Dober Dan from Slovenia!

So it's Easter Day as I write this- a very popular holiday in Italy...but more about that in another post.

I've been a bit behind in my updates for a few reasons this week- one being my new job doesn't allow for free mornings of daytime television and lounging on the couch and the other being guests!  Good friend Emma and her friend Eileen stayed with us for a few days this past week while they enjoyed a trip through Italy.  We tried to show them a good time here at Hotel Hart and I think they will recommend us to a friend. They checked out Venice, Verona and Vicenza and we had several nice dinners with them while they were here.  Come back soon!

Picturesque Lake Bled

Last weekend we hit the road again for one of our favorite hidden gems- Slovenia.  Slovenia is the lovely country east of Italy, south of Austria and north of Croatia.  It's kind of forgotten surrounded by all those impressive neighbors, but it is NOT to be missed.  Here are a few reasons we LOVE Slovenia:

1. It's cheap!  We stayed in the top tourist site in the country and got a great deal on a hotel.  At dinner one night, we had 2 pizzas (one even GF) and ample drinks for 18 Euro!  

2. No tolls on the roads!  You do have to buy a vignette for 15 Euro, but you can drive for seven days all over the country.

3. The people of Slovenia speak English...and enjoy doing it!  Instead of trying to accommodate several of the surrounding languages, most menus and signs are just in Slovene and English!  I only know one Slovenian word- Dober Dan (hello/good day).  Turns out, I am good at it because the few times I used it, locals tried to speak to me in Slovenian!   

4. The people are friendly!  The people of Slovenia seem to enjoy that you are visiting their country.  They keep it very clean, want you to see the sites and help you do it.  Last time we were there, the hotel front desk worker wanted to chat Celtics with us.

5. The country is very varied- we were in the beach side towns of Piran and Portoroz on our last visit and this time we headed to the Julian Alps.  In parts, the country looks like Italy and in others, Germany.  

Castle Bled

We spent two nights at Lake Bled, the top tourist destination in Slovenia.  The lake was pretty quiet in April, but I imagine it's impossible to get a room in the summer.  I had heard nothing but good things about Lake Bled from those who had been, but it was a bit different from what I imagined.  It's fairly commercialized and feels modern, not rustic and isolated like it looks in pictures.

We spent Saturday hiking up to Castle Bled where we toured the small museum, took lots of pictures of the views and went to the same wine cellar as Laura Bush did on one of her trips here.  We were greeted by a Monk who helped us bottle and cork our own wine!  

Wine Master

Next we went out on the lake in what kinda seemed like a mix between a row boat and a gondola.  I actually wanted to rent our own row boat and do my best Joey Potter impression, but I thought the boats rentals weren't out for the season yet.  Turns out I was wrong and we got a ride on a bigger boat that looked like this instead:

Strange gondola-row boats

After a visit to the island, we walked around the lake, checked out a local wine and chocolate store (where we purchased both) and had lunch at a restaurant named Chillis....which bore an uncanny resemblance to the American chain!  For dinner, we hunted down and found the local pizzeria that served gluten free pies!  

GLUTEN FREE PIZZA!!!

On Sunday, we headed back to Italy but stopped briefly in the capital of Ljubljana.  The city is fairly small and situated on the river Ljubljanica (clever with names, those Slovenians).  We walked along the river and checked out the antique market that was going on.  (By antiques, I mean junk that people pulled out of the attics and garages....) It was also Palm Sunday and while we made it back to Italy in time for mass, we noticed that in Slovenia, "palms" meant any kind of plant.  It was a "bring your own palm" to mass type of place...people walked around the city with palm tree leaves, flower bouquets, tree branches...anything!

The capital city of Ljubljana

In the interest of time, we rode the funicular up to the Ljubljana Castle and got a good look at the skyline.  The city actually reminded me a little bit of Dublin in that it was small and along a river.  We hoped in the car after a gelato stop and headed back to Italy.

