These are a Few of my (Italian) Favorite Things! (Sound of Music has nothing to do with Italy, i know)

Buona sera,

I am unfortunately 1 day late with my blog. Sorry to those of you who follow our blog, and especially sorry to my blog partner, Vince! I was just so tired last night and fell asleep as I was writing my entry. At least give me credit for attempting to write my blog?

Even if it has been 3 days since our Italian holiday, I would still like to share with you "...a few of my favourite things...", to be exact let me share my top 5 favourite Italian things.

Numero Uno: Gelato!!! Especially Nutella & Tiramisu flavored gelato! You cannot leave Italian soil without enjoying a cono of gelato! I am in general an ice-cream lover, so I know the ice-cream business. Hahaha. Let me give you some facts about gelato.
Gelato is Italian ice-cream that is creamy, dense, and rich in flavor.
Real gelato is
- produced by Italian hands!
- consists of milk, instead of cream
- has 4-7% fat vs. American ice-cream 10% fat
- has 25-30% air vs. American ice-cream has 50% air

And since it consists of less fat, the flavor comes out more. And it is creamier and firm because less air has been mixed into the ice-cream.

Vince and I were looking for the best gelato in Lignano. We passed by this one place, the gelato looked creamy! It was not tightly packed in those metal containers, but it had this twirly form making it look creamy. I was so certain that this was the best gelato, but Vince was not convinced. Instead he chose a place where the gelato was tightly packed in the metal containers, and visibly it did not seem creamy. But guess what, Vince was right! It was the creamier gelato. LESSON? Do not be fooled with what you see. Looks can deceive!

Numero Due: Vince and I would walk around Lignano, and my eyes were attracted not to Italian men, but vintage bikes! Yes bikes, not Italian men! I was astonished to see that almost everyone was riding holland bikes or real vintage Italian bikes, like Atala. They were beautiful! I fell in love with this one white vintage Atala bike. It was a bit rusty, it had a basket in the front, and you could just see that it had character! Too bad I didn't take a picture. But instead I have a picture of a red one... still very beautiful!
LESSON? Vintage bikes are like wine, they grow finer with age! It's not about having the newest thing, it's about having something that has matured, has meaning, has history.

Numero Tre: La Botte! Thanks to my uncle and aunt (Tito Gene (meaning uncle Gene) and Tita Mohnie (auntie Mohnie)) who were the ones who introduced La Botte to my parents, and who in turn introduced La Botte to me and Vince. This restaurant was one of the highlights for this trip. The ambiance was nice, service was good, food was astounding, prices were heavenly!
Prosciutto con Melone: The melon was riped to perfection. Not too sweet and not too soft nor too hard. The prosciutto was fresh and had the perfect taste.

Spaghetti Frutti de Mare: I had to have Frutti de Mare, because in Vienna you cannot get fresh seafood pasta anywhere. So this pasta was a MUST! The pasta was al dente, which is always important for the pasta in Italian dishes. The seafood in the pasta were fresh. There were generous portions of scampi, mussels and vongole (type of clam).

Pizza with Brie, zucchini & prosciutto: I need to second Vince on that, it was one of the best pizza's I've had in my 30years of life! The combination of ingredients was just perfect. The brie & prosciutto gave the pizza this richness in taste but the zucchini balanced it, for it not to be too overwhelming. And for me to consider pizza good, I rate the crust! It had the perfect crust!!! Crispy, not soggy and the thickness was just right! LESSON? Lignano (5and1/2 hrs drive) is not too far to just go eat at La Botte! Hahaha.

Numero Quattro: If you talk to me about Italian men, I would only say negative things. I have been to Italy often, since it was one of my mission areas when I was a missionary. The many times I was there, I never had good experiences with Italian men. But this trip proved me wrong. Vince, Mark, Nikki, Grace Ann, Brittney, Ryan, James, the 2 boys (Ari and Dominik) and I went to Sunday mass. Vince and I stood at the back along with some Italians. Suddenly, during the beginning of mass an Italian gentleman offered me his seat!!! I was shocked. I was so thankful for his gesture, not because I wanted to sit down, but thankful to know that there are still true gentlemen in this world. God bless him! And I said a prayer for him during mass!
LESSON? Be hopeful and don't generalize! There are real good gentlemen out there.

Numero Cinque: Traveling with Vince! Yes Vince is a Filipino-American, but deep inside he is European (a mix of French-Italian-Spanish). Hahaha. So he still falls under my top 5 favorite ITALIAN things. Like Vince said in his 1st blog here, we both love to travel. I am blessed to be with a man who enjoys the same things that I enjoy! Being able to share new experiences, adventures, cultures, food and delicacies is beautiful. God knew what He was doing when He joined our paths. LESSON? Vince said: "Let us enjoy every holiday we share as a couple, even our dates, because who knows how long we can do this as a couple"

I hope I gave you a different insight of V&C's Italian Holiday! Buona Notte!!!

Italian Holiday...

