Lake Garda

For the last day of our long weekend, we went up to Lake Garda with some friends.  It's about an hour west of us, and is the largest of Italy's lakes.  We walked around town, ate some gelato, and did a little swimming.  It's a huge tourist destination, so we probably won't be going there very often once summer really kicks off, but yesterday was a great time to go.  Not too crowded and perfect weather!

An awesome castle that's right on the edge of the lake

 

There are some really cool mountains here, but unfortunately it wasn't clear enough to see them

More of the haze - it seems to be a common theme over here

What we've been up to lately....

My apologies to everyone for the recent lack of blog posts.  Things have been a bit unsettled around here, with moving into the house, not having internet for awhile, and still not having our car.  Thankfully Donovan is able to ride his bike to work everyday and I have plenty of things at the house to keep me busy.  But now that we're in the midst of enjoying a four-day weekend we've had the chance to get out and explore our surroundings a bit more.  Here's a look at the last few days...

To start off, a few nights ago Donovan and I decided to try out the trattoria that's across the street from us.  The special for the evening was "linguini con i garusoli."  Sounds good, right?  Well, despite not knowing what we were getting, that's what we ordered.  Who knew marine snails were so yummy.  I wish I'd gotten a picture of my plate, but a quick Google search will give you an idea.  And truthfully, they were quite delicious!

On Friday, we rode our bikes to Lago di Fimon, which is a lake about five kilometers away.  The lake itself was a bit of a disappointment, it was certainly not a place I want to go swimming, but the ride through the valley to get there was really pretty.  I took the camera along hoping to get some good photo opportunities, but of course as soon as we got to the lake it started raining, so we turned around and rode straight home and didn't even get the camera out.  I know, how lame is that.  I did, however, get a picture of the next wave of the rainstorm approaching.  We got back to the house just in time, since this one turned out to be a real downpour. 

For dinner that night, we did our first bit of "real" cooking and tried a new Giada recipe, Pasta Ponza (recipe can be found here).  A shout-out to my friend K, who shares my love for all Giada recipes and gave me the cookbook containing this particular one.  The dish came out super yummy and we enjoyed it with a nice bottle of vino bianco.  

On Saturday we explored the area of Monte Berico, which provides an excellent view of Vicenza.  There's also a basilica at the top, the Basilica di Santa Maria de Monte Berico, and a 700-meter-long staircase that was built in honor of the Virgin Mary.  The staircase has 150 arches to symbolize the 150 Hail Marys in the rosary. 

Halfway point of the staircase - the basilica is at the top

Looking down the stairs

Vicenza!

 

Downtown, with a good view of the Basilica Palladiana

New House - Phase I

We're out of the hotel and into the house!  I know you all have been dying to see pictures of our house, and we finally got the chance to take some pictures this morning.  Sorry to keep you in suspense for so long!

The kitchen - which I am absolutely in love with

Living room and dining room

Dining room and kitchen

Spare Bedroom #1 - Yes, it is decorated like a nursery and yes, it has a built-in changing table, but no, this is not an announcement

 

Spare Bedroom #2

Master Bedroom

Master Bedroom - the door on the right goes to a balcony

Half of the basement

The front of the house

Back patio, complete with built-in fireplace

A Day in Venice

So, how cool is it that we can take a day trip to Venice whenever we want?  Yeah, pretty cool.  And that's exactly what we did yesterday...a spontaneous trip with some friends of ours.  We had a great time, and only got marginally lost.  While we saw quite a bit of the city, there's definitely more to explore the next time we go. 

On one of the many, many bridges we crossed

Palazzo Cavalli-Franchetti, now the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere e Arti

Teatro la Fenice

Chiesa di San Moise

Basilica di San Marco

The first wine we've had in Italy

Lunch at a cafe along the Grand Canal

The Little Things

It's the little things that take us by surprise and make us feel like we really do actually belong here.  For example...this morning Donovan and I took our driver's test for the license we're required to have in order to legally drive in Italy.  We spent several hours last night frantically memorizing road signs.  And naturally, there was a little friendly competition when it came time to take the test.  Although in the end there was no point to the competition - we both ended up with perfect scores.  And most importantly, we're both legally able to drive now!  One step closer to feeling at home here.

Other small steps that are making us feel at home?  For one, getting ready to move into our house in six days!

Downtown Round 2

Our favorite weekend activity has become going downtown, just walking around and seeing what we find.  We discover new little treasures every time we go.  Here's a few pics of what we saw this time.

A church I don't remember the name of

The tower of the Palladio Basillica

Palladio himself

Gelato!!

Tom and Donovan at lunch

The caprese salad I had for lunch

Donovan's Melon and Prosciutto

House-hunting complete!

Today is special for two reasons.  First, we signed the lease on our house this morning!  We spent many hours during the last couple weeks thinking and talking about where we want to live.  Downtown versus country, an apartment right next to post or a house a few miles away.  So many decisions.  And despite all the horror stories we kept hearing, about how it can take months to find a house and there will be all sorts of problems dealing with the landlords, etc., the process was relatively painless for us.  Our only problem was deciding which one to take.

The first place we looked at was right on the edge of town, only a couple kilometers from post.  Location-wise, it was super convenient, but the interior was pretty outdated, and the living space was pretty small.  Nothing terrible, but nothing we really got excited about either.  The second place was an apartment that was literally a five-minute walk to post.  It had been recently remodeled, so the inside was nice, but it was on the third floor and the outside/garage space left a little to be desired.  However, the fact that we could walk to post was tempting. 

The house we ended up taking is about 6 or 7 kilometers from post, although still in Vicenza.  It's a three-level duplex, with three bedrooms, a garage, a full basement, and a patio in the back.  And I have to say, it's pretty awesome.  We don't move in until 17 May, but I'll make sure to get pictures up as soon as I can.  Not only are we going to love living there, but there's plenty of room for everyone to come visit.

Can anyone guess the second reason today is special?  It has a lot to do with this little thing...

That's right!  Two years ago Donovan asked me to marry him.  At the time I don't think either of us knew just what was in store for us or that only two short years later we'd be living in Italy, but here we are....and absolutely loving it! 

Reminds me of home...

Since there really isn’t much to report at the moment, I thought I’d share a couple photos of the mountains that are north of town.  Typically it’s pretty cloudy/hazy around here, so we don’t get to see them that often.  But as we were walking back to the hotel yesterday after picking up some dinner, we got a pretty awesome view.  

From the hotel parking lot

From the third floor of the hotel