First Night in Italia:

prosecco

prosciutto e melone

manicotti (four cheeses including FRESH mozzarella) baked crispy

lemon veal (Sarah maybe shared it with the feral cat hiding in the plant pot beside our outdoor cafe table!)

vino della casa rosso served in a ceramic jug

chocolate almond cake

limoncello

Breakfast:

capuccino

kaffe

juice

apricot brioche

bread

jam, butter

Lunch:

prosecco

beer

spaghetti alla carbonara

mussels in garlic and white wine

pellegrino

Aperitif:

prosecco

Dinner:

prosecco (do you see a pattern emerging?)

prosciutto e melone

vino della casa rosso

pizza with ham and artichokes

pizza with mushrooms

profiteroles

mousse cioccolato

limoncello

GEO QUIZ: Which Italian town is Mr. Gill posing in?

Kaiserwerthe, Germany

As the plane was landing, i noted the expansive green belts surrounding the airport and thought about all of the Black Forest Fairytales! We arrived in Germany for a short layover and after finding our gasthaus we took a stroll along the river. It is interesting to contemplate the impact on human history this wide, brown, swiftly-flowing river has had. From its influence on language development to wars and contemporary shipping lanes…

i tried to imagine the winters of Roman legions camped on one side with “barbarians” camped opposite. i recalled Ursula Hegi’s novel Stones from the River and the swimming escapades of the main character, Trudi. i watched today’s barges with entire families living on board and was curious about how life on the river works.

We wandered through the castle ruins and drank beer in a Garten by the river before stopping in to our first church of this trip. The church bells ring every hour in competition with the cuckoo bird outside our window. Does anyone know what a cuckoo bird actually looks like?

GEO QUIZ: What river did we walk by?

Summer Solstice 2013

LAX

We are waiting to board our plane and Joe is distracted by the never-ending incredulity that “everyone looks different.” Think about it – even twins look different as their life experiences imprint on their bodies. Isn’t that amazing?

Sarah learned (re-learned?) a valuable life lesson today: do not judge a book by its cover.  She made a snide comment under her breath to Joe about a fellow passenger that was not called for. Half an hour later, that SAME PASSENGER retrieved Sarah’s passport from where she had carelessly dropped it and sprinted across the boarding area to hand it to Sarah who was about to get on the plane for EUROPE! This was a big slap upside the head for her as she re-set her attitude and was extremely grateful to the Anonymous Passenger for saving her. Sarah was very ashamed of her earlier thought and was glad that God sent this overt reminder to be nice to everyone.

Blessings to all travelers. Maintain an attitude of gratitude. And don’t judge others by their physical appearance.

.

Positano

Roma

Assisi

Venezia

Check back after July 22, 2013 to read about our Summer 2013 adventures in Italia!

June 30 – Winslow, AZ
July 1 – Canyon de Chelly National Monument
July 2 – Durango, CO
July 3 – Silverton, CO
July 4 – Ouray, CO
July 5 – Medicine Bow National Forest
July 6 – Cheyenne, WY
July 8 – The Historic Plains Hotel
July 9 – St. Mary’s Catholic Church
July 10 – Lambeau Field
July 11 – Lake Michigan
July 12 – Sault Ste. Marie
July 13 – Chi Chee Maun ferry
July 14 – Owen Sound, ON
July 15 – Camp Presqu’ile
July 16 – Goderich, ON
July 17 – London, ON
July 18 – Rock Point Provincial Park
July 19 – Dunnville, ON
July 20 – Letchworth State Park
July 21 – Tafton, PA
July 22 – United States Military Academy at West Point
July 23 – 10708
July 24 – Katonah Bedford Vet Center
July 26 – in the van! (at Rideau Acres Campground)
July 27 – University of Guelph

Betsy is the winner with 19.5 points!

The Richmond Family are a close second with 11 correct answers!

And BKL started out strong with 7 points, but then lost contact during the latter part of the trip…what happened, BKL?

Answers to GEO-QUIZ questions will be posted on August 1, 2012. Winner(s) will be announced at same time.

It’s not too late to play! Get your answers in before July 31, 2012!

And happy to be out of the crate!

We spent last night visiting with sister-in-law Kris and nephew Mack. Great dinner! After dinner, Joe met the pack of dogs and fell in love with gentle giant, Quinn. Kris & Mack squashed the dog-napping plan!

Shasta had a great time romping with his cousins! Today, we bought an airline crate for this afternoon’s flight.

GEO-QUIZ: Kris works at a famous lab at a famous vet college. Where does Kris work?