The skyline of Ljubljana

Since we've seen most of the top sites in Slovenia, we need to find a reason to go back....anyone interested?!

Day Trips and Weddings

Spring is definitely in full swing here in Italy.  The warmer weather has really made it difficult to sit idle, so we've been out and about on some short day trips.

Last weekend, we enjoyed our Sunday afternoon in the town of Sirmione.  The town is a peninsula that juts into Lake Garda.  It's at the southern part of the lake, so only about an hour drive from us.  We were apparently in the know because half of Italy was there on this day.  It was a beautiful town and we spent time walking along the lake and to the castle.  From the castle, we walked to a grotto where there were ancient roman ruins.  We viewed from afar and instead enjoyed the scenes along the lake.  We enjoyed some gelato at a very popular place in town where, when I tried to order in Italian, the server replied to me in German....so much for my improving Italian!

The Castle in Sirmione sitting in Lake Garda

We've been to a few part of Lake Garda and I am coming to believe that it's one of the more underrated nearby sites.  Tour books often highlight the other Italian lakes- Como and Maggiore.  We haven't done Maggiore yet, but had our ill-fated drive through Como and were not so impressed.  Garda, on the other hand, is quite delightful, much closer and not as overrun with Americans.  If you're in the Veneto area, it's a must see.

More of the Castle

Perhaps one of our most enjoyable days recently was the wedding of our friends Silvia and Patrick.  (This is not the same Silvia we hiked and traveled with....another Silvia.)  Patrick is American and Silvia is Italian, so the marriage was a nice combination of both traditions.  We had never been to an Italian wedding, so we weren't too sure what to expect.  We figured lots of food, lots of wine and a full day of fun.  We were not disappointed.

The ceremony took place in downtown Vicenza.  It was a civil ceremony, but not like an American courtroom wedding.  First, the room was beautiful, as you can see below.

I felt like I was at a royal wedding!

Second, it was officiated by this man in a great sash....(it was also translated into English)

Awesome officiator 

The ceremony only lasted about 20 minutes and involved some nice words, an exchange of rings, the reading of Italian marriage law and a lot of applause.  It was pretty informal and very relaxed.

We then ventured to a 16th century castle in the nearby hills for the reception.  On this day, the temperature was easily in the 80s and actually clear, a rare miracle in this area.  The views were amazing....even the bathroom window looked out over the hills and towns of Italy.  Seriously, everyone should consider a destination wedding in Italy because its beauty couldn't be matched!

The view from the reception

The wedding included some American traditions, such as the garter and bouquet toss, the cake cutting and some toasts, but it was also included such Italian customs as confetti, lots of prosecco, bellinis and wine!

We clean up nice

To say that we ate well is an understatement.  I'm pretty sure it was a six course lunch/dinner, with several eating breaks.  We'd eat, drink and converse over one dish, then get up, go outside, cleanse the palate and start again.  The food was delicious and ranged from quiche and cured pork to risotto, crepes, lamb and beef to vegetables, french fries, fruit and cake.

The menu...bringing eating to a new level!

In true Italian fashion, we were not rushed out of the reception and ate and hung around as long as we liked.  I only wish my wedding was as relaxing, casual and laid back as this one was!  Overall, a lovely way to spend a warm, spring day.  Tanti auguri Silvia e Patrick!

A Little Bit Behind...

Forgive me for my lack of blogging in the month of March.  I have had things to blog about, but time was in short supply at the beginning of the month and then came our epic trans-Atlantic voyage back to the homeland (and I can't write about my trip to Quincy in  blog titled "Life Outside Quincy").

So what have I missed sharing?

1. Amazing ski-weekend with my cousin Alisa visiting from Ireland.  It was a ladies ski weekend up in the Dolomites with lots of powder, sunshine and good skiing.  I don't think I can write about it as eloquently as she did, so for details, see her blog about it:
http://braydenalisadublin.blogspot.com/2011/03/skiing-italian-style.html

As you can see, it was an intense day of skiing (and hiking)...

