Italy on the brain

*Edited to update as of a few minutes ago: Tickets are purchased–Italy 2013 or bust!!

Andrew has decided we’re going to Italy this summer. (We haven’t done a real vacation–just the two of us–since our fall 2010 trip to Montreal and Quebec City, so I guess he’s entitled to something big. And BIG it will be.)

Between the Rick Steves’ Italy 2013 travel book and the complete Rick Steves DVD set (a Christmas gift from Carolyn), I feel like I’m married to two men at once! (Not really, but lately I can’t have one without the other close by…) The excel spreadsheet you see above is our itinerary. The first draft.

It’s alright with me; this girl isn’t complaining. “Why yes, honey, I’d love to go to Italy with you for 17 days just hours after my last final presentation.” (Because according to the syllabus I got today, that’s pretty much what’s gonna happen.)

For real though–I’m a lucky girl.

P.S. He’s already scheduled multi-hour dinners and dessert. EVERY DAY. I am in love with this man.

my ‘not-skiing’ ski trip

So, Andrew and I joined a small crowd of his co-workers this past weekend up in the Adirondacks for some skiing and, well, partying. I’ll just say that Andrew and I weren’t quite the party animals that the rest of the crowd was, but we still had some fun.

We arrived Thursday night and socialized until the wee hours of the morning, and when Andrew and I couldn’t keep our eyes open any longer, we ducked into our room to turn in at 2 a.m.

I made breakfast Friday morning for the group–Foster’s Market’s Panama Pancakes and Ina’s Maple-Roasted bacon–before everyone headed out to ski.

I’m not a huge skier, by any stretch–I’ve been before and can ski decently–but it’s been years (like seven) since I’ve tackled the slopes, so I begged-off the ski trip in favor of some R&R in a quiet house. ALONE.

I started my morning off with a six-mile run in the slush, followed by a hot shower and intense stretching (because in real life, who has time for more than a couple quick leg-pulls?) before lugging out my schoolwork. Yes, I brought homework. The crazy part? I was sorta-kinda looking forward to actually DOING my homework without any distractions.

Well, two hours and a not-quite-finished Chem lab report later… I gave up, admitted defeat and took my cooking magazines to bed for a nap. I awoke to voices announcing the group’s return and went out to snack (pretty much the highlight of this trip…) and socialize before dinner.

Andrew skied and said he had a good time, and after finding out how foggy it was (not to mention the advanced skill level of the rest of our group), I’m glad I didn’t go. I would have been left behind on the slopes and not enjoyed myself one bit–all while worrying about the homework I wasn’t doing.

The next day, while everyone else went back to the slopes for day number 2 of skiing, Andrew and I chose to stay back and do our own thing. We googled (thank goodness for wi-fi!) until we found somewhere to go snowshoeing and bundled up. It was a beautiful sunny day, very unlike the day before, and the snow was melting like crazy.

We drove just a few minutes to the Friends Lake Inn, which is an inn and wine-tasting room located at the base of some hilly trails intended for hiking, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. We had planned to rent snowshoes, but with the degree of melting, we thought we’d be fine without them, and we were.

We hiked up and down and around, sometimes on and sometimes off the trail, for a little more than an hour before we decided it was probably about time to head back. We’d seen “Cardiac Hill” on our map the whole time, but it seemed a little far away from the inn to aim for initially. However, we found ourselves in the general vicinity of the hill (or what we thought was the hill!) at the end and decided to give it a try. After ascending a gently curving incline and finding ourselves near a priory and face-to-face with Route 8, we figured we’d made a wrong turn.

It didn’t take much trudging in the opposite direction and DOWN a very steep hill to realize that we’d approached Cardiac Hill from the opposite direction (which is why we didn’t see it to begin with) and then gone up and around and off the trail. Not to be outdone (and outsmarted!) and in the interest of a good calorie-burn (I wouldn’t say our hike up to that point was really that difficult), we trudged down Cardiac Hill, only to turn around and race up again (hey, why walk when you can run?).

