50 Shades of Delicious: 2 Chewsy for the Catwalk

Our first stop on our Italian adventure was the city of Venice.  Yes, Las Vegas has tried to capture a slice of Venice in the desert, but in reality there is no other city that compares to Venice in the entire world. The airport's namesake is that of Marco Polo, a famous merchant and traveler that hailed from Venice.   The airport is where we first entered the world of Venezia.  The only option to get you from there to the city is some type of boat.  We opted for the public transportation water bus.  It works much like getting on a public bus, only it’s on water vs. land.  They are crowded and dirty like said public buses, but the glory is that you are on a boat being taken to what must be considered one of the most romantic cities on earth. We had sketchy directions from the tourist information booth about what stop to get off on and how to find our hotel.  We were both extremely jet lagged and were lulled into a semi-co...

Remember the phrase from the Wizard of Oz, “Toto, I don’t think we are in Kansas anymore?”  This is what it feels like leaving home, climbing aboard an airplane and arriving in a new country.  For us, the clues began on our layover in Frankfurt, Germany where the airport was so large workers rode around on bicycles and the environment had militaristic precision and a cold air about it. But, the journey continued beyond and we soon found ourselves in yet another culture that of Italia.  What’s generally the case while traveling so far, is your body is exhausted from the time change and travel, but your mind goes on overload with all the new information it is taking in and trying to process.  The following is what we collectively imprinted as our initial impressions of Italy. Chocolate for breakfast is embraced.  We were reintroduced to Nutella (a chocolate, hazelnut creamy spread of the Gods).  We were so tempted to buy a huge jar of it (...

Our blog is taking on a line-up much like TV Land's programming schedule. So in keeping with our tv classics theme, we set sail recently for an uncharted island retreat, "a three day tour."  Similar to the now iconic Gilligan and Skipper and their five passengers setting sail from Honolulu to a then uncharted island (later named Gilligan's Island).   We took a three day weekend trip to Anderson Island.  Where is Anderson Island you ask? Ro asked the same question. Anderson Island is the southern most island in the Puget Sound.  Think South Tacoma-ish and is accessible via a 20 minute ferry ride from Steilacoom.   A little more than thousand inhabitants live on the island.  Or as we discovered waiting in the ferry line the proper reference is, "islanders."  If you don't navigate the ferry line correctly, the islanders will get out of their car and let you know the error of your ways (we witnessed this two times).  Ferry lines are self- regu...

Close your eyes and imagine you are in a large manufacturing plant surrounded by the whir of machinery and the clatter of bottles as they rush down the production line.  You get your bearings by gazing around and seeing numerous people in coveralls intently shepherding what appears to be beer bottles going down a production line.  You notice one employee standing next to you.  She’s a tall woman and you take note, this kid is not like the others.  She has made her coveralls very unique by putting a large cursive “L” on the shoulder.  This triggers deep-seeded memories of childhood TV watching and you are  kinderstruck .  Wait a second….it’s coming back…..is that  Shotz Beer? and am I in the Shotz Brewery ?  You suddenly realize you’ve somehow time traveled back to 1970’s Milwaukee (funny how the attire is not that far off from how 2012 Seattle hipsters dress). Many of you may be too young to remember Laverne & Shirley (worth c...

If you live in the Seattle area you've probably made it to the annual Bite of Seattle at least once.  If you live outside the area, this is a fun weekend to plan to visit Seattle and check out the variety of food the city has to offer.  This year marked the 30th anniversary of the event held at the Seattle Center in the shadow of the iconic Space Needle.  Since summer is very elusive this year, we put together a different strategy and a targeted focus for our visit to the Bite. Our approach this year was dictated by two main drivers, crowd and rain drop avoidance.  We visited on the first day, Friday (the event this year was held from July 20-22nd) just as the event was opening up and a big thunder and lightening storm had passed through.  It proved to be a strategy we may follow in future years as there were no lines and we were able to maneuver to where we wanted to go without fighting the massive crowds.  We managed to stay dry as well, without even...