“The world is but a treat when you’re on easy street” – The Collapsible Hearts Club

Hi everybody! You may have noticed that I have changed the name of my blog from Rj3travel to Ronnie & Aimee’s Travel Adventures. The reason for this is that I always got the the end of my previous trips and never really finished/wrapped them up. This time Aimee will be contributing to the blog to ensure that I am able to finish what I start! This change also comes with a new layout, address and hosting service. I have switched from Blogger to WordPress – which will make my life on the road much easier – the blogging tool on blogger was a nightmare. The blog posts on this platform will be much better and look more professional.

We have decided to fundamentally change the blog this time around as well. We will be focusing heavily on food. I will include a photo of everything we eat within this blog with a description and price. I am hopeful that this could help a reader who is considering a trip to Italy or Spain to decide where to eat or to inspire somebody to travel to these countries. Of course I will be doing my usual gushing of things we do and places we go, but the focus will definitely be on food, drinks and costs.

Things have been good for us since we last spoke. It has been about 15 months since our trip to New Zealand. In that time I have changed jobs (again). I am now working in a government role delivering psychological services to people and families affected by Drug and Alcohol. It is rewarding and I can honestly say that I love it. Aimee and I have done our usual hardcore diet before we travel. This time I lost 17 kgs and Aimee has lost 10kgs in a 5 month period.

It has been an absolute effort, but we are proud of it. A lot of people ask us “How did you do it?” and I think there is only one answer to this – we use travel as our motivator. We love trying different cuisines when we travel (as you will see by reading this blog) and we understand that it is likely that we will gain weight whilst we are away, so to avoid become morbidly obese we go on these diets.

We are heading to Europe together for the first time. Our first 2.5 weeks will be spent in Italy and our second 2.5 weeks will be spent in Spain. We decided to only travel to two countries because instead of getting a small taste of lots of countries, we prefer to get a decent feel of the culture and the way of life in the countries that we visit. When planning our trip we got together and said that we can probably do 5 weeks. That is enough to have a decent look at two countries. I said to Aimee – I will pick my most desired country in Europe and you pick yours and we’ll go to them. I chose Italy and she chose Spain.

We fly out this Friday the 31st of May from Sydney (SYD) to Abu Dhabi (AUH) for a 2 hour layover and then into Rome (FCO). We are then spending 2 days in Rome on our own before embarking on a 12 day Contiki tour called “Simply Italy” that takes us all around Italy. I have included our route below.

Following this we spend a few more days in Rome in which we are planning a day trip to Naples. Then we are flying from Rome (FCO) to Madrid (MAD). We are spending 3 days in Madrid before embarking on another 14 day Contiki tour called the “Spanish Spree”. This tour takes use from Madrid, all around Spain and then back to Madrid where we will spend naohter 2 days before we fly back to Sydney (SYD).

This will be our third and fourth Contiki tours. The reason that we have chosen to go on Contiki tours as opposed to travelling solo is because we have had such a great time on our previous tours. You are travelling with like minded individuals who all want to explore culture and history but also enjoy the nightlife, which is the exact type of travellers that we are. You never have to follow the Contiki group. If you feel like being alone – you can spend the day in the particular city doing whatever you want (which we often have). You have a brilliant tour manager who makes excellent suggestions of things to do and places to eat which is always helpful. You have instant friends and groups to partake in group activities with and whilst there is no pressure to go out and drink on any night, the option is always there. Aimee and I always have at least a few huge nights during a Contiki tour which are always memorable (perhaps sometimes for the wrong reasons ha!)

Anyway, word cannot explain how excited we are for this trip. I have always wanted to go to Europe and now is the time. We will be updating the blog daily as per usual and if you click “Menu” up the top, you will be able to read all of our old posts from our old trips. Even if nobody reads this, or the older posts, I have found that blogging is an amazing way to read back and remember some of the amazing times. Talk soon!

Ronnie & Aimee.