Monday, May 31st: I do remember what I had to eat last night! I had Leberknödel Suppe (liver dumpling soup) with ribbons of french crepes in it...and a salad. I sort of read the menu wrong, and I thought that I was going to get a soup and salad, then a crepe with Nutella on it for dessert. When I finished my soup and salad, I waited and waited for my crepe with Nutella! When I complained to my mom that the waitress was taking so long, she informed me that I had already eaten the crepe...it was what was in the soup! LOL!!! Oh well...that’s what I get for trying to show off and pretend I am fluent in reading German! So, waking up this morning was awesome! Kenya and I were so cozy in ... read more

Saturday, May 29th: This morning we walked around the town we were staying in, Marquartstein. Marquartstein is almost completely surrounded by the Bavarian Alps. Everywhere we looked…there they were, in all of their glory! We took most of the morning walking around and taking pictures of the beautiful painted buildings, the river that runs right through the village, even a picture of this two story home that had a ladder running up the side for their cat(s)! The top story window had a cat door in it! I thought that was the coolest thing! We did our daily grocery run, and I could not wait for lunch!!! My aunt was making my absolute favorite! Frickadelln!!! A Frickadel is like a meatball…it has ground hamburger and pork in it, and special spices, and then it is fried ... read more

Thursday, May 27th: Good morning!! Well I got a treat this morning…instead of having to go and find the ‘magic button’, my cousin, Maxi, who is an aspiring chef, brought me a cappuccino that had a smiling face “painted” on it!! What a nice surprise and treat!! He showed me how to do it, and I would have NEVER figured that one out on my own!!  Our daily breakfasts consisted of rolls and bread, picked up fresh from the bakery just that morning…omgeee…heaven!! We had platters of cheese and cold cuts to choose from, and about 5 different homemade jellies and marmalade, and of course, Nutella!! Some mornings we had soft boiled eggs too. I can’t believe the amount of bread we ate daily!!  Anyway, we woke up to the clouds covering the Alps, ... read more

Tuesday, May 25th: Well…despite my dads’ thoughts that we could NOT all be happy in one room, we actually did just fine! After all, we had walked all day the previous day, and had woken up super early too, so that we just were plumb exhausted! My mom and dad are natural early risers, so they got their showers in first, and went down to the hotel café to get their coffee, while I took my shower. The shower was very modern…all glassed in, but it had a hand held showerhead…I hate those things!! It seems they never point in the right direction, and sure enough, this one didn’t either, and I ended up soaking the floor somehow…ugh…oh well! So Kenya and I went down to join my parents in the café. The breakfast was buffet, ... read more

Sunday, May 23rd: Today is our last full day in Tuscany. Wow…we have enjoyed “staying put” in one spot!!! We have made new friends, worldwide, and made some town people very happy for our business! We strolled into our favorite coffee bar and we decided to have our coffee out of the sidewalk, where we could enjoy a view of the bicyclists that were racing through town. The specialty grocers, next door to the coffee bar, brought out their colorful banners, and were selling porchetta (think of a whole pig, gutted, salted heavily, sewn together, and then deep fried), special cheeses, breads, olives, and an assortment of other delights…the shop owner was Sicilian, and was VERY boisterous!!! He had us laughing, sampling his specialties, and he even gave us a bottle of Sicilian wine for being ... read more