Wednesday, September 26, 2012

European Vacation

Vacation time! In August all of Spain shuts down. Quite literally everyone takes off for vacation season and in the case of Ricardo´s family living in Bilbao, the offices literally close for 3 weeks where you are forced to take your vacation days at that time. So every year you can find the de Abiega´s on a trip to somewhere. We joined them this year for a week around Italy, Slovenia and Croatia. I was a bit hesitant since this was my last week allowed to fly, however I survived. The tough part was the driving. Nearly 4-5 hours everyday! When we travel..... we travel hard! 
 
This one is for mom- Italian Gelato, her favorite!
first stop Sirmione- a beautiful little village on the lakes (and it was hot!!!)
Next on to Riva di Garda- on lake Garda, this village is set in the middle of mountains and is breathtaking! I could have spent 3 days just here alone.
The Dolomites- Pozza di Fassa. While I didn´t make the hike, the views were out of this world from every spot! (This is only 30 minutes from where I went skiing when I lived in Italy. So beautiful in the summer)
Ricardo and I at the overlook in Ortisei
Cortina D´Ampezzo- loved this town. Ricardo and his brother spent the morning biking the route of the Giro de Italia! We spent the day enjoying a nice breakfast, shopping, walking thru the streets and a nice big Italian lunch!
The view from our hotel balcony
Picking out Carolina´s new stroller!
Liubljana- Our quick day trip to Slovenia, which was a nice suprise. I´d been to the mountains in Slovenia before, but this was a charming little city with cute bars and restaurants on the riverfront.
On to Croatia- 1st stop Plitvice National Park
Beautiful hiking trails, waterfalls, lakes and scenery. 5 hour hike around the park! I was so proud!! and by the end- Ricardo was literally pushing me up the hills!
Detour to Krk Island- instead of following the rest of the fam a bit further south, we took a shortcut to the coast and spent the next 2 days on a lovely island, at a lovely hotel and enjoying a bit of a break from the running around.
and back where we started- Venice!
Delicious meal at a restaurant near our hotel in Cannaregio- the Jewish Quarters- highly recommended area- with quiet streets, great food and easy to get to the airport and all the main sites in Venice
Scenes from Venice

No comments: