Italians Like Pizza

Posted on April 29, 2011 by Smelly Danielly

Since Nicli Antica Pizzeria is my new favorite obsession I have been harassing everyone to go there and enjoy their amazing pizza. This includes all the Italians.

Fate worked it’s magic and on Monday night we were actually all able to get together for a last minute good bye dinner for Giulia. I was so excited to eat pizza and have everyone else experience it too. I got there first at 5:30, with Elise and Giulia arriving minutes later. We scored a table of 6 right away (which was super awesome) and chatted about our day while we waited for the boys.

Chad, of course, checked out the bar first and noticed that they had a bottle of Aperol. We asked them if they knew what a Spritz was but they didn’t (no one does!), so Elisa told them the recipe and they whipped one up for each of us (minus me since I don’t do the bitter). It was such a nice added bonus to our dinner.

I ordered a bottle of the same wine as last timeand once again, thoroughly enjoyed it.

PIZZA AMAZINGNESS!

This time around I ordered the Prosciutto e Rucola and Chad ordered the Diavola.

Chad, Me, Giulia, Dario, Elisa, Luca

The Italians LOVED the pizza. Elisa said she wants to come back every day to have dinner at Nicli.

6 out of 6 Italians agree, Nicli pizza is as authentic as you can get in Vancouver. What more proof do you need!?

It’s funny how fate works out. Someone was celebrating their 4 year anniversary with someone else and we just happened to be dining at the same restaurant as them, which was totally unplanned!

A few of us ordered dessert, but instead of ordering something for herself, Giulia pulled out a bag of Marshmallows and roasted them over the candle! Ha! So much for having a classy dinner out hahaha!

heart heart heart

After dinner we popped over to the Irish Heather for a few beers since we were in the area. It was such a fun evening.

I told Giulia and Elisa that I wanted them to live here forever and that they are so cute they could live in my pocket. They were hysterical at the thought of that. I’ve always said that Claudio (one of the other Italians living here) was so adorable that I wanted to keep him in my pocket, so it was only natural that I wanted Elisa and Giulia to live there too!

Even though Giulia was only here for a week, she will definitely be missed, and in a little less then a month, Elisa will be going back home, maybe for ever, maybe just for a visit. Chad and I really hope she comes back to Canada because we enjoy her company, but of course, it all depends on if she can find a job back home.

The Italians come, and then Italians go, but they always have a little spot in our hearts, or in my case, my pocket.

Italians in Tow

Posted on April 27, 2011 by Smelly Danielly

Last week Elisa’s friend Giulia was in town for one week visiting. Yes, that’s right. She flew all the way from Italy to spend ONE WEEK in Vancouver. Crazy I know! During the one week whirl wind visit they went to Victoria, Seattle, and everywhere in between.

Since they were really only in town for a few days, we lucked out in taking them to the Capliano Suspension Bridge on Saturday, probably the warmest day to date this year! Damn you cold and rainy Vancouver *Shakes Fist*

We started off bright and early Saturday morning with a quick pit stop at Starbucks in North Van. It was such a cute little part of town.

When people come to visit we very rarely go to the Capilano Suspension Bridge mostly because it costs money, and a 10 minute drive down the road is the free, and unassuming Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge. However, it has been probably 15 years since I’ve been to Capilano, and since Chad had NEVER been we figured it was the perfect opportunity.

It was $30 per person to get in, but they have a special promotion for BC residence where the cost of admission gets you a 1 years free pass to the Bridge/Park, which is a pretty smart deal, especially if you tend to have lots of family visit you or just enjoy the park for its scenery/photo ops.

I’m not really scared of heights but suspension bridges always freak me out a bit. As long as I am moving I’m good to go, which is probably why I was the first one to cross while the rest of them stood in the middle of the bridge and had a conversation :S

The treetop adventures was probably the best part of the park. Such a neat idea running along miny suspension bridges to different trees. Felt like you had your own little tree top tree forts.

Elisa learned new English words at Capilano like Stump. Haha!

It’s not very often Mr. Ciavarro and I actually take a decent picture together.

To try and fathom that this tree is 1300 years old is ridiculous.

He almost has the wing span of an Eagle.

