Italy - October 22nd - 29thInstead of flying all the way home for my fly back I decided to go half-way and spend some time with my Cousin and his family who are currently living in Paris. Their kids were on a fall break and going to Italy so I joined them. We flew into the Florence airport. Our plans were to stay just north of Florence and drive around Italy. We rented a mini-van for the 6 of us. Below is our key - I thought it was an interesting key - you just stuck it in and pushed the Start/Stop button. The key was very modern but the process to rent a car in Florence certainly was not.
As soon as we got into Florence we headed for the museum that housed the David statue. I didn't realize until I was talking about going to Florence that there were replicas of David but the real one was in Florence. I don't know if you can tell from this picture but the statue is so grand- 17 feet high.
The resort where we stayed was amazing. It was about 45 min north of Florence, close to a town called Borgo San Lorenzo. Below is a picture from the upstairs window - because we were in a valley it stayed foggy until about 11am each day.
Below is another view of the resort. Very 'Italian'!
Sunday was our first full day and our plan was to head to Siena. My Cousin and his family had reservations for a cooking class. The younger girls (twin 4 year olds) had been sick and were on antibiotics. They got their medicine in the moring and we all piled in the car and headed for Siena! Below are some pictures i took along the way. However, we didn't make it very far! One of the twins wasn't feeling so good and ended up getting sick in her lap. As we were looking for a place to pull over and clean her up the other twin did the same. Thankfully my cousin-in-law had suggested I sit in front and she sat in back with the girls. I don't think I could have handled what was going on in the back!! We finally found a gas station to clean up a little and then headed back.
Once we got back to the resort we were trying to think of alternate plans. The girls were feeling much better so we decided to find a place for lunch and then we were going to check out a race that was in town. When we had gotten in the previous night we had noticed a bunch of Ferraries parked at the resort. We found out from the staff that there was a race on Sunday. We thought it would be something different to do!
Below is a picture from the parking lot of where we ate lunch. The place was called Il Bronco and became our favorite restaurant. We ended up eating there 3 times. It was a house/restaurant. The family that ran the restaurant also lived above the eating area. They didn't speak any English but with a little French and a lot of pointing and hand gesturing we got by with no problem.
Funny looking car!
So after our experience earlier in the morning we decided to remain prepared in case the girls got sick again! Maggie below is holding her throw up bowl!! :o)
This picture is a little out of order but after the race we went back into Florence to the famous bridge that I had heard about. We had some Gelato, walked around, and then had some dinner. Below is a picture of my family with the bridge in the background.
After lunch we headed for the race track. It was a beautiful coarse. I don't know all that much about races but it was the kind where the track has twists and turns - not just a big circle. The only cars racing were Ferraries cars. The track was in this valley so all around us there was beautiful scenery.
Never seen so many Ferraries (hope that is what the plural of Ferrari is) in one place at one time!
Natalie in front of one of the Ferraries.
Monday the second full day we went into Venice. It was only about a 2 hour drive. I couldn't believe I was in Venice!! Below is a water ambulance that I thought was interesting.
Below is my cousin Chris and his wife Kim in Piazza San Marco. It was a really neat square to just hang out in. The kids also had fun playing with the pigeons. The pigeons were so use to people you could put them on your arms, head, or shoulders - especially if you had food!
The famous gondolas on the Grand Canal with one of Venice's most famous bridges in the background.
Tuesday we went to Pisa. It was a quick visit because there is not much to see in the city besides the tower. It is housed in a little complex with some other sites but we mostly just took pictures with the leaning tower in the background. Below is Kim, me and my cousin Chris.
After Pisa we drove over to a town called Luca for lunch. It was a really cute town that was completely surrounded by a wall. Like Luca, Pisa, and Florence most of the towns we visited were in the Tuscan region. Below is a little Piazza where we ate lunch.
A view of the wall around the city as we were leaving.
Wednesday we visited one of my favorite towns in Italy - San Gimignano. One of our tour books said it was the most visited town in Italy and I can definitely see why. The town seemed to be elevated on a mountain or something because it had some of the most amazing views. Below is just one of the streets we walked down as we walked into town.
San Gimignano is known for its towers. Below is one of the ones we climbed. The picture below just doesn't do it justice - the view was so amazing!
After leaving San Gimignano we headed for the Chianti region of Tuscany to find some wineries. The GPS system that we had took us on these back roads and we came upon the winery below. It was a great find. The land the winery was on was amazing. We had to hang outside for about 30 minutes while they prepared the tasting and it was actually my favorite part of the wine tour. They had a dog that the girls were having a ball playing with.
Sunset at Casa Sola - where the wine tasting was.
View on our wine tasting tour. These are French oak barrels.
Thursday my cousin and I woke up early and went to another winery. The tasting was at 11:30 a.m. which we thought was kind of early but the resort said that was when we needed to be there! The winery was actually in a castle - Castello Del Trebbio. Our tour guide gave us the rich history of the castle and how it became a winery.
Both of the wineries that we went to also produced olives for Olive Oil. Below is a picture of an old time Cold Press that was used to turn the olives into oil. Modern times do not really use a cold press b/c of the 'bottom line' - cold press produces less oil - modern methods produces almost twice the oil - which means twice the profit!
After the wine tasting we got the family and headed for the western coast of Italy. We wanted to see a beach town. We found this town called Forte Dei Marmi. It was beautiful!! We walked around the downtown and then headed for the beach. We walked out on a pier and had some amazing views of both the ocean and the mountains back on land.
Maggie, me, Natalie, and Gracie. Aren't they the cutest kids you've ever seen! :o)
Right near Forte Dei Marmi we had heard that there were Marble Mines you could visit. It was getting kind of late but we went in search of them. The picture below looks like a snow capped mountain but it is actually Marble. I never realized this is where marble came from - guess I never thought about it. We had driven into these mountains looking for the mine - we found plenty of signs directing us but we were never actually able to fine the Mine.
By the end of the week the girls had turned the throw up bowls into toys! Either using them as hats (as Gracie has below) or using them as drums!
Friday was our last day and we made attempt two on Siena! With luck and no more antibiotics we made it there! Below is the tower in the Piazza del Campo, Siena's main square and the site of the Palio horse races in July and August.
Thought it was an odd site so I got a picture (a little blurry b/c she was taking off). This lady had a bunny rabbit on a leash. At first she was walking around with it as the bunny hopped - I got the picture as she was picking it up to leave!
Piazza del Campo - I ate lunch at one of the restaurants below.
Inside Catedrale di Santa Maria, more commonly known as the "Duomo". It had all the previous Popes lined around the cathedral.
View of the ceiling in the Duomo - it was amazingly, beautiful.
Italy is by far my favorite European country - I would suggest it to anyone. I have never eaten so much pizza and pasta in my life but it was great and well worth it!!
