As soon as we started thinking about moving back to Atlanta, I began frantically narrowing down our list of "must-visit" places. One of my more creative solutions for maximizing our travel opportunities was coming up with an itinerary that allowed us to visit several completely unrelated places on the same vacation.
I had been trying to get my father to come visit me and Andy from the moment we knew we were moving and I started planning out what we wanted to do with him as soon as he booked a trip. It was Dad's first time in Europe and naturally I wanted to take him to a place I knew he would absolutely love: Tuscany. Andy and I actually hadn't visited Tuscany together since our two-week trip in 2019, so we were equally as excited to simply be back in one of our favorite places.
As part of my commitment to truly learn how to ski, I booked a late-season trip to Cortina d'Ampezzo, a popular resort area in the Dolomites. Andy and I were both really excited about exploring a new region of Italy and I was feeling much more confident about skiing after our lovely trip to Chamonix in January, but the experience ended up being a bit of a letdown.
Throughout the pandemic I read several articles that mentioned how incredible Venice has been with such a reduced number of tourists and the dramatic improvement in the canals' water quality, which is due in no small part to the local government (finally) issuing a permanent ban on cruise ships. I was eager to visit Venice without the crowds, and I am so glad we prioritized it as our first continental trip this autumn.
The trip I get asked about the most is the two weeks we spent with Andy's mother in Italy to celebrate her retirement and the completion of his MBA. It was Andy's mom's first time in Europe and there is also just SO much to see and do in Italy, so I spent a lot more time planning this trip than I typically would...and it paid off! During our 12-day trip to Italy, we spent a few days each in Milan, Vernazza (Cinque Terre), Florence, Montepulciano (Val d'Orcia region of Tuscany), and Rome.
Lindsey in London 