Lugano Fall Harvest Festival

Oh what a fun/lazy weekend I had here in Lugano. Friday night we went to the train station to buy our Venice train tickets for Blair and Angie's bday celebration in a few weeks. I can't WAIT for that trip! I've never been to Venice!! Then Allyson, Lizzie and I went to our favorite hot-spot in Montagnola called Bellavista for some yummy pizza. Friday night was a "chill night" indeed -- with a night cap of Seinfeld and Friends on DVD. I'm so glad I moved overseas after the DVD was invented. :)

Saturday morning I got up and went for a long run -- my goodness it is beautiful here! It's starting to get a little chilly, but that didn't deter me from "laying out" on my porch (very little wind) to try to soak up some rays. It's been really lovely weather lately. Finally, I decided to head downtown to the Lugano Fall Harvest Festival (after taking some pictures of St. Abbondio - the church/cemetery here in Montagnola). What a gorgeous day! I did a little shopping (bought a hair straightener, warm non-itchy blanket for the upcoming winter, and towels for my future guests)! Allyson and Lizzie met me downtown and we began the vino/gelato portion of the day. Very fun! There were drummers and live bands galore! The highlight of the day, for sure, was meeting The Flag -- a blues band that sings in English! Mind you, not many of them speak English, but they can sure sing it well! We met the band members after their sound check and they invited us back later to watch the real show, so after a yummy dinner at Pizzaria Mary's, we headed back to the stage in the piazza. The band is so good! See attached video of the amazing harmonica player! We even got a shout out at one point ("something in Italian....Hayley...teacher at Scuola Americana...Austin, TX...Stevie Ray Vaughn!").  Freddie (bass player) was so excited about Stevie Ray Vaughn - that's all he and I talked about! We enjoyed hearing blues music once again -- you forget how much you miss live music in English. I can't wait to head back to Austin now!  We are now their official groupies, so we will be catching more shows soon!

I'm so proud of my kiddos here -- we raised $603.97 (in 6 different currencies!) to help the hurricane victims back in Texas! Combined with mom's totals at her school, that's over $1,200! Now all I have to do is find a bank that will take all of these currencies and try to get it back home. :)

Stay tuned -- next weekend I'm off to London again to see Eas and go to his housewarming party at the new Compayne house! Oh yeah, and we'll be watching the Horns. Don't you worry. I'm nervous about the game, but full of confidence that my Horns can pull out a win against OU. HOOK 'EM HORNS!