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July was one of many greatest months I’ve had in a very long time. Travels in three international locations, tons of summer season enjoyable, good instances with pals in all places.
And the largest factor…Charlie I received engaged! The entire story is on my annual birthday post, which I printed final week.
However let’s get on to this month — a month that started in Sardinia, moved overland to Lake Como, drove again to Prague, and received in a cheeky weekend to London as nicely.
Locations Visited
Alghero, Stintino, Sassari, San Teodoro, Golfo Aranci, Capo Coda Cavallo, Tavolara, Olbia, Lecco, Bellagio, and Varenna, Italy
Prague, Czech Republic
London and Coulsdon, UK
Highlights
Getting engaged to Charlie in Lake Como will without end be the spotlight of the month! The proposal was great, it came about in a backyard in Bellagio, and nope, it was not a shock. (Who surprises somebody with an engagement?! That appears loopy, in my view.)
We celebrated at a wine bar with a tagliere of meat and cheese, and glasses of Franciacorta (our favourite Italian glowing white wine) adopted by Barolo (my favourite pink) and Amarone (his favourite pink) and a ship trip to beautiful Varenna for the night.
Numerous enjoyable in Sardinia. We started the month arriving in Alghero, a cool Spanish metropolis on the northwest coast of the island the place lots of people nonetheless converse Catalan! Whereas it’s a really touristy metropolis, I discovered it to be essentially the most attention-grabbing place we visited in Sardinia.
The spotlight of Sardinia for us was our sailing trip off Alghero. The boat was one of many nicest small sailboats I’ve ever been on; Captain Andrea was an important chief and served us a scrumptious lunch; there have been about 12 individuals on board, which was good; we sailed to stunning coves and went swimming. Simply an superior chilled out day.
We additionally visited La Pelosa seaside in Stintino, famously one of many nicest seashores in all of Italy. It was stunning with shallow water that went out to this point — although extraordinarily crowded! (Know that you must e-book a spot on the seaside upfront, as they restrict guests. It’s fairly low-cost, I feel 3.50 EUR per individual, however do it early.)
Subsequent we headed to San Teodoro for a couple of days, which seems like a preferred Italian vacation city, and has beautiful seashores. Someday we had a full correct seaside day with chairs (such an indulgence!) on La Cinta seaside, which I assumed was even higher than La Pelosa. One other day we booked a scooter snorkeling expertise in close by Golfo Aranci, and for our last day we took a zodiac boat journey to Molara and Tavolara islands.
A return to the mountains. We took the in a single day ferry again to Genoa and drove to Lake Como, about two hours away. Within the city of Lecco we took a cable automobile as much as the Piani d’Erna, on prime of mountains the place you possibly can hike and discover. It was 10 levels cooler — so great after roasting in Sardinia!
I feel this yr we’re realizing that we’re extra mountain individuals than seaside individuals.
After an evening in Lake Como, we drove again to Prague: a nine-hour journey. Oh, and the McRib is BACK in Germany!
Extra good instances in Prague. Reuniting with my kitties is at all times a spotlight of the month! Man, three weeks is a very long time to go away them, though they love their sitter.
We hung out with pals, hit up some meals festivals, lastly tried a budget enterprise lunch on the 4 Seasons (wonderful). And Charlie and I started researching marriage ceremony venues in earnest.
And this month we began swimming! There are a couple of low-cost indoor swimming swimming pools close to us and we swam for practically an hour for about $2.50 every.
A stunning lengthy weekend in London. Charlie and I visited for a household party, and it was so good to see all of them directly (particularly after COVID wrecked our Christmas gathering!).
I are inclined to do a variety of the identical issues each time I am going to London, so this time I used to be decided to interrupt out of my routine a bit. Charlie and I went to see The Tempest on the Globe Theatre, which was such a humorous and authentic manufacturing. (Professional tip: pull up the play in your telephone to observe alongside. It’s not a pretend pas right here prefer it normally is at exhibits, and so they maintain the seating areas illuminated.)
