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We’re currently on holidays in Abruzzo. Our days are a string of idle moments, meals in the family hotel restaurant where we booked our full board stay for a week, long swims with an overjoyed almost-three-year-old girl, and relaxing naps.
Well, I’m learning to relax. I’m training in doing nothing and being idle. I’m actually getting good at it, silencing any sense of guilt whatsoever. I do not have the Italian dolce far niente inscribed in my DNA.
Going against my every impulse, we will probably never even move the car from the hotel garage this week to visit this charming area. We are prioritizing Livia and our time together. She is growing up so fast.
So this week I want you to access your best holiday memories.
Will you tell me which was your best holiday ever? was it for the location or the accommodation? for the company? or maybe for the food? was it because it was perfectly planned and everything worked out smoothly, or because you left destiny guide you?
I’m waiting for your best memories in the comments!
I have two - Dubrovnik for a couple of nights last spring full of sun. history, stunning food and simply just spending time together, and a drive through France with my parents a few years before the pandemic - a rainy few days in the Loire, an idilic, sun and food drenched stay in the Dordogne, followed by a casual few, blisteringly hot days on the patio at their Brittany house admiring the hydrangeas, barbecuing local fish and making salads from the produce from Sarlat market we'd stashed in the car fridge on the drive back up.
Easily my best vacation was my first ever trip to Italy 33 years ago with friends. We drove from Munich, Germany and stopped in each of the following cities (We stopped in some for longer than others); Padua, Ravenna, Venice, Florence and Rome. The food and the wine were of course fabulous. I fell in love with Italy on the first day and that feeling has never left me to this day. But it was sharing the the time with such good friends that made that trip so special and memorable. Sadly, 2 of those friends have since passed away over the years. But I can fondly recall all the wonderful memories...all the laughs and great times we had as if it were yesterday.
The first year our daughters, both newly married, were spending the holidays with the 'in laws" and we were left alone at Christmas. I was bereft. My husband said... "Let's go to Rome" and all of a sudden my heart had hope. We flew on Christmas Day, and spent a very wet soggy week wandering Rome and we could have cared less if it rained. We then drove to Tuscany to an apartment in Panzano where I had a fireplace in the kitchen! I cooked minestrone and we ate many memorable meals as we wandered the countryside. The ultimate night was New Years Eve. After a wonderful dinner in Greve, we climbed the hill to Panzano-- it was close to midnight. The night was crisp and cool, but the rosemary and geraniums were still with us. Then, like magic, at midnight as we stood in the open on top of our hill, fireworks appeared in the distance in all directions. We had no idea this would happen! We could hear a pin drop and we had the night, the stars, the fireworks... the rosemary... and each other after 28 years of marriage. We celebrate year 49 this October- but that night all those years ago goes down in the record book for the best night ever!
I should learn from this. My most memorable was a train ride to Sancerre early in my wife’s and my marriage where we took elementary French, drank cider, ate fresh bread and cheese and walked around that small town (a lot) and were fascinated by the different pizzas we saw and tête-et-langue. We were too broke to do excursions not that I remember them being offered and perhaps too young to appreciate them if we had. But it was before we had cell and ubiquitous Wi-Fi so FaceBook posts came in the form of postcards (also easily discarded memories of others but far less often) so all we had was a bit of homework and each other.
Two weeks in Sarteano, Tuscany with my family. Was it the food? Certainly! The wine? Of course! The location? Definitely! The company? Absolutely! And put all together it provided the setting for a holiday we will always cherish.
A lot of my best holiday time is spent at home. Days with no work and can just do the little things around the house I like to do. Catching up on reading, riding my horse, sewing quilts and just relaxing. When I’m working full time I don’t usually get to enjoy where I live as much as I like. Vacations are fun but I’m always ready to get back home. ♥️ If I didn’t have all the animals to care for I would most definitely travel more because then I wouldn’t worry so much. I love to travel but worry about my farm....
