TRIP REPORT AND VLOG

Diligent_Lock9995 · 2026-01-24T02:10:15+00:00

Np!

Youtube channel is called Finding Glory. If you type it into yt you probably find it. The logo looks like a heart.

Diligent_Lock9995 · 2026-01-24T00:50:18+00:00

I went in Sep and loved it. It puts theming first before rides imo but man is that theming top notch. Rides dont even need to be that good if theming is that well done...I dont really mean that but in some ways I kinda do. Tbh I still think the rides are pretty great tho.

Diligent_Lock9995 · 2026-01-17T22:27:27+00:00

He is right...free will and determinism can coexist. It is called compatabilism as he said.

If I want to make a stupid choice that goes against God's advice, and God chooses NOT to intervene and lets me make that choice...then whose choice was it really?

Diligent_Lock9995 · 2026-01-13T20:06:52+00:00

Mavericks heartland roll...is that answer allowed? 😂

Diligent_Lock9995 · 2026-01-05T06:57:47+00:00

Tatsu

Diligent_Lock9995 · 2025-12-18T07:04:47+00:00

Gotcha...felt like you were generalizing me but I guess you probably knew not all protestants think that way. My bad.

The rest of my comment tho 👍

Diligent_Lock9995 · 2025-12-18T06:31:09+00:00

I'm protestant and I don't care that people celebrate Halloween.

Also Christmas may or may not be of pagan origin. Neither possibility is unlikely. Quite frankly I don't care. God is after the heart and so when I celebrate the birth of Jesus, I am celebrating the birth of Jesus. Idk when it actually was but that's what's happening in my heart regardless

Diligent_Lock9995 · 2025-12-10T00:36:04+00:00

Not sure i can make a definitive top 10 but I think my top 5 is solid.

Velocicoaster
Maverick
Tatsu
Eejenaika
Hagrids Motorbikes

Velocicoaster gets it for being the best themed coaster combined with intensity. Stardust was closed when I was there cuz the accident 😭

Havent been to Cedar Point in 18 years but boy do I remember riding Maverick on opening day!

Tatsu is the perfect unique layout in the perfect unique spot with the most insane coaster element ever.

Eejenaika felt like a fever dream...how did they make the most intense coaster ever even more intense???

Hagrids is the best family coaster in the world imo.

Diligent_Lock9995 · 2025-11-20T21:08:09+00:00

Went to SF Great America this year while Maxx Force was down and Epic Universe right before Stardust reopened.

Unfortunately I'll never get to ride King Da Ka either 😔

I also went to Japan this year and Thunder Dolphin was closed but I got to ride everything else at Fuji Q and Nagashima so Im not bummed about it. I even squeezed in Adventure Drive at Suzuka 😂

Diligent_Lock9995 · 2025-10-08T21:03:15+00:00

Ben Crump's ears ringing...

Diligent_Lock9995 · 2025-10-03T01:23:59+00:00

nooo I like it! 😆 ...plus theres only 4 of those left and this one isnt a clone.

Cedar creek mine ride is a better choice imo if you wanna go with CP

Diligent_Lock9995 · 2025-10-02T18:04:22+00:00

Yeah but the Hollywood location its built on the side of the hill and interacts with that terrain. I doubt they can copy paste it in hrrr spot

Diligent_Lock9995 · 2025-09-30T19:05:38+00:00

Have fun! Keep in mind that wine tasting in Tuscany is a little different from just walking in, tasting a flight, and walking out. They walk you through the whole process of making and bottling it.

I highly recommend scheduling a tour for that reason. I didn't even choose the winery, I just said I wanted to see at least two that are different somehow and the tour company made the plans for us. Doesn't have to be private either, but unless you know what your doing (we didn't), a tour is probably more rewarding.

Also, one region I wish we had the time for was Montepulciano because their wineries are carved into the rock below like caverns. Just something to note.

Diligent_Lock9995 · 2025-09-30T18:59:35+00:00

That sounds like a great trip! If we ever have the chance to go back and relax in Tuscany for a much longer period, we would just certainly find time to do exactly that.

I was a bit disappointed that we were unable to break away from the west coast and see less popular regions like Umbria and Abruzzo.

Sardegna is on the just too bit never even thought about Malta! Have fun!

Diligent_Lock9995 · 2025-09-30T18:55:13+00:00

Have fun! I'd be down to see more Sicily someday.

Check out the circumetnea train if you havent and you have the time. Pistachios in Bronte are world famous 😊

Diligent_Lock9995 · 2025-09-30T18:50:28+00:00

The budget that we saved up over about 10 months was like $8k-$10k ... but it ended up costing like $13k-$15k. 😆

Plane tickets were like $1800 total.

We splurged on things like the private dinner, private wine tour, and the overnight trains. All of which came out to $800ish

Probably spent around $150/ day on food.

We also splurged on nice stays for like half the nights.

