Hey there! Did you guys miss us? We sure missed you 🙂

Wanna know why we didn't send out a newsletter last week? Well, believe it or not, the Airbnb we were staying in didn’t have WiFi. So we had no choice but to to skip it and enjoy being disconnected from the internet for a couple of days.

But you know what they say, distance makes the heart grow fonder ❤️

We are currently in the process of leaving Palermo, the capital and biggest city on the island of Sicily. It's kind of a bummer that we are heading out of town, not just because we loved our time here, but because Aimara picked our Airbnb. And you know what happens when she's in charge! #upgrade

Pretty sweet, right? Bye bye Palermo apartment, we will miss you.

Sicily is the last region we’ll be exploring before heading home for the holidays, and we hope to go out with a bang! So far we can say that we are loving it here. We've really only seen a tiny fraction of it - but it's been great! Sicily has such a fun energy that makes you want to be out drinking spritzes all day 😂

But before arriving to Sicily we spent a week bouncing around Puglia. Here’s what went down:

5 beautiful stops in Puglia 🤩

Ah, Puglia. What a lovely and under-appreciated part of Italy.

It's true, Puglia has become more popular over the years, but the heel of Italy's boot still draws far fewer visitors than other parts of the country. And if you come in November, well you might just have the whole damn place to yourself 😅

We popped into five different places during our stay, including sleepy beach towns and UNESCO villages with centuries-old 'hobbit' homes (as pictured above). This is where we went:

1. Monopoli - slightly less famous than Polignano al Mare, but no less charming. If you're looking for a gorgeous whitewashed coastal town, definitely consider coming here. Monopoli was our perfect little base for visiting the next town on the list.
2. Alberobello - maybe the most famous and definitely the most Instagramable 🤢 place in Puglia. Alberobello is filled with the conical shaped 'trulli' houses, which have housed residents for hundreds of years. It's a pretty magical place!
3. Lecce - one of the larger towns in southern Puglia, Lecce has been on our radar since binge-watching House Hunters International several winters ago when we still lived in Chicago. Did we put in any offers? Not this time...
4. Gallipoli - known as the 'Pearl of the Ionian Sea,' Gallipoli was just another wonderful town. It felt much less touristy than Monopoli and Alberobello. We had our best meal in Puglia here in Gallipoli 🙌 (and bonus points for having amazing sunsets!)
5. Otranto - this stop was my personal favorite. The little bay here had the most gorgeous turquoise waters, and there was simply great energy in little Otranto. The locals were out enjoying the waterfront and it just had a vibe.

Summary: Puglia is amazing! Food is ridiculously good, people are friendly and outgoing, it's MUCH cheaper than northern Italy, and there is just a nice relaxed pace of life around here. We will share a video where we show you around these 5 places!

Is November this best time to visit Puglia? Probably not. While the weather was okay (a bit chilly and rainy), most of the towns were pretttty quiet. And while that certainly can be appealing, we would have preferred to see it in the end of September / early October when it would have been a bit more lively and still be warm enough to hit the beach.

Guess what, we published a video!

We know it's been a while since we posted a video, but maybe our latest video will give you some travel inspiration for next year!

We are comparing two of the most famous and gorgeous lakes in northern Italy - Lake Como & Lake Garda. Click to find out which one we think deserves to be on your Italy itinerary!​

And because you're already a friend of the world, you have access to our FREE PDF that will help you decide which one of these iconic lakes is a better fit for you!

​Lake Garda vs Lake Como Free PDF FINAL.pdf​

Don't visit Sicily on a diet...

Did you know that the beautiful people of Sicily put gelato into bread and eat it for breakfast? Yep, this place definitely beats to it's own drum. Oh, and they also invented the cannoli, are the kings of arrancini (fried rice balls) and have the most fun pasta shapes we've seen so far in Italy.

Needless to say, you won't go hungry here...

Our first stop in Sicily was Palermo, the island's beating heart. Let me tell you guys, this place is alive! The locals are happy and loud, traffic is buzzing, and there is rarely a dull moment around here. True, it's far from the most polished city in Italy, but we definitely didn't mind.

Our favorite part of the city were the local markets, which felt a bit like bazaars or souks, with tons of street food and vendors yelling and dancing over each other to sell their goods.

Fun fact: Palermo is known as the most conquered city in the world. The number of civilizations and empires that claimed this place is insane. The Arabs are one of the groups that really put their stamp on Palermo, and you can see it in the food, architecture and people.

We also went on a little day trip to the famous beach town of Cefalù, and it was gorgeous. Apparently it gets super packed in summer time, but now in November it was 75 degrees (24 C) and sunny, and just perfect for strolling around a medieval city plopped right next to the water.

Happy Black Friday… and Thanksgiving 🦃

Did you know Black Friday is a thing in Italy? It's called Black Week! 😂

Give the gift of travel (mostly) this holiday season! Here are some of our travel favorites:

• ​Trusted Houssitters: we adore this company! Trusted Housesitters allowed us to have 2.5 months of free accommodation this past summer. We stayed in beautiful homes and we got to take care of pets! Get 30% off your annual membership when you use code: RAF610611. Click here to sign-up!​
• ​Expedia: save 30% or more on stays booking before November 29. Stay any time before the end of 2024 (if you have any hotels to book for next year, now it's a great time!)
• ​Hertz: up to 30% off bookings when you pay at checkout for rentals happening between November 24 - January 10th. Click here to get the deals!​
• ​Amazon: Did you know that if you shop on amazon using this link, we receive a small commission? So, if you please remember, can you use this link when you do your Holiday shopping this year? Thank you!

Hope these links are helpful. If you book using them we get a small commission at ZERO extra charge to you. We are thankful for your support 😊

What’s next for us?

We have two more weeks here in Sicily before packing our bags and closing this chapter of our lives. In the meantime, we still have 3 or 4 videos to create on this island before we can tie a bow on this Italy travel series.

Today we are heading to an island on Sicily's west coast - Favignana. In fact, as you read this we might be on an actual ferry cruising towards this gorgeous little Mediterranean piece of heaven.

Arriverderci 😎

Thanks for reading! And Happy Thanksgiving to our US readers ❤️ Be thankful for all the beautiful people in your life.

Aimara & Gordon

Other links:

• ​I'm sharing all my Italy outfits every single day on Reward Style! Basically all the ways to style the pieces I packed in my little carry-on bag :)
• ​We're on Patreon: Follow the link to check out other ways to support what we do. We will send you postcards (like the one below) and you'll have access to all the PAID travel-guide PDFs (like this one) that we'll release in the future (that's a steal if you're traveling to Italy!)
• Interested in a one-time thing instead? Buy us a coffee or leave us a tip here!

Other travel newsletters we love (and maybe you will too!):

• ​Nomadic Matt: The OG of travel blogs and someone we admire very much. Sign up to his awesome newsletter if you want to learn how to travel smarter, cheaper and for longer :)
• ​Seatback Pocket: Sign up to this fun little newsletter if you want to have bucket list travel experiences delivered to your inbox every week! Maybe it can even inspire your next vacation!

Giveaway Winner! 🥇

• Remember we are now doing monthly giveaways? They will be announced at the end of each month! Basically if you already watch our videos, you just have to answer 3 questions and that's it! October's giveaway winner is... 🥁 Pam Hassen - Congrats!!! If you are reading this, please reply to this email so we can send you your $50 Amazon gift card!

Stay tuned for November's giveaway! We'll announce them on YouTube and Instagram on November 30th.