My daughter and son-in-law, who live in Missoula, Montana, leave today for a well-deserved and much overdue vacation. They are referring to it as their Second Honeymoon, which is only appropriate because they arrive tomorrow in Venice, Italy, recently named by Travel + Leisure magazine as the second most romantic city in the world. Italy also hauls in two other top 10 spots, with Florence at number 3 and Rome at number 8.
This will be Kathryn’s second trip to Italy, while husband Chris is making his first trip overseas ever. I am curious to see how badly he gets bitten by the travel bug. Although I’m an unabashed Anglophile who loves to get to the United Kingdom whenever I can, there is no doubt Europe is an adult Disneyland with nothing but “E coupon” rides. (For those not of my generation, Disneyland hasn’t always sold unlimited use admission tickets. In its early years, “value books” with coupons labeled from “A” to “E” were used. Per the sample below, an E coupon was required for the most popular rides like the Jungle Cruise and Matterhorn Bobsleds.)
When I was fortunate enough to once spend some time in Florence, I took a day trip to nearby Siena which my daughter and son-in-law will be using as a base for six nights. Siena is a hilltop town with a maze of colorful streets and back lanes, and amazing eateries seemingly around every corner. I snapped the above image after consuming a calorie-filled lunch at La Taverna Di Cecco, whose entrance is shown on the left.
I am still working on my online gallery of images from my European travels, which will include Florence and Siena. A nice assortment of matted, metal, and fine acrylic prints, however, are presently available at my gallery on Bainbridge Island. For gallery hours, please visit my Contact page.
Ciao for now!
Andrew (“Andy”) Bergh
P.S: As should come as no shocker, Travel + Leisure magazine chose Paris as the top romantic city in the world.