My First Trip to California, Santa Cruz

Pieter did surprise me with a companion ticket to San Francisco, so I could tag along to Santa Cruz, California.
 For a couple of days, Pieter had to do training at the Pescadero farm for Campbell Soup.

And... my Mauzie girl, the little black & tan Dachshund went with us!

My very first PUMPKIN encounter too, this is near Santa Cruz on October 18, 1983
And of course viewing the famous Pigeon Point Lighthouse in Pescadero between Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz along the rugged San Mateo coast line...

It is the tallest lighthouse on the West Coast!

PUMPKINS everywhere around...

BRUSSELS SPROUTS...

As the daughter of a market gardener, this was HEAVEN!

It is quite a windy road along the Pacific coast from San Francisco to Santa Cruz...

Santa Cruz, California's natural surroundings looked so different to me!

Our hotel room had the Pacific Ocean View...

Sunrise at 7:00 AM

On October 19, we had breakfast at the Santa Cruz Fisherman's Wharf

From the hotel I also could walk right onto the wharf...

In the distance, under the big seagull, you can see Hotel Dream Inn where we stayed.

Did enjoy my lunch with yummy scallops at the GREENHOUSE restaurant at the FARM together with the manager's wife, Donna Richards.

Bought some small cactus and seed bread... Would have loved to buy some gorgeous large cactus but how to take them back on the plane?

Did walk around at the wharf and viewed the seals...

Seals and brown pelican on the wharf...

Yes, those seals all sleep on those wooden beams!

After work we all gathered at the home of Don & Donna Richards, the farm manager and went out for dinner at Shadowbrook Restaurant in Capitola, CA with its very steep cable car! Click for short video of it.

It is one of the most unique restaurants in the West.
Later I would have dinner here with my Dad... that will be featured in another post!

Stay tuned for our next stay in San Francisco...
Thanks for visiting!

Visiting Dutch Mushroom Grower in Marl Cave

Being the Founder/Principal of the Practical Training College, my then boss, now husband Pieter, did take all of us in September of 1970 to the ONLY existing Mushroom Growing Marl Cave.

That was in the deep south of The Netherlands, in Maastricht the capital city of my Province Limburg.

Here we are inside the Marl Cave, of Mount Saint Peter, studying the mushrooms on those ridge beds ― on the floor!

Just imagine, what a toilfully labor it must have been for growing mushrooms inside a cave...

To the left, only her leg is visible, was a 2nd cousin, then 2nd from the left in the red lacquer coat its me... My sister Diny is standing with her face towards the ridge beds. Pieter is next to her and writing on the wall is my late 2nd cousin... Some other colleagues and the gentleman to the right in the back was our guide. 

Writing on the wall was easy, as this limestone is rather soft!

This is also inside Mount Saint Peter, from an old post card that Pieter saved from long time ago.
Those ridge beds on the floor were covered with ground up marl.

Photo by Lahaye, from P. J.C. Vedder's Moderne Champignonteelt, his Dutch publication.
After WWII some people started growing mushrooms in caves in the southern part of The Netherland; a way of growing at that time already quite common in France...

Also in Mount Saint Peter from one of P.J.C. Vedder's publications...

Hill beds in St. Peter's Mountain. The soil is not always flat and the dams to prevent the flow away of water sprayed, through the paths are extra needed. Cream mushrooms. (Photo "The South")

This photo is from the No. 4 - SEPTEMBER 1957 Champignon-cultuur, the Dutch mushroom magazine (click link for full Pdf from ISMS)

This photo is from the No. 4 - SEPTEMBER 1957 Champignon-cultuur, the Dutch mushroom magazine

Mr. Geijtenbeek studies the first tests with new culture technique inside the caves (Photo ENCI)

Fa. Gebr. Pluymackers, Maastricht

This is HISTORY now!
But grateful for having seen this with my own eyes, so did my colleagues after we'd visited first the ENCI (Eerste Nederlandse Cement Industrie or First Dutch Cement Industry) from 1926.
An interesting video about ENCI: bedrijfsfilm 2016 (in Dutch but still good to see how it all gets done). In July of 2018 they stopped with further digging, they still produce cement but haul it from elsewhere.

Related links:
1978 - P.J.C. Vedder's Modern Mushroom Growing Book Published in English | previous post by me
{My Teacher, Mentor, BOSS & Husband over 44+ Years} | previous post by me
{Angels engraved on lucky calendar coin of 1969} | previous post by me

The Netherlands - Obsteig, Austria - Montebelluna, Italy

Flying once again to The Netherlands from Atlanta, Georgia/USA for the 37th time.
Our 11th trip to Italy by car, in August of 1993, with Dad's Ford Fiesta...

We left on August 4 and spent the night in Obsteig, Austria.

Me walking outside of Hotel Tyrol, now the Aktivhotel Tyrol, Unterstrass 243 in Obsteig 6416 Austria.

Here I am just outside the door of the hotel, ready to continue our journey into Italy!

We enjoyed a wonderful brunch before getting on the road again.

In Bassano, we were waiting till the leather shoe/boots factory opened up...

Taking in our beautiful surroundings!
Yes, we lived in this area and in this very town, our ceramic chandeliers got made. See links below post.
We spent the night at Albergo Gallo in Montebelluna...

On August 6, we visited FUNGHI DEL MONTELLO where we both worked in 1989...
Mushrooms from the mountains when translated into English and you can see why.

On Saturday, August 7, we move to Albergo Hotel Ristorante Tegorzo, Fener, (BL) Italy province of Belluno which is more to the north.
We also had visited Bar Belvedère in Cornuda, that used to be below our apartment and enjoyed a coffee at Daniella's place. We also met our former neighbor and the owner of the super market across from our apartment.
On Sunday, August 8, we went to Mass in Cornuda, our former Church. Next we went to Asolo but there was no antique market that Sunday. We did find an antique crystal jar with silver lid for storing jewelry.

We did drive around in the area and also walked...

Yes, I was wearing my Donna Karan jeans set...

Always hard to leave as part of our heart belongs to that region near Venice, Italy!

Both of us love mountains and nature...
Next day on Monday. August 9, we drove back to The Netherlands and had done more than 2,400 km or 1,491 mi.
That was a trip including three languages... Dutch; German and Italian.

Ciao Italia!

Related links:

{Our White Ceramic Chandeliers from Italy} | previous post by me