I started writing this blog and was going to say "a few days ago we went to....." then as I started adding pictures I realized it was A MONTH AGO! Time is just flying and it doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. So... a month ago, Dave took a day off and we headed up to the mountains about 2 hours from our house to Asiago, Italy. Before we got to the mountains Quinn had to use the bathroom as we were driving. In Italy there are not many rest stops along the way or random fast food places you can stop to use the bathroom but there are a lot of little pull offs on the side of the road. We often see people pulled off onto these little areas and using the bathroom which we have found weird in the past. However, Quinn "HAD TO GO RIGHT NOW" so Dave pulled into a little pull off area and Quinn and I jumped out and ran into a field and she went to the bathroom. We felt like true Italians, letting our kid use the bathroom on the side of the highway! Also while she was peeing in the grass, I realized she was wearing a pair of Leo's pajama shorts, I was laughing so hard! But when you have 4 kids you let the older 3 dress themselves and to her credit, they were plain blue shorts and they matched her shirt!
Yes, Asiago, as in the cheese! It is the town where the cheese is from and I had to go while we lived here. We learned that true Asiago cheese is made in that town and the milk for the cheese only comes from cows that roam within 6 kilometers of the town. The color of the cheese will also change colors throughout the year because of the type of grass the cows eat. How cool is that? I love how fresh and local the food in Italy is, it is really amazing.
The drive was really beautiful and also a little terrifying. There were so many switchbacks getting up to Asiago and Italian drivers can be a little crazy. Our first stop once we arrived was a gnome village for the kids. It was so cute and the kids loved it. They have recently discovered Gnome and Juliet, the movie with gnomes in it, so they were happy little campers.
Finley was not intersted in getting her picture. And as per usual Jarnot traveling fashion, we ended up hiking to this gnome village through the forest. I wore sandals because in my mind it was a cute little park area and sandals and a maxi skirt would be fine..... ugh!
Finley wanted her pictures on this stair thing. After the picture was taken, she fell down the other side of the stairs onto her head really hard. Poor thing!
Quinn and Leo were running round with the other Italian kids and getting candy and pictures out of the gnome houses. There is actually a guy that sits in a booth somewhere and talks to the kids through these houses. The kids were so excited because he spoke Italian and English.
Finley may or may not have had a concussion during this part of the adventure.
After the gnome village we played on the playground. Dave and the kids always play on these swings and it terrifies me. I love Quinn's face in the picture of her and Leo, pure terror!
After the gnome village we headed to a shop where they sell cheese, milk and yogurt to taste some Asiago cheese. We were able to tase a lot of different cheeses and purchase some to enjoy at home. It was very neat to taste the difference between the young cheese, which was very soft, and the aged Asiago, which was much harder. Our kids really enjoy cheese and it is fun to share these experiences with them. I mean, we ate Asiago cheese in Asiago, Italy! I get to check that one off of my bucket list!!!
After cheese tasting we headed to dinner at a restaurant just up the hill from the store that the worker recommended. It did not disappoint. Just like many European restaurants it had an amazing play area for the kids so Dave and I could sit and enjoy dinner.
The views were incredible and the weather was perfect. I am finding that we enjoy the mountains so much.
The food was incredible. We had fried gnocchi with prosciutto and some cheese sauce and it is one of my favorite things I have eaten since living in Europe. I really want to drive back there just to eat that plate of food!
After a great dinner we headed into the town center of Asiago with some whiney kids to grab gelato. There was a group of teenagers driving around pimped out Apes, it was hilarious. Finley wants Dave to buy her an Ape (they are little tiny truck like things they have here in Italy) so bad!
The gelato was delicious. I got bagigio, which is a very regional word for peanut butter in our area of Italy. It was labeled as "American Halznut" which we thought was a hilarious but accurate description for peanut butter since some Italians might not know what it is. The weather had dropped significantly once it got dark since we were up in the mountains and you might not be able to tell from the picture and the clothes we were wearing but we were FREEZING!
As we were driving home from Asiago Quinn was talking about how much fun she had. Earlier in the day she was complaining that she didn't want to go on "another trip." We were giving her a hard time about how she didn't want to go and she said "I thought we were going to walk around a boring city!" Dave and I were laughing so hard, so we in fact did not walk around "a boring city" but had a great time exploring in the mountains. If you ever have the chance to go to Asiago, go, it was so cute and a great experience!
Cheese is good, life is good!
