If we can DREAM it, we can do it! ..... another 30 day vacation Update 02/07

[englishrose47]

I am ready for the TR!!!!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Hi Karin! Just dropping by to say Hi - I haven't been able to catch up or be on much, as I am still mostly without internet, except when I'm at work.

I hope to spend alot of time catching up as soon as we can get into our own place. Odd circumstances here, but it is just temporary.

 

[Wicket's Mom]

Your weekend looked like ours! We had rain everyday of our small trip this week! Yuck!

Will be awaiting the new TR!

 

[eandesmom]

great teaser pictures!

oh that line up of meats makes me realize how hungry I am!

 

[dizneeat]

Loved your Key West trip. The daiquiri looks delicious. How exciting to see a wedding right from your balcony. I love the iguana in the palm tree. The sunset is beautiful, nice way to finish a wonderful week in Key West. YAY for booking next year at a discount. So happy that you booked your summer airfare. We haven't booked anything for next summer. Rachel works in a camp and I'm still waiting for the schedule to come out. I hope we can still get a decent airfare and the DVC we want. We always have everything booked by now.

Elaine, I hope you all are safe! It is heartbreaking to see what Hurricane Sandy did to NY!
I am glad you enjoyed our visit to Key West, it is such a beautiful place to be. I am keeping my fingers crossed you will be able to go to WDW next summer and that our dates overlap, so we can meet again!
Tom and I actually booked our airfare for the summer a short time ago too. The price was about right so we went for it.

That food looks absolutely yummy.

Congrats on booking a "bounceback."

The Southernmost Beach Cafe is a really lovely location and the food is really good too!
I had to when you used the word "bounceback" as my first reaction was ...... "look they left us a bounceback".

I found your report on Sunday and am now all caught up.

I am thoroughly enjoying all the details of your adventures and hearing about your drinks and food.

Your Italy weekend sounds wonderful and what beautiful scenery. Key West is so beautiful and what a great view you had and what fun to watch the wedding. Loved the iguana too!

Looking forward to more.

Sorry it took me so long to welcome you here, but I am sure you know that we just spent the weekend in Italy and I was pretty busy the days leading up to it and right after we got back.
But you are perfectly in time for the Italy trip report and more updates.

The food looks amazing! The sunset beautiful!!! I don't blame you one bit for putting in for next year.

Thank you, Ann!
I am so happy we are already booked at the Southernmost again for next summer and they even promised us the same room!

 

[dizneeat]

I have been LOVING your report. I really hope to get to Key West someday!!!

Michelle, I am so happy that you enjoy this trip with us so far. I cannot wait to get to the part when we meet you and your beautiful family!
Give my girl Angelina a big hug from Tom and I.

Beautiful sunset pics- I don't blame you a bit for going back!

And you're going to Italy AGAIN????? Is that what I saw on another TR???

The time in Key West is always just so beautiful and so laid back. And thanks for "understanding" that we are going back.
And YES, we DID go to Italy again last weekend.

It's like a dream wedding for me..I am not a frilly girlie gala type. A relaxed beach wedding awesome

I was thinking the same thing Kathy, a Key West bounceback

It was so beautiful to watch. Everyone was so relaxed and there was a lot of laughter during the ceremony and after.

I called it exactly that, a bounceback, when I saw the offer on the desk.

I wanted a beach wedding, but it was such a pain for us to try and put together that we went with the court house wedding.

Another fabulous day with beautiful views and atmosphere. I am loving all your palm tree pictures. Only 9 more days til lI can see some and I am itching to get there!

That chicken sandwich looks interesting. I might have to make something like that here and try it.

I have seen a few beach weddings (just while on vacation, ) and they were all so beautiful, but this one was kind of special. Everyone had a lot of fun and enjoyed themselves so much and even with a bride in a long white dress it didn't look "stiff" at all.
And I could really imagine you as a beach bride!

I really enjoyed that chicken sandwich. It was not something I would come up with myself, but it really worked VERY well.

 

[dizneeat]

Oh my goodness, look at those coconut shrimp. My husband will be making those (or something coconut) for dinner now! Those look so good. I used to get those at Margaritaville all the time, but they didn't look that good.

Um, we could never house hunt in Key West. Have you seen the real estate prices for the keys? Yeah, that will never happen. We have found some places close to Disney for less than $30,000. The properties aren't the best right now, but after we fix them up they'd make the perfect vacation home.

The only thing worse than our addiction to Disney is our addiction to palm trees. This is my front door. It looks like a jungle, does it not? No iguana's though.

I loved their Coconut shrimp! Have you tried the ones at Bubba Gump? They are soooooo yummy too and the dipping sauce they serve with it, is really tasty too!

