Something New

A strange phenomena seems to overtake people when they learn my husband is Italian. As in FROM Italy. All of the sudden, they come running to me looking for advice on where to go and what to do in Italy. It's flattering really, others thinking you an expert on something. HA little do they know.

That being said, I do LOVE to talk about Italy and have fallen in love with it since meeting my husband. It's a place I never gave much thought to until I met him. And now, I can really get passionate about the subject. Besides, I totally have an edge with my own live-in tour guide/historian who gives me a "local" point of view and knowledge. I am infinitely grateful for that! I haven't seen one-one-hundreth of the places in this beautiful country but I have been on the "roads less traveled" and I think, seen a very different Italy then many of my fellow travelers.

I've come to realize there are two types of travelers. Those who want to cram in as much as they can, hitting only the "hot spots" and spending little time in any one place. And those who want a slower paced trip, maybe seeing a few of the highlights but also spending time trying to experience the place and culture of the people. Both kinds of travelers are fine - it just depends on what you want to get out of the trip. I like to be the second kind of traveler though, preferring the side road trips to the small villages and towns that aren't overrun with tourists. It's with this in mind that I've decided to periodically post little featurettes about lesser known places in Italy which are interesting and worth a look if you have or care to take the time. (is "lesser known" correct grammar?)

Since I've rambled on and on, this first one will be short. It's a beautiful town at the beginnings of the Alps, not well known, no history of too much significance (that I know of) and utterly charming just as it is.

Region: Veneto (Northern Italy)
Province: Treviso
City: Asolo

Asolo is a ancient pre-Roman town known for its glorious sunsets and beautiful setting. It's a very "medieval" town with walls that date back to the 14th century. It has a slow, relaxing pace which is conducive to nice meandering walks thru narrow streets, under porticoes and arcades.

It was inhabited by and/or inspired such literary figures and artists as Robert Browning (his last volume of poems - Asolando - named for the town); his wife Elizabeth Barret Browning; Henry James; Ernest Hemingway; Igor Stravinsky (composer) and Carlo Scarpa (architect).

Things to do here:

• Climb the 1,000+ steps up to "La Rocca" (the ancient wall in the pic below)
• Visit the castle of Caterina Cornaro, Queen of Cyprus born of a powerful Venetian family and a well known historical woman
• See the Roman amphitheater ruins
• Meander thru the open markets and shops
  
• Sit at a cafe or in the square, sipping Prosecco (wine made in this region), soaking up the atmosphere, watching the day go by

It's not big, but it is enchanting and evocative of days gone by as well as the affluence of today.

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Oh I forgot. One interesting and a little bizarre fact - The Asolo Theater was taken apart by the Ringlings (of circus fame) and rebuilt in Sarasota, FL. Kind of along the same lines as the original London Bridge being in Arizona. huh interessttinngggggg

More later...

On looking for chocolate

For those of you who might not be aware if it, one of my favorite foods is chocolate. Seriously, I think chocolate should be its own food group =) AND to make it even better, science now confirms what I've always known deep inside... it's good for you!

So, since it happens to be my passion (hehe) I love to try out and look for new, delicious, cutting edge candies or bars, as the case may be. Imagine my surprise when I went into a little market near my house and found this. Imagine those cartoons where the characters stop in mid stride when they see something. Oh yeah that was me. What is that?Bacon? Chocolate? are you kidding??? I mean these are 2 of my most favorite foods. but together? I am intrigued.... and of course, had to try it. I looked at the box. hmmm - there are directions of how to taste this. cool. and OH. MY. GOSH. heaven in my mouth. The chocolate was a "dark milk chocolate" (41% cacao) which had the deep flavors of dark but not quite so bitter. the bacon is in little pieces. smokey. salty. chocolatey. I am so not kidding - you have to try it. IT IS SO GOOD.

I was feeling pretty good. It was my new favorite chocolate bar. And as an added bonus, it is expensive. meaning - I can't afford to buy it often so I won't eat so much. lol maybe that is not a bonus but for me and my "dieting," price is a good deterrent. Plus, that just makes it all the more special when I do have it. Right? right?? well that is what I am telling myself anyway.

