Fierce Invalids in Hot Climates Amber and Jerad chronicle their life-changing journey from Napa Valley wine snobs to globe-exploring vegabonds

Sorry this has taken so long to get out to everyone who likes to keep an eye on their traveling duo, but it is amazing that once you get out of asia and africa and into Europe, it becomes amazingly difficult to upload photos, use the internet, and get a hold of anyone by phone.  Since we last blogged we have been in S. Africa trekking in Drakensburg which is an amazing area full of rock formations and great hiking trails.  Unfortunately we were only able to get one solid day of hiking in.  We had planned to spend about 3 days trekking around the region but the first day we both felt a little under the weather so we just laid low and tried to rest up for the next 2 days.  The following day we did get out and had a wonderful half day of hiking before getting a little lost.  It was a true adventure in map reading and a true test of Ambers patients as I tried to navigate our way back to our hotel.  We did make it back safe and sound and it makes for a pretty great story, but we both recognized in the process that we were not at 100% and didn't want to hike on the last day.  Instead we returned to Petermaritzburg and the hostel we had stayed at on the way into the area.  It is by far one of the nicest hostels I could imagine.  It really felt like we were just staying in this mans home.  We even set up an evening were he cooked us a gourmet meal and we ate with him and some other travelers by candle light.  It was a great experience that we both really cherished.  From there we took the long haul back to Johannesburg and our flight into Athens.  This took a couple days and a night spent sleeping on the floor of an airport but we arrived into Athens in pretty good spirits and started trying to plan what we going to do.  After a little stress Amber found this darling studio apartment and called the night before hoping we might be lucky enough to get a last minute reservation.  She was greeted on the other end of the phone by the owner himself and after some interesting bargaining that took the price for each night we would stay there from 55 Euro to 60 Euro before settling on a final price of 50 Euro.  Amber sure has some serious bargaining skills.  We spent the next week cooking for ourselves and soaking up Greek island culture on Poros which is a beautiful island about 2-3 hours ferry from Athens.  Next up we spent another couple days of hard traveling to get to our current location of Turin Italy.  We have been lucky enough to find a really nice hotel and have been trying to enjoy the city despite Amber getting a short stint with a stomach bug.  We head off to our final destination in Italy which is a small town called La Morra where we hope to relax and spend the next week.  Our 2 year anniversary is during this period so we plan to just lay low and really enjoy the country and each other.  We love you all and hope you haven't stopped checking the blog.  Amber is trying to upload pictures of all of this as we speak so hopefully you will be able to get a better idea of the places and experiences we have had than I can put into words.  We hope everyone is doing well and are looking forward to seeing you all next soon as the next 2 months will fly by and we will be home before you know it.  See you all soon. JN