Loving Life in Tuscany

Time for another family vacation to Italy. This time we stayed in Tuscany for a week. I know, I can't believe this my job either. We flew in the private plane again (I’m going to miss that…), and we had to stop off in Austria on our way for about an hour for a business meeting. It made the flight even more incredible as we descended into the Alps.

We were vacationing with another family with 3 kids (3 teenage girls), so we all stayed in one villa in San Gimignano. The villa was AMAZING. As we drove to the villa I was blown away by how beautiful San Gimignano was and kept wishing I had my camera out to capture the view from the car because I didn’t know if I would ever get that view again. Little did I know our villa had the best view of the town. Incredible.

Most of the days were spent lounging by the pool, introducing the girls to chicken fights, and being served fresh fruit and beverages by Magda (I love that kid).

We were able to see the sights a few days, and it was awesome. We went to Siena one day and walked around the main square, went to a cathedral (all the stripes made me think of Beetlejuice), and I spent the afternoon with the teenage girls as they shopped. Good thing I didn’t have any euros with me, I would have done some serious damage with all those Italian leather shoes and bags...

Another night we went into San Gimignano for a yummy dinner, the most delicious gelato (one scoop chocolate, one scoop nutella and marscapone) and wander around the streets. This place was magical. There is something about Tuscany, it changes people. People become more relaxed, but at the same time more full of life. It was beyond anything I could have expected, and pictures can do no justice to the way the setting sun lit up the buildings and they can’t capture the magical feeling you get as you walk down the narrow streets. It was like stepping into a fairytale.

Another day we went into Pisa, and saw the Leaning Tower and the surrounding buildings. It was a quick stop into the city, but really cool to see.

We also went into Chianti one night for dinner at this fantastic restaurant. It has a 1star Michelin rating, which I had no idea what that meant, but apparently Michelin rates the best restaurants in Europe, and to even be Michelin recommended is a big deal so having a 1 star rating means a lot (its out of 3 stars). It was a 5 course meal (I only had 4) and everything was divine. Even the bread they had was incredible. I wish I would have had my camera because just looking at the food coming out I could tell this is a place that I would never be able to afford in my lifetime. It was quite the experience. I'm really going to miss living like this...