Ski Vacation at Monte Cervino AKA The Matterhorn

We skied at the Matterhorn! Last year we went to Bad Kleinkircheim, Austria, for our annual ski vacation with the Jones family. This year we were missing the Keuhnes, but we still had an epic adventure in the Italian Alps. And not just any Alp, but il Monte Cervino, better known as the Matterhorn!

We arrived on Wednesday afternoon after a five hour drive, too late to ski but with enough time to explore the town and take a picture of the partially obscured Matterhorn. The more famous facade is on the Swiss side, which we did not get the chance to see, unfortunately. The kids look unbelievably excited about this once-in-a-lifetime experience, par usual.

This is the main street in the little town at the foot of the mountain, called Breuil-Cervinia. Everything was very convenient and walkable from our apartment, including restaurants, shops, and the ski lifts.

We skied Thursday, but it was white-out conditions and freezing cold. Juliet did not have a good time and Ashley ended up taking her to child care for the afternoon. Isaac and Georgie did great despite the conditions. This is a family selfie inside the protective plastic shell of our lift chair.

In addition to the Jones we had the Slabaugh family, close friends of the Joneses and planners of the trip. They have four children, the eldest son serving a mission in Thailand, and their three girls still here in Italy: Megan in the pink coat, Mia in the green, and Elise in the purple. Samantha, Payton, and Isaac round out the group.

The big kids did a great job that first day, but they took a break on Friday. The conditions were even worse, with major white-out, winds, and sub-zero temps. Some of the adults skied, but most of the resort was closed and it was a huge disappointment, despite the multiple feet of fresh powder that fell.

We did have a fantastic snowball fight out in front of the apartment building, however. Multiple children cried due to ear shots, but no permanent damage.

Saturday, our final day, dawned clear and bright. And we finally got a clear shot of Monte Cervino. You can see our minivan and our apartment building in the foreground. We had three Honda Odysseys parked at that place (if that doesn't scream "AMERICANS!!!" I don't know what does). We had the 2nd & 3rd floors of the place, which was very reasonably priced but not comfortable AT ALL, especially when you jam 12 people into a two bedroom apartment.

The Joneses put Jacquelyn into day care again and bought the international ski passes so they could ski the Swiss side, but I wanted to ski with Juliet so badly that I only bought the beginner lift pass (a bargain at 17.50 euro) and skied over a dozen runs with my baby. Here she is with the Matterhorn in the background. 

She started the day with her edgie-wedgie holding the ski tips together, but after about 10 runs she was done with it and finished up the day without the "training wheels." She had a great attitude and kept asking to go back up again and "race."

We took a couple of breaks for lunch and hot chocolate, which they were giving out for free as part of a promotional deal. Here's Jubie enjoying her "Ciobar" at the base of the lift.

Meanwhile, Ashley was skiing around with the big kids. Isaac is doing very well with his parallel turns, while Georgie talks and sings to herself all the way down the mountain. They could ski everything on that mountain except the off-piste stuff.

At the top there were 360 degree views of beautiful mountains. Here are the kids with the Joneses and Slabaughs before they split up.

Isaac in his natural habitat. There was amazing powder pretty much all day because it was so cold despite the sun being out.

We finally got back together for a family picture and Ashley swapped me ski passes so I could get some lovely powder runs in. I specifically told the kids to open their eyes and put their hands down so we could have a good family picture in front of the Matterhorn. You can see how that turned out.

Isaac and I at the top of the highest lift closest to the Matterhorn. We are right on the Swiss border here. No, we did not pick out a red parka and orange pants for Isaac to wear. He has a matching parka that he left on the floor in the upstairs hallway of our home. All part of the growing pains as you try to figure out how much responsibility to give your children and how much you need to pick up the slack. Luckily, Angela had brought two parkas and Isaac borrowed one.

We skied the full day and then couldn't get out of the driveway because of all the snow. We ended up buying snow chains for 120 euro just to get out of the driveway. Then came the five hour drive home. Luckily we had all day Sunday to recover before going back to school/work. We agreed that although the scenery was amazing, we would be taking only short ski trips from now on, with all of the amazing ski areas we have within 2-3 hours of us.

