I did it for the shirt.

A good Nike shirt can be expensive.

So when you can get one customized for Milan with a bag of swag for 30 euro it's a pretty good deal.

Combined with a few hours of fun with friends and you're left with a memorable experience!

#werunmilano or we walk it.

It was sooooooooooooooooo hot.

Like over 90 degrees Fahrenheit hot.

But we had a good time snapping some pics before the race.

Hey Kyle, what's up with your shirt?
Did anyone else notice the "nice crew" tag behind us?
#howdidtheyknow?

I'm so thankful that Kira decided to walk the race with me since this was clearly NOT a race to walk. We were at the back and they let the traffic resume before we even got off the first street.

#classicItaly

And we all finished, despite the fact there was NO water for the entire 10 km race in the heat.

This made us real happy campers.

#insertsarcasm

But, it was fun, and I got the shirt!

------
Thanks to all my regular readers! I appreciate the time you take to keep up with my travels.

For those of you in Savannah, here's the current run down of my trip home coming shortly...

July 8-Aug 18 in Savannah
July 23-30 Headed to NYC to spend time with Caitlin and attend a yoga retreat with Yoga By Candace
Aug 3-5 Kate (yes, that Kate!) is making an appearance in Savannah
Aug 7-14 Aunt Joanie is coming to Savannah! (She's always so good about coming to visit!)

Susan and I have talked about taking this tinkering class. Thank goodness it doesn't start for another month.

I'm also planning on attending Stan's Kayaking School (hahahah) with Sue. I clearly have no kayaking skills and Sue wants to learn! This is our summer!

There's still plenty of time left to make some plans! Please send me a message and we'll set something up!

What are your summer plans? Are you traveling? I'm always up for considering guest posts if you've got some great pics and travel tips! Let me hear from you in the comments!

Europe on a Budget? Put this destination on your list.

In an effort to cover another new country this year, I spent the June holiday weekend in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Bratislava is easy to get to from Vienna; it's just a short one hour bus ride away.

Slovakia is a relatively unknown destination for many.

Better known by most Americans as part of Czechoslovakia until the Velvet Revolution ousted the communist regime, Slovakia became an independent nation in 1992.

Some of the city's features still conjure the feeling of it's war-torn and unstable past.

not sure what it is about this tram that screams communism to me, but...

The castle was only recently rebuilt after being in ruin.

We took a free city tour to help understand the city and its history a bit.

We learned there wasn't much to see, except for the 'blue' church. Which was my favorite stop on the three hour tour. (cue Gilligan's Island theme song...)

There are several statues in the Old Town, placed there with the specific purpose of bringing a new energy to the area. They were popular with tourists and more have been added over time.

This guy is my favorite.

We walked around the city. We went up to the castle. We rode the elevator up the UFO tower.

Going to the top is probably not worth your money.

In the end, we chose to spend most of our time checking out the local cafes and bars.

We loved our dinner at this Asian restaurant.

And tried out the 'funki' crepes here for lunch.

And being amazed by the low prices in the city. Six (yes, six) glasses of wine cost only €14.40 at this top rated place.

We had time to see this movie in English, something difficult to do in Milan.

view from the UFO

We rode segways for an hour around the Danube riverside.

Bratislava is worth at least a day if you're in Vienna, but is also a nice, relaxing spot since there are less "must see" places to visit. And, prices here are way less than most other western European countries.

We stayed here and I would definitely stay there again. The breakfast was pretty amazing.

Have you been to Bratislava?

Or another off the radar destination?

I'd love to know what other places I should add to my travel wish list!

Dining at the James Beard American Restaurant in Milan

I'm a huge Top Chef fan. 

It's one of my absolute favorite shows. 

I've seen every episode of every version of the show.

So when a list of some pretty major culinary talent started popping up on the Expo website I quickly took notice.

We checked the dates and bought tickets for dinner prepared by Chef Art Smith, whose client list includes Oprah, Lady Gaga and several big name politicians. 

He's known for his classic Southern cuisine and has appeared on Top Chef Masters and Top Chef Duels. 

I'm not really a big foodie, weird ingredients still scare me, and I once lived on turkey sandwiches for several weeks. And, by this I mean, just white bread and turkey.

So Art's food felt like a solid choice in my book. An ew.com article written about his food and Top Chef Duels episode quipped, "It's not high-concept. It's not fancy. But it's comforting, soulful, and delicious. And it's fried. That usually helps."

The evening starts with appetizers and the most spectacular 5th floor view of Galleria Vittorio Emanuele.

arrow pointing to the window where the first pic was taken

Several courses of dinner are served with bottomless glasses of paired wines.

buttermilk biscuits with pimento cheese and pancetta jam

gorgonzola cheese and local greens

fried chicken. omg.

And, of course, there is dessert. 

hummingbird cake with creme fraiche lemon gelato

The evening was well worth every penny spent.

You still have five months to take advantage of this great opportunity. 

I suggest you don't miss out.

some of the fun graphics leading into the restaurant

with Chef Art Smith

Dinner costs €120 per person and reservations can be made by emailing restaurant@USAPavilion2015.net Alternatively, you can purchase vouchers for the evening through Quandoo, but we were told by those in charge that this wasn't necessary. Given that I found the Quandoo system a little annoying I might skip this step in the future. 

Sunday Brunch is available for €45 and offers pancakes, French toast, eggs Benedict, bottomless mimosas and Bloody Mary's and much more.

More information about the James Beard American Restaurant in Milan.

A Southern Wedding

In May, my niece Melissa married her long time boyfriend, Kevin, at Bethesda Academy in Savannah.

I was so happy that I was able to take a few days off and make it back to the States for the happy occasion.

