My venture

All are back home.....it is a beautiful sunny Sunday...what better way to spend it than going for a nice Sunday lunch....we have been wanting to try La Terrazza for quite some time (mom, dad and Mutti raved about it), so we decided to make our way there. We "know" the chef, Manuele Graziani, and I really wanted to taste his food (we did not tell him we were coming). The restaurant has a fabulous setting and inside decoration...let me share some pics.... As you enter the restaurant there is a small Enoteca wine bar The restaurant Outside terrace Chef Manuele We decided to sit inside, although sunny and quite warm, we would have had to wear our jackets outside, so inside was the better option for us. The wine list was extensive and we opted for a bottle of spumante and a Brunello.  For starters there were quite a lot of items that I was struggling from, in the end I chose the swordfish carpaccio, dad chose the beef carpaccio which was one of the o...

Yes, here we go...as promised, the surrounding areas of Dallas...Walter, my parent's friend, collected us from the hotel and drove with us to Southlake City, which is north-west of Dallas. On the way there, about 30 minutes, he was the perfect tour guide, answering all the questions we had, explaining the various areas as we drove etc etc. We really enjoyed it. Once we arrived in Southlake we decided to drive through Southlake City which is the main shopping area....absolutely beautiful....its kind of a mall...but all is outside, so kind of like a strip mall, but not laid out in a strip per say....hard to explain, but I think you might know what I am talking about.....let me share some pics.... Southlake City  Townhall in Southlake City After that we drove around some of the various little sub-sections of Southlake....very beautiful houses, and a very distinct style, I must say, I loved them. A lot of them are brick on the outside, but so beautifully done, and a very ...

So yes...I have shared a little bit about uptown, I think it is time to share a little bit about downtown. First of all, they lie right next to each other, and secondly, well we still decided to take the car in the morning because we thought if we would drive around a little bit we could see a little bit more. But before I start...let me share a pic of our view (I was not very impressed)....... View from our hotel Drum roll......my opinion (about downtown).....i was sooooo disappointed....it was dead (fair enough it was 9am), I saw no well-known shops, I saw no cafes...saw a few restaurants but nothing much....what the hell.....I am not sure what I was expecting...maybe something like New York...buzzing....many restaurants, coffee shops, retail therapy etc.....well....might as well make the most of the situation. All that being said, we found a quaint little coffee shop called "Flying Horse", and......the cappuccino was absolutely AMAZING...the coffee was strong, th...

Dallas is quite well known for its Mexican cuisine....so we definitely wanted to try it one night.....yes, I should probably go a few steps back...you must be wondering....how did they get to Dallas, were they not just in Naples.....well...yes, we were....but after three days we left Naples and flew to Dallas. We arrived late afternoon and made our way to the rent-a-car....that was quite a mission there...not the finding of the car or getting the car keys....BUT rather...the issue of the middle-seat....we received a brand new Volvo X90...and the middle-seat of the back-row was down....and we just could not figure out how to put it up (we had two people assisting us). After about 20min they wanted to upgrade us to a Mercedes...BUT none of us WANTED a Mercedes, we ALL wanted to Volvo....so finally my dad helped....and finally we managed to get the seat up....yay...time to make our way to the hotel. Let me share a pic of the number plate... Volvo number plate Arrival at the hote...

Nope...NOT Naples Italy, BUT Naples FLORIDA.....in fact it is about a 2.5hr drive from Tampa port. So after having spent six weeks onboard with Kim and Sofia (and the last week mom and dad joined), Kim has one cruise left while the four of us are staying in the States a little bit before retuning home to Italy. First we were invited my my parents friend, Linda, who lives in Naples. They have been friends since I was born and met each other when my parents lived in New York. Sunday after leaving the ship we made our way to Naples...no rush though....a chilled ride because Sofia is not too keen on her car seat at the moment. We collected our rental car and then we were lucky....it was Sofia's nap time....so we managed to get quite a distance done before having to stop the first time....let me share a pic of the beautiful Skyway bridge (the ship actually goes under it when it leaves Tampa port)....it is incredible..... Skyway Bridge Our first stop was at port Charlotte.......