Austin, Tx

February 2023

It had been a long winter already and there was a lot of work catch-up to do in January after the holiday.  We were craving some warmth by the end of the month and started racking our brains on where we could catch some sunshine and fun in February.  The weather (and plane tickets) in California were not that great and we didn’t have enough time to travel further to Mexico or maybe Hawaii.  We were browsing flight options on Alaska Airlines and there just so happened to be direct flights to Austin that were the same price as going to CA. I had never been and DZ hadn’t been there in 20+ years.  The flight times worked out perfect for our Thursday- Monday timeframe so it was decided.  I was really excited to experience this city after hearing people rave about it for years.  I was ready for some great food, music, drinks and exploring someplace new… all of my favorite things, with my favorite person. 

Getting there…

I’m not sure how long Alaska had been doing direct flights to Austin but the early morning option that was  available made it really doable to have full days on both ends of our trip. We were able to fly out at 7:45am both days and had no hiccups in either flight. Our Uber driver from Africa was friendly and appropriately chatty. We breezed through security, though we were directed to use the line near the international terminal so we got to use all of the shuttles available to get to the D gates on the complete opposite side of the airport. On the plane I had a window seat and was able to appreciate the landscape below.  Seeing the variety of mountains as you move across the country from above always makes me awestruck.  I was able to polish off another book during the flight and before I knew we were landing.  We used  to get to our hotel 

Where we stayed….

Since D was familiar with the layout of the city and we didn’t have a car, he found a great condo that was in downtown Austin but in a newer region in the east part of the city.  Natiivo Austin was a great stay, being new, super close to the trails by the river, and walkable to Rainey Street and 6th Ave.  It was quiet but lively still.  We were able to watch a beautiful sunset on the rooftop pool area our first night, but the weather didn’t cooperate enough to allow for any other enjoyment of the pool.  Other amenities that were available that we did not use were a gym, a bar/lounge area and apparently dog friendly everything.  Our main focus was to be out of the hotel, that was exactly what we did.  Natiivo was a lovely homebase though, despite its rather strong “signature” scent that greeted you every time you entered the lobby area. 

https://www.vacasa.com/usa/Natiivo-Austin/

What we ate….

Food in Austin was AMAZING!  There were endless options- from food trucks, southern BBQ to upscale dining and fancy tapas bars. Our main goal when it came to food was to find some authentic Tex Mex and Texas BBQ. It just so happened that a good friend was visiting her family in Austin the same weekend we were there and she hooked us up with perfect suggestions for both.

We visited Habanero Cafe (http://www.habanerocafe.com/) and it was legit. It was casual dining and had a friendly vibe for both locals and tourists.  As my friend said, you haven’t had authentic tex mex unless you’ve eaten it in uncomfortable chairs with bars on the windows. Haha!  I had a chili relleno that reminded me of the ones I used to get as a kid in Bakersfield and a huge unsweetened ice tea.  The other delicious platters that were sampled were mole chicken, fish tacos, and chips and salsa.  Portions were huge and the prices were good.  It was a great way to experience some local food and catch up with a friend I rarely get to spend face to face time with.

Terry Black’s BBQ was our destination for the “Real” Texas BBQ experience.  This place was nothing like I have ever been before.  The building was old looking and wooden with tons of patio and indoor seating. There is a separate smoking house next door with smoke pluming out the chimney to really set the scene. We arrived around noon and the line was already out the door. Apparently this is the norm for this well known BBQ institution, so they had their serving systems down. Once in line, there was a window to get cold drinks while you waited. You then wound your way into the building and were served up cafeteria style your sides then over to the meat carving station.  There was a chalk board with the meats available and the smiling employee wielding a huge carving knife served you up the meats of your choice, directly onto your paper covered tray.  This heaping serving was then weighed and you then paid by the pound at the neighboring cash register.  It’s an eye wide open experience when you know that you are about to take down 2+ pounds of meat once you sit down.  We shared ribs, brisket, coleslaw and beer.  It was the BEST meat I have ever tasted.  Seasoned, sauced and smoked to perfection.  We hit up this place on our day of long walking and thank god for that.  It was totally worth the stuffed belly. Home | Terry Black’s BBQ (terryblacksbbq.com)

Other noteworthy restaurants  we hit up were:

Salvation Pizza Kitchen-  this place was around the corner from our condo and we spent a bit of time here upon arriving to pass the time before check in.  I had my first Shiner Bock here along with a good salad and some BBQ sliders.  We ended up here again to watch some football later in the weekend too. It was a chill place with lots of TVs with a large selection of beers on tap, full bar and Italian/ bar food offerings.   https://salvationpizzaatx.com/

Emmer & Rye-  This place was next door to Salvation Pizza, so also a quick walk from the condo. We sat at the bar for late dinner here and enjoyed sharing several selections from their tapas style menu.  It had a cool vibe with an open concept dining-kitchen area, low lighting and nice ambient music.  The food was creative and artistic. It was a fun date night kind of place.  https://emmerandrye.com/

Eddie V’s- This was an upscale steak house with a live band, swanky bar and waiters with white tuxedos on. The whole shabang for a fancy night out.  It was a great energy with good service.   https://www.eddiev.com/home

Geraldine’s- Another upscale restaurant with live music on the top floor of Hotel Van Zandt. Great food and wine again.  The menu was creative and had sharing plates and main dishes of meats and fish.  The hostess was a drag and there was annoyingness about rushing to make you cash out at the bar before you get sat at your table, but overall it was a great experience. https://www.geraldinesaustin.com/

What we did….

Despite the less than ideal weather, we spent a ton of time outdoors exploring the city and the trails along the river (or is it lake??).  We checked out the 3 bridges and went substantial distances on both sides of the river.  It was busy with walkers, joggers and bikers everyday.  We checked out some of the larger parks and botanical gardens as well as Barton Springs. There are many varieties of birds, turtles, and plant life with informational signs around to tell you what was unique to the area.  I will mention that there were quite a few homeless people in Austin, around the parks and downtown and it wasn’t very clean.  However, I never felt unsafe during the day or night and it was by no means worse than Seattle. 

On our big walk day, we went by the Capitol building, appreciated the historic buildings, churches and statues and got to see the tail end of an Anti-abortion rally (bonus!) 

Outside of the food, our other main objective was to experience some live music.  I was amazed by the number of places that had live music or DJs every night we were there. The streets were packed with people and the atmosphere was lively and fun.  Rainey street was packed with different bars and clubs to sample.  6th Street is its own entity in the city and has every flavor of music, food and drink you could want.  It actually closes down to car traffic at night and the city allows people to just take over the street. https://6street.com/

Some of our favorite places we hit up with music 

– San Jac Saloon: Fantastic country bar where we drank beers and listened to the Tyler Brandon Duo… I actually was singing out loud with the crowd much to my partner’s surprise 🙂  https://www.sanjacsaloon.com/

– Banger’s Sausage House and Beer Garden- Huge patio with live music.  So many beers on tap at 2 different bars.  I had a delicious pretzel to complement the local hazy IPA I decided on  https://www.bangersaustin.com/

– Icenhauer’s-  Great craft cocktails and a cozy lounge feel.  We enjoyed a fantastic blues type band featuring a trumpet and  a saxophone player..   https://www.icenhauers.com/

Parting thoughts…

Austin was such a fun and lively experience that lived up to the hype.  The weather was not as great as we had hoped for, but it didn’t dampen the experience at all.  I really appreciated the walkability of the city and variety of both indoor and outdoor things to do.  I left wanting to come back in the spring or fall to feel some of that Texas sunshine while sitting on a patio listening to music with a drink or to be able to take a boat or kayak out on the river.  We had a blast and made it home a little hungover from food and drink but with smiles on our faces.  I’m looking forward to our next visit to Austin.

-P.R.

Sun Peaks Ski Weekend

February 2023

The end of 2022 was COLD. Really cold.  My California-born blood had never been exposed to such temperatures (-20F, what!?!), even after being up in Washington for the better part of 13 years.  At Christmas, I had brought my snowboard in hopes of possibly getting up to the mountain for some snow fun, but it never left my car as it was too frigid to go outdoors for any length of time.  Since we had no set plans of escaping to anywhere after the new year, we thought it may be fun to embrace winter and enjoy a weekend up in Sun Peaks.  We were able to secure an amazing home that was close to the main village, was big enough to evite friends and had a hot tub to top it off!  The weekend of the Super Bowl was available, and the weather forecast was looking great.  We were able to talk some family and a couple of friends into joining us and it was all set up!

