t ask Mr.Martini about Tirano.  He still hasn’t recovered.  The pita place, however, was amazing.) From Tirano we followed the NavFree map east and upwards through a tiny little one lane town (terrifyingly narrow!) into another maze of crazy switchback rural roads.  Memorable moments: the cranky potato seller on a hairpin turn (who buys potatoes from a roadside stand when just stopping a car risks life and limb?!) and then the campanile at the end of a mountainside curve with a tree growing right through the cupola… (note the hard left curve in the photo – they were all like that …)

until (after extreme driving and the craziest tunnel relay of our trip) we finally came out at Lago Iseo…

…just in time to see the storm shift and return to the sun streaked sky… a short drive to Lago di Garda and our last chance for the land of summer…

Switzerland… Eggerstanden

And then…

…Eggerstanden.  Just like we remember it – just like it has been for hundreds of years: tidy and sweet and hard at work being beautifully perfect.  The children were thrilled to have a place to run and play, and playmates too!

Our hotel/guesthouse is just around the corner from our friends- again, beautifully, perfectly, Swiss.

Our rooms are full of light – we have windows on three sides and a gorgeous view in every direction.

Mountains and cows and tidy houses with painted shuttered and geraniums spilling over the sills…

The floors are wide old planks polished smooth with years of life that creak with every step. The sound of a real house! After unloading our assorted items we walked back through the tiny town to eat with the family. (Another meal consumed so quickly I don’t have photos to share!) Creamy potatoes – scalloped triestina style – carrots, beans, and an oven roasted meat dish that managed to combine three separate styles of pork into one entree…  I am crossing my fingers in the hope that I will remember how to recreate it.  We finished the evening with homemade cookies from one of the Omas; these I managed to photograph before too many of them were eaten!

After dinner the children played a (sort of) familiar game…

Well fed, we went to bed in our sweet charming Swiss guest house with the wooden floors and slanted ceilings and bright beautiful windows, to listen to the church bells ring us to sleep in our fluffy nest of cotton linens and feather duvets. Lucky, lucky me…

…and then we woke up to the lovely church bells just outside the window – one of my favourite sounds. Breakfast in the guesthouse – meat, cheese, bread, juice, yogurt and hot coffee with warm frothy milk. Perfect on a rainy day.

Next up: the cable car to Ebenalp and a walk past Wildchirchli to the restaurant built into a mountain. Just the tiniest bit of rain – not nearly enough to dampen our spirits – we celebrated with hot chocolate and cards.

(This tiny friend was waiting for us on our way out…)

For dinner we drove in a caravan to a tiny mountain top restaurant with a stunning alpine view at sunset and the craziest windstorm too…

(Look Mimi!  Just like your house!)

The most fun was trying to read a menu entirely in Swiss German, and then hoping we knew what we had ordered.  The upside of that gamble is there are no bad options – everything is delicious all the time.  It’s Switzerland – these people take their meals very seriously!

(This is my favourite beer label – only because on my first trip to Switzerland I actually hiked up the mountain to this exact lake and ate at an amazingly delicious restaurant looking at this exact view… I have a picture of my hot/sweaty/red-faced self standing exactly where the people are standing in this picture!)

Funnily enough, after all the Swiss dogs we have spotted on our holiday so far, we have not seen any in actual Switzerland.  This is the closest we came:

We left the restaurant to find this amazing sunset (and a windstorm that we have tried to describe endlessly without success…)

Early to bed in anticipation of another day of adventures to come!  (Heaven= listening for the church bells in a mountain of cotton, goose down and feathers. Amazing.)

Just at the edge of my consciousness, though, is a growing feeling that the season is changing around me…

Switzerland…Appenzell

Just north of Lago di Como is Lago Lugano – a beautiful emerald lake surrounded by ever increasing mountains.  We have travelled this way before and found it just the same – a tiny little office in a tunnel on the east side of the lake marks the border and then… we were in Switzerland!  What follows is the road we remember most from our last trip – the steady climb in elevation, with hairpin turn switchbacks and staggering views, both looking above at the mountain peaks and then gazing below into the valleys.

We stopped for lunch in Bellinzona and treated ourselves to our first Swiss meal – schnitzelbrot!  It was so delicious (and we were so hungry!) that we ate it before I could snap a picture… We will have to savour the memory.

One of my favourite things about this trip is something I have noticed every time I have done it, by car or train.  The landscape and structures shift gradually from the stone common in Italy to the wooden style seen all over Switzerland.  (I noticed this as we drove from South to North in Slovenia too…)

We managed to drive through three countries today (only in Europe…) as the highway on the east side of Switzerland passes through the western edge of Lichtenstein. We also had a tiny glimpse of Germany, just before turning off the highway and following the winding twisting narrow and exhilarating back road (via Oberriet) to Eggerstanden.

We remembered it  very well from our last trip, and it is still one of the most scenic and lovely roads I have ever travelled, but I barely had a chance to take a photo as we needed all eyes glued to the road to navigate cyclists, hairpin turns, cliff faces, mountain goats, cows, sheep, errant farm vehicles and speeding locals – yikes!

We were in Appenzell by 9am and spent an hour wandering in and out of the shops – they are a charming collection of souvenirs and specialties which entertained us all. In spite of the rain it was as lovely as ever. The windows and flowers and colourful paint become a sort of living art work.  (A ton of pictures – I couldn’t resist!)

For our ongoing scavenger hunt: windows and doors…

Art is in every direction…

When we had taken enough photos we went into the Appenzell Museum to see some of the cultural history and traditions on display. It was amazing!  I am so glad that we made it for the last bit of our morning as I have missed it on my previous two visits. There are six floors and each one is filled with interesting exhibits: art, furniture, tools, toys, clothing and religious objects – it gives a great overview of the different aspects of life here in northeast Switzerland.

Before leaving Appenzell we had just enough time to stop at the brewery – too bad they were just closing up for the lunch break, as beer is one of Mr. Martini’s hobbies.  We stopped off in the gift shop for a few souvenirs – next visit we will try to have a tour.

Tomorrow: Eggerstanden, Ebenalp, and Eggli  Restaurant. Hope you can stop by to see the (many more) pictures!