Well, we have completed the task of hosting our first guest. There was a lot of preparation before. We had to make sure the bed was made, the junk was removed (since prior our guestroom was a storage room), and furniture was purchased, built, and put in it's proper place. Of course I spent a total of 8.5 hours the day before deep cleaning the house from top to bottom. After all, first impressions are the impressions that last. Thomas's father-Joe Hefner-arrived on 17 November 2011 at around 1130 am. Thomas greeted Joe at the airport. I, however, had an FRG meeting at an olive oil factory- no big deal ;). We all arrived back at the apartment around the same time. Pefecto timing! I was initially quite shocked. Joe had managed to not only bring Thomas's favorite burritos from Dee's Burritos in Snyder, Texas but 1/2 a gallon of green sauce to compliment them. To say Thomas was happy would be an understatement. Now as if he wasn't already pulling for father of the year, he also brought us something else. A turkey fryer. Yes, a turkey fryer. The saga of what he had to go through is an extremely, long entertaining tale that only he can really tell, however, refer to http://silkpursesandsowsear.blogspot.com/2011/11/list.html?spref=fb for a shortened, but pretty accurate version of Joe's tale of getting a turkey fryer.
The first day/night we took him to Caserma Ederle (the base) and to the amazing restaurant Aeolia's in Longare, Vicenza, Italy. We of course got the Aeolia's Menu (salad, fagatini, steak with potatoes, and fried ice cream that resembles creme brule). That night Joe slept hard and slept a little late in the morning.
On the second day, I took him to Emisfero, which for those not living here who already know, it is basically an Italian Super Wal-Mart. Joe found it enjoyable and paid special attention and observation to the meat department. Are we surprised since he works for the USDA? ;) Thomas got off early that afternoon, so we rested up and went to Pizza Pub for supper that night and had a few drinks at the Orange Bar. It's not really called Orange Bar, but all of us Americans call it that because the walls are orange and the lights illuminating it are orange.
The third day consisted of a day trip to Venice. It was quite a foggy day. Almost made Venice look eerie. However, we took a water taxi ride to San Marco's Square which I found quite enjoyable. I loved cruising through the waterways!! I was quite proud to be the pigeon lady once again. I have quite a knack for it now. Used to the I couldn't get one pigeon to land on me. Now I have whole families flocking to me. Piece of cake. ;) Joe was able to experience the amazingness of attracting pigeons as well. Even Thomas accidentally acquired a few pigeons. He HATES those pigeons! It was hilarious to see him cursing and swinging at them to go away, but yet, they remained. We attempted to take a ferry to Murano Island where Murano glass is made, but alas, it was way too foggy to do this. I was so upset. I really wanted to go. :( That night we returned to Vicenza and ate at Walter's restaurant (Regina's). Walter was THRILLED to see Thomas again after so long. Rebecca (Walter's daughter and Thomas's 7 year old girlfriend I blogged about before) was not too friendly to Thomas. And this time I don't think it was b/c of me! She told me goodbye and to Thomas she just sort of threw her hand up! Hahaha! Thomas felt a little hurt I believe. But, you know, she could have just been being a 7 year old. But, I like to tease Thomas and tell him his girlfriend has moved on!
Fourth day consisted of Thomas and Joe hiking and climbing in Thomas's favorite spot in Lumignano, while I taught the kiddos at Awanas. That afternoon we to Suova for an olive oil festival at Bomonini (the place I had my FRG meeting at). We received samples of wine, olive oil, and foods. We also did some Christmas shopping! ;) That night Thomas fired up the grill and made steaks and veggies. They were delicious, however, an hour later I didn't find them that delicious. To lessen the risk of having a TMI moment, I will just say that I was very very sick to my stomach all night long with multiple trips to the bathroom every hour on the hour all night long. I finally just went downstairs and slept (attempted to sleep) on the futon so Thomas could get sleep before work. When Thomas left for work around 530 am I went back to bed and finally got some sleep (about 5 hours worth).
Since I was up all night sick to my stomach the night before, the fifth day, Monday, was spent recovering. I slept on the couch on and off all day, barely eating anything. I did have to make a few trips to the bathroom, but not nearly as many as the night before. So, whatever, "bug" caught me the night before was getting out of my system. Thanks goodness, because Thanksgiving was coming up that week and I was preparing for 14 people to come eat at my house!! On my day of recovery, Joe walked down to the Pronto Bricco (basically like a Home Depot) twice (b/c it was closed the first time he went, are we surprised?? NO! It's Italy) and got a part for my shower and fixed it.