I Presepi di Pofabbro

The good thing about Italy extending the Christmas season until mid-January is that you don't have to cram everything into December. Plus, I can insist on no more Christmas music after Christmas Day while still enjoying some of the trappings of the season.

One of the best of which are the nativity displays (presepi) in Pofabbro, a very small town of only a few hundred people northeast of here. We went in mid-December last year with the Crandalls but had arrived a day too early and the presepi were not lit up yet. We did however eat at a wonderful Osteria that we were looking forward to again. This year we went in early January with Ben (Charlotte and Luca were in the US). The presepi were all lit up, but the Osteria was closed.

Juliet standing in front of one of the larger displays. She was not being cooperative with Ben's efforts to capture a cool picture.

One of the coolest presepi ever: Jesus being born on a ski slope. We took this picture in honor of our ski-crazy friends and family. Wishing you were with us.

This was my favorite, a huge presepe made completely of pasta. I'm not sure that the actual stable had interior lighting.

This was the heavenly choir above the stable. I love the star, the grand piano, and the gong. 

This was one of the best moments of the night. After seeing over a hundred presepi, the kids spontaneously created their own scene while we sat drinking hot cider and taking a break. The Italian ladies selling the cider were laughing hysterically.

Yet another recreation, this time using scaffolding as the stable.

We had a great night, even though our Osteria was closed. We found another great restaurant close by and closed out the evening correctly. Such a great time with Ben while his family was away.

Christmas 2015

This was our first Christmas together in two years and our first without any extended family in a long time, maybe ever.

Juliet pulling down a sock from Ashley's crafty advent calendar. Every day comes with some type of fun activity or surprise. Way too much work for me to execute. An acquaintance in San Antonio was so taken with it that she wanted to copy it, exactly, with the same type of sock in the same position on the calendar. Weird.

In front of the tree on Christmas Eve, with Isaac looking fabulous. We went to the Jones' house for their annual Christmas Eve blowout feast and party. I had been to two of these events in the past, by myself, on two different continents, and they are always a blast.

Christmas morning the kids were fantastic. They slept in until 7:00 and then stayed in their rooms until I woke up at 8:00. Our friends' children were not so kind. Good things come to those who wait.

 Georgie was pretty stoked about getting a Taylor Swift piano book and an American Girl doll.

Isaac was excited about his magnetic chess set. He challenged me to a game and I trounced him. That's the way to earn Father of the Year, destroy your son in chess on Christmas Day. Hey, I guarantee that Bobby Fisher's dad never let him win, and look how he turned out. Oh, wait...

Isaac also got numerous LEGO sets, all of which were built by the end of the day.

Little did Georgie know that she was getting two American Girl dolls this year. One is a depression era girl and the other a 70s era girl.

That evening we had the Jones and Weatherwax families over for a low key soup dinner. We spent a lot of time with the Joneses this year, they were our substitute extended family this year. After our company left we got the chance to FaceTime with the entire Merback family minus Liz. I had been looking forward to it for a long time, but the reality was that with that many people and children it was somewhat anticlimactic. Better when you have significant time with one family in turn.

On Boxing Day, also known as Santo Stefano, the kids went ice skating with...who else? The Jones family. Isaac has the same talent as Mimi for having his eyes closed in pictures.

The Weatherwax girls joined in the fun as well. Georgie loves them and Samantha and constantly asks to have them over to play. Georgie has also transferred schools from the Italian school here in Sarone to the American school on base. She had been dealing with a bully at school for two and a half years and she was done. After a lot of talking and discussion, we finally decided to move her. She is in Samantha's class and loves it so far.

Overall it was a very calm, tranquil Christmas, which suited us just fine. I was on call and had to go in on both the 24th and 25th, but it wasn't a big deal. Next year we will be here again and will probably do the same thing.

Innsbruck Christkindlmarkt

It is Christmas Market time again in Europe, and we all know what that means: food! On Friday, 12 December, I got out of work early and we headed back to Bolzano to check out their holiday offerings. It was honestly pretty ordinary except for two booths, one with local cheeses melted onto sandwiches and potatoes, and another that Ashley stumbled upon with excellent Kaiserschmarren. This is, as you will recall, a Merback family favorite, which we have eaten in Vienna, Bad Kleinkircheim, Nassfeld, Dortmund, Val di Gardena, and our home (made by Bianca and Matthias).

