5 Places I'd Love to Return To

I have seen these posts floating around Blogland recently and I just couldn't pass by.   While there are still SO many places that I still want to visit, there are few I dream about going back to.  Some that I'd love to re-experience as an adult and some that I want to share with Josh.

I fell in love with Colorado during my visit in 2005 (I can't believe it's been almost 10 years!!).  I was only 16 at the time so I was at the mercy of my parents.  There were so many things I wanted to do but I couldn't because they were in charge.  We never really went into Boulder, we didn't see any sites in Denver and I would have loved to do more exploring in RMNP.  I planned on going to school at my Uncles Alma Mater, UC Boulder, but it was way too expensive for me.   I would love to take Josh out there and do some exploring with him, and do it our way.

This should come as no surprise.  I think about Costa Rica daily - it's such a beautiful country with such diverse wildlife and amazing people.  While I'd love to go back to Manuel Antonio NP and San Vito for a day or two, there are so many places in this beautiful country that I'd love to explore such as, Arenal and Monteverde Could Forest.   This is a place I'd definitely love to take Josh to.

Barcelona was one of my favorite cities that we visited in Europe.  While I had a great time there, we had very little free time to explore - most of our day was planned out.  I would love to explore on my own and see more of what Barcelona has to offer.  I would also love to fill up on Paella and Tapas!!  I am hoping to take a cruise out of here at some point - hopefully sooner than later! 

Josh and I both loved Savannah!  Unfortunately, we only had a short time to spend here at the end of our vacation.  We saw a pretty good amount in the short time that we had, but I'd love to go back and explore more of this beautiful southern city.  I am also dying for another Leopolds Ice Cream!  I also think it would be so neat to do a ghost tour!

I was fortunate enough to be able to see so much of Italy while I was there including Rome, Assisi, Cinque Terre, Pisa, and Florence.   While I would love to return to each of those places, I would also love to see more of this beautiful country.  Top of my list is Venice, Milan, Verona, Naples, Pompeii, Amalfi, and Siena.  Honestly, I think I could spend a full month here and still not see everything that I want to.  I know I will return to Rome within the next few years because Josh is dying to go there.

The Places I Didn't Like

I talk so much about the places that I love when I travel but never the places that I don't love.  It is just as important to talk about those as well.   Everyone has different things that they look for in a place so I am always interested to see the places that people liked verses the places they didn't like. 

I wasn't crazy about:

1. Nassau, The Bahamas

I have talked about not liking Nassau before but I've never really said why. I didn't like it much because it was hard to get around, it was dirty, and besides Atlantis, the beach, and Senor Frogs, there wasn't much to do.  I like to go places where there are things to see.  I am not one who can spend the whole day on the beach, I get way too bored.

2. Pisa, Italy

There is nothing to do.  End of story.  If you have to see the tower, then do it but don't expect to find anything else to do.   I talked about Pisa here.

3.  Madrid, Spain
I think this has to do more with my experience in Madrid than the city itself.   It was our last stop in Europe, so I was sad about that.  We were on the bus and lost for most of the day. Plus, the leaders were all tired and getting grumpy.   My whole experience in Madrid was just not that great.  This is the one place that I didn't like that I'd want to go back to.  I think I might like it if my situation were different.

Wanderlust Wednesday: Culinary

I have a confession ... I am the pickiest eater on the planet.  No, seriously.  Think of that person that you always want to hit when you go out to eat because they get the same thing every time ... that's me.  I have been getting better at trying new things but this is where I seriously fail as a traveler.   A bunch of the foods I tell you about will be Josh's.

Also, sorry for the lack of pictures and the poor quality, I usually eat my food before I remember to take a picture.

I love spaghetti!  But, the sauce has to be my Mom's and if you put cheese on it I will cut you (partially because I don't want it and partially because I am seriously Lactose Intolerant).   So, I was very pleased when I got this plate of spaghetti in Rome and fell in love!   I could have eaten that throughout the whole trip!

Just looking at this picture makes me want to vomit.  I know I am a MD girl and I am supposed to love all seafood, but I can not stomach mussels, oysters, or clams.  Sorry, I just don't do slimy.  My homestay Mom in France took us to a nice dinner on our last night and this was what was put in front of me.  I had to eat it - I couldn't be rude, but I also couldn't chew it.  Seriously, I was swallowing them whole.   Yeah ... never again.

This was one of the meals that was offered on the cruise: alligator fritters.  Josh decided to go ahead and get it.  I like alligator meat but I wasn't sure about the fritter part.  I am glad I didn't order it though, it was a bit too spicy for my tastes.  Josh really liked it though.

Josh got this dish in the Bahamas at Senor Frogs. I believe this is Chimichanga.   Josh actually asked me to take a picture of this dish because he thought it looked really good.  Then, he took a bite out of it and was really glad I got that picture because he was in love!  I still hear about this dish from time to time.  I could never eat this.

Josh got this is Bluffton, SC when we visited my friend, Heather.  I really don't remember what it was exactly but he loved it.

Now this is my kind of meal!  Good ol' Southern food! We got this amazing buffet meal at Michie Tavern in Charlottesville, VA.   It was nothing short of amazing and I would have stayed there all day if they'd let me!

