A taste of home at Casa DeAngeles

From April 2 to April 7 we stayed at Trudy and Gianfrancco DeAngeles' in Aviano, Italy. (Trudy is originally an Adair from Monticello.)

It was wonderful. A friendly face (or two). Someone who could handle communication issues and translating. Being in a HOME, not a hotel. And feeling completely welcome. We really, really appreciate Trudy and Gianfrancco letting us stay in their home.

It was a pretty relaxed week. We helped do some final cleaning on a house they're renting, ate out at a few of their favorite restaurants and toured the airforce base where Trudy works.

One of my favorite things was going to the high school where Trudy teaches. Their school is so cool. They have murals and quotes painted on all the walls. There are huge white boards outside the classrooms displaying student work. We met a few of the teachers, and I got to talk to the teacher who teaches Graphic Design. It was really fun to talk to him. I felt like a professional actually knowing what they were talking about ;).

They have so much opportunity at their school. For example, they can test and qualify to be certified in Adobe Photoshop (ACE). It's the same certification I've been wanting to do for the last few years. If you can put that on your resume, you are pretty well set for finding work. And they can do this in high school! He said they average about one student per year who certifies.

We stopped for a look at Gianfrancco's dream car...and then found mine. Yeah right! Can you imagine getting in and out of that thing, let alone driving it!? It was so tiny. I mean, look at how much space it takes up in the parking spot.

Trudy took us shopping in an open air market full of fresh fruits and vegetables, flowers, and good deals. She also introduced us to the best pastry shop in Aviano, which happens to be about a block from their home.

Gianfrancco taught us a bit of Italian and sang for us..."When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie..."

We went to Conference at the church in Pordenone. For the Saturday Morning Session, we went to the church at 6 pm. We saw Saturday Afternoon at 2 pm on Sunday, Sunday morning at 6 pm Sunday night...and I missed Sunday afternoon. 10 pm to midnight is kind-of late.

All in all, it was a very relaxed week. It was nice to get out of the tourist mode for a while and just be there.