So, I go on living life. content in my new discovery and telling anyone who would listen how delicious that chocolate is. that is until I went back into the store the next week. you see, as I was so distracted and enamored of my bacon bar that I totally missed another tiny display of Vosges chocolate bars. So as I was checking out with my bread and freshly made mozzarella, my eye was caught on a lovely packaged bar. hmm.. what is this one? deep milk chocolate (well, I know I like that). smoked almond. good. grey sea salt. mmmm better! Just a little taste can't hurt. again OH. MY. GOSH. Barcelona bar, thy name is ambrosia. this is everything I love about life. sweet, deep chocolate. smokey from the bits of almonds. and salt. oh sea salt, that little crunch, that salty among the sweet. I decided to taste it like the box instructed me to. and let me tell you. Letting that chocolate melt on my tongue against the roof of my mouth, slowly giving way to the crunch and smokey saltiness of the almonds and sea salt. heaven. simply heaven.

You must try these chocolates. be prepared for a bit of sticker shock but hey its a "treat". feel free to send me as many bars as you'd like. haha and another tip, maybe you should try it once you get home or at least in the car. your murmurs of ecstasy could be a bit embarrassing in public. ::wink::

PS - I think I heard a rumor that this was "delurking" month in the blog world. I may be a month late (my internal calendar is totally screwed) but nonetheless I would really love to hear from ya'll. you don't even have to comment about my going on and on about chocolate - tell me what you'd like to read about? what can I do for you?

More later...

MIA

Hello? Hello? ::tap tap tap:: hello? If anyone IS still here - I greatly appreciate it though I will say, I sure don't blame you for not.lol I have been a terrible blogger, and for that I am sincerely sorry. I wish I had some interesting excuse like being pregnant or something (seems like that is usually the case with MIA bloggers.lol) but alas, you won't be getting any of those announcements from me!

Nope, the only excuse I have is that I've been MELTING in the hot Texas summer. A month of triple digit temperatures (or 40+C) has me basically shut down. As that only accounts for 1 month away from blogging, my only other excuse is that I am boring and have nothing exciting going on. Let's see what is new....

1. I started working for a small event company. I really like it and the staff (all 3 of us). It is alot of fun and interesting to be more on the special event side of things rather than corporate meetings. Here is a picture of one of my coworkers. Isn't she cute. The owner brings her to work some days and I love playing with her. Furry friends are always nice.

The drawbacks are that it is not full time and has no benefits. *sigh* I could totally be happy making a good living as a contract planner but without health care - how can I? *getting on my soapbox* I will be honest - I never really thought much about our healthcare system until I didn't have any insurance through a company. It SUCKS. and is practically impossible to get (or afford) an individual or family policy. I have spent years paying for premiums that I never used and while I am in good health (thankfully) you never know. then where would I be? Stuck with thousands of dollars worth of medical bills I can't afford to pay - that's where. *stepping back down before I really get going*

2. I have spent a lot of time shopping around in various farmer's markets, well when I venture outside anyway. I am in full tomato eating mode here. I mean who wants to cook in this heat anyway? The freaking salmonella-tomato-scare really put the kabosh on early summer tomato eating. And for some reason, my tomato selecting skills have really failed me this year because the yumminess has been a bit spotty so far. However, it has not made too big of difference as I am averaging 1 tomato each day. lol

3. The rest of the time I have either been a) reading or b) playing PacMan World 2 on the PS2. Most books have been of the romance/fun genre as I am not really up to real-world drama or sad stories at the moment. However, I am really excited about this book - my husband is reading it and I have just ordered me a copy. We've never read the same book at the same time before so it should be interesting. It sounds very interesting and timely since it is set in Asia.

4. I am looking forward to the Olympics. Aside from any feelings I have pro/con about China - I love the Olympics. And am dying to see the new Mummy movie set there but have promised my nephew to see it with him when he gets back from vacation. I know it didn't get good reviews but I like those movies, and I am 100% confident it will entertain me.

5. I am slightly jealous of everyone's cool and fun vacations. It's been awhile since I've had an actual vacation. (I don't really consider not working a vacation since I am stressed trying to find an income source) But good news! I am planning a trip to Italy this coming fall/winter. Either over Thanksgiving or Christmas holiday. I am leaning towards Christmas/New Years but airfare prices might rule that out. While I'm there I also plan on a side trip to Paris to see some sights and meet up with my favorite podcasters. So while that seems a long ways off, it will probably be here sooner than we think! At least it will make for some interesting postings. Hopefully, between now and then, these posts won't totally suck. hehe

See - nothing terribly interesting. unless you want a list of romance books I've read or 101 ways to eat tomatoes. lol

More later... (and thanks for coming back)