Do you get to travel this summer?
If you can take a break, where will you go?
Stay-cation or far-flung destination?
My Answer:
I am looking forward to four fabulous things this summer.
First, in three weeks time, we go for a spontaneous – we just decided yesterday – short trip to Italy to the hotel we went to for the past five years with the kids, since this is not our main plan this year, we became nostalgic and decided to go just for a weekend, as a surprise for the boys. So don’t tell them! 😉
Next up is Tara’s visit. She loved Vienna so much that she is coming back, we are sooooo looking forward to that. To make things perfect, we travel to London with Tara on her way back. We’ll show the boys the British capital for the first time.
Then our main vacation is coming in August. Along with another family, we rented a Villa in Tuscany with a huge pool. It will be excellent!
We are really fortunate that we can take all this time off.
What about your plans? Let me know what your summer will be like!
Olfactoria's Travels 
Good morning! Funny that you should ask that: I am on a Eurostar to Lyon, leaving London on a grey Monday morning in search for sunshine and excellent food! My samples/small size perfumes are not far away ;-). Have an excellent week!
Have a wonderful time in Lyon, Iuliana! French food, style and the sun – fabulous!
Your upcoming holidays all sound marvellous, especially Tara’s visit and your return trip to London. I am spending the summer working – I had my main holiday in March when I went to Germany. But the work trips will be abroad, if I can get the appointments. This week will be telling!
Good luck then! I hope you get to travel, even if for business.
Vacation? More like a short break just a week ago. Short stay at the Gropius Bauhaus in Dessau(https://flahertylandscape.wordpress.com/2015/06/12/bauhaus/), then believe it or not, on my way home to Switzerland I snuck into Vienna through the back door at the new Hauptbahnhof for an afternoon in the Rose Garden at the Volksgarten where all the roses were happily in fragrant bloom–then the rest of the day at that little jewel of an Alpine Garden at the Belvedere. In less than 48 hours summer came and went. Back in the mountains again.
What a lovely short break. Glad you could enjoy Vienna’s gardens for a bit.
Heya Birgit,
We were lucky enough to do Singapore and South Korea already this year. Instead of another couple of holidays we are renovating our new apartment which will be as relaxing as a holiday once we are in. Should be by the end of next month, fingers crossed.
Portia x
Your new home will be wonderful, I’m sure.
No big plans for me. Maybe an overnight here or there but the kitchen remodel has taken a bite out of our fun money. I will need a vacation when this is over but it’s not going to happen. We haven’t had a proper vacation in years actually. I can’t even recall what one feels like.
I hope you get that holiday feeling again in the summers to come, Poodle!
A new kitchen is a source of joy too though, so good luck with the renovations.
I haven’t been to Italy for quite some time, and had originally planned to go to the Biennale this year, but like Portia and poodle, we are doing some renovation work. The garden is done, next up and much feared – the kitchen. Add to that visiting mums and a wedding in Germany and there isn’t much scope for holidays. But there will be the trip to Japan in October!
Japan will be amazing, I’m sure.
Have fun with the kitchen (meant only slightly ironically). 😉
I like your holiday destinations, and if you’re fortunate enough to go to far flung locations then enjoy it to the full!
My holidays are dependent on my income as an artist and occasional curator, which varies quite a bit.. The the trouble with being freelance is if you’re unwell it gets tricky, so having had a two month flu this year (fully well again now) I’m now working/painting like a demon for my show which launches in a month!
That’s followed by a sale with another arts organisaiton, so by August I’ll know what holidays are possible, wish me luck!
Ideally it would be far flung for me – a Japanese friend has a villa there where I’m invited to stay, that would be great, I adore Japanese culture and art. More likely it’ll be a trip to somewhere in Europe, and I was also thinking Tuscany – I’d like somewhere with radically different light from Scotland. Painting-wise I yearn for vivid colour and light contrasts. Though being an artist is full of unknowns I wouldn’t change it for the world, it makes life more vivid.
I’m hoping your next question might be, what would you wear to those places perfume-wise!
Good luck for your upcoming show, Rose!
Tuscany must be heaven for a painter, the light and soft landscape are stunning. Hope you get to go!
Absolutely! All that golden light – a complete change of palette!
I am very lucky as I am on my first holiday right now, in lovely Spain and the weather is gorgeous. Lots of rest, reading, some sample smelling, enjoying the scents of fig leaves and heliotrope in the gardens, having time with my husband, lovely food and beautiful views of mountains and sea. A second holiday in Augustus, which includes a road trip through France and a visit to Grasse. Wishing everyone a good summer (or winter)!
Ah, that sounds so nice! Enjoy your time in Spain and later in France.
What lovely plans, Birgit! My sister is coming for the month of July so that I get a break from caretaking our elderly parents. Not an ideal time of year but we are going to visit dear friends on the Gulf Coast, including several days in New Orleans, happily it’s oyster season 🙂 Later in August I’m going with my husband to Philadelphia, he has a school to attend for his job, and in September we want to take a long weekend in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. I am busy lining up care for my parents but I can’t wait to get out of here and have some fun!
Sounds like a good summer is coming, ringthing!
Enjoy your well-deserved breaks
and have fun!
Sounds like you are in for a fun summer, Birgit! Tuscany is so beautiful. I have already been on several short trips this year and am really looking forward to the family getway to Mandelieu near Cannes, where we stay nearly every year. My husband I have suggested other destinations and the answer is always the same from the kids ‘NO WAY!! We want to go “home” again!!’ And it is so very beautiful and so many fab places to visit like Antibes, Villefrance and Monaco, just to mention a few. This year I am planning to go to Grasse and take a perfume tour. Have you any idea which fragrances you will be wearing on your hols, Birgit? (I am getting Diptyque Eau de Neroli) tomorrow!
That sounds wonderful! France is so gorgeous! Funny how kids love their routines, mine are the same.
So happy you are getting Eau de Neroli, it is so pretty.
I will take it to Italy too along with Diptyque’s Eau de Lavande. Maybe a few Hermès decants and I’m good. 🙂
We are so fortunate to live in a gorgeous part of the world! The drive home from work surrounds me with the world’s most beautiful scenery: Mt. Rainier, the Olympic Mountains, and the Cascades! To top it off, I get to live on a gorgeous lake and have a swimming pool as another option for fun. Tennis courts, beautifully maintained bike / walking trails, and the best neighbors we could hope for make this a summer paradise. No, I have no need to leave! Thankfully I’ve got four weeks off to enjoy it all. Life is good, thank God!
That is a fantastic area of the world indeed. I was in the Olympic National Park once and loved it. Enjoy your summer!
🙂 I have a whole lot of ideas of what to do, but haven’t booked anything yet. One thing my daughter and I will do is fly to London for a couple of days… Looking very much forward to that!
Enjoy your holidays!!! 😀
Nothing better than London! Have a great time!