Here are some of my favorite shots from the weekend!

bridal luncheon at The Olde Pink House

my niece Melissa, my sister Cece, and my niece Danielle

I love this picture of Mimi, Neal's mother

Richard, Melissa, and Neal

Aunt Joni and me

gettin' hitched!

my family...Neal, Cece, Melissa, Kevin, Danielle, Mom and Dad

the reception

me, with the beautiful bride! 

For the weekend, I used Rent the Runway instead of buying a dress. I rented these three dresses for four days. It was really exciting to try this service out. The rental prices are a mere fraction of what these dresses would normally retail for in a store.

Overall, my first experience was fun, but there were some issues. Each of one the dresses was tight in the chest and shoulders, the pink dress being the most problematic. The blue and white dress came with a split seam in the back and when I reported this the rental cost was credited back to my account. In the end, all worked out fine and I'm excited to rent again soon!

If you're interested in trying Rent the Runway, you can use my referral link and we can both earn a $20 credit. For now, I think rentals are limited to the U.S.

L: dress by Carmen Marc Valvo
M: Lilly Pulitzer...kind of love this one!
R: Milly dress

Melissa and Kevin used Jade + Matthew for the wedding photos. Based on the pics I've seen, I would quickly recommend them if you're in the Savannah area. Check out the link for some of the professional shots.

24 Hours in Parma

Just a short jaunt from Milan are several towns renowned for their DOP (denominazione di origine protetta) food products. These products must be produced in certain areas and only with certain products. Everything is checked for quality by officials of local consorzios. The quality of these products is known to be higher and of a more specialized nature.

An example of this is the cheese Parmigiano Reggiano. To qualify as a DOP product the producer must follow strict standards to have their cheese meet the requirements for the seal of DOP.

Despite America's love for that plastic green can of Kraft parmesan, I promise you that is not the real thing.

A few weeks ago, Caitlin and I headed to Parma to check out their regional food products. We spent the afternoon wandering the town, listening to a surprise orchestra concert and drinking some wine. The following day we joined two of our co-workers for an opportunity to check out local ham, cheese, and balsamic vinegar producers on the Three Kings Tour offered by FoodnWalk tours.

three types of tortelli

At the cheese factory I shot this video using the Hyperlapse app so that you could see it happen super fast! It was pretty cool and I was impressed with how it all happened. However, I can't imagine doing this work EVERY DAY.

We also got to see where the cheese ages, for anywhere from 12 to 28 or more months. I bought some 24 month aged cheese to share over Mother's Day and with my book club.

So delicious!

early in the process

watch the video to see how the cheese ends up like this

the cheese takes a swim in some salt water

#cheesefordays

the cheese is marked to identify its DOP status 

We also stopped by a place where prosciutto is cured into Parma ham. Before living in Italy I was fairly uneducated about prosciutto crudo and what it was but after living here I am a total convert. I love it. Especially when you get crudo super thinly sliced...it's like butter melting in your mouth.

outside the ham production plant

the hall of ham

the mark received when it's legit

Unfortunately, we did not get to sample enough of this product on our tour. We had just a small amount over lunch and I was definitely disappointed.

Last, we made a trip to an acetaia in the region to check out their balsamic vinegar production. Modena is home to Italy's most famous balsamic production, but there is production in other nearby areas as well. Modena's balsamic is made with red grape, but the production we saw in Reggio Emilia was made with white.

cute little barrels of different woods with aging balsamic

tasting the balsamic

I have become a balsamic snob.

At least for the high end grocery store versions.

The prices of the fancy balsamic made by DOP producers is really high! But, given that the version we liked most was aged at least 20 years, I suppose that makes sense.


Some of the nitty gritty details:

We stayed here for one night. It was clean and fairly modern. Prices were decent. It is close to the train station, but we had no trouble with the area.

We ate here. It's a huge place, which surprised us. Order the three types of ravioli and the gnocco fritto. We made the mistake of skipping it and totally regretted it.

Book the tour here by contacting them via email. While this tour has some great Trip Advisor reviews, I'm not sure I'd recommend it. Our guide was very knowledgeable and friendly, the tour was full of information, but little food. I think that should be improved. For the price you pay, I'd like to see more tastings on offer. Note...you must have your own transportation for this tour.

To learn more about the cheese:
Brochure about Parmagiano Reggiano

Tulips of Amsterdam

In mid-April Caitlin and I met my friend, Marc, in Amsterdam. We wanted to see the tulips and we decided that biking through the tulip fields was a must-do while living in Europe.

We rented an AirBnb apartment, made several trips to Starbucks (4 in under 48 hours in fact), wandered the city a bit, found "the bench" from The Fault in Our Stars, and, of course, saw MILLIONS of tulips and hyacinths.

so delicious! 

yes, admittedly, we are total nerds.

I'm likely to overwhelm you with pictures of flowers now.

You've been warned.

so many flowers...everywhere!

Travel tips: 

Keukenhof Gardens is just outside of Amsterdam and are open for only 8 weeks each year. 

We bought 48 hour bus passes and used those almost exclusively. We took a tram to bus 69 that has an airport stop. From the airport we took the Keukenhof Express and bought the combo ticket for the bus ride and the park entrance fee. 

We rented bikes from the bike rental place to the left of the gardens. By the time we got there all the bikes were rented and we had to wait about an hour for bikes to be returned. 

I'd go as early as possible for both as the park got really crowded the longer we were there. 

If you rent bikes, you're given a map of different possible routes. The girl at the bike rental suggested how fun the fields and dunes would be (the longest route) so we tried it out. We'd like to issue this public service announcement: The dunes and foresty area was SO boring. And it was uphill, against the wind the day we were out there. Not so much fun.