Charlie and I additionally went to Dans le Noir, an expertise the place you dine in full darkness. Positively a singular factor to strive as soon as! We additionally visited the V&A Museum and its Fashioning Masculinity exhibit. I used to be delighted to see Billy Porter’s well-known tux robe on show.
One other day, my buddy Dylan and I went to the Peter Pan-themed afternoon tea on the Shard, which was so enjoyable and I extremely suggest for a singular afternoon tea in London. We ended the weekend with a pub meetup with a few of our London pals.
Challenges
The one worst second of the journey was after we have been driving from Alghero to Stintino. Many of the inside or Sardinia is extraordinarily rural, and we drove previous countless dry yellow fields. Then I caught a whiff. “Is that rubbish?” I requested.
Then we have been SMACKED within the face with essentially the most putrid rubbish scent I’ve ever skilled. We noticed a dump truck unloading rubbish — the highway between the 2 hottest locations in northwest Sardinia actually takes you previous a dump. It was near 100 levels out (38 C). Think about sizzling, boiling rubbish invading your nostril, your mouth, the pores of your pores and skin.
I really feel an amazing quantity of sympathy for anybody who has to work in these terrible situations.
Charlie received stung by a jellyfish on our crusing journey in Alghero. Alghero has some jellyfish-rich spots that may normally be averted, however even in a low jellyfish space, Charlie received stung on the chest.
Fortunately there was no want for anybody to pee on anybody — Captain Andrea had some sting cures out there.
(Since this occurred, a brand new mural has gone up in our neighborhood in Prague — a mural of JELLYFISH! Charlie was miffed. I couldn’t cease laughing.)
We received a flat tire — then one other. We have been leaving Alghero on a Sunday and have been planning to go to Bosa, keep in an agriturismo within the inside for the evening, then head to San Teodoro the subsequent day. Nicely, the tire started ker-thumping as quickly as we left the property.
Right here’s a tip: don’t break down in Italy on a Sunday. And if it’s rural Italy on a Sunday, GOOD LUCK!!
Our agriturismo known as native mechanics, who got here to test it out, however apparently Charlie’s automobile has an uncommon tire measurement and so they didn’t have one that may match. All they may do was patch the tire. And naturally this course of took 5 hours, throughout which we labored at our agriturismo. The homeowners very kindly made us some carbonara, though they don’t normally serve lunch.
5 hours later (our agriturismo man was yelling at them — YOU WENT TO LUNCH? How lengthy have been you at lunch??), the mechanics returned with a patched tire. We eagerly received again on the highway.
quarter-hour in a while the freeway, ker-thump ker-thump ker-thump. AGAIN. 5 hours and that patch did nothing!! We contacted the agriturismo, who contacted the mechanics, and so they drove out and met us. They provided to tow us to Sassari and the tire can be repaired very first thing Monday morning.
Sassari is a little bit of a gritty metropolis with restricted touristic attraction, however we really had an important evening there! We stayed in a implausible little guesthouse known as Album Boutique Rooms, only a great trendy oasis that feels luxurious however is definitely fairly low-cost. (The proprietor plans to increase to Alghero sooner or later and as soon as that’s there, it is going to be THE PLACE to remain in Alghero!) We had nice pizza at La Nicchia and wonderful gelato at Naturalia.
The following morning, the tire was mounted very nicely, and we have been informed it could get us safely again to Prague. Since getting again, Charlie has had the tire changed.
Weblog Posts of the Month
27 Things to Do in Rockport, MA, a Coastal Beauty — Rockport is a city the place I’ve been going without end, and it has a lot of the quintessential New England attraction that guests come right here to expertise. You must go to it (and extra of the North Shore!).
This Month on Patreon
On the Adventurous Kate Patreon, I publish unique content material and never-told tales that you could entry for $6 monthly. We even have a personal Fb group and members get free entry to the E-book Membership every month.
