Our European Adventure Begins!
Yoo-hoo! Andiamo, my lovely people! We bid adieu to our sweet home in Atlanta and spread our wings all the way to Milan Malpensa. The moment our plane’s wheels whispered against the Italian tarmac, the butterflies in my stomach started doing the tarantella!
Waiting for us, like a poised puma ready to spring into action, was our road-warrior for this trip – the Mini Countryman. With its compact frame and a heart full of horsepower, this reliable chariot was set to be our companion through serpentine mountain roads, charming little towns, and everything in between.
We stashed our bags (and our bubbling enthusiasm) into the Mini, geared up, and set the GPS to Bolzano. And oh boy, the drive! Lake Garda, in all its sun-kissed glory, sprawled alongside, weaving a tapestry of blue and green that would put Van Gogh’s Starry Night to shame.
We rolled through Peschiera, a vibrant town bustling with a lively salsa of foot and pedal traffic. It was as if every cyclist in Italy had been summoned for a Tour de Garda. This was no mere traffic jam; it was a choreographed cycling extravaganza that could make Cirque du Soleil look like child’s play. In the face of this comic, yet exasperating, cyclone of cyclists, our Mini was nothing short of a ballerina, twirling and pirouetting through the melee.
Peek in the rearview mirror, and you’d catch our Zak, a modern-day Rip Van Winkle, catching up on his beauty sleep in the back seat. At a towering 6’1″, our resident food connoisseur and jumpstyle dance enthusiast is a bundle of oxymoronic charm – awkward yet graceful, introverted yet brilliantly observant. He was perpetually on the lookout for Instagrammable backdrops for his jumpstyle sessions, while also scouting for the next food joint to raid. One minute he’d be snoring, the next he’d be executing a flawless dance move in front of an awe-inspiring Italian landscape (later on). The lad has priorities, I tell you!
Our journey, replete with “oohs,” “aahs,” and an occasional “oh no, another cyclist!” brought us to Bolzano after a picturesque four-hour drive. As the day painted the sky with hues of sunset, we nestled into our cozy retreat at Albergo zur Sonne. This charming hotel was cocooned amidst mountains, making it hard to tell where the earth ended and the heavens began.
But what’s an Italian adventure without a culinary spectacle? As night descended, we found ourselves huddled at the hotel’s restaurant, salivating over a traditional Italian pizza that would put the Leaning Tower of Pisa to shame with its size. Between guffaws and anecdotes, we devoured the cheese-laden wonder, while Zak, our in-house pizza critic, declared it ‘The Eighth Wonder of the World‘.
As we turned in for the night, we were a trio of content souls, our hearts filled with the day’s adventures, our bellies filled with Italian goodness, and our spirits soaring high for the days to come. This, dear friends, is just the beginning. So, buckle up, keep the laughs coming, and join us as we trot, trundle, and tango through Europe! Until next time, sending you heaps of love, laughter, and virtually delicious pizza slices, straight from Bolzano!!
All Around The World 