We're BACK! We're back and happy to get into the swing of married life. We had the best trip...ever...it was such a blast. Lest you think this is blog life and not real life, yes of course we had some bad moments (trouble with the rental car, left my new jacket behind, went on a wild goose chase to get it back, and very unglamorous and unsexy digestive issues), and we had days where we spent a couple hours napping and / or watching tv in the hotel in lieu of sight seeing, but it was still the most fun trip we've ever taken. I'm excited to share some details here for you today in a European themed picture of the week!

First off, this trip would have sucked a lot if not for the absolute genius of Michelle and Roderick from Azurine. They planned this trip to our exact specifications, within our budget, all while providing immensely helpful tips and tricks. We cannot thank them enough for this; I consider myself a good planner of things, but like I said, without them I think we would have missed out on a lot (including the outlets outside Florence WHICH I WILL GET TO). If you're going anywhere, please call them.

Days 1-3:

We stayed in Monforte d'Alba, which is in Piemonte (Piedmont for uncool Americans). Driving stick shift up steep, windy hills (Italian drivers are CRAZY!) was worth it when we arrived at Villa Beccaris and saw the view.

Highlights:

Dinner at La Case della Saracca

Truffle Hunting (our guide looked exactly like Ira Glass!)

Marchesi di Barolo winery

Days 4-6:

We spent most of the day driving from Piemonte to Florence, which was an adventure in and of itself as we took in all of the views along the coast. Rather than stop in Parma, Portofino, or Pisa, we hightailed it to - surprise, surprise - the outlets outside Florence in Reggello. We only had about an hour, as we had to return the rental car that evening, but believe me when I say you have never seen more efficient shopping in your life. I went in there and like a surgeon found and purchased a pair of boots I've been after for the better part of the year. When we finally made it into Florence, we checked into J.K. Place, which is now my favorite hotel I've ever stayed in, for what that's worth.

Highlights:

Pizza at Mercato Centrale

Dave

Days 7-10:

We took an early train to Milan, and changed there for a train to Lucerne, Switzerland. The views on the train were startling as we wound our way through the sheep and cow ridden mountains. Even exhaustion and a little motion sickness didn't stop us from exclaiming aloud every time we rounded a bend. Switzerland was...very swiss. The stereotypes (mostly) hold, and we ate that shit up.

Highlights:

Pretzels and beer (actually, I loved all the food in Lucerne)

Boat ride to Weggis

Bachmann bakery + chocolatier (the best jelly donut and what can only be described as a cinnamon taco)

Friends, as you can probably tell, Raven took most of these pictures (unedited as I just couldn't wait)...he's so talented; it's very frustrating for me but great because eventual children will hopefully glean some of that from him.

Wedding recap to come eventually, next week I want to talk about unexpected findings in Europe as well as GIFT GUIDES...gotta re-up on my sourcing for that this weekend.

Good to be back :)

xoxo,