Live It Well Travel

To adorn and be adored…

/ Denise Smith / Leave a comment

Last week, my whole family went to go see Mary Poppins Returns.  It made me smile the WHOLE time!!!  It was such a Disney-esque movie – the music, the animation, the signing, the sets…..I loved how they took the original, ran it into a sequel, but made a wholly unique movie all at the same time.

Something that was woven throughout the movie was the idea of memories.  I love the memories I make when I travel – whether with family, friends or for work.  I gather together pieces of knowledge, memories of destinations, winding roads and unexpected journeys.   I started thinking about some of the “things” I treasure most from my travels, and right now, those things include the ornaments I try to collect from each destination.  Sometimes I forget, but I usually remember to get some small trinket/ornament every new place we go – except for Disney- we try to get one each time we go and we are starting a rather nice collect:)

Along with the picture books I have made of our travels, these ornaments serve as a tangible memory of a place seen and experienced.   Year after year, they restart a conversation of times past, adventures taken, dreams accomplished, destinations enjoyed and precious memories with people I love.  I feel joy each year when I hold them in my hands to put them on our tree to adorn and be adored.  And after every New Year, I tenderly put them away to await their reveal for the next Christmas Season.

Recently, I have been on a kick of purging personal items – I feel we have too many “things” that we don’t need and these “things” own us.  I read somewhere that when thinking about keeping or getting rid of something, I should ask myself if it has a constant purpose or if it gives me joy.  These ornaments are some of the few “things” I have that truly give me joy and they won’t be headed out with the purging boxes:)

Here are some pictures of a few of my favorite travel ornaments, where they came from, and a memory I have of these places experienced!  Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Disney ornaments

Some of our Disney favorites – I love the one in the foreground that is the Mickey ears representing the Haunted Mansion! Right near Liberty Square in Magic Kingdom, there is an adorable ornament shop I love visiting each time we go to Disney! Next month, my daughter and I are going to Disneyland Paris and we will get a lovely ornament there, too!

San Gim ornament

I picked up the gem of San Gimignano, Italy when I was there in June of 2018 with my step-mom and sisters. It was their first trip to Italy and I got to be the tour guide. San Gimignano is a beautiful Tuscan hill town with so much charm and flare and happens to have TWO amazing gelaterias in the same common square!

San Marino ornament

San Marino – the third smallest country in Europe, was a delight to visit! We were road-tripping in Italy and stayed overnight in Remini on the Adriatic. We were driving across country to Sorrento but HAD to make a stop in San Marino and I am so glad we did! It was gorgeous but BOY was it windy!!! I have a picture my husband took of me standing at the top of one of the guard towers and it is so windy my hair was swirling on top of my head like a tornado!

Winsor ornament

I love this beautiful ornament from Kensington Palace. When we visited the palace in May of 2015, all of Britain was on royal baby watch for Princess Kate and Prince William’s second born. This baby would be a girl – born the morning we visited Kensington – and she would be named Charlotte. I have my very own princess Charlotte and she was thrilled to learn the baby’s name while we visited!

Positano ornament

Oh, Positano – breathtaking!!! On our first visit there in 2016, we had rented scooters and scooted our way up and down the Amalfi Coast! What an AMAZING day! Our first stop was Positano and we parked our scooters and walked down to the shore. There, we enjoyed the peace and quiet of an early April morning with some coffee and a view that was indescribable!

Firenza ornament

Florence, or Firenze to the Italians. This city is steeped in history, gorgeous architecture and a surprise around every corner! I have visited twice, each for one day, and both experiences have been wonderful. On my first trip it was a rainy April day. We climbed the dome of the cathedral and although it was raining when we got to the top, I cannot imagine what the view would have been like had it been a clear day – because even with the rain it was wonderful!

Cozumel ornament

This little beauty is from Cancun, Mexico – something I picked up while on a girls trip on a 5 night cruise out of Tampa. My usual girl’s trips involve a beach, so this one was a bit different, and while I hit the hay every night around 10pm, my BFFs partied until the wee hours! No worries – we all go on vacation for different reasons – they went to dance; I went to sleep!

