Italy!

It only took one day for me to fall in love with Italy! I went the first time with my son, his wife and my mother. We had traveled in Eastern Europe by boat and train and took a train to Milan to begin our adventure in Italy. My son struck up an acquaintance with the conductor, and he treated us royally. He opened up our compartments during the day so we could have a suite and then made it into separate compartment at night. Early the morning of our arrival he served us cappuccino and a croissant for breakfast. We had dinner our first day in Italy at a local restaurant just outside of Milan. We were the only tourists there-it was filled with people from the neighborhood. It was a fun crowd and the food was wonderful. That place gets my vote for the best ravioli. I especially remember the cheese we had for dessert. I can't remember what kind it was, but they cut it from a huge slab. We rented a car and traveled to Topino, a restored hamlet. It was to be our "home away from home".

Topina

What a beautiful place. I had my first dinner in Tuscany at Osteria Nastasi, a restaurant in Lornano, just down the road from our hamlet. I had for my main course petto di pollo rosolato al radicchio con patate bollite aceto balsamico, a chicken dish. For me, it was just what I had envisioned food to taste like in Tuscany. Heavenly! A delicious sauce! I do believe it was the best meal I had the entire visit, even though I never had a bad meal in all of Italy.  We ate outside under the trees. The weather was perfect.  For dessert I had a scooped out lemon filled with  lemon sorbet. This was just the first night and I was already in love with Tuscany.

A note about eating in Italy. Be prepared to relax and take your time and be prepared to eat a lot. You will walk it off!! . Every single place we ate (even the tiny restaurants by the side of the road) had tablecloths, cloth napkins and flowers. The service was outstanding. Meals are served in courses, and they never rush you. Obviously the Italians take great pride in their cooking. I never had a bad meal the entire visit. However, I do have to say that the best cappuccino I ever tasted  was  in Gdansk, Poland at a Greek restaurant!

Italy is a beautiful country! The scenery is outstanding. We toured around Tuscany--the only problem was finding a place to pull over on the narrow roads so we could take photographs. One of  the prettiest views was from our little hamlet. 

View from our hamlet

One of the houses in our hamlet

We spent the week touring all around Tuscany. In my next post, I'll tell you about some of my favorite places and also about one of my adventures! I have more photographs on my web site: www.notecardsandmore.com. Stay tuned!!

Bluebird Update

Newest baby waiting to be fed

My second batch of babies are almost ready to fly. The mama and papa bluebirds and also the first batch of fledglings are busy feeding them all day. Lots of activity! I hope this time I get to see them fly for the first time. Meanwhile, the parents are getting less and less fearful of me. I am lucky--I have bluebirds everywhere on my place. I turned on the sprinkler in front of my porch the other afternoon and I had 5 bluebirds playing in the puddles. When I go out in the pasture, they light on the fence right next to me. What fun!!  I plan to put up more houses next Spring and make a bluebird trail around my property. Does anyone know if they have more than 2 crops? I thought I say a pair trying to mate again the other day.

Lazienki Park, Warsaw, Poland

Upon our return to Warsaw, we discovered there was more to see and do in Warsaw. My daughter-in-law, Dawn, served as our tour guide. We went to Lazienki Royal Park. It is an absolutely enchanting park, 73 hectares of tree shaded wide paths, beautiful palaces, a rose garden and lakes. Beautful! The park  is well known for Belvedere Palace, the former residence of King Stanislaw August Poniatowski. However, my favorite building was Myslewick Palace, built in the baroque style for his nephew Josef Poniatowski. It was built in three stages from 1775-1784. It is one of the few buildings that didn't have severe damage during World War II.

Myslewick Palace

Another beautiful feature of the park is the rose garden. It is the setting for a monument of Chopin. Concerts are held there in the summer. We found it a very relaxing place to take a break.

 Chopin's Monument

The woods along one of the paths

What a beautiful place to visit, relax and imagine what it must have been like to live there! 

Stay tuned for our next stop--Polish pottery!

More Bluebirds!!!!

