Thanksgiving morning we got up super early and headed