On the sixth day, Joe took a trip all by himself back up to Venice. He left early in the morning and came home around supper time. He was able to go to Murano Island that day and look around. I'm glad it wasn't too foggy for him to go. I, on the otherhand, spent the entire day cooking!! I can't remember a time I was more stressed (well, yes, I do..it was probably when I was in school). The lack of space in our kitchen is unreal. I will say that is something I miss about the states. I was driving myself nuts trying to find places to put stuff. I was even driving to base at 400 in the afternoon stocking stuff in the fridges in the barracks. I was so exhausted by the end of the night. Not to mention, I was extremely irritable.
On Joe's seventh day here, we spent the whole day once again in the kitchen and back and forth to the commissary for the various items I of course forgot to get or ran out of. He was a big help though!! He helped cook, clean, and tested the turkey fryer to make sure it was ready for our big turkey day. Oh and of course there was the deep cleaning I had to do prior to everyone coming. That's a funny thing. It's amazing how a house can be completely spotless, but you fill it up with 14 people and it's amazing how dirty it just naturally gets. I was in awe of it. Haha!
The eighth day was the day we had been preparing for...Thanksgiving. We all woke up around 700. I started preparing and making the cheese dip (one of the appetizers) and the men started peeling/cutting potatoes for the mashed potatoes. Then, of course, I had to complete the metamorphasis. ;) After this, I think I sat for maybe 20 minutes and then it was ON! I was able to fit two casseroles in our oven at one time. So, I got everything together and placed it in the oven. Now, since everything I made I tripled and even quadrupled some of the recipes, it took a tad longer to cook, which of course was irritating, but oh well!! Thomas made two trips to base to pick up all of the single soldiers who came to eat with us. I love all of you boys, but God bless you Danielle for being here. It was great to have another girl here with me. You were also very helpful during the slight mishap with the green bean casserole (burnt the fried onions on top, but never fail, I was prepared with extra fried onions and we scooped off the burnt ones and replaced them with new ones...green bean casserole turned out just fine!). Everyone arrived around 200. We had appetizers to tie everyone over while the massive amount of food cooked. We had cheese dip, a cheese ball, and bruschetta. We finally ate around 630 (we were shooting for 430/500). Everything turned out great! It was delicious and we had soooo many leftovers. I couldn't believe it. I gave ALL of it away too. By that point, I wanted it all out of my house!! Haha! Our Thanksgiving menu consisted of: 2 Fried Turkey's, 1 Ham, Green Bean Casserole, Cornbread Dressing, Cornbread Casserole, Sweet Potato Crunch (4x the recipe I might add), Cabbage Casserole, 3 large amounts of Broccoli Salad Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, and Biscuits (I think that's all???). I think the last bunch of boys left our house around 10-11. I was so completely exhausted. I have never been this tired. I slept HARD that night and slept in the next morning.
Day 9 felt like a rude awakening to me. You would have thought I was hungover from a major binge drinking episode. I had not. It was a hangover from a major binge cooking episode(s). I was a zombie the entire next day. We ran errands and I was falling asleep in the car. Joe has the picture to prove it. The men were a big help the next day. The cleaned and straightened up. After lots of looking and thought we purchased our first Christmas tree. Thomas was disappointed that we couldn't get a real one. Here, if you want a real one you have to pot it in the ground. Very strange. So, we bought a pre-lit tree from the px. However, we had issues once we got home. we plugged the american 110 light into a transformer. They came on, but then 5 minutes later they would go out. After reading the fine print in the instructions, we discovered that these particular lights could not be used with a transformer. So, the next week Joe and I had to make a trip to Emisfero to get 220 lights. So our tree is wrapped with both 110 and 220 lights with only the 220 lights burning. Yep, only us.
On the tenth day, we left around 900 in the morning for Firenze or as we like to call it in America, Florence! It was about a 3 hour train ride. When we arrived we settled in our bed and breakfast which was a short walk from the train station. We got a map from the lady at the hotel who also circled various points of interests for us. Our first stop was a little sandwich shop where we got paninis. Mine had sausage, spinach, and cheese on it. The sausage was interesting because it wasn't browned so it still had a pink hue to it I guess which of course looked suspect to me. But, once, I got my mind away from that and realized that yes it was indeed cooked, I discovered that it was tasty. After that, we walked through all of the local markets and shops. Firenze is known for it's leather. There were so many leather shops filled with gorgeous leather handbags, suitcases, briefcases, etc. I could have gone crazy in there, if I had lots of money. ;) We also went to a local shop and picked out two ornaments made in the area for our Christmas tree. After a little walking, we finally arrived at the Duomo! What a beautiful sight it was!! The churches here in Italy are all amazing with so much detail. But, the Duomo definitely has something the others don't...an absolutely breathtaking view. If you decide to...walking up the 400+ steps is totally worth the view at the top. Yes, walking up ALL those stairs is a bit tiring, but actually, not as tiring/hard as I thought it would be. The stairs are constantly winding around and around with a steep incline. But, the architecture of the church is so neat that it makes it easier to tolerate. People of all ages were climbing up those steps to the top too!! After the Duomo, we went in search of The David. A huge statue of this naked naked man. Haha! The original David is housed in one of the museums, while a copy of him sits outside. The David is massive!! His hands were ginormous!! And of course, you have to sort of giggle at his private area that is obviously not so private! :) That night we attempted to do a pub crawl, but could never find the group! Im not sure if we got there too late or what or maybe it was non-existent. So, we did our own little pub crawl for a couple of hours and then headed home early because we were tired. Hm, real party animals, huh?
