[2015] Vulcan, Sicily, Italy

We spent just a 2 nights in Vulcan. I felt like we had landed on a different planet going up this little crater. We also jumped in the hot springs caused by the volcanic activity and we smelt like sulfur for a few days...this can also be mistaken for burnt rubber and seemed to really attract flies for some reason... Some of our clothes we had to trash.

It was a short trip, very cool, and local place - not sure I'd return to stay over night, but it's a nice little island. 

Milan + Piemonte [2015]

 Oh how young we once were! My goodness, nearly 7 years since we went on this lovely trip to Piemonte with our good friend Bill and Sam. This was before our families had two children!!! Oh to be double income no kids once more...

Sam and Bill were wonderful guides as this was not their first time in Piemonte. I fell in love with the wonderful food in this region, it is definitely my favorite cuisine in Italy that I've tried. So simple, delicious and fresh. 

We went to a few wine tastings in the region, and the best one was at Mustela Piemonte, super affordable wines and perfect for a dinner wine. A restaurant owner and his two sommeliers joined us for the tasting, which made it even more interesting. They invited us to their restaurant that evening, so we dropped in - door was locked, so we waited for patrons to leave and snuck in. Our sommelier "friends" hosted us in the foyer, gave us some appetizers, cheese, a great wine recommendation and it was the perfect treat after a wonderful meal at a different restaurant! 

Oh, and they gave us a tour of their wine cellar! Once we went through a room filled with every vintage Dom Perignon, we saw a vault with their expensive stuff...Oy! I was looking forward to leaving the cellar because I was scared I would knock a bottle over. 

Quite memorable trip, and one of the top places I've visited!

[2014] Rome, Italy

I think we can all agree that Rome is the most romantic city in the world

A short trip to Rome around Easter we had divine pasta, coffees and saw the Pope during a service at the Sistine Chapel. Classic. 

[2015] Dubai, UAE and Dibba Al-Baya, Oman

A short visit to our friend Darby's! He lived in Dubai about 3 years, and we made it out for a week. We spent a few days in Dubai trying our best to stay cool, even though it was October and then drove up to Oman to dive a little. 

Our goal was to see a whale shark and unfortunately we did not see one - even though a marine biologist who was a part of our dive group saw one during a dive, she never thought to let us know!!! We were all upset, but our dive guide was most annoyed as he had done many many dives in the region and never seen one. 

Not sure I would recommend Dubai to people, but we had a lot of fun - from indoor skiing, to grilling in the desert, we had a wonderful time. 

 

[2013] Hike, Switzerland

The first few years we arrived in Switzerland, we did one hike to a mountain hut and stayed overnight. Our colleagues would organize it and take us along with them, so I have no idea where this was, and unfortunately did not record it anywhere. 

I think we went on about 4-5 different hikes with our colleagues usually in late spring or early autumn and each one was superbly beautiful! The huts were always so clean, and provided lovely food and wine and comfortable beds. By the time you're up there, any bed would do since you're usually so exhausted from the walk up. We learned over time you can't trust the estimated times on the signs. A 2hr mark on the sign would always take our group 4. Our hikes were always meant to be 3 hrs, and 6 hrs later we'd finally be able to see our hut. 

We haven't gone on a hike like this in years, maybe since we got the Porsche, but maybe we'll try again once our kids are a bit older and they can walk up themselves. 

o - Shangrila

[2014] Iceland

A few random things we did in Iceland:
1. Skógafoss

2. Plane in the middle of no-where. Absolutely beautiful and eerie at the same time. We tried to go there at night and started to get nervous because we couldn't see anything with our crappy headlights. We ended up turning around and went back in the morning. We met two dudes from Basel the next morning at the aircraft and they told us that they got stuck in the beach sand the night before and couldn't see outside because the black sand was creating a black cloud. Soooo glad we turned around when we did. 

3. We traveled by a camper van across the country and it was the best decision. You can park your car anywhere and just sleep. We took some food and were able to stop for lunch anywhere too. Really, really convenient. 

4. Beautiful scenery.

[2015] Moustafa Pass, Switzerland