After all of the holiday parties were over and our work was done, it was FINALLY time for our Christmas trip to Italy! It was going to be a long trip, so we stayed overnight in Tokyo to break up the time between the train from Misawa and flight to Europe. Thankfully we were both well-armed with lots of Kindle Books because the flight was almost 13 hours from Tokyo to Paris. There we changed planes and flew in to Venice! Our friends Caleb and Jordan picked us up and took us straight to their favorite Italian pizza shop. It so good to see them! Even though we had been awake for 20 hours, we stayed up and talked for a long time - catching up after a year and a half apart.
Unfortunately it was dark when we landed, so our first glimpse of Italy was in the morning through Caleb and Jordan's kitchen window. Thankfully, it was a glorious view!
Our first day was spent just hanging out in the little town where they live. It's called Sacile (pronounced sah-CHEE-lay). They don't have any on-base housing at Aviano AB where they're stationed so everyone lives off-base in one of the small neighboring towns. It turns out that day was their market day so we went out and bought some fresh fruit and cheese to snack on. I didn't think I'd be able to partake of much cheese while we were in Italy since I'm now lactose-intolerant. But apparently sheep and goat's milk cheeses don't have any lactose in it. So I indulged in a large amount of pecarino cheese. SO delicious!
After the shopping was finished, Jordan took us on a walking tour of the town. I was seriously in danger of bumping into things because I kept craning my neck upward, looking at all of the architecture. After being in Japan where they don't really care about aesthetics - all of the little, beautiful details were overwhelming.Little arched stone bridges over the winding river that runs through town, decorative tile, beautiful landscaping, and festive decorations made everything look like a Christmas card. I couldn't take enough photos!
After we warmed up a bit, we went to meet Caleb for lunch. It was interesting driving around their base and seeing what it's like to be stationed over there. It's pretty incredible that they have a view of the Alps from the flightline!
Our first full day in Italy ended in a very memorable way. An Italian woman named Raffa cooked us a fantastic four course meal in her home! The food was SO GOOD - and we had such a great time in this quaint Italian home. The table was situated in front of a real fireplace and the whole room was decorated for Christmas.
Our first course was a delicious salad and crostini topped with seasoned tomatoes and olive oil or goat cheese and honey. Next we had some pumpkin risotto that was to die for!! After that, beef and mashed potatoes. And finally, dessert was a creamy marcapone cheese mixture topped with chocolate sauce. I could only have a bite but it was delicious!
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| Me and my friends Jordan (left) and Corrie (on the right) |
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| Raffa serving the boys more risotto |
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| The full group with the chef! |
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