MAROSTICA AT CHRISTMAS

This post is for all of you who have been able to visit Marostica while here in Italy. This is what the city looks like during the holiday season.
They put an ice rink on the city square in front of the lower castle. It is very fun to go listen to Christmas music and watch the younger generation skate. Yes, in case you are wondering, the rink is partially on top of the chess board.

The upper castle decorated for the holidays from a distance

The upper castle again from a closer distance.

FAMILY THANKSGIVING

We made a quick trip back to the U.S. for a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with our family in Minneapolis at Will and Christines. It was great to spend time with everyone and we are really looking forward to spending some more time in the States over the Christmas holiday.

DACHAU CONCENTRATION CAMP

On the way back from our trip to Germany last week we made a stop at Dachau, Germany. It was the sight of the Dachau Concentration Camp. Dachau was in use from 1933 to 1945.

As you can see from the picture, this is what is left of the rail road station where prisoners were unloaded.







This picture is of the gate and entrance into the concentration camp.
I can not imagine the feeling of despair and fear when entering these gates.









This is a picture of one of the barracks. As you can see each person had a very small place to sleep.











One of the perimeter barbed wire mazes before the actual barbed wire fence.









This is a burial place of the ashes of an unknown number of cremated prisoners

You can not leave after a visit to Dachau without being touched by the horror of what happened inside these walls.

BAVARIA REGION OF GERMANY

We spent a few days in the Bavarian region of Germany last week. It is one of my favorite places to visit. The countryside is beautiful.

This is a picture of the cattle grazing just outside of our hotel room. All of the cows have bells around their necks and I loved the faint ringing of the bells in the distance each time the cows would move or bend down to graze.

This is another picture off the deck of our hotel. You can see the mountains in the distance.

The two pictures above are of a dairy located right in the middle of the town. Unfortunately, I did not have my camera when we saw a man on a bicycle bringing the cows into town to be milked. They were walking down the center of this road and did not seem to mind at all when cars would go around them.

Just a picture of one of the many houses and the beautiful flowers.

MOUNTAIN HIKE

We went for a drive into the mountains outside of Bassano last weekend and found a hiking trail. Here is where the trail lead. We were very glad we decided to see where it went! The bottom of the waterfall
The top of the waterfall

The stream along the way

EVERYONE LOVES A CIRCUS

The circus came to Bassano for 9 days awhile back. We did not attend any of the shows, but you could walk around and look at the animals any time during the day. Tigers at play

I wonder what keeps him from walking right through this fence. It is not electric, we touched it

I think he looks tired and a bit bored.

You know you are up close and personal with an elephant when you can get a shot like this without using the zoom.

AN OLD ITALIAN VILLA

At the tip of Sirmione are the remains of an old Italian villa that was built some time between the 15th and 16th century.

The remains are in unbelievable condition considering the age of the structure

The outside wall overlooking the lake

Another view of the outside wall

A view of the inside

SIRMIONE ON LAGO DI GARDA

Sirmione, Italy Sirmione is an island that extends like an arm into the waters of Lake Garda.

To get to Sirmione, we had to take this paddle boat. It is a 20 minute ride across the lake.

Sirmione as you are approaching from the paddle boat.

AN ITALIAN HAIL STORM

Earlier this spring we had a hail storm here in Bassano. As it progressed and the size of the hail increased, I was sure the sky lights in our flat were going to break. Luckily, they did not. It did however do a lot of damage to the grapes, cherry trees, corn and vegetables. I have heard some people say that it will take 2 years for the grape vines to recover. I took the following two pictures a day after the storm.

This is the parking lot of a school close to us. They pushed the hail in piles just like we do snow in the US.

CARMEN'S EASTER FUN

Even though Carmen could not take part in decorating Easter eggs or cupcakes, she was not left out of the fun. Here we are at the McPherson County parade. She does not have any trouble making new friends

Nothing bettter than treats from Grandpa. Unless he keeps backing up each time you reach for them.

We spent as much time outside playing as possible. Even if it was a bit chilly.

DECORATING CUPCAKES FOR EASTER

One of the many fun ways we spent the Easter holidays in KansasHere the two girls are starting to decorate. Unfortunately Carmen was a bit too young for this projectMia's cupcakes


Cheyenne's cupcakes

GABE'S SCHOOL PLAY

Gabe, our neighbor, invited us to come to his school play. It was an honor to be invited. Thank you Gabe! In the above picture, Gabe is the one in the red shirt and blue pants playing the cardboard saxaphone. Below is the dance they were doing while these four played their cardboard instruments.

PICKING CHERRIES

We have been told about how wonderful the cherries in this area of Italy are ever since we arrived in Bassano. Unfortunately we were not here during cherry season last year. This year is a different story and one of Alan's co-workers invited us to come and help pick them. Here is Alan on the ladder at the top of one of the more than 30 trees they had in their back yard. Each tree was loaded with cherries and below is a close up of just one branch. I can assure you that they taste as good as they look.

Below are the boxes they sent us home with. In case you are wondering, my day has been spent getting them preserved so that we can enjoy them for the entire summer.

I had to take a picture from the top of one of the boxes. All I can say is "perfetto"

BACKPACKING IN VERONA

We have been wanting to try a backpacking trip by train for the weekend for quite some time. This past weekend worked out to go to Verona. Verona is about a 2 hour train ride from Bassano.
The weather was picture perfect both Saturday and Sunday.

This couple was enjoying each others company quite a bit. The part that just cracked us up was how far up from the water they were. Hope they did not forget that fact. The fall might be the least of his problems if this continues.

Last weekend was the "Festival of the Woman" and Verona had an outdoor chocolate market. This is just one of the many things you could buy at the tents. Everything was made of chocolate, even these rings. The smell was wonderful.

CARNEVALE A BASSANO

Carnival is a big deal here in Italy. They celebrate it a lot like Mardi Gras in New Orleans. There are parades and school is let out for at least part of the time. This is our neighbor Gabe. In this picture he is dressed like a Gormiti.

Here Gabe is dressed like one of the Three Muskeeters.

We went down town for the parade on Sunday afternoon. The following are just a few pictures of the parade.

I thought this family did a really good job on their costumes and on the vehicle.

Alan and I really enjoyed this float. This is the Italian version of a rodeo. It was pretty cute. Especially the fact that of all the people walking along side the float, the only one in the crowd wearing cowboy boots was Alan.