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

Happy Thanksgiving!

It´s a cold November´s day..... and I´m craving Turkey and Dressing like you can´t imagine!!!! Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Celebrating with the family a few years back in Tennessee.

This was taken in 2004 when I lived in Italy. I love this picture with all my friends from the Genoa days.... I had just moved there and decided to attempt a Thanksgiving dinner for everyone. Did I mention that the only turkey we could find still had the feathers on it!! Even cuter was everyone wearing the Indian headbands! Such sweet memories.

Roma

It´s been 3 years since I´ve returned to my previous homeland. My friend Vikki was in Rome this past weekend "studying to be an italian" =) and I was lucky enough to find a nice deal on flights and spent the weekend with her. Fantastic time! We spent the whole weekend going from cafès to piazzas to restaurants and back. The below was from Piazza Navona, a nice Italian lunch, and the Trevi fountain.