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

If It Looks Like a Mallard and Quacks Like a Mallard...

...it must be a NEW mallard, Mally II!!

Lucky Toby got a new mallard from our friends that are in town visiting.
Thanks Noah and Holly!!

Toby Thursday

Stinky T is 6 months old! The little big guy hit the 6 month-er mark on November 9th. He's growing up so fast!

Here are some recent shots from a trip in the Dog Park (where he has made his very first and very best friend, Molly, a 16 month old, all black, flat coated retriever):

The latest fun facts about T-Bone Merritt:
-He loves a good hug. In particular right after he wakes up. He lets me wrap my arms around his shoulders and he rests his head on my shoulder.
-He is the King of SBD Farts (Silent But Deadly), but just today he farted out loud and completely freaked himself out. He kept looking back at his butt with great alarm in his wild eyes.
-If not gleaned from the last fun-fact-bullet, he is full of gas. Everyday.
-He has finally figured out the glory that is laying on our bed...and enjoys depositing his stray black hairs all over the white duvet cover.

This little snippet of photos is also from a recent outing at the Dog Park. I think it's pretty cute and wanted to share. Toby and I went to the Dog Park (on base) about 30 minutes before Brian got off from work, once B left the office he came straight to the Park to meet up with us. Here's what happened below:

I completely failed in capturing Toby running up to B, but trust me, it was pretty cute!

Not only is it Toby Thursday, but it's also Veteran's Day and I'd like to say a big THANK YOU to all of the veterans out there. Without your strength, honor, and determination our world would be a very different place. And in particular, I'd like to say how proud I am of the two veterans that are nearest and dearest to my heart:

I love you guys!

Joanie in Germany

Last Monday morning we picked-up Joan at the Frankfurt airport and started off on our fun adventure. Our first stop along that adventure was Sindelfingen for a delicious Italian dinner. We noshed until our bellies were full and then enjoyed a crisp German evening:

The next day provided beautiful autumn weather so we made the most of it! The majority of the afternoon we were outside soaking up the sun and the striking fall colors with Toby:

After a good romp in the field for Toby, we headed over to the Bärenschlössle for some beverages. There's a good 1/4 mile walk to the Bärenschlössle through a forested trail. Here are our photos from our pretty walk:

After a long afternoon outside, we were all pretty wiped out. That evening we enjoyed a hearty German dinner of flammkuchen, sausage, and maultaschen. YUM!! Between the fresh air and the heavy food we all slept like rocks that night.

The next day Brian went in to the office for a few hours and then we hit the road for Hohenzollern Castle. After a 45 minute car ride the stunning castle, perched amongst the Swabian Alps, was in sight:

This was by far our most favorite castle. The exterior was interesting, the interior was completely functional (and still used during the summers by descendants of German royalty), and the tour was informative (with the help of two awesome German college students who translated a bit for us). Here's our photo tour of the Hohenzollern Castle:















My favorite room of the castle was, no shocker here, the Königin Room (Queen's Room). It was full of gorgeous sapphire blue stuffed chaise lounges and chairs, as well as the Queen's paintings. There was also a lovely little bay window overlooking the Alps...I imagine snuggling up there with a good book, a cup of tea, and a roaring fire in the fireplace would be quite nice!

After the castle we made our way back home to Sindelfingen for dinner and packing.
Next on our itinerary: Paris, France!

Joan: A Preview

We just spent a fantastic week with Joan and can't wait to share the images and tales. Per usual, there are tons of photos to go through and some thoughts to organize. For now though, here's a sneak peek of the last week...

There was play time with Toby:

There was also lots of enjoying the fall colors and the ridiculously mild late-autumn weather:

There was Paris:

And, there was Normandy:

Can't wait to get cracking on the next post, Joanie in Germany.
Happy November!

Boo!

To celebrate Halloween, we're posting the scariest, spookiest
photos we could find in our arsenal.

Check out this ghoulish killer queen bee!!!

Or how about this terrifying jack-o-lantern!!!

The next photo is for only the bravest of souls...
a real, live, ghastly gorilla!!!

And perhaps, the spookiest of them all...
a spine-chillingly horrifying wild puppy!!!



We hope you have a fabulous Halloween!

Toby Thursday

It's amazing how fast our little pup is growing. When we picked him up at the Hunde Pension after our trip to the States, we hardly recognized him! Check out our big lug:

Not only did he add a few inches to his lean frame, but his feathers (hair) are growing like crazy. Here's part of his awesomely long tail:



(How much am I going to miss that spectacular green hotel carpet?! Hopefully we can find some of that for our new house.)

Not only are his tail feathers coming in nicely, but check out the dude's toe hair:



The lucky little guy doesn't need any hair products, all of that toe hair volume is au naturale.

In the photo above you may have noticed the startling image of Mally, Toby's beloved mallard. Before I can go any farther, please note:
Viewer discretion is advised. The following images are of a graphic nature.

Along with Toby's new height and long hair have come his adult teeth. This means no toy is safe! Unfortunately, poor Mally learned this the hard way:

The carnage!

Lame duck or not, Toby still loves him and is working hard, every day, on transforming Mally into a completely wingless duck.

Since Toby is no longer teething he is much more mellow and less likely to be found gnawing on a piece of furniture or my pink slippers. We love watching him grow into the goofy and handsome guy that he is!