Time to See the World...

Drinks after a hard day on the mountian... @lindseaswisher @bergsman00 @maya33mark (at The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe)

Enjoying wine and beautiful views in #Tahoe @bergsman00 (at Uncorked)

Black cod, spaghetti squash and beautiful mushrooms with a soy, ginger, garlic, sesame sauce. What a delicious homemade meal. @bergsman00 (at Home Sweet Home)

Summer in January #picnic #cavallopoint #thebay #goldengatebridge #sf @emilyreaman @skyebot @bergsman00 (at Cavallo Point)

Happy New Year! @bergsman00 @skyebot @emilyreaman @__joules @maya33mark

Hello San Francisco! (at Golden Gate Bridge)

Great to be home! @susangbrown (at Lake Ilsanjo)

It is beautiful here, but I can't wait to go home tomorrow #tampa #florida #sunset #palmtrees #backtothebay #noplacelikehome (at Pine Island Beach)

Little slideshow from the camino. Hope you enjoy!

Beach weather in December... Not a bad place to be @bergsman00 (at Clearwater Beach)

We spent a wonderful week in Florence.  We were sad to be missing Thanksgiving, but I guess the next best thing to being with you family and friends eating a big turkey dinner is winetasting your way around Chianti, right? 

Rome...it's a magical place. We have rented an apartment in a neighborhood known as Trastevere. It's an area that has tourist traffic and the ability to get away from the touristy traffic very easily. We love it! Our feet are still in such great shape from our Camino walk. And, we continue to favor the feet for our day to day transportation. We've used public transit some. But, honestly, it's not that great. And the traffic? Mama Mia!!! Terrible traffic. Above you can see we are enjoying some of Romes great food and sites; Trevi fountain is beautiful. The Gelato is delicious. The Spaghetti Carbonara is fantastic and the coffee is delicious and cheap! We went to Eataly yesterday. It's a mall dedicated to Italian food! They have one in New York too. I hope the build one in San Fran because it's amazing. Eataly has; fresh fish, pasta, gelato, wine, olive oil, fried food, rotisserie food, pizza, cheese, yogurt...you get the idea. It's like nothing I've ever seen. 4 levels of top quality food, books about food, tools to make food, restaurants and a cooking school. We have another 48 hours in Rome then we are heading to Florence...where the beer flows like wine (Yes Dumb and Dumber fans).

in 79 AD Mt. Vesuvius erupted and engulfed the entire Roman city of Pompei, killing everyone and making it "the town that disappeared".  The town was covered in volcanic ash only to be discovered in the late 1800s.  Visiting these old ruins was amazing.  It gives you an vivid picture of how people lived back then, you can even see tracks in the paved road where the carriages traveled through.  It is amazing to see what they were able to do without any of the modern day equipment we now have.

Well, two days in Palermo, Sicily was interesting. Great seafood! But, as the airport sign says above, here's the "way out". We took an overnight ferry from Palermo to Naples and on to Sorrento. What a beautiful place. We are really enjoying our view from the Sorrento Hilton (thank you Hilton Points!!!) We will be exploring the Amalfi coast some and then head to Rome. Excited to fully experience one of the worlds most dynamic cities!

From the beautiful town of Sevilla, we embarked onward to Jerez. Two days in Jerez de la Frontera saw us visiting more Sherry wineries (called, "Bodegas" here in Spain)and eating some wonderful food. "Salmorejo", in particular really won us over. It's a bread soup that incorporates delicious olive oil and tomatoes. It's a thicker cousin to Spain's Gispacho. And, it's completely addictive! We also took a Sherry tasting at Dios Baco. And, that included some delicious brandy as well as Sherry vinegar. Jerez was extremely laid-back and very friendly. It didn't have the splendor of Sevilla or Leon. But, it's extremely charming. They take their Sherry seriously. And, thus, their food. Really delicious food and wine. We even stayed in an old Sherry production warehouse that's been converted to a hotel. Highly recommend this town for anyone who visits Southern Spain. We are now in Granada. And, it's really beautiful. We will post more pictures from here and in our next stop in Malaga. Then, off to Sicily!!!

Our rooftop sanctuary atop the apartment we've been renting has brought us a lot of joy. It's a perfect perspective for architecture, our temporary neighborhood, peace and beautiful light. The surrounding neighborhoods are steeped in Roman, Moorish, 19th, and 20th century art and architecture. You can almost taste the result of Arabic and Silk Road trade-routes and those cultures past. We feel blessed for having shared our time here with friends we met on the Camino de Santiago and the very kind locals. Tomorrow we head to Jerez and then Granada. We will love and miss you always, Sevilla!!!!