Lagos Portugal is pretty impressive. We finally had a chance to visit this summer thanks to the fact that our house sitters had ten days free between sits and we spontaneously decided to extend our Madrid-Stockholm-Rome-Bologna trip. No wonder we’ve been nesting since we got back. We were gone a total of thirty-one days!, and I’m proud to say with just carry-on luggage too. Here’s how to experience a most relaxing vacation in this popular destination of the Algarve.
Bologna, Italy. The name alone conjures up visions of rich food and gorgeous medieval architecture. The largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy had long been on my list of places to see, even more so because Federico talked so fondly of it. I got my chance recently. We spent a total of four days and three nights in this gorgeous medieval city. If you love good food, l encourage you to visit. Bologna is usually referred to as “The Fat, the Red and the Wise”. Here’s why.
Win a t-shirt and tote bag on our very first giveaway on the blog!. You may have noticed how we quietly added a shop to our home page. We’ve been working behind the scenes to introduce our Nextbiteoflife merchandise. We have used some of our favorite images to produce custom t-shirts and tote bags. As a thank you to all, one lucky winner will receive one of these deluxe cotton t-shirts and a tote bag.
In addition to the t-shirt, the winner will also receive one of the tote bags displayed in the shop. You don’t have to choose the same design for both things. Perfectly up to you to mix it up if you wish :-). Variety is the spice of life after all! The choice is all yours. You can find the availabe choices here at the shop. Make sure to take your measurements so that you get the right size. A convenient chart is on the page. The t-shirts are made of strong, durable cotton and will last you for years to come. We wash ours inside out, and they still look perfect. The totes are stylish and can be taken anywhere, from groceries to traveling. A real keeper.
Anyone can enter. However, the t-shirt and tote bag can only be shipped to U.S addresses (Have a friend keep it for you like we do 😉 or a nice gift maybe?)
C’est fini. That’s it. That’s all you have to do.
A random winner will be chosen at the end of the giveaway which is on September 12.
The winner will be notified and the t-shirt and tote bag will be on the way to the lucky winner.
Good luck to everyone. Be sure to leave a comment on your thoughts about this giveaway.
Our next destination after Stockholm was to Rome to visit Federico’s family. Thankfully it wasn’t a long flight so there was no jet lag. My true intention that getaway was to eat, sleep and eat again, with maybe a little family time thrown in. As fate would have it, a meeting with Rachel, the social media manager for LivItaly Tours made for a slight deviation from the plan. Finding out that we were scheduled to be in the eternal city, we finagled tickets to the Borghese gallery in exchange for a review. Boy, was l glad we went. It was the highlight of this trip. As photography and art lovers, we were in heaven. The masterpieces contained in this museum are magnificent. I am excited to share some of my favorites with you.
Drottingholm palace in Stockholm is the official private residence of the Swedish royal family. This stunning beauty is located on an island called Lovon. Prior to 1981, it was only used as the royal summer residence. We saw the other palace in Stockholm and that was already impressive. That is now being used for official government business. It is also a popular tourist destination. The Drottingholm palace surely offers more privacy. The fact that the grounds are massive and utterly gorgeous would be appealing to me. We decided to visit the palace on the last of ten days spent in Stockholm. I am so glad we did as it was worth every penny. We took one of the water cruises operated by Stromma from city hall. An hour of picture perfect views, cool breeze and some cold water, we were finally in Drottingholm. Here is our recap of the trip.