Touring small Italian villages

 One of the best parts about Italy is that when you order a beer or glass 

of wine they give you delicious snacks too! There are small Italian breweries 

popping up all over Italy so of course we are drinking LOCAL. 

And another thing I love about Italy is the gelato.

It is everywhere and so delicious!

Biking along the Mediterranean Sea.

Swimming in the Mediterranean for

my first time ever.

The water was so beautiful and clear.

Mountain biking through the Ligurian Alps. 

We climbed up, up, up to go down, down, down straight to the

Mediterranean sea.

Soccer match

Roma vs Genoa

The energy throughout the stadium was amazing.

Italians of all ages were there cheering on their team.

Cascina delgi Ulivi-Working on the farm in Italy

The beautiful, biodynamic and organic farm and winery

Nate and I worked on in Italy.  The people, food and the

place really took our hearts.

Harvesting eggplant and peppers.

Nate with the 2 hectare garden behind him.
Every morning there was a thick fog that would burn off
to give us sunny days.

Harvesting my favorite vegetable!
~Broccoli~ 

The great Italian chef
He would cook lunch everyday for the 18-20 workers.
We would all sit down for lunch together at a big, long table and of course lunch included vino.

The great eggplant and pepper harvest (the last of the season).
Eggplant= melanzane
Peppers=peperone

Garlic field
garlic=aglio

Nate hiking up the hill with the harvest in hand.
The garden was in the valley because the grapes need the
proper sunlight on the hillsides.

The dinner table.
All the workers who lived on the farm (~10) would eat dinner together every night.
We would go into the garden and cut what we wanted to prepare.
So fresh, so delicious.
Fresco e delizioso!

Working in the Cantina~Italy

Nate and I, now more than ever, thoroughly enjoy the art of wine making 

& now have experience with the great amount of effort it 

takes to produce this delicious beverage. 

Salute! 

Cleaning out the barrels

(Natural filtration)

Pumping wine from the stainless steel container 

to the oak barrel

Cleaning out the press.  The left over dried 

grape material is used to make Grappa. 

Nate stomping whole clusters of grapes to make a famous dessert wine, 

Prosecco, that must first be stomped and then allowed to 

ferment for 3-5 days before being mechanically pressed.

The view from the roof deck at the cantina.

Nate and I with our viticulturist teacher, Fernando.   

~Averi Derchi~

Loving Life in Belgium

Cantillon Brewery in Brussels, Belgium

All bottles of aging Gueuze behind me. Yum!

Below we are at a Trappist Brewery, Westvleteren. The only

way you can get this beer is by walking to the Monastery and buying it

directly from the  monks.  This beer is soooo GOOD!

Brugge is So Beautiful

Drinking some local Belgian Sours

Small tucked away beer bar down the smallest street in Brugge.

We had to make it to the Belgium coast. Beautiful sunny day.

 Vegetarian cafe in Antwerpen, Belgium.

The view from our roof deck in Antwerpen.

Beer, Fries and Chocolate-I love Belgium!  :)

 Another Trappist Monastery, Westmalle

~Nate buying cheese made by the monks~

My mom in Amsterdam

Mom's transportation for the week!

A visit to Zaans Schans. They have 6 working windmills you can tour.

Wooden Shoes, how Dutch...

 Dam to Dam 16k run (Before, above and After, below)

A day at the farm

Windmill Organic Brewery in Amsterdam

Homemade Apple Pie

Drinks on the canal

And of course no visit to Amsterdam is complete without 

a visit to the Red Light District ;)

Amazing Trip, so glad she made it to out to visit us!