Italy

Our adventures this time took us to a few places, to name the least, Italy. Mom and dad rented a villa in Tuscany, right outside of Pisa for a week. What a great place to relax and wish you lived in Italy! David and I headed to Sardina, an island off of the coast, for 2 days (work for Brooke, play time for David). It was heaven on earth. We were able to visit the house of a local sculpture who took rocks and cut rivits in them to create different sounds.

The villa had a great brick oven outside the house, which fed our pizza and garlic bread ball appetites for the week. The wine was great, the food fresh and the pizza tons of fun to make and eat. Although we were overrun with misquitoes while we were there, I think the "suffering" was worth the trip! We couldn't figure out the coffee maker (perculator) so we had to improvise with strainers, paper towels and boiled grinds. All in all, a good brew! David, Brooke and Ashton went for a ride and found a lake, that then lead to renting a canoe, that then lead to us out on the river for an hour, paddling with the ducks and praying our boat didn't turn over.

Pisa was just a day journey for us. The tower was not as big as I had imagined, but once you were inside, you started to freak out as it literally leaned! Walking up 300 stairs, leaning half the time, was quite a trip! David wasn't too thrilled at the top, as the lean made you feel as if you were falling off! We had a great time walking the canals and trying to drive through the city with Maggie, our GPS guru. We were in luck this time as the soccer championships were in full swing, and Italy was in the playoffs while we were in all the cities in Italy. Needless to say, it was hard to find restuarants open as they all close to watch the game!

Florence was such a great city. Although we didn't have time in our day trip to see the actual sculpture of David, we saw a good remake! They had the biggest beer's, great shopping (shoes were to DIE for!) and decent food. Florence had a great little market with fun vendors (great gifts for those who watched the cats) and fun bargening. The architecture in Florence is quite different from Rome. Many of the churches looked a lot like the Taj Mah Hall in India with the inlaid marble and designs. Although dad did take the side of the car off trying to get out of the car garage we parked in, Florence is a great city!

Sardina...the gorgeous island of paradise! We went down to Villasiumus where our hotel was literally on the edge of the island. You couldn't go any further out as the ocean was there. The Sofietel (same as Egypt) was 10 times better, the food fabulous and the company great. We got some good tans as most of our time was on the beach, enjoying the warmth and soothing sounds of the ocean. I would definately go back.

Italy you have my heart. One day we shall meet again..but for a much longer adventure.