Venezia (Venice)

Venice was very cool! We went the second to last day of our trip and Payton sat this particular adventure out as it was a 2-hour one way train ride and not the most baby/stroller friendly city. We were so grateful to Uncle Pete, Marcia and Courtney for keeping her that day so we could enjoy Venice.

A city with no cars and water instead of streets, such a site for a couple of Americans! Kole and I walked the city as the rest of the crew caught a water taxi to the island of Murano to check out the glass blowing industry. We were so glad we weren't having to push the stroller and chase Payton through the tiny, crowded side streets, we missed her, but we had a great time soaking up the culture. We met back up with the crew for a late lunch and enjoyed shopping our way back to the train station. We both decided Venice was one of our favorite places we saw on the trip and a great way to wrap up our tour of Italy!

Basilica Cattedrale Patriarcale di San Marco (St. Mark's Cathedral)

Piazza San Marco, this was the place to be in Venice! Gorgeous architecture right on the water, it was beautiful!

Siena

We took a little drive the quaint town of Siena one of the days. It was about an hour away and completely different from the cities we had already seen. Italy was really unique in that way, each town/city was a new experience with it's own personality. One thing was true throughout, buildings are massive while streets and cars are tiny! We walked all through the town, took in the sights, stopped for lunch, did a little shopping and let Payton run crazy in the town square. I just loved being able to walk everywhere and we really enjoyed the sights in Siena.

Siena sits on quite a hill, we walked up and up and up...

Walking down into the town square, it was really cool

We found this church on our walk

Random little bar covered in newspaper



Making friends with little Siena at lunch, how fitting!



Making more friends...

Firenze (Florence)

Florence was beautiful, I was so excited to see the city where the fabulous Brittan lived for a year! We spent two separate days there as it was only a 30 minute drive from our villa. We spent our time just walking around the city, shopping, eating and taking it all in. We saw the infamous David, the line was long and it rained on us, but it was worth the wait to experience it in person. He is huge!! I was thinking life size, more like giant size! Brittan I can see why you fell in love :)

I got to do a lot of the driving while we were there as there were 3 rental cars and only 4 who could drive a manual transmission. I'm pretty sure I was born to drive in Italy. They drive fast, make up their own rules, all while managing to mostly avoid each other and objects.It was fun! (not sure Grandpa shared in my enthusiasm)

Making friends with the Polizia

She was dancing to his music, but then tried to steel his Euros so we had to leave!

Honestly don't know the significance of this particular church but it was unbelievable

Ponte Vecchio

Toscana (Tuscany)

We departed Rome via rental cars and made the 3 1/2 hour drive to the private villa in Tuscany, near Montespertoli, Italy which became our home away from home for the remainder of our trip. It was beautiful, the pictures just don't do the place justice. We took several day trips from the villa (posts to come) and spent a couple of quiet, relaxing days by the pool. The weather seemed to be unseasonably cloudy, cool and a little rainy which was nice for the days we were running around, but was kind of a bummer on pool days. We made the best of it though. The villa was an 18th century stone 4,000 square foot 6 bedroom 6 bathroom estate on 10 acres of olive groves. We had views of endless hills, vineyards, castles, breathtaking sunsets and a private chef, Carla, cook amazing dinners for us two nights.

Carola came to spend the first night with us, she was an exchange student who lived with the Ciacco's for a year. She was a sweet girl who Payton really took a liking to.

Grandpa caught a few naps in the hammock

Outdoor bamboo shower

The shower was inside this

Where we ate our meals and enjoyed the sunsets

Uncle Pete teaching Payton to play the piano

Happy 30th to me!!

Payton loved "talking" with Rae

Can you see the castle in the distance behind him!?

Grandma finally got some pool time in the sun on our last day