Look at the joy on everyone's face. We ordered three plates of the stuff and practically inhaled it.

I love this picture because of Isaac and Georgie's expressions. Isaac is furious that Georgie got a bite before he did and Georgie is in rapture over the goodness of Kaiserschmarren.

We drove into Austria that evening and found our Agriturismo in the mountains just south of Innsbruck. We were meeting the Jones family there but they didn't arrive until after we had all gone to sleep.

This was our view from the house. Innsbruck lies at the foot of the mountains in the distance. There were ski runs on the mountain directly above the farm where we stayed. After destroying the breakfast area with our seven children, we went for a hike along the valley with the Joneses. While walking I asked Tann what has been the biggest challenge of being Bishop of the American ward here. He replied, "Trying to get the Merbacks to come back to church!" After the hike we caught a train which took us directly to the Innsbruck Christmas market.

There was Kaiserschmarren again, but we elected to go with spaeztle, kiachl with sauerkraut, pumpkin soup, and little Austrian flatbread pizzas for lunch.

Even Jacquelyn was enjoying the offerings. Tann and Angela had been to Ljubljana the weekend before and Payton had asked them, "Why do you guys like Christmas markets? I hate them!" I think that this day in Innsbruck changed Payton's mind.

Someone had commented to us how they thought the Salzburg market was more picturesque than Innsbruck. I like Salzburg and all, but come on. Those mountains are amazing.

We had bought furry animal hats for our kids in Villach last year, and the Joneses followed suit this year so everyone had one, even Jacquelyn (a mouse, not pictured). Payton and Landon are reindeer, Isaac is a cinghiale (wild boar), Georgie is a husky dog, Juliet is a cat, and Samantha is a polar bear (my personal favorite). We got more than a few stares walking through the market like this.

Juliet is the only one that got a pony ride, although it wasn't really for kids older than about five. She isn't spoiled at all.

This is the epicenter of Innsbruck, the Goldenes Dachl. It was built in 1500 to honor the marriage of Emperor Maximilian. Salzburg ain't got nothin' on Innsbruck!

Isaac and Payton doing battle in front of the Goldenes Dachl. They bought these swords at the market and fought duels for the remainder of the day.

The highlight of the day was ice skating at a rink just off the main market thoroughfare. Georgie and Isaac did really well, despite having ice skated once/never before. Jubie used a training device that was ingenious. I don't know why I've never seen one before.

That evening we ate some fantastic raclette, waffles, and more spaeztle. We had an adventure trying to find the right train back to our podunk little town. I finally found it and then Tann had difficulties buying the tickets from the conductor. At one point everyone else in the train had gotten off and he opened the door to his cockpit (or whatever it is called) and yelled at us in German. I assumed he was asking which stop we were going to so I answered "Kreith". To which he shook his head in disgust, closed the door, and drove on.

After destroying the breakfast area once again, we loaded up the cars and headed back home. I hope that wasn't our last trip to Austria ever, but you never know.

A traditional Friulano meal

Some experiences cannot be bought.

We have known Daniela and Giovanni for over two years now. We have had them over to our house several times for various things: Halloween, dinner parties, birthday parties, gingerbread house construction at Christmastime, etc. Not that you invite people over expecting a return invitation, but we had often discussed how much we would like to have a traditional Italian meal with them and Daniella's parents, who also live in town. Well, we have been repaid and more. On Friday, 5 Dec, we went to dinner with Greg and Megan at the home of Cesco and Redenta, Daniella's parents. It was a TEN COURSE meal, and not just an Italian meal, but a meal with foods specifically from this region of Italy, Friuli.

We arrived at about 7:30 and met two of Cesco's cousins and their wives, one of whom spoke English but all of whom were very patient with us as we communicated in Italian. The first course was an egg and vegetable fritatta served with a specialty drink made from Prosecco, lemon, mint, and the Sciroppo di Sambuco (elderflower syrup) that Daniela makes and sells every year to raise money for her Down Syndrome charity work.

