Springtime in Italy is truly beautiful. After arriving in the dark drab winter, seeing the miles and miles of dormant grapevines, it is absolutely beautiful to see them coming alive with the season. There are fruit trees, magnolia, lilacs, and forsythia blooming everywhere. the contrast of the very old buildings and the new spring buds is really a feast for the eyes. I am attaching pictures from our neighborhood in Aviano, but I need to take more pictures. Today we were going to watch the opening of Softball for the kids in the wards (yes they bused kids up from Vicenza), but after the first game they delayed the rest of the day until a huge thundercloud with lightning passed. It chose to stay put and make lots of noise. Because the base has their own weather department, for the fighter jets, they kept announcing over loud speakers "Players stay in your dugouts", "Everyone off the bleachers", "Games delayed until the storm passes" As cute as the teams were, I was happy to not have to sit there with some antsy kids in a dugout.
We fed both sets of Elders this week, and although the meals were very different, would you believe that Rootbeer is the biggest hit? So of course we sent them all home with bags of their own. We even had a timid request from the Zone Leader for some Rootbeer! I would never have thought that would be the something to miss. The other common comment was that they were so happy to see the whole meal spread out in front of them. The Italians serve every meal in courses. The first is Primo, or some vegetables in sauce or grilled, Secondo follows with Pasta dishes, followed by protein, meat or cheese. Yes, bread comes with each, and the EVOO and balsamic are wonderful. They often toss the fresh sliced bread in the HOT pizza oven, then sprinkle with oil and sea salt. The Elders aren't sure how to pace themselves. When you order pizza, it is usually about an American medium size, 14-16", and is eaten with a fork, everyone gets their own. When we split one, we are very full. It does spoil you for pizza in the future, it is very simple, very light, lots of veggies and some meat. Haven't tried one of the "American" pizza's, topped with tomatoes, fries, and eggs! Now gelato is another habit forming tradition here. If you've been here, you remember that everyone seems to get gelato daily, hang around one of the shops and eat it. We were told Italians don't walk and eat, but they do stand and eat! Yes the gelato is amazing, Elder Martin's favorite is Limone Mediteriani. Don't think we are eating our way through this mission, just thought you'd be interested.
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