Greetings peoples,

I love traveling. It is one of my favorite and yet dreadful things to do. I look favorably upon traveling, because you get to see something new, taste different things, and meet so many interesting people. However, traveling can be physically draining. This past weekend we had the privilege of traveling to Lignano, Italy. On the way back, however, it was a challenge trying to stay awake. The last couple hours weren't bad, because I think I hit my third wind... Anyways, I am digressing.

Like I said I love traveling, and something else I love is being able to share my different adventures with friends like you all. The destination was Lignano, Italy.

History of Lignano 101 - Lignano is a port city located about an hour away from the Austrian/Italian border. The city is situated on sandy dunes that are surrounded by pine forests. The city is fairly new - its foundation was in the 60's I believe - with hardly any buildings resembling the ancient edifices found in many other Italian cities.

But I think that the "newness" gave Lignano a little spunk. I felt like I was in a mini Miami with condominiums being so close to the beach. The beach itself was quite nice, with its shallow water that stretched out a good 300 meters from the sand. The sand was a pale yellow color, and the water was a little cold, but perfect after the sun came out. I give the beach in Lignano an A- (the water was a little greyish).
We left for Lignano at around 11:30am. I had a little bit of a cold and so I tried to sleep it off, but that was not going to stop Cay and I from our Italian holiday. We arrived in Lignano at around 5.45pm. The drive from Vienna to Lignano was gorgeous as we traversed through the mountains in Kärten.We arrived at the Hotel Bellvue to find that the hotel is actually a part of a whole section of hotels. There must have been a dozen hotels within the city block. It wasn't cluttered though; it was a chill atmosphere with a healthy mix of Italians, Austrians, and Germans. After an easy check-in service, we went straight to the beach where we met up with the Kalpakgians (our American friends). After a nice exhilirating (the water was cold since it was getting dark) swim, we headed back to the hotel for dinner.

Dinner was quite good. Nothing spectacular (my standards for Italy are high), but still very good. Our first course was composed of a salad bar, where I must have had two plates of these white beans. If you know the name, please let me know, they rock. The second course for me was a cream of mushroom soup that was almost perfect (it was a tad cold when they brought it to the table). Cay had the pasta in a simple tomato sauce. It was good, except that the penne was a smidgen too soft (Italians make the perfect al dente pasta). The main course was a white fish with vegetables cook with herbs. My fish was perfect, however Cay's was a little too salty. Cay says the cook must be in love. Dessert was a berry mousse. Simple, yet delicious. We ended dinner with a night out in Lignano.
We took bikes that Hotel Bellevue rented to us for a Euro an hour. Pretty good deal. We rode them to the city center where we did some window shopping. I bought this really cool bracelet at this antique store where they sell vintage nautical goods.
I must say, when you are in Italy, you must have gelato once a day. It is a must. My favorite is cafe and tiramisu. To die for.
We hit the sack a little late. This is due to our recent addiction: Heroes. We love this show. It is the stuff.

Day two involved us waking up late :-) and missing the sunrise. But it's ok, because having lunch at La Botte more than made up for it. La Botte may be one of the best Italian places I have been to yet. Fantastic food and generous portions! Not to mention, the price was more than reasonable.

After Mass at the town parish we did some more window shopping, as well as real shopping (Cay picked up some stuff for her mom and dad.) From there we headed to La Botte.

We heard about this place from Cay's mom and dad. Thank you Tita Nel and Tito Rene (I am coming back just to eat at this restaurant).
We sat down at around 12:30pm and it was like a ghost town. Nobody was there, and that usually worries me about a restaurant. A good rule of thumb is that you don't eat when nobody is there. This was definitely an exception to that rule. I don't want to get into all the details, because I think you all need to check this place out at some point in your life. It is a couple blocks away from the city center, and any person in Lignano can tell you where it is (it is that good).

We started out with melone con prosciutto. Delicious! Fresh cantaloupe melon with thinly sliced prosciutto. Lord thank you.
Our second course actually came out the same time as the third. I wanted to be adventurous and try one of their "spezial" pizzas. We ordered the "prinscipessa", which was composed of a normal pizza baked with brie, zucchini, and prosciutto. Wow! By far my favorite pizza and the best I have ever had. I can still taste the brie melting in my mouth.
The pasta dish we had to try was the Frutti di Mare. Whenever you are by the ocean, try the seafood! We were more than pleased. Mussels, scampi, and clams were plentiful in this classic Italian seafood staple. The cool thing was that as the restaurant got more and more packed, we saw that pretty much everyone in the restaurant was having the Frutti di Mare. Great minds think alike.
Perhaps on par with the awesomeness of the food was the price. Check out the receipt. Nuff said.
Oh Italia. You are beautiful. We spent a couple hours digesting and swimming at the beach, before we packed ourselves back into Cay's Audi. Lignano, you are not the most beautiful place we have been to in Italy, but you have charmed us with your amazing restaurant and we shall return someday.