That's me enjoying the powder on a glacier...

The highlights of the ski weekend included Alisa sampling life Italian style (bad drivers and lack of manners when forming a line) and us witnessing an absolute animal massacre on our drive.  I've never wanted to see a deer get absolutely destroyed after getting hit by a car, but now I have.  

2. Spring is here.  After skiing in all that powder less than a month ago, it's now WARM (think 70s).  It feels strange to me for it to be this warm, but I think that's because I just spent two weeks in Quincy where the daytime high was about 35 consistently and the wind chill made it feel a lot less.  More pictures on spring another time since we just got back.

3. Summer trips- Ski season is over, but our summer travel plans are now in full swing.  Aside from some spring trips to Slovenia and Sweden, we are looking at summer trips to Croatia, Germany and perhaps some other local sites.  Stay tuned.

Carnevale in Venice

Last Sunday, I found myself in Italy all alone with time to kill.  Brenden was away in Washington D.C. at a work conference and I had all Sunday to waste.  I decided to take the short train ride to Venice to check out Carnevale, the famous festival that runs the two weeks before Ash Wednesday.  Carnevale is one of those things I felt I needed to experience while living a stone's throw from Venice.  Unfortunately, I experienced it and will NEVER go again!  

The sites of Venice during Carnevale

Here are ten thoughts I had after a day in Venice:

1. Carnevale is SERIOUSLY crowded.  I've seen Venice crowded and packed with tourists in the middle of summer and I thought it couldn't get any worse.  The small streets of the city were packed...wall to wall packed. I've never actually thought that I could be trampled in a crowd or claustrophobic when outside.  I had both feelings last Sunday.  It was nearly impossible to walk at some points and I found myself in massive amounts of people traffic. (And European people traffic is pretty much the worst kind of people traffic there can be!)  I actually had an agenda for the day and did not get any of it done because I couldn't even get to where I wanted to.  I usually enjoy Venice, but the lack of any space made it impossible.

Glad it wasn't crowdwd

2. Carnevale is kinda a combination of a lot of American holidays- Halloween, New Year's Eve, Mardi Gras, and the Fourth of July.  People come to Venice in costumes and walk around the city throwing confetti and spraying silly string.  The costumes range from women in elaborate historical dresses to men dressed in drag and from adults in clown suits to children wearing Spiderman and Buzz Light Year outfits.  It's a very strange combination that makes for some good people watching.  The pastry shops sell traditional Carnevale snacks which I unfortunately could not eat because they have not yet made them GF.

Just a typical site in Venice

3. My favorite people watching moment of the day came while trying to exit the packed St. Mark's Square.  There was hardly any space to stand, let alone sit, but some creative American college students found a small corner of space.  A group of girls huddled around each other, cell phones in one hand, cartons of cheap wine from the local grocery store in the other, talking loudly about their exploits.  Lately, I've been able to spot American college students (especially girls) studying abroad from miles away.  This group was no exception.  Stay classy, America.

4. When my Mom visited Venice in the fall and saw all the traditional masks on display, she wondered why anyone would buy them.  During Carnevale, everyone actually wears the masks!  It was amazing to see people walking around with their eyes shielded by beautiful masks (probably made in China).  At one point, two Italian men got in a small altercation while trying to navigate the crowd.  The men, both in masks decorated with sequence and feathers, were on the brink of a more aggressive fight.  I couldn't take them seriously though.  Typical Italy.

Not for me...but pretty to look at!

5. Random fact of the day- Carnevale literally translates to "Farewell to Meat".  Horray Lent!  (Side note- I personally feel like I should be medically exempt from the no meat on Friday rule during Lent.  Without meat and without wheat, I'm really left with very little else.  Anyone want to put in a good word for me with JC?)

6. Venice is not the only Italian city to celebrate Carnevale.  In fact, most cities and towns around here have their own local festival.  I didn't get the chance to check out any others, but since Venice's is the most popular, I think I got a good taste of the festivities.

