Happy Monday Friends! If you follow me on Instagram you probably saw that I was just on vacation in Italy. So, today I wanted to share some of my vacation pictures with you. We took approximately 10,000 (okay, not exactly, but it was so many) so I’ve edited them down to just a few here.

We started our trip in Venice and spent about 24 hours there, next we went to Bologna for 2 days, then we made our way to Tuscany for a week, and ended with one day in Rome before flying home. It was seriously a dream of a trip and was made even better by the fact that we got to spend a lot of it with friends. Our Thanksgiving friends (and here) and some long-time family friends.

I’d like to share my favorite part of the trip with you, but honestly there were so many that I just can’t choose one. I will say, some of the top contenders were: the cooking class in Tuscany, our food pilgrimage to Bologna where we ate tons of the food we’ve been obsessed with cooking at home for years, and day trips to Florence.

Here are some of the photo highlights of vacation ideas for Venice, Bologna, Tuscany and Rome!

Venice

My top tip for Venice is to skip the gondolas (extremely expensive) and just use the vaporetto (water bus) to get around. You still get great views of the canal and surrounding areas and a much more reasonable price.

There are no cars allowed in Venice, so even the construction workers have to get around by boat!

Venice flooded while we were there which was very cool to see. They put out the elevated walkways you see in the bottom of the photo to keep everyone's feet dry. When you go to San Marco Square (pictured here) be sure to tour the museum at the top o… — Venice flooded while we were there which was very cool to see. They put out the elevated walkways you see in the bottom of the photo to keep everyone's feet dry. When you go to San Marco Square (pictured here) be sure to tour the museum at the top of the cathedral - it's only 5 eruo and it's fascinating!

The food all over Italy was everything you dream it would be. This pizza in Venice was no exception!

Bologna

Bologna is in the center of what's called "Italy's stomach" becuase it's where so many of the quintisessntial Italian foods come from. Prosciutto di Parma, Parmesan cheese, tortellini, tortelloni, Mortadella, Lambrusco. We came here to EAT, and it d… — Bologna is in the center of what's called "Italy's stomach" becuase it's where so many of the quintisessntial Italian foods come from. Prosciutto di Parma, Parmesan cheese, tortellini, tortelloni, Mortadella, Lambrusco. We came here to EAT, and it did not disappoint.

Look at all that procuitto and parmesan - I don't think there are enough heart eyes to express how much I love it.

Tortellini and Passatelli in brodo. It doesn't look like much, but that broth is one of my favorite meals of the entire trip. There are no words to describe how deliciously flavorful it is, all the while being light but rich and filling.

Tuscany

If you’re in Tuscany you have to take the cooking class we did. It was incredible. It was at a villa on a hill overlooking San Giamigano in the middle of tons of vineyards. The owner of the cooking school is so much fun and you make some seriously delicious food.

We traveled with my friend, Stella, who blogs over at Are We Adults Yet. Be sure to check out her recap of Tuscany!

A typical scene in Certaldo Alto where we stayed for our time in Tuscany.

The stunning setting of cooking class. The hill you see in the back ground is San Gimignano known for having the world's best gelato. I can vouch, it's pretty damn good. Get the pistachio (I promise).

Our cooking instruction. He was so much fun, full of energy and made cooking pasta from scratch easy.

Sienna duomo is spectacular. And this is just the outside.

I love this shot of Sienna's main piazza that I snapped as the sun was setting.

Florence

Climb the Duomo and visit the museum. When you buy a ticket you get access to climb the tower, visit the museum, and visit the crypts. The ceiling of the Duomo is so much more incredible up close. If you only tour the Basilica you won’t get the full affect. And the museum is so well done and has lots of the original pieces in it, it’s absolutely worth doing.

The inside is quite minimal, but the dome is absoultely incredible.

Rome

We saw all of the major sights that you really can’t go to Rome without checking out. But, my favorite thing we did was something a bit less known, and that was The Bone Church. It’s honestly incredible. It’s only 8 euro and take about an hour to get through. It’s a must do because you won’t see anything like it anywhere else. (See Are We Adults Yet post about how to do Rome in 24 Hours!).

