Tuscany

Of the parts of Italy, we saw on our Italian Adventure, Tuscany was my favorite. This region is just beautiful. You have Florence right there with more culture and art and university students than you know what to do with. Drive about 30 minutes south, and you are in vineyards. What more could you want?

We stayed in a small village outside Florence, and we had 3 of our meals at Bellavista in Impruneta. We weren't the only ones repeating here either. Their homemade ravioli with truffle sauce was to.die.for. I am getting hungry just thinking about it! The Florentine vegetable soup was out of this world. The three of us that made it to Easter Lunch enjoyed eating a "blessed egg," which is in fact a hard boiled egg that has been blessed by the local priest. Confused? Intrigued? We were, too, but as they say, "When in Impruneta..."But the best part is that by the end of it, we felt like family with the owners. (And you can see them on their website or visit their blog!) So, if you are in Florence, it is worth your time to go to Impruneta and eat at Bellavista. You will not be disappointed!

In our free time, we enjoyed walking down this hill between olive trees and towards vineyards collecting sticks and going on adventures. Twice we happened upon pheasants who swished out of the brush or tree and flew away. When it happened when I was there, it was literally in a tree a foot away from us. Wil, the hunter, was of course drooling over those birds.

We sampled a local wine (and ordered a lot of it) at their winery which is housed in what we might call a castle. Dreamy.

View from said castle. Can you imagine washing dishes and looking at that everyday?

Wil was perhaps happiest amongst all the wines in the cellar. Red wine galore here, friends. And good. We often just had the table wine at the restaurants as we read that it is often really good if not better than your pricier options. If you even remotely enjoy wine, this area is for you.

And that is how the Griswolds do Tuscany.

Siena

Siena was a great day trip for us. It was a bit crowded, but I can see how much fun my sister and Wil's brother, David, would have loved the city. There were tons of students sitting in the Campo having lunch, a drink, and just visiting with one another in the sun...and in view of such neat and historic buildings. The Duomo was perhaps the most beautiful one I have seen. We decided to climb a bit higher though to get the best view of Siena. Even Wiley climbed up with us!

While this view is good...

If we climb up a little higher...

We really get a bird's eye view of Siena and the Tuscan countryside...

Wiley was so brave! I didn't go up this high at first (I don't like heights.) But Wiley did. When Wil finally coerced me up there, I was horrified that my little boy had gone up there.

But he loved it!

Medici Rules.

It is appropriate to illustrate how we have eaten through Italy. Literally. Truffle pasta, Florentine Steak, bread, pizza, red wine. All things I will not be partaking of for at least a month. Carb overload. We ate at Buca Lapi in Florence, known for its Florentine Steak. After we watched some Asian women take their picture with the chefs, we got in on the action. We told him it was like Ratatouille (but in Italia). I think that chef actually kind of looks like the character (if only he had red hair).

The doors of the Baptistry at the Duomo. These illustrate major stories from the Old Testament. Really beautiful and so neat to look at. The real ones are being fixed up, so these are replicas.

You are supposed to touch this boar for good luck. Wiley went the extra mile and picked his nose. Thank you Alessandra for holding him up so he could further examine the nasal cavity of the lucky boar. You can also get a feel for the amount of tourists from this picture. I was clutching my purse closely. We did,after all, see the King of the Gypsies in Florence.

And sometimes after walking around a new city for a long time with an-almost-4-year-old, it makes you feel like this:

Or this:

And especially this:

(Feelings are those expressed by my sweet husband's face, not my spunky child)

the River from the Ponte Vecchio

Did you know that Michelangelo is actually buried under the scaffolding to the left of his tomb? He didn't really want to be buried in Florence, but the Medici family insisted, sent a family member (nephew, maybe?) to Rome to get the body. When the nephew brought it back, those sneaky Medici told him they wouldn't pay for his tomb/monument. So Michelangelo was subtly buried in Santa Croce to the left of where his tomb is, until the family member got enough money to build the proper tomb. Cool, huh? Thanks to Alessandra, our awesome tour guide, for these cool facts. Did you know, too, that the reason these churches are so beautiful (like Santa Croce) is because the businessmen were making so much money lending money and charging high interest, that these elaborate tombs and artwork were ways of paying off the church for turning its head to the lending scheme (once it was done by a proper bank, it was okay) as well as showing off one's wealth. Ah, the story behind the art. (I hope I got that right.)

And here is the main thing I learned in Florence: Medici Rules.

You know, like O'Doyle Rules. (Billy Madison)

(insert courtesy laugh)

I also learned the Colin Firth goes to the Uffizi Gallery. Wil was looking at a painting, noticed a British accent just behind him, turns around (similar to maybe when we hear American accents in foreign countries. Sees Colin Firth. Thinks: face and voice are familiar. Double take: COLIN FIRTH. And like a good husband, pulls me to another room, and hisses that Colin Firth is in the next room. I tried to play it cool. I really wanted to say I love all your movies, and tell him how Marge and I love to watch Bridget Jones with his Christmas jumper, that he is the best Mr. Darcy, and that Hugh Grant has nothing on him. However, I am almost positive his son was with him (if it wasn't him, it was a look-alike Colin Firth bodyguard), and you hate to mess up father-son bonding. He darted around looking at paintings and pretty soon I lost him. When Wil asked if I would remember the Raphael I saw, or Colin Firth in the Uffizi, I felt a bit judged. (I did enjoy the art, mind you.)

So, for the rest of the time in the Uffizi, like a good wife, I made Wil wear his jacket like Colin Firth did (slung casually over one shoulder). Too bad I couldn't find any glasses like C.F.'s for him to wear.

Happy Easter!

