Last Two Weeks in Moments

ORD > AMS > FLR
So excited to get to celebrate my parent's 70th birthdays earlier this year with a vacation like this!


First day. A little jet-lagged, but so excited to be here. Stepped outside the house and this was our view. Ridiculous!


Totally roughing it.


Gelato time! Unfortunately (or maybe, fortunately) our little town didn't have a gelato shop. As soon as we hit a larger town -- in this case, San Gimignano -- it was one of the first things we did. In fact, my scoop at Gelateria Dondoli might have been my second gelato of the day. Just saying.


The streets of San Gimignano.


Tour and wine tasting lunch at Tenuta Torciano Winery.


Beach day at Baratti. Here we are getting granita.


On top of a castle -- Torre del Candeliere in Massa Marittima.


Rainy day in Siena. Between the city setting up for the horse races, and the rain, it's one town I wish we had an extra day to go back and visit. So beautiful.


Firenze <3


It doesn't even look real, does it? Such a great day in Florence. And yes, more gelato. How can you not?


When in Pisa!


Afternoon in Lucca.

Cousins at La Pergola.


Our view from the terrace. Nothing like eating a delicious pizza while watching an amazing sunset.


The view of Radicondoli from Podera Paugnano. To the far left, you can see the house we stayed at as well. So amazing watching the sheep graze every day. Absolute heaven.


The birthday kids with Chef Luana.


La Gora in Bagno Vignoni. Tuscan thermal baths.


Having fun in what was supposed to be a quick layover in Paris. Experienced quite the delay, but are home safe and sound now.

Italy :: Day 10 (The End)

Time to leave paradise. Just look at that view from our back yard. Here is the place we stayed, by the way -- Podere Ortone. Isn't it magnificent? We wished we would have had four more days -- another beach day, another visit to Sienna (without rain), another vineyard and another day to relax. Oh well. We left early in the morning for the airport where we had to have another piece of pizza. I'm not sure I need to have pizza for a long time. The flight to Paris went well. Once in Paris however, ugh. We were not supposed to have a long connection, but the flight ended up being delayed. The worst part though, was that we had to sit on the plane at the gate for over three hours due to a mechanical issue. It was hot and absolutely brutal. By the time we got home, it was after 1am. Long day. I'm still pinching myself though that we got to experience a vacation like this. It was truly special and we are just so lucky. Ciao Italia!

Italy :: Day 9

Happy 4th of July! So strange not doing our normal thing. Nina & Papa stayed behind today, while the rest of us visited the town they had gone to with their friends a couple days before -- Bagno Vignoni, an ancient Roman thermal springs. The main area was a sulphur bath built by the Medicis, but is no longer used for that purpose. There are a number of spas in the area, but we went to the Parco dei Mulini and hiked down to La Gora -- the sulfurous mud pool -- which was pretty incredible. For lunch, we went to Osteria del Leone, which was absolutely delicious. That evening, Brian, the boys and my niece when into Lucca for the Imagine Dragons concert. The Lucca summer festival is not a huge venue, but draws huge acts. In fact, the Rolling Stones are playing later this summer, can you imagine? As soon as Brian mentioned the concert months ago, C was all about. He was lucky enough to get VIP tickets from a contact, so needless to say, they were well taken care of. Lucky kids. While they were there, the rest of us joined the town of Radiconoli for a party in the park. We didn't know what to expect, but it was quite an experience. Literally, every person we encountered over the past week was there which was pretty hilarious. The waiters, the chef who was at our house the night before, her assistant, the tourist office woman, the sheep farmer's daughter who we bought cheese from, the girl who made our afternoon coffees. Everyone! The park has a pizza oven -- of course it does! -- and the spread was incredible. Later that night, a few bands played. Things were getting a little crazy by the time the DJ came, which is when we decided we should leave. What a good time! So glad we got to experience it.

Italy :: The Dinner

We wanted to do something special for my parents to celebrate and to thank them for an amazing trip, so Brian found a local chef -- Chef Luana -- to come into the house and cook for us. They took over the kitchen and it smelled amazing. We knew we were in for a treat. Here's what we ate.

• Flan of Parmesan cheese on a bed of pears and honey 
• Chicken Livers “patè” with apricots and Vin Santo sweet wine 
• Lasagne pasta with porcini mushrooms and zucchini flowers 
• Pappardelle pasta with wild boar sauce 
• Carré of lamb with a crust of nuts served with mixed seasonal vegetables 
• “Semifreddo” with hazelnuts and acacia honey 
• Panna cotta with lavender and white peaches sauce

Amazing! The flan may be one of the most amazing things I've ever eaten. The lamb was fantastic. Really, everything was delicious! Such a fun time. 

Italy :: Day 8

Brian was getting pretty exhausted from all of the driving by this point. The roads were not easy, so even a hour trip seemed longer. So while the others went to Volterra, we stayed back and relaxed by the pool. I have to admit, it really was a nice change of pace. I walked up the steep road to our town of Radicondoli and explored a bit. It's not big, but we like it. After I got home, we drove across the hill to one of the sheep farms we can see -- Podere Paugnano. My sister and crew had stopped by the day before, and said how cool it was. So glad we did. Turns out, you can also rent rooms and arrange to have lunch or dinner. Wish we would have known earlier. The sheep were not out, unfortunately, but we did get to hang out with a million cats. They were everywhere. We also learned a little about the sheep dogs and how they protect the flock from wolves. We were wondering about the dogs -- you can see the sheep moving around in an interesting pattern but the dogs actually blend in with the sheep so you really can't see them out there even though there are five of them. We also got an amazing view of Radicondoli and our house. Such beautiful landscape. Not that we needed more cheese, but we picked up three amazing ones they produce there. Get this -- three large pieces of organic cheese -- 9 Euros. It really was a special place. After we drove around a bit, searched out the soccer field (C has been wanting to play the entire time we've been here but it still didn't happen), and did a little more exploring, we came back and had lunch at the house then lounged by the pool again. That evening, the Hentges and we had special plans for my parents to celebrate their birthdays. A local chef came over and cooked for us. It deserves it's own post. Such a great experience.