rest of my stay with katia & guido

Sunday morning, we went to the local pasticciera in Rovato for a coffee and brioche for breakfast and then we stopped to see Katia’s older brother, his wife and their 2 little girls, Marta who is 2 and Emma who is 2 months old. Marta was so cute pretending to make us some coffee with her little toy kitchen and toy moka. We had a nice visit. For lunch, Katia made the most delicious chicken rolled up with cheese inside and cooked in some white wine. I made some grilled cheese sandwiches – something new for Katia, Guido, and Katia’s brother to try.

After lunch, we watched the motor bike race on TV and then went to Lake Iseo for a long walk by the lake.

When we returned to Katia's house, we began to prepare dinner. Katia invited all the people I have met during my visits there. All but one were able to come. We ate for 2 1/2 hours! We had a delicious seafood risotto that Katia made, grilled shrimp and 2 types of scampi, salad, fruit salad, and then for dessert a very special cake that Katia & Guido ordered in honor of my visit with the word "Bentornata" written on it (which means welcome back) and a toast of prosecco.

I have been so fortunate to have met such wonderful friends. After dinner, we spent more time talking and laughing. Such a wonderful night to end another great visit.

Monday morning, Katia and I spent a long breakfast chatting some more and then we walked over the the little bread store to buy some rolls. By then it was lunchtime. Katia made some more ravioli with burro and salve and then she drove me to the train station. We both said that we wait for so long to see each other again and then the time goes by so quickly.

I had a wonderful stay and look forward to showing Katia and Guido Hawaii next summer when they visit for their honeymoon (they will marry this December).

soave & the big match - italia vs us

Saturday morning...I slept well but woke up with a very sore eye. I noticed that my eye was red after landing in Milan and thought it was due to my allergies and so I thought that my allergy drops would solve the problem but this morning when I woke up, it felt like there was a scratch on my eye.

After breakfast we went to the grocery store to pick up some food for later and then went to the panificio (bread store). I love getting to do the normal every day things in Italy. I am now at Katia's other working place posting this and will then go to the Farmacia to try to get some eye drops. Luckily Katia is here to interpret. It seems that every year, I visit the Farmacia at least once. The visit to the Farmacia was a success! I found out that the allergy eye drops I was using were drying out my eyes. The new drops worked wonderfully and now my eyes are fine.

Lunch...
Katia made wonderful lunch - one of my favorite meals - ravioli con salve e burro (ravioli with sage and butter).

After lunch, we decided to go to Soave. Soave is a little town surrounded by beautiful valleys full of vineyards.

(entrance to the town)

There is a huge castle at the top of the town where we had a wonderful time exploring.

(view from outside the castle)

After walking around the inside of the castle, we decided to climb to the top. Guido and I were able to talk Katia into going about halfway up to the top of the castle where you will find a thin walkway which goes over to the top of the tower (a tower which was once used to torture people). Guido and I went the rest of the way while Katia waited for us (she is afraid of heights).

(view from the castle)

(heading to the tower)

(views from the top of the tower)

After spending about an hour in the castle, we walked back down into the town and stopped for a gelato. I chose mango & fragola (strawberry). It is so hard to describe the difference between ice cream/gelato in Italy and the US, but there is definitely a difference!! The flavors are so much more intense! The gelato was wonderful...I would have to say one of the best I have ever had.

(the most wonderful gelateria)

(town of Soave)

On our way out of town, I took a picture of the Soave Bolla building which is located right at the edge of the town. It is funny that Soave Bolla is so famous in the US but is not considered a very good wine here in Italy (or at least according to Katia & Guido - although they are spoiled with the wines of Franciacorta).

(Soave Bolla building - taken while riding in the car)

(views of the castle from the car)

After a beautiful drive back, we stopped at another grocery store to pick up some food for dinner and for all the people coming over to watch the big match.

(an entire aisle of pasta!)

(so many types of cheese!!)

We had a wonderful caprese salad for dinner as well as some proscuitto and melone.

Tonight is the big match - Italy & the US. I have been told that I can sleep in the garden if the US wins! After dinner, we waited with anticipation for the big game. Katia’s brother is a HUGE soccer fan. There were 8 people strongly rooting for Italy to win and me. Everyone joked about my allegiance to the US and how the garden would be ready for me if Italy lost. Right when the game started, it began to rain outside. I asked if they had a tent for me.

