The trip home

Our last night in Italy was spent at the Hilton in Rome. We thought that Jodie would appreciate knowing that the good people at Italian office of Hasbro have partnered with the Hilton Rome and the kids were treated with these little welcome boxes complete with Hasbro toys. Clearly they did their job since not only were the kids entertained, but Anna spent the evening pointing out which Littlest Pet Shop critters she would like from the catalog that came in the box.

We also experienced the beginning of our re-entry into American life at the Hilton Rome. We swam in the pool with a families from Illinois and Colorado. It was odd to exchange stories with other Americans. It was the most English we had heard since Assisi and our evening with Father Luke. It was both refreshing and difficult at the same time. The English language doesn't hold a candle to the beauty of Italian.

The flight on Saturday morning was fabulous. The kids sat in their seats for the entire nine hours. Not a single walk was taken down the aisle of the plane...shocking! Christopher even found time for a nice little nap.


When we arrived home we were reminded that we are incredibly lucky to have wonderful friends and family who not only cared for our home, our fish, our mail and our plants, but they also welcomed us home with banners and flowers. We were provided with such peace of mind knowing that our friends and family were keeping the various pieces of our life in Boston in order.

We felt that it would be appropriate to close out this journey with some of the most beautiful scenes from our time in Tuscany. We saw many, many beautiful things every day in Siena, and some we were lucky enough to capture.

The view from our kitchen at Borgo Villa Risi

The Chianti countryside

The kids definitely became closer during their time in Italy

A road in Ferentino

When we opened our door in the morning, this...

...and this is what we saw. It was amazing every morning.

The beautiful beach at Follonica

Village in the Alps

Vernazza, Cinque Terre

Monterosso al Mare, Cinque Terre

Sunflowers on the way to Castiglione della Pescaia

Lightening storm over San Lorenzo a Linari

Two trees grafted together hundreds of years ago on the property at San Lorenzo a Linari

Outdoor walkway in San Francesco Basilica in Assisi

Grapes growing near San Lorenzo a Linari

The view from our apartment the morning we left Tuscany

The sky over Siena on our last night in the city

Until our next adventure...

Our last evenings in Siena

Since we knew that our very last night in Siena would be spent at dinner with our friends Matthew, Paola, Giulia and Marina, we wanted to spend as many other evenings as possible in the city.

The kids wanted to have on last run up and down the steps at San Domenico. We pass by the steps of the huge church every time we enter the city and the kids like to run to the end, down the ramp and finish at the stairs with a dramatic grand entrance into Siena.

Our last two dinners in Siena were at Trattoria el Torre and La Pizzeria di Nonno Mede. We will truly miss the fabulous food here in Siena.

Anna had been asking to climb the tower of the town hall since arriving and we finally took care to arrive before they close the doors at 6pm. While Christopher and I roamed the city, Anna and Wade went to the top and took some lovely pictures.

Christopher is only slightly obsessed with the Palio, more specifically, with the winning horse, Fedora Saura. We revisited the neighborhood of the Selva Contrada whose flags were out and lights were on. The banner they have been flying at the end of the street seems to satisfy his need to see the horse that he insists is now "on vacation at the horsey house".

The kids had their last runs on il Campo and their final gelato of the summer and we left the city with Anna in tears. While we are all excited to go home, we will very much miss Siena.

Florence

One of the fabulous things about living in Siena is that fact that we can wake up in the morning and decide to drive to Florence. So, that's what we did. We were undecided about even including Florence in our agenda since it's so art-focused and not particularly child-friendly. In the end, we're glad we went, but we kept our visit short and only spent about four hours in Florence.

We started by crossing the Ponte Vecchio and headed straight to the merry go round in Piazza della Repubblica.

Christopher opted out of the ride on the merry go round, but both kids loved these chairs that we found in the outdoor book store in the Piazza.

Since Wade and I have already seen the real David in the Accademia, we decided to skip the line (and the excessive heat) and view the reproduction David outside of the Uffizi instead of the real thing. After some lunch, some gelato (of course) and a little walk around the city, we headed home just in time for our friend Marina's 5th birthday party. On the way back to the car, we walked under this very neat three-story arch.

