pictures

chips for Sarah

our hotel

at the entrance to a villa that was too far out of town

looking at bins of olives for sale in the market

                                         outdoor pizza kitchen

                                              proscuitto for Johanna

                                            new apartments we will be living in

                                 in Brindisi looking across the Adriatic at Casale

j

                                        In Casale looking across the Adriatic at the city of Brindisi

food in italy

This is my unscientific,unquantifiable,untested and all the other "un's" view on Italian food and why the people aren't gigantic. First, take at least an hour and a half to eat your meal. The first night Daniel and I finished our 4 course meal in 30 minutes. Can you say,open the hatch and shovel it in :) it was quite embarrasing to see the Italians sipping their wine and enjoying their appetizers. Make sure you talk alot, enjoy the company of the person or people you are eating with. Scoot back your chair,stretch out your legs and let your body language say "Tell me what's on your mind, I'm listening" For the Italians the meal is the final destination, there not rushing to get anywhere,not thinking what they need to do next or more importantly what they should be doing at that moment. So, basically take your time and enjoy. Second, they don't serve huge portions like Olive Garden :) Their servings are basically half to one-third that size. NEVER eat bread with pasta,it's unheard of. Bread is served as an appetizer with different olive spreads,and I'm not talking bread sticks, their tiny rolls or crusty bread slices. There is also no such thing as Alfredo sauce, the Italian joke is "Who is Alfredo and how much money is he making from his sauce?" Which leads me to my next point, any sauce/oil put on the pasta is very light and sparse,the flavor is mild. Most importantly, pasta is usually a side dish and not a main course.Lastly, you must have wine or water with your meal, anything else kills the flavor of the food. So I think I am actually losing weight while I am here :)

found our home :)

Well its 3pm Wed.here and daniel is meeting with his new staff at Alitalia/Boeing. I just returned from a second look at a new apartment in the city of Casaela-Brindisi, that we have decided will be our Italian home. It will be really large and  since it is in the finishing stages they are kinda customizing it for us. I told Daniel we needed extra rooms for all the company that will be visiting :) It is literally across the street from the local soccer team's stadium. They only play sat. or sun. at 2:30, so I thought it would be great to get to see live Italian soccer up close and personal(that's for you Joshua and Samuel,ask and you shall receive) I figure we will become their biggest fans!!!!!! Anyways, the town is a taxi boat ride(the ride is short , no seasickness involved) a major league ball player could probably throw a ball across the water, to the city of Brindisi,which is considered the "city" . Casaela is considered a "suburb" of that city. Dino and I walked about a 3 block radius in Caseala and found all the "must haves" pizzaria, gelato,supermarket,coffee shop,cleaners,bakery,meat market,newspaper stand,and so much more :) The kids and I will be able to walk to get anything we need. If we want more than we would take a boat taxi to Brindisi which is roughly 500 yards across the Adriatic Sea. We could drive there,but it would take about 20 minutes versus 3 hhhhhmmmm wonder which 1 I will choose :) anyways I will try to attach some pictures in the next blog because Idont know how to do it and I need Daniels help.

home search day 1

We had a very busy day. We viewed 8 homes in the city of Martina, Brindisi,and Grottalie. Really need to decide if we want to live in the city or country. Country is lovely but we might have a hard time getting into town because after being in a car I definantly will NEVER drive in Italy!!!!! We will be going into the city tomorrow to look at apartments. City will probably give us more things to do when we aren't traveling, but will mean tighter living quarters. I'm leaning towards the city, but Daniel likes the country. Realizing that this will be my first time in a foreign country without a translater a VERY scary thought :(  Up late because of my cappucino,green tea, and Cafe Americano I drank today. Can you say caffeine high :)

the trip over

Left on our 11 hour trip on Alitalia business class. I hope everyone once in their life gets to fly business class. Seats like recliners,meals served on a linen placemat using real china and silverware,six courses served one at a time. Liquor was FREE but I still had no business having sparkling wine,chardonney and Limoncello for dessert. And nobody told me the effects of liquor are magnified in the air(something to do with the air pressure??) After our great flight we had to sit in the Rome airport for a 5 hour delay. Normally I could people watch but I was so tired from jet lag and sick from the liquor that I literally just watched the time go by. Oh wait I forgot, I watched other people watching Daniel as he laid across the benches snoring loudly. You know me, I gave  each of them a dirty look and they looked away quickly :) Then it was a quick 45 minutes in Economy class to Brindisi. It humbled me quickly as I became a contortionist just trying to cross my legs :(  We rented a car that was brand new never having been driven to make our way to Taranto where our hotel is. Needless to say the cars in Italy are very small and Daniel and I looked like circus clowns, we barely fit the  luggage  in the car  hahaha lol :) After getting lost once we finally made it to our hotel which  is a restored medieval masseria. Tomorrow begins the house hunting:)

Getting ready to leave :)

One last run through with Joshua,just to make sure I can do this haha lol. Business class here I come, and you know I will be getting all the freebies.

House Hunting In Italy

Hey Everyone,

Daniel and I are getting ready for our house hunting trip in Italy.  We will be leaving February 19th and returning the 27th.  We are crossing our fingers we find a home that can fit us all in a great area.  I will try to post a few pictures when I am there maybe we can all take a vote if we are stuck between one or two options :) If you have any questions or suggestions feel free to comment or email me at Dtulcan@hotmail.com

Look forward to getting this Blog  started and sharing all my experiences with you!

Darleen and Family