It was lots of fun watching the game and listening to the reactions when either the US or Italy got a warning or thrown out of the game with a red card. Italy scored first. Then one of the Italian players scored a goal for the US!! That did not go over well. In the end, the 2 teams tied. It ended perfectly for me as they could not be upset with the US team since Italy scored both goals.

I still had not completely recovered from jet lag and once again I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

friday in coccaglio with katia & guido

Friday morning, I was up early. I was very excited to travel to Coccaglio to spend the weekend with Katia and Guido. After stopping at a bar to have my morning espresso macchiato and a brioche, I bought a yogurt and picked up a newspaper and headed to La Rocca, a very peaceful place with a beautiful view of the city below to hang out for a while. After eating my yogurt and reading the newspaper, I went back to my hotel to check out.

When leaving the hotel with all of my luggage, I realized that I was blocked in by 2 cars. Outside the hotel, there are planters with trees in them that makes a U shape. Right next to the tiny place to exit was a car parked with only about 3 inches to spare. I had to have one of the people at the hotel help me get my bag rolling bag to fit between the planters and the car (she actually just pushed it through which was what I did not want to do as the car was pretty dirty and I did not want to get dirt all over my bag). Then I had to squeeze by almost knocking down all the branches along the way to get out with my 2nd bag on my back.

I took the funicular back down, and then caught the bus back to the train station. The train was pretty full and running about 10 minutes late. I printed out the schedule of times/stops so that I would know when we would arrive in Coccaglio. Because Coccaglio is a tiny town, the train only stops for about 30 seconds and so you need to be right at the door ready to depart. I got a little nervous as the train did not stop at the first planned stop and so I was not sure if it was going to stop at all the other stops. Also, this train did not have automatic doors that opened and so I would have to figure out how to open the door on my own. Luckily, there was a man at the door that helped me with open the door when the train stopped. Coccaglio is so small that you actually have to walk across the train tracks to get to the other side instead of going under the underpass to get to the other side.

When I got off the train, I did not see Katia at first as my train was on track 2 and she was waiting on the other side. For a moment, I had this fear that perhaps I did not get off at Coccaglio. After the train went by, I saw Katia on the other side of the track waiting for me! We were both so happy to see each and other, that we hugged right in the middle of the tracks!!

Katia took me back to her house and had lunch ready for me. She made a delicious pasta with tomatoes and a caprese salad. YUM!

(caprese salad)

After lunch, we went to the preschool where she works. She helps a student with special needs in a regular preschool setting. The children were all so cute! They have been learning about volcanoes and asked me questions about the volcano in Hawaii. I taught them the song "Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes". They really enjoyed as we went faster and faster each time. They also taught me a song that is similar to the “Hokey Pokey”. It was interesting to see the similarities and differences between the preschools in Hawaii and the preschool here in Coccaglio.

When we left, we met Guido and then went to look at some apartments that Katia and Guido may rent when they get married. Then we went to see the historical part of Rovato, the town that Guido is from, and we also stopped at the mall where I bought a DVD and a CD.

We went back to Katia's house for a little while until dinner.

(this moka which was made out of cans was
next door to Katia's house at the community center)

For dinner, we went to this beautiful place on Lake Iseo to have pizza.

(view from the restaurant)

I still have not completely adjusted to the time difference and was pretty tired when we got back to Katia's house. I must have fallen asleep as soon as I hit the pillow.

why Coccaglio??

Coccaglio is a tiny little town, which is located between Milano and Verona. It is located in the area called Franciacorta. This is not a town on the tourist path but a special town where my dear friend Katia lives.

During my first trip to Europe back in 1999 in Vernazza (Cinque Terre) Italy, I sat waiting for the train to arrive on a cement bench next to this nice couple, Katia and Guido. Lucky for me, the train was running an hour late. During that time, we struck up a conversation, exchanged emails, and rode together once the train arrived to La Spezia where we were both making connections.

We kept in touch through email and the following year, Katia met me in Verona and took me to her house where I spent the night. Our friendship has grown over the years and each time that I have returned to Italy (except my trip to Sicily), I have stayed with Katia and her family. This will be my 5th stay with Katia & her family.

AND...there is exciting news to share - Katia and Guido will be married this December!

 This is Katia's house. Check out her mom's beautiful flowers!

 Prosciutto and melone - first course of an amazing lunch at Katia's.

 Delicious pasticcinni for dessert from the local pasticceria in town.

 The center of Coccaglio.

 The church in Rovato where Katia & Guido will marry.