Italy, Part 2

So, I believe when I left off, we were still in Rome on our second day...yikes, I have a lot more to write! :) The second day of our trip, we went back to the airport to get our rental cars and drive out to Tuscany for the remainder of our stay. Lisa had found this AMAZING villa that she rented for our whole family! I can't even describe the scene of this fantastic place. Anyway, we finally got our cars after waiting for hours, and eventually made it out of the airport parking lot after figuring out how to drive "Italian" stick shift cars. :) We drove through amazing scenery on our way to Tuscany, passing hilltop villages, fields and fields sunflowers and olive trees, and gorgeous ruins along the side of the highway. And Teage's favorite, NO ONE drives in the left lane unless they are passing (and the A1 has no speed limit :) )!Linds and David watching our bags while we waited for our rental cars Our gorgeous villa!!!! Villa Scopitello Our very first night in the villa, the owner made us a wonderful pizza dinner, and we ate at the dining room table on the top floor of the villa overlooking the valley and the town of Sinalunga. The whole family sitting down to our first dinner in Tuscany! The next day, all of us were pretty exhausted and wanted to relax, so we spent the entire day by the pool. Teage, David, and I played tennis in the morning, and then all of us just swam, played games, and had fun in the sun the whole rest of the day. I can't even tell you how nice it was to just sit by the pool and read a book, or go into the house if we got hungry, or just admire the view without having to worry about ANYTHING ELSE! Even though we didn't go anywhere, this was one of our very favorite days in Tuscany. Just playing together as a family and having fun. Linds breaking the "how long can you hold your breath?" record :) David and Dad playing football Lindsey, David, and I in a race!

The next day we spent the whole day traveling to some of the little historical villages around Sinalunga, in Tuscany. The first hilltop village that we went to was my favorite by far. It is called Civita di Bagnoregio and it is was founded by Etruscans over twenty-five hundred years ago. The town is located atop a plateau of volcanic rock and looks like it may topple over any minute. The sides of the hill have eroded over the years, so the only way to get there now is a skinny bridge that doesn't allow cars. The city was just beautiful. It was amazing to walk around this city that is threatening to crumble at any moment, see the foundations that were built thousands of years ago and still stand, and think about how much history this city has seen over the years. And of course there was a Gelateria right outside the city....they are everywhere! :) And I just had to get a picture of myself by these enormous cans of Nutella, which is also everywhere.

OK....I think I am going to stop there for now....more to come! :)