I have NO idea about real estate prices in the US. Finally something I haven't thought about.
But I am sure Key West would not come cheap.

I can so understand your addiction to palm trees. I wish we had some here. But they are extra special to us too!
And BTW, your house and garden look awesome!

Ok, how much vacation time do you guys get? I am SO jealous!

Oh well, even if I had that much I couldn't afford to do all that much with it so I will just live vicariously.

You were an updating machine while I was gone. All your updates made me really miss Key West, so beautiful! I cannot believe the crowds though, yuck. The Southernmost Cafe is definitely on my must eat at list the next time we go back, that was some amazing looking food.

Key Lime Pie on a stick. Who knew?

We get "just enough" vacation time. But seriously, I am VERY lucky, being a teacher I have a lot of time off and we are very careful with Tom's 6 weeks a year. We have quite a few holidays that are tied to a special date, so if they fall on a Tuesday or Thursday they make perfect "long weekends" with just using up one vacation day.

You really have to try the Southernmost Beach Cafe when you get back to Key West. It is really a great place to eat at!
And if you want to try the Key Lime on a stick, try the one from Kermit's - it's AWESOME!!!!!!

Have a safe trip Karin and Tom! I'm sure you will have a great time. Can't wait to hear all about it.

Thank you, Teresa!
We had a really fun time. I am enjoying another "long" weekend at the moment and am trying to get some updates up later today.

Have a wonderful time in Italy Karin & Tom!!!

Thank you, Elaine! Even though the weather didn't actually cooperate we had a really good time.

 

[dizneeat]

Have a great time!

Thank you! We did have a fun time!

Have a great time in Italy!!

Thank you! It was very relaxing and nice!

Have a safe trip! Take lots of pictures. Oh...I got me some coconut shrimp tonight.

Thank you!
We did take a lot of pics! Trip report starting VERY soon now!
:yeah: for having coconut shrimp for dinner! Lucky girl!

More pizza!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Enjoy Karin!!!!

You asked for it ...... you are going to get it.

 

[dizneeat]

Drive safely and have a great weekend in Italy!!!

Jill in CO

Thank you! We had a wonderful weekend.

Oh my goodness, I've much catching up to do! I completely missed another Italy trip in the works!

Safe travels, and of course, know it will be wonderful! (Gives me time to catch up! )

No problem, Christine!
Take your time catching up ....... as you can see I did not have much time to update/reply lately.
We had a fun time in Italy and I have quite a few pictures to share with you all!

Have a great time in Italy!

Thank you! We had a blast!

Have fun!!!!!

Thanks, Jen, we did!

 

[dizneeat]

Hi Karin! All caught up again!

Sarabeth’s looks really good. Tom’s eggs would definitely be my choice, although I would be just about as happy with yours! YUM!!!!

Okay, that’s it. I MUST have some key lime pie on a stick someday! Does it have the pie crust or just the filling? (I know, weird question, but I can’t eat gluten, so trying to figure out how hard it would be to eat! )

Oh my goodness - I wish I were on that rooftop deck right now with a yummy cocktail, the warm sun, and that beautiful view.

Aww - love the wedding pics - what a beautiful place to get married.

I love your little iguana mascot! How cute that he was still there when you got back.

That calamari looks incredible! I have never seen it served with tzatziki, but that is one of my favorite condiments, so I bet I would love it. YUM!

I hope you are having a great mini-holiday in Italy! Can’t wait to hear about it!!!

for getting all caught up again!

The Key Lime on a stick is a regular piece of pie WITH crust, which is dipped into chocolate and then frozen. It is really yummy, but I am not sure if you would like it, if you cannot tolerate gluten.
The Iguana was such a nice "pet" to have. We would walk out onto the balcony ever so often and he would still be there.
I have never seen calamari served with tzatziki either, but I can asure you, it was delicious!

Italy was a lot of fun and we made the best of it, even though the weather did not cooperate.

Hope your weekend getaway to Italy was wonderful!

It really was! We had such good time.

Hi Karin I am just back from Albany , work conference with 8 guys !! Check out my Rosie Drama on that , I can't go away at all without DRAMA!!!

I did read about your new DRAMA, Rosie! So much fun!

Sorry the weather wasn't so great! Love the teaser pictures!!

I had checked the weather before we left, so we knew what we were in for and made the most of it. We had a lot of fun!

 

[dizneeat]

Yay, Venice! My favorite city in the whole world.

Jill in CO

It was such a good idea to go there, especially since Lignano at the end of the summer season was pretty quiet and Venice wasn't that much of a drive.

You big tease

..... all just for you, Jen!

Seriously? You are seriously going to tease us like that?

Yip, I am, why not?
Trip report coming up shortly, Kathy!

