Saturday 6/7 – Moving Day!  We said goodbye to Rome and boarded our train to Florence.  We’re all glad we won’t be moving every few days, as lugging these suitcases on and off trains and down cobblestone streets is a BEATING.  But this transfer was relatively easy – 5 minute walk to the subway, three stops to the Tiburtina station, then a beautiful 90-minute train ride into Tuscany.  But the subway ride was not without drama:  As we boarded at the station near our hotel, Jack left his backpack sitting on the station bench.  LouAnn noticed just in time to leap off the train, grab said backpack, and race back through the closing train door.  She had to SWING the backpack in between the slamming doors to stop them.  Heroic save by Mom!  In Florence, the Budget rental car office was another 10-minute walk, and we stopped for lunch along the way.  Still haven’t seen a cloud since we’ve been here.

The sweet multi-color-haired lady at the car counter asked if I might not prefer something a bit smaller than the Mercedes van we had reserved.  “Driving in Florence in a van….”  But we’re AMERICANS, and we like to spread out, so we stuck with the van.  I also decided at the last minute to purchase all the extra coverage….just in case.  We loaded everything in, with room to SPARE, I backed out of the garage stall, turned to make the last corner out of the garage, and….BAM!  I somehow managed to wreck the rental car BEFORE WE’D EVEN LEFT THE GARAGE.  Hooray for full coverage!  We exited the garage without stopping to check the guardrail I had demolished, while the Budget employees shook their heads and made a writing motion on one palm, which I’m pretty sure is Italian sign-language for, “be sure to record the damage to your pristine van, por favore….” After a bit of abuse from the passenger seat, we wound our way through the tiny streets of Florence, out onto the motorway, and threaded up into the Tuscany Hills, finally arriving at Fattoria Maioinchi.  The scenes that unfolded before us as we navigated the tiny country roads were straight out of a Helena Bonham Carter movie.

The villa is perfect.  We’re in an old building whose ground floor has been converted to three apartments; two young couples from Germany are occupying the other two for the week.  We have a small yard and a POOL!  And we’re high on a hill, so the view extends for miles – vineyards, olive trees, ancient houses.  The garden is thick with hydrangea, fig trees, and jasmine, the last of which perfumes the air perfectly.  It is unbelievably idyllic.

We unpacked and settled in as the kids jumped in the pool.  Then we loaded up in the dented van and found a nearby market for a few essentials.  LouAnn cooked an incredible meal that night, and we finished out the evening with a game of Scrabble Slam as we watched the sun set over the Tuscan countryside.

 

Goodbye, Hotel Andreotti!

 

All the subway trains in Rome were adorned with elaborate graffiti.  Jack and I thought that was really cool.

 

Rome Tiburtina train station

 

Georgia enjoying the Italian countryside…

 

 

Paul enjoying the Italian countryside….

Ellis inspired by the first sign he sees in Florence!

Again!  The kids LOVE this part…..

LouAnn’s lunchtime mockery of Ellis’s need for a haircut.  24 hours later he was freshly-shorn.

First lunch in Florence

Holy Calzoni!

MY pizza, after LouAnn spilled an entire glass of water on it…

The family van, with Georgia pointing out the barely-noticeable damage.

View from the main house of Fattoria Maioinchi, the vineyard where we’re staying.

The main house

Front door of our apartment.   Excuse me, our VILLA.

Our garden table overlooking all of Tuscany, it seems…

 

 

LouAnn’s amazing dinner our first night!