Happy Sunday!

Some Sundays are good... some are GREAT! Today was GREAT!
First of all it was a glorious day! Warm and sunny!


Vitti and I decided that we wanted to go and take some photos of some of the towns near here.
Ok.. Vitti didn't really decied that. She didn't even know anything about it but I was just dying to try my new TOM TOM in extreme conditions. Small Tuscan towns is EXTREME CONDITION. LOL


So, I bribed Vitti with a picnic of prosciutto sandwiches and off we went.
But then I had a brain wave... (I don't have them often) and I called Elena and asked if her son Giordy wanted to come with us. He likes taking pics... almost as much as Vittoria. Ok, not true but he can be bribed with a prosciutto sandwich just like Vittoria.


We then drove to Elena's and picked up Giordy. Elena had some silly stuff to do such as housework or such some nonsense so we left her to it.


We drove to Gello. A VERY small... TINY... town.. VILLAGE... three houses and a cow....about 8 km from me.
When we got there though there were three or four German cars parked outside the walls and it looked very private. Well, ok.. there were HERKIN (copyright Donna 2010) PRIVATE PROPERTY signs all over the place so we decided NOT to take photo's... the BEWARE of DOG sign also scared the kids (Sissies).


While I was planning our next stop... (fighting with Tom Tom) the kids decided to eat their sandwiches.

After thinking long and hard... I decided to go to the town that we could actually SEE from where we were! LOL. I did not remember the name of it so the Tom Tom was no use at all. (they need to invent an app where you take a picture of what's in front of you, show it to the Tom Tom and have him give you the route).


So, we got there the old fashioned way...and the Tom Tom kept yapping at me to turn around.. turn around...


The town was CASAGLIA and I had actually been there before. Numerous times even. I just did not remember that. Then again I don't remember a lot of things lately.


We drove into the town and parked outside the walls.
We then walked around and took lot's of nice photos! The kids had fun as I was sure to bring them each a camera as well.

The kids started getting bored. They take very fast photos so we decided to head back home.


When we got to Elena's house she had prepared lunch for us! 
It was such a nice day that we sat outside and ate.


A lovely, relaxing Sunday! Like all Bloody Sundays should be!

Vitti in Austria

Some of you may know that Vitti left for a school trip to Austria on Wednesday at 4:30 a.m. I remember the 4:30 a.m. part very well. Don't really remember much else. 


I did take a pic of Viit all ready for the trip. Notice her new purse is bigger then she is...

They drove first to Innsbruck and visited the historical centre before leaving for Salzburg.
They arrived in Salzburg pretty late and got settled in the hotel and had dinner.
She called me saying they had messed up the rooms and she was not with her best friend but that the hotel would sort it out the next day.


Yesterday morning I received a text that she was visiting the old part of Salzburg.


Vitti also texted me last night while we were out for dinner and said that she had eaten Mozart Balls...

Now, for those of you who don't know what they are...trust me, it's nothing bad. It's actually a good thing! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozartkugel

I doubt she will bring any home.

This morning they left Salzburg and are on their way to SALZKAMMERGUT (sounds scary, huh?).

On the way they are stopping at the salt mines in Hallein. This includes a 1 km walk 80m underground. Sounds like fun. I wonder if she will take pics.

They will have lunch in a restaurant (Vitti's favorite part) and then head to SALZKAMMERGUT... which I see is on a lake.. (you can see too.. it's right there on the map)

Uh, you might need a magnifying glass for the map. If I put it any bigger it seems to fly off the page! Now, if this was a map of Italy it would not be a problem as Italy is nice and LONG whereas Austria seems to be too wide for blogs....

They will sleep in Salzkammergut tonight.

I know all this because I have Vitti's itinerary...

She has just texted me that they have arrived at the salt mines.... 

Will keep you posted!

Oh wait... while I am here I want to post a photo of dinner last night... 

Not a great photo (I really am not impressed with the iPhone 4 camera)

I'm so PRETTY!

YAY! It's my birthday today! I don't know about you but I LOVE my birthday! Reminds me that I am still alive every year..LOL


Today I woke up at 7 a.m. as per usual seeing it is a school day (I do prefer my birtdhays on weekends). Romano and the kids sang Happy Birthday to me.. along with "I'm so Pretty" from Westside Story. (It's kind of like my birthday theme song... I sing it all day on my birthday.)


At 9 a.m. I went and had my haircut! I did not do it to be pretty, because I already am, but I just really needed one. 40 Euros later I was even prettier then before!


After my haircut I went for coffee with Elena. That's pretty normal as we do that every morning. The only difference was me singing "I'm So Pretty" in the coffee shop. Elena was impressed... the other patrons not so much. Their loss. 


In the afternoon Elena took me, Vitti and Giordy to the lil zoo near us. Tommy followed on his motorbike. He wanted to be able to make a quick getaway if things got boring. 


During the ride there I made sure "I'm So Pretty" was blaring from the speakers. Elena laughed but the kids sort of hid in the backseat.
I also made sure to shout to every person that I saw along the way that it was my birthday and that I was going to the zoo! I scared a cyclist half to death.


The zoo is very small. It started out as a family farm. The owner, Ceppatelli, a true animal lover, wanted to create a place where children could get to know animals better. So, he started out with a few farm animals in 2001. He had mostly birds up until 2006 when he added lots of other animals. 
You can see some of the animals here:
http://www.parcogallorose.it/photogallery/animali.php

I took lot's of pics at the zoo!

As you can see from the photos there were many strange animals there!


It took us 2 and a half hours to do the whole tour of the zoo so I guess it is not that small.


There was no ice cream though as it is still low season and the snack stand was closed. This made me sad....


In the evening we had dinner at home and I got my gifts and roses from Romano and the kids!
My gift this year is really cool! I finally got a gas ventilated oven! Well, a coupon for one...
I have been wanting one for years. I actually gave up hope on that one.
My current gas oven does not work well. It does not heat up properly and since it is not ventilated it only heats from the bottom up. Not great for baking.
So, now, all I have to do is go and choose my new oven! I am happy!
Can you imagine though.. what if my baking still sucks once I have the new oven? I won't have anymore excuses.. Hmmm.....