Brr. In a perfect world, maybe I’d be headed south in February and March, somewhere tropical (Fiji was nice) or at least not below zero. Fate has had other plans for me though, and they are pretty exciting too.
Here’s what Mike and I will be up to over the next month and a half:
Finland
As announced before: the exciting/terrifying jaunt to the Arctic Circle! It’s approaching fast and I’m preparing by buying bulk loads of wool socks and long johns (which I’ll talk about in an upcoming post).
Mike and I will get to spend a couple of days in Helsinki (whose daily high is a balmy 28F), we’ll split up and I’ll head WAY north. Up in Inari I’ll visit a reindeer farm (eee), ride a motor sledge across a frozen lake and learn about indigenous Sami culture. Then I’ll head to Saariselkä where I’ll be panning for gold, cross-country trekking and eating traditional Finnish food. Of course I’m also going to fit in some time to try out a traditional sauna, and to hopefully see the northern lights.
I can not wait!
Rome
After Finland Mike and I will reunited and head back to our favorite country in Europe (which will hopefully someday be our second home), Italy. I was sad that we didn’t get to visit Rome last time around, it is one of my favorite cities. So this trip we’ll be spending an entire week in the Eternal City. Hopefully defrosting a bit.
Our friends at Go With Oh are putting us up in a sweet looking apartment so that we can experience Rome like locals. I can’t wait to show Mike around the many amazing sights of Rome, and to experience it again myself-it’s been six years!
Bologna
When we were in Europe in September everyone, I mean everyone, was talking our ear off about the many charms of Bologna. In fact, I have a good friend who is studying in Bologna right now, so we pretty much HAVE to spend some time here! So we’re headed here to check it out as guests of the Emilia Romagna Tourism Board. In addition to thoroughly exploring the city we’ll be learning about balsamic vinegar production, visiting the Lamborghini factory (Mike’s dream) and something called Gelato University (MY dream.) I’m going to eat my face off this week.
Milan
Finally we’re planning to head up north to Milan, Italy’s business center. I’ve heard mixed reviews of the city but I’m interested to see it for myself (I mean, it’s still Italy, how bad can it be?). I’m excited to see the Duomo and hopefully the Last Supper, but other then that I know very little of the city. Suggestions?
Berlin/ITB
After two weeks in Italy we’re headed north again to chilly Berlin. We’ll be in town for the ITB-Berlin conference, the world’s largest travel trade show. So we’ll be working it to network our butts off. It won’t be all work no play though: there are plenty of blogger events going on, and we’re sharing an apartment with Michael Hodson (link) and the Hecks (again thanks to Go with Oh), so there will be mischief for sure!
After ITB we have a couple of days before we need to be back in Helsinki so I think we will probably hang out in the city and maybe take a couple day trips. Suggestions? I’ve never been to Germany and I’ve heard awesome things about Berlin. Plus, I’m really excited to try currywurst!
After all this fun, it’s back to DC to recover mid-march. Then I am praying someone invites me somewhere warm?