#motherhood inspired
A must-read travel guide to the bests of Abbotsford, British Columbia! Here is a detailed itinerary of the yummiest restaurants, prettiest wineries and the best Boutique hotel in the area! If you’re planning a visit to Tulip Festival next year or just in need of a relaxing vacation, make sure to bookmark this post!
ITALY IN 10 DAYSMy short and sweet travel guide on how to see the best sights of Italy in 10 days.
I am a mother with 2 young kids so my husband and I rarely get to take a trip together. We love traveling but getting away for an extended length of time can be really tough. We’ve always wanted to see Italy so for our 5 year wedding anniversary, we decided to do it. I must admit, I am a crazy planner when it comes to traveling somewhere. I have a phobia of showing up to a new place and missing out on something because I failed to know about it. So for Italy, I spent hours in front of the computer researching Trip Advisor and flipping through my Fodors guide book trying to plan the best trip in a short amount of time. With so many places to go and things to see, Italy can be a bucket list trip.
Here is our 10 day Italian itinerary with overnight stops in Venice, Florence, Cinque Terre, Siena and Rome with a pit-stop in Pisa. Don’t forget about other cities like Milan, Naples and the Amalfi Coast. It’s just so hard to choose!
A few tips:
*On a short time frame, stay in the heart of the cities. Don’t waste time commuting in everyday to see the major attractions.
*Get good maps and ask for directions! Especially if you are driving.
*Fly to Venice and work your way down or to Rome and work your way up.
*On the first Sunday of every month, Italy offers free admission to all museums.
*If you can purchase your admissions tickets ahead of time it may save you a lot of waiting!
Venice is my absolute favourite city in Italy. We started our journey here and I don’t think you could pick a more unique and romantic place to stay. You will love getting lost in a maze of walkways and bridges as every time you turn a corner, you are greeted with a new sight.
Must-see:
*Basilica di San Marco
*a Gondola Ride
*Rialto Bridge
*Strolling through the neighbourhoods of San Marco and Dosoduro
Must-eat:
*Pizza lunch at Antico Forno
Florence is easily the cultural centre of art history in Italy. Get here in a couple hours by taking a high speed train from Venice to Florence. The city is easily accessible by walking or biking and it’s easy to cover a lot of ground in one day. The Duomo is the heart of the city and an absolutely magnificent sight. Climb the windy stone staircase to the top if you aren’t too claustrophobic!
Must-see:
*The Duomo
*Galleria dell’Accademia (home of Michelangelo’s David)
*Ponte Vecchio
*Piazza della Signoria
*Piazzale Michelangelo
Must-Eat:
*Gelato at Grom
Must-Stay:
My husband and I decided to rent a car for 4 days to visit the Italian Riveria towns of Cinque Terre and then the Chianti Wine region town called Siena. Rental cars can easily be reserved ahead online. Although driving can be confusing, if you get a good map and directions ahead of time, this is a wonderful way to explore Italy.
You cannot beat the culture and beauty of Cinque Terre. I could have stayed much longer exploring these 5 coastal villages. Monterosso Al Mare is the larger town and offers more in the way of dining and lodging but all towns are worth thoroughly exploring.
For all the information you need on Cinque Terre, please visit my previous detailed blog post here.
Must-stay:
Pisa can be a pit-stop. We stopped here while driving from Cinque Terre to Siena. We found free street parking and spent an hour touring around the grassy piazza of the Leaning Tour of Pisa. It is a beautiful plaza that is worth a stop.
The Tuscany wine region is most easily accessible by car. I would highly recommend seeing this region by this mode of transportation as it is wonderful to have a bit of open freedom after touring some of the larger cities. Siena is a beautiful walled medieval city with fantastic surrounding views. If you don’t want to stay in town, I would suggest booking a villa in the countryside. If you’re looking for a different option than Siena, try the town of San Gimignano.
After spending our first day walking and sight seeing in Siena, we spent our second day touring around the Tuscan Chianti region in our rental car. This was the perfect way to relax and go at our own pace. Take your time lunching and wine tasting along your drive between Castellina , Radda and Gaiole in Chianti.
Must-See:
*Piazza Del Campo
*Duomo and Cripta
*Castello di Brolio (castle tour and wine tasting)
Must-Eat:
*La Prosciuterria – the most delicious meat and cheese boards from local produce.
*Ice Cream in the town of Castellina in Chianti
Must-Stay:
*Hotel Athena (the above photo of the countryside is the view from our room and they include parking!)
Rome may be a little overwhelming after 8 full days of traveling. There is enough to do and see to fill your days here. The long lines and flocks of tourists may seem daunting but everything you see will be worth it, especially St. Peter’s Basilica.
After returning our car to Florence we took another high-speed train to Rome. Rome is one of the only Italian cities that has a subway system so use it when your legs need a rest. It also can connect you to the airport which is super convenient. There are “hop-on hop-off” bus tours too that take you to all the main attractions. This is a good option when traveling in those hot summer months.
Must-see:
*St. Peter’s Basilica
*The Vatican Museums including the Sistine Chapel
*Trevi Fountain
*Colosseum
*Pantheon
Must-Eat:
*Trattoria il Tettarello (we ate here both nights we loved it so much, best pizza ever!)
Whether you are blessed with more time in Italy or less, choose an itinerary that suits your needs. We definitely tried to cram as much as we could into our ten days but I didn’t want to miss any of the spectacular sights in these six cities (see, it’s my phobia!). It’s true I felt pretty exhausted on our journey home but my soul felt full.
