Visiting Family in Rome - At home of Niece Sandra

Sandra, Gianmarco, Lucia, Sofia, Antonella, Alberto, Nicoletta, Marcello, Christian, Colin, Pima/Mima

I spent eight days in Italy, divided between Rome and Acuto, with Marcello, Christian, and Colin.

to be continued

Joint Birthday Lunch

Every year I celebrate my birthday together with two friends from St. Christopher's who have birthdays very close to mine, Indra and Pam. Although it wasn't May's birthday, we invited her to join us.  We went to one of May's favorite Springfield restaurants, a Thai restaurant.

 

 Garden Rolls as appetizer

 Pam and May

 Christine and Indra

Delicious birthday dessert!

Southeast DC

My friends Marie, Barbara, and I have decided to do some serious exploring of Washington, DC. Today's outing was planned by Marie and we had a wonderful day in Southeast Washington. Here are some photos. I will add captions later.

 

Reunion in Minneapolis

My Washburn High School Class had a great collective birthday party. We all celebrated our 75th birthdays. In addition to the party itself, I spent time with individual classmates and other friends and family. It was a truly packed week and it was great fun. Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver, the other gold. (Actually new friends are often golden, too, but old friends are very special indeed.)

NORDIC DAY

My old friend Jean and I (we go back almost 70 years!) went first to the new Norway House in Minneapolis. It is in the same block as Mindekirken. It is a Norwegian educational and event center.

Rachel Peterson, the Program Director, gave us a personal tour that was very interesting. Here Rachel is explaining something to Jean.




Norway House has a small Ingebretsen's Scandinavian Cafe. I opted for a delicious bolle and Jean had a kringle.





There is also a bookstore in Norway House. This book on waffles is one of the most popular books.

Next Jean and I went to the big Ingebretsen's on Lake Street to take a look. I made a few purchases. Then we went to the Swedish Institute for a delicious lunch in the courtyard on a gorgeous day.










Jean's extraordinary lunch, a work of art!
       My lunch - tofu, watercress, and pickled onions


My old friend Roger invited me to dinner at a fabulous restaurant in Minneapolis, Saffron. To get there we took the light rail. (It was an adventure, believe me!)


                       Roger buys the tickets

                                                                       Roger had a hearty meal of lamb chops

I had a delicious meal of cheese curds on a bed of rhubarb with pickled strawberries.

I had a very nice dinner at my cousin Melissa's home with her father Jim, her husband Sri, and their four children. Unfortunately, no photos.

Then I went out to dinner at Cafe Maud's with my cousin Deb and her husband John. We lucked out. We arrived before 6 while Happy Hour was still in progress and were able to order small plates for half price. We shared six small plates.

Deb, Chris, and John  

Fried ravoli with ricotta 

 Five different kinds of olives

Cheese curds

Our special group of friends found time to spend an hour together during the busy week. As usual we exchanged interesting gifts!

        Kathy, Nancy, Chris, and Kay (Kirky is the photographer and unfortunately not in the photo)

A trip down Memory Lane. We went over to Lake Harriet and rode on the old streetcar from our childhood. Such fun!


Kirky, Kay, Kathy, the Conductor, Dave (Kath's brother), and Chris

I was very lucky to be able to see my GW/Italy/Minnesota friend Ann several times. One afternoon we went to Lake Harriet and saw many people relaxing in their hammocks, an interesting new trend!

I also got a peek at the Rose Garden.



I noticed that Minneapolis has Little Free Libraries all over the place!

Five Free Little Libraries in a row

 

Our Group of Five (with Nancy missing) had a breakfast picnic in a park that had one of the few remaining Beehive Fireplaces. Kathy's brother Dave, sister Fran, and niece Teri joined us. 

 

Andrea bought me numerous elephants from Lenox. I decided to buy this one to add to my marvelous collection. It is called "Storytime."

Name Sisters Lunch

Christine and I had not met in a while, due to certain circumstances. So we were happy to get together again for a Name Sisters lunch. We chose one of our usual haunts, Cheesetique in Shirlington Village. We ate outside on a beautiful day.

                                                       Christine and Christine

Name Sisters Lunch

Christine and I had not met in a while, due to certain circumstances. So we were happy to get together again for a Name Sister lunch. We chose one of our usual haunts, Cheesetique in Shirlington Village. We ate outside on a beautiful day.

                                                       Christine and Christine

Name Sisters Lunch

Christine and I had not met in a while, due to certain circumstances. So we were happy to get together again for a Name Sister lunch. We chose one of our usual haunts, Cheesetique in Shirlington Village. We ate outside on a beautiful day.

                                                       Christine and Christine