Our trip to Alghero, Italy was incredible. I miss it so much and am already daydreaming about visiting again. What really helped to make it an incredible experience was where we stayed during our visit. Casa Anna is a fully furnished two bedroom apartment in a residential neighborhood of Alghero.
The apartment is decorated beautifully and really feels like a home away from home. It includes a washing machine (which we did end up using and it was wonderful to have), rack for drying clothes outside, hair dryer, iron/ironing board, air conditioning and tv with a dvd player. One afternoon was kind of rainy for a few hours, so while the kids napped we watched “Once Upon a Time in America” with Robert de Niro.
We really wanted an apartment with a balcony and/or terrace, so that when the kids would go down for bed, hubby and I could still enjoy the atmosphere.
I booked through www.Sardiniansunhomes.it The hospitality of this company was over the top. Laura and Maurice provided us with everything. We were picked up from the airport (in a car with child restraints for the kiddos!) and upon arrival were offered to be taken to the local grocery store. Laura gave us a bottle of wine, some apertifs and several bottles of water. It was wonderful to feel so taken care of on our trip.
We really don’t mind walking, so this apartment was perfect for us. Walking distance to the city center of Alghero was 30min and to Maria Pia beach was also 30 minutes. But it was the dead of summer and a beautiful walk, so no big deal. Plus it helped us justify our over indulgence of gelato and pizza.
Each morning we stopped by the supermarket which is about a 10 minute walk from the apartment. It’s an excellent supermarket stocked with everything you could need. They have milk, yogurt, produce, bread, crackers, snacks, water, juice, diapers/wipes, baby food and even beach toys. Really, anything you could need from a grocery store.
I would highly recommend this apartment to any family vacationing in Alghero. A true gem! Can not wait to go back to Italy. It's my favorite so far.
Our next adventure is taking us to the famous Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles! We will also be visiting Dachau concentration camp.
We were rather unpatriotic again this year as we spent the 4th of July in Italy. With Ryanair offering such cheap flights, we couldn’t resist a last minute trip to Sardinia. We flew into Alghero, which is a very charming town on the western coast of the island. For five days we escaped the daily grind and indulged ourselves with sun, sea, sand and gelato.
The first beach we hit up was Lido. Conveniently located near most of the main hotels, Lido beach offers a sandy beach and wonderful opportunities for people watching.
But when we walked 10 more minutes north we found exactly what we were looking for at Maria Pia beach. Miles of white sandy beach and clear blue water that went as far as the eye could see.
We spent the next few days building sand castles, competing for a tan as golden as the Italians and swimming in the warm blue sea.
[caption id="attachment_1359" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="We bought the inflatable swim toy from a beach vendor"][/caption]
Down the street from our apartment was a wonderful grocery store stocked with everything we needed for breakfast and snacks at the beach.
[caption id="attachment_1360" align="aligncenter" width="481" caption="Produce at the local supermarket"][/caption]
For lunch we found out restaurants don’t open until 12:30-1ish. Snack bars are typically open, but for a restaurant we had to wait until later afternoon. Restaurants also close around 3pm and don’t open for dinner until 7pm.
Our favorite restaurant ended up being the Lido Pizzeria, situated right on the beach. Very thin, fire baked crust with a thin sauce and excellent quality cheese paired with a glass of vino made for one of the best meals we’ve had.
[caption id="attachment_1362" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="Mr. Wright enjoying some vino in peace"][/caption]
We went to Alghero for the sole purpose of rest and relaxation. No agenda other than beach, beach and more wonderful beach. One morning was overcast, so instead of gambling a possible rainy day at the beach we decided to try one of the many boat tours offered down by the harbor. The boat ride to Neptune’s Grotto offered dramatic views of giant rocky cliffs submerged in the deep blue sea.
Walking through the caves of Neptune’s Grotta had me feeling like an extra in Indiana Jones. Mesmerizing and a bit creepy at the same time, but definitely worth the visit.
