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| The garden in the Italian countryside. |
I have to apologize for my radio silence here on the blog, I don't know what has happened but somehow two whole months have just gone by. Well things have been unusually busy with our rascal kids so there's that, but I think too once one falls out of the habit of blogging it just doesn't come to mind to load up some pictures and write a post.
I wanted to share a few pictures of our trip to Italy early in May. It was a special trip for one particular reason: the 50th birthday of dear Laura, one of our best friends. We had a really wonderful time and I did wonder how it would work to travel as a group of eight friends, not the sort of trip we typically take. We most often travel as a couple or with our kids, but it turns out a group trip is not just really fun but actually quite a bit easier (anyone who has hauled teenagers around Europe will understand).
There was one bit of technology that we set up beforehand that made the whole adventure quite simple and easy. I can't say enough good things about the
Splittr App. We put everything into this (our friend David, a management accountant was in charge of it which was an extra bonus) and then when we returned home we just settled up with one another. No worrying about restaurant bills, trips to buy wine, rental cars, hotels etc... we just took random turns paying for things and then "put it in the Splittr" (which became a sort of rallying cry at times I have to say).
We booked a house on VRBO for our first few nights, in the beautiful Tuscan countryside:
The house was near Lucca, which was one of my favourite places:
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| Laundry in Lucca |
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| Fresh Veg |
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| The parting view from the wall in Lucca |
It was close enough to Florence that we were able to fly in and out of the airport there and also do a day trip in the city:
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| Love these bottles. |
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| David! (The other one, not our friend the accountant). |
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| I'm missing the food. |
We spent one day by the seaside near the country house:
Then we moved on to the gorgeous Cinque Terre:
The views from the hiking trails were so amazing:
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| I was fascinated with these terraced farms. |
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| Hanging laundry, not just my specialty but a common activity the world over. |
The loveliest view of all:
If you ever get a chance to visit the Cinque Terre you must go. The hiking between villages is a bit of a workout but it's fairly easy to see the whole region in a couple of days.
I'll be back with a typical domestic post soon,
Hope you've been well and happy!
xoxDani
