Merritts in America

We're alive!! We're well!! We're just really freaking busy.

Sorry for the lack of posts and updates, but things have been pretty crazy this last week. Toby and I are down in Corpus loving our new house while Brian is over on the East coast for work.

Brian and I will meet up in California at the end of the week to kick off our Christmas celebrations. I promise to get a fun post up soon.

Until then...keep on truckin'!

So Long, Farewell...

Today Toby and I are boarding a plane and flying back to the ol' US of A...for good.

I am SO excited to come back to the States for many reason, but mainly because it's home. And home is such a wonderfully familiar and comfortable place.

As excited as I am to return Stateside, I definitely feel tinges of sadness about leaving Germany. It's been a lovely place to spend the last year and I have mountains of memories to feed my travel bug...if he ever wakes up from the travel-induced coma he's in right now.

For now, let's just admire the beautiful (and chilly!) winter wonderland we're leaving:

Thank you, Germany!
We've loved your beer, amazing comfort food, fun-loving people, and of course...
your pretzel rolls.

And a big thanks to all of our readers. We hope you've enjoyed this journey as much as we have. Luckily, it's not over quite yet. We have some more fun stuff to blog about before shut 'er down.

Stay tuned for a few more posts!!

Photo Essay: Brian's Boss' Promotion Ceremony

It was a great ceremony and Brian was honored to have been asked to read for it.

Our Tuscan Thanksgiving: Dievole, The Finale

On our last full day in Tuscany, following the advice of Justin and Marisa, we visited a local Chianti winery, Dievole. We were greeted by our extremely knowledgeable, charismatic, and entertaining tour guide, Dario. Dario took us, and 4 others, on an hour long walking (and drinking!) tour of the winery. It was, hands down, the best winery tour we've ever had. We not only learned about the Chianti Region and wine (made mostly of Sangiovese grapes), but we also learned some history of the land and the people (the Florentines and the Sienese dislike each other, but not nearly as much as they both dislike Pisans).

Here's a peek at the awesome Dievole tour:

Fun fact: You know that classic Chianti wine bottle, with a basket-weave bottom...? Well that was invented by none other than Leonardo da Vinci when he was about 13 years old and it is called a fiasco.

If you ever find yourself in Tuscany, please, pleeeease make a stop in Vagliagli at the Dievole winery. Their wine is delicious and the people are very warm and welcoming!

That wraps it up for our time in Tuscany. The tastes, people, and ambiance of Tuscany will definitely lure us back at some point!

If you'd like to view all of our photos from our visit from Tuscany, please click on this link:

Tuscany Photos

Our Tuscan Thanksgiving: Siena

Since Casale San Lorenzo is only 20 minutes from Siena and because we've gotten rave reviews (Thanks, Joanie!) about the city, we knew we'd have to make a day-trip while in Tuscany. The Friday after Thanksgiving provided us with that opportunity.

We followed Rick Steves' trusty guidebook and parked outside of the city. As we made our way closer to the city center we were mesmerized by the stunning view of the cityscape:

We walked up and down the narrow Sienese streets and were just about to consult the guidebook again when we stumbled upon the magnificent Il Campo town square:

Rick Steves calls it "The Best Square in Italy" and I agree! You have to see it to appreciate the size, but Il Campo is HUGE and is lined with charming restaurants and shops. We also learned that there is a horse race through Il Campo twice a year called Palio di Siena. They fill Il Campo with a layer of dirt and riders, dressed in medieval garb, race around the square three times. It looks (and sounds) crazy!

After we took in the beauty of the square we wandered the streets peeking in different quaint Italian shops. After some window shopping we made our way over to the Duomo di Siena. Immediately the exterior of the Duomo captivated us:

We were eager to get inside and see what this beauty had to offer. Weren't we delightfully surprised when we walked in and saw these striking scenes:

The Duomo di Siena is officially our favorite European cathedral. We loved the uniqueness of the black and white stones, the intricate floor mosaics, and the celestial dome interior. We meandered, mouths agape, through the Duomo until our rumbling bellies got the best of us.

We found a cozy restaurant on the Il Campo and hunkered down for a warm and dry lunch. It started to pour a few minutes after we sat down inside! We ate some pizza, drank some red wine, and soaked up the Sienese ambiance.

After lunch we rolled our full bellies back to the car for the quick trip home.
Thanks for the wonderful day, Siena...We love you!!

Up next: Dievole, The Finale

Our Tuscan Thanksgiving: The Feast

Armed with two (although we actually used only one) tiny kitchens in our respective villas, we managed to pull-off a delicious American Thanksgiving meal!

Here's the full spread:

Let's break 'er down...

Erin's phenomenal stuffing:


My (and by "my" I mean Emeril's) bacon braised green beans:

B's roasted garlic mashed potatoes:

My classic cranberry compote:

Erin's fabulous roasted turkey (this was the juiciest bird we'd ever had...the secret is a roaster...you can see in the picture the meat is so tender it's falling right off of the bone!):


And last, but certainly not least, Andrew's pumpkin pie with buttered walnut topping:


Not only was there food, but there was fun, too!
Erin found a cute turkey-making kit and brought it along to feed our creative hunger:

We had an awesome time sharing our Thanksgiving feast with the Baughmans!

Up next: Siena

Our Tuscan Thanksgiving: Casale San Lorenzo

This year for Thanksgiving we met up with our friends Erin and Andrew for a Tuscan get-away. We learned early on that finding a place to stay in Tuscany for Thanksgiving is almost as hard as finding that needle in the haystack. First of all, the Tuscany region is huge...MUCH larger than I first thought...which made choosing an area difficult. Second, November is most definitely the off-season in Tuscany so many places were closed. Right off the bat we were stumped, but thanks to our other friends, Marisa and Justin, who put us in touch with a wine connoisseur, author and local tour guide, we finally found the perfect spot: Casale San Lorenzo is a darling villa in the Chianti region of Tuscany, just 20 minutes from Siena. When we first pulled in to Casale San Lorenzo it was pitch black so we didn't fully appreciate its beauty until the next morning...

The main house...

Our darling villa...

The beautiful view of the Chianti countryside...


Other scenes from around the Casale...

The family that owns the Casale San Lorenzo made us feel at home from the start. The sweet mother and wife of the family made us delicious, farm fresh eggs with Parmesan every morning in addition to the scrumptious Italian breakfast spread (which included two homemade tarts). The darling father and husband always offered a big smile and wave whenever we were outside as well as embracing Toby into his temporary family and the cute, spunky daughter took on the interpreter role and made sure we had everything we needed. We had somehow stumbled upon a magnificently beautiful area, with equally wonderful people.

Case in point: Remember those farm fresh eggs that were scrambled for us each morning?? Well, they came from their chickens who usually roamed freely around the property...



Well usually there isn't a bird dog in town. Toby tried his best to exercise the chickens anytime they were out and about. Those poor chickens were constantly sprinting and jumping around the yard. Luckily they didn't introduce their HUGE talons to wild Toby's face. You'd think that maybe the owners would have gotten a little annoyed with Toby's antics, but nope! They just laughed and would make a point of telling us when the chickens were in the coop.

On top of that, during our first full day in town, the daughter brought us two bottles of wine explaining that her dad wanted to treat us to his local favorite...



Two bottles of wine...on the house! Sweetest people on Earth.

If you ever find yourself in the Chianti region and would like a cozy, friendly, charming place to stay, please...PLEASE visit the Casale San Lorenzo. You'll love it!

Up next: The Feast