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....
Blog posts from restaurants
Euro Fall 2024: Bari food & drink
Monday, Sept 23 Our first dinner was at Ruffiano, where we had made reservations - they were busy on a Monday night, and we were seated at an outdoor table. Little did Leandra know that the...
Europe Spring 2024: Istria restaurants
Pazin Peperone - Located just a few blocks from our apartment, we stopped in and made a reservation for dinner on our first night. It's a good thing we did, as a group of ~20 French folks had...
Europe Spring 2024: Plitvice food & drink
As it was a 15 minute drive on a rural road into Rakovica, we limited our trips, but still managed to try three places. Bistro Old Shatterhand - We had made a reservation for 8pm, but it was not...
Europe Spring 2024: Driving to Plitvice, Istria, and Zagreb
On this trip we focused on northern Croatia, spending the majority of our time near Plitvice and in Istria. That necessitated a car, and all together, we drove about 800km across small country roads...
Europe Spring 2024: 18 hours in Zagreb
We had less than a day in Zagreb, but we tried to get a feel for the city nonetheless. Our drive from the airport to a downtown parking garage was relatively straightforward, followed by dropping...
Europe Spring 2024: Palma food and drink
Some of the more popular places in town are difficult to visit on the weekend without reservations, so Leandra booked us both lunch and dinner on Friday and Saturday ahead of our trip. El Camino for...
European Spring 2024: Madrid, pt 1
We arrived in Madrid after a turbulent overnight flight in business class. I think Leandra was glad to be off that plane! Even though we had a metro card we could recharge, we decided to take an...
European Spring 2024: 30 hours in Chicago
Our flight to Spain left Chicago O'Hare on Monday, so we decided to position ourselves in the city on Sunday just in case of travel delays. Unfortunately, Southwest only had an early Sunday morning...
Florida’s Sun Coast: overnight in Savannah
For our trip back to NC we decided to spend a night in Savannah - it would break up the trip into two easier driving days, plus we had a free night certificate at an IHG hotel that we needed to use....
Florida’s Sun Coast: restaurants
During our two week stay we tried lots of restaurants, ranging from classic breakfasts to a beach cocktail spot, and from in-restaurant to take-away. Breakfast Original Word of Mouth - Quite busy on...
San Diego 2024: food & drink
Thursday This year we arrived in San Diego in the early evening, so after checking in to the hotel {link to hotel blog post} we drove to Hillcrest Brewing to check out what they had on offer....
Seychelles: La Digue restaurants and takeaway
Glorious Bakery We stopped in for take-away pizza (margarita) on our first day. Better than the Lobster Bay pizza on Praslin and priced fine at 150scr ($10.50). Enough for us to split with two...
Seychelles: Praslin restaurants and takeaway
Lobster Bay Restaurant Our first dinner on Praslin, conveniently located just a 2 minute drive from our hotel with a few parking spots out front. We had stopped in earlier to make a reservation and...
Seychelles: Mahe restaurants and takeaway
La Perle Noire Restaurant This was our first night on the island, and we arrived right as they were opening at 6pm. Even though the restaurant was fully booked, the owner kindly gave us a table...
September 2023 Wine and Rugby: evening in Madrid
We dropped off the car at the airport and took an Uber into the city. After relaxing in the room for a bit, I stopped into ALE-HOP to look for comfy socks and found a pair of fluffy rainbow slippers...
September 2023 Wine and Rugby: Bordeaux food + sights
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: 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...
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, UK (Dec)
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)