This month’s massive put up was about my Dans le Noir expertise in London — the complete night eating at nighttime, being surrounded by strangers, having no concept what you’re consuming, no concept even methods to pour your self a glass of water. It was a very attention-grabbing expertise!
I additionally wrote a giant replace on the place New Hampshire Manner is now. Extra on {that a} bit beneath. My Patreon individuals have been the one ones who’ve recognized about my New Hampshire website over the previous yr.
Oh, and my Patreon individuals came upon in regards to the engagement earlier than anybody else. 😉
E-book Membership This Month
Our subsequent e-book membership will probably be on Sunday, August 28, at 1:00 PM Japanese Time. We will probably be discussing The Air You Breathe by Brazilian writer Frances de Pontes Peebles. You can sign up for the book club here.
A fast be aware — this e-book is 528 pages, nevertheless it’s price it. Begin now! And in the event you like Elena Ferrante’s work, you’re going to like this.
“Some friendships, like romance, have the sensation of destiny.
Skinny, nine-year-old orphaned Dores is working within the kitchen of a sugar plantation in Thirties Brazil when in walks a woman who modifications the whole lot. Graça, the spoiled daughter of a rich sugar baron, is intelligent, nicely fed, fairly, and thrillingly ailing behaved. Born to wildly completely different worlds, Dores and Graça rapidly bond over shared mischief, after which, on a deeper stage, over music.
One has a voice like a songbird; the opposite feels melodies in her soul and composes lyrics to match. Music will grow to be their shared ardour, the supply of their partnership and their rivalry, and for every, the one manner out of the life to which every was born. However solely one of many two is destined to be a star. Their intimate, unstable bond will decide every of their fortunes–and hang-out their recollections.
Touring from Brazil’s inland sugar plantations to the rowdy streets of Rio de Janeiro’s well-known Lapa neighborhood, from Los Angeles through the Golden Age of Hollywood again to the irresistible drumbeat of residence, The Air You Breathe unfurls a transferring portrait of a lifelong friendship–its unparalleled rewards and lasting losses–and considers what we owe to the relationships that form our lives.”
New Hampshire Manner Replace
New Hampshire Way is my new New Hampshire journey web site! I talked about it in my birthday post final week. I’d like so as to add just a little replace on NHW every month to the month-to-month recap.
Site visitors is at the moment exploding, and I’m thrilled about it. I’m shocked and excited that New Hampshire Manner already ranks #1 for “issues to do in lake winnipesaukee” and “water parks in new hampshire”! I’m additionally #2 for “issues to do in north conway nh” and that’s particularly vital as a result of North Conway is a year-round journey vacation spot, in contrast to Lake Winnipesaukee.
Fall is the largest journey season of the yr, particularly within the White Mountains, so my precedence proper now’s getting fall content material prepared earlier than foliage season hits.
Listed below are a few of my favourite posts that I printed this month:
A Guide to Weirs Beach, Lake Winnipesaukee — Weirs Seashore is the enjoyable, kitschy, household city of Lake Winnipesaukee. Bumper vehicles, arcades, boat cruises, and one of many nicest seashores on the lake.
27 Epic Things to Do in Lincoln, NH — Lincoln is among the hottest cities within the White Mountains and makes a superb base for exploring the area. It’s particularly good for mountaineering, snowboarding, and scenic drives just like the Kancamagus Highway.
12 Must-Visit New Hampshire Fall Festivals — New Hampshire REALLY loves fall, and there are some superior festivals it’s best to think about hitting up! I’ll probably be at Apple Harvest Day in Dover and NH Brewfest in Portsmouth this yr.
Most Well-liked Picture on Instagram
After all it’s this one which introduced the engagement! This was taken in Bellagio on Lake Como.
Instagram is the place I do essentially the most updating dwell whereas touring, together with numerous Tales. You can follow me on Instagram at @adventurouskate.
Style Discover of the Month
I discovered this lengthy raspberry Anthropologie skirt on Poshmark over the winter. I adore it SO a lot — the pleating, the colour, the polka dots, the asymmetrical hem — however I couldn’t discover any prime that actually matched. All the things appeared too informal.