Here in Niagara Falls we got off very lightly, alot of rain and some high winds, but we didn't loose power although some areas in the city did!! The stores were out of D batteries for days before the storm.We had lots of smaller flashlights that required smaller batteries so were all prepared .

Thanks for the update, Rosie! I am glad to know that you are safe and that you kept power.
We watched CNN nearly all night and the pictures we saw were horrifying.

 

[dizneeat]

I am ready for the TR!!!!

Your wish is my command ..... TR coming up shortly!

Hi Karin! Just dropping by to say Hi - I haven't been able to catch up or be on much, as I am still mostly without internet, except when I'm at work.

I hope to spend alot of time catching up as soon as we can get into our own place. Odd circumstances here, but it is just temporary.

Hi Tammie!
Thanks for checking in on us!
I really hope that everything works out for you and that you will be settled in your new home real soon.

Your weekend looked like ours! We had rain everyday of our small trip this week! Yuck!

Will be awaiting the new TR!

We had a nice, but overcast day, the first day, second day was rain, but it was nice in Venice and we had rain and SNOW on the way home, but all in all it was a really wonderful trip!

great teaser pictures!

oh that line up of meats makes me realize how hungry I am!

Thanks, Cynthia!
I hope you had a nice lunch/dinner .... we did too! Those meats were really yummy and going by car had a lot of advantages! One of them was being able to bring a cooler and fill it up with Italian yummyness to bring home.

 

[Minnie&Nana]

Welcome home, Karin! Looking forward to hearing all about your trip. Photos,

It has been a very quiet time around our house...our little Jackie Maltese crossed last Friday. It was heartbreaking...we miss her so much. She was 17 and had a wonderful life, but our little doglets live for so long that we expected Jackie to rally and be around for another year, maybe even two. We are blessed to have had her a part of our family for nine years.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Here in Niagara Falls we got off very lightly, alot of rain and some high winds, but we didn't loose power although some areas in the city did!! The stores were out of D batteries for days before the storm.We had lots of smaller flashlights that required smaller batteries so were all prepared .

Glad you are safe, Rosie!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Okay, had a chance to catch up - work is slow. Looks like you had a wonderful stay in Key West! Maybe your friend the Iguana will be there next year, too! I can't believe your sink leaked into the safe - not something you would ever think about ahead of time for sure.

Well, your teaser photos of Italy look delicious and wet! I see you even got your Winter started on the way home. I'm sure you had a wonderful time as always!

 

[HowieHowie]

Glad you had a nice time in Italy, but sorry to hear about the rain. I just got my internet back tonight, it was out since Mon night because of the hurricane. That was some storm we had. We were not here for Irene last year and it was scary going through this one which my friends tell me was much, much worse than Irene. Thankfully we had power, but no internet, tv or phones. We had trouble using cell phones where we couldn't get a connection. We were one of the lucky ones as most of my neighborhood had no power and still does not have power. I had friends at my house last night and today taking hot showers. I had to pick up my parents because they have no power. There are tress down everywhere, some blocking streets. Houses damaged with fallen trees on them, including one of my friends. No school or work for Rachel and me for the week. Now we probably have to make up the time and they will take our Feburary or April break away.

 

[dizneeat]

Welcome home, Karin! Looking forward to hearing all about your trip. Photos,

It has been a very quiet time around our house...our little Jackie Maltese crossed last Friday. It was heartbreaking...we miss her so much. She was 17 and had a wonderful life, but our little doglets live for so long that we expected Jackie to rally and be around for another year, maybe even two. We are blessed to have had her a part of our family for nine years.

I did read about your loss, Christine and was very sad about it. Our furbabies are so much part of our lives, losing one leaves such a huge hole in our lives.
But I am really glad that you are back.

Glad you are safe, Rosie!

Okay, had a chance to catch up - work is slow. Looks like you had a wonderful stay in Key West! Maybe your friend the Iguana will be there next year, too! I can't believe your sink leaked into the safe - not something you would ever think about ahead of time for sure.

Well, your teaser photos of Italy look delicious and wet! I see you even got your Winter started on the way home. I'm sure you had a wonderful time as always!

Yippie! So glad that you are all caught up again, just in time for more adventures to start.
We love Key West and always have such a great time there. This time was no different.
As for Italy, we knew about the weather beforehand and planned accordingly. The only thing that REALLY surprised us was that there was that MUCH snow in the Alps!

Glad you had a nice time in Italy, but sorry to hear about the rain. I just got my internet back tonight, it was out since Mon night because of the hurricane. That was some storm we had. We were not here for Irene last year and it was scary going through this one which my friends tell me was much, much worse than Irene. Thankfully we had power, but no internet, tv or phones. We had trouble using cell phones where we couldn't get a connection. We were one of the lucky ones as most of my neighborhood had no power and still does not have power. I had friends at my house last night and today taking hot showers. I had to pick up my parents because they have no power. There are tress down everywhere, some blocking streets. Houses damaged with fallen trees on them, including one of my friends. No school or work for Rachel and me for the week. Now we probably have to make up the time and they will take our Feburary or April break away.

