travel: italian adventure
21 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
in travel Tags: italy, the fine things in life, travel, wine
well, it is with GREAT excitement that i can say that my italy trip is officially booked and confirmed and paid up in full.
so what does this mean?
well for one, we’re now BROKE, lol. but it’s all good… so worth it.
but most importantly as of september 26th, we are off for almost 3 weeks to explore italy.
our tour is called “the best of italy & sicily” and it starts and finishes in rome… and goes a little something like this:
we arrive into rome 2 days before it starts and depart when it ends… i am ridiculously pumped about this.
this will trump hawaii as my longest trip ever – and also will be the furthest away from home that i’ve ever traveled.
and while i’m on it… it’ll also be the most expensive trip i’ve ever taken.
we really debated between the itinerary above that includes sicily and one that includes more of the north.
but my assistant manager has traveled extensively in italy and said this one would be better because if we return to this area of the world, we’ll probably do france, germany, switzerland ect and its easy to dip down into the north of italy when you’re in the neighbourhood so to speak.
in any event, we agreed.
and we were both pretty keen on the idea of including sicily on this trip.
i also absolutely love the idea of taking the “overnight cruise”. it includes dinner and should be pretty beautiful… i love being on the water. i hope the weather is good.
we’re going to eat and wine our faces off… i’m especially excited about this in particular: Dinner with wine at a Sicilian agriturismo winery.
ummm… okay!
the one thing thats really blowing my mind is the absolute value of this tour.
yes, its a lot of money upfront, but now we’re done. every breakfast and 4 dinners with wine are included. so we have to budget for lunch & a dozen dinners.
but our accommodations, transportation, sightseeing and everything else is done and dusted.
we’ll have this trip paid off before we depart on it. and thats exciting. especially for my husband, who is much more of a money watcher than me.
also, having someone else take care of our luggage and checkins to hotels ect is really going to free up our days to SEE more. we won’t be mucking around dragging bags to and fro train stations. and that was important to me. while this is a longer trip for us, it’s not a “long trip” to europe by any means. so we have to maximize our time on the ground.
i bought this book at costco to help:
it’s really interesting and they break down a lot of cities with “if you only have one day – do this” kind of mentality and include walking maps.
which is perfect, because in most cities, our coach will arrive, they do a spin around the city to orient you and then you do one major sight or activity and then you’re free for the afternoons.
i also like that we get a local guide in Rome, Florence, Assisi, Pompeii, Palermo and Agrigento.
very cool to be shown a city by a local… and i’m looking forward to seeing what they call their “hidden treasures” which is something unique to each guide that they show you that you won’t find in the lonely planet book.
anyways. clearly i am very excited.
i’m currently making my “to do still” list which includes: getting transfers to/from the airport in rome, booking our 2 nights hotel for before the tour starts, extending our insurance coverage to cover the length and cost of our trip and getting a book on learning italian. yey!
188 days seems a lifetime away…
drinks: the grinder red wine
21 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
in booze & other drinkables Tags: wine
also on the “fun & delicious” list is this little gem called The Grinder.
it’s very chocolaty and rich and i love it a lot.
in fact, it might be a new favourite.
and i know this because my husband went back and bought two more bottles today.
so, here’s the tasting notes from the BCLC…
overall, i agree.
we enjoyed it tonight with a coffee rubbed grass fed bison roast and the resulting combination was pretty orgasmic.
dare i say, the perfect pairing.
drinks: bear flag red wine
14 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
in booze & other drinkables Tags: wine
last week i was window shopping at the liquor store and saw this pamphlet for “Fun & Delicious” wines.
well… i like both those things, i said to myself.
i chose two of them to take home. because at under $14 a pop, that’s a good investment.
also, i have the aerator which saves even the shittiest bottle of wine.
i found the bear flag to be a tasty choice. and for the price point, definitely a winner.
usually i stay away from “animal wines”, but the bear is in reference to the state flag of california, so i’ll let it go.
this was a “nothing special” kinda red, but nice and drinkable. the first glass was a little abrasive, even with the aerator, but after a few minutes it had mellowed out nicely.
i would buy this one again.
drinks: mon ami rascal
06 Feb 2012 3 Comments
in booze & other drinkables Tags: booze, wine
tried a new wine tonight. mon ami rascal.
what can i say… it’s red, french and pretty affordable.
picked it up for $11.99 at the beer & wine store that is super tits awesome by moonbeam’s house.
i know its monday, but i had a tough day. i deserve wine dammit.
but this liquor store has a section of top picks below $10 and top picks below $15.
and since i’m broke, but not cheap… i went for the top picks below $15 and grabbed this little guy.
it’s not like ridiculously awesome, but for the price point and once you run it through the aerator, it’s really quite tasty.
perfect choice for a monday night.
you know… when you need a glass of wine, but don’t want to open a $20 bottle.
that’s this guy.
plus, the cap made me laugh a little. so that’s gotta be worth a couple bucks.
wine: winter is coming
17 Nov 2011 1 Comment
in booze & other drinkables Tags: wine
yes friends… in the words of house stark… winter is coming.
and in my super nerdy friendship circle, it is known.
(you either got that, or you didn’t. just sayin’)
anyways, with winter, comes the shift from white wine to red wine.
it’s true. there’s just something weird and unsatisfying about drinking white wine on a cold day.
but red wine? well, that tickles you in all the right places on a cold night.
unfortunately (fortunately?) my husband has developed a taste lately for fine red wine. now, it’s nothing ridiculous… but let’s just say that he won’t let anything worth less than about $16.99 touch his lips these days.
not to say that we’re going crazy with $50 bottles every night… but it’s safe to generalize that the average bottle price in my house lately has been hovering around the $20-$30 mark.
…and the odd $40 bottle might have snuck in.
we’ve also fallen prey a few times lately on “label buying”
it’s tough with wine… there’s just SO MANY OPTIONS. and if you can narrow down your choices by $ amount… and then further vet by name & label, well i say, what the hell?
there’s a BC wine that i spent $40 on last week purely on label. granted, it was in the “best of bc” fall release, so i figure thats a guarantee of at least being decent…
the winery is called “Moon Curser” (awesome) and it used to go by the name of twisted tree… which i enjoyed. so i figured this one was worth a go.
…but at $40, i feel as though there should be some sort of minor occasion to crack it open.
however, the SKULLS wine that i’m currently digging is *very* drinkable right now at $19.99 each. (pictured below)
this is definitely one that was sold based on awesome label & good name.
and in an awesome display of “great minds…” this showed up at our house TWICE in the last week from other people that also thought the label & name were rad.
anyways, it’s a hearty red. a shiraz that’s got some serious body. it’s almost chewy. i dig it.
and to be honest, the australian reds used to be a prime pick of mine in years past, but over the past 4 years or so, they were a last resort… but this one is a delight.
so, see… sometimes buying with your eyes works.
