Our summer vacation took place in Italy. It had been very, very hot in Geneva, and only got hotter the further south we went. After a wrong turn that almost took us to Nice (i.e. the opposite direction from where we were going), we finally arrived at our destination, the Casale dei Ruscelli in the Fabbriche di Vallico in the area of Lucca in Tuscany. Got to meet Isabella (a very old friend from AFS days in Sweden in the early '80s) and Francesco. The place was simply fantastic and we are sold on Tuscany as an ideal vacation destination and on the 'agriturismo' concept--old farmhouses turned into small hotels/apartments.
Despite the heat, we managed to explore the area, including Barga, Lucca and a side-trip to Pisa while Alex was napping in the car. Gelatto was another important part of the experience, with a record of 4 in one day for one particular member of our group :)
Climbing medevial towers is always fun, as is getting to hear part of a Crosby, Stills and Nash concert for free.
No better way to spend my forty-something birthday than with a great lunch in Lucca (best pork chop I've ever had), excellent pizza with Roque, Alex, Francesco and Isabella, and then more gelatto and thumb wrestling contests.
Those were definitely some long, hot days in Italy!
