no time in Geneva...I'm in Paris now

Bonjour de Paris---J'espère que tout le monde est bien et je serai à la maison dans 3 jours ! !

Ok, so I have a few more moments to catch everyone up...I believe I left off with Torino. After walking around we went to the apartment of our families son and his wife for a new years meal of fish and pasta, followed with panatone and limoncella...
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Limoncello is a lemon liqueur produced in the south of Italy, mainly in the region around the Gulf of Naples and the coast of Amalfi and Islands of Ischia and Capri , but also in Sicily and on Sardinia. It is made from lemon rinds, alcohol, water, and sugar.
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Afterwards we went to the main town square for the countdown...or lack there of...we all watched a clock with no seconds on it...then at midnight everyone popped bottles and toasted. The only downside was all of the fireworks in the street...there were rowdy and drunk teenagers everywhere throwing fireworks into crowds of people...and I'm not talking sparklers...these were blackcats and m80s....it became very dangerous, and people were getting injured.
BUT, other than that we had a great time with the everyone. It was really nice to spend new years with people our age.
The next day we slept in and had brunch with the family and grandpa...he was an interesting guy, he was a teacher of mucis and latin. while we ate we watched the live new years classical music perforances in Venice and Vienna.

Well...this may be my last blog from Europe. I will be home at 4 pm central time on Jan 10th!!! I had a blast and plan on summerizing this crazy experience when I get home. Ciao from Paris. Hello USA

Torino, Italia

Hello again from Milano, we are writing fast to catch everyone up. I will go back and add pictures to my posts when I get home and of course will send out new photo albums from the WHOLE trip!!

Torino.

We came in from Vienna through the mountains, past Venice, through Milan and to Turin where our family picked us up at the train station. We arrived to the house, met the fam and they welcomed us with a great but simple Italian meal: pasta first, meat and potatoes with wine second, and fruit and pandoro for dessert!! (this was Kendra's first pandoro experience!! que pena)
The next day we walked around the town and witnessed much preparation for the 2006 Olympics which start in Feb. Kendra also bought some funky fluffy leg warmers which is the major trend for the ladies!!! watch out USA.... 80s flashback.

OK, I'm sorry...BUT I have 2 minutes and 38 seconds before the computer shuts down on us...I will continue from Geneva!! I hope all are well!

Joe!

Vienna, Austria

Hello from Milan!!! We are having a good time, of course. Just finished booking a hotel in Geneva...due to not finding a family :( So let's backtrack a little bit. Vienna was awesome...such a beautiful city and our host put us up in her downtown apartment, well I should say it was her husbands old bachelor pad, and it showed....looked a little dated with lots of booze, cigs, and old blue eyes in the CD player. The first day was cold and snowy but the next day we walked all over and at night our host, Christina, was fantastic! She brought us to a "Heurigen", which is an Austrian wine bar.

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What actually is a Heurigen? The word Heurigen translates into both new wine (heuer meaning "this year"), and the establishment in which it is served. By definition, a Heurigen is always attached to a vineyard which produces the very wine that is served to customers. The word Heurigen, to many, conjures up a small one-story house at the edge of a vineyard, with a green bough on a stick over its entrance announcing the presence of new wine; in the courtyards and also indoors, one finds benches and wooden tables, whose rough surfaces are laden with heavy glasses filled with dry refreshing white wine.
A typical visit to a Heurigen goes something like this: it is late afternoon on a summer's day; evening is approaching, but it is still light out; you and your party find agreeable benches and a table, and are served white wine and mineral water, both in carafes, by a waitress (frequently wearing a country dress, like a Dirndl). Anyone serving as a "designated driver" can opt for a delicious "Kracherl," a sweet carbonated fruit-flavored beverage. Neither beer nor coffee is ever served at a Heurigen - if that is what you desire, you are in the wrong place! With your first few rounds of wine, you might begin the evening's consumption of food with some bread and butter or, more customarily, some pretzel-sticks (Soletti) and savory Liptauer cheese-spread. Later, as your appetite grows, you make a trip to the compact but wide-ranging buffet, with many varieties of meats, salads, vegetables, and other delights. The flow of white wine ceases around midnight, at which point you catch the last streetcar or hail a taxi, which returns you to your permanent or temporary abode...

to read more about Heurigens click here

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They have no signs but you can find a Heurigen when you see a green bush hanging over the door. We had great food, bludwurst, shnitzel....and of course great wine. Afterwords she took us to Cafe Central, one of the most historic cafes in Vienna where many literary writers would hang out and sometimes live...writing all day and sipping cafe.

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Café Central is a coffeehouse in Vienna. It is located in the Innere Stadt district at Herrengasse 14 in the former Bank and Stockmarket Building (Bank- und Börsengebäude), today called the Palais Ferstel after its architect Heinrich von Ferstel.
The café was opened in 1860, and in the late nineteenth century it became a key meeting place of the Viennese intellectual scene. Key regulars included Peter Altenberg, Egon Friedell, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Anton Kuh, Adolf Loos, Leo Perutz, and Alfred Polgar. Until 1938 the café was called the "Chess school" (Die Schachhochschule) because of the presence of many chess players.
A well-known story states that an Austrian politician, asked about the possibility of a revolution in Russia, remarked sarcastically: "Who is going to make a revolution? Perhaps that Trotsky from the Café Central?"
The café closed at the end of World War II. In 1975, the Palais Ferstel was renovated and the Central was newly opened, however in a different part of the building. In 1986, it was fully renovated once again.
Today it is both a tourist spot and a popular café marked by its place in literary history.
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above is from Wikipedia

Needless to say, we ended our trip in Vienna with a bang and a taste in our mouths that will lead us back someday.

Next post will be Torino!!!