Food + Drink Aux quatre coins du vin - Hoping for the opportunity to try a few local wines, I booked us at a wine bar on Saturday night where we shared a card that allowed us to get a 3, 6 or 10 cl...
September 2023 Wine and Rugby: wine tasting in Bordeaux
After picking up our rental car from Avis at the Bordeaux airport, we headed toward Saint-Émilion to explore the town and wine taste... or so we thought. We found a parking space in the free lot...
September 2023 Wine and Rugby: 24hrs in Brooklyn
We started our adventure with an easy Uber ride to the airport, then our flight left on time AND we had an open middle seat between us - huzzah! Our room wasn’t ready at the Even Hotel when we...
Labor Day weekend in Oak Island, NC
Over Labor Day weekend we were invited to stay at a house two blocks from the beach in Oak Island, NC - how could we say no? Oak Island is less than a 3 hour drive from our place, but we still made...
Midwest 2023: three days in Wisconsin
In 2022 we had plans to visit our friend's house on Lake Winnebago, Wisconsin, but ended up cancelling. Determined to visit, we re-scheduled for August 2023, first flying into Chicago and renting a...
Summer 2023: overnight in Lancaster PA
On our way back home from New York we stopped for a night with our friends in Lancaster, PA. After unpacking the car, they took us to Lititz to check out some breweries and local shops. Downtown was...
NY Summer 2023: food
Over the weeks we were in NY we tried a lot of different food options, from restaurants with a view to farmstands and spots in between. Below are our notes: July 2 We arrived in time to spend the...
NY Summer 2023: wine and beer tasting
July 1: Long Island Farm Brewery We stopped here after a long day of driving to stretch our legs. Though this brewery is about 30 minutes from my parent's house we had never visited before. I...
Summer 2023: weekend trip to Connecticut
It has been several years since we had seen some of our family members in Connecticut, so the weekend after Independence Day we traveled up for a quick overnight visit. Our 9:30am ferry out of...
Italy 2023: Bologna food & drink
Monday On our first afternoon in Bologna we saw these little cakes in the window of Paolo Atti & Figli - torta di riso, so we had to try it. It is a lightly sweet cake made from rice that had a...
Italy 2023: daytrip to Modena
Modena has intrigued me for a while, after all it is the home of balsamic vinegar, with ham, lambrusco and other tasty items also produced locally. And with it being about 30 minutes from Bologna by...
Italy 2023: lakeside walk to Garda
From Bardolino it is about a 40 minute walk to Garda. In the morning there is lots of shade, and since it was Saturday the path was busy with dog walkers, bicyclists, etc. Besides the amazing views...
Italy 2023: wine tasting in Veneto and Lombardy
During our planning, we became quite interested in the wine regions around Verona, and we were not disappointed in our visits. There are multiple appellations within 30-60 minutes driving, and each...
Italy: Bardolino food & drink
Thursday Dinner at La Piccola Osteria. I tried the macaroni picante (spicy) with Gorgonzola cheese, delicious! Leandra got the beef cappacio with a pile of cheese on top! We split a 500 ml carafe of...
The mountain vacation that wasn’t
Instead of heading out-of-state for Memorial Day we planned a week-long return (2021, 2022) to the NC mountains. As the title of this post indicates, it simply wasn't meant to be... On 11am Friday...
Italy 2023: Venice food & drink
Monday El Sbarlefo - With our first round of wine, a grechetto for me (lighter white with mineral and nice acidity) and a primitivo for Leandra, we also ordered some fried cheese bites. Leandra had...
Italy 2023: Milan
On this trip to Milan we flew into the smaller, but much closer, Linate airport, which let us take the city 73 bus to the Duomo area. After dropping our bags at the hotel we walked around, trying to...
Weekend trip to Richmond: Carytown and Museum District
After exploring the Lewis Ginter Gardens, we needed some shade and a snack, so we stopped by Garden Grove Brewing. Eric tried their tropical Kitsu (a mead with loads of citrus) while Leandra enjoyed...
Our Itinerary
2025 Trips
Tampa Bay, FL (Jan)
Buenos Aires, Argentina (Feb)
Villa la Angostura, Argentina (Feb)
Bariloche, Argentina (Feb)
Iguazu Falls, Argentina + Brazil (Feb)
Miami, FL (Feb)
Richmond, VA (Mar)
Boston, MA (Apr)
Kathmandu, Nepal (May)
Bhutan (May)
Slovenia (Sep)
Treviso, Italy (Sep)
Bologna, Italy (Sep)
Turin, Italy (Oct)
2024 Trips
San Diego, CA (Jan)
Sarasota, FL (Feb)
Madrid, Spain (Mar)
Valencia, Spain (Mar+Apr)
Palma, Mallorca (Apr)
Croatia (May)
Long Island, NY (July)
Faroe Islands (Aug)
London, UK (Sept)
Puglia, Italy (Sept)
Matera, Italy (Oct)
Rome, Italy (Oct)
Mosel Valley, Germany (Oct)
Frankfurt, Germany (Oct)
London + Manchester, UK (Dec)
2023 Trips
San Diego (Jan)
Orlando (Feb)
Richmond, VA (Apr)
Northern Italy (Apr)
NC Mountains (May)
Long Island (Jul)
Wisconsin (Aug)
Chicago (Aug)
Oak Island, NC (Sept)
Brooklyn, NY (Sept)
Bordeaux + Rugby World Cup (Sep)
Castilla y León (Sep)
Seychelles (Nov)
Willamette Valley (Dec)