Mom and Judy in Italy

It was the first time for Michael’s mother Nancy and her friend Judy to visit Italy. We are pleased to say that after staying with us for almost a month they were both in agreement on two things. Hawaii is a lot warmer in October than Italy and...

...It was a trip of a lifetime!!

An excerpt from a note from Nancy:

“Judy & I had a blast on our vacation at your house in Italy!! Thank you for the fantastic hospitality extended to us. We couldn’t have asked for a better host family. We were able to “live” in Vicenza and that made it unique. We enjoyed meeting all your friends and neighbors... Let me know when you’re having your next Luau – I’ll come over and help and bring whatevah. We love you. I look forward to returning.”

These two “senior” ladies were fearless. They had a strong sense of adventure and not only did they tour Italy they also visited Switzerland and Austria.

Some highlights from their trip:

Mike escorting the ladies to St. Moritz, Switzerland on the Bernina Express train.





Meeting Thomas.




Lunching at the castle in Marostica, Italy




The open market in downtown Vicenza.




Touring the Vineyard Le Ragose




Touring the Frantoio Bonamini Olive Farm




Scaling the cliffs and trails of Cinque Terre. Warning the ladies not to go on the trails apparently did not register. Like I said, "fearless."




Off to Rome via the train.





Michael joined them in Florence and together they toured Florence and Pisa.











The ladies were off to Vienna, Austria where they were reunited with their friend Thomas who gave them a personal tour of this grand city.





One of the things Nancy and Judy truly appreciated was the opportunity to experience “every day life” in Italy. We took long walks around our town of Montecchio Precalcino and they were able to see the local sights, inspect the flowers and foliage, enjoy a cold drink at the “bar”, shop at the local supermercato and meet many of our neighbors. There was plenty of “down” time that was usually spent playing Scrabble.

Their Aloha, Italian, Halloween dinner with our friends.





Wanna see more? Check it out Here!

Aloha and a hui hou.

Our First Ospeti - Rebecca & Todd

In September we had our first guests, my sister Rebecca and her husband Todd from Minnesota. They stayed with us for two jam packed weeks. Rebecca and Todd are excellent guests as they stayed with us at our home in Hawaii and despite experiencing Hawaii’s monsoon season during their vacation they remained upbeat and managed to enjoy Hawaii – rain and all. Unfortunately, Todd had to return to Minnesota after only a week so I was determined to squeeze in as much of bella Italia as I could.

We picked them up at the airport and took them directly to Venice, dragging them all over the canals and even threw them on a boat to see some of the charming islands nearby.

A gondola ride in Venice – about an hour after getting off the plane.




The following week was probably somewhat of a blur for Todd since he was only able to stay for a week I was determined to show him as much as we possibly could. We took them to 6 cities in about five days including Venice, Rome, Pisa, Siena, San Gimignano, and Vicenza. Although we saw a lot, if you are in Italy for a week – you may want to have your “travel guide” keep it to around two big cities and see those well. Just FYI. Here are some highlights of their trip.








Celebrating the arrival of the cows as they come down from the mountains to their winter home in Poinella. This was followed by an authentic Italian dinner prepared by Mama Luigina.





We drove down to the beautiful Tuscany region and stayed at our lovely B&B Borgo Argenia.

Over the next two days we explored the Tuscan towns of Siena, Pisa and San Gimignano.










Then it was on to Rome. We highly recommend the Hop On – Hop Off buses.







We left Rome and headed north back to our home in Vicenza. After a 6 hour drive and lots of singing to the oldies, we arrived.

Rebecca and I took Todd to the airport and with some extra hugs and kisses sent him back to Minnesota.


It was time for the two sisters to take a road trip to Germany. We piled our things in the perky blue VW Rabbit, plugged “Gina” the GPS into the dashboard and away we went at warp speed on the Autostrada through Northern Italy, Austria and just into Germany to the town of Fussen. According to Rebecca, “Every where you looked it’s a picture post card.”





The Neuschwanstein castle.




We drank good beer and ate the best strudel in the world. We returned home explored some of the charming local Italian towns, did some shopping and then it was “ciao Rebecca – C’e vediamo presto.”

Wanna see more photos? Check them out HERE!

Ciao for Now!
Cyn

Labor Day Weekend in Lake Bled

I'm sure you've never heard of Slovenia before. Maybe as some 15 minute stop over in a James Bond move from the 80's, but honestly, could you find it on a map?? Well if you could, then you could find yourself in a fairy tale, the way we did when we spent Labor Day Weekend at Lake Bled, Slovenia.

Slovenia is the country due east of northern Italy. Since it is part of the European Union, we were able to drive over there with no problems at the border. The drive took us about 3 1/2 hours on the Autostrada. Lake Bled is just north of the capital of Slovenia: Llubljana.



Cynthia got us a full weekend spa package at the only 5 star hotel on Lake Bled, the Grand Hotel Toplice. The package included a beautiful suite with a balcony overlooking the lake including it's little island and castle. The entire forested scene was too enchanting for words.

A view of the castle from our balcony.

Our first afternoon at the Hotel Toplice started off with an hour-long soak in the spa's "private" hot tub. Cynthia and I had a private room with a large jacuzzi tub. We took full advantage of the
situation to achieve complete and utter relaxation after our long drive into Slovenia. We followed up with a nap in our room and then explored the quiet mountain town adjacent to the lake. We stopped by for dinner at a quaint fish restaurant across the street from our hotel. We didn't have reservations, but the host was able to seat us after a short wait. We felt pretty lucky because they turned away several other parties after we were seated. We had a wonderful meal, including the local dessert specialty, kremsnita cream cake. We were also introduced to an extraordinary blueberry liquer. I spent the rest of the trip trying to find a bottle of it to take home with us!


The next day our wonderful spa weekend continued with a morning massage then a row boat ride out to the island in the middle of Lake Bled. Cynthia grabbed our picnic basket, and I jumped on the oars. I've never rowed a boat before, but I've seen it done on TV, so how hard could it be?? It took me a good five minutes to just get the oar into the holder and we almost ran over a swimmer that got negligently close to our watercraft (how dare he). However after I finally got the oar grooved, we were on our way to the island.

Braddah only knows how to paddle one canoe!

The tiny island is only big enough to have a church and a cafe but had a wealth of tourists there ready to take in the charms of this idylic place. Our little jaunt included a champagne and strawberry picnic because we're first class all the way. After a delightful repast in the cool shade of a tree, we got a capuccino at the cafe and then I rowed back for home (with a little more success). The afternoon weather was too lovely to spend indoors, so we took a 45 minute carriage ride around the lake.





Sunday came all too quickly, as we enjoyed our coffee and omelets at the breakfast buffet. After we checked out of the hotel, we drove up the hill to the castle that overlooks the lake. There's a variety of museum exhibits including an enoteca where a "monk", or at least a comedian dressed as a monk, helped me bottle my own wine. How cool is that!? Even better, I finally found a shop that sold that incredible blueberry liquer.


We will definitely go there again!

It's Official: I'm a "Certified" Drunk!