Villasimius: Paradise in Sardinia

It's sort of funny how we ended up in Villasimius.  The whole idea to even go to Sardinia began over Christmas during our dinner at Terra Terra in Florence.  Christian, our amazing host, told us all about his life on the beautiful island, which we already knew was accessible via a very cheap flight on RyanAir.  He described the pristine beaches and laid back lifestyle so passionately that by the time we had...

Italian Road Trip: Riomaggiore, Firenze, Siena, Torino

I almost don't want to finish and hit "publish" on this post because then that means that the trip has been taken, the pictures uploaded, the entry written, and our time in Italy is really over.  For now.  I think the best part about our nearly 2,000 km road trip was realizing how close Italy really is.  It only takes about 5-6 hours to get to the border (depending on what part) and now that we know The Pony can...

Florence City Guide: Dos, Don’ts, Eats

You know how when people talk about trips to Italy and then they're like, "It was magical!  Dreamy!  So romantic! Amazing food!" and you're all, "Shut up, I hate you.  I want to go to Italy."  Disclaimer:  that's what's about to happen.  Because Italy was awesome. There were days I thought I'd never be done with this first post about our trip, but finally, it's finished!  We spent the majority of the time...

Hump Day: Italian Aperitivo

During our road trip through Italy, I became pretty obsessed with the Italian tradition of the Aperitivo Hour(s).  Usually between about 5-7pm, many bars and cafés will offer a variety of free finger foods with your pre-dinner drink.  We had a great time munching on the little bruschettas, mozzerella, marinated artichokes, and crudités.  While I bounced back and forth night after night between Prosecco and...

Ciao & Auguri!

And we're back!  I hope you all had a lovely holiday with friends and family.  Michael's office is closed this week, so we've been taking it easy, relaxing and recovering after our 8-day, nearly 2,000 km road trip through Italy.  We traveled along the Cote d'Azur to Riomaggiore, up to Firenze, back down to Siena, and then up to Torino, before heading back to Montpellier on Christmas Eve.  I can't wait to tell...

Hump Day: An Italian Red

Last Friday, The Hub and I celebrated Christmas Part II while enjoying a delicious Italian Red, Cantine Colosi Nero d'Avola 2009.  The Hub picked out this bottle from CostCo, which has some surprisingly good deals on nice wines.  I like to narrow down my options by concentrating on the ones that have the highest Wine Spectator ratings, and then seeing which are almost sold out.  If it has a high rating, the...

Hump Day: Blast from the Past!

Like most young, college students, my love of wine started slowly.  I began with your traditional Arbor Mist flavors like Strawberry White Zinfandel and quickly moved onto Riesling.  Yes everyone, I was a wine wimp who really only liked the sweet varieties.  Due to its typically dry characteristics, I was very reluctant to try red wine.  It took me moving to California to really experience red wine to its...