What are we doing in @#$% Bruges?? Having a great time!

Cyn and I love traveling in September.  The weather starts cooling off for Autumn and a lot of the summer tourists have disappeared.  This year we decided to go to Belgium to check out Bruges over the long Labor Day weekend; mostly because our friends told us it was really beautiful, but also because of that movie.  

We had a blast!  We stayed at a little hotel just on the edge of city center.  And just like the movie says, the whole town is a profusion of swan-filled canals and charming alleys.  We got to see Bruges from a few different methods.  We walked around a lot, took a carriage ride, a canal boat tour, and even went on a Segway tour.  Segways are super fun, and we really recommend 'em!

 

 

 

 

On the culinary front, we really enjoyed the pomme frites, belgian chocolate, and Waffles!!  Wow were they good.  And don't even get me started on the beer.  A lot of guys have told me that Belgian beer is the best, and they don't lie.  I think part of its appeal is that it's a little bit sweeter than German beers.  We even enjoyed a tour at the local "Half Moon" Brewery.

 

 

We got out of the city on a nice bike ride with Quasimundo bike tours.  Belgians love their bikes and our tour guide was friendly and informative.  But by far the most wonderful thing about our trip was when we went up in the HOT AIR BALLOON!  We booked it as a fluke when we were in the tourist office; neither one of us had ever been in a balloon before.  Christophe the pilot picked us up from the city center and we drove out into the Belgian countryside.  At one point he stopped and filled a small party balloon with helium and let it go.  His trained eye was observing how the sea winds were flowing at different altitudes.  That's how balloon-men steer their craft by adjusting altitude and catching different currents.  Based on his observation he drove the group to a nearby farm where we proceeded to unpack and inflate the balloon.  It was HUGE and it was definitely a team effort to get this thing going.  Once the balloon was filled with air, things moved very quickly as we had to scramble over the sides of the basket before take off (not an easy feat for us!).  Once everyone had scampered into place, Christophe roared the flame to life and we slipped the surly bonds of earth.

 

 

 

 

I think I can see our hotel from here!

 

 

The journey was breathtaking as we floated away.  It was so quiet, since there is no wind because you're moving along with it.  Christophe was an amazing pilot and was able to steer us directly over the city center.  We traveled past the city into the surrounding country side, waving to families having dinner in their backyards and to groups of children frantically following us on their bikes, waving and laughing.  At one point Cristoph showed off his piloting skills by bringing us down to less then 10 feet over a cornfield and the bottom of our balloon basket brushed the tops of the corn stalks.  Awesome!

 

 

 

Another Safe Landing!

 

On our way home to Italy, we spent a couple days in the capital of Belgium, Brussels.  We had Mussels in Brussels, saw Mannekin Piss (yeah that kind of piss), and visited Atomium (site of the 1958 World's Fair).

Check out more pics

 

-M

Bocelli Concert in Tuscany

After all the craziness of putting on an entire luau, it was nice just spending some relaxing time with my moms.  To really emjoy and celebrate our time together we dececided to head down to our favorite region of Italy, Toscana.  And this turned into a really special event.  Every year the sleepy town of Lajatico, nestled in the foothills of Tuscany, becomes a music mecca as Andrea Bocelli hosts a concert in the outdoor amphitheatre.  This Bocelli's hometown and they've created a breathtaking venue for the local boy who made it big in the music world.  We were invited on this adventure by our friends Ann -n- Roland and were also joined by their longtime friends Tom and Mary.  

The town of Lajatico is very small and charming.  It's incredible to think how many tourists descend on this sleepy village at the top a tuscan hill.  After a brief walk thru Lajatica, we filed our way down onto this wide open plain.  The concert stage standing out like some anachronistic monument to modernism in the middle of this idyllic italian landscape.  Bocelli had invited an internatinoal compliment of performers and our seats were perfect.  The hotel was even nice enough to pack us a picnic basket of goodies.  A once in a lifetime experience.

 

 

Not ones to waste a good trip to Tuscany, while we were down there we also went to Lucca. We had never been to Lucca so we went and checked that place out.  Cynthia found some gardens where she wiled away most of the Sunday afternoon soaking up the sights and smells of flowers and statues.  And on another day went to the Pinocchio museum in Collodi.  What a fascinating history about a story that we all know about.  Nearby the Pinocchio museum was Villa Garzoni gardens and butterfly house.  I loved the Pinocchio stuff, my mom loves butterflies, and Cyn is gaga for gardens.  What a trifecta!

 

more pics here

-M

You Like Go Luau?

A couple of years ago we held a luau in at our house and invited a bunch of Italian and American friends to join us.  The party was a phenomenal hit, and we've been pestered occasionally to have an encore performance.  However the amount of work involved with such an endeavour has always discouraged us.  Well this summer, our good friends and blog all-stars, Ann and Roland, were celebrating their grandson Max's first birthday.  The first brithday has always been a very special time for people in Hawaii because of the high infant mortality rates that existined there in atniquity.  So if there was ever an event that was going to get us off the bench and into our hula skirts, this was going to be it.  And it didnt' hurt that my mom, and ultimate luau kitchen mama, Nancy was in town at the same time.

