Things that happen and things we seek out
Villefranche-sur-Mer is a small town in France with big surprises! The water is so clear and beautiful and the train station is right on the water! It is a short walk through town and the heart of town is almost all pedestrian-only. We were there during the Combat Naval Fleuri – a part of the…
We decided to walk all the way up the mountain along the Escalier de Campo Quadro in Villefranche-sur-Mer, France.
We visited the Fragonard Perfume Factory in Èze, France. Get a little peek at the tour!
We are loving Nice, France! I love the shopping and the Promenade du Paillon is such an amazing park! There are tons of kids and dogs running around. We also walked down to the Promenade des Anglais along the Mediterranean. My favorite store in France? Picard! I will do an entire post on Picard soon….
We took the train from La Spezia, Italy to Villefranche-sur-Mer, France and it was the most beautiful oceanfront train ride! James was nice and comfortable at our feet. It is so nice being able to travel around Europe by train with a large dog! James is one lucky Poodle! We had this whole train car…
We knew we wanted to visit Portofino, Italy, and when I was looking at the map I saw Porto Venere. I thought at first that Porto Venere was Portofino (sometimes the Italian name is different from the English name) and then I realized it was a different port town near Cinque Terre. I am glad…
We were really excited to see THE Portofino, Italy – not the copy in Orlando, Florida. Portofino is a really small port town and there are tons of walking paths all around that lead to beautiful houses and amazing views. We really loved SO many details that Universal’s Portofino hotel copied so well from the…
We are really enjoying La Spezia, Italy! We knew it was a port town, but we didn’t realize it was a cruise ship port town! We are already talking about taking a cruise in this area in the future. Our apartment is right in the heart of town where most of the streets are pedestrian-only….
The Ponte Vecchio in Florence translates to “Old Bridge” but it should really be called the Jewelry Bridge! It is a beautiful pedestrian bridge that crosses the Arno River. We were thinking maybe the buildings on the bridge used to be apartments. But once we did some research we realized they were always shops. They…
James needed to get groomed while we were here in Florence, Italy. We found a cute little grooming shop called Elisa Toilette just across the Arno River. We hopped on the T1 tram and headed over to get James groomed. Isn’t it funny that the grooming shop is called a Toilette? A dog groomer in…
We love walking around and exploring new areas with James. The Opera House in Florence, also known as the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, is just a few blocks from our apartment in Florence. We have walked around it a few times and one evening we decided to walk up to what we thought was…
In the heart of Florence, there is a sculpture called Il Porcellino (piglet in Italian). It is a tradition to put a coin into the boar’s mouth and make a wish as the coin falls into the grates below. In addition to being good luck, this also ensures a return to Florence. It is a…
Our Airbnb in Florence has a really nice book with recommendations on what to see, do and eat. One of the recommendations was for the 600 year old perfume shop in an old convent called Santa Maria Novella.
David of course is the centerpiece at the the Galleria dell’Accademia. But the museum had so many other pieces we enjoyed, too!
The Hall of Prisoners by Michelangelo leads up to the centerpiece statue
The first thing we do when we arrive in a new city is head to the grocery store. We arrived in Padua, Italy (Padova in Italian) and once James was comfortable in our Airbnb we said goodbye and started
The Peggy Guggenheim Collection is a modern art museum on the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy. Chris isn’t a big fan of modern art so I decided to visit this museum alone one day. It is a small but nice
Venice, Italy really is one of those cities you could get lost in. You want to get lost in it! I actually read a great tourist tip: if you pass a shop where you want to see inside you better do it NOW.
I love architecture and big beautiful ballrooms. So I knew I would want to see the Ca’ Rezzonico museum while in Venice, Italy.
The museum is right on the Grand Canal:
The main ballroom was
Don’t be overwhelmed or afraid to ride the water buses in Venice, Italy. We are here to help!
Here is some helpful terminology on the water vehicles in Venice, Italy.
Vaporetto (plural,
This is definitely not the kind of fountain you see in the US!
What does James think of the Fontana Delle Tette? What do you think of it? We jokingly called it the “Titty Fountain†because