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...
Blog posts from wine
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...
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...
Shelton Vineyards
Our drive back from the mountains took us near the North Carolina Yadkin Valley AVA, so we figured it would be a good opportunity to try out a winery. Shelton Vineyards had both red and white wine,...
Poland 2022: Krakow food & drink
We tried quite a few different places in Krakow, including cafes, restaurants, bars, bakeries, and street vendors. Our only regret is that we couldn't try even more spots! Thursday Koliba Góralskie...
NY Summer 2022: wine and beer tasting
Much like previous summers, we sampled several wines and beers across the month of July. Lenz Winery, Peconic We've been members for years now, and Lenz always has some interesting wines available....
Pacific Northwest, June 2022: Oregon wine tasting
Dominio IV - Our first wine tasting of the trip. Jose did a great job taking care of us and we enjoyed sitting at the high top outside on the patio. We even had a mini tour after the tasting was...
Oregon 2021: wineries
Because of COVID we had to make reservations in advance for each place, so we only did 1-2 places per day, which forced us to relax at each a bit more than in previous trips. Arborbrook Our first...
Oregon 2021: Portland
Our Oregon trip was bookended by days in Portland. On Sunday morning, we checked out of the Holiday Inn and headed to the Gateway Breakfast House for breakfast. They were busy! After a short 10...
NY Summer 2021: Wine and beer tasting
Much like previous summers, we spent a few afternoons visiting local wineries and breweries in July. Lenz Winery, Peconic We've been members for years now, and Lenz always has some interesting wines...
Patagonia: Puerto Varas food + drink
We arrived into town on a sunny Sunday and after checking into our B&B we decided to walk into town and grab lunch. Puerto Varas has some lovely views of the lake and volcanoes, and as with...
Patagonia: a day in Atlanta
Originally we had tickets to fly into Atlanta a few hours before our late Sunday evening flight to Santiago, but about three months out Southwest cancelled that flight and moved us to a 6:50am...
Portugal 2019: Douro daytrip
Our Douro Valley daytrip with EFun Tours had a late start due to three Brazilian ladies who couldn't find parking. Thankfully we got along fine with the other couple on the tour, two retired...
Portugal 2019: Porto food & drink
Friday I was feeling pretty hungry when we arrived in Porto so we went looking for a place nearby to grab a light snack. Many restaurants didn't open until 7pm (it was close to 5:30) so after...
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)