You Asked for It!
Your questions answered: from pit-stops between the Dolomites and the Tuscan Coast, to Paris rentals, navigating the Dodecanese islands and some deep Crete intel.
Greetings from the Médoc! Thank you so much for all of your interest in my most recent post —it was indeed a very hard decision to make. And I so appreciate your kind comments—this particular message really touched me: “I felt your every word. It takes courage to go after a dream, but even more to know when to give it up.” I love this community so much, and I so appreciate you being here. I also feel like I need to repeat how much I wish we had one single place where we had our website and our community (we are working on it!), but for now, we are in two places. (ICYMI, here is a clear explanation of the site vs. Substack. Also, some of you wrote to me that the link to our house listing wasn’t working—here it is.)
Today, we’re answering some questions from paid subscribers posted in the comments—both here on Substack and on our site. (As much as we love hearing from you, please don’t DM us your questions on Instagram, we can’t keep up!) We sift through everything we’ve received each month and select the questions we hear over and over, and that we haven’t yet written about. I can’t tell you how happy I am to see that our Chat—where paid subscribers can share advice and intel with each other—has been very active with great responses from the wider Yolo community, since you all have your own great expertise to share. This is what it’s all about! —Yolanda
We’re driving from Forestis in the Dolomites to Il Pellicano this summer. It's a full-day drive, about 7 hours, and I'm sure there are many detours we could take, but would probably only make 1 or 2 stops. I was also looking for some amazing Italian gardens but could not find any along the route. —Matthew
I’d definitely stop near Parma (it’s about halfway) at the labyrinth garden of Franco Maria Ricci, and then close by is Ai Due Platani, a favorite of mine just minutes outside Parma, with plenty of easy parking. (I don’t like trying to find parking in cities when you have a car filled with all your luggage.) It’s an epic and not fussy restaurant, but definitely call to book ahead. If you choose this itinerary, you’ll end up driving the coast through Forte dei Marmi, where you could grab a quick coffee or a beautiful popsicle at Principe!
Alternatively, you could stop for lunch at Trattoria da Amerigo in Savigno, which looks like it’s just slightly less out of the way—you save about 20-30 minutes, because you’re not going on the coastal route. I’ve never been, but in our first issue chef Michael Tusk wrote about how his raviolo al uovo (a single raviolo filled with an egg yolk) influenced him so deeply. You could stop at the Garden Museum of Ancient Roses, which is quite close, and given that it’s June, you’ll be there in its prime season.
Can you recommend islands (or one island) we absolutely should visit after Kos for great food, chic vibes, nice accommodations, and baby-friendly beaches? We have about 6 days free and need to get to Dublin after. Thank you! —Pamela
I love Leros—it’s just next to Kos and totally fits the bill on what you’re looking for. Easy roads that line the perimeter of the island mean easy access to the beaches, and there are lots of feet-in-the sand restaurants where you can sit in the shallow water