There were plenty of signs advertising Carnevale...but it was hard not to realize it was going on!

7.  There are actually events that take place during Carnevale in Venice.  I stumbled onto one of these in St. Mark's Square while I was trying to go to Mass.  What I think was happening was that an "angel" was descending into the square to present something to the Doge (the old governor of Venice).  I really couldn't see a thing, but I took this picture because everyone else was!

8. Despite being stuck behind crowds all day, it was somewhat entertaining at times...Especially when stuck behind these nice ladies:

9.  While I don't think I'd actually ever buy a big mask, I did enjoy looking at them.  Stores sold all sorts of masks and had elaborate window displays. 

10.  As miserable as the day was, I find Venice to be among the most unique and beautiful cities I've ever visited.  And since I didn't get to do what I actually wanted to do on this trip....I'll be back (just after Lent!).

I thought I might actually get shoved into a canal.

Switzerland- 1 GPS- 0

On Presidents' Day Weekend, we ventured north for our long awaited trip to Switzerland.  I say long awaited for several reasons:

Why would we NOT want to be here?!

1. We have wanted to go to Switzerland for a while now, having heard nothing but good things.
2. We wanted to ski outside Italy.
3. We would be seeing our friends Johnny and Mimi for the last time before they have their baby!
4. Their bulldog Selma would be coming along.
5. Rick Steves raves about a few places in Europe...Cinque Terre (been there), Rothenberg ob de Tauber (Germany- been there) and Gimmelwald, Switzerland (going there).

Passing through Lugano

The ride there took us west through Milan and then north through Lake Como and into Switzerland.  We knew once we got near our destination, we'd have to board a cable car to reach our hotel since it is not accessible by car.  The drive started out well.  It was one of the rare Italian days when you can actually see the mountains from the smog-invested valley we live in.  Heading north into Switzerland, we (well, mostly me as the passenger) caught great views of Lugano and the mountain range around the St. Gotthard Tunnel (which is an amazing 17km long!)

Unfortunately, the drive was not all fun.  Our trusty GPS that has guided us to several tricky European places had an absolute meltdown and nearly got us lost/killed/on an alternative mode of transportation.  Its first debacle occurred in what was suppose to be a scenic gas stop in Lake Como.  Since we needed to get gas before crossing into Switzerland, we hopped off the highway after plugging in a nearby gas station.  As we approached the world famous Lake Como, the GPS told us to take a right up a narrow street.  We drove down the narrow street lined with beautiful villas overlooking the lake and hoped it would come out at our desired gas station- the GPS never lies!  At the end of this "street", the road just ended....and it was impossible to turn around.  My reliable driver put the H1 in reverse and tried to navigate backwards around narrow curves and blind corners.  Needless to say, the gas station was NOT up that road and when we eventually found it, it was, in typical Italian fashion, closed for lunch.  Epic fail.

The second meltdown occurred with about 20k left in our journey when unexpectedly, the GPS told us to board a ferry.  We were in the mountains.  In landlocked Switzerland.  What ferry was this thing talking about?  Still a mystery...

WHAT?!?!?!

We spent the weekend in the quaint town of Gimmelwald.  The town is a traditional farm village with only a few hotels, one restaurant, no supermarkets and more cows than people.  If you ever go, stay at the Pension Gimmelwald.  Aside from it being an adorable old farm house with an honesty shop on the first floor and an amazing view out back, the staff is awesome.  We were quite the motley crew complete with a celiac, a pregnant woman and a dog and they bent over backwards to create gluten free meals, provide pasteurized cheese and space for the dog to roam.  They even hopped right on their computer to help settle our debate about whether or not there is a Hooters in Italy (there obviously isn't one, but there's one in Switzerland!).

Our cute hotel

My favorite picture from Gimmelwald

We spent enjoyable days skiing the Schlithorn under beautiful blue skies and during whiteout snow squalls.  Luckily as we were leaving, the area received much needed snow, as it was quite bare in parts during what I assume is a very mild winter for them.  The ski area was enjoyable, although very steep and narrow near the top.

