John and Jane in Thailand

In April/May, John and I went from Bangkok to northern Italy with our Italian expat friend and his family for three weeks.  (the photos are all in thumbnail mode, click to enlarge)

It was a most remarkable, wonderful trip.  The advantages of going with a local are too numerous to describe, but the non-tourist/regular life aspects are priceless.

We covered 3000 kilometers to visit mountains lakes, ancient cities castles, famous sites I’ve known about my whole life, and great neighborhood hangouts.

We saw how to make true Balsamic vinegar (900 y.o. tradition), Parmigiano-Reggiano (800 y.o. tradition, and olive oil (well over 2000 y.o. tradition).

We visited the Luciano Arduini Vineyard to learn about the whole wine making process and drink a bottle of their award winning wine _ Best of Italy 2016.

We partied with Italian friends we know from Thailand (Armonia Village Resort) and made wonderful new friends.

It was an ideal holiday – thank you Devis, Ju, Giada, Stella, Lina, and Adriano!!!