Italian cooking!

The family that we rented the apartment from was soo unbelievably nice!!! Danillo was our host and he offered to teach us how to cook on two separate nights of our stay. He cooked Barley with Summer Vegetables one night and made homemade spaghetti sauce with noodles another. He works with ceramic also and designed an amazing wood burning grill that he cooks on outside. It was really a neat experience!!!

He marinated the Barley is Broth for 2 hours...

This was the saying hanging over his grill - it is an old Italian Proverb that is Father always said (by the way his Father is 87 years old, lives up the street and STILL RIDES HIS BIKE!!!!!)

His grill that he designed and helped build

Cooking is serious business!

Fresh vegetables from the garden

The kids waiting patiently - they actually really enjoyed the experience (EVEN CAMDEN TRIED POTATOES which in itself is a miracle!!!)

The wood is getting hot

but you still have to add a little more...

the vegetables cooking up nicely

Mia waiting patiently :-)

Potatoes baked on the grill

Oh - did I mention they had a Peacock roaming around :-)

Eggs on the grill (fresh from the chickens)

She is getting a little silly at this point!

And the next cooking lesson was another evening - homemade spaghetti sauce and noodles...

A peach tree and a Peacock!!

Fresh herbs and garlic to go in the sauce...

He canned the tomatoes that we did not use...

And the neighbor handed the kids fresh grapes off his tree - Unbelievable hospitality!!!Such a fun time!!!

Sirmione, Italy

There is a famous lake in Italy (the largest one in Italy) called Lake Garda, and on the southern tip is a famous little Penninsula called Sirmione. We went one morning and got there just before the crowds (luckily this was the only time we saw crowds during our stay). The Italians, Germans and all of Europe are off in August and the big tourist destinations can get packed! Anyway, it is an adorable town on the lake and overlooks the Italian Alps in the distance. So pretty and such a fun time!!!

The Sirmione Castle

The castle sits right on the lake - Gorgeous!!

The waters are perfectly clear and blue, but COLD!!!

Tried to snap a few posed pictures of Bailey :-)

The photographer leading the way :-)

Had to get this shot... this was one aggresive swan - so funny! The guy wasn't kicking him - he just put his foot up .

And more pizza on the rocks

gorgeous!!!

Cittadella and Asolo

Street sign for Asiago (where Asiago cheese is from). Delicious!!!

The Cittadella is one of the only fully intact walled cities in Europe (Amberg is also a walled city, but you can't walk around the entire wall) 

You can see part of the wall here...

You can walk around the entire thing (Mia being silly!)

Trying to please me by being silly and posing...

We ordered lots of Pizza to go - delicious!!!

And the city is completely surrounded by a moat too (had never seen that before). Recognize out car??? This is also where I think my cell phone got lost :-( Maybe it was thown in the moat! A good story anyway...

Not sure if they have these in the States, but they have them everywhere here now (automatic lawn mowers). See the little dot thing to the right of the big tree in the middle. A cute little automatic lawn mower :-)

We made it all the way around - 2 kilometers

and still smiling :-)

Goergeous view! The red house almost looked fake in a sea of old buildings!

Selfie in Cittadella!

 

Asolo was a cute little town up on a mountain. We actually got there during Siesta, so everything was closed up tight...

The streets were so narrow that they had a one lane raffic light system...

Prosecco (this is the land that Prosecco originates and Asolo had its own version too)

The character is too cute!!!

adorable streets

old buildings

Asolo, Italy!!!

The river, lake and Mountain swimming hole

We were told of some really nice swimming places. Sadly, my cell phone got lost on our trip, so I have no photos of the lake or river, but the swimming hole was really nice! The lake was quite interesting because the people next to us.....well lets just say nude bathing is completely acceptable here!

The place was up in the Mountains and the water was crystal clear, but FREEZING COLD!

Bailey and Camden both were brave to jump (no photos of Camden, but here is Bailey about to jump)

there she goes...

Brrrr...