I am very excited about going to the reception with Mary Ann Esposito, hostess of the PBS cooking show “Ciao Italia”. Mike is excited, too, but then again, he’ll go anyplace where this is good food.

Mary Ann travels to Italy a lot for her show…she has done entire seasons devoted to her travels to places like Tuscany and Umbria. At the end of these shows, she would always have a short “video postcard”, in which we got to see the gorgeous scenery there. It really makes you want to go there!

Someday, we will, I hope. In the meantime, I love to look at these Villas in Italy and drool!

Well, maybe…but we shall see!

But one thing I have noticed, while researching hotels down there, is that they are wicked pricey. However, if you compare this to the cost of renting an Orlando vacation home…wow! If you are traveling with family, or a group of friends, this can actually be MUCH less expensive than renting several hotel rooms to accomodate everyone. And, let’s not forget that a house comes with a kitchen, so you can buy groceries and prepare meals at the house. This alone would save a fortune, as you wouldn’t need to eat every meal at restaurants. I know that when Mike and I take trips, we always spend more on restaurants than we do on the actual cost of the room.

I love to BBQ, but we can’t really do that here. But how cool would it be to rent a vacation home, and BBQ in the yard there? For many people, cooking is a chore, but I love it, and it would not bother me at all to do it while on vacation!

I am hoping to visit Orlando soon, but, as I said, we’ll have to wait and see what happens!