Benvenuti Aviano

A little over 2 weeks after arriving in Italy, I managed a day off to take the Aviano Benvenuti Tour. This is a freebie tour offered by Aviano Airman Family Readiness Center. It usually caps the Right Start week for folks newly assigned, but is open to others on a Space Available basis. There are 5 different routes that go to different places so if I have a chance to take another, I will. But, since they leave at 7 AM, even post-call, I doubt I will have another chance. It's a good introduction to the area.

We started out with a drive through base and Aviano and a few of the surrounding towns. By now, I'm totally lost as I've only been driving to and from one area of base to another for work. A landmark I see daily (well, almost, because sometimes it's fogged in) is the  Sanctuario Madonna del Monte. One day, when it's warm and I have time, I am going to hike up to see her.

We found our way to Sacile and were shown how to purchase and activate our train tickets. Then it was a short train ride to Pordenone where we met our bus again. We had a great little walking tour of Pordenone.

Including chocolate tasting. Every town has a central area with a tower and a church. The markets are held in the centers and every town has it's own market day. Each town in the area has a different day of the week.

Once back on the bus, we were taken to Cordenons to visit the Friday market. Again, a tower. At the market, they had the most spectacular produce. But also all kinds of other things. Everything really. Housewares. Shoes. Clothes. I bought a puffy jacket for 30 euro. Its much colder here than I expected. And a heavier jacket is needed. I feel very European in it.

Then a tour of the countryside with lunch at a local agriturismo, Gelindo di Magredi. There are many agritourismos in Northern Italy. Working farms that grow food for their restaurant. People come here to stay in an organic Bed & Breakfast. We saw the sights for summertime tents and the pool area. This agritourismo is a horseback riding training facility. There were so many beautiful horses, and ponies.

We were taken on a tour through the rest of the barns. The animals were well cared for, but I know their fate and it made me very sad.

Everyone was interested in the horses. One of the horses was interested in my scarf.

But no-one pet the cow. I did. I apologized for her fate. She seemed so grateful for the affection and licked me. I've never been licked by a cow....scratchy.


We sat for lunch with wine pairings. I had a special vegan meal. The polenta is normally served with meat and cream. Mine was plain but savory.  First course was penne with mushrooms and it was unbelievably good. Second course was riss
otto with mushrooms, and also pretty fabulous

. I was starting to be quite full by the time the main dish of grilled vegetables was served. I forgot a picture, but it was fantastic. Eggplant is quite common here and I love eggplant. And zucchini. And yellow squash. And grilled tomatoes and carrots. I feel like I need to be rolled out of here. I declined the non-vegan tiramisu dessert. And sadly, the Sgroppino was made with lemon gelato instead of sorbet, so I declined the dairy. I didn't want to. It looked so good. (I've had it since at a place that used sorbet). I will definitely be making this back home. Proseco, vodka, and lemon sorbet. Yes, please. The wine; however, was quite tasty.

We did a little driving through wine country. There is a road called Proseco road. I learned that this is the region of the world where Proseco comes from. The soil and the grapes that are required for Proseco are only found in this region. We found our way to Antonio Gelisi winery and learned about the wine making process. It's very high tech now. No oak barrels and long term aging. We learned that the sweeter wines come from more aged grapes and a longer fermentation. Sparkling wines undergo a second fermentation process. This is all very complicated for me. Antonio Gelisi produces 4,000 bottles (or is it 40,000) per year. Half are sold to military exchange in Europe and Asia. They also sell in 16 U.S. States. Texas is one of them. I am quite happy about this as I will be searching for Sangre de Guida. It's a sweet red blend of three grapes and is divine. I can drink this 12% alcohol wine by the bottle like kool-aid. It's so refreshing. We had the opportunity to taste wines and that led to a bit of tipsy purchasing. But at 3.75 per bottle, you can't go wrong, right? Others bought more than me. Much more. I also learned that you can purchase a jug and they will fill it for you right out of the barrels. Interesting. I did not buy a jug.

Wine tasting was the last item on the day. I think that's a good idea because we were all feeling a little sleepy. So, homeward bound it was. What a way to learn about your new assignment!!!