On Monday we unsuccessfully tried to run errands in Siena Monday after drop off. I tried to buy clothes for the girls, I could not find. We went to the Tribunale to get documents translated, our officer she was not in so we went from one courthouse to the next looking for translations, no one could help us. So we went for lunch at the local Salumeria at the end of our street. Pasta and wine fixes everything on a cold day! Picked up the girls in heavy rain, tried to look at a villa 20 min from school, we got lost so it was almost an hour but the time we found it and then hated it anyway. Fun times!
After looking at over 20 houses in the last 3 weeks, we have finally booked our next housing options. In May & June we are stay at a huge 4 bedroom villa in a gorgeous area with a large pool, about 30 min from school so quite a commute for us considering we always walked to school in Sydney and right now we are 8 min drive to school from our house in Costafabbri. Then we plan to be nomads and travel July and August. When we are back we are staying on a very traditional farm (agritourismo) in Siena countryside where they have horses, chickens, 5 dogs (Audrey is petrified), pool, spa, crochet, table tennis and of course make their own wine, grappa, olive oil and more. I’ve offered the girls to help with the harvest and the animals. November - Jan not sure where we will live yet but still ages away.
Monday night it started to snow very lightly so there was much excitement at our house about the potential snow day on Tuesday. I really wanted school to be cancelled so we canid all stay home, go for a walk in the snow, bake, watch movies and chill out. It was not meant to be, the snow was not heavy enough to stick to the roads so school was open. I took the girls to school and by the time I got back it was heavier so Ben and I went for a snow walk to the local Salumeria, no one was out and about. By the time we got the girls in the afternoon it was snowing a lot harder and starting to look like a winter wonderland.
Tuesday night the girls went to bed praying for a Wednesday snow day and we woke up to grooves, trees, fields and everything covered in gorgeous snow but not the roads so school was open once again. I even offered to keep them all home and tried to sweeten the deal with baking and board games but they ALL wanted to go to school to hang out with friends instead, they are all really enjoying school which is fantastic! We had a huge snow fight in the field and carpark before school which was really fun until people got snow in their ears and down their school clothes so after some tears and screaming at each other, we decided to head off to school. We dropped them at school and decided to drive up to Castellino in Chanti and it was a stunning drive, 20 min away. All the empty vineyards, trees, fields and houses covered in think snow, just gorgeous. We parked safely although would not have gone further as we started skidding on the roads that had not been plowed in our tiny rental ford focus (Ben picking up our new car in Rome today, yippee!)
We decided last minute to book at hotel and go to Florence for the weekend. We only live an hour from Florence but we wanted to do so much there we thought a weekend away would be really fun. We headed off Saturday morning and I finally feel comfortable enough to drive long distances on the freeway now, though still not small narrow roads out to the country. I offered to be our driver for the weekend giving Ben a break for a change. I promised to pay attention to the GPS and try and not take wrong turns and he promised not to comment on my driving, react if he thought I was too close to the curb and to listen to podcasts while I drove so he was distracted. This worked well most of the time!
We had a lovely weekend and Saturday we walked for miles through all the piazzas, leather markets, food markets, shopped in the Winter sales, of course had gelato, went to the rooftop bar at the Westin for sunset drinks, had an amazing dinner and we all crashed back at the hotel 12 hours after we headed out.
Sunday started with bike riding at Parco delle Cascine in Florence, an enormous park (130ha) that runs parallel to the river. We all rented bikes and then Audrey pointed out to us she has never ridden a bike without training wheels. I know it was on my to do list before we left home as I know we’d be riding over here. Poor life of a third child that we had completely forgotten. We taught her to ride yesterday and she was SO brave! The 70 year old Italian man at the bike rental came out to push her and say ‘look straight ahead and don’t touch the brake’…in Italian’. Within about 20 minutes she was stable enough to ride 200 meter at a time. So we went riding for an hour along the river and then she was exhausted. Ben, Polly and Audrey went back and Hayley and I rode for another hour over bridges and all through the park. We then headed to Piazza Michaelangelo to check out the views and eat lunch in San Niccolo, a gorgeous arty area close to the piazza. Pretty epic weekend but a lot of fun. Home in time for unpacking, baths, dinner, homework and preparing for the week.
LOVING Tuscany in Winter, it’s so empty and quiet this time of year. All the Xmas tourists have gone home and it’s really just locals around. Parking is easy, no lines for anything and we can get onto tours or decide what to do on the day rather than pre-plan weeks in advance.
We have booked a few more trips over the next few weeks so will start travelling more in February and March. London next week by myself to visit friends, then we are off to Lucca & Viareggio in 2 weeks for Carnivale. Skiing for a week back in The Dolomites end of February for a week and then back to London and Manchester with the whole family for 2 weeks in April for Easter and school holidays.
Observations this week -
Coffee and a pastry EVERY morning at my favourite Nannini Cafe is 2.50 euro ($4) and better than anything in Sydney (and since being here I have lost weight…not sure how that works???)
It’s been 7 weeks and I still get into the passenger side of the car at lease once a week. Quiet embarrassing when someone is waiting for your spot and I have to get out and go around.
There is a pharmacy in Italy on every block with a bright green flashing cross so they cant be missed. They are often open 24 hours which is good to know. So far so good but am sure we’ll be needing them in the next year.
Loving the lack of mobile phons and laptops over here. I sit on my laptop each morning at the cafe and am the only one, they must think I am a famous journalist of writer. No one has iPads or laptops out and about. Often people are alone in cafes or even restaurants for a 2 course lunch and they read the paper, look out the windows or chat to the staff. No one scrolls through their phone or has it out on a table at a cafe, it’s very refreshing!
Just nailed grocery shopping at Coop for the first time - no wrong turns on the way there after school drop off - fist time I had a coin so could actually get a trolley - remembered to get trolley in the car park as there are none in the store - took 1.5 hours translating all items into Italian and then finding them - brought my own bags for groceries - credit card worked - WINNING!