Amore,
Kiki
If you are dreaming of Italy but won’t be getting there
anytime soon, try one of their signature beverages this summer. When my husband and I were vacationing there
last week, this bright orange drink seemed to be
enjoyed by locals and tourists at every cafe, bar and restaurant we passed. On our second day in Venice, we pointed it out to our waitress and she promptly called it a “Spritz”. And you know the
cliché “When in Rome…” (or Venice, right!?) so we ordered two and gave it a
whirl.
We were soon hooked on this delicious and refreshing
beverage. I’d never tasted anything like
it in Canada before, so while in Siena, we commissioned our bartender to show us
how to make it and what ingredients we would need. Needless to say we did fill one suitcase full
of wine, lemoncello and Aperol for the journey home. The good news for you is that all these
ingredients can be purchased in North America too!
Spritz Recipe:
Prosecco –A dry sparkling white wine from Italy, made from
Glera grapes.
Aperol – An Italian Aperitif that was a sweet tangerine
taste with hints of bitter spices.
Soda Water – good ol’ carbonated water.
Fill your white wine glass half-full with ice. Add 3 ounces of Prosecco, then 2 ounces of
Aperol. Top with 1 ounce of soda
water. Garnish with an orange slice and
green olive! The ratio is always 3:2:1 so you can use that to make a smaller or larger drink!
Salute!
Kiki
Watch for upcoming blog posts on “How to do 10 days in Italy” and “Cinque Terre: The Italian Riviera” !
EASY READS AND EASY DRINKING WINES
I love to read. Always have. I wish I had more time for it, but now with two kids and my Harper’s Hats business I feel that I have less and less. When it’s 10:30 at night, I need a book that will keep me from nodding off within the first couple pages and we all know that a good story is what keeps those pages turning.
I have been lucky enough to have landed into the most wonderful book club since moving to Calgary six years ago. Our love of reading is what brings us together every month, even though we mostly just eat great food, drink good wine and catch-up. We all have different tastes and I have read some wonderful books because of their suggestions. In honour of my wonderful friends, I am sharing my favourite books that I found impossible to put down and those easy-drinking glasses of wine to go with them.
I have included 5 fantastic books and their plots (taken from Chapters of Indigo). After putting this post together, I have noticed that I evidently really like California wine! I even included a handy cheat sheet for you so that you can take a photo and save it for your next trip to Chapters or Costco Liquor.
Whether you are a mom or a working woman or both, grab one of these books and it’s complimentary wine pairing and I guarantee you’ll be staying up well past 10:30.
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I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak (you’ll be hearing more about him in future book posts, he is my FAVOURITE author)
“Ed Kennedy is an underage cabdriver without much of a future. He’s pathetic at playing cards, hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey, and utterly devoted to his coffee-drinking dog, the Doorman. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery.
That’s when the first ace arrives in the mail.
That’s when Ed becomes the messenger.
Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary) until only one question remains: Who’s behind Ed’s mission?”
Pair it with…
Saint and Sinner British Columbia Red Wine – so fitting for this book!
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Where’d You Go Bernadette? By Maria Semple
“Bernadette Fox is notorious. To her Microsoft-guru husband, she’s a fearlessly opinionated partner; to fellow private-school mothers in Seattle, she’s a disgrace; to design mavens, she’s a revolutionary architect, and to 15-year-old Bee, she is a best friend and, simply, Mom.
Then Bernadette disappears. It began when Bee aced her report card and claimed her promised reward: a family trip to Antarctica.To find her mother, Bee compiles email messages, official documents, secret correspondence—creating a compulsively readable and touching novel about misplaced genius and a mother and daughter’s role in an absurd world.”
Pair it with…
Smashberry California White Wine – so fitting for the book’s dispute over some wild blackberry bushes. I discovered this wine a couple weeks ago and it is amazing!
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The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion (if you like this one read the sequel, The Rosie Effect)
“An international sensation, this hilarious, feel-good novel is narrated by an oddly charming and socially challenged genetics professor on an unusual quest: to find out if he is capable of true love.”
Pair it with…
Conundrum California White Wine – a bit of a splurge but hands-down the best white wine I have ever had! It is a blend from the famous Caymus Winery. ______________________________________________
The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom
“When a white servant girl violates the order of plantation society, she unleashes a tragedy that exposes the worst and best in the people she has come to call her family. Orphaned while onboard ship from Ireland, seven-year-old Lavinia arrives on the steps of a tobacco plantation where she is to live and work with the slaves of the kitchen house. Under the care of Belle, the master’s illegitimate daughter, Lavinia becomes deeply bonded to her adopted family, though she is set apart from them by her white skin.
Eventually, Lavinia is accepted into the world of the big house, where the master is absent and the mistress battles opium addiction. Lavinia finds herself perilously straddling two very different worlds. When she is forced to make a choice, loyalties are brought into question, dangerous truths are laid bare, and lives are put at risk.”
Pair it with…
The Dreaming Tree Califronia Red Wine – This is Dave Matthews’ wine. Give this one a try if you loved the song “Crash” in University.
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The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
“Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.
Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green’s most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.”
Pair it with…
Rock Rabbit California Red Wine – a bold but smooth wine. A big hit at one of our book clubs!
Cheers book lovers,
Kiki