Check one off the bucket list as I finally made it to a Champion’s League soccer game last night. I wish I would have taken a picture of Troy and I on the metro on the way to the stadium because we had to literally shove our way on it was so full and there was no way another human would have fit in our train car. We got a little nervous as we got off because right when we came out of the tunnel the riot police heard us speaking English and quickly tried to get us on to opposing team fan buses going to the Arsenal section but after explaining we were Milan fans they reluctantly let us keep going with the home crowd. San Siro was basically full and at just over 80,000 seats the stadium was way bigger than I expected. Pretty awesome experience, especially since Milan ran Arsenal off the field 4-0 and the crowd was going nuts. Finished the night off with a victory tradition of an italian sausage sandwich and a beer on the way back home.

Gotta catch one if you get the chance.

Gallery from our Slovenia trip a couple weeks ago.

Here are some of my favorites from the family Christmas trip through Northern Italy (outtakes up next). Enjoy!

To end 2011 and start fresh in 2012 I thought I’d reflect on our travel experiences from last year. Thinking back to 2010 I don’t think either of us planned on doing everything we did in 2011 as it turned out to be a huge travel year for us with very new, exciting and memorable experiences. We visited several new countries (Scotland #22, Thailand #23, and Monaco #24), explored several destinations we’d already been to a little more in-depth (Portland, France, the Grand Tetons, and lots of Italy), moved to foreign country, and finished off the year with a once in a lifetime “Griswold Christmas” family vacation. Here are the highlights and reviews of our major experiences.

Portland, Oregon

We started out our travel year with a long weekend in Portland for Julie’s birthday in late February. Portland is one of our favorite trips from Boise because 1) we love the feel of the town 2) they have great food and 3) the beer is unrivaled. We went to a great Spanish tapas restaurant, grabbed a pint or two of beer from the Bridgeport brewery, walked around the Pearl District and last, but not least, made it to a Portland Trailblazers game (my Xmas present from Julie) at the Rose Garden where we watched Brandon Roy hit a game winner!

Scotland

Next came Scotland, which we spent a week in and it definitely stands out as one of the more memorable trips I’ve been on. We rented a car and took a road trip around the country which really gave us the flexibility to see all of the cultural, architectural and natural sights we wanted to. Some highlights included a private scotch tour of the Glen Moray Distillery, exploring what felt like countless castles (Dunnottar Castle was by far our favorite; seen below), going on one of our favorite hikes of all time (Quaring of Isle of Skye) and finding a new favorite city (for now) in Edinburgh.

Thailand

I think Thailand was kind of unexpected for us, especially since it was so close to the Scotland trip but once we started talking with my sister, Amanda, about going somewhere together we decided we couldn’t pass it up. We all agreed that we’d been to Europe enough and wanted something different and exotic so we finally decided on Thailand. We chose Thailand not only because it provided a huge variety of things to do and see but also because it’s known for being easy to get around and was something totally foreign to us. As expected, it turned out awesome and definitely opened my eyes to the Asian continent which I desperately want to get back to. Some highlights included exploring the ancient ruins of Ayutthaya, having a cocktail 64 floors high on an open-rooftop bar overlooking Bangkok, riding elephants in Chiang Mai, sea kayaking by Krabi karst islands and of course getting good cheap Thai food.

Grand Tetons

Seeing the Grand Tetons again was something we had planned for 2011 and I’m glad we found time to do it. We had only been there once before and it was only while driving through on our way to Yellowstone so we really wanted to explore more of it. We spent a long weekend in September camping, hiking and taking photographs and had a great time. Highlights included catching sunrise at the famous Mormon Barn for photos, dinner at the Snake River Brewery, and hiking in Cascade Canyon.

Provence and Cote d’Azur, France

A work holiday fell on a Wednesday late in the year so Julie and I thought it would be a great time to turn the “bridge days” into a really long weekend and visit Provence, France. We both had been to France previously but neither to the south and it was only 5ish hours away so we decided to go and it turned out totally worth it. We stayed in St-Remy-en-Provence, and visited the Roman arena in Arles, the Papal Palace in Avignon, some wineries in the Chateauneuf-de-Pape region, visited some hilltowns like Gordes and Rousillon and on our way home made it to Nice, Eze (shown) and Monaco. We definitely need more time and another trip to see more of this area.

Italy

We had absolutely no plans to go to Italy in 2011 but when I was presented the opportunity to work on assignment in Italy, Julie and I jumped at the opportunity. We moved to Monza, Italy in October (Julie in November) and while I’ve been busy at work we’ve been taking full advantage of our weekends by making trips around the country. Almost every weekend becomes at least a short trip to a new town we’ve never seen which has been a dream come true! At this point we’ve been on quite a few trips around Italy including all of the main Northern regions except Aosta (which we hope to get to in a couple weeks!). Highlights include having: tried grappa at a distillery, hiked Monte Resegone, explored the Langhe wine region, visited several of Palladio’s villas, enjoyed many a local brew at Lambrate Brewery, driven along the treacherous shores of Lake Como and explored countless old towns, churches and osterias. There certainly isn’t a shortage of things to do in Italy and we certainly haven’t gotten bored with it yet so we plan to keep seeing more!

We also got to spend a week over Christmas with my family traveling around Italy which was a once in a lifetime trip. For only being in Italy for around 10 days we made it to quite a few places on the trip having time to explore Monza, Milan, Como, Verona, Venice, Bologna, Siena, Portovenere and Florence. While no place disappointed my favorite part of the trip was renting an apartment in old town Florence over Christmas where everyone just got to hang out, eat, drink and play card games (given since Amanda was there) and it’s something I’ll never forget.

What’s Next for 2012?

We’re planning on 2012 being another crazy travel year because there’s an endless list of places we still want to get to. Here’s whats on the schedule:

• Slovenia (just went; was very cool; I’ll post next week)
• Valle d’Aosta and Chamonix/Courameyeur Ski Resorts (February)
• Italy/Austria/Switzerland Exploration with Scott/Cyndi (March)
• Sicily (April)
• Morocco (May/June)
• Dolomites hiking (June)
• and many other Italy places we hope to get to like Ivrea Carnivale celeration, Umbria cooking class, Bologna and parmesan factory tour, Liguria beach trip(s), etc.

If you’re gonna be in the area or are interested in joining us anywhere let us know!