Italy with Miles and Simone

I have not had the wanderlust for a long time!  I read a quote a little while back about creating a life that you don't have to vacation from.  And that made me pause for a bit!  Though we've had some really fun trips, they were usually because we had a climbing event or our extended family planned it.  I really love my life and am very happy to be home most of the time.  I especially love being in Utah during the summer.  May-October is just about perfection!  I am always working in my yard, getting lots of time outside.  

But honestly, by February/March I'm really ready for a sunny week somewhere. 

My preference is Hawaii.  I'm not as adventurous as I used to be.  I'm not itching to make a long flight halfway around the world and to be in a foreign country.  I'll park myself down on a lounger in Hawaii, eat shave ice, and watch whales and be perfectly happy for the week.  I'd take Mexico too.

Likewise, I love Lake Powell and could do that trip annually again someday when it lines up with our kids schedules and we buy another boat.

On my bucket list is going back to the Dolomites/Switzerland/Germany to hike.   And also I would love to go to the Chelsea Flower Show in London someday.  But right now, it is winter there and the things I want to do there are impossible. 

So in early October I was in a mental space of just being happy to stay home when a great deal popped up for a trip to Venice:  27,000 Skymiles! We were tempted.  I called Jared, knowing it would go fast.  We decided to book since we had a little cancellation window to think about it.  We talked to Miles and Simone and since they aren't in school we decided to go for it.   Soren doesn't like to miss school.  And also we knew it would be good for Miles and Simone to have it just be the two of them.  They need some good quality time together!  Since Miles came home from his mission, he's in Provo and Simone in Salt Lake.  

The deal was for SLC to Venice.  Knowing November is rainy season, we were playing it by ear.  Just before we left we booked an Airbnb for San Marcos square.  Miles likes to be right in the middle of all the action.   Beautiful views and a perfect setup with 2 bedrooms, a sauna (which I used to get warm every night) and a mini kitchen and a nice living space to watch movies at night.

We stayed in Venice for three days.  The first was mainly recovering from the overnight flight and adjusting to the time differences.  We loved seeing the churches, museums and Palau D'Oro since we had not been able to do that our first time in Venice.  It was so cool with AI!  You can just take a photo of artwork and it tells you all the history of it.  Very cool!  So Miles was up so early looking up all the architectural details of the places around us and giving us cool facts.  Like the pillars on the church that were, but pillaged in the fourth crusade in Constantinople.  Or the winged Lion pillar from Lebanon (Tyre), etc.  It was super interesting.  We did the Secret Itineraries tour, which was interesting.  AI still has a long way to go.  

Grok actually was arguing with Jared about a place he took a photo of and insisting it was in Florence.  It was funny but weird.  I love Venice!  Especially since it was not crowded or hot.  Last time we went to Burano and Murano and this time we did other things close to where we stayed and it was relaxing and fun. 

The best view from our Airbnb

Great views from this Airbnb

If I was going to Venice with just Jared, this is where I'd stay

Hotel Flora, so cute!

Our Airbnb is the windows just to the right of the clock!

matching with the mosaic

The night before leaving Venice we had to decide where to spend the next few days.  We'd already explored the Dolomites, Cinque Terre, Bologna, Modena, and Florence/Tuscany on our last trip.  And years ago we went to Rome and the Amalfi coast plus we didn't want long travel days.  So we have seen some of the bigger cities in Italy.  We considered Ravenna (Elise RAVES about Ravenna haha) and San Marino but ultimately we let the weather direct us and we ended up heading to Verona and Lake Garda.  When I saw that Verona had their Christmas market opening that day, and a great deal on a nice hotel, we decided that was a done deal.  I LOVED Verona.  It was just so picture perfect.  Very clean, small city center with not as many tourists.  Just a really fun vibe.  We loved the old arena right next to the beautiful shopping area and cute little Christmas Market.  There were no American tourists that we spotted.  It was very interesting!  Lots of families.  I wish I'd had more time to explore just Verona.  I didn't get to see the Giardino Giusti.  Would love to go back and see Milan, a little more Verona and then finish my hikes in Dolomites.  We stayed at a hotel in the city center.  It had parking which was very hard to find otherwise.  Big win!  Plus it had the most delicious breakfast and was close to everything.  It was such a great price too--like less than a Courtyard Marriott around here.  We were very impressed.  

