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!
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| This one is for mom- Italian Gelato, her favorite! |
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| first stop Sirmione- a beautiful little village on the lakes (and it was hot!!!) |
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| 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. |
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| 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) |
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| Ricardo and I at the overlook in Ortisei |
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| 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! |
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| The view from our hotel balcony |
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| Picking out Carolina´s new stroller! |
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| 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. |
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| On to Croatia- 1st stop Plitvice National Park |
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| 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! |
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| 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. |
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| and back where we started- Venice! |
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| 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 |
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| Scenes from Venice |
