La Dolce Vita

Ah and what a sweet life it is...we spent the last three weeks of our round-the-world travels in one of our favorite countries: Italy.  A country filled with delicious pasta, wine, and of course - gelato!  Side note: who would have thought that if you ate gelato every day for three weeks (sometimes twice...) that you might gain weight? Strange, no?

We flew into Milan from Dubrovnik and quickly made our way to Cinque Terre where we met up with my sister Andrea and my future brother-in-law Mike. Luckily, the area has almost completely recovered from the flooding last year and is as picturesque as ever. We spent a couple of days hiking the beautiful coastal trails and relaxing by the water.

After a quick stop in Pisa to take the classically cliche leaning tower photos, we continued on our way to Tuscany to meet up with my parents and spend a relaxing week in the hillside surrounding San Gimignano. The view from our villa was absolutely incredible, perhaps one of the best views we have had all year.  

View from our villa

Throughout the week, we toured around Tuscany drinking wine, eating some of the world's best gelato, and visiting many small hill towns and cities including Montepulciano, Pienza, Montalcino, Sienna, and Florence.

The week in Tuscany went by way too fast and it wasn't long before we set off for one of the most fascinating cities in the world: Rome. A mere twenty minute walk in the city and you can see such ancient wonders as the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and the Pantheon. We spent a few days in the city exploring the sites and taking in the atmosphere of the busy streets.

After Rome, we headed back up north to Lago di Garda and spent a night in the beautiful lakeside town of Gardone.  We had an excellent dinner here along the water and helped my parents to celebrate their 36th wedding anniversary (way to go Mom & Dad!!).  We also visited the nearby town of Limone before heading to Dro to visit with some of our relatives.

We spent a few days visiting with our cousins while enjoying copious amounts of food and wine.  Spending time in Dro is always my favourite part of visiting Italy and I was thrilled that Adam was able to join in on the fun this time.  

Dolomiti Mountains

Mmm..strangolapreti

The last stop on our world adventures was Venice. Even after all of our travels this year, we still found it to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Yes, the city can be packed with tourists and at times claustrophobic, but you don't have to walk too far from the main tourist areas to find yourself lost in a maze of deserted small streets and colourful canals.  

We are now back at home and cannot believe our travels have come to an end.  It has truly been an amazing and unforgettable year. We have been so blessed to have seen such beautiful places and to have had such wonderful experiences together. A special thanks to all the friends, old and new, that we met along the way - our travels would not have been the same without you!

And to our readers - Thank you so much for taking the time to visit our blog and sharing our experiences with us! Ciao!

The Croatian Coast

We decided to start our travels in Croatia in Zagreb.  Though perhaps not as picturesque as other Croatian destinations, there were some good value restaurants, fun bars, a great hostel to stay at (House Hostel!), and a very interesting museum to visit: The Museum of Broken Relationships.  We had seen a program about the museum on tv while we were in Chile and were quite excited that we could finally see for ourselves the quirky mementoes from failed relationships around the world.  It did not dissappoint.



From the Musuem of Broken Relationships...



After Zagreb, we went to hike around the Plitvice Lakes National Park.  The area was so beautiful with sixteen tiered lakes connected by cascading waterfalls.  We started hiking from the top lake down and each lake we saw was more beautiful than the last.



After a day around the lake, we found ourselves in Zadar.  We met a woman offering an apartment at the bus station and thankfully accepted her offer.  The apartment was great and the family even cooked us a huge barbeque feast one night! We also really enjoyed walking around the city, and especially listening to the sea organ (uses waves running through its pipes to create haunting music) and seeing the sun salutation (something like a big lit-up club dance floor) at night. 



Our next stop was Sibenik, a really small town along the coast.  We only spent a day there but it was beautiful to wander around the streets and was definitely less touristy than nearby Zadar.



We continued down the coast to Split where we visited Diocletians Palace, ate some great food, and swam in some of the bluest and clearest water I have ever seen.







From Split we went down to the Makarska Riviera.  The scenery was incredible, with the ocean and mountains so close together.  I cant say we did much here other than laze around on the beach all day.



Next we wanted to hit some islands: Hvar and Korcula (which incidentally became our new favorite word to say, especially with a terrible Croatian accent).  Hvar is known as an island for the rich and famous and we saw some huge yachts in the harbour and many people much better dressed than we...although that is perhaps true of most places lately...Korcula was also great, and we spent most of our time relaxing on the nice beaches there.





Our last stop was Dubrovnik.  As touristy as it was, it was also so beautiful. We loved walking around the city walls of the old town that jut out into the ocean and admiring all of the red cobbled roof tops. We spent most of our time exploring the tiny streets of the old town and yes, eating more delicious food. This will likely not be our last visit to this charming city!

View from our guesthouse balcony