We have finally come to the last episode of the Tandem Spirits 2020 summer adventure! This August was the most amazing month of travel we’ve experienced in our adult lives.
As I wrote in Part 1 of our summer adventures, we were basically on vacation the entire month of August because of the annual company closure and due to COVID’s disruption of the Aerospace industry.
We realized we might never have another opportunity like this, so we mapped out a general plan anchored on our yearly visit to see our friends Ute and Winnie in Wildhaus, Switzerland.
On our 2nd trip to Rome, we visited Palazzo Colonna which is impressive. The Colonna family has resided in this palace for over 800 years. They literally open up their home to the public every Saturday morning. If you want to see more of our visit, read my post A Beautiful Day in Rome – Palazzo Colonna.
Bella Parma - Finally took a cooking class!
I’m no stranger to working in kitchens. I worked my way through college as a cook and worked in a number of nice restaurants in Seattle. Nevertheless, I have wanted to take a cooking class since we moved to Italy and I finally arranged it in the perfect town, Parma. Parma is not only a culinary destination. It’s filled with wondeful shops, a beautiful cathedral and bapistry, museums and the most beautiful post office I’ve ever seen! Read more about our visit in my post, Parma, the Perfect Foodie Adventure and More!
Majestic Wildhaus, Switzerland
We have vacationed here with our friends Ute & Winnie a number of times. It’s an amazing place where you can hike, bicycle, swim in mountain ponds, forage for mushrooms and blueberries or simply gaze upon the beautiful mountains.
There’s nothing more fun than hunting mushrooms with Winnie! He’s obsessed! This year the Chanterelles were emerging and we managed to gather a good number of them. Also, this area is known as the Klangwelt which means the sound world. All along the hiking trails there are interactive structures that allow you to make all sorts of sounds by manipulating wheels, bells, and other devices! The cowbell forest was fun!
Todi, Italy - We finally made it!
We have passed by Todi many times in our travels here in Umbria, but after returning from Switzerland, we finally spent the day visiting Todi’s beautiful churches and other monuments. The Palazzo del Popolo is a very nice public space.
One of the most beautiful places we visited was the Church of the Nunziatina which was built around 1602. After a fire in 1700 it was restored. It was renewed again in the 1930’s. It’s covered in frescoes that are stunning.
The Tandem Spirits in 1981 - It Started Then!
I just wanted to share this picture from our Oslo adventure back in 1981 when we were studying in Kiel, Germany. That half-year spent in Germany forever changed us. It ignited our sense of adventure and curiosity and we knew then that we wanted to live in Europe again.
The fact is, we are truly fortunate to live in Italy, especially at this time in our lives when we have a much deeper appreciation of the the world. We might not be young anymore, but we still feel as vibrant and alive today as we did back in Oslo all those years ago!