After surmounting the hill, catching our breath and snapping this shot, we decided it really was time to head back. Highlight of the trip: walking hand-in-hand, talking and even praying together the whole way back. We joked that we pulled an “Emily and Dan” by hiking–our adventurous, outdoorsy friends who take-off on awesome weekend trips to places like Colorado and Arizona just to enjoy outdoor activities–and their ‘togetherness’ inspires me.

Another highlight of the trip: ice cream! There is a chain of convenience stores in the Adirondacks called Stewart’s–you can buy their specialty sodas at the grocery store–and Andrew (for once it wasn’t me!) wanted some. After sampling about five different flavors, I chose a sundae and devoured it the entire drive back to the house.

With dinner completely ruined, we returned to find everyone back and prepping snacks and munchies. Why, oh why, am I tempted by bagged, preservative-laden, cheddar chex mix? WWWWHHHHYYYYY?!?!

Our last night was filled with games (Guesstures, anyone?) and eating (I got my cook on and made brownies) before turning in. The next morning Andrew, Bart and I were up and out first in order to arrive in time to pick Hadrian up from puppyy camp.

On the way home, we stopped in Syracuse for Dinosaur BBQ, a local favorite featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and one Bart knew about.

Andrew and I split a sampler–meat and fries mostly for him, sides mostly for me–and enjoyed every bite! The place is known for their chicken (is was pretty darn good), but their ribs were truly amazing. Definitely rivaled what I had in Texas… Andrew made a good point–in less than three-weeks’ time, I’ve sampled BBQ at three well-known BBQ joints. Am I a lucky girl or what?!

Coming home after a trip is always a rude awakening, filled with laundry and cleaning, and my chem quiz was seriously stressing me out. (Thankfully, all my prep with the practice quizzes paid off–I got a 92!) We ended our night at Wegmans, me filling up at the veggie bar and Andrew with a sub, as well as picking up groceries for the week.

All in all, our trip was fun but I don’t know that we would go again next year (apparently this group goes annually). Andrew and I had a great time together and I enjoyed ‘getting away from it all.’

Speaking of getting away… Spring break is TWO CLASSES away (!) and our next visit to Ohio (to see baby Aiden!) is three weeks away!

the rest of the trip

…and getting my head above water!

I took two tests this morning, and miraculously did quite well for having been out of town over the weekend, at least I think so. Rocked the Bio one with a 95% (highest grade of the class!) although I’m irritated because the professor’s questions are unnecessarily tricky. AND I swear he NEVER said that Lysosomes are “suicide bags….”

I have a busy week ahead–article writing, grocery shopping, lots of cooking and baking, Andrew’s birthday, finishing up the house, prepping for Emily and Dan’s arrival, and another test and quiz–WHEW! After my interview for said article this afternoon, I’ve been experiencing a brain-dump of sorts and just surfing online. Once I post all this, I think I’ll be mentally ready to take on the week!

First things first: our b&b. It was called the Oliver Phelps and I realized I’d never taken a picture of the outside. It was amazing.

After breakfast Saturday morning, we headed out to walk around the little “downtown” area and do some shopping. Sara recommended this store to me when she saw we were headed to Canandaigua. It was very neat, although I have to add a little disclaimer here: we’re UBER-lucky to have not one, but TWO specialty olive oil and vinegar stores here on Main Street in East Aurora. One is a chain, Primo Olivo, and the other is a local place called Tuscany on Main. We’re fans and have been into Tuscany multiple times. I did, however, leave F. Oliver’s with a bottle of Honeyed Ginger balsamic vinegar and a bottle of Tuscan Garden olive oil. Can’t wait to use them!

After candle stores, gift stores, a chocolate shop and, believe it or not, a bazillion antique/thrift-type stores (Andrew wanted to go in!), we decided it was time for lunch.