The next morning (day 11)we awoke and ate breakfast (toast, croissants, coffee, various cakes, milk, juice, and yogurt were our options) followed by visiting the markets one last time. We caught the train back to Vicenza around noon and arrived back to base around 330.
The twelfth day I ventured with Joe to downtown Vicenza. We walked from base to there and back. I was so impressed with how much I actually remembered once I was down there. We didn't get lost at all! I even found a little shop that sold Fontanini nativity collection. I was so overjoyed!!! You would have thought I had won the lottery. It completely made my day. So, of course, I immediately had to go in side so I could start purchasing. But, of course, it was Reposso time and the Italians were napping. So, we came back around 300 and it was open. I was like a kid in a candy store. :) We met Thomas back at the house around 500 that evening and took Joe to the Brazilian BBQ place. For those who don't know what that is. They basically come around to your table with various meats for you to eat. You have this wooden piece that you flip to the green side when you want meat and you flip to the red side when you are finished. There is also a buffet of side items. You have to go with a BIG appetite because there is lots of food! Oh, and of course wine. We are in Italy after all. ;)
On day 13, I took Joe to Nove. He had already been instructed by a friend's wife who was stationed in Europe before to go there and buy her something..anything! Let's just say, Joe racked up on stuff. Hahaha! I looked at some things for Christmas and debated what I would buy. I decided to wait and think about it some more. That afternoon we got some more decorations for the tree and Joe put the lights on our tree for us. Thomas had a jump in Aviano that day so he didn't get home till about 230/300 in the morning.
Day 14 I took Joe to the Grisignano market. We met up with my friend Jackie who lives there and she took us there. I like to call Jackie the "Italian Whisperer." She can communicate with them so well. She says she doesn't know as much Italian as she should, but I beg to differ. We bought fresh salmon, asiago dolche cheese, parmagiano reggiano cheese, clemontines, and this stuff that was the consistency of applesauce, but had a Dijon mustard flavor to it (good on chicken and beef). We also purchased a Foccacia de Natale (translation: Christmas Cake)...quite tasty!
For day number 15 of Joe's trip we ventured out by ourselves to Verona. We paid for a slow train ticket (4 euro), but we somehow got on the fast train because instead of taking an hour it took about 20 minutes...ooops!!! The fast train probably would have cost about 14 euro I think, so we sort of got a deal, but sort of did a no-no too. ;) Haha. I think the platforms must have changed or something. But, we made it with no trouble. Once again, I was surprised at my navigational skills. I felt completely comfortable in Verona and got us around quite nicely. Joe got to touch Juliet's boob for good luck so he was happy. There was also a Christmas market going on which was quite nice. I think I am really going to LOVE Christmas in Italy. It just seems so magical here. On our way to Verona, we found out that Thomas had been sent home sick. This was a first b/c he never gets sick!! He was also given the next day off.
Day 16 definitely crept up on us. Joe's trip was starting to come to an end. We spent most of Friday at home so Thomas could re-cooperate, but of course, Thomas doesn't like to do that. That evening he had to get out of the house, so we took a trip to a couple of stores and went downtown to walk around and look at some more shops. I was hoping it would be all lit up for Christmas, but it wasn't. Parts of it were and there was even some sort of market going on. But, all in all, it was not as Christmas-ie looking as I had hoped it would be.