View from the slopes

Food in Switzerland tends to be very expensive, but we did not have a bad meal the entire weekend.  Highlights included my potato/carrot/hot dog soup, Brenden's teriyaki chicken pizza, traditional Swizz Rosti (a potato and cheese dish) and of course, our lunch from the supermarket in Murren that we ate on the side of the road!

We'll be back!

While we saw this area during the winter, we've heard it's a great summer hiking destination and will perhaps be back to enjoy more of the mountain towns in the Bernese Oberland...but maybe with a new GPS!

We're Not in Italy Anymore...

Last Saturday we woke up with the same mindset..."Let's do something today!"  At first thought, I came up with several things to do on Saturday, such as laundry, cleaning and perhaps even swiffering the floor.  Conversely, Brenden thought it would be a good idea to go to Florence...why not?!  I'm a planner, so the thought of a spontaneous road trip made me a bit nauseous, but I went along with it.  After packing a quick back and booking a hotel, we were off.

Destination: Florence

The drive to Florence was only about 2.5 hours through some interesting scenery.  As we headed south, we ran into mountains and twisting highway roads.  The further south we got, the more snow there seemed to be on the mountains...a strange observation since we have not have snow on the mountains near us in recent weeks.  When we finally arrived in Firenze, we regretted the decision to drive.  Next time, we're taking the train.

Florence- or Firenze in Italian- is a crazy city that is not at all like the Italy where we live.  From what others had said about the city (it's touristy, crowded, tacky) I was prepared to hate it.  For the first two hours, I did.  Imagine Boston's amazing drivers on streets half the size....and add vespas, bicyclists and tourist.  Driving was a nightmare and we certainly won't be driving any further south (as we hear it gets even worse).  In our haste to leave for our spontaneous trip, we failed to write down all the information for our hotel.  Although we had an address, we spent a good 45 minutes on one street walking up and down.  Addresses in Florence are separated by residential and business.  Our awesome GPS sent us to the residential number, which conveniently enough, was at the opposite end of the street from our hotel.  Lucky for us, there were about 50 hotels on the same street and we were working on some weak assumptions- Me- "It begins with an E". and Brenden- "It definitely had a G in the name".  Turns out, we were both wrong. When we finally found the hotel, they had no record of a reservation for us (because it had not come through yet) but they kindly trusted us and let us stay.

We headed out to see the sites in Florence and made the following observations:

1. The marble of the Duomo is very different in this area than in other parts of Italy.  Instead of dark stone and  brick, the Duomo is a nice combination of green and light color marble.  It makes for a pretty church.

The Pretty Duomo

2. There are so many Americans in Florence.  College students and tourists are everywhere.  We heard English more than we heard Italian.  No wonder they are filming Jersey Shore here.

3.  We saw things in Florence that we've never seen in the rest of Italy....a brunch menu?  take out coffee?  a Ben and Jerry's?  Gluten Free pizza?  (OK not at all complaining about the last one!)

You better believe we are here!

4. Michaelangelo's David is the best statue ever and you should go see it.  Something about it is captivating and you could stare at it for hours....or at least until the American college student ruins the atmosphere by yelling to her friend, "I need to find a man that looks like this!"

Illegal picture of David!

5. The city is a nice combination of southern and northern Italy and rightly so given its central location.  While parts of it reminded me of Rome, the small streets and architecture gave it a more quaint, Renaissance feel.  Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked the city.

After dinner and a chocolate festival we stumbled onto, we headed to an Irish pub and decided to check it out.  Inside, we found ourselves lost in a sea of college t-shirts hanging from the ceiling.  Oddly enough, many were from small New England schools.....Bentley, Stonehill, Endicott, Clark, Roger Williams, UMASS Dartmouth...Again, we were in Italy, not Quincy.  We also met some Australian businessmen who wanted to chat it up.  In typical Australian form, they kept trying to buy us drinks and even asked if we wanted to go to a strip club with them....no thanks mate.  We promptly left.