And this is my kind of dessert!!  Peach cobbler! YUM!  This is also from Michie Tavern in VA.  Josh and I were each going to get our own but our server recommended just getting one first and he was right!!  It was huge and we couldn't even finish it together.

Remember Georgetown Cupcakes?  Yes, I am still salivating over these cupcakes!  Cupcakes are absolutely my favorite dessert!  We are even having them at our wedding instead of having cake :)

This meal was from one of those times I decided to try something new. We tried a new restaurant, Tidewater Grille, and I decided to try the Dijon Chicken with Crab Meat.  I had never tried Dijon anything but I'm glad I did!  This was one of the best meals I have ever had.

 This was Josh's meal from the Tidewater Grille.  I had a taste of the crabcakes and they were amazing!  I am extremely picky about my crabcakes (made the mistake of getting them in AZ, eww) and these were definitely some of the best I have ever had.

I got this Cream of Crab Soup at Brooms Bloom.  I loved it!  Really good cream of crab soup is hard to find and this one is definitely one of the really good ones!  I highly recommend stopping in and trying some if you ever find yourself in Maryland!

This was one of our meals in Costa Rica.  Everything on that trip was amazing!!  All of the food was fresh and tasted so good!  I wish I had gotten some photos of the fruits, they were sooooo good!!

Trying new and different foods is something that I am getting better at but I am still really picky.  Some foods that I have tried while traveling and ended up liking but didn't get photos of include: Tapas (all different kinds of dishes), Seafood Paella, Calamari, Frog Legs, Buffalo and Alligator.

Travel Tuesday: Cinque Terre, Italy

Cinque Terre was our last stop in Italy before making our way to Monaco/France.  It was definitely one of the most beautiful stops on the trip!

We started out at Portovenere with some free time, so me Britt, Kris and Meagan went shopping and hung out with our new BF, Jonah the Fisherman.

**some of these pics were taken from Britt and Kara's cameras because they had better quality cameras than mine!  You can totally tell which are mine and which are theirs**

Once free time was over, we met up and got on a boat to tour the towns of Cinque Terre.  Our guide on the boat was also our new boyfriend, obviously.  We only docked at two of the towns, Riomaggiore and Manarola.  The hills were super steep so a few of us decided to run up one and see who got up the fastest.

After our tour of the towns, we walked La Via Dell'amore, the most romantic road in Italy.  It translates to "The Way of Love".   The views were amazing and I wish I had gotten more pictures (or had a better camera).

After heading back on the boat to Portovenere (where we started) we grabbed some dinner then headed back to the hotel where we had some free time.   Nothing was open so Me, Kris, Britt and Meagan went to this piazza to watch the Italy vs Ukraine World Cup game.   There was a huge screen set up in the piazza and lots of people.  It was a lot of fun!  Unfortunately, we didn't get to see the whole game but we had a great time then headed back to our hotel.

 That is the end of my Italy posts!  Next week I will be talking about Monaco, then on to France.

In case you missed anything, here are links to all of my Italy posts:

All Italy Posts:
Rome
Assisi
Pisa
Florence

*All links are also on my Travel tab at the top of the blog*

Travel Tuesday: Florence, Italy

After leaving our Tuscan cooking course, we got to our absolutely adorable hotel in Montecatini.  I wish I had better pictures but you can click here for some photos.

When we got there and got our room assignments I was thrilled to be rooming with Brittney and Kris, two of three of my favorite people.  Unfortunately Meagan was not assigned to our room, but another girl was.

The next morning we got up for our trip into Florence.   Our first stop was the Florentine Cathedral (Il Duomo) and the Bapistry.   What an amazing place!  I was really sad that we weren't able to go inside, they were having some function there, so it was closed. We had a really great tour guide for during our walk through Florence.

This was also the day that my credit card got eaten by an ATM.  Apparently I didn't know my pin number and the machine took my card.  I had to go into the bank and find someone who spoke English to ask for someone to get my card back!   Thankfully the bank was very nice and just needed a look at my photo ID and let me take the card.

Then we went to see David.  I am not an art person but this sculpture is totally worth seeing; the detail is incredible!  The statue is huge and you can see all of the details down to the veins.   I actually took a photo before they told us no pictures were allowed. 

Funny Story:  When we left the David, Josef (my DM) had two stickers of body builders on his arms and one was facing us and one was facing him and he said : "one for you, and one for me!  I see you baby, shaking that ass".   And then said, "I say that as Josef, not as your delegation manager"!  I miss him!!  (the I see you baby thing is from a song that came on during our bus ride).

We had some free time for a while after that which most of us used for shopping, then went to see the Ponte Vecchio.

We had dinner at our hotel and chilled there for the night.  We went swimming and met a few fellow P2P members.   We also put on a show for Josef.  He is from Austria and has never seen The Sound of Music so we took it upon ourselves to act it out for him.   I am pretty sure that after our performance, he is glad that he hasn't seen it!

I loved Florence and I really wish we'd had more time to explore!   Next week I will be sharing my last Italy post, Cinque Terre, before beginning my Monaco and France posts!