Elaine, I am SO happy to hear that you are safe. Sorry about the internet and cell phone trouble, but at least you had power!
Tom and I watched the storm unfold on CNN and it was unbelievable! We were thinking about you all a lot, hoping that you would not be hit too badly.
Sorry to hear that you might lose your February or April break, so not fair.

 

[dizneeat]

Italy October 2012

Day 1, October 26

Here we go again ……. - Part 1

We had decided that in order to get on the road early in the day it was best for me to spend the night at Tom’s house. Since we both had been pretty tired we had gone to bed early, but none the less getting up at 3.30am was hard. We just had a bite to eat for breakfast, loaded the car and off we went. Unbelievably enough for us we really were on the road by 4.30am.

The town was empty at that early hour and we were on the motorway in no time and made good progress, but driving in the night was really boring and I had to fight really hard not to fall asleep while Tom was driving. When the sun finally came up it got much easier.

We stopped and left the motorway after about half the drive to fill up the tank as gas is a lot more expensive in Italy and we knew we could get back and forth with that one tank of gas. While we waited for the car to fill up again, we had something to drink and opened up a bag of M&Ms, so we could nibble something when we got going again. Soon enough we got close to the border

and then onto the motorway in Italy.

Traffic picked up in Italy, mainly because they didn’t have a holiday (but Austria did!) and there were lots of trucks on the road. The skies were overcast, but it did not rain and after another two hours we drove into Lignano. We were surprised to see the changes that had happened since we had last been there 5 weeks ago. We knew this was the end of the travel season, but it really was quiet! We stopped at a large grocery store to stock up drinks and snacks and even found a few Disney food items

before we headed to our hotel. Our hotel is located in a pedestrian area and it was almost deserted.

We finally pulled into the hotel lot and walked over to the front desk to check in. Since we were some of the last guests to stay at this hotel until the closed for the winter we were handed our keys right away and told that we could use our apartment straight away and if we wanted to stay later on our last day we were welcome to use the apartment until the evening.
We were free to park our car wherever we wanted in the garage and were soon on our way to the elevator to take up our luggage to our room. Like promised, we had the same room again we had had in September and we opened the blinds to enjoy the view of the beach first thing. It was fun to see that all the umbrellas were gone and most hotels had the blinds down. It was quiet in our hotel as well. Once everything was in the room and we had relaxed a bit we decided to head out and do some grocery shopping.
We usually shop in a very small grocery store at the end of the pedestrian area, where we already did our shopping when we were kids and since the lady running the shop always is very nice and helpful we had brought a box of chocolate truffles from our favourite coffee shop here. So we picked up our box of truffles and our shopping bag and off we went. A few minutes later we walked into the shop and stocked up on essentials for a nice lunch. When we were done we presented our truffles to the shop owner and she was so surprised and could not believe that we had thought of her while still at home. When we packed all our purchases into our reusable bag she suddenly slipped a bottle of Limoni,

a lemon liquor into our bag and said that it was her treat. Now, we were stunned. On the way back to the hotel we stopped at the bakery and picked up some doughnuts before we headed back to our room, put everything out onto the table and had a feast.

There was

San Daniele ham,

Mortadella,

Sopresa,

butter, mixed olives,

chilli infused Pecorino cheese,

Grissini sticks and chips. Since we only had had a few bites for breakfast this was a wonderful lunch and we took our time and enjoyed everything.

 

[WDisneyMom]

Off to a great weekend getaway update. I am out of touch with the rest of the world I guess. I didn't realize they close up for winter...sounds quiet and peaceful with no one around.

So nice of you and Tom to bring the shop owner truffles and then a nice little surprise for you as well from her.

All of the food looks fantastic...some of my favorites.

Looking forward to more.

 

[dizneeat]

Off to a great weekend getaway update. I am out of touch with the rest of the world I guess. I didn't realize they close up for winter...sounds quiet and peaceful with no one around.

So nice of you and Tom to bring the shop owner truffles and then a nice little surprise for you as well from her.

All of the food looks fantastic...some of my favorites.

Looking forward to more.

Most of those "beach communities" are only open from April to the end of October. They make their living from people enjoying the beach and when it gets too cold for beach touristm they close up shop and move in land.

That shop owner is really really sweet and tries very hard to make everyone feel welcome. She even remembered us from a previous visit and last time we decided that we had to do something for her, so we brought a few chocolate truffles.

More coming up shortly .... I am typing the rest of the trip report at the moment.