The second course was grissini (breadsticks) with prosciutto di San Daniele and salame (salami is plural).

The kids devoured the prosciutto and salame. They are like my brothers and I were when we would go over to friends' houses who had Nintendo systems. They don't eat meat at home, so they go crazy when they visit someone who does. Tomaso and Emma are on the left side of the picture.

The third course was gnocchi di zucca al pomodoro, dumplings made from potatoes and pumpkin served with a tomato sauce. Of course it came with freshly grated Parmiggiano cheese.

The fourth course was pasta e fagioli, a soup made with spaghetti and beans. They brought out a cabbage salad with a vinaigrette dressing that you put on top of the soup and eat all together.

The fifth course was polenta e musetto, corn cakes topped with turkey sausage and locally made horseradish. The horseradish is spicy, but not overwhelmingly so. At carnevale in Feb 2013, Daniella got me some musetto from a booth and all of the people at the booth watched me for my reaction. It was not even close to spicy hot Cheetos.

Here I am with the musetto. I don't know why I am making that face. To my right is Mario, Cesco's cousin who speaks English very well. You can see Cesco on the far left and Redenta to the right.

The sixth course was ossa di maiale. Friuli was traditionally a poor region of Italy (not anymore), and the people could not afford to eat pork. So they would buy the vertebrae of the pigs after the butcher had taken off most of the meat, and they would boil them and eat the scraps of meat that were left. It was delicious. Steve Edstrom would have loved this.

Here are Greg and Giovanni talking about Greg's deployment to Niger. Giovanni is great. His English is about like Ashley's Italian, but he has no fear of speaking. Wish it were the same for me.

The seventh course was frico, the famous local dish made from Montasio cheese and potatoes. It is amazing.

Giovanni had to carefully portion this one out because everyone wanted some. It was gone in about five minutes. In between every course they would go into the kitchen and do the dishes from the previous course before they brought out the next one. Genius. And it stretches out the meal, allowing more time to talk and digest so you can eat more!

The eighth course was clementine oranges, which admittedly come from southern Italy.  Many times this would be the final course, the dessert. But not today. Redenta had been cooking for two straight days and there was more to come.

The ninth course was four different dessert dishes. Cookies with jam, a chocolate cake, a local fruit cake made with corn meal, and apple strudel. Of course I had some of all of them, with seconds on the chocolate cake.

The tenth and final course was scorpino, the drink made with ice and lemons, sort of like a cross between a shake and a slurpee. It is the palate cleanser that is used to finish the meal. 

The only course that was missing was the espresso at the end, but we had been there for FIVE HOURS at that time and it was time to go home and go to bed, not time to have coffee. Georgie and Juliet had crashed out on the couch, but Isaac was still awake and acting delirious along with Tomaso.

One of the funniest things that happened that night came about because of Daniela's love of horror movies. She had heard the urban legend that if you stand in front of a mirror at midnight and say "Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary!" that Bloody Mary will appear in the mirror. At midnight we all encouraged her to go into the bathroom and do it. Ashley went with her for moral support. Naturally, I hid behind the wall leading to the bathroom. When they came out giggling and giddy I made a moaning sound and came at them with zombie arms. Daniela lost it and screamed so loud that she woke up Georgie and Jubie. It was hilarious.

The four of us, Ashley, Megan, Greg, and I, kept looking at each other the entire night and asking, "Can you believe this? Did you ever think you would get to have this experience?" The food, the company, the bilingual conversation, and just the overall atmosphere of the evening were phenomenal. This is what I had dreamed of when we moved here, and it really was a dream come true. Grazie mille Redenta, Cesco, Daniela, e Giovanni!

Thanksgiving 2014 - Tuscan Do It Part 3: A Tuscan Miracle!

Thanksgiving is officially my favorite holiday. Four days off of work, amazing food, great company, and Tuscany! This year had been labeled "Suckfest 2014" by our official Famici vacation planner, Megan. Greg was scheduled to return from Niger on December 1, literally the day after we would be returning from Tuscany. In addition, this year we would be missing the Edstroms, since they bolted for SoCal. Megan still went to the effort of finding an amazing house, this time with a hot tub (!), and in addition to the Crandalls we invited the Stuarts and the McDowells to joint in the festitivities.