HAHAHA! This is the cutest picture EVER! Chad was pretending he was a lizard and was sunning himself, sticking out his tongue every few seconds. Oh that man has the key to my heart.

We were on a mission to collect stamps from various locations around the park. Collect all 6 and you got a certificated that said ‘I Made It!’. Yes, we pretend like we were 10 and crossing the bridge was so big of a feat that we needed a certificate to prove it! Hehe.

Chad made friends with the RCMP Bear.

See! We Made It!!!

After our Suspension Bridge adventures we asked Giulia if she could eat any food in the world, what would she want to eat. Her answer, Greek! Yes, she lives closer to the country then we do but has never tried their food before! It worked out perfectly because we wanted to walk along Commercial Drive and I knew just the place to go for Greek – Bouzyos!

Pitas, Souvlaki, Calamari, Greek Salad, Lemon Oregano Potatoes, and of course Saganaki! It was such good Greek food. Plus we got the added bonus of eating out on the patio (first patio of the season!) and we got a visit from the neighbourhood cat!

After lunch we made a quick stop over at my parents house so they could meet Giulia and to pick up some San Pellegrino, the ever important ingredient in making a Northern Italian Spritz. Remember Spritz?

Since you can’t get Aperol in Canada (other then Quebec) you can not properly make a Spritz. So Elise, being the clever girl that she is, asked Giulia to bring some over with her. So Saturday later afternoon, all the Italians gathered around Darios patio table to enjoy their #1 most missed Italian treat, the Spritz.

A perfect Saturday in the city that we all love.

Hobos Make It Happen

Posted on April 27, 2011 by Smelly Danielly

We didn’t watch the game last night. No, we did not fall off the bandwagon, we just couldn’t bring ourselves to go through that kind of stress. Chad checked the Blackberry for updates and I pretended like it was just a normal Tuesday. When we found out we were going into overtime I almost lost my mind. I was on the verge of tears, which is beyond ridiculous. Then, just as I was complaining to Chad that all the things we want to happen don’t seem to be happening, the hobos across the lane started to scream. We knew it was a sign. An over time win. We finally beat them. Sweet Jesus, we finally beat them. It was the exact same scenario that played out during the Olympics. We couldn’t bare to watch it and the hobos let us know we won. Thank God for those hobos.

I Didn’t Eat Any Chocolate

Posted on April 25, 2011 by Smelly Danielly

I am exhausted.

Theweekend was much busier then I expected. We were up early almost every day with a full day of activities ahead of us. It caught up to us yesterday, but in seeing as though Easter is the busiest of all the days, we couldn’t really sit and relax. Oh how I wanted to sit and relax in my pjs on the couch all day. Oh how I still want to do that.

Working Easter Monday, what a sacrilege. Yes, I get a little bitter that as a practicing Catholic I don’t actually get Easter Monday off even though it is a Catholic holiday. But, I will suck it up and take it like the Martyr I am. Hahaha!

I just can’t believe how tired I am today even though I went to bed earlier then normal last night. I am such a wimp!

This coming week is already starting to look quite busy. Tonight we say good bye to a new friend visiting from Italy (I’ll have pictures up tomorrow). Tuesday we were going to go down to Nicli Antica Pizzeria for dinner but now with the Canucks game in town, there is no point in even trying to get a table down there. Instead Chad and I are going to ignore all media/social media and watch a DVD so that we will not have the joy of stressing out over a stupid sporting event. Ugh, the stress from that team makes me mentally and physically sick. Wednesday we have our very first Italian Class. Chad and I will be taking conversational Italian at the Italian Cultural Center, so that should be quite entertaining. We’ll see how good we get a conversing with one another in another language.

Other then that, I’m trying really hard not to plan things too far into the future. I am a planner by nature, but if that last 40 days have taught me anything it is that you can’t always expect all your plans to play out as you want them to. So, I’ve been trying to take each day as it comes and focus on the positive or exciting things that will be happening that day, instead of 3 weeks down the road. So far, so good.

Now, if the Sun would come out and help my new planted panseys grow, I would be ever greatful!

Lifes a Beach

Posted on April 22, 2011 by Smelly Danielly