Tag Archives: Beaches

Capri, Cruises, Photography, Travel - Italy

No Capri-SUN On The Island of Capri

“The journey should be fun, but if you haven’t learned anything along the way, you’ve not yet reached your final destination.”
-Greg

If you can find Kim Kardashian quotes online, then certainly I should be allowed to try my hand at it!

"Excuse me... did you just try to author a quote?!"
“Excuse me… did you just try to author a quote – that’s my domain!”

There is a point to that quote however, apart from just trying something new.  Our journey abroad has been a wonderful and wild ride.  I have had a blast blogging about it and I appreciate all of my readers for tuning in.  But more importantly, I’ve learned a thing or two over the past year.  As it relates to blogging specifically, I’ve learned a lot. When I look back at my older posts and blogging habits I cringe.  I used to spend ages loading photos, and have just recently learned a shortcut that saves me hours.  I moved from Blogger to WordPress, which I would equate to a jump from junior high directly to college (my MBA is awaiting the day I can build my own website).  I have learned that Top Ten lists and featured images of scantily clad women get you the most page-views.  I used to write posts that seemed to go on for days (and you thought I wrote a lot now), but recently I am attempting to keep each post specific to one topic (as opposed to combining multiple cities and multiple food related stories all into one post).

"Tell me about these 'shorter' posts, daddy"
“Tell me about these ‘shorter’ posts, daddy”
"I think it's a good idea in theory, but let's see if you can really stick to it!
“I think it’s a good idea in theory, but let’s see if you can really stick to it!

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Beaches, Castles, Cruises, Family Stories, Food and Drink, Greece, History, Humor, Photography, Restaurants, Sipping Espresso, Travel - Europe, Turkey, UNESCO

Our Final Days at Sea

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We recently had the most amazing vacation aboard Holland America’s Nieuw Amsterdam  and I have had a wonderful time writing about it.  I have discovered even more about each destination as I’ve researched them further and I have had the pleasure of reliving it all over again as I post the pictures.  I hope that you’ve enjoyed your time aboard with us.  Sadly, I will close this chapter of our overseas adventure and move onto the next story in an upcoming post.  There is still plenty more to come in the blog pipeline…

“Dad, wrap this up already – you’re putting us all to sleep!”

If you joined us thus far, you’ll know we visited Venice, Olympia and Athens in our first post and then Istanbul and Lesbos in the second post.  The final leg of our cruise transports us to Kuşadası,  Santorini and Argostoli.  As always, we’ll include some of our shipboard life and hopefully you’ll be able to stick with me – I’ve got a ton of pictures in this final post. Continue reading Our Final Days at Sea →

Abruzzo, Beaches, Family Stories, Friends, Landscape, Photography, Restaurants, Travel - Italy, Wine

Beaches, Wine and Pasta Making – What a Vacation

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Recently, Jen’s family came to visit (HERE) and since we’re not the type of family that does well sitting still, we planned a couple trips within their trip.  One of these week-long sojourns was an impromptu visit to Civitella in the Abruzzo region- Jen’s nonna’s (grandma’s) hometown.  The official name of this gem of a village is actually, Civitella Messer Raimondo which is home to less than 900 residents. Jennifer and Jessica grew up going to visit their nonna and family friends in Civatella during many of their summers abroad.  Since I had never been to see such an important part of my wife’s family history – I was excited to go.

Civitella Messer Raimondo – the place where it all started!

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Agriturismo, Family Stories, Food and Drink, Humor, Julia, Landscape, Photography, Restaurants, Sipping Espresso, Travel - Italy, Tuscany, Videos, Wine

The Tallest Man in Italy

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I have no proof that when my sister, Michelle came to visit with her husband and daughter (David and Elsa) that he was the tallest man in all of Italy… but I’d say there’s a good shot!  When I picked them up at the airport, I simply looked for the tallest/shortest couple combo possible (he’s a hair over 6’8″ and she’s a modest 5’2″).  I spotted them instantly and helped them get some caffeine before taking them home for our big Italian lunch.
David, Elsa and Michelle – he’s crouching down to make it in the frame

Julia’s younger cousin, Elsa was her newest obsession and she had been excited all week leading up to their visit.  She would wake up every day and scroll to some of the video’s or pictures we had on our iPad and scream “ELSA!”  When the real thing walked (or rather, crawled) through the door – she was like a kid on Christmas.  She couldn’t stop hugging and kissing her.  Although, she had an awkward way of pulling her in by the neck – so much so that we dubbed Julia the, “Scranton Strangler” (you “Office” fans will get the reference).

The girls all reunited – Julia just wanted to kiss Elsa all the time
“Is my cousin trying to strangle me?!”

Michelle and David have a high-paced, action-packed lifestyle in Chicago and they were looking forward to a couple weeks of unplugging from their demanding jobs that they both do so well.  We were happy to accommodate and show them a slow-paced trip filled with lots of good food and wine.  We spent a couple days in the area, taking it easy.  We visited the local park with the girls, we walked around downtown Como, we drove through many of the smaller lake towns.  I showed David my favorite 5k loop and we went running together nearly every morning.  Michelle cracked up one day after her privacy was invaded by our little Julia, somewhere in the beginning stages of potty training.  She barged in and saw Michelle on the “potty” and declared to her, “Michelle… potty… YAHHH!” Continue reading The Tallest Man in Italy →