On Saturday the seventeenth, we took Joe to Marostica. Thomas and I had never been there before either. When you enter the main square you see a chessboard! In September of every even number year they play a human chess game!! There were shops around to look in and of course we stopped for espresso (for the men) and hot chocolate (for me). After this, you basically walk up this cobble path to a huge castle. It's a big view that would have looked a lot better had it not been foggy and drizzly. The castle did look a little cool with all the fog around it. There is a restaurant at the top where the castle is. What an experience THAT was!! There was no English menu. So, we were basically at the mercy of the manager who spoke English. He was of course very overly friendly saying, "OH I take care of you!" He basically ordered for us. Well, we had no idea what we were getting or how many courses. The bill was probably quite scary (Thanks Joe!). I dont remember all of the Italian names so I will just tell you in English. Our first course was thin slices of veal drizzled with olive oil. The second course was thin slices of duck with microtiny mushrooms. Yes, duck. Yes, Rachel (Paige) Helms Hefner ate duck. Would you have every dreamed it back in the day? No. Probably not. It was actually tasty. And the mushrooms were so cute. They looked like they belonged to Polly Pocket. :) By this point I am thinking our main course should surely be coming out, but no, on to the third course. This was a plate of these sliced mushrooms with cheesy polenta (polenta is sort of like grits but made of corn...or wait are grits made of corn??? I dont know). They were unbelievably good!!! Even Thomas Hefner, who HATES mushrooms, actually ate all of the mushrooms and ENJOYED them! If Thomas like a mushroom then you KNOW its a good one. The 4th course (yes, there was a 4th course...at this point I am still thinking, when does the main dish arrive) was delicious. I wish I could eat it all the time. It was this pumpkin rice soup stuff. I am not sure what it was called, but I know it had rice and this soupy mixture in the rice that was made with pumpkin. I have never really thought of myself as a pumpkin person, but maybe I am. This was delicious! It was even served inside part of a pumpkin. I was in heaven. It was heaven in my mouth. Ugh...I want some now. Okay, anyway, back to the courses. Finally, the fifth course came. It was steak with rosemary potatoes. Also, equally amazing. Basically, in a nutshell, I can tell you that all of the food was fabulous. Fabulous might just be an understatement. The man waiting on us was hilarious with his way of trying to impress us. I've never seen someone grind pepper on my food so politely and delicately plus with such show! I wish I had a picture of his face. He was putting on a performance for sure. But, still, he was very friendly and nice. OH and the way he drizzled olive oil. I guess he is what you call a true professional. It was indeed an interesting experience, but boy do I want to experience it again. Amazing food!!!
The eighteenth day was Joe's last day. Originally we had planned on traveling somewhere over this weekend, but with Thomas being sick at the end of the week we decided to just do daytrips, which is why we went to Marostica. So, Sunday morning we visited the market in Camisano. WOAH! Huge market! So much clothes, food, shoes, flowers, etc., and food to eat there!! We enjoyed a brat on this yummy toasted bread with peppers and mustard. We purchased some pansies and clementines. Joe assured me that pansies were good cold weather flowers. Hopefully I dont kill these plants. I am beginning to think I do not have a "green thumb." Our lemon tree is dead. Dead as a doornail. No bringing it back to life. We had to throw it out. Maybe one day we will buy another and try again. But, it might be too painful for Thomas. He was so attached. He fought me and fought me on throwing it away. He claimed we could revive it even after we snapped its twigs and could clearly see it was brown on not only the outside but inside too. He finally decided to pull the plug after we bought the pansies. The clementines are delicious, which is probably a good thing since Joe bought 3 kg of them. I have a big ole bowl of clementines now. The rest of the day consisted of errands and Joe packing up to go. His time here was coming to an end.
Day 19, we awoke at around 5am. 5 am came way too soon for me since the night before I came down with an ocular migraine. Sheeesh, those are nooo fun!!! It was extremely foggy on the drive to the Venice airport. Oh, did I mention I drove Joe all by myself. No Thomas. Okay, back to the trip up there. It was foggy...so foggy that you could barely see the signs. But, we still made it there! Joe stood in the long line to get his pass, paid for his extra bag, went through security, and disappeared along with the rest of the people. We had such a good visit with him!! I left the airport and made it home successfully. It was still quite foggy and gloomy when I got home so I settled in on the couch for basically the whole day. I was indeed pooped.
So, there goes the tale of our first visitor. Our next visitors are Terry (my mother-in-law/Thomas's Mom), Joseph (Thomas's Brother and my favorite brother-in-law), and Will (Joseph's main squeeze who is basically like my brother now too). They arrive on the 26 of December. Then a few months after them my parents will come visit!!! We can't wait to see the rest of our families. We have an amazing life here and we cannot wait to share it with you all. But, as much as living over here is going good, we still miss you all thus making it VERY exciting to see each and every one of you! Until next time...ciao!
PS: Please forgive any typos/mistakes. As you know now, this is a very long blog entry. I do not feel like re-reading it for errors. So mom, I am sorry if there are any. ;)
