Where to next? We actually have a trip planned coming up soon. There’s so many place left to explore. We both have places we want to see we just have to take turns on who gets their pick for the year! It boils down to flight prices for us. That’s the biggest expense in traveling. We sign up for miles with the airlines. and we also have a card that has miles. Some airline won’t let you use miles flying economy so the miles are no good.

We flew Delta Plus on our first trip with miles that we had on our card our tickets were still $2300. Last year I think our tickets with American were around $1200 and this next trip is $1300. So even though we used miles we still spent a lot more and the benefit of the seats weren’t that impressive. So now Kay shops, and shops and shops. I’ll do a post on just finding an airline and a ticket at your price.

Now, Kay has wanted to see Milan at Christmas and go up into the Dolomites and into Switzerland. It’s supposed to be spectacular and Christmas last until January 6th. We’ve been to Parma on a food tour and until I took this picture of the map I didn’t realize how close we were to Milan (but it has to be Christmas). So is it Milan??

What about Venice? Venice was actually on the itinerary for the first trip and we took it off at the last minute. We were going to be staying at the neatest place, a Monastery. There is a sight called Manasterystays.com. You can search by city. They are very plain accommodations but if you were a single lady traveling honestly it would be a safe place to stay. Below see all the places you can stay. Some are reasonably priced others not so much. Also, did you know they are charging you to get into Venice now? I forget $5-$10, I think. The city is overrun with cruise ships and large groups at a time. Venice has a fantastic history.

Near Venice is also Verona. Kay has wanted to go there too. It’s the inspiration for Romeo and Juliet. I’m not sure about the history. However, it’s supposed to be a very beautiful town. So is it Venice and Verona?

What about Siena, San Gimignano and maybe Volterra? Yes we have been to two of these cities but Kay was injured and we really didn’t see the sights. She really wants to go back. If we did we would base ourself in Siena because you can catch transportation from their to get to the smaller cities. So are we headed back to Siena?

I really want to go to Montepulciano. Why? Rachel Ray lives somewhere near there and we would both love just to drive by her place. Once a Foodie always a Foodie! Which is fine because Kay wants to go to Assisi and Orvieto. We could easily do all three in a week. So is this where we are going?

Maybe we are headed south to the toe of Italy. We have Instagram friends that love Tropea. It’s an area we both want to explore. We know the further south we go the less English is spoken so we definitely need to speak a little more Italian. Kay’s currently taking an Italian class. Is this why? So are we headed for the toe?

What about Sicily? Sicily is overlooked as a destination but just like the rest of Italy it has a ton of history. If you look online you can find lots of driving itineraries. You can fly into Sicily making it a very accessible part of Italy. Is this the year we finally bite the bullet and rent a car? I don’t know. What do you think? Is it Sicily?

Last area is the “heel” of Italy. This region is know as Puglia. We watched Stanley Tucci’s Searching Italy and he did a show from this region. This area is known for its olive farms. It is said that there are 60 million olive trees in Puglia which is pronounced, Pul-Yah. We ate at a restaurant in Bologna that was run by two young men from Puglia. We were the only ones in the restaurant and of course I wanted to know more about them. That’s when I got the travel bug to go to Puglia. So, are we headed to the “heel”?

See we have a lot left to see! We will see it a little at a time. So hopefully you have read this post all the way to the end. If you did comment where you think we are headed next on our Facebook page and whoever gets it right will win a Free Pizza from The Classic Melt!