The cheese boy flirting with Simone haha

beautiful morning walks in Verona

Gingko Tree Beautiful

Lake Garda is just 40 minutes or less from Verona and has an interesting microclimate because of the Lake.  It's surrounded by mountains, yet has lemon trees and olive groves all around.  And the famous climbing town Arco is just a couple miles away.  People like to climb in Arco because of the limestone cliffs and mild climate.  

We used AI to make us an itinerary.  The whole day was like a feast for my eyes.  It was hard to even take it all in.  It was breathtaking.  I was in heaven.

Our first stop was the Santuario Corona Della Madonna.  I was pleased when both my kids were excited to see it.  Miles was geeking out a bit with all the religious facts in Italy.  The church had a replica of the Shroud of Turin.  He loved telling us all about it, I would have had no idea of its significance.  It's a beautiful, perfectly simple church sharing a wall with the side of the mountain.  We enjoyed the short paved hike to get there.  And all the statues of Christ along the way.  It was dusted with snow and just a beautiful way to start the Christmas Season.  

 

When we learned that Winston Churchill called the Strada Della Forra the 8th wonder of the world we had to see it!  It is a twisty road full of these mossy grottos and lake vistas.  I'm not sure if it was one way.  We were wondering how in the world people could drive this on a busy day.

We loved the little town of Limone Sul Garda is a bit of a ghost town in November.  But I didn't mind that as I don't like crowds much.  It was really beautiful.  Lemon trees everywhere and a beautiful little harbor and beach area I'd love to see on a sunny day. 

We made our way to the Trento Christmas market as well.  It was very crowded and very different than the Verona market.  Yummy Hash brown "tortilla" with melty cheese and speck was fun to try.  We brought home some wool socks, speck, an olive wood cutting board for Miles and a nativity from the Santuario.  The whole city of Trento had different areas that were decked out for Christmas.  We spent several hours exploring.   Trento is at the foothills of the dolomites.  Our last trip we took a different route and got almost to Trento.  So it was fun to see what was on the other side.  

So our day trip, even though nothing was too far of a drive, ended being a bit like the road to Hana with lots of stops along the way.

We didn't have time that day for Simone to climb in Arco.  We really wanted to see what this town was all about.  So we drove back the next day and she got to climb at a gym there.  It's always fun to walk into a new gym.  She was straight away making lots of new friends and getting some beta coaching by an old climber there.  She got lots of attention right away for discreetly flashing hard climbs in rental shoes.

Random castles just everywhere.  This one in Arco.

For our last night we wanted to be somewhat close to the airport and Jared and I had such a fun time at the spa hotel we stayed at in Abano Terme on our last trip.  We found it by luck at the last minute and were so excited to one day bring our kids back.  It is the perfect way to end a trip of lots of walking and sightseeing. 

But the Tritone where we stayed before was super expensive for some reason.  We couldn't justify that.  So we researched some other options and stayed at another hotel with great reviews.  However after prepaying and checking in, I just felt disappointed.  Although my kids liked the spa, I knew that this place did not compare to the other.  It was uninspiring tired Venetian decor and normal food for Italy.  

I mean it's okay.  But not exciting.

So the next morning our flight was delayed and we had to make a new plan to stay one more night.  We looked and looked and decided on another hotel in Abano Terme.  This had the same good price as the last hotel.  And the exact same reviews.  We drove around the corner to look at it before we booked and I walked in and saw the entrance and was totally sold.  It was beautiful!  Such a weird thing to me that for the same price I could stay at this much nicer hotel.

This had me swooning

The fun part of this hotel is the spa part is all included, although you pay extra for mud and massage treatments.  They are so reasonable.  Taking our family here and spending a week would cost about what a cruise costs.  And all around are cool fun things to see.  Castles, Venice, Padova, Verona, Garda.  Its pretty great.

This kid looked so funny in his robe and we were just all cracking up. 

Somehow they only gave us three mandatory swim caps haha

We LOVED it.  The outdoor pool that is heated by the underground springs.  I loved the steam room that was covered in a beautiful mosaic.  The saunas were huge.  Salt caves and all kinds of fun spa areas all included in the price per night.  The included dinner was phenomenal and we were very pleased with our luck to stay an extra day.  We liked it even better than the Tritone we had stayed at previously.

Miles and I also hit the local garden center and found some good stuff to bring home from the Coop grocery store too.

So I came away from this trip feeling like I was kidding myself thinking I was a little over traveling.

I came home and straightaway bought some white amaryllis.