A Wedding Reciption

After 15 years together they decided to get married so it was not a
conventional wedding or reception, but great fun and food at an
agriturismo.

Camper Parking

When driving a camper one must not be afrad of driving in the city and
parking on narrow streets.

Gothic Church Gothic Clothes

Early in the day in Urtrecht The Netherlands, they are getting ready
for a big Gothic festival.

Dutch Girls

Seems that this is the way Dutch girls dress in the Summer.

Random Holland Pictures

Everyday Beauty and another excuse to eat too much

It's too easy to ignore the beauty here sometimes. Yesterday we drove along a road we have passed many times especially in the winter to go skiing. It fallows a river and steep glacier cut mountains rise on either side. This time of year everywhere one looks one sees a lush mix of colors tending towards green, with a splendid blue and white sky above. The restaurant has probably been there for a hundred years but we just drove by thinking it was nothing. Someone else decided to try it for lunch. Inside it has the original rustic character but it seems the cook is well trained and somewhat modern. Thus we see traditional dishes cooked and presented in a mix of old style and modern. Presentation makes a difference and they do it well. But of course the food must be well prepared and it is. I'll just mention the deserts as an example. A simple dish of vanilla ice cream served in a little bowl on a rectangular plate, with a separate little square cup of chocolate sauce a small cookie and three red berries. Then there is the "cornucopia", a large round plate, a freshly made cone of sweet pasta, flowing out of it a golden mouse, sweet but not too sweet, reddish berries over it and a little sprig of mint. The plate sprinkled with white powdered sugar and a swirl of chocolate.

Back from our trip

We made it to Holland all the way to the island of Texel. I will post some pictures and a few notes later. For now it's clean the camper, go through the email put everything at home back in order.

Michael Giovanni Jackson

Hochdorf the Swim Pool and Lake

Some pictures from Belluno to Hochdorf.

At the Beach, Bibione

A few pictures of a day trip to the beach with all the kids and my
granddaughter Davis.

Simple Bruschetta

I've been serving this lately at BBQ's and everyone so far loves it. It's one of those things that proves that sometimes simple is better.

Slice up some nice firm bread. Toast it on the BBQ. Rub one side of the toasted bread with a clove of fresh garlic. Drizzle some olive oil over the bread and then sprinkle a little course ground salt over it. Serve - be ready to make more.

What we've been doing

Lately, we spent a bunch of time in Pradipozzo. Luisa's dad had some minor surgery that got scheduled at the same time her brother arrived for a visit. He lives near Toronto, Canada; so we were called upon to take mom and dads place for few days. Of course we planned to visit with him and his family anyway so it was no problem. Just some extra work for Luisa mostly in the kitchen.

While there we hit some of the local stores, that are all having sales, Luisa scored some goodies at the Guess store and I also picked up a couple of things for the camper. It's hot and humid in that area so it's nice to be back in Belluno for a few days where it's much cooler, mostly on account of the weather being bad, lots of rain.

On the 4th of July while in Pradipozzo I did a pretty successful BBQ American style and we did an all family toast to the good ol USA. In fact of the 18 including kids that were there 7 are more or less Americans. I say more or less because 2 are naturalized citizens who don't live there now, two kids born to a US citizen Indian mother in Canada and an Italian father, my two with an Italian mom but born in the US. At any rate I tried to emphasize the American connection. In fact I am somewhat proud of my connection to the revolution that includes at least 4 of my ancestors who fought in it.

At The Sea in Krk

We spent 9 days on the island of Krk, Croatia. Most of the time was spent
laying in the sun or the shade. The kids loved playing with friends
and the water all day. For me it was a little boring but I did do a
good amount of swimming and even lost some weight on vacation. That's
a new one.

Our Plaza Project Comes Together

We started this project a few years ago with a sketch done for free at
the request of some local citizens who weren't happy with the design
that won a competition for a plaza in Pradipozzo a little village that
is part of Portogruarro. The final design is a lot different from
what we started with but the concept is the same. That is we wanted
to create a space that would actually be used by the local residents.
The well or pozzo in Italian was built many years ago and had to stay.
The big bench in the middle serves as a place to sit, a bandstand, or
maybe a place for kids to play. The trees will provide shade in the
summer and give the area a more human scale. The overall project
conisists also of revisions to traffic flow, and a new parking area
for the stores on the other side of the street.