Saturday, February 24, 2018

Presidents' Day Weekend in Puglia

The past 2 years we've spent Presidents' Day weekend at Carnevale in Viareggio. This year we decided to head to the heel of Italy and explore the province of Puglia.

Here is our trulli house in Alberobello. We had 3 apartments in this cute little country villa. Poor Melissa had to spend all weekend in her trulli apartment because she was sick. :(
Saturday morning we explored the Caves of Castellana
Down, down, down we go...
Photos were only allowed where there was natural light coming into the caves.  We hiked through some magnificent areas over the next hour!
After the caves, we headed into Alberobello

Camden being Camden :)
Unique art on the trulli buildings




Such a cute town to explore!
Sunday morning we went to nearby Locorotondo
Beautiful little streets...
...that were full of runners competing in a road race!  
Here Ron and I are trying to get down the street and stay out of their way
The Adriatic Sea



We looked for a place to eat lunch on the water and found this cool restaurant 
Seaside lunch in February!


 We continued driving up the coast to one of the larger towns in the area, Monopoli. I'm sure it is a hopping place in the summer, but on a Sunday afternoon in the winter, it was a ghost town.

Camden and Emma making the most of our tour around town
 We ended our evenings playing Scopa and Canasta with the Zs. Ron and Chris would enjoy some wine and a cigar while checking out the stars. 

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

MLK Girls' Weekend in Bologna

It's the middle of January and that means it is time for my annual girls' trip!  
This year's destination: Bologna

We headed to the train station after school Friday and ran into our wonderful co-worker, Andrea
Playing Cards Against Humanity: Teacher Version while enjoying some Prosecco and snacks in the train station. 
The Italo fast train was the way to go!  
4 hours from Naples to Bologna
After a delicious breakfast at the hotel on Saturday morning, we quickly found a market.
Awesome deals on cool dishes!
A little coffee break in the main piazza 
So happy to spend some extra time with Madds!
Melissa and Sherri in their Mecca: 
Nespresso
Cheers at lunch before spending a relaxing afternoon at the hotel spa
On Sunday we ventured to Fico Eataly World 
( a food paradise!)
Ready for our tour
Bring on the meat sweats!
 Wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese from floor to ceiling
 A wall of chocolate
 Maria and Sherri in the "chocolate lab"
 Melissa and my reactions to our chocolate tastings
 Time for some wine and lunch
 The gelato line was too long, so I opted for a beer instead :)
Eataly World is so big, you can cruise around on bikes!
 Madds and her love of Mortadella
 Tasting some delicious Parmigiano Reggiano cheeses



Happy 13th Birthday, Emma!

And just like that, we have a teenager!  
Ms. Emma Louise Kasparek celebrated her 13th birthday 
This new teenager is not excited to get up at 5:40 a.m.
 The lights are too bright!
 Birthday donut in bed with a Happy Birthday serenade :)
 
Herky came to give his love to the birthday girl
 
Opening presents from the family before school
Birthday dinner at Mary's
(Poor Dom has been sick and his restaurant was not open this week)
Only in Italy does a wine bar host a rockin' 13th birthday party! 
Mary was too good to us!
 A teenager with her first cell phone = one ecstatic girl! 
On Friday night, Emma had her pals Caitlyn, Anna, and Madison over for a sleepover.