Italy: Day Trip to Isola Bella

 Wine, Pizza, and a Kiss

 Daniel and Robin taking in the view

 Beautiful Lake Town

 Gardens at Isola Bella

 Close up of the white peacocks

 Gardens

 Beautiful views

On our way from Il Bricco to Antico Borgo Sanda, we stopped at an island called Isola Bella located in the middle of lake Maggiore.  We wanted to go to see the white peacocks that stay in the gardens on the Island but had no idea how beautiful the area was.  The lack was crystal blue and everything looked like an amazing post card.  You really couldn't take a bad picture and the pictures don't even really shoe just how beautiful it was in person.  We would love to go back and spend a week just at the lake!

Italy: Second B&B Antico Borgo Sanda

 Antico Borgo's garden view

 Our Room

 The front entrance

 Swiss Alps

 a kiss in the garden

 The four of us relaxing in the back garden

 Olive's, yummm!

Our lovely snacks

We spent our last two nights at a little two room place called Antico Borgo Sanda.  Tucked into the foothills of the Swiss Alps, it was the perfect location to relax but also be close to some of the major sites.  Our host and hostess were wonderful and really welcomed us as if we were family.  This place was a hidden gem!

Italy: Final Stop Milan

 View from the top of the Duomo

 Great Picture that Daniel took

 Inside the Galleria

 Milan from the roof of the Duomo

Daniel and Robin enjoying the views

We spent our last day in Italy visiting some of the most famous sites in Milan.  It was amazing to be able to walk on the roof of the Duomo and see the entire city.  To be able to get so close to the architecture was a once and a life time experience.  

5 Year Wedding Anniversary!

Daniel and Robin on our way to dinner at B&O

Five years ago on April 21st we stood in front of our family and friends to commit our lives to each other.  It has been an amazing five years...we can't wait to see what the next five have in store for us.  Together we can do anything and our love only grows with each day that passes!

Wine Tasting in VA

Riding from one spot to the next
Daniel walking the vines

Lunch

Daniel, Dad, and Gail....Tasting

Our first stop, what a beautiful tasting room!

We spent our Saturday with the rents tasting some of what Virgina has to offer in the way of wine. Boy were we blown away! The views were wonderful and the wine was even better. We will have to go back again soon.

Vineyards we visited:

Delaplane Cellars http://www.delaplanecellars.com/

Three Fox http://www.threefoxvineyards.com/

Getting a head start on the Garden

Spring Blooms
Our pretty pink tree in the front yard

Veggie Garden

The fat squirrel that eats all the bird seed...but we like him anyway

We have gotten a good start on our gardening again this year. We hope to have mild weather and good crops! It's been a crazy weather year so far, we just hope to keep the extreme heat away. Wish us luck!

Pasta Making with the Italy Crew

Starting the pasta making lesson
Our pasta is resting

Sandy starting to stretch her dough

Gary cutting his dough

Look at all that beautiful pasta...homemade with love

The final result

Good times!

Wow how time flies...it's been a while since we've had a post. We're gearing up for our trip to Italy, so we had a little pasta night to talk about some of the details. Unfortunately Daniel was playing photographer so we didn't get him in any of the pictures, but he was there too :)