Blogs from Belluno, Veneto, Italy, Europe

It seems like no matter what we do, we get home at 5:30 every day. Today I thought that I could skip taking a nap when we got home...but fell into a deep sleep, and I'm now fixing dinner of pasta, butter, and cheese at 7:45....I'll be so glad when jet lag is over.... Since the rain was not supposed to start until nearly noon today, we went for a long walk around the local villages: Villa, Torch, Garna and Shiucaz. We walked past fields of wildflowers, past churches, homes, and farms, and down to a river, where the road was closed due a landslide. There was a wedding in Garna, and the church bells rung loudly across the mountainside. On the way back, two paragliders landed at the local club right next to us! We ... read more

Auguri tutti, This week here we celebrated 'festa della donna' (celebration of woman). According to my sources at Wikipedia: "The International Women's Day (commonly referred to improperly Women's Day) marks the 8th of March every year to commemorate the achievements and social, political and economic conditions of women, both discrimination and violence which they are yet declared in many parts of the world. This celebration was held for the first time in the United States in 1909, in some European countries in 1911 and in Italy in 1922." Anyway over here it's a big deal, so to celebrate I went to the birreria with my friend and her boyfriend. I was supposed to be having a kind of blind date with a friend of my friends, but I got stood up because his cow was giving ... read more

Hello loyal fans, I'm back from my travels to Florence & Pisa. We were lucky with the weather as it was nice sunny, unlike here where it is still snowing (seriously how much snow can one country take?). The day before I left for Florence was Valentine's day, so I enjoyed a nice romantic lunch at the local Birrerria with Kasia. Her boyfriend was in France for work, so we were the Lonely Hearts Club. The next morning at some stupid time I took the train from Feltre to Florence. In only 3 hours and 20 minutes I had arrived. My next challenge was to find the apartment we'd rented and check-in. I got so lost and the most annonying thing was it turned out only to be a 5 minute walk from the station (typical)! ... read more

Hello again, Well as promised, here is the Tiramisu recipe (in easy-peasy, Sophia-proof steps): Ingredients (stuff you'll need): 4 eggs 12 TABLEspoons of sugar (no, you're eyes have not deceived you!) 1 packet of sponge fingers (atleast) 500g mascarpone cream Approx. 200ml coffee Approx. 100ml milk 3-4 teaspoons of chocolate powder A suitably sized dish Instructions (stuff you have to do): Using 2 bowls, separate the eggs into whites and yolks Add the sugar to the egg yolks and mash together to form a paste. Then whisk with an electric whisk until it resembles the inside of a cream egg Wash the beaters and then use the electric whisk to whisk the egg whites, until they are light and fluffy Make the coffee and add the milk Add the mascarpone cream to the egg yolks and ... read more

Hello all, I've had a rather sad last few days. The Italian mum's mother died so been trying to help out, whilst at the same time staying out the way so the family can grieve (not as easy as it sounds). The funeral is tomorrow and I feel particularly sad for the kids who only lost their dad 18 months ago and have now lost their grandma as well. In other happy news my knitted patchwork blanket is coming along nicely. I finally finished knitting all 56 squares, now I just have to sew them all together! The only problem is though that I can't sew!! Luckily the little old lady who comes in the week to clean the house, (or as I like to call her 'adopt-a-gran'), has been teaching me. The first attempt was ... read more