[caption id="attachment_1367" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="Neptune's Grotto via iphone"][/caption]
After a fun day at the beach we showered up and would head down to the city center of Alghero for dinner and exploration.
One place that got our eyes wide was this pirate candy store, loaded with sweet treasures.
The Italian culture was every bit as dreamy and romantic as I imagined it to be. The food was phenomenal. The language simply gorgeous. The speedos abundant and the hospitality so warm. We were swept away by the beauty of this incredible Italian island and know we will definitely be going back again.
My little man is one! Wow it went by fast. His party was this past weekend and I have to admit I'm kinda happy it's over with. You see living in Germany is such an incredible experience. We are within driving distance to some of the most historical and quaint cities in the world. Yet despite this I just really want a Party City, Hobby Lobby and even a Wal-mart (gasp! Not usually a Walmart person. I'm a Tarjay snob. But Walmart does have cheap crafty type of things that are perfect and useful for party planning. Oh and they are open 24/7!!
In order to plan a party over here I have to rely heavily on online ordering and that just things tricky and unpredictable. The way I pictured this party looking in my head and the way it actually turned out are totally different.
Since one is a sentimental birthday I wanted to highlight his first year:
I seriously love pooh and his cute quotes and sayings. I thought these were perfect for a first birthday:
For the honey pot I just painted a clay pot yellow and wrote hunny using white paint. Mr. Wright said to me, "you know that's not how honey is spelled, right? And your y is backwards." He's a nut.
So as you can see inside the honey pots I made cake pops.
They didn't turn out how I wanted. For one, finding WHITE melting candy proved to be impossible and white chocolate chips just don't melt so well. I ended up having to use speckled melting chocolates. I really wanted to make these beach balls, but again I was limited in my resources for having frosting utensils. It's the thought that counts. Btw etsy has several vendors who make very cute cake pops. It would be a good idea to outsource these treats since they do take some time to make.
The cupcake tower turned out pretty cute.
I love my new drink dispenser I ordered online from amazon. Less than $30 and free shipping! It's perfect.
I kept the goodie bags simple:
And that was it. I do have the pdf printables for this party, so please leave a comment if you would like the download. For free of course :)
Here's some very cute ideas I found around the web for a Pooh inspired bash:
I was so super excited to see plums at the grocery store. I hadn't eaten plums in years. I think I was still a teenager the last time I ate a plum. That's just not acceptable. Despite the fact my grocery store didn't carry plum jam, I was determined to make this for dinner. I instead used raspberry jam and it was still quite good. I think plum jam would have tied in with the flavors better, but hey you do whatchya can.
I found this recipe in the recent issue of Cuisine Tonight and the focus of this issue was grilling. My amazing chef friend A Mama with Flavor turned me on to cooking magazines as a source of inspiration and I'm so happy she did!
What I really like about this magazine is it provides nutritional value. So you know that the food you're making not only tastes good, but is healthy too!
Next time you grill, try this out :) *adapted slightly from Cuisine Tonight Grilling
Ingredients: 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 2 tablespoons sesame oil 1 teaspoon kosher salt Juice of half a lime Savoy cabbage (I used prewashed/bagged coleslaw cabbage) 1/2 cup plum jam 2 tablespoons brown sugar(light) 2 tablespoons rice vinegar 1 tablespoon soy sauce 1 teasponn chili garlic sauce 1 teaspoon five spice powder salt to taste
To make the chicken: Preheat grill to medium high; brush grill with oil to help prevent sticking
In a large resealable plastic bag combine chicken, sesame oil, teaspoon of salt and lime juice. Seal bag and toss chicken to coat.
In a small saucepan over medium heat combine jam, brown sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, chili garlic sauce, five-spice powder and salt. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low. Cook glaze for 2-3 minutes the set aside.
Grill chicken about 5-6 per side or until chicken has an internal temperature of 165 degree F. Once chicken is cooked through dip breasts in glaze using tongs. Place chicken back on grill to carmelize the glaze (about 2 minutes).