Getting there…

I made my usual drive up to Kamloops on a Thursday morning.  It was an abnormally eventful drive unfortunately- speeding ticket only 20 minutes into the trip (remember to not speed during morning traffic near Everett), struggling to open my locked gas door to fill up (it automatically locks if the door is locked), almost getting run off the highway by a semi-truck, and finally having to take an excessively long rest break in Merritt due to annoying weird heart palpitations and dizziness.  Anyhow, I made it in one piece.  Despite this, we had a super easy drive the next morning making it from the dry land up into the winter wonderland.  It takes less than an hour being only 56km from Kamloops.  You get to drive along the North Thompson River, until you break off up into the mountains.  From there you pass by a few little lakes and pastoral land that all look very pretty and serene covered in the white of winter.  Considering the size of the mountain and resort, it is crazy convenient.

Where we stayed….

There are ample accommodations around the SunPeaks- hotels, condos, and custom homes. We were hooked up with one of the homes, so it was a treat!  There were 3 floors, so each group had separate sleeping areas. The main floor was open with high ceilings, huge windows, and a large kitchen.  The deck off the kitchen was home to the BBQ and hot tub.  This was my first visit to this house, but the others had enjoyed birthday parties and ski weekends here in the past.  It was a perfect spot.

What we ate….

Our family and friends were so generous, and we had enough food to have lasted a week!  We feasted every night- Mediterranean chicken and lemon potatoes, beef tenderloin, fully loaded baked potatoes and veggies and Superbowl Sunday was a Meat Fest of Texas ribs, “Nicci Lovin’” Chicken wings, Nachos, dips, etc., etc.…. There was no shortage of food, nor drink.  Drink highlights included ample Red Truck, Empress gin cocktails, Basil-Mint Rangpur gin cocktails, Micheladas, and Beermosas.  

We did go out for lunch on Ski Day at the infamous Bottoms Pub and enjoyed a typical pub lunch with a beer.  We were smart to go for an early lunch as it gets really busy there after noon.  There are a few other options in the main village, but I haven’t ever had a need to sample them. 

What we did….

We had such a nice balance of winter fun this weekend.  A full day of skiing, walking in the snow, taking a long hike along the snowshoe trails, eating, drinking and hot tubbing.  We played games at night (Cards Against Humanity made another solid appearance), watched hockey and the Superbowl.  It was a chill mix of alone time and time with friends.  I particularly loved the end of the night hot tub to watch the snowcats grooming the hills and seeing the stars.  We laughed a lot, and it was a perfect balance of rest and play. 

Parting thoughts…

Sun Peaks is such a gem to enjoy.  It feels a bit like a little secret that the people who know of it don’t take for granted.  It’s not the same scene as Whistler with throngs of people and tons of restaurants and bars. There is a time a place for that.  Having access to quiet miles of high-quality trails for downhill and cross-country skiing and snowshoeing in less than an hour is hard to beat. I especially appreciate this coming from the Seattle area where everything is crowded and feels stressful. This weekend reminded me of how the snow puts you back into the playful mindset you have as a kid, to have fun for the sake of fun. Hopefully, we will be able to make this an annual event as I can see us making many more memories here in years to come.

-P.R.

Playa del Carmen, México

November 2021

Backstory

Thanksgiving in the US was coming up….. People are excited to spend time with their families and friends again with vaccinations onboard while simultaneously freaking out about spending time with family and friends again and the ever-present impending turkey shortage. My kids were headed down to California with their dad and I had recently found out that my rental house had been sold and was going to be torn down in the not-so-distant future.  Stress levels were not what I would call low at that point in time. It just so happened that my guy was conferencing and remote working down in sunny Mexico for the month, so it made perfect sense for my sunshine deprived, overloaded self to head down South for the holiday.  

I had made this same holiday trip a few years ago, spending American Thanksgiving in Mexico with a Canadian and found people were really thrown by this.  Questions included- “Are you going to make a turkey?”, “Will you eat turkey tacos?”, “Are you going to be able to watch football??” “What about your kids???”   Answers included- NO. NO. Are you kidding? And of course, I always miss my kiddos on holidays apart but they are loved and I know I need a vacation!  Once we set up some dates, tickets were Seattle were purchased and off I went. 