Another set of bluebirds has moved in! I did not clean out the bluebird house and have not seen these new birds clean it out, but they are definitely bringing in new straw for their nest. They are just so cute to watch! Both the mama and papa have been busy. They begin at daybreak and work all day. I was sitting on the porch yesterday watching them for quite a while. One time the papa and mama flew in together to the house, chattering noisily to each other. Mama went into the house and stayed a few minutes while papa sat in a  nearby pine tree and watched. Then after she left, he flew down, poked his head in and then flew off. Maybe he was checking out the nest to see if she did it correctly. :) He did that twice. I need to find the time to read up on bluebirds. They are just the cutest birds to watch! Maybe this time I'll get to see the babies fly. I wonder how long it takes them to get the nest ready? Does anyone know?

Bluebirds

I've had such fun watching the bluebirds this year. I belong to Texas Master Naturalists and one of our members made bluebird houses for all of us in his chapter. Well, as soon as mine was ready, the bluebirds appeared. Here is a photograph of mama and papa bluebirds scoping out the house.

They soon built their nest.

 

Things really picked up then. It seems that both mama and papa sit on the eggs. Other birds visited and I guess took their turn. Some days it looked as if they were having a party. Lots of activity. The only wrinkle in this was my cat Lucky. He seemed to think it was his duty to sit under the house and watch in case one fell out. :)

Before long the eggs had hatched and the work really began for the proud parents (and their friends). There was contstant activity at the house. Both mama and papa and friends were kept busy feeding those babies.
I was able to get a photograph  of papa feeding and mama waiting (or maybe supervising).

It was so much fun watching these busy little birds. I ran Lucky off many times, and before long, the bluebirds tolerated my presence very near the house. They seemed to know that I was helping them. A few days ago, they began dive bombing poor Lucky. He didn't know what to do! The babies were peeping out. I didn't know why all of a sudden they had gotten so aggressive, but later realized that they were getting ready to have the fledglings fly. Unfortunately, I missed the big event! I look forward to having a new family next year! In fact, I believe I'll put up more houses and make a bluebird trail on my property. I'll be sure to place the house high enough and with a large enough baffle that Lucky can't get to them. He thinks he's doing his job-life in the country is tough, but he can't have my bluebirds!

Gdansk, Poland

We traveled by train to Gdansk, Poland,  located on the Baltic Sea.  What an experience--I was very grateful that my son and his wife were our guides and that they spoke Polish. The train station was very large and crowded. Just before each train departed, a huge board with many slots started changing rapidly-it was mind boggling!! And of course all the announcements were in rapid Polish. The only places I heard English spoken in Poland were at the Marriott where we exchanged money, very few restaurants and the American Embassy. One interesting thing to note is that we had to be very aware of pickpockets. I  wore a hidden money pouch, so I felt prepared, but was vigilant anyway. The train ride was great--we had a private compartment and it was fun to watch the scenery go by.I found it much more pleasant than driving in heavy traffic.  I took a great photograph of  Malbork Castle  as we went flying by. My knowledge of world history is pitiful--I didn't know that Poland had castles!! A surprising country.

                                                          Malbork Castle

Gdansk itself was a treasure. A huge open square dominated the area that we visited. We were in luck--a parade was forming just as we arrived-apparently some sort of church oriented parade-the main characters were a devil and an angel.

                                                    Gdansk Parade

Gdansk is famous for its amber, so naturally we visited several amber shops.   I felt wealthy-it was so reasonable--at one point I had a whole velvet lined tray filled with amber in one shop.The shops were dark inside with lights  located to enhance the beauty of the amber.  Beautifiul pieces!

And believe it or not, I met my "knight in shining armor."

                                                    My Knight in Shining Armor


Too bad he couldn't come home with me!!


 We took a launch and visited the spa town of Sopot. A pleasant day! On the way we passed through the famous shipyards that were the birthplace of Solidarity (the movement which, under the leadership of Lech Walesa, was instrumental in ending the Communist rule in Poland). It was a very moving experience-I had almost the same feeling as when I visit the Alamo in Texas.