Remove chicken from grill and place on top of shredded cabbage. Top each serving with plum salsa.
To make the plum salsa you'll need: 2 medium plums diced 1/4 cup diced red onions 2 tablespoons minced fresh basil 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice drizzled of honey
In a bowl combine all ingredients. Drizzle honey to taste over salsa and stir mixture lightly. Serve immediately or make up to one hour in advance and chill in fridge. Per 1/4 cup: 29 cal; 1 g fat(0g sat);omg chol;2mg sodium;0mg fiber; 0g protein
I love living in the country and all, but I feel like it's a 3rd world country sometimes. I mean if you ignore the fact that we have running, clean water. And a refrigerator. And a dishwasher. Oh and grocery stores within 15 minutes. But internet? Nope. And I have no glimmer of hope it will come anytime soon. In the meantime I'm using internet from my iphone and every so often I have a great connnection. And so I can't blog as much as I'd like to, but I'm catching up :)
Last weekend a friend asked me to help her put together her daughter's second birthday. I was thrilled of course! We planned this party in just 48 hours, so though it still turned out completely darling it wasn't AS personalized as I would have liked. But that is just the perfectionist control freak in me. It was beautiful and so was the birthday girl.
The birthday girl is super girly, so of course we kept everything pink!
See the hello kitty pom pom on the bottom left?
It was rather cute.
My friend came up with the cutest names for the food. Like these "kitty kabobs"
And "kat nip" which was just cheese and crackers. Though the cheese hadn't made it to the table yet when I took this pic.
And then to drink my friend made "kitty koolaid" which was a concoction of sprite, raspberries and pink lemonade.
One of my favorite party dessert/snack foods is chocolate covered pretzels. How adorable did these turn out??
The cupcakes were made by a local lady.
One way to add depth and personality to a party table is to take boxes and wrap them in wrapping paper or tissue paper. Varying heights on the table are appealing to the eye and then wrapping paper just adds one more detail to create a beauitful layout.
Boxes wrapped in paper also work great if you don't have a cake or cupcake stand :) Wasn't the cake adorable? Another friend of ours used a hello kitty cake pan and then frosted the cake. So cute!
All the girls dressed up in tutus and helloy kitty shirts
It was a lot of fun. If you have time before your party, check out etsy. There are some super cute hello kitty party items like cake pops, hats and tutus. We were on a time crunch and used what we could :)
It was so much and I am so grateful I got to be a part of this party! Coming up later this month is my little man's FIRST BIRTHDAY!! So you know I'm going all out! I've got some very cute ideas I'm incorporating and can not wait to share!!!
[caption id="attachment_1285" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="The husband and me in Zadar"][/caption]
I have really missed blogging and have been wanting to write about our trip to Croatia for quite a while now. But....
Life happened.
A few weeks ago we had a health scare with my little dude that resulted in an ambulance ride to the ER and kept us in the hospital for 3 nights. It was the scariest experience of our lives to say the least. Poor little guy ended up having 2 febrile seizures, 2 ear infections and tonsillitis! The whole experience is a blog post of its own, but the baby is doing great now! He is happy, chubby and back to his devilish ways and I'd have it no other way :) Then kindergarten was out for 2 weeks for spring break (in Germany preschool is called kindergarten), there was Easter and then I got sick.
*Whew*
I feel like things are finally *knock on wood* back to normal and so here I am again to write about Zadar :)
Zadar, Croatia
Day 1: Greetings to the Sun, the Sea Organ and Bruschetta Our first day, we spent the afternoon exploring the city’s shops and historical sights. One of my favorite things to take pictures of in every city we visit are the alley ways. They tell a story of the way people live. Whether there are bikes parked along the alley or children running through the streets, there is a certain quaintness to narrow, cobblestone streets surrounded by ancient buildings. In Zadar in particular just about every alley way was adorned with clothing hung out to dry.
It reminded me of what I’d expect to see in Italy. Which makes sense because Zadar is also a city in the Mediterranean and has a strong Italian influence. The architecture of the buildings was very beautiful and simply picturesque.