Coffee

As we approach our return to the United States, we have begun to talk about what we will miss most about being here in Italy. This list is long, very long. However, one of the things that Megan and I will miss is the coffee.

The Italians just know how to do coffee well. Even at the worst rest stop on the highway, you can find a barista that will make you a cappuccino with more care than in any Starbucks. In the 3 months that we have been here, through multiple coffees each day, I have never received a bad shot of espresso or a poor cappuccino..and we have never paid more than 2 Euro for the pleasure. For sure, the return to expensive, bitter espressos and cappuccinos in paper cups will be a change for which we can wait.

The syrup is almost gone

One of the first things that Anna requested when coming to Italy was pancakes. We didn't plan for this and we found that pancake mix and syrup are nowhere to be found in Italy. My Mom brought some when she came to visit and since then we have been using it very slowly. Well, we now know for sure that our stay is coming to a close because Anna discovered this morning that the syrup is almost gone.

Thanks Ava, Emma and Andrew for the art! As you can see, it's become the wallpaper in our kitchen.

Assisi

We were so happy when we learned that our time here would overlap with Father Luke's visit to Italy. We were thrilled when we were able to make plans to spend the afternoon with him in Assisi. Below is a picture of the landscape that surrounds Assisi.

Like Siena, Assisi is built into a hill. This means many, many steep streets. Below is a very long staircase that we climbed with the kids.

Father Luke took us on the insiders tour of the Basilica of San Francesco. We saw the immense dining room where the priests have their meals.

Outside of the dining room is a 12-person ancient hand washing trough that is used before each meal.

The view from the upper floors of the monastery is amazing. Here we are on the outside walkway of the monastery. It was a foggy, misty day, but the view was still amazing.

Anna and Father Luke inside the Basilica.

The weather cleared up at the end of our tour and we were able to enjoy some time outside meeting some of Father Luke's Franciscan friends and having gelato.

After some dancing and twirling on the Piazza we joined Father Luke and the group he was leading for dinner. It was odd, but refreshing, to dine with such a huge group of Americans. We haven't heard so much English spoken in weeks.

Without Father Luke's visit, Assisi probably would not have been on our agenda. It was a picturesque and quaint little town. We were so glad to have a reason to visit.

More on our new place, and a trip to the beach

Many of you have asked about our new place. Below is a picture of the front of our new, suburban abode. As I mentioned in a previous post, the Residence San Lorenzo a Linari has had many roles in the past including private home, vacation home for a few Popes and monastery. Now there are about 20 apartments and a spa here.

Most people are here on vacation and stay here for two weeks. This means that our neighbors change regularly, which is quite different than our neighbors at Borgo Villa Risi. Anna continues to impress us with her ability to make friends with young people from all over the world. Below is a picture of Anna playing in the courtyard with Camille and Amailia who are from Denmark. She has also made friends with Nina from Holland and Muria from Mallorca. With a few weeks left, I have no doubt that she will continue to expand her circle of international friends.

At first it was a little hard to get used to the other neighbors present here at San Lorenzo. These little lizards are everywhere here, including inside our apartment every once in awhile. However, after 3 weeks here it is safe to say that I'm no longer startled when one runs across the floor.

The view from our front yard at San Lorenzo is below. The fields in Tuscany have slowly been turning yellow as the sun gets hotter.

Below is a picture out our back window in the evening. The surroundings here are lovely. It's a very peaceful place.

The kids and I took a little trip back to Castiglione della Pescaia today. While the pool at San Lorenzo is nice, we wanted to play in the sand, so we headed to the sea.

On our way to the beach I stopped and took this video of a field of sunflowers. At first I took a picture, but it was impossible to capture how large and beautiful this field actually was, so a video was the best way to get it all.

Tomorrow evening we are off to Assisi to meet up with Father Luke. We're all very excited to see a familiar face.