Getting there…

Playa del Carmen is a popular destination but isn’t a direct flight type of trip.  Fortunately, there are direct flights from Seattle to Cancun. This flight does cross a large portion of the midwest US and the Gulf of Mexico, so I would highly recommend a window seat if you can swing it.  My flight was on a clear day and seeing the contours of the mountain ranges and the clouds over the ocean was a sight to see.  I do zone out to movies and books on longer flights but taking in the scenery below and appreciating the fact that we are able to actually FLY is something to feel.  

Now when you get to Cancun International, be ready for some airport chaos that you just need to find your zen to get through because it is something you don’t find in the US.  I haven’t traveled internationally much so I know there are much crazier places, but I do have to do some deep breathing when I navigate this place.  Everyone is friendly though and I followed my fellow US passengers and it all worked out.  Outside of the airport can be equally overwhelming but if you have a plan prior to arrival it helps.  I did the bus last visit and it got me where I needed to go safely.  This time my guy set me up with a reputable driver who was able to find me and get me there much quicker. My Spanish skills are not top notch, so the fact that the driver spoke English was a huge bonus.  After roughly 10 hours of travel, I finally arrived in Playa del Carmen!

Where we stayed….

There are plenty of large hotels and resorts in this area, however we stayed a bit off the beaten path of 5th Ave, in a hotel/condo location- IT Hotel Playa.  The room was modern and clean.  No views to speak of but we did have functional AC.  There were 2 rooftop pools, a restaurant and bar.  I was very happy spending many hours by the little pool reading and drinking.  No complaints whatsoever about the accommodations outside of not having a private balcony and a view from the room, but that is only if I really want to be a princess 😉 

What we ate….

There are so many really great restaurants with plenty of international diversity in Playa del Carmen.  Though we did have plenty of local Mexican food (you really can’t get enough ceviche, can you??), we also enjoyed cuisine from Argentina, Italy, a steakhouse,  and believe it or not, a Nordic fusion place.  There is a lot to choose from.  Our stomachs did pretty well overall, but I must admit that by the end of the week there was ample time needed to address some unrest that settled in digestively. 

Here are a few of the places we had a great time at (in no particular order)…..

El Doctocito- Ceviche and Micheladas.  The portions are enormous and even though you think there is no way you can finish what is in front of you, before you know it, it’s gone. The setting is casual and lively. Sometimes,  if you time it right, there is a DJ playing.  We preferred the older location but the new additional one did the trick.

Trujillo Cantina de Sleva– I had a delicious mackerel dish and cocktails were creative and tasty. 

Amate 38– This place had great ambiance under the trees and was on a quieter section off 5th Ave closer to where we were staying.  The steak and seafood were great. 

500 Gramos Grill-  Steaks.  That is what to get here. …. A ginormous streak was devoured here.  There were other great looking options, but we went with the specialty.  The location was also nice with outdoor seating on the same little street off 5th Ave by Trujillo.

Las Olas- This was the nicest restaurant that we went to and it was really great.  We had to do a little sweet talking to get into the resort compound and get a table without reservations but it was worth it. The service was fantastic and so was the food.  It was nice to get away from the craziness of 5th Ave and enjoy a meal without being hit up to buy roses or bracelets. 

Mucho Gusto- This Argentinian restaurant is worth checking out for the food and ambiance. My guy has been a frequent flier here for many years and it consistently has great grilled meats, chimichurri and baked provolone. Service was just ok, but really, that is the norm all around town. 

Nordic- This was a surprise to find. The yelp ratings were good so we gave it a go.  I tried the octopus and it was good.  I can’t say that I loved it but the quality of the food was good and it was creative.  

Salento– We enjoyed maybe one of our best meals here of pizza.  We ended up coming back one more time during our trip for more Italian food. It was lively and had outdoor seating so it was a nice change of pace from the typical Mexican fare.

Off the Vine- Here is a great little wine bar with tapas by our hotel.  It was fun to sit and watch people both inside and outside the restaurant.  We ended up chatting up a couple that offered to let us use their RV in the States to tour around…I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a genuine offer but memorable nonetheless. 

IT Hotel Playa Restaurant- We had a few breakfasts and drinks in the downstairs restaurant that were reliably good and the service wasn’t terrible.  Winning!  They had live music in the evening and seeing as how it was Jazz Fest we were able to experience some lovely entertainment with our drinks right before rolling back up to the room.  

What we did….

