Looking Back At A Great Year Of Travel Adventures…

First of all, happy new year! As we begin 2024, I wanted to look back at some of my favorite travel adventures of the year gone by…these first images are from Cortona Italy, home of the actual house used in the filming of the great film “Under The Tuscan Sun!”

More on this in a moment.

It was a great year of travel in 2023, beginning with the trip that ended 2022 in Portugal!

We celebrated my birthday last year, December 31, by enjoying the magical city of Lisbon, where we captured images like these:

Yes, Alex met a Gladiator, and it makes sense as there is so much history to discover, like the iconic Sintyra Palace:

We climbed high above Lisbon as we explored Pena Palace in Sintra…see our tour here:

In spring, we headed to California’s Napa Valley to walk through the wild mustard that grows in the dormant vineyards:

It’s a spectacular showing – ph, and we watched some of these guys working overtime:

The winter and spring are perfect times to wine taste in Napa – click here to see more of our trip:

As summer approaches, so did our big anniversary trip, which started in Rome for two days before heading to Florence, where we discovered these:

Did you know that Florence had “wine windows?”

Click here to learn more and see how they work!

From there it was on to the most magical place ever!

Yes, this is the real house used for the filming of the terrific movie “Under The Tuscan Sun!’

Here’s a look:

It was a very special anniversary trip with friends and family, and you can see more of the house by clicking on my story here:

After that week long stay, we drove to France and had a magical meal in Bordeaux:

While it was a real Ortolan bird, it was an homage to a style of food in France from he past…see the entire story of why they shielded me from the other diners as I ate by clicking on my story here:

In August, we headed to Viva Las Vegas to see Kelly Clarkson perform – here’s part of that incredible performance:

While we were there, we ate at a restaurant that was serving “retro” food like this:

This modern take on “Spaghetti-O’s” was fun and delicious too!

See the entire menu here:

The holiday was spent in our new home in New York, but I’m not sure there is another city in the world that dresses up for Christmas like the big apple:

Here’s some video of the light show put on by Sak’s 5th Avenue on the outside of their building!

Here’s a look at all of the incredible holidays sights we experienced this year!

We ended the year with a special event: we were invited again to the White House holiday party, where Alex caught up with her friend – President Joe Biden!

Here’s a look inside the party!

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Happy new year to you all and here’s to more adventures in 2024 – and if you like this story, please share with friends on social media!

Categories: Art, Exotic Travel, Italy, Memoirs, Pop Culture, Talent/Celebrities, The President Of The United States, Travel, Travel Adventures, Travel Memoir

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