This past month I took an amazing 16 day trip to Europe that I promised to share and I have had so many requests for photos I wanted to be sure to do it all in one place! :)

I flew from Tampa to JFK and got lucky with my favorite flight crew on Delta. I am a Platinum Medallion Member so there are quite a few teams I know well and this one is my favorite! Jane is always the First Class attendant and she keeps my champagne glass full and since I always sit in the First Class bulk head (front row) we talk a lot throughout the flight. She also makes an amazing Bloody Mary but I passed this time since I had so much flying still ahead of me!

NYC - Paris 5:05pm After a 2 hour delay in New York I boarded an Air France Airbus a380 which is HUGE! I flew on one when I flew Qantas to New Zealand and I love these planes! I was upstairs in Business Elite so my seat turned into a bed and I slept about half of the flight. I watched Bridesmaids and a great movie called "We need to talk about Kevin" which was insane! Air France always has the best food and this time they had a really great souffle with veal and cheeses with a really nice Bordeaux. They even had an ice cream sundae bar and the champagne was flowing!

Paris, France January 11 5:30am - When I landed in Paris I had another delay for my flight to Nice. :( But Charles DeGaulle always has some great shopping so I bought a very cute pair of gloves and a scarf and some perfume.

After 4 hours of waiting while jet lagged and exhausted I boarded my Air France Regional flight to Nice which was about an hour and I was asleep before we even took off and didn't wake until after we landed. I was in Nice which I had never been and as tired as I was I was really excited!

Customs was a breeze as it always is in France. They don't require those silly customs and immigration forms and basically they stamp your passport and on you go! I was in a taxi headed to the Hotel La Perouse in minutes after I got my bags and the road to the hotel was right along the Mediterranean which was so blue it looked like the Caribbean! It was a bright sunny day and the temperature was in the 60s and it was exactly like the Florida weather I had just left! Palm trees and sunshine and I'm in France? AWESOME!

The hotel was built into the side of a cliff next to a chateau that was hundreds of years old and really beautiful! My room was on the 5th floor and overlooked the sea with a beautiful balcony!

and here is me standing along the sea wall with the city of Nice behind me at night!

Nice is so totally different than Paris, which is probably my favorite city in the world. It's very similar but Nice was once part of Italy so there is a very different culture here. A lot of Italian food and more of a seafood influence than most French places so it is very unique. I loved it! One of my favorite places to eat when I'm in France is a chain called the "Hippo" It's like a Chili's or TGIF here in the states but the food is amazing and their steaks are really great! Here is a shot of their menu lol

On my last night in Nice I went to a place for dinner in the center of the Old City called Gaglio. Their specialty was a fusion of Italian and French and I promise you it was AMAZING! I ordered the prawns which were the size of lobsters and they were served with truffle potatoes slow cooked in the drippings from roasting chickens and were awesome.

The morning I was leaving to head to Monte Carlo I walked through the square where they had a farmer's market every morning and got some croissant and these crispy little tarts with custard and fresh strawberries that were crazy good! I also loved the flower stands! How beautiful are these?

January 17 noon - Train Nice to Monaco, Monte Carlo

I only spent that one day in Monte Carlo. There isn't a lot to do other than shop but I wanted to see it. I won 240 euro in the Casino and hit the road with my good fortune! :) Here's a view up the hill from the Monaco Marina which has the craziest yachts you could imagine! There was one that I was told is worth over 70 MILLION dollars!

We boarded the 4pm train which took us up the coast to Ventimeglia where we went to this highly recommended little cafe and had their onion soup which was fucking amazing!

January 17 6:15pm Back on the train and headed to Milan which is about a 3 hour trip! We passed through Genoa which was a really pretty city and from there it was the last time we saw the sea as we headed inland and north to Milan.

After arriving in Milan I was so hungry and I couldn't go shopping since I got there so late so I decided to see which place TripAdvisor recommended for a late supper. Turns out one of the top rated restaurants out of over 2000 was a block from my hotel! If you ever find yourself in Milan, you HAVE to go to Da Maruzzella in Piazza Oberdan! Here are some of the things I had for dinner, AND lunch the following day! It was so good I had to go back!

Here is the margherita Pizza I had!

Here is spaghetti with Lobster!

