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!