In addition to our seven nights in Rome last summer, Chris and I planned stops in two charming Umbrian towns, Orvieto and Spello. While we just stayed overnight in each town, one day was enough to fall in love with Orvieto and Spello.
Continue reading “Visiting Italy: Orvieto & Spello”
Rome: the Eternal City. Yes, it really is. What can I say that hasn’t already been said? The food, the history, the art, the gelato… Rome is a dream.
Io amo la bella Roma!
If you’re planning a trip abroad, I wrote about a lot of our planning tips in my Milan post, and I wrote a carry-on only packing guide earlier this year if you’re interested.
But I’m here to talk about Rome!
Packing carry-on only is the way Chris and I prefer to travel: It’s light, it’s easy, and it saves time.
I used to think it was too difficult to pack everything I’d need in a carry-on, but I’ve changed my tune. Think it will be too hard? Challenge yourself: just to plan to pack in your carry-on. Seriously. Just say that you will and then do it. Amazingly, I still always overpack even with the limited space.
Here are guidelines I follow to make sure I pack well for each trip…
Continue reading “2 Weeks in a Carry-on: How to Pack Carry-on Only for an Overseas Trip”
Last summer, Chris and I spent three weeks in Europe. We toured northern Italy during our first week (in Milan, Florence, Bolzano, and Verona to be specific) and our final week was a road trip along the southern coast of Iceland. But this post is about the second leg of our trip: five days in Amsterdam!
I’ve put together some notes from our trip to the “Venice of the North” if you’d like to see…
Verona was our last stop before we returned to Milan for our flight to Amsterdam. Since the train from Bolzano stopped in Verona, we made sure to budget time in the fair city. Looking back, I think it was my favorite spot from our Italian stops.
I’ve put together some photos and notes from our trip if you’d like to take a look…
Bolzano is not a typical Italian vacation destination. It is far north in the foothills of the Dolomites and was part of Austria only until the mid-twentieth century. But even though you don’t hear much about it, Bolzano (or “Bozen” in German) is fascinating: it is a bicultural city — the population is equally split between Italian-speaking and German-speaking. In many ways, we felt like we’d left Italy for Austria or even Germany with the green rolling hills and the cooler temps.
Emily Paine Smith 