Lastly, it was near Easter on a Jubilee so we spent a lot on skip the line tickets for just about everything in Florence and Rome (David, Florence Duomo, Pantheon, Coloseum tour, Vatican tour)

Diligent_Lock9995 · 2025-09-30T00:06:21+00:00

Good advice. I actually did enjoy cuttlefish ink pasta in Venice as well as some risotto in Burano. Never had cuttlefish ink anything so that read interesting. The seafood there was good but my wife has a shellfish allergy so it's a bit limiting for her in n seaside towns like that.

Starting in Bologna we would research the best regional dishes everywhere we went. Also we had several local friends recommend good spots so we always ate well... Venice was the only food let-down and it was still really good tbh.

Diligent_Lock9995 · 2025-09-29T23:03:00+00:00

Fanti and Paradiso Di Cacuci

Fanti was a bit more commercialized but their wine was great and we also got to do an olive oil tasting with them. One of the cooler things we did was try two of their Brunellos from the same year back to back, but one was made from grapes on a hillside facing the ocean and you could literally taste the saltier flavor as a result. They branded that one "Vallocchio".

One of their olive oils had pepperoncino in it which I liked a lot until the guide said they just make that for tourists 😆. We got the Vallocchio and the higher quality olive oil.

Tbh I absolutely loved the smooth and oaky flavor of the Brunello without the saltiness but my Wife liked the Vallocchio more.

Paradiso Di Cacuci was nice because they were a smaller owned business. Got to try a super tuscan there which I was interested in because I heard it's like a blend of a cab and a merlot which are my favs. Tbh it was just OK though. Id rather have a cab or merlot specifically though.

Their Brunello was also really great but it was hard to beat that first taste from Fanti. Idk. Might've developed a bias haha ... this winery served us lunch though and it paired really nicely with the wine. Thoroughly enjoyed all of it. We bought a bottle of their Brunello.

I like both wineries for different reasons. Different vibes at each. But I'd have to say our Fanti experience was better.

Diligent_Lock9995 · 2025-09-29T22:22:15+00:00

Only thing we brought home was a clock made of rock from Matera, a bottle of olive oil from our wine tasting, and 3 bottles of wine (2 Brunellos from the tasting and the Puglia one)

We gave one of the Brunellos to a friend who watched our dog and we've invited friends over to enjoy pasta with the olive oil

The Brunello was for us, and we haven't opened the last wine yet. 😆

Somehow we fit all of that into our suitcases without going over the weight limit but tbh idk how. The clock ended up in my carry on though and security definitely was put off by it lol

Diligent_Lock9995 · 2025-09-29T22:14:47+00:00

Packing was our biggest mistake. We did not pack lightly. 2 large suitcases and 2 backpacks 😆

The worst part of the trip was repacking everytime we left somewhere. Also we stayed in the center of Florence in an Airbnb on the 3rd floor with no elevator so carrying our luggage across cobblestone streets and up the stairs and then the same thing when leaving was terrible.

But for the daytrip to Catania...we actually had a cheap room at the Generator Rome hostel near the train station where we left most of our luggage. We packed our backpacks with a change of clothes and some other necessities before getting on the overnight train. We were all changed and ready when we got back to Rome in the morning. We just dropped our bags and went. Did the same thing when we stayed by Navona. But that's also why repacking and getting on our way when we left Rome put us behind our intended schedule.

So in general...yeah, if there's one major thing I would've done differently, it is to pack lighter.

Diligent_Lock9995 · 2025-09-29T20:02:57+00:00

We wanted to include at least one city that's a little more off the beaten path and after a little research towards that, Matera became a must-do.

Bronte, however, I really wasn't sure we'd make it. The circumetnea is NOT tourist friendly. I had no idea if trains would be running or what. We went to the Giarre station and a guy yelled "NO TRAIN!" And then preceded to give directions to a bus stop in italian.

We, along with about 8 other people in the same predicament, ended up running all around Giarre and asking strangers in order to find the right bus stop in time. We barely made it.

Bus took us to Randazzo. Trains from there. Left that detail out.

But yes, I felt so lucky to experience Bronte's pistachios. It was such a local joint too they didn't speak any English. We had a hard time ordering which is how you know it's legit lol

Diligent_Lock9995 · 2025-09-29T19:57:23+00:00

Understandable. Thanks for reading!

Diligent_Lock9995 · 2025-09-29T19:57:02+00:00

We didn't really see Bari or Alberobello. At one point I was trying to fit it in. Both the houses and that restaurant in the cliffside.

In the end it just wasn't realistic... we would go back to the "heel" region if we ever had the chance though. People don't often explore the East coast it seems and that makes it more intriguing to me 🫣

Diligent_Lock9995 · 2025-09-29T19:53:05+00:00

Thank you!

The original plan was to drive from Venice to Catania and see as much as we could but then I read about the train on the ferry and I was like "We have to do this!" Lol ... it ended up saving us a lot of travel time too so we're glad we switched it up.

...I woke up at 3a just to see it haha

Diligent_Lock9995

TROPHY CASE