Tales From Tuscany

It's about time I blogged properly about my Italian holiday as it's been over 2 months since we returned. How slack am I?

I know a few photos have featured in a Gallery post and some Silent Sunday posts (here, here and here) back in June but it definitely deserves it's own post as I want a record of it (also, I know a few of you have asked me about it).

Our accomodation

Having never been to Italy before I was so excited to go. I'd heard so much about it and how I'd fall in love with it.

I did.

We booked to stay on an agriturismo in the hills of Tuscany - about a 30-40 minute drive from Pisa airport - called Bramasole e Ginestra. We also booked one night in Pisa in the lovely 4 star Hotel Bologna near the centre for our last night.

View from the pool

It was perfect.

The accommodation was lovely and spacious, the owners were so amazingly friendly and helpful and the facilities were fab.  They had lots of animals which Mini Cheddar loved - dogs, cats, chickens, chicks, roosters, sheep, goats and donkeys which she got to feed every day. They had play equipment, a barn with toys and a big swimming pool. She also got to spend the day with a large group of Italian school children and they all made and baked their own bread in the outdoor oven.

Baking fresh bread

It was just so relaxing.

With the Italians

There were only 3 apartments at the farm. Not perfect for us as we do prefer our own space on holiday especially after the amazing family friendly villa we stayed in last year but we immediately hit it off with an American couple (who live in Germany).  They had a 2 girls - a 3 year old and a 14 month old - so we also spent some time with them as the kids loved playing together too.

Om nom nom

On our holiday we relaxed, we read, we slept, we ate (boy, did we eat!), we explored the area visiting the gorgeous city of Lucca. We also visited Florence and Pisa. We visited small villages in the hills and saw                                                 some truly beautiful places.

Lovely Lucca

But what have I taken from my holiday? What does Tuscany mean to me? What are my most treasured memories?






In no particular order:

• Tuscany is beautiful. Fact.
• Fireflies are truly stunning at night and looking across the valley from our apartment seeing the hills twinkling with them is something I'll never forget.
• It's fun catching fireflies and seeing them light up in your hands.
• The food in Italy is amazing. 
• I'll never be happy in an Italian restaurant in the UK again.
• Mini Cheddar can give a HUGE Italian pizza a run for it's money.
• The wine is also amazing. 
• Apart from when mixed with a few limoncellos and a large B52 and especially not the night before you are due to fly home.
• Hangovers and heat are not a good combination.  
• Nor are hangovers and flights.
• Having chicks and cats on the same farm isn't a good idea sometimes.
• My husband is a great chick rescuer.
• My iPhone translator app is rubbish up in the Tuscan hills. 
• Or maybe it's my rubbish Italian pronunciation.
• Italians are very friendly and welcoming - even when you struggle to speak to their language sometimes.
• I now want to learn to speak Italian as well as Spanish.
• Eating take out pizza al fresco at the farm with new friends is very relaxing.
• Mini Cheddar can actually live without watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for 10 nights.
• Il Tigli Restaurant in Colleoli serves amazing pizza and pasta (and wine).
• It is totally worth eating in a restaurant you love 3 times in 10 nights - even if it was a good 20 minute drive up some scary hillside roads.
• Italy isn't expensive like I was lead to believe.
• Italians love children.
• Roosters are very randy.
• Sheep love crisps. 

See, sheep do love crisps!

So, there you have it. I think it sums up our holiday perfectly. Here's to our next Italian adventure.

A presto!