Unfortunately for us the day was absolutely sweltering hot hitting at least 100 by the early afternoon.  But that was the only downside to this fabulous event.  Team Sturk was hard at work decorating with all kinds of decorations from the "Tiki Hut" collection of the Target catalog.  Meanwhile the red-head, mom, and I were cooking up storm making some downhome Hawaiian food.  And once the party started, everyone was so busy having a good time, that it made the hot summer afternoon a little more bearable.  

 

The official part of the show started with My mom giving little Max his "Hawaiian" Name of Nakoa, which means Warrior.  And don't underestimate that little pint-sized peanut; look what he did to that cake. We also had a little hula show with the lovely hula girls, Mom, Cyn, and even our Italian friend Sabrina got in on the action.  She was fantastic!  Especially considering that she had only been dancing hula for a few weeks before the luau.  

 
What an amazing party!

Fourth of July in Garmisch

Last year we went to the north end of Lake Garda for Independence day weekend.  We had a great time, but we kind of missed out on the "Americanness" of this American holiday.  So this year we decided to run the old VW Bunny back to her roots in Garmisch, Germany.  We had a great time, enjoying everything Germany had to offer including beer, apple struedel, beer, fresh mountain air, beer, quaint little mountain towns, beer, the tallest mountain in Germany, beer, fireworks for the 4th, and beer.  Did I mention beer?

The US Armed Forces has a resort in Garmisch, including a huge hotel called the Edelweiss Lodge, just like the Hale Koa in Waikiki, Hawaii.  We were lucky to book a room for the whole weekend.  On the first night of our arrival we were able to get in on a brewery tour at the Griesbrau brewery (Beer!).  We learned all about Germany brewing techniques, enjoyed a few pints of a seasonal called "Dragon's Blood", and even got to dance a jig to a little band.

On the fourth of July, the Edelweiss had a great fireworks show that we could watch from the balcony of our room.

We also spent a day walking around Eibsee lake.  The scenery was spectacular.






 On the last day we went up to the top of Mount Zugspitze, the tallest peak in Germany.  The views of lake Eibsee below were breathtaking.  We even got to do a little sledding in July!

Can't get enough pics?  You know what to do!

2 Great Events at Trattoria all'Angelo

Our good friends (and blog all-stars) Mauro and Bari celebrated two fantastic events at their restaurant this summer.  You all know M&B from all of the crazy, wine-fueled cooking classes that I go on and on about.  But this time they were celebrating 2 non-class events, one personal and another magical.

The first was their 25th wedding anniversary.  They had invited all of their close family and friends to help them celebrate their silver anniversary at little party held in the backyard of their lovely restaurant.  As part of the their incredibly fun spirit, they asked everyone to wear their favorite hats, and Cyn and I, never ones to miss an opportunity to wear costumes, obliged.  We got to spend time with Mauro and Bari's families and had a great meal to boot.  The coolest thing was realizing that aside from us being "really good customers", M&B actually think of us very close friends.

 





The other really cool event that we got to go to was a nighttime Jazz Concert and dinner, again out on the field behind the trattoria.  The tents and lights were simply magical and the food, as always, was superb.  The jazz band, called the Travelling Peters (well the Italian equivalent of the Travelling Peters) kept the mood cool as the summer sun set behind the mountain and wine flowed all night long.

We hope they do another Jazz dinner again soon!

Check out more pics here.

Ciao,
M

When I go to Barcelona...

Cyn and I love travelling around in May.  The weather is spring-time perfect;  no cold snow and rain of winter yet too early for that oppressive summer heat.  So this May we decided to enjoy a great little jaunt across the Med to Barcelona, Spain.  Cynthia had been to Barcelona before many moons ago with her good friend Susan.  And while there the 2 of them stayed with a local Spanish artist named Javier.  As luck would have it Cynthia still had Javier's email address and we were able to hook up with him and his wife Candela during our weekend in Spain.
 
 

 I really loved the Barcelona vibe.  Unlike the cramped, labyrinthine streets of so many Italian cities, Barcelona's wide, ambling boulevards with their median strips filled with monuments and flowers were a welcome change.  We loved how relaxed the city was and how easy it was to get around, stopping in at little bars for tapas, coffee, or perhaps a little sangria.  Another great feature was the fine architecture that covered so many different artists and periods but is clearly showcased by Gaudi.
 
 
 
 

 
And although there was a large protest movement that had taken up residence in the middle of Placa Catalunya, we never felt threatened or unsafe.  The young crowd of students were using non-violent means to protest their countries dire economic conditions with unemployment rates as high as 25%.
 
Another serendipitous thing while we were there was that Football Club Barcelona was competing against Manchester United in the UEFA Champion's leage finals.  The boys from Espana won the match handily with their incredible passing and offensive control.  The city erupted with celebratory joy that spilled over into the next day when a massive parade featuring the winning team made its way around the city center, and right past our hotel.



 
Good Times!  See more here.