Our next main destination was Chiang Mai, but being that it’s about 700 km away from Bangkok, we figured there would be some things to see along the way. First stop: Ayutthaya. I had no idea what awaited us in Ayutthaya. Nathan mentioned something about ruins and I thought: “Cool”. It was a bit touristy …
Thailand represents many firsts for me. It’s been a while since I’ve done the whole touristy bit…I’ve become quite accustomed with settling down once I arrive in a country. I like getting to know locals and making new friends. It makes for a much more enjoyable experience as a solo traveler. Seeing the sights can …
Nathan and I wanted to check out a floating market, however we didn’t really want to make a whole day of it and since most of them were further out of town, we decided to check out the one closest to us. It was still an hour+ bus ride from our hotel, but we made …
Once Nathan and I got our visas sorted, it was on to some sight seeing. We decided that Wat Pho looked interesting enough as well as Wat Aran. Probably my favorite part of this experience was catching the bus to get there. The buses sort just roll to a California stop after you wave them down. We …
We stumbled upon this market our first night in Bangkok. It is quite possibly the most massive market I have ever seen. Rows upon rows of every type of ingredient used in asian cooking available. Fish filleted upon like they’re ready to be plattered shashimi style, still breathing, and fish still trying to make their …
If you know me at all, I am a terrible, awful, hopeless romantic. I tear up at any wedding I attend (even if I don’t know the bride and groom), Disney movies, and Christmas movies. For some reason Seattle doesn’t have an outdoor ice rink during the holidays, and I’ve always fantasized about a skating …
Once again, I spent an evening realizing how incredibly lucky I am to have met some amazing people during my time abroad. Steve and Dan took time out of their very busy schedules to meet with Tim and I. They say it’s because my arrival gave them an excuse to get together, but either way …
I didn’t have any expectations for Cambridge because I wouldn’t even had considered visiting Cambridge if it weren’t for Alex. I knew the fancy schmancy university was there, but I had no idea how charming Cambridge would be. Getting their via train was pretty easy. It was only 2.5 hours away, I only had to …
Nothing makes me feel more at home than a weekend at the beach. A cold, grey, windy beach. Chris and I decided a small getaway my first weekend in England because we both could use some time in the sand and do some exploration. The last time we were on a beach together was three years …
Pretty pictures driving from Manchester to Nottingham. I don’t think I’ll ever get to driving on the left side of the road. Good thing Chris did it all.
So here I am, back in England. Long story short, my visa was expiring, work at La Distesa was winding down, and it was probably time for me to really get some real traveling done and living out of my backpack. I spent the night in the airport and when the TV monitors were finally …
To be completely honest Venice was not high on my list of places to visit in Italy. After going to Florence and Cinque Terre (places that were on my list), I had enough of the tourism scene. As selfish and silly as that thought process is, I knew I should visit Venice but I really …
In true Sandy fashion, the week before I leave Italy is one giant whirlwind. Italy has a strange way of making your life chaotic even when you don’t mean to. Either that or I’ve completely lost the ability to foresee future possible obstacles that might come my way. My last weekend at La Distesa was …
I haven’t been quite up on my restaurant reviews in Italy since I’ve been so fortunate to be able to have homemade Italian food twice a day. I haven’t explored the fancy places to dine, and for the most part restaurant Italian food doesn’t have the same warmth and comfort as the simple pasta or risotto dishes …
For lack of a better description, we’ve dubbed Valeria’s recent breads as “Wine Bread”. We call it wine bread because it’s made with yeast collected from wine. I know you’re probably confused, so read this short previous entry about the process. Now that you have your mother yeast, when you are ready to bake all …
Did you know you can bake bread without commercial yeasts? You can cultivate your very own yeast at home, and it’s easier than you think! They call it Pasta Madre, which at first translated sounds like Mother Pasta. But Valeria calls it a Mother Yeast, a natural yeast base created by combining collecting the must …
It’s funny how you can build things up in your head sometime. It’s coming, it’s coming, this thing that you’ve been waiting for and as soon as it passes, whether it lasts a few hours or a few days, as soon as it’s over you either keep on truckin’ along as if nothing special has …
Experiencing my second wine festival was for lack of better words: great. Having Jordan around gave me a chance to really show someone from home all the wonderfulness I love about Italy. Jordan decided to drive a motorcycle from Rome to Cupramontana, which sounded like a great experience, but like all Italian travel experiences, it came …
One of my favorite parts about living anywhere for some amount of time is getting to know the locals well enough to get the “inside scoop” on local happenings. This year, I have been lucky enough to meet Luisa, a retired art professor, but continuing artist. If you’ve been following along you might remember she …
This was such a magical afternoon. What a priviledge it was to be a part of Corrado’s verticale tasting of his Gli Eremi. We tasted the past 11 years of his Gli Eremi starting from 2000, his very first wine. I’m not a sommelier by any means, and I was too busy taking photos …
This year’s harvest was much different than last year’s. With a hot summer, we began the harvest much earlier this year (before the end of August). And while we had a couple long haul days, overall we kept to a regular day schedule. The weather was MUCH cooler than last year’s so we didn’t get …
We stopped by this little town for some exploration, happy hour, and lunch before heading for an incredible hike to Mount Vettore. I’ve never had such a lazy morning/day before a big hike before, but there is a first time for everything. This little town was a bit strange, but cute in it’s own sunny …
Located in Parco Nazionale dei Monti Sebillini within the Marche region, Monte Vettore peaks at 2,476 meters (8,123 feet). There are several ways to get there, we came from the southeast trail after spending some time in Castelluccio, which was more or less 335 meters (1,110 feet). While it sounded a great workout, a workout was …
Now that I am all caught up on my London tours, I can finally breath and focus on writing something a little more substantial and something I know folks back home are wondering about. Ever since I left Turkey, I basically fell off the grid. Aside from the occasional texts, brief e-mails, and fulfilling the …
Giovanni has come a long way since I met him a year ago. While he is the most dedicated and passionate worker I’ve met, he lacked the spark and drive to create something more. He was more or less, maybe just stuck or content with his life in little Cupra. Happy to be doing what …