Venice

We had a fantastic time in Venice. The weather was warm and sunny, and it was really nice just walking around with nothing to do or see. (Well, we had things to see and do, but didn't have a list to check off.) I know we should have seen the Guggenheim collection, but by the time we arrived in that area, we were exhausted. It was all we could do to just ring the bell of Casa Artom (for non-Wake friends, this is WFU's house in Venice...on the Grand Canal...amazing location)! I exaggerate, but after a long day with a 3 year old, a museum is the last thing you want to see. (And I must add, that I feel a bit like a spoiled European in that I don't feel so much pressure to see every.single.museum. because I know what we have in London, and well, I can see that pretty much whenever I want.) The food was good, nothing spectacular compared to the food in and around Florence.

Riding in on a water taxi! This is the way to come into Venice! We rode a water bus once, and I thought I was going to pass out. People kept talking to me in Italian getting me to move to make a path for others to get out. I informed the Italian that there was nowhere to move. He insisted, so I told him that we could move towards him then. He was quiet...until the next stop where he continued to be bossy!

We found a merry-go-round in one of the Campos! Thank goodness! This made Wiley very happy!! Along with all the pigeons that he chased. Speaking of pigeons, we saw St. Mark's Square at night and it was very pretty. However, we did not get the typical picture with the birds, and thus avoided the masses of tourists. Wil and I ran one morning through the square and so I felt like I had sufficiently "done" St. Mark's Square. Who knew that I had acquired such a distaste for tourists (aside from myself, of course!). Venice is crawling with them, making it a bit overwhelming. Thankfully, we found that if you wander down random streets you can escape the crowds around the Grand Canal. We often took about 30-45 minutes to get somewhere because we would get lost on the way. And in Venice, it is a good lost.

This is pretty much how we look when we travel in Italy. We found that a couple gelatos a day keeps the 3 year old happy! Actually, that keeps anyone happy.

Well, hello Casa Artom! I am way impressed with your location. I only wish someone had answered the door when I rang 15 times.

Gelato at Il Doge in Campo Santa Margherita...so yummy! (Chocolate Muffin, Strawberry, and Pistachio)

Eating near the Rialto Bridge (We love our Leapfrog Leapster...It is invaluable when we take these trips! Wiley is happy, and we are happy!)

A final look down the Grand Canal!

Ciao, Venice!

PS: Thank you for all your tips for Italy!

under the Tuscan sun

News!

2 things:

1. the best gelato in Florence is Grom (near the Duomo, Via di Oche)

2. we saw Colin Firth in the Uffizi Gallery today. i am not kidding.

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene

My sister is studying in Verona, Italy, and it was our first stop on our Italian Adventure. This is the setting of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet; however, Shakespeare never visited Italy.

This is the view from the Campanele in Verona (bell tower). We were in a slight hurry as there was a sign at the bottom saying the bells would ring at the half hour and hour. Since you walk right by two sets of bells, we did not want to find out how loud it would be! We didn't hear them ring even when we got down with a couple minutes to spare! It was an amazing view!

Mom (Baba), Dad (Daddy Dean/Big Dean), and Wiley in the Arena in Verona. It was built by the Romans. There was a gladiator outside of it with a tattoo on his leg smoking a cig(arette). I don't think he is an authentic Roman Gladiator... Today, you can see Alicia Keys or my personal favorite Rod Stewart perform there. You can also see opera there as well. It was really neat to see an arena as well preserved as this one. I cannot imagine how cool it would be to see Rod Stewart there! Anyone want to go with me?

Just a pretty little street. I love the shutters in Italy...they actually work!
The wall leading into the courtyard where the "Casa di Giulietta" is...there is a balcony there as well. These are all love letters tacked up on the wall. Not as romantic looking as it sounds, but there is a movie (Letters to Juliet) coming out soon about this wall.
You can also pay to visit Juliet's tomb and balcony. My astute sister who is a semi-native now of Verona (she has been asked directions there) points out that Juliet is a fictional character, and of course her tomb is empty as she does not exist. She marvels at those who pay to go and see the balcony and/or tomb. ("It's like paying to go see a broomstick that belonged to Harry Potter.")

Rumor has it that if you touch Juliet's right you-know-what then you will have good luck. Obviously my almost four year old had to get in on that.

Back to the Arena, we found this little door where we imagined the animals might have run out. Wiley decided that they probably were elephants, so he continued to run in and out pretending to be an elephant and on occasion, a lion. He also loved that there was an echo in the Arena if you were loud enough. He didn't trust the Arena to do the echo every time, so he would make his own echos. "Hello!...hellooo...helllooo...helllo!"

Rockin' Robin, do you recognize that dog? He has been all over the place...puddles and mud in London only to be scrubbed clean to take to Italy the next day where he was promptly drug in the grit around Verona.

Verona was a very low key town. It is larger than I expected with more tourists than I thought there would be. (But not many at all compared to Venice and Florence) It was a perfect introduction into Italy! Writing this, particularly the title, really makes me miss my Shakespeare classes in college. I guess I will have to sign up for something similar in London as well as see the Globe! What is it about Italy that makes you suddenly want to learn more about the arts?

Ciao, bella!

My bags are packed...

I'm ready to go.

To land of pizza and ge-la-to(e).

20 pounds I might gain,

but the food will be insane!

Canals, vineyards, and lakes,

some art I'll take in--none of it fake!

The Jolie-Pitt kids (who have been in Venice) will be Wiley's playmates,

while Brad-gelina and Wil-son go on a double date.

My nails are grey, my clothes are dark,

I guess London has left its mark.

I've overpacked, I'm sure of that,

but "be prepared" i have down pat.

To Italy I go, have you been there too?

there is so much to see, so much to do.

Have you got something for us to go see?

If you'll leave me a suggestion, so grateful I would be!