Then I discovered this in my closet — an Categorical shirt that I’m fairly certain I purchased within the early 2000s (!!) and I used to be able to donate it. So out of fashion with it’s little frilly middle and satin pleated sides that it has come BACK into style! And it labored! It was the proper stage of dressy and the pleats added an echo to the skirt. Added these big teal Anthropologie flower earrings that I additionally discovered on Poshmark.
All of the extra cause to pair an outdated merchandise along with your new objects to see if it really works earlier than donating it.
The one factor I want for this outfit is an efficient leopard-print belt. At present trying to find one in Prague, however my common choices are “C&A, $12, it’s made from cardboard!” or “Dolce & Gabbana, $425, don’t breathe on it the flawed manner!”
What I Watched This Month
This month I attempted a Disney+ subscription to make amends for a variety of the favored movies I’ve missed! I really feel so out of the loop with regards to Pixar and stuff.
My favourite was Turning Purple (as somebody who was a boy band-loving teenager with three greatest pals within the early 2000s, OMG this was relatable). Encanto was a colourful delight with an important story and memorable characters. Soul was pleasant and so New York. Moana had the very best music.
This month I additionally watched Love on the Spectrum: the US version. I really like this light, respectful docuseries about individuals on the autism spectrum on the lookout for love. Each individual is a delight this season, and there are some joyful endings!
What I Listened To This Month
Beyoncé’s new album Renaissance is FANTASTIC. I’m not ordinarily an enormous Beyoncé fan however I like disco and 90s dance music so THIS is the album for me. I really like what number of multifaceted layers of Black and Queer historical past are on this album (not in contrast to Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly).
Who Shat on the Ground at My Marriage ceremony? might be essentially the most ridiculous podcast subject I’ve ever seen. These two Kiwi ladies received married on a ship in Amsterdam, and sooner or later, somebody pooped on the toilet flooring.
Now, this can be a basic closed thriller — no one may received on or off the boat! — so that they put their detective hats to unravel it. It’s completely ridiculous. And I really like their cheery New Zealand accents.
What I Learn This Month
Hello, Molly! by Molly Shannon (2022) — Molly Shannon is greatest recognized for her characters on late 90s SNL, however what introduced her to that time? Nicely, a variety of unhappiness, really. When she was 4, her mom, child sister, and younger cousin have been killed in a automobile accident together with her father behind the wheel.
The heartbeat of the e-book is Molly’s relationship together with her father, who beloved her deeply, raised her and her sister the most effective he may, however was an alcoholic and coping with a lifetime of guilt.
THIS BOOK. That is one in all my absolute favorites of the yr, and never simply because my pals and I have been obsessive about Molly’s SNL characters as youngsters. Molly’s father is essentially the most Dickensian character I’ve ever seen that wasn’t written by Dickens! So many tales of Molly’s pre-fame days are INSANE (She and a buddy as soon as SNUCK ONTO AN AIRPLANE once they have been children and flew to a different metropolis! She and one other fan ran this wild rip-off in Hollywood claiming to work for David Mamet!).
I particularly suggest this one as an audiobook, as a result of you must hear it in Molly’s voice.
You Can’t Be Serious by Kal Penn (2021) — Kal Penn has a narrative like no different — grandson of Ghandian freedom fighters, stoner comedy icon, one in all only a few Indian main actors within the US, who took a sabbatical from performing to work for the Obama White Home. That is the story of his life, his successes, and his distinctive path.
Whew. I actually loved this e-book, and particularly listening to about what his expertise was attempting to get work as an Indian actor within the early 2000s (spoiler alert: racist AF, time and again). And I’ve learn a variety of Obama-era memoirs and beloved listening to his facet of issues and matching it up with the others.