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Los Angeles, it’s worth visiting

On the previously mentioned California trip I took after college I also visited LA. After the trip my friend and I both felt like LA was a total let down and after that I wasn’t a huge fan. Looking back and knowing a little more about LA, I can say I’m sure that not being old enough to rent a car or knowing much about the city significantly contributed to how much fun we had.

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16 in 16 Wrap-up

Okay, now that we’re well in to 2017 I thought I’d share my wrap-up from our 16 in 16 adventure last year. You may remember what we did, but if not you can catch-up here.

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Textile Roundup

Okay, this will probably be my last post on Mexico. I know I've been talking about it a loooot so I'll stop soon. Probably. But before I can even pretend to stop I have to share all of the amazing textiles we came across while we were there.

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Vacation Part 2: Todos Santos

After La Paz we drove across the peninsula to the ocean side town of Todos Santos. Todos Santos was more touristy, but a bit more laid back at the same time. Because we were no longer on the Sea of Cortez the beaches here were rougher and the water was little colder, overall not really tropical like La Paz. That said we still had one of the best beach days of the whole trip here. After 45 minutes of driving down dirt roads, sandy patches where we thought were going to get stuck and laughing about how we couldn’t believe this was the first time we got lost we found the beach we were looking for! One of the things I treasured most about the trip was how nothing was crowded. Baja’s high season doesn’t really pick up until October so everything was incredibly slow quiet (a welcome change from the ultra-condensed crowds of San Francisco). And this beach was no different. There was one other family of four there and that was it! We all hung out together, but also broke off in pairs and trios to do things that interested us. Some walked on the beach and pet the wild horses, others laid in the sun reading, while some went hiking above the shoreline to take in the view from the top, but we all went body surfing because the waves were huge!

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Vacation Part 1: La Paz

We just got back from our vacation in Mexico and we had the best time! We were in Baja California Sur and made stops in La Paz and Todos Santos. The trip was to celebrate Xan’s 30th birthday with his twin brother and girlfriend. And, Baja is just a 3-hour flight from San Francisco with a time difference of one hour, making it the perfect quick trip that feels worlds away. It was so nice to just live in our bathing suits and not worry about much else besides sunscreen and where we could find our next tacos.

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Big Sur!

For Labor Day weekend we went down to Big Sur. Well, a little south actually. We stayed at a place called Tree Bones Resort. It’s a big property over-looking the Pacific Ocean dotted with little yurts. And let me tell you, it is ah-maz-ing. I could have stayed forever. We were there for the long weekend and we spent our time hiking, napping on the beach, soaking in sunsets from the hot tub, and eating some of the best sushi we’ve ever had.

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Portland, Oregon

This past weekend Xan and I were in Portland with our 16 in 16 friends. And let me tell you. It was SO. MUCH. FUN! Seriously. We loved it.

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Southern California: San Diego and La Jolla

As I mentioned in my last post, on our vacation with Xan’s family we stayed in Temecula, but took a couple day trips to other places. One of them was San Diego and La Jolla. I really enjoyed them both! We’d made reservations for a sea kayaking and snorkeling tour in La Jolla. But, that was in the afternoon so we had a few hours to kill. We decided to get a small taste of San Diego by visiting Balboa park and doing a guided ranger tour. The tour was only okay, the park itself, however, was so cool! It’s 1,400 square miles (larger than Central Park), has 17 different museums in it, and has tons of recreation space. It’s in this beautiful Mediterranean style with gorgeous plants and buildings all around. And, most of the museums look really interesting. I could definitely could have spent days there.

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Southern California: Temecula

As you know, Xan and I were on vacation last week with his family. We went to Temecula, California for the wedding of a close family friend and then stayed for vacation. We rented a house in the area which served as our home base and then did some traveling, lots of relaxing, and spending time together from there.

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