Italian Summer: Settling In

Finally, time for another trip to Italy! But this time we had sunshine, Grandma and Grandpa and KaRynn with us. A much more pleasant experience.

We met Rob's parents in Florence and, from there, drove down to our beautiful farmhouse between Florence and Siena in the Le Crete area of Tuscany. The setting was picturesque--rolling clay hills topped with cypress trees surrounded our medieval farmhouse. Plus, the place was a real, working farm, with flower and vegetable gardens and fruit trees everywhere. Here is the whole gang (except KaRynn who is taking the photo).

A side view of our farmhouse -- and, most importantly, the play area.
Who cares about all the Renaissance stuff! Anna Claire and Mariah found their favorite things in Italy right in the farmhouse yard -- slides. . .
swings . . .
trampolines. . .

chickens, cats, dogs and other farm animals. . .

and lots of stuff to hang out on. . .
Check me out!

Yet another comfortable chair.
And who can survive Italy without the PASTA!

The area surrounding area our farmhouse produces most of the Travartine marble in the world. Check out this mine!
The first evening here we drove to a nearby monastery. Here are Daddy and Anna walking down the cypress path to the monastery.
The monastery had some of the most incredible frescos of Biblical scenes. We could have spent hours there!

Italian Summer: San Gimignano

We were having some car problems so we had to make a drive to the nearest Chevy dealer. Fortunately, the medieval town of San Gimignano was just about 10 minutes from the garage. It's called a Medieval Manhattan because the town's wealthiest citizens demonstrated their wealth and power by building huge towers. Although almost as crowded as Manhattan, the town was quite charming.

Entering the city gates.
The town center was quite charming -- with interesting old buildings all squished together. We enjoyed a delicious dinner here and topped it off with tasty gelato.

Rob, hanging out on the church steps, relaxing and people-watching.
Thanks to KaRynn, we did this trip without kids (just Rob's parents and us), which was quite a treat!

Don't you love those Tuscan views!

Aaah, life without kids!

Italian Summer: Siena

Here we are, back in Siena. This is the Siena Duomo. It's stunning from the outside and even more stunning on the inside.

Here's just a small sample of the inside view -- lots and lots of marble.
Hanging out on the steps. The men watched the girls while we women explored the Duomo museum.
Except for local traffic, cars are not allowed into Siena, so the girls did lots of walking. Swingie, swingie, swingie was Mariah's favorite activity!
Look how strong I am!

Entering the famous piazza.

Look at the cute couple!

Chillin' on the piazza, this time in the warm sunshine! We had a yummy Italian lunch at a restaurant right on the piazza and had great fun watching a clown play tricks on passersby.

Daddy, let me go. I wanna chase the birdies!

March, march, march, march.

Look who is worn out from all the running around.

Bye-bye Siena!

Italian Summer: Firenze

A trip to Tuscany would not be complete without seeing Florence. In order to avoid lines, we had bought tickets to the Uffizi Gallery and the Galleria della Accademia in advance. However, the traffic into Florence was so slow, that Rob finally had to drop us off so that we could RACE through the narrow streets to make our scheduled time. I had Mariah with me in the backpack and she got quite a jolt!
Fortunately, we made it to the Uffizi on time and had a wonderful time there. The place is overwhelming -- after about half an hour one feels completely saturated with all the incredible Renaissance art. My favorites -- Botticelli, Titian, etc., fortunately came early in the tour. Anna Claire found just as much pleasure looking at the ceiling.
Mariah just enjoyed kicking back with KaRynn in the massive hallways of the Gallery.

Dad, Anna, KaRynn and Mariah in front of the Duomo. Don't you love the colors?

The Baptistry ceiling. . .incredible and overwhelming biblical paintings.

A peak at the bell tower through some of Florence's narrow streets.

Mariah's in the backpack again!

For dinner, we escaped the busy streets of Florence for Fiesole, a small town that normal offers spectacular views of Florence. Unfortunately, it was too early for any restaurants to be open so we had to settle for a bar (birthday dinner for me). Also, the view was a bit muggy. . .

Mariah and Anna still found something fun to do!

Back at the farmhouse, Anna opted for a Travertine sink bath, rather than the shower.