This e-book received a variety of consideration when Kal successfully got here out with it, saying he was engaged and sharing how he met his fiancé Josh, NASCAR aficionado. I appreciated studying it, however you possibly can inform he was SUPER guarded on this a part of the e-book. Which is his proper, in fact. It simply felt like he was holding himself again.
Honor by Thrity Umrigar (2022) — This novel tells a swirling story of girls in India. Smita, an Indian American journalist, known as to report on a narrative of a Hindu lady named Meena being attacked by her household for marrying a Muslim man. Smita swore she would by no means return to India, however she finds herself deeply concerned on this story and Meena’s life.
This was a very good e-book and I appreciated the perspective — a lady who left India as a youngster after a traumatic expertise and tried to grow to be as American as she may. So many books within the US about growing international locations deal with poverty porn and trauma, however I appreciated the scenes that came about in Mumbai, studying a lot extra about this metropolis with its many layers.
My solely criticism was that the e-book misplaced steam on the finish, and I believe the writer inspired the writer to make it into extra of a romance than was crucial. And the dude in query, Mohan, is a little bit of a Manic Pixie Dream Boy (you recognize, the proper man with quirks who likes the primary character for cause).
(Aspect be aware: it was attention-grabbing studying this e-book and Kal Penn’s e-book again to again. Each books have a personality known as Pushpa Auntie. Kal talks about how his household known as her Pushy Auntie, which in lots of Indian accents turns into Pussy Auntie!)
How to Keep House While Drowning: A Gentle Approach to Cleaning and Organizing by KC Davis (2022) — It is a cleansing and organizing e-book in contrast to any you’ve ever learn, as a result of it focuses on neurodivergent individuals and people with anxiousness, melancholy, fatigue, ADHD, or lack of help. These are sometimes the individuals who battle with chores — “care duties,” as Davis calls them — and this e-book is a delicate, compassionate information to doing what you possibly can.
This e-book isn’t focused for me, however I actually appreciated studying Davis’s strategy. We maintain a lot disgrace after we can’t maintain a home wanting presentable to somebody from the surface. As a substitute, deal with small duties which can be inside what you might be personally capable of do.
I additionally appreciated her strategy of tidying by dividing the whole lot into classes: laundry, dishes, not instead, doesn’t have a spot.
A Practical Wedding: Creative Ideas for a Beautiful, Affordable, and Stress-Free Situation by Meg Keene (2019) — How do you propose a marriage with out going broke or dropping your thoughts? This e-book is a manner of getting you to plan a marriage that displays what you and your companion actually need (and might afford) with out capitulating to pushy members of the family, Instagram strain, or the marriage industrial advanced.
Just about everybody recommends this e-book for the newly engaged and I feel it’s an important learn, if just a little redundant at instances (Do what you need! is mainly restated in dozens of various methods). I particularly appreciated the start, the way it encourages you and your companion to deal with the sentiments and vibes you need and go outward from there.
Coming Up in August 2022
This month it’s time for ICELAND, Half II (or IV, technically?)! My buddy Amanda from A Dangerous Business and I are going for 12 days, circling the Ring Street and past!
This, in fact, comes out of my catastrophe in Could the place I by accident rented a guide automobile for my Iceland highway journey, there have been actually no computerized vehicles left within the nation, and I needed to go residence. However in a couple of methods it’s labored out for the higher.
This itinerary is SO significantly better than the one I deliberate earlier than. For one, A NEW VOLCANO IS ERUPTING NOW! Amanda and I plan to hike to it on our first day, so long as it’s nonetheless protected to take action. And two new high-end sizzling springs have opened since my final go to: Hvammsvik, between Reykjavik and Snaefellesness, and the Forest Lagoon in Akureyri.
Each of us have been to Iceland a couple of instances, however we’ve by no means performed the Ring Street, so that is new territory. We’re including in a couple of cool detours — the Tröllaskagi Peninsula and the Westman Islands — plus going whale watching, horseback using on the seaside, taking a puffin-spotting RIB safari, and visiting tons of waterfalls and sizzling springs.
What are you wanting ahead to this month? Share away!
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