ROMA, ITALIA

Our trip to Italy was an amazing one. One of our favourite parts was the food. In Rome, we were located near Cavour metro, a stone's throw from the Colosseum one way, and the Forum in the other direction. We found every fountain we could, walked miles, even lost each other temporarily, only to meet again on the final visit to the Spanish steps and my favourite Sinking Boat fountain by Bernini the Sr. We splurged on Fettucine at Alfredo's with the house wine, and were not disappointed, but, even down to the daily cappuccino and cornetto (italian for croissant), everything was amazing!

Nicest Cappuccino in the Cavour district at Caffe Cavour

Fettucine Alfredo Style

Leaving the Vatican by the amazing spiral Scala

The Roman Colloseum

VENEZIA, ITALIA

These meringues are as big as your hand, and enough to share!

Venice is good at gelato and sweets! This is one of the nicest Pasticceria , Ponte dell Paste.

Don't have to travel to Verona to buy these kisses!

Terrace for morning breakfast at Hotel Flora - it's for the birds!
The hot chocolate is as thick as pudding, and served with whipped cream! Yum.

Piazza San Marco at sunset, campanile at right,  San Marco Church in front,   Correr Museum behind.

Mother's Day dinner - cuttlefish ink pasta, pasta e fasioli (fagioli), baccala (cod) 3 ways with polenta

Chasing a 6 year old through the world's best maze

Correr Museum with Gustav Klimt exhibit.

BOLOGNA, ITALIA

Sweet shop

SORRENTO,ITALIA

Famous for lemons, the oranges are great too!

Spaghetti alla Inglese (buttered with a ton of parmesan cheese!)

PISA

Thank goodness we had time for lunch in Pisa after the visit to the tower and baptistry! Pasta and salad tastes so much better in Italy!

VICENZA, ITALIA

This city in renowned for its architecture but its food was unbelievable too!

Rainbow gnocchi with butter for my daughter

Fresh pasta on a sunny terrasse!

RICK STEVES GROUPIE

When I went to Seattle, it was for no other reason than to get away.

Sorry. Not completely true. I loved Grey's Anatomy! I was fascinated by the random fact that Seattle had the densest population of defibrillators in North America (?the world), although I think I never found any! That fact made it feel very safe in case of dire emergency. And who doesn't want to visit the place where all coffee chains and all good food comes from, anyway? But the biggest draw was that Seattle is very, very close to Edmonds, the home town of Rick Steves, where I was going to witness a travel first.

In case you don't know who this is, Rick Steves is a travel guide turned travel guru, helping Americans travelling to Europe have the best experience they can have for the best value for their limited time, all while living on a budget. This man has written guidebooks for every region of Europe, guides to art, how to travel, and over 83 PBS travel shows full of humor, history and good advice.

This weekend, as part of a reunion for previous tour goers, there was a conference with 3 venues in Edmonds, 26 mins north of Seattle, all about the content of their European tours, and "An Irreverant History of Rick's Tours". It was amazing and I was impressed that his public persona on tv and in writing seemed consistent with lecturing persona and his honest opinions shared in the Q & A sessions after each talk.

It never occurred to me before, but I have to admit that I'm a groupie! I'm not the kind of person that you would expect to be a groupie. I'm a conservative mom that has no interest in rock bands. That being said, I recently traded away shifts, bought a last minute flight, left my daughter and husband to fend for themselves, and took the train from Seattle to a city called Edmonds to attend a Rick Steves meeting.

Alas, as most groupies, I did not actually meet the man (or get his autograph for my husband, who is as big a fan as I am) but I did share a meal with Terry, a free spirited woman from Seattle who was planning an extended long overdue trip to Europe, and Joey, a guitar wielding free spirit whose next gig was Portland and who, last I heard, had no place stay overnight. I hope that worked out for you, Joey.

Perhaps I am no longer a free spirit, but I have briefly met a few this weekend, and it helped me rediscover that part of me that I hope is just dormant and waiting to come out again.