Mishthefish: August 2012

Friday, August 31, 2012

Wedding time! Destination: Berkley, San Francisco

It's always fun to get the family together for events, but even better when it's for a wedding. This was a destination wedding in Berkley, California (everyone stayed in a town close by called Walnut Creek. My aunt Jenny was getting married to Scott. The whole family (some all the way from México) went a couple days earlier to be together and enjoy the bay area. We took advantage and went one full day to Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley on a google bus (thanks to my brother David and mama who planned the amazing trip) to visit several wineries. After having bagels and coffee on the bus for breakfast, our first stop was Mumm Winery, then we headed to the Robert Mondavi Winery, where we took a tour and enjoyed two glasses of wine. After, we went to Sonoma to have lunch. Then we went to Artesa Winery and Domain Carneros Winery before heading back for a Mexican dinner with friends and family of the bride and groom to celebrate the wedding the next day.

The wedding was outdoors in the natural environment- it looked like it was out of a movie. There were big trees everywhere with the sun shining through onto the bride and groom. It was a very pretty scenery. After the ceremony, the real fun began! We danced all night long the dance floor and had a good time celebrating.

On the way to Napa!

Mumm Winery

Robert Mondavi Winery

Outside Artesa Winery

Domain Carneros Winery

The Wedding Ceremony

Fam bam

For Labor Day I'm heading to San Diego to visit someone I haven't seen in way too long-- my bestie Allison! Can't wait to see her :) Enjoy labor day weekend everyone!

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Camping in the Costa Brava

I didn't think I could be more impressed by la Costa Brava until I went camping in Tossa del Mar. Cala Llevadó Camping is about 1 hour and 30 minutes from Barcelona, right on the pretty beaches of Costa Brava. The camping ground was the biggest I have seen with four calas (beaches), a restaurant and a bar, a swimming pool, a supermarket, etc. There were also so many tourists from all around the world who we got to meet. It is one of my favorite memories from Spain.

Our days went something like this:

Wake up- pick up croissants and tea for breakfast- pack lunch for the the beaches- Enjoy the warm blue & turquoise water and being in the sun all day (which we did everyday)- come back and shower- eat some snacks- cook dinner (some nights it included of pesto pasta and Italian wine (our appetites were still in Italy))- head to the beach to watch the stars and relax- head back to our tent for bedtime. I love the feeling of camping, you don't need anything but what the camping ground offers you- in this case the beach, delicious food, and good company were more than perfect.

Everyone should go to this camping ground if you are ever in Spain!! It was incredible. Here are pictures..enjoy!

Chianti, Italy

As most of you know, I am a huge huge fan of Italy and not just because of the amazing food and wine, but also because of the gorgeous views and friendly Italian culture. I love it all. So it was fairly easy for me to decide to go once again to Italy. I visited a new city- Chianti- which is one of the most beautiful places I have been to, hands down. It resides in Tuscany, so during the summer it is very green with the famous cypress trees, grape trees, and olive trees. So almost everywhere you look there are gorgeous vineyards.

Summary of my paradise vacation in Chianti:
I arrived in Pisa airport and Rocco picked me up to head to our highly recommended hostel (thanks Gena &Dana) in San Baranto. We arrived at our "hostel" which was on the top of the mountain overlooking the hills of Chianti (including Vinci and Lamprecchio). This was no typical hostel you think of- we had our own two story apartment with a kitchen and fireplace, there was a big swimming pool overlooking the picturesque Chianti, and the owner (Guido) made us feel like we were part of the family. It was more like staying at a private villa in beautiful Tuscany. They also prepared an authentic Italian 3-course meal with wine from a local vineyard every night if you wanted to have dinner (just keeps getting better). We definitely took advantage of this and ate here two nights as well as soaking up the sun by the pool everyday.
Guido took us to a private wine tour at Casa di Luggiano which was incredible- the wine, yummy snacks (bruschetta, bread with their grown olive oil, and cheese), vineyard, new friends, and sunset made for a perfect evening. We drove the next day to Lamprecchio and Vinci which were the closest towns to us and visited the Leonardo di Vinci museum and house where Leonardo grew up, ate some gelato, and explored the small towns before heading back for dinner. Dinner was great at La Marchelino, we had delicious pecorino cheese with honey as a starter, a salad, florentina meat, and of course a nice red Tuscan wine.
Guido was so accommodating and we became quite close to him in these two days that he offered us another free night at the villa (of course we said yes). We stayed one last night, had breakfast and then drove to Greve de Chianti to visit one of Rocco's friends Michele and his roommates. They own a farm with 100 goats and make their own cheese and dairy products. They were so welcoming and made us home cooked meals with their delicious grown food.
This trip was so great, even if I did come back with 24 mosquito bites, Italy always leaves a big smile on my face.

The villa

The pool

The Villa

Casa di Luggiano

Dinner

Our house for the weekend!

Vinci