Today was another sunny day in Italy. So Joey and Drew decided to go the Aqualandia water park near Venice which boasts of having the tallest water slide in the world. Although it took about 2 1/2 hours by bus to get there, they had a great time and said it was well worth it.
The rest of us headed to Oderzo to meet with family and tour their city. We all gathered at the home of Valentina and Alberto Camilletti where we had some refreshments including the delicious cookies called "Desert Roses" that were made by Valentina. She gave us the recipe so we can bring a little bit of Italy back home with us. She also gave each of us a lovely bouquet of lavender from her garden as well as a darling container of bonbons.
We got back in our cars guided by Louise who was taking us to the Aida Wine shop that was run by her son Enrico Cammareri. There we had a wine tasting of Il Faggeto Prosecco wine which was very good. He also talked about the different wines in his shop and other specialty items there. From there we were graciously treated to lovely lunch by Antoinnette Casonato and family. We started with a lovely lasagna made with a bechamel and ragu sauce followed by a course of spareribs (which were just grilled with salt and rosemary--delicioso!!), sausage, chicken and pork chop with salad and grilled vegatables. Then we ended the meal with gelato covered with coffee. No one was going hungry today!!!
Our interpreters for the day were Valentina's daughter Donatella and her husband Alessandro Cappellotto, a darling couple. After lunch, they took us to the Museo Archeologic Oderzo where we were introduced to our guide for the day--Francesco, our Italian Indian Jones. He is an archeological expert and with great passion explained the meaning of many of the artifacts in the museum. Then he took us to see actual excavations in the city. The most fascinating was at a restaurant called Gellius located at Calle Pretoria 6 in Oderzo. This particular restaurant owner decided to allow the excavation of an historical landmark to be preserved at the site he was placing his restaurant and built the restaurant around the remaining ruins which showed evidence of medieval and roman artifacts. It was very impressive.
Then we went to the town square for a brief refreshment and continued our tour of Roman ruins that have been excavated and preserved below apartment buildings and underneath other buildings around the town. We ended the night at the pizzeria ristorante where we had lunch. We all gathered with Valentina and Alberto, Donatella and Alessandro and their children Laura, Giovanni and Damiano, Anachiara and Luca and their daughter Emma and Louise and Julius with their son Enrico. We started with two types of bruschetta, chips and wine followed by all of us ordering individual pizzas. The generosity of these families continued when we were each given a beautiful photograph taken by Alberto of the town square with the city flag flying and a beautiful scarf from Louise. Molto Grazie!!! We ended the evening with small frozen drink of a lemon sorbet that is mixed with vodka.
As we end this time with our Italian families, we realize how blessed and fortunate we are. They have been more than generous with their time, talents and treasures sharing with us their love and pride in their families and this beautiful country they call home. Con molta gratitudine e amore per la nostra famiglia italiana!!
The rest of us headed to Oderzo to meet with family and tour their city. We all gathered at the home of Valentina and Alberto Camilletti where we had some refreshments including the delicious cookies called "Desert Roses" that were made by Valentina. She gave us the recipe so we can bring a little bit of Italy back home with us. She also gave each of us a lovely bouquet of lavender from her garden as well as a darling container of bonbons.
We got back in our cars guided by Louise who was taking us to the Aida Wine shop that was run by her son Enrico Cammareri. There we had a wine tasting of Il Faggeto Prosecco wine which was very good. He also talked about the different wines in his shop and other specialty items there. From there we were graciously treated to lovely lunch by Antoinnette Casonato and family. We started with a lovely lasagna made with a bechamel and ragu sauce followed by a course of spareribs (which were just grilled with salt and rosemary--delicioso!!), sausage, chicken and pork chop with salad and grilled vegatables. Then we ended the meal with gelato covered with coffee. No one was going hungry today!!!
Our interpreters for the day were Valentina's daughter Donatella and her husband Alessandro Cappellotto, a darling couple. After lunch, they took us to the Museo Archeologic Oderzo where we were introduced to our guide for the day--Francesco, our Italian Indian Jones. He is an archeological expert and with great passion explained the meaning of many of the artifacts in the museum. Then he took us to see actual excavations in the city. The most fascinating was at a restaurant called Gellius located at Calle Pretoria 6 in Oderzo. This particular restaurant owner decided to allow the excavation of an historical landmark to be preserved at the site he was placing his restaurant and built the restaurant around the remaining ruins which showed evidence of medieval and roman artifacts. It was very impressive.
Then we went to the town square for a brief refreshment and continued our tour of Roman ruins that have been excavated and preserved below apartment buildings and underneath other buildings around the town. We ended the night at the pizzeria ristorante where we had lunch. We all gathered with Valentina and Alberto, Donatella and Alessandro and their children Laura, Giovanni and Damiano, Anachiara and Luca and their daughter Emma and Louise and Julius with their son Enrico. We started with two types of bruschetta, chips and wine followed by all of us ordering individual pizzas. The generosity of these families continued when we were each given a beautiful photograph taken by Alberto of the town square with the city flag flying and a beautiful scarf from Louise. Molto Grazie!!! We ended the evening with small frozen drink of a lemon sorbet that is mixed with vodka.
As we end this time with our Italian families, we realize how blessed and fortunate we are. They have been more than generous with their time, talents and treasures sharing with us their love and pride in their families and this beautiful country they call home. Con molta gratitudine e amore per la nostra famiglia italiana!!
You are making me hungry when I read all about the Italian food that you are eating!! what's the saying...monja! (if that's the correct spelling. Again, enjoy your new family!
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