When I spend time in Mexico, I don’t typically have a list of things that I “need” to do or see. It’s usually just a time to break from the routine, get some warmth on my body and relax.  This was exactly what happened.  COVID had hampered much travel over the past year and it felt so good to move into a different culture, walk around, people watch and feel somewhat normal again.  I spent plenty of time at our little rooftop pool and our biggest decisions usually revolved around where we were going to eat or drink next.  I typically like to stay active, whether I am at home or on vacation, but I will admit that Mexico has a way of sucking the motivation out of me (thanks to the heat and countless Micheladas!).   

We did venture out one evening  and had a night at the Coco Bogo and let me tell you, that was quite the experience.  First off, it was a bold move in the times of COVID, with very tight quarters, optional masks and lots of people making poor decisions fuelled by cheap drinks.  We came out unscathed and it was a fun time.  Bachelorette parties, flying trapeze acts and some sort of wind machine that would “surprise” whomever was up dancing on the platform were just some of the things to witness at this bumping night club.

Other fun things to do are: spend a day at one of the multitude of Beach Clubs such as Martina’s & Mamita’s, take a tour of the cenotes (this is super fun, we did it a previous year), take a day cruise out to Cozumel out to snorkel or dive, or shopping at the ample number of shops on 5th Ave.

Parting thoughts…

Visiting Playa del Carmen always serves a nice break from reality and an opportunity to loosen up a bit.  It is very touristy and there is a vacation vibe everywhere you go. The sunny weather was a much-needed change from the endless Seattle gray and darkness. I appreciate the go with the flow attitude, but I do welcome the amenities of home (particularly clean water and good plumbing).  If you are willing to go the extra distance to get down to Playa, rather than doing the standard Cancun trip, I would highly recommend it!

-P.R.

Italy

October 2022

Backstory

I have longed to visit Europe for my entire adult life.  I was always intimidated by language barriers, long travel times, and just not knowing where to start.  I would get analysis paralysis when it came to planning such a trip and would end up just doing nothing.  Last year, when I made my 21k trail run goal, I also had made a goal that I wanted to get over and see Europe…no place specifically but at least the intention was set.  Well, I didn’t make the trip prior to my birthday, but with the extremely generous and thoughtful gift from my guy, my first trip to Italy was set in motion just after.  

After hemming and hawing a bit over it, I finally decided that I wanted to explore, taste, and drink in the beautiful region of Tuscany. So, this was our starting point and we went from there.  There really is a crazy amount to see in Italy.  Each region has its own unique culture and personality despite being grouped together under the umbrella name of “Italy”.  We didn’t want to do the tour group approach where you spend 1 day in a bunch of different locations, but we decided that staying 2-4 days in a variety of towns would allow us to cover a lot of ground within the 2 weeks. Once we scoped out the cities surrounding Tuscany, we decided that we would have to put off visiting the Southern and Eastern regions for another trip.  

Planning this trip was so fun. We had a great time coming up with our loose itinerary. Before leaving we put more attention into the first 2 stays so we could hit the ground running.  Between August and October, it was easy to let the excitement build without getting overwhelmed this way. I had lots of details to smooth out to prepare my kids and work to keep rolling without me around but it was all worth it.  By the time Canadian Thanksgiving came around we were all set to take off! 

Getting there…

To be honest, I did not arrange for the flights.  There were plenty of options from Seattle though connecting through other main hubs in Europe.  We ended up flying with British Airways with a layover in Heathrow en route to Venice.  Everything was timely and the flight crew was properly British. This was the longest flight I have ever taken.  It was like a time warp.  We had 2 meals, several drinks and many many movies. I don’t do well with sleeping upright on planes and maybe napped for a little while.  It was a strange combination of being tired from no sleep but not being tired because you are just sitting for hours on end and you have the excitement of a big adventure on the horizon. I actually didn’t find the long flight unpleasant but did experience some major spaciness the day we arrived.  It’s a good thing I am a pro at powering through 🙂  Our only hiccup getting to Italy was that our plane apparently had a fuel leak once we landed in London, so they parked us out in BFE and had to shuttle us back over to the terminal so we could catch our connecting flight.  It was a bit disturbing to think of a fuel leak and why we were parked so far away from our gate, but with virtually no sleep and the flight crew in no rush to evacuate the plane, it was fine.   We made it to Venice with ease and started our sampler platter of transportation.  It was interesting using so much public transport.  I have never even taken a bus in the US (that is kind of embarrassing but true) and experiencing transit in Italy was a trip!  It was chaotic but worked with relative timeliness and some form of order that was foreign to me. I will talk more on traveling around the different regions in the other blogs about each area we visited.  Overall, getting to Italy was easier than expected and made for a great start to our trip. 