And the BEST antipasti I have EVER had in my fucking life!!!!!! Fresh buffalo mozzerella, roasted peppers, meatballs, artichokes, pieces of prosciutto and fresh fire oven baked bread!

Can't have a meal in Italy without having calamari and some house specialty pasta and of course a pepperoni and mushroom pizza!

And Nunzio who is a freakin artist!

The following day I hit the street around 10am and the shopping was fucking incredible! Milan is a really jumping city with great energy and there was a store that I loved called "Kiko Makeup Milano" They don't ship to the US but than God I kept my office in London so I can have my girl there get it and send it on to me!! They have the most amazing eye shadows and makeup brushes! lol It's also a great excuse to go back again soon!

After 2 nights in Milan it was time to take the train to Verona, a city I knew very little about other than it's where Romeo and Juliette was set. I was very excited to see it as it's a very historic city with a lot of culture! I booked myself at a B&B in the heart of the Old City so it was promised to be a great trip! Just 2 hours by train and I booked a sleeper car so I could relax and not deal with any crazy Italians and their big mouths :)

When I got to Verona the temperature had dropped into the low 20s and it was COLD. There was snow and a lot of ice in the trees on the way but none in the city itself. After a 5 minute taxi ride to my B&B I was confused! I got to the address which was 3 doors down from the fucking Louis Vitton store!

The Verona Arena built in 30ad and still has concerts to this day holding 15,000 people!

Verona is the city of Lovers and the city of Romeo and Juliette so of course I had to see Juliette's balcony which turned out to be very sweet and actually pretty cool

And of course Northern Italy has some amazing food and is so different than the food in the south which I grew up on being from a Sicilian family

Bigoli pasta in a duck ragu with black truffle shavings (HOLY SHIT WAS THIS GOOD!)

PASTA E FAGIOLI CON PAPPARDELLE (pasta and bean soup) but made with Pappardelle pasta!!!!

Pappardelle with lamb ragu (FUCKING DELICIOUS!)

Veronese Coffee - Espresso with Grappa!

Piazza Erbe shops and cafe's - very pretty but too touristy for me personally

bought this apron for my step dad

Bigoli pasta (spaghetti but hollow inside like a tube!) with sardines which was fa-fucking-tastic!

street where my hotel was

Foggy cold night as you can see!

shopping in the cold and wind bundled up like someone who had never been in the cold before! :)

On my last day I went to this restaurant our B&B owner recommended called "Ugo" which is deep in a neighborhood so no tourists here! They made their own pasta and had it hanging from the ceilings and the place smelled like heaven! They had a huge fireplace in the center of the room and all kinds of breads and cakes baking in front of it.

and the famous Verona Pumpkin Risotto that was to die for!

Prague, Czech Republic January 23 2012

I was in Prague for 3 days last year and loved it but wanted to see it in the winter so I planned my last stop before flying home to return in the cold and snow and see this amazing city from a different point of view! I have to say it is one of the most interesting and beautiful cities in the world. The people are all tall and thin and good looking and dressed well and the city itself has an almost Gothic feel and look to it which I loved!

I stayed at the Prague Crowne Plaza which is a really beautiful hotel and the entire city has this ominous entry when you cross the Charles Bridge.

An amazing trip. I want to say something that needs to be said. I hear from so many people who say "I would love to do that trip some day" but chances are they never will. Not because they can't, it's because they won't. They won't do anything out of their normal routine. They won't break their patterns and try something new. Like these fucking losers who take the big step to see Europe and eat McDonalds and KFC because they can't read the menu in French or Italian. Makes me sick and I could never spend time with someone with that frame of mind. You either live your life and experience new things or step to the fucking back and let the rest of us move on without you.

xoxo

How could I forget the Gelato? Or the Romeo and Juliette Cigar I smoked? AMAZING!!!!!!!

Gelato was to DIE FOR!!!!!!!!

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Happy Holidays Everyone! - 12/22/2011 - Comments: 0

Happy Holidays!

I hope that everyone is having a great holiday season and you are healthy and surrounded by people in your life that you love! I have some amazing new videos and photos being added to my site so make sure you checkout the most recent updates!

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Mariah Milano Bimini Trip - 10/10/2011 - Comments: 0

hey guys...here's a video that pretty much chronicles some of my recent trip to Bimini! I hope you enjoy it!

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