So many great ones but a personal and somewhat recent one was a post retirement trip to Rome. Our first trip to Rome and it was in January. We found the weather just fine even if Romans thought it cold. But the best part was that Rome was practically empty of tourists. So, we could wake up in the morning, plan our day including choosing the restaurants we wanted to try and then we could just do it ... without a single reservation. We loved every single spontaneous day.
So many over the years but recently our trip to Maine in 2021 when I got to revisit my childhood spots and spend 4 wonderful days out on Monhegan. And I guess last year on out 3 week trip back to Italy, enjoying food and wine and train rides, staying with friends at their B&B near Lucca, revisiting the trattoria il Poggio from our 2017 trip and finally having our cooking class with you. We enjoyed wandering aimlessly around enjoying ourselves.
I have so many excellent vacations to choose from. Going to New York City was an amazing experience filled with good food and lots of great adventures. Lately, however, I've been thinking about how as a child my family would go camping at the beach every year. We would spend our days boogie boarding and playing in the tide pools looking for sea stars and baby octopuses and sea cucumbers. If we weren't at the beach, we were riding our bikes and roller blades around the campground, making sure to stop by the little campground store for all the candy we could afford with the money our grandma used to send in every card she sent us.
One year, I was "rescued" by an over-eager lifeguard and the whole beach stood around watching me get saved from a slippery boogie board. It was the most embarrassing thing to happen to me at the time and I was mortified, but I still ended up back in the water the next day.
Easily my holiday to Bali with my huge extended family. We rented a bus that fits the whole of us which I believe was almost 30 people. We hired a guide that accompanied us throughout Bali. We stayed in multiple hotels and I remember we went to the famous duck restaurant near the rice fields. The good ol’ days!
Love this post and reminded me of the two weeks we spent driving down the Adriatic coast of Puglia, stopping at little towns where we felt there pull of "la dolce far niente". This trip was after 2 years of taking care of my MIL who was slowly dying of Alzheimer's.... What a place to decompress, feel the love of the southern Italian people, eat the most nourishing food and soaking in the incredible Adriatic 💙
As a child it was definitely time spent visiting family and the ocean on Long Island, New York. Summer evenings filled with fabled family stories, lots of great food and cousins whispering about out amusing great aunts. However, last summer when I spent two weeks of slow travel in Toscana was pretty amazing. The attention to detail and effort put into enjoying small moments left lasting impressions that I miss. Although, really hoping to find and enjoy a similar experience next year in Sicilia. I have a feeling that will also produce some long lasting amazing memories.
I have two - Dubrovnik for a couple of nights last spring full of sun. history, stunning food and simply just spending time together, and a drive through France with my parents a few years before the pandemic - a rainy few days in the Loire, an idilic, sun and food drenched stay in the Dordogne, followed by a casual few, blisteringly hot days on the patio at their Brittany house admiring the hydrangeas, barbecuing local fish and making salads from the produce from Sarlat market we'd stashed in the car fridge on the drive back up.
Easily my best vacation was my first ever trip to Italy 33 years ago with friends. We drove from Munich, Germany and stopped in each of the following cities (We stopped in some for longer than others); Padua, Ravenna, Venice, Florence and Rome. The food and the wine were of course fabulous. I fell in love with Italy on the first day and that feeling has never left me to this day. But it was sharing the the time with such good friends that made that trip so special and memorable. Sadly, 2 of those friends have since passed away over the years. But I can fondly recall all the wonderful memories...all the laughs and great times we had as if it were yesterday.
The first year our daughters, both newly married, were spending the holidays with the 'in laws" and we were left alone at Christmas. I was bereft. My husband said... "Let's go to Rome" and all of a sudden my heart had hope. We flew on Christmas Day, and spent a very wet soggy week wandering Rome and we could have cared less if it rained. We then drove to Tuscany to an apartment in Panzano where I had a fireplace in the kitchen! I cooked minestrone and we ate many memorable meals as we wandered the countryside. The ultimate night was New Years Eve. After a wonderful dinner in Greve, we climbed the hill to Panzano-- it was close to midnight. The night was crisp and cool, but the rosemary and geraniums were still with us. Then, like magic, at midnight as we stood in the open on top of our hill, fireworks appeared in the distance in all directions. We had no idea this would happen! We could hear a pin drop and we had the night, the stars, the fireworks... the rosemary... and each other after 28 years of marriage. We celebrate year 49 this October- but that night all those years ago goes down in the record book for the best night ever!
