Where in the world has Kim been...? redux...

I know, I know. I promised I would update more often and then I haven't updated since the end of May. All I can say is that I have been busy. I did manage to take ten days of vacation in June, which I definitely needed. We went to Italy to celebrate Tord's birthday. This time, our travels took us to Bologna-Fano-Ravenna.

We started in Bologna and stayed at the wonderful Hotel Porta San Mamola. Our room had a lovely view of the lavender-scented garden, where you could also eat breakfast. If you want a calm place to stay with lots of small restaurants nearby, within walking distance of all the sights without feeling overwhelmed by all the other tourists, then this is the hotel for you. The staff recommended a restaurant called Il Sangiovese to us and we weren't disappointed. This restaurant has a good selection of local specialties and wines. Just thinking about how nice it was there is making me drool. I think I will have to return there soon.

The next day we departed for Fano, where we stayed at Villa Giulia, a cozy and romantic place in the hills above the city center. We booked a ground-floor suite that was set up like a mini-apartment. We even had our own little garden outside of our room where we could eat lunch in the sun and enjoy the scent of honeysuckle every afternoon. Our hostess Anna was a dog lover and all of her dogs were friendly. Our personal favorite was Lola, a shy black dog with lopsided ears who loved eating breakfast with us in the mornings and lunch with us when we returned from an afternoon spent at the pool or beach. We spent five days in Fano, enjoying the local seafood, the calm (it was still low-season for them) and the fantastic weather. One of our favorite activities was sitting on the terrace in the evenings, sipping limoncello and talking about everything and nothing. We were surprised we had very few mosquito bites by the end of our stay--maybe all the cute lizards running around ate them all.

Our next stop was Ravenna. We stayed at a fantastic bed and breakfast called M Club in Ravenna's historical center. Our room was large, airy and comfortable. It was so cozy we felt like it was our new second home and we're already talking about returning to Ravenna to stay there again. While in Ravenna, we quickly found a restaurant that became our favorite: Locanda del Melarancio. The food here was divine. If you're ever in Ravenna, you must go there. But we didn't just eat while we were there. We also toured many of the UNESCO World Heritage sites in Ravenna and marvelled at the beauty of the mosaics. They really have to be seen...what an incredible sense of history you get when you walk the streets of Ravenna and wander in its many beautiful churches...

So that was June... July was spent working, working, working. August has also been busy--though I did attend the Oriflame Gold Conference in Rome, which was pretty cool. Now summer feels like it's leaving Stockholm and we've already planned our next weekend trip: London (again) to see another musical ("The Lion King"). I can't wait! :)

Wish I were back in Umbria...

Well, it's nearly a month now since we returned from Italy, and I sooooo wish we were still there. The trip was amazing--and not in a "we-did-so-many-exciting-things" way. I think it was more the mood that was amazing. It's been a long time since Tord and I felt so relaxed and so happy to simply "be". Coming home to Stockholm was very difficult. Stockholm feels so drab and cold in comparison. This could, of course, be due to it raining nearly every single day since we returned home.

Let me tell you why it was so wonderful to be in Italy...

After a hectic and sticky day in Rome, we boarded a train bound for Spoleto and arrived in a beautiful Umbrian hill town that just felt magical. From the balcony of our hotel room, we had a spectacular view of the verdant hillside and were lulled by the heady scent of bird cherry everyday. We drank far too much red wine, ate too much parmesan cheese and sausage spiced with truffles, climbed the steep and narrow streets of the city and stumbled on so many gorgeous sights.... I could have easily spent another two or three days there.

But we had another place to visit...Assisi. And Assisi was lovely, even with so many tourists milling around and all the hubbub with the Pope's imminent arrival, Assisi was a city that charmed the pants off us. We trudged up the steep Pilgrim's Way (sweating, swearing, and dying of thirst) only to be dazzled by the sight of the Basilica of San Francesco. Like Spoleto, Assisi was full of narrow lanes and surprising vistas. The food was delicious...our hotel room at the bottom of the hill--modern, comfortable and overlooking a piazza that seemed to host a block party every night.

And then there was Perugia...yet another hill town, this one with a population of around 160,000. It took us a while to find our hotel and the air was thick and syrupy. Our hotel, just outside the old city walls and positioned with an outstanding view of Assisi in the distance, gave us a well-deserved respite with its rooftop pool and terrace. We overdosed on Umbrian art, sampled local cuisine and took la passegiata every evening.

And everyday I dreamed of how it must be to rent a house in Italy and spend an entire summer there. One day I hope I can do that. I am so tired of wet and uninspiring Swedish summers, especially when I've already had to suffer through a long, dark and even less inspiring Swedish winter.

By the way, the picture above is mine. It's a view of Perugia from our hotel's rooftop terrace. I wish I were there now...

I love Umbria...