It’s a chain but it got high reviews on TripAdvisor, so we popped in. What in the world made Andrew think he needed 16 inches of Philly Steak, I’m not sure, but whatever. The smallest I could order was 8 inches, and since cheese is a MAIN ingredient of Philly CHEESE Steaks, there was no way were splitting one.

I ended up leaving 75% of my bread behind. I didn’t need it, anyway. Andrew polished BOTH of his right off. The verdict on the steaks from a somewhat-native Philadelphian? Very good.

We drove around a bit, willing our lunches to digest, before walking around the tip of the lake. It was a bit breezy, but we couldn’t have asked for better weather.

We stopped into the Christkindl Market. A big disappointment, there. There were some neat vendors with quality, unique items, but for the most part, it was those “dipping oils” and “scented soaps” kind of stuff. No thank you.

By that time it was late afternoon, and since our dinner reservation wasn’t until 8 p.m. we were looking for something to do. That’s what happens to us “high-speed” vacationers; we get bored. Give us an itinerary, no matter how loudly we complain!

Because it’s the off-season now, lots of places were closing around that time, so we had to sell out and take a study break at Starbucks. Oh well. The free WiFi kept Andrew occupied while I studied, which apparently paid off!

We knew we wanted to go to this authentic German place for dinner, but when I called for reservations, all they had left was 8 p.m. I grumbled but took it. The place is owned by two native Germans, so I figured it was worth it.

We started with a beer for him and a Jager for me, which was half beer and half hard cider. AWESOME. Don’t I look weird when I have dark lipstick on??

We also started with snails in a red wine sauce baked in a puff pastry that looked like a football. Andrew may not like cheese, but who else do you know who picks snails off the menu for an appetizer?

He got the sausage platter and I chose something a bit more unique–a piece of beef round rolled around bacon and pickled and cooked. We both got spaetzle, too.

And of course, I forgot to photograph the apple streudel we split. Oops. Photographic proof we ate it all.

The next morning, after breakfast and checking out, we went on a drive over to the other lake to see what was there. On the way we stopped at Red Jacket Orchard store, which was a fantastic find! I hauled out jars of specialty mustards, honey, dressings and cider like no one’s business! I’m thinking a “Holly’s goodies from Canandaigua” post is in order…

After being thoroughly disappointed with Geneva (not that it was bad, but Sunday morning isn’t exactly the best time to go, either), we headed back and ended up at Simple Crepes, somewhere I’d been salivating about since researching the trip.

I’m a “variety” kind of girl when it comes to food, so I went with the brunch buffet, which includes a ‘made-to-order’ crepe station as well as oatmeal creme brulee. OMG. Must make oatmeal creme brulee at home ASAP. It was amazing.

Andrew got the caramel apple crepe, along with a regular one, too. I was surprised he didn’t go with his favorite, Nutella.

My tasting plate, filled with brunch yumminess!

After filling our bellies, which was kind of my plan, we headed to the New York Wine and Culinary Center for our wine pairing class!

Neither of us had ever done anything like that before, and it was so fun! It really deserves a post on its own, but I’m pressed for time now (in general and currently–Andrew is on his way home NOW), so this will have to suffice. Basically, we got to taste 6 different wines with 6 different flavors, for a total of 36 tastes! And that was after we learned how to properly sniff/swirl/taste wine, which was probably my favorite part.

Basically, Andrew and I favored either a Chardonnay or a Riesling with almost every flavor, and opposite of each other every time! So, as long as we have either or both on the table, we should be fine… It was neat to see how the flavor of the food changes the wine. In fact, for awhile now I’d thought I didn’t like buttery Chardonnays, but in fact, it was what I chose most often with food! And both of us love Reislings anyway; we just have to make sure to get a semi-dry so that it won’t be too sweet.

So, we learned a lot! It was a lot of fun and I would highly recommend it!

On the way home, we stopped to get me some ice cream. What a nice end to the trip!

Now, back to REAL life and REAL eating!