 

 

 

The Great Italian Food Tour, Part II

/ Denise Smith / Leave a comment

Last time, I shared with you the amazing start to our Italian adventure – culinary style!  I covered our first night’s cooking class, gelato and pizza in San Gimignano, our most expensive meal in Venice, and how we happened upon the BEST taverna in Italy – and met Guiseppe!!!  Here we are for part two, which kicks off in Rome!

Our first night in Rome we arrived around 4pm and immediately hit the streets for an audio walking tour that we enjoyed via our free downloaded Rick Steves App!  I highly recommend this option for the adventurous traveler and will delve into this great traveling tool in another blog!!!

This evening we enjoyed some street food (and gelato) while we roamed the streets of ancient Rome, beginning at Fiore del Campo (the field of flowers) and ending at the Spanish Steps.  I won’t give too many details as I intend to do that another time, but let me just say there was a wonderful surprise around every corner and our hot paninis, espressos and slices of pizza did not disappoint!!!

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Our second day in Rome was a walking extravaganza!  We started off with egg sandwiches at home (the beauty of staying at an AirBnB is that you can make a few things at your home base and save money for the bigger meals) and hit the road for our Vatican Tour.  For lunch we stopped en-route to the Colosseum at a street side taverna and enjoyed wine (duh), pizza, caprese and more.  We had gelato at least once😊 and walked about 12 miles this day and it was HOT!!!!  But one of the best experiences of this day was our dinner….

Being Americans, we tend to eat earlier than most Europeans.  We were toast from a LONG day of touring and walking and headed to dinner near our accommodations around 6pm.  We picked a lovely taverna we had passed on the way to the Vatican (our “home” was about 3 blocks from the Vatican) and settled in for an amazing meal.  Our server was fabulous and the food was great – but what made THIS particular meal so memorable was the fact that near the end of our meal (when most Italians are thinking about going out to dinner) 20+ priests walked into the taverna to have dinner – it was like the set up for a joke, “Twenty priests walk into a bar….”!  It was so ROME – next door to the Vatican – and they just settled in to a great meal – now, we might have been a bit punchy with wine, too much walking and a gorgeous limoncello toast, but this rounded out our Roman experience like no other!!!!

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We departed Rome and headed for Sorrento.  On the way, we stopped at an Italian Autostrada rest stop – these cool inventions are fantastic and a cultural experience on their own and deserve to be highlighted.  These traditionally stretch OVER the highway and are pretty monstrous buildings.  They have restrooms, cool gift shops and WONDERFUL fresh cuisine that is not what you would expect at a rest area.  If you ever road trip in Italy, I highly encourage you to stop and check these out even if you don’t NEED to – it is an Italian experience!

Our arrival in Sorrento was thankfully, uneventful – aside from arriving early and having to wait on meeting our AirBnB host at our apartment – which, by the way, was lovely – more on that in another post.  We had been eating out a lot so this evening, my sister, Kelly, decided to cook for us, so we ventured down the street to the local Carrefour (European grocers that we have found in Italy, France and England and I am sure they are elsewhere – but you know what you will find there so that is nice once you are able to recognize some chains) and picked up some staples – eggs, wine, cured meats, cheese, pasta, bread, basil, coffee and chicken breast – and my sister made us an incredible homemade Italian meal!  It was great to eat at home, relax on the balcony and soak in the Sorrento charm.  That evening, we picked up our scooter rentals for our next day of touring (don’t miss THAT blog for sure!) and we walked off our dinner enjoying the winding ancient streets of Sorrento.  And we had gelato!!

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The next day was our self-touring scooter extravaganza – and memories we will never forget – especially the picnic lunch we enjoyed at Villa Cimbrone in the cliff-side Amalfi Coast town of Ravello.  We had planned a lovely picnic for this day of adventure including our meats, cheeses, bread and sweet treats and had the most delightful picnic in the most amazing setting on the Amalfi!  Picnicking is one of my favorite ways to really experience the joy and simplicity of Italian food, so don’t miss out on this classic culinary gem.  Here are a few pictures…

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Our final full day in Italy was anchored by a train ride to Pompeii and Rick Steves audio tour of this ancient delight.  I have, for a long time, been a connoisseur of history, culture, languages and people.  Pompeii is an iconic destination for people like me and in my book, only second to visiting the Great Pyramids of Giza (someday!!)  We had our customary breakfast at home, picked up some panini on the road, enjoyed some gelato in Pompeii, then had a lovely sunset dinner at a hotel across the street from our apartment.  Our last meal in Italy was a feast for the senses and as we had done so many times before, we each got a different dish and shared – and no one was disappointed.  This meal really highlighted the­­­­­­­­­­ unique and fresh cuisine of Sorrento – with daily caught fish, lemon risotto (let me tell you – there is NOTHING like a Sorrento lemon), gnocci with red sauce and wine!  It was a bittersweet meal that put the icing on an amazing culinary journey taken by four women, ready to taste Italy!!!

