Previous years-in-review – 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009 In 2024 all our international travel took place via four trips to Europe. And on...
Blog posts from International Travel
UK Dec 2024: Liverpool daytrip
Martha and I decided to head to Liverpool for the day. Easy enough to catch a train from Manchester Oxford Road station direct to Liverpool Lime Street. Immediately after exiting the station we saw...
UK Dec 2024: Manchester food & drink
Turtle Bay A chain restaurant in the UK with a Caribbean theme, we were intrigued by their 2-for-1 happy hour before 6:30p. The 'One Love' with passion fruit was nice, as was the combo of a...
UK Dec 2024: Manchester sights
Manchester is a bustling city with converted old brick warehouses and gleaming steel and glass towers on the same street. Over several days we explored its markets, historic landmarks, and street...
UK Dec 2024: London food & drink
We split our time in London returning to old favorites and trying some new spots. Given how busy things were in 2022 we knew we should get reservations, and it definitely paid off as London felt...
UK Dec 2024: London sights
Friday Right after we dropped off our luggage, Leandra headed to Bank to exchange some old money for new bills since they were only open until 3pm. The process was easy, just had to show bills to be...
UK Dec 2024: introduction
In the summer we started planning an international group trip, our first since 2018. The UK ticked a lot of boxes - the direct flight from RDU to London was quite open, and London is always fun and...
Euro Fall 2024: a day in Frankfurt
Visiting Frankfurt itself was a bit of an afterthought on this trip, and once we started researching options it didn't endear us much. One such issue was figuring out the best transportation options...
Euro Fall 2024: wine tasting in Rheinhessen and Mosel Valley
Ahead of this trip, I had reached out to several wineries to inquire about tastings. While many were available to book online through the Wine Tourism site, we also had good luck booking directly...
Euro Fall 2024: Mosel Valley towns – Cochem, Saarburg, Trier
The Mosel Valley is full of vineyards, with charming cities and villages interspersed between the growing regions. One day we went north toward Cochem, and on the second we headed south, stopping in...
Euro Fall 2024: Bernkastel-Kues
The Mosel valley is a popular destination in Germany and there are lots of places to stay both in towns and in the countryside, so making a decision on where to stay rather challenging....
Euro Fall 2024: Mainz
For our flight from Italy back to the US we had the option for a multi-day stopover in Germany. Not too far from Frankfurt is the bulk of Germany's wine region along the Rhine and Mosel rivers, so...
Euro Fall 2024: two nights in Rome
On Monday we took the train from Bari to Rome. The train trip itself was strange in that there was no space for larger bags, so we were forced to reshuffle our packing in order to jam our bags in...
Euro Fall 2024: a weekend in Matera
After a week in Valle d'Itria we checked out of our apartment and headed north to the very edge of Puglia and Basilicata, with Matera as our destination for two final nights in southern Italy....
Euro Fall 2024: Puglia coastal towns
Pulia is also known for its coastline, and on this trip we visited several of the sea-side towns. southern Italy map with coastal towns inset location Puglia coast towns we visited Towns we visited...
Euro Fall 2024: food in Locorotondo and wine “experiences”
Tuesday, Oct 1 Our first dinner in Locorotondo was also our best. Pavì wine restaurant is located just outside of the narrow old town, with a terrace overlooking the landscape. It was chilly though...
Euro Fall 2024: a week in Valle d’Itria
Following our week in Bari and weekend in Lecce, we next headed to the middle of Puglia, Valle d'Itria. southern Italy map with Valle d'Itria inset location Valle d'Itria towns we visited Known for...
Euro Fall 2024: Lecce food & drink
Saturday, Sept 28 Dinner at Crianza - you definitely needed reservations here! Lots of people turned away. We sat outside and enjoyed watching the streams of people, and a considerable number of...
Our Itinerary
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)
2022 Trips
Florida (Feb)
NC Mountains (Apr)
Washington DC (Apr)
Valencia, Spain (May)
Hilton Head, SC (May)
Pacific NW (Jun)
Long Island (Jul)
Florida (Sept)
Chicago (Sept)
Poland (Sept)
NC Mountains (Nov)
Euro Xmas Markets (Dec)