On Tuesday night, as I was packing my suitcase, I got a text from Megan that said, "I wanted to surprise you but I heard that you already know." I replied, "Know what?" before it hit me. I replied again, "If you are telling me that Greg will be at Thanksgiving then I am going to soil myself!" She wrote back, "Well then, get ready to change your shorts." Greg flew in on Wednesday morning after traveling all night on Tuesday and we reunited at the vacation house on Wednesday evening. It was a Tuscan Famici Thanksgiving miracle!

The house was just northeast of Lucca, which is a beautiful walled city between Florence and Pisa. Ashley's friend Caroline came down from Berlin, where she has been living for the past several months, and made the drive down with us in the Odyssey.

Here are Ashley and Caroline in the dining room, the main hang out area.

And here am I with Beth Stuart and Gina McDowell. Beth's husband Jeff is a big shot in Security Forces and they have three kids close in age to ours: Jack, Morgan, and Connor. Jeff raised the turkey, whose name was Tasty, in their backyard for several months and then slaughtered it the weekend before. Gina is an RN and Tim her husband is a pharmacist at the hospital. Their 13 year old daughter, Trinity, is one of the nicest, most pleasant teenagers you have ever met. They brought their German Shepherd, Ava, who was great company for Yorba and Verna all weekend.

Wednesday night we fully enjoyed the hot tub as we waited for everyone to arrive. We did polar bear runs between the pool and the hot tub, going from 104 degrees to about 50 degrees and then back to 104. Gina and Tim got lost and didn't arrive until almost midnight. They earned the nickname "the Griswolds" after this weekend.

On Thursday morning Ashley and I went for a run through the local villages before the cooking started in earnest. There was only one oven, so Jeff and I built a fire in the pizza oven and tried to cook the turkey that way. Major fail. Dinner was late but still fantastic. We ate outside with the lights of Lucca and the surrounding area as our view. We played "Cards Against Humanity" and one round of the envelope game to close out the night.

The next morning I woke up looking like this. I was reading stories on the iPad to Juliet, the early riser, and Georgie and Isaac joined us.

We wanted to go to a natural hot springs that day, but were unsuccessful in our search. Instead, we went into Lucca and explored, eating and shopping and walking around.

This is the church in the central square of the city. They also have an oval-shaped piazza called Piazza Anfiteatro. It was built on the site of the old Roman amphitheater (coliseum) and is very picturesque.

Dinner in Lucca. There is Greg! Around the table left to right are Caroline, Ashley, Jeff, Beth, Ben, Charlotte, Megan, Greg, Gina, and Tim. You will notice that I am not there. And neither are any children. This was my Thanksgiving present to everyone. 

Here are the kids in the hot tub. I took all of the kids home early and let them play in the hot tub as long as they wanted. Then I fed them and got them all bathed, teeth brushed, in bed, and asleep before the adults got home. My rewards were two epic rounds of the envelope game. Someone asked, "Why did Joey volunteer to take the kids home early?", to which my response was, "I didn't want everyone to see how mean I am to my kids in Italian restaurants."

On Saturday, Ashley took Caroline to Florence, so I was on babysitting duty again. We did a lot more hot tubbing and had pizza with Megan and Greg.

My other reward was playing petanque all three days that we were there. We had some epic, wide ranging matches, with clothespin baskets being knocked down, fence posts being knocked over, playhouse roofs being damaged, pool tiles being chipped, and targets being marked with flashlights and "Release" being the signal for the flashlight holder to make a hasty retreat. Tim and I defeated Greg and Ben four matches to three, with each match being a ten point contest. We play by our own rules with four balls per team per round and a point for each closest ball, so there can be huge swings in the scoring from one round to another. This is my new old man game. I need to introduce it to Merback family vacations.