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I don’t know if you have noticed the theme aside from food, but it’s the people, the sights and the senses that are awakened by experiencing something different.  Travel is a story that unfolds through the eyes, the ears, the nose, the mouth and through touch.  It is one of our only activities that engages us on so many levels, and I believe that is why travel is something we desire so greatly.  There are so many adventures to have, people to meet and experiences to have.  Happy Travels!!

Indulge me a bit and enjoy this short time lapse video of us scooting our way up, up, up to the cliff side town of Ravello!

The Great Italian Food Tour, Part 1

/ Denise Smith / 1 Comment

Italian Food.  I feel like I could just drop the mic right there and walk away from this post…but I would leave so much out!  So here is a run down of the amazing food and beverages I experienced in Italy this past June!

When we think of Italian food, many of us go right to pasta and pizza, and while those are VERY good in Italy (regionally amazing), food in Italy is so much more!  The first things that come to mind for me, having traveled there three times, is fresh, authentic, regional, simplistic, divine!  When I traveled to Italy with my sisters and step mom this past summer, we sought out authentic Italian dining experiences and were rewarded beyond measure.

Let me start with a bit of our family history with food – as it can’t be ignored that one’s previous experiences with any of the five senses shapes their perceptions about new things.  One thing can go without saying – we ALL love food!  Our family gathers around wonderful meals when we come together and delight in trying new recipes, cooking with fresh and healthy ingredients and sometimes over indulging….well, maybe not only sometimes😊  My dad’s most famous line when you join our family for a meals is, “If you go away hungry, it’s your own fault!”  And believe me, everyone is welcome at our table and there is always enough food – thankfully!

My step mom is a great cook – we always enjoyed hearty home cooking growing up.  Her stuffed shells are to die for and I remember traveling back to college after Christmas break with a huge pan of them in my back seat!  I have never been very fond of raw onions, a culinary topic still entertaining to this day, but overall, if you put it in front of me, I will eat it!  My sister, Kelly, is amazing in the kitchen!  She is always trying new recipes and I don’t ever think she has made something that wasn’t outstanding!  She inspires me to try new things all the time!  My other sister, Becky, was most definitely the pickiest of us all.  Growing up, Becky ate Eggo waffles, peanut butter and fluff (for those of you not in New England, this is the most amazing culinary invention EVER and you should try it!) and pizza with the sauce scraped off.  I seriously think that’s all she ate for about 12 years!!!  But I have to give Becky props – she has grown to be super adventurous and daring in her culinary experiences and makes a mean taco dip!!!

With that bit of back story out of the way, let me proceed….

Our first night in San Gimignano (Tuscan region) was a bit of a blur; having just flown overnight from Boston, we arrived at our fantastic Agriturismo (check out my blog about them) and were greeted with warm Italian hospitality and some amazing house wine in preparation for a cooking class we arranged ahead of time!  That evening, we prepared pasta (using only three ingredients!), an authentic spicy tomato sauce perfect for pasta, pizza, focaccia and the following morning’s breakfast (this is actually top secret but something I will share later)!  We also prepared dough for the focaccia, a summer version of tiramisu featuring strawberries, using limoncello instead of coffee, and enjoyed the fantastic company of our chef and interpreter (our host at the Agriturismo acted as our interpreter when she didn’t have other duties to attend to….and when she did, we figured it out!)

Needless to say – the food was amazing, plentiful and made with love, laughter and joy!  A funny story – while we were making the tiramisu, our chef was explaining the biscuits used…we called them “lady fingers” and the chef and his assistant thought that was the weirdest thing they had ever heard!  Here are some photos from before our cooking experience and our arrival day in San Gimignano (you will notice a LOT of wine toasts!  Italians know how to celebrate la Bella Vita!)

