Park, picture, potty....

On our last full day in Italy we had a packed agenda. Of course we did.

We were about an hour drive from Pisa so we headed there first after breakfast knowing that we weren't going to spend that much time there.

Park the car, take some pictures, use the potty.

That was the plan.

Oh and see the Duomo because my mom says it's one of her favorites (and this lady has been in a lot of churches... trust me.)

We spent about 3 hours in Pisa (I even ran into our health educator from Heidelberg while going to the bathroom... small, small world) and that was enough to see everything we wanted to see.

We then headed the 30 or so minutes to Lucca where we would spend the rest of our day.

Candles are so old school.... it seems Italian churches have rid themselves of the potential fire hazards we know as candles and moved into this century with awkward electric lights that take forever to work. Personally, I enjoyed and preferred the tea light method as it took me about 5 extra minutes to find a glorified glow stick that would light up which led to frustration which put a damper on my 50 euro cent prayer experience.

Okay, we did what we came to do.

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It took only minutes for me to completely fall in love with Lucca.

It's a most gorgeous walled city and it was drenched with the colors of Fall.

It felt considerably less touristy than Florence and Pisa which was appreciated...

the streets were relatively quiet... yet lively.

We wandered around until we found a place a little off the main streets to eat and then we spent the rest of the afternoon walking, swinging, and wandering.

I could live there.

Just saying.

I loved all the little details of the city. You could find them everywhere.

Even though it was a wonderful trip, I looked forward to our prop plane taking off.

We were ready for home.

Friday

Last night I had a fun size 100 grand bar for dinner. I'm not even a big fan of 100 grand bars but I didn't remember this until after I ate the little sucker.

Chad went out last night with "the guys" to celebrate a friend's birthday and before I knew it 1030 had rolled around and I hadn't eaten dinner and had barely just sat down when I realized I was too tired to even sit. I needed to be horizontal... pronto.

It's just been one of those weeks.

Today we will celebrate Halloween early with a themed dinner party with friends.

That blog will come later.... but for now I'd like to reminisce about a simpler time... just last week....

in Tuscany

(where trust me when I say no meals were skipped).

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We rented a car to drive from Rome to Florence, where we were staying in an agriturismo just 7 km from the city.

We chose an agriturismo because we needed 1) parking 2) space for the baby 3) because I enjoy them more than hotels.

We drove through the hills to reach Villa Nobili and were greeted by the kind, Alexandra.

The Villa was just lovely- surrounded by olive and citrus trees.

And they had an awesome dog... Flash.

The location was great because we could drive into the city in about 10 minutes, park our car (Sunday street parking is free) and walk into the central part of Florence.

We arrived at the agriturismo on Saturday but we didn't go to the city until Sunday.

I chose Sunday because similarly to Germany.... some museums close on Monday.

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We were on a one day mission in Florence so we booked tickets to visit both the Uffizi and the Accademia Gallery. We couldn't visit Florence without seeing the David (amazing!) or The Birth of Venus (stunning!).

We also saw the Duomo, the Ponte Vecchio, and had some of the best gelato I've ever tasted at Perche No!

After spending an entire day in Florence, we wrapped up our evening with a late dinner at Zio Gigi's and it was very enjoyable as Rhett slept the entire time so Chad and I could really relax and enjoy ourselves.

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Agriturismos are wonderful. Find them here.

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I travel a lot; I hate having my life disrupted by routine.

-Caskie Stinnett

"The best thing I know is to do exactly as you wish for a while." - Roman Holiday

After our whirlwind day on Thursday, we decided to book an afternoon tour of the Vatican. Our hotel was about a 15 minute walk to Vatican City (add 5 plus minutes when carrying baby on back... make sure he hasn't lost a shoe... wipe his nose, etc.). We liked our tour guide from the day before (he was from Ohio... not that it really matters here... just saying) so we booked his Vatican museum tour. Three lovely hours surrounded by some of the most beautiful art in the world. Time well spent in my book. We wrapped up our tour of Rome with a late night pizza dinner sandwiched between not one... but two gelato stops. It's the only way to do Italy.

Unfortunately for Chad, who had so hoped our stroller had somehow been ran over by a truck, joined us in Rome on day 2. I swear my son does not have a greasy head affliction... Chad was just VERY thorough with the sunscreen that day and one of my favorite memories of the trip was when Chad had ate 3 pieces of his pizza and then asked.... "are these anchovies?"

Yes, Chad. They are.

Not funny? Guess you had to be there.

Ciao.