Life here in Italy passes incredibly quickly...with that said, here is the second to last post about my March trip to Nove, Italy with a couple of crazy ladies...

As I said many, many weeks ago, a voyage to Nove is a right of passage for some wives stationed here in Europe.  When we pulled into the parking lot at VBC Ceramiche, we were so upset to see a tour bus!  On a Friday!  But we persevered, oh yes, we persevered.

VBC makes beautiful ceramics for companies like Tiffany & Co, Pottery Barn, Lennox, Vietri, Arte d'Italia, Williams Sonoma and more I'm sure.  They do beautiful work and there was no lack of choices from elegant to quirky.  When making this 7 hour trek, it has to be made on a Thursday in order to peruse on Friday morning, purchase on Friday afternoon after reposo and shop at more ceramic, copper and pewter, and leather stores on Saturday before leaving.  This is the only way it can be done...make sure husbands know this...;-).  On the weekends, VBC is only opened Saturday mornings.  Since I was shopping with two veterans who knew exactly what they wanted, I had time to just wander and pick up stuff that spoke to me.  This was no easy task though.  I must say I was very excited to see outgoing shipping labels to the Homegoods distribution center in California.  There's hope to find this beautiful dinnerware in the states for less than an arm and a leg! The Vietri collection The Vietri collection

Stacks upon stacks of beautiful ceramics More Vietri

Some of you may know that I have a very unfocused brain for decor.  I love too many colors, shades of colors, designs, flowers, it's virtually impossible for me to settle on something, so I bought a lot of gifts.  It's the year of the ceramic, right?  I ended up with some really fun pieces for us too though.

When I saw this, I knew I was a goner! Then there was this! And this!

Decisions were made, bellies were hungry, and there was no room left on the cart, we called it quits.

These carts are made for weight!

After we made our purchases, the clerk shared the name of a little restaurant, Melegrano (I think):  locals only, beautiful view, up in the mountains.  Check, check and check...sign us up!  We were so happy we ventured to this little place for a delicious lunch.  I had the special which included, the waiter's words not mine, "special chicken."  Which, of course, was pheasant.  They were beautiful, huge ravioli's stuffed with cheese, pheasant and spinach with some kind of smoked cheese grated on top.  Everyone had a beautiful lunch.  And a caffe to revive us for the afternoon of shopping! 

Melegrano

My pheasant raviolies...deliciousness! Stacy's shrimp linguini Diane's white asparagus risotto.

A little pick me up

On our way up we passed by this little church and decided on the way back to stop and check it out.  As we drove up, we noticed cars.  There were two older ladies picking the ruccola and dandelions from the grass.  I got out, did my best to strike up a conversation, talking about how my grandmother would send my father as a boy to pick the dandelions from the yard for salad.  And they told me how the sun at noon shines through the top of the church lighting the cross at the front and how adding ruccola and dandelions to the water increases the iron in it...at least that's what we took from it.  Luckily, one of the ladies spoke English and helped us out.  I asked if I could take their picture and they said no, so Stacy set up to take my photo in front of the church and the one that didn't speak any English, Sister Maria, dashed in to take a photo with me.  And again, I fell in love with Italy.  We said "Grazie!" and drove off to visit some more ceramics stores.

My new friend, Sister Maria

We ventured on to Elios.  Elios makes a lot of funky pieces for Anthropologie and stores like it.  They had some really beautiful ceramics and I happened to stumble upon my beautiful dishes on the discount rack, so it was a score for me!   Anthropologie funkiness With the sun going down and stores closing up, we dashed out after making our purchases to find the copper and pewter lady a friend had told us about.  Luckily she was still open and we had some time to walk around.  Maybe I've never really paid too much attention in the States, but the copper here is awesome and there's a ton of it!  Whenever I see copper, it always reminds me of my mom who liked to make the caramel for our caramel for our caramel corn in one of her copper pots.  There was some kind of chemical reaction that made it so much better, she would say. Copper, copper everywhere...   At this point the Shaggin' Wagon was pretty full, BUT in our defense, stacking these purchasing is not really an option!

Second row...hehe.   That's our story and I'm stickin' to it!  Saving the best for last, hopefully I will get it done before our tour here ends!  At this rate, I just may!!  Stay tuned...but don't hold your breath, but gaze on this beautiful villa while you wait...

Grazie amici!

Mackenzie