BIRTHDAYS, BREAKFASTS, BASE AND MORE...

SACILE:

After traveling for about 5 days straight, it was nice to come back home and unwind a little. Aunt Diane and Susan loved our little town just as much as we do!

Almost every morning we would go to my favorite cafe or Nick's favorite cafe. Both are equally delicious; they have two very different atmospheres. My favorite cafe has air conditioning! (Big plus!) It has a wide variety of tasty treats, and amazing Italian coffee!

My favorite cafe, Cafe Berardi, also has a nice view of the river. 

Here's a sample of our breakfasts! We were so naughty! 

The last morning we were there, I tried a bite of Susan's orange and chocolate treat. (It's the one pictured above with a chocolate chip on top.) As I bit into it, the chocolate chip landed on my finger. It looked so unappetizing! I asked her if she still wanted it. My question must have tormented her. She looked from me to the chocolate and back to me. After a few moments, we just burst out laughing. It was a tough decision, but I ended up eating it. Had I not said that it looked gross sitting on my finger, she wouldn't have hesitated!

Look at my pinky. You'll see the chocolate chip. I was crying I was laughing so hard. :)

This is a small sampling of our breakfast at Nick's cafe. Yum! 

Every Thursday, we have a market in Sacile right outside our front door.

This is my cheese man I always buy cheese from. 

This market I bought a bouquet of flowers, lasagna, veggies, and cheese. Next week I'll try something new! This is one thing I will certainly miss when we have to go back to the States.

BASE:

Next we went to see Nicky on base and grab some delicious Greek food. We were able to see Nick take off and do an unrestricted climb. Picture a plane take off and then shoot directly up into the air. It was amazing, and so fun to think Nick's in the plane doing it!

This may not look fancy, but it is some of the best Greek food and it's right on base! The owner is from Israel, but she's lived all over the world.

BIRTHDAY!

For Nick's 28th birthday we were able to surprise him and our friend Liz Dowd. (They share the same bday) Our friend Sarah Zimmerman was able to throw it at her place. There was a lot of secret planning going on! It was so tricky since we had been traveling and we had guests, but we pulled it off!

Since Nick's twin, Emilie, was in the States for their bday, Liz filled in as twin since they share the same birthday.

Twinkies!!

GORGAZZO SPRINGS:

On one of our day trips, we took Susan and Aunt Diane to Sorgente Gorgazzo or the Gorgazzo source. It is the source for the Livenza River that runs through our town of Sacile.

Guido the goose hangs out there everyday. He's not super friendly, but he's fun to take pictures of.

After taking a nap, he did a big stretch with one leg stretched straight out behind him! I caught the very end of it.

Gorgazzo seems like a magical place. It has a river source that so far has not been determined how deep it actually is, and a special goose named Guido. I'd like to write a children's book about it one day.

PIANCAVALLO & PARAGLIDING:

When we went up to the mountain town of Piancavallo, Nick told us that we'd be coming back...to do a little paragliding. He told us how it was fun and easy, and that he'd already signed us up! 

When we returned for our paragliding a few days later, not only was Nick not going, he hadn't actually been paragliding before! "Easy," he told us. :) Susan and I were still in good spirits. 

Luckily, our friends Tom and Liz Dowd were going too! They've done enough jumps that they are certified to go by themselves. They have the equipment and everything!

This is another one of my favorite photos! It's a selfie of Susan!

Susan and I got strapped in, put our helmets on, and were given a 5 minute briefing on take-offs and landings. Susan was riding with an Australian named Neville, and I road with an Italian named Dora.

Aunt Diane was happy as can be grounded on her rock.

After running about 10 feet, we were airborne. They instructed us to tuck our knees to our chest and pull the extra fabric behind us under our bums, so we would have a chair. I couldn't get my knees to my chest or the fabric underneath me, so I dangled with my legs almost completely straight throughout the entire ride. I looked like a baby strapped into a Baby Bjorn on its parents chest! Haha!

That's Susan and Neville with the green kite!

Baby Bjorn!!

Tom and Liz

Tom flying above me...

It was a pretty quick 30 minute ride because we didn't have a lot of lift that day, but it was still fun! After my legs went numb because they were dangling so long, I wasn't able to land very well. I took two steps and my legs collapsed underneath me. Dora was able to stop quickly tho. :)

Group photo at the end! So much fun! 

I think it's safe to say that Susan crossed that off of her bucket list. I'd like to try it again one day, maybe even while we're still in Italy and possibly with Nick next time.

LAGO DI SANTA CROCE:

One of our last day trips we took was to Santa Croce Lake. It was about 10 degrees cooler there than in Sacile. It was a nice break from the heat. 

There were hundreds of kiteboarders and windsurfers on the lake. It was almost torture for Nick as we sat drinking coffee.

It was a jam-packed two weeks! We covered a lot of new places for all four of us! It was so much fun having us all together in Italy!