European Vacation, Part 2 - Tuscany

After our fun in Venice was up, we packed back into our rental car and headed west to Tuscany.  I think it's a reminder of the scale of America when it seemed odd to me that driving almost all the way across Italy took only a bit over three hours.  And that was without the speed limitless Autobahn of Germany.  But we made our way from the flatlands around Venice into the forested hills of Tuscany.  Nicole found an amazing airbnb for us in the middle of nowhere basically equidistant between Florence, Lucca and Pisa.  It was so in the middle of nowhere that the navigation system in the car didn't understand the address, and the meticulous directions written by our host didn't quite do the trick as we had to pass through the most confusing highway interchange three times before finally managing to pick the right exit.  There was stress.  But then we got there and it was amazing.  It's an agri-tourism place - a working vineyard and olive grove - perched on a hill with 360 degree views.  Our welcome gift was a bottle of their wine and a canister of their olive oil.  Can't beat it. 

This was about 270 degrees of the view at the airbnb.  Yes, that's an infinity pool.  It was a bit cold in there but that didn't stop most of us. (click the picture for a better view)

The apartment was really spacious, and included a couch shaped like lips.  We all enjoyed the space and bright light. (click this one too)

The first town we checked out was San Gimignano.  Small but lots of tourists, famous for its tall towers.  500 years ago the rich would build these towers and when the neighboring town would try to invade they would burn the outer staircases and just live up in their tower until the fighting was over.  This view is from the tallest one left standing.  

Daily gelato continued, but this was World Champion gelato.  Apparently that's a thing.  It was definitely tasty.

The next day we visited Lucca.  We rented bikes and rode on a path on the walls surrounding the old city.  We really liked Lucca's old city - not huge, a nice mix of touristy and non-touristy areas.

This was about the biggest open space in the old city. The streets were really narrow but somehow they still manage to run pretty much full-size city buses through them. 

Our mornings were usually spent alternating who got to go out for a morning run.  This road/path was down the hill from our airbnb and had nice views through fields of over-the-hill sunflowers.  They probably looked amazing a month before we were there.

Post-run stretch/flying session.

 After some unhappy car riders, we decided that most of us would take the next day off of touring and hang out at the airbnb property.  Not me, I got to go spend the day in Florence chasing famous art!  

Me and my buddy Dave.  He was a lot taller than I expected and definitely an amazing work of sculpture.  

The dome at Florence's Duomo was too overwhelming to take in... I guess I was so overwhelmed I couldn't quite hold the camera straight.  Florence would be a great place to spend a few days, but I was happy to have a few hours to run around the sights.

When dad's away the kids will play.

From the tower in San Miniato, which we could see in the distance from our airbnb.  This picture doesn't do the view much justice - it was beautiful.

We went for a short hike from the airbnb to a random church in the middle of nowhere.  Another nice view, surprised?

Last night in Tuscany, celebrating with a three and a half pound T-bone from a 3rd generation butcher.  It was damn good.  

Had to take a smoochy family pic on the lip couch!

So long Tuscany, off for a quick stop at Lake Como on the way back home.