Italy (2006, 2011, 2016, 2019, 2023)
Italy is like a second home. I’ve done the DNA test and I have 0% Italian blood, but I’ve been interested in Italian culture for as long as I can remember. I minored in Italian language in college and studied abroad in 2006 in a small town outside of Florence.
Since the three months living in Italy, I’ve returned numerous times and traveled around the country to the major cities of course, with a run in Rome by the Tiber in 2023 pictured, but I’ve also been to a small town to the East Coast and the quaint towns on the Mediterranean Coast, including Capri. Rome is one of my favorite cities in the world, and each time my husband and I return, we take a photo in front of the “cat ruins” - Torre Argentina. We’ve explored most of Rome on foot - both sides of the Tiber, well beyond the usual tourist footpath.
Favorite memories (there are so many):
Visiting the Torre Argentina every Rome visit.
Hiking the Cinque Terre during study abroad.
Attending “La Notte Bianca” in Rome.
Exploring a small beach town on the Adriatic coast, missing a train from there to Milan but then figuring out how to fly to Milan from there (hubby and I make a great team)!
Boating around Venice and then walking around Venice, exploring things like the famous .
Running along the Tiber River.
Fun nights with friends in Florence the fall of 2006.
Delicious meals and beverages across the country, including the 2023 visit to famous Kong Bar.
All of the art museums and the baths - under visited sites, especially in Rome - and the QR Terme (ancient bath currently in use in Milan as a public bath).
The free flowing water fountains across Rome, especially - from the ancient aqueduct system.
Finally going to see the “keyhole” in Rome on one of the Capitoline hills.
Biking a portion of the Apian Way in 2019.
Visiting Rome’s cat cafe in a cat dress O got me in Rome (pictured).