Sunday morning we slowly packed and cleaned and headed back to reality. The Stuarts had to leave on Saturday morning, so they aren't in the picture. Left to right are Gina, Tim, Trinity, Caroline, Ashley, Isaac, Me, Juliet, Georgie, Greg, Megan, Ben, Luca, and Charlotte. This year felt different than the past two years, mainly because the Edstroms were missing and we didn't have that home-cooked Italian meal like last year, but it was still a fantastic weekend. The best part of all was having "Keg" with us again and picking right up where we left off with envelope games, petanque, inside jokes, and hot tubbing. This was probably our last Tuscan Thanksgiving, but you never know. Tuscan Do It 2015?

Halloween & Practice Thanksgiving

Ever since last year's epic Halloween party we had been planning the sequel. I spent an entire Saturday gathering wood for the massive bonfire I planned. I timed the mowing of our enormous yard to ensure that the grass wouldn't be too long, which is hard to do when it rains constantly. We ended up ruining the blade belt of our mower due to the wet grass with over half of the yard left, which had me in a panic. I borrowed the Crandall's mower, without waiting to hear back from them if that was okay, and wrecked their engine also. Ashley had to borrow the Jones' mower to finish most of the job, which was just enough for the party.

Isaac was Calvin & Hobbes, Georgie was Queen Raven from some TV show, and Juliet was a purple Minion from Despicable Me 2. Ashley made Juliet's costume, which was awesome, but which she wore for about 2 seconds because she couldn't see or move around very well.

Although here she seems to be able to see the TV just fine.

Ashley was quite smashing as Mary Poppins.

The Italian kids starting showing up early, and some of our American friends with cars for the trunk or treat showed up late, but no one was run over and we were able to start the trunk or treating at a reasonable time. The kids did four or five laps around the ring of cars and collected mountains of candy, which I have confiscated from our kids and am slowly working my way through. Hypocrisy is delicious. They'll get the sweet candy back eventually, once I am done with the chocolate.

Here are Isaac with two Italian friends in "Scream" masks, Georgie with her friends Lana and Destiny, and Juliet with her friends Kala, Mary, and Katie.

Jubie with Mary and Kala. Mary was Jubie's best friend at Asilo (preschool) last year.

The bonfire was a smashing success, with a flame about 20 feet tall at its peak. The only disappointment was that this was the second straight successful bonfire that Greg had missed while deployed to Niger. And no pictures! Arggh! But I got compliments on the structure and spacing of the wood from our fighter pilot friend Doug, who has an engineering degree.

Here is Juliet with Katie and Kala. They all go to the same Asilo, Katie in the same class and Kala in the class just below Jubie.

One of the girls from Isaac's class.

Ashley with Mattia's mother, a boy from Georgie's class.

The after party chili dinner was more of a monocultural affair this year, as it was a reward for the Americans for bringing their cars and candy. Still, we had a fantastic time and had several new friends over for the first time. That night and the next morning we did some serious cleaning and cooking because the next day was...Practice Thanksgiving!

Every year we have been here we have gone to Tuscany with the Edstroms and the Trifilos for Thanksgiving. Last year we added the Crandalls, the four families forming the core of the "Famici" group. This year, Kate and Steve were moving to Vandenburg AFB in southern CA on 15 Nov, so we had to have Thanksgiving early before they left. Everyone (except Megan - party pooper) had also been to the Halloween party the night before, so it was a Famici kind of weekend.

Steve and I have become twins. At two separate dinner parties in the past few months we have both worn: plaid collared shirts from H&M, dark blue jeans, and Camper shoes. It must be because Kate and Ashley are dressing us at this point in our lives.

The main table is on the left with the kids' table on the right. Kate and Steve made a fantastic turkey, even though it wasn't sous-vied because their equipment had already been shipped to CA. Ashley made Grandma Jeanette's famous rolls, which disappeared rapidly.

Afterward we played the envelope game until late in the evening and even managed to get Greg involved in the game from Niger via text messages. And then we finally had the slumber party that we had been planning since we met these friends. Ben & Charlotte stayed in one bedroom in the apartment with Luca and Kate & Steve stayed in the other with Brennan, while Megan slept in the TV room downstairs with Yorba and Verna. Greg slept in a tent in the desert.

The next morning we had breakfast and some of the most serious conversation that we have ever had as Famici. Everyone gradually made their way home and Ashley was finally able to flop down on her bed and rest after a truly epic weekend.