Paris

Paris

Friday, January 6, 2012

Catching Up

Clearly we are months behind in posting, so my hope for the new year (note: not a resolution... I make no guarantees) is to be more on top of my blogging.

Anywho, shortly after returning from our amazing Mediterranean cruise, Nate left for in-field training in Germany.  This was a two month training exercise, so rather than stay in Vicenza by myself, I flew back to the states to visit my family.  I got to enjoy a month of the wonderful Oregon summer weather and travel to Chicago and then Iowa with my brother for his med school interviews.  We stopped in Iowa City for a quick visit with Nate's family then returned to Oregon.   Soon after, I flew back to Italy with my mom, dad and brother in tow.  It was great to have them around for two weeks since Nate was still gone and it was fun to show them around our new home and introduce Justin to Europe for the first time.   We did the usual sights around Vicenza, including a day trip to Venice and visits to the wineries, but by far his favorite part of the visit, was the trip up to Germany.  He thoroughly enjoyed visiting the Hofbrauhaus and sampling all the fantastic German beer... I think my dad was happy to have a "drinking buddy" along too.  Much to Nate's dismay (since he was not along) we stayed right across the street from the famous beer hall in a hotel with our name (The Platzl Hotel).

Overlooking Vicenza

Cin Cin!
Venice


Venice

Drinks on the way up to Germany

Hofbrauhaus Mama!

Glockenspiel in Munich

Happy Hofbrauhaus Patrons... just need some lederhosen

After a couple days in Munich, we traveled to the small Alp town of Garmisch, a beautiful place situated among the massive peaks with small town charm.  We hiked along the Partnach Gorge, then warmed up with a delicious German dinner of Wiener Schnitzel, Pork Knuckle, Potato Soup and Schnitzel..... oh and of course more beer.  Though it rained heavily on our second day, we enjoyed touring some of the small shops before heading back to Italy.
Walking along the Partnach Gorge

Garmisch, Germany

Pork Knuckle... a good Bavarian dinner




Before the family left, we made a quick trip down to Florence (one of our favorite cities) and again climbed the Duomo and visited Michaelangelo's David.  Amazing as always!



View from the Duomo

More beer.... in Italy

The two week visit flew by with wine tasting, amazing dinners, and sightseeing, and before I knew it my parents and Justin were on flights back to the states......  10 days until Nate would return :(  It was a rather quiet week and a half and it was wonderful to have him back after 65 days apart.  (Not very newlywed like).


By then, we had reached the beginning of November..... Wow!  We set out to make the most of our time together, knowing Nate would be leaving again the day after Thanksgiving....

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