I should learn from this. My most memorable was a train ride to Sancerre early in my wife’s and my marriage where we took elementary French, drank cider, ate fresh bread and cheese and walked around that small town (a lot) and were fascinated by the different pizzas we saw and tête-et-langue. We were too broke to do excursions not that I remember them being offered and perhaps too young to appreciate them if we had. But it was before we had cell and ubiquitous Wi-Fi so FaceBook posts came in the form of postcards (also easily discarded memories of others but far less often) so all we had was a bit of homework and each other.
Two weeks in Sarteano, Tuscany with my family. Was it the food? Certainly! The wine? Of course! The location? Definitely! The company? Absolutely! And put all together it provided the setting for a holiday we will always cherish.
A lot of my best holiday time is spent at home. Days with no work and can just do the little things around the house I like to do. Catching up on reading, riding my horse, sewing quilts and just relaxing. When I’m working full time I don’t usually get to enjoy where I live as much as I like. Vacations are fun but I’m always ready to get back home. ♥️ If I didn’t have all the animals to care for I would most definitely travel more because then I wouldn’t worry so much. I love to travel but worry about my farm....
So many great ones but a personal and somewhat recent one was a post retirement trip to Rome. Our first trip to Rome and it was in January. We found the weather just fine even if Romans thought it cold. But the best part was that Rome was practically empty of tourists. So, we could wake up in the morning, plan our day including choosing the restaurants we wanted to try and then we could just do it ... without a single reservation. We loved every single spontaneous day.
So many over the years but recently our trip to Maine in 2021 when I got to revisit my childhood spots and spend 4 wonderful days out on Monhegan. And I guess last year on out 3 week trip back to Italy, enjoying food and wine and train rides, staying with friends at their B&B near Lucca, revisiting the trattoria il Poggio from our 2017 trip and finally having our cooking class with you. We enjoyed wandering aimlessly around enjoying ourselves.
I have so many excellent vacations to choose from. Going to New York City was an amazing experience filled with good food and lots of great adventures. Lately, however, I've been thinking about how as a child my family would go camping at the beach every year. We would spend our days boogie boarding and playing in the tide pools looking for sea stars and baby octopuses and sea cucumbers. If we weren't at the beach, we were riding our bikes and roller blades around the campground, making sure to stop by the little campground store for all the candy we could afford with the money our grandma used to send in every card she sent us.
One year, I was "rescued" by an over-eager lifeguard and the whole beach stood around watching me get saved from a slippery boogie board. It was the most embarrassing thing to happen to me at the time and I was mortified, but I still ended up back in the water the next day.
Easily my holiday to Bali with my huge extended family. We rented a bus that fits the whole of us which I believe was almost 30 people. We hired a guide that accompanied us throughout Bali. We stayed in multiple hotels and I remember we went to the famous duck restaurant near the rice fields. The good ol’ days!
Love this post and reminded me of the two weeks we spent driving down the Adriatic coast of Puglia, stopping at little towns where we felt there pull of "la dolce far niente". This trip was after 2 years of taking care of my MIL who was slowly dying of Alzheimer's.... What a place to decompress, feel the love of the southern Italian people, eat the most nourishing food and soaking in the incredible Adriatic 💙
As a child it was definitely time spent visiting family and the ocean on Long Island, New York. Summer evenings filled with fabled family stories, lots of great food and cousins whispering about out amusing great aunts. However, last summer when I spent two weeks of slow travel in Toscana was pretty amazing. The attention to detail and effort put into enjoying small moments left lasting impressions that I miss. Although, really hoping to find and enjoy a similar experience next year in Sicilia. I have a feeling that will also produce some long lasting amazing memories.