                                                  Shipyard

                                                         

We had a very nice dinner in Gdansk that night to celebrate my birthday . The restaurant presented all the ladies with a rose. Nice! One thing to note--unlike in the U.S., every restaurant gave us all the time in the world to enjoy our meal. No hurrying us out so the next table could be seated.

We ate lunch the next day outdoors at a restaurant on the square. I had the absolutely best capachinno I have ever tasted! Inside, the decor was very neat! I took a picture of the light fixtures which were made from gourds. I planned to make one when I returned home. Of course, that is one of my many projects which I haven't started yet. :)
Anyone know of a source for large gourds?

This is me trying to figure out how it was made.

Stay tuned for another day in Warsaw!

Poland - a Wonderful Surprise!

Old Town-Warsaw, Poland

Outer Wall-Old Town, Warsaw, Poland

Warsaw, Poland -
I really never thought this Texas girl would be traveling abroad. But there I was, on a plane to Poland, of all places. My son, Paul,  had become a Foreign Service Officer and he and his wife, Dawn,  had moved to Warsaw for his first post. They  encouraged my mother and me to visit. So there we were, on our way! We had planned this trip for months. I had obsessed over what clothes to pack, how much money to take, who to get to keep my dogs, etc. etc. Mother and I had marathon telephone conversations before  the trip. I really didn't think I would like Poland all that much but wanted to visit my son and his wife. Mother and I had booked a tour to Spain after the Poland visit, so I was really more excited about going there. Boy, was I in for a surprise! I just fell in love with Poland. I will have to tell you, though, that traveling with my son and his wife is better than any tour--they took care of every detail and tailored the trip specifically to us. Luckily for us, they both had learned Polish-we didn't find anyone who spoke English! Oddly enough, the first thing that fascinated me was the plumbing fixtures-definitely a cut above ours. :) Their house had ceramic heaters-I'm still not sure how they worked--with hot water I think. Parts of Warsaw were just what I expected--Soviet era ugly buildings-but with one bright spot--geraniums spilling out of every window box! . Then we went to Old Warsaw--absolutely beautiful. The architecture was wonderful, the buildings colorful, and the people very friendly even though Mother and I only knew "good morning","thank you" and "you're welcome". I felt as if I had gone back in time. The buildings surrounded a large square, which had artists, restaurants and performers.  There was even an organ grinder--he had a parrot instead of a monkey!

I wanted to come back there, rent an apartment facing the square  and stay for a month, but what to do about the language?? Polish is not an easy language to learn. So I settled for a return trip the next year. :) I told my son that I would probably save money because I didn't expect  Poland to  have any good shopping. Wrong again! Their hand painted Boleslawiec pottery (which is quite popular now) was outstanding-I bought several pieces of it. Then my daughter-in-law took us to a really neat little store in the basement of a building. An artist  had hand carved things of all kinds.I purchased several things, my favorite of which was a delicate bird (I hand carried it all over Poland and Spain so it wouldn't get broken!). One special thing--each store gave us something "extra" with every purchase, such as a hand painted egg, etc. and wrapped all our purchases.  A high spot of our trip was a visit to the American Embassy. Very impressive-especially the Foreign Service Officers--I don't believe I have ever met a more gracious and friendly group of people. We were able to meet the Ambassador, which was a great treat. He was also very gracious. The  grocery stores in Poland  are really something! There was an entire aisle devoted to milk products. We weren't sure what they all were. And the vegetables--so fresh some still had their roots! They also had all sorts of other things from appliances to clothes. We saw small community gardens scattered about the city. One fun thing we did was to dine at a restaurant that specialized in traditional Polish dishes. They also had traditional folk dancing in which we participated. What fun!

 Traditional Polish Dance-I'm in the back!

Stay tuned for the next leg of the trip-on to Gdansk, Poland where I met my "knight in shining armor"!
TRAVEL TIP:  Pack your suitcase, then take half the clothes out!! Take an extra one for souvenirs!