Where we stayed….

We decided that it was most important to have our first 2 destinations booked while we got used to being in Italy, then booked most of our accommodations a night or two before leaving for the next destination.  Overall, we had no issue finding nice places to stay by searching AirBnB and Google maps.  We also lucked out in that the Euro was at a low in October, so the exchange rate made for fair pricing on the accommodations we chose. Some people might find this way of travel stressful but it was fun focusing on one thing at a time and not getting all worked up trying to predict what we wanted for every location before arriving in Europe. It was off season (though much busier than expected thanks to the previous years of pandemic shut down) so we were able to have several viable options to choose from.  This might not be the approach to take during high travel times of year.  It is worthwhile to know that the European Hotel Star rating system is on a 4 star scale rather than 5 stars in the US and Canada.  Most hotels actually post it on their signage and they also usually indicate whether kids are welcome or not.  I found it funny while researching stays in St. Ortesei that many hotels strongly post “For Adults Only”, as it invoked the idea of some XXX adult club or something.  We found out quickly that this is a resort town that many families visit so there were family centric hotels and places that were less suited for hosting kids.  It was nice to know and we readily chose Adult Options. 

What we ate….

EVERYTHING…. When relying on eating out for virtually every meal you have the opportunity to sample a lot of food.  Plus, Italy is famous for it’s cuisine so it was a pleasure to have to sample and experiment with what each region had to offer.  Eating happens late in Europe and while recovering from jet lag, it took a few days to get used to.  We typically had late breakfasts or lunch, midday snacks and a later dinner.  Restaurant didn’t even open until 7:30pm.  We would find a local market to stock up on some sort of sliced meat and cheeses, crackers, beer and wine for the room.  We learned that most restaurants would serve a bit of a snack with each round of drinks you order.  This is a very smart strategy as day drinking is normal in Italy, at least it seemed to be if you were on vacation.  I did take a few cappuccinos at the coffee bars as the locals do.  The travel blogs I read prior to leaving were correct in that Italians do not sit and luxuriate over Vente sized coffees (ie Starbucks).  It’s in and out with a strong but delicious shot of espresso, cappuccino or macchiato.  The wine was amazing and we never tasted a house wine that was bad.  It seemed to be more economical to order a bottle than individual glasses, so many bottles we consumed over the course of this trip.  Each region was very specific in its food culture and I will expand on it in the other blogs.    Last note on food is that the service is not fast and when a server does bless you with their presence, be ready to order the whole meal.  We had a few times where we wanted to order appetizers and drinks while we browsed the menu, and the server just gave us a look like we were confused and the most annoying thing they had dealt with that day.  As a natural born people-pleaser myself, it was uncomfortable for me to feel like I was bothering someone by asking  to explain something extra or fumbling with hand signals and broken English to communicate.  After a while though, I came to appreciate the honesty of saying directly what I needed/wanted without a bunch of “I’m sorrys” and “whatever is easy for you” phrases.  Tipping isn’t like it is here, so they have no reason to kiss your ass.  That being said, we had ample wonderful and attentive servers in Italy, and dining out was one of the highlights of our trip.

What we did….

Walking, eating, people watching and marveling at architecture and art.  Repeat.  That pretty much sums it up. There is so much to see in Italy from nature and what has been made by man.  Each region had a new and exciting offering for us to take in. From the spectacular mountains in the Italian Alps to the excavation sites scattered about the busy city of Rome.  It was so fun to know you could just step out your door and immediately be taken aback by what was out there.  We intentionally stayed in central locations so we could easily reach restaurants and sites by foot. We did have at least one or two must-sees in each place we visited, then allowed time for wandering and seeing what came our way.  It was a really nice balance.  Much more details are to follow in the regional blogs.  

Parting thoughts…

This Italy trip was one that will forever be a sweet spot in my memory.   It met all of my expectations and gave flavor and color to how I had always imagined Italy to be.  I have such an appreciation now for the cultural diversity that can exist within one country and with each new region we explored I was left with wanting to see more.  My favorite spots were the Dolomites and Florence, but each spot we stayed had something that took my breath away or had something that I was seeing for the first time.  Italy is a place I absolutely want to visit again and I would enthusiastically recommend it to anyone craving a European adventure.