Florence was a pleasant surprise and an easy trip for us.  If we ever want a taste of America, we'll have to head back.

The Curse of the New Skis

Last Friday, Team Hart ventured out for a weekend long ski excursion. We both had the day off, so we decided to leave early and ski for the day, drive to our hotel in Germany and then ski Saturday in Austria and possibly Sunday too before heading back.  We were packed and ready to go and even brought snow chains and a map (because sometimes a GPS just doesn't cut it).

Bluebird skies...beautiful day for skiing...or so we thought

The first sign that this trip might be a bad idea was the fact that I woke up with a terrible cold and slept no more than 30 minutes the night before.  Brenden tried to tell me to go back to sleep and that we could just leave later, but my stubborn self was determined not to waste a good ski day.  We hit the road for Obereggen, Italy, a ski mountain about two hours north of us on the way to Austria/Germany.  The day could not have been more perfect- not a cloud in the ski, small crowds, and good conditions.  This was Brenden's first day skiing on his new skis and he was eager to break them in.  We started the day zipping down the slopes and making our way across the mountain.  By mid-morning, we were enjoying a chair lift and discussing how much we had improved from all the skiing this year.  This was a big mistake.

The next run we did didn't seem to challenging, but it had an unexpected, steep drop off that was hard to see from the top.  I hit this part of the trail doing my best Lindsay Vonn impression and realized as I was in the air that I was going way too fast.  Luckily, I caught myself and stopped before continuing.  I looked around for Brenden to tell him how I almost ended our day with a fall and I found him in a pile at the bottom of the slope surrounded by Italians.  Not good.

Needless to say, he hit the same spot and lost control.  We're not even sure what happened or how he fell, but it caused serious pain in his knee.  We managed to get to the nearest lift and tried to ask for help.  In Italy, there is not a ski patrol like there is at home.  Instead, there are national ski police.  I was able to tell one of them that I needed help and he fired up his snow mobile and got Brenden on the back.  The Italian ski police man put on his siren and the two sped off riding tandem.  I had to resist the urge to take pictures of this comical site.  I was having an Aunt Judy circa 2003 moment when she tried to tell my brother to smile as they loaded him into a sled and that he'd laugh about this later.  Nobody laughed when we found out Shawn's leg was broken.

After the epic snowmobile ride, we had a decision to make- continue to Germany or return to Italy.  We pissed off the Italian police when we refused an ambulance ride to the hospital, but we knew pretty well that it was not a life or death situation.  The decision was made to continue to Germany- we had already paid for the hotel and far better to be sitting somewhere pretty than at home all weekend.

The view from our German hotel room

On Saturday morning, we decided it was time to go to the German hospital to try and get the knee taken care of.  This turned out to be quite an adventure.  The Nothlife (emergency room) was not on the side of the building we entered, so there we were looking like idiots asking where the emergency room was.  Fortunately, many Germans speak English, so a nice lady put B in a wheelchair and showed us the way.  Not surprisingly, the German emergency room visit was the fastest we've ever had- very efficient and in and out.  Unfortunately, we have no diagnosis on the knee and we're waiting on an MRI here.  Safe to say ski season is likely over :(

To cheer ourselves up, we decided to go to the Dachau Concentration Camp northwest of Munich.  This site was on our list of places to go in Germany, so we figured it would be worth the trip. Surprisingly, the camp was very interesting and informative.  It was the first camp and one only to be open all twelve years of Nazi rule.  Visitors can tour the grounds and walk through the famous gates with the inscription "work will make you free".  The museum was full of information and we easily could have stayed even longer, but we were working with only three functioning legs between the two of us.

The gates of Dachau

Although the weekend did not turn out to be the ski extravaganza we hoped for, we were able to enjoy a winter weekend in a nice German ski town....and those new skis will still be new next year too.