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Other meals we enjoyed on this leg of our trip were gelato (I ate gelato with vigor and abandon everywhere we went in Italy), espresso and panini, and the most expensive meal on our journey – a lunch canal-side in Venice!  Here’s a picture diary of these experiences.

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Our next culinary adventure worth mentioning specifically was the late lunch we had while traveling from Tuscany to Rome.  It was a long drive – about 3.5 hours, and we were getting a bit hungry around 1pm.  We didn’t have any specific plans – and that’s when the MAGIC happens!!!  We decided to get off the autostrada (Italian highway system) at a random town and found a jewel of a taverna!

Our lovely host, Giuseppe – of course – was a fabulous man who endeared us and stole our hearts!  Meals in Italy don’t get more authentic than this and Giuseppe made this out of the way stop so memorable.  Here is a photo diary of that amazing meal!!!

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Part 2 of this wonderful culinary adventure to follow, but here are some random food pictures of our trip thus far.  Hang tight for the rest!  ‘Tis the season for enjoying food, family and friends!

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Eleuthera or Bust!

/ Denise Smith / Leave a comment

Eleuthera..the Isle of Freedom.  I call it paradise.  Eleuthera is one of the Family Islands of the Bahamas.  It is a 20 minute plane ride from Nassau and just this side of heaven. Right now I am on a plane coming home from Eleuthera, and the departure is bittersweet.  My family and I just enjoyed eight nights on Eleuthera and we were joined by another family as well (their first visit).  We rented a home on the beach in Tarpum Bay – a home we used to own.  We hadn’t been to the island as a family in almost four years (I was on a girls’ trip – that post to come later) and my kids were eager to remember the place they had spent long winter weeks of their early childhood. It was great to renew our love for this island and her people.  In time, I will share a whole lot more about Eleuthera, but I wanted to introduce you to Eleuthera and how we ended up in this amazing place!

 

 

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Fast forward to this past week (February 2018) and as family and friends, we reacquainted ourselves with this little slice of heaven.  

The Family Islands, or Out Islands of the Bahamas, offer the adventurous traveler an opportunity to witness unspoiled beauty; the opportunity to live like locals and kindly insert themselves into a society that is friendly, welcoming, open and kind.  A place where you can still walk to the local dock at noon and buy fresh fish from the fisherman there.  A place where you can visit a new beach everyday of the year and probably not visit them all – oh and not just ANY beach – I am talking the beach of your dreams beach – with silky white or pink sand, crystal clear blue/green waters and not another soul in sight!  No seriously – if peace and solidarity are what you are looking for, I encourage you to visit the Family Islands of the Bahamas – particularly Eleuthera!  

The home we used to own, Parlay at Sunset, is located in the pristine fishing village of Tarpum Bay, Eleuthera.  “Our” beach has more shells that I thought were in the sea, and every day is an adventure in shell hunting!  The water is calm most days and the sandy sea bottom allows waders to enjoy shallow snorkeling or floating for 100 yards or more from shore.  It is perfect for kids (and girls’ trips), honeymooners and families looking for something different to explore.  The beach at Parlay presents travelers with no shortage of wonders, including sea stars, tropical fish, rays, sea urchins, sea biscuits, sand dollars, sea cucumbers and the occasional black tipped reef shark!  We have loved every encounter!  And while you could easily entertain yourself at your home away from home with swimming, snorkeling, kayaking, paddleboarding or just lying around in a hammock, Eleuthera has so much more to offer!!!

I could actually write about Eleuthera for what would amount to a doctoral dissertation, but I want to milk this beautiful topic for all it’s worth – so I will leave you hanging with some pictures from my most recent trip and remember, all the pictures on my blog are MY own photos (unless specifically referenced) taken with either my phone or our underwater camera!  Knowing this should really highlight the majesty of this amazing heaven on earth!

Stay tuned for what may end up being an Eleuthera series in posts to come – I will tell you all about what Eleuthera has hidden up her sleeves!  If you have any questions about traveling to Eleuthera or the Family Islands of the Bahamas, please let me know!  I will do my best to help!  And if you have wonderful stories of your own adventures, please share them as well!