[caption id="attachment_1261" align="aligncenter" width="388" caption="Me and Little Wright in Zadar"][/caption]
After a day of shopping and sightseeing is was nice to grab a coffee(me), an ice cream(Little Wright) and a nice cold beer(Mr. Wright) and sit and listen to the harmonic sounds of the Sea organ while watching the sun set. The Sea organ, constructed by Nikola Bašić as part of the project to redesign the new city coast, is a man-made musical instrument of sorts that creates sounds caused from the movement of waves crashing into large tubes located underneath marble steps.
Steps of the Sea organ
As it started to get darker we could notice the "Greeting to the Sun" , which is a large circle 22 meters in diameter that soaks up the energy from the sun during the day and at night lights up to the rhythm of the waves. Also created by Bašić, the all-natural wonder truly was amazing. To read about the construction and science behind it go here.
Greetings to the Sun
For dinner we ate at Bruschetta, pronounced "brewshketa" by the people in Zadar, which came highly recommended by the staff at our hotel. And no wonder! The food was amazing. The pizza is some of the best I've ever had anywhere and is the sole reason I gained a few pounds on the trip. The first time we ate there I ordered a shrimp pasta with green noodles in a garlic and wine cream sauce.
Pasta at Bruschetta
Oh. My. Goodness.
This is my idea of good food.
After a long day of travel, walking, sight-seeing and then being stuffed fat with delicious carbs we were exhausted and grateful to have a nice place to stay.
Day Two: Local Cuisine and Ferry Ride to Preko The second day in Zadar was so warm and sunny we wanted to lay by the water. Though there are beaches, this isn’t the place to go if you’re looking for sand. The beaches here are pebbly, which wasn’t a problem for us. The water was clear and beautiful and Little Wright had just as much fun as she would have if it were a sandy beach.
Zadar's pebbly beaches
After soaking up some sun we decided to eat lunch at Nikko’s. Though we were warned it was very expensive, we were so curious to try local Dalmation cuisine and the restaurant was located right on the water. I think one of the best ways to truly experience a new culture is through the food. Honestly none of it sounded good: Octopus, Anchovies, Sardines…..uhhhhh not exactly my kind of food. But we ordered the appetizer platter anyway:
Dalmatian Cuisine
And after several large gulps of wine I swallowed a tiny bite of the octopus, but refused to eat the anchovies or sardines. Little Wright ate it up though.
After lunch, we decided to end the afternoon and evening with a ferry ride to Preko. Preko, located on the island of Ugljan, is a 20 minute ferry ride from Zadar. It would have been the best part of our trip had it not been off season. It was so beautiful and such a quaint town. I would have loved to peek into the shops and eaten at one of the many restaurants located on the coast, but such is life when traveling during off season.
Day Three: Exploring Nin When I did research before our trip, several people had mentioned Nin was the place to go for sandy beaches. Though Nin did have A sandy beach, it was located in a lagoon and didn’t impress me much. The town however was very interesting. It was so tranquil and serene. The town itself was so old and broken down it looked like none of the houses had been rebuilt or repaired after the many wars that haven taken place over the years. Yet still there was a beauty to it all. To see how simply some people live really put our own lives into perspective.
We putzed our way around for a while and then headed back to the hotel to let the kids rest a bit. We stayed at Villa Triana and loved our stay there. The great part about our hotel room was we had two balconies, both with a sea view! I specifically look for a hotel located on the water with a balcony, so that if we had to go back for the kiddos we could still enjoy the scenery.
In addition to being right by the city bus, Villa Triana was also right next to a small grocery store. We bought some juice, snacks and a few beers and were able to sit outside and enjoy the views of the sea with a bit of peace. It was wonderful and I highly recommend this hotel to anyway who travels to Zadar.
Three nights was just enough time to spend in Zadar, Croatia. I loved the culture, the people and how the whole city feel like old world meets charm. Until next time…
