Italy is best with friends!
A week has passed already and as they say… time flies when you are having fun. We have been fortunate to see Italy though an intimate lens thanks to our dear Italian friends Edoardo and Odile.
The week began, just outside of Venice in Odile’s home town of Mogilano. We were fortunate to meet Odile’s family who shared their home with us for most of our time in Italy. We spent a half day in Venice roaming the streets amongst the mass of “touristas”, with Odile as our guide. We lunched with a friend of Edoardo’s, a resident of Venice in his home (built in the 1500’s) near the grand canal. By night we did the “Bacari” tour which involves hopping from one bar to the next and having a bite and a glass at each stop. That evening Jet-lag-ed and wined we slept like babies.
The following day we visited Padova, the university town where Edoardo and Odile met. Edoardo shared stories of shenanigans he and his friends pulled and Edoardo and Odile reminisced upon their first date and favorite college memories. We roamed the streets and saw some of the most amazing food markets I have ever seen. In experiencing the markets you can understand why food is such a part of the culture in Italy. Little did we know our culinary tour had only just begun.
We spent New Year’s eve with some friends of Edoardo’s from his university days in a quintessential Italian villa in the hills near Tiene. The evening was complete with course after course of homemade Italian dishes, kids, fireworks, “disco inferno”, dancing, several inches of snow and of course prosecco, prosecco and more prosecco.
Cavizzanna was our next stop, a tiny village nestled in the Val di Sol “Sun Valley” on the edge of the Dolomites (fitting for this Idaho girl). The village of Cavizzanna was where Edoardo grew up and where Edoardo and Odile were married. We spent two days with the Rizzi family and feasted on food that Edoardo’s mother prepared. The food was amazing most of which was harvested from the land nearby including the apple orchards that Edoardo worked as a young boy. The highlight for Tina was the making of homemade Polenta on a wood burning stove.
We have said good-bye to our Italian friends for now and will head to Spain tomorrow. It has been a wonderful adventure so far and has been so because we have been among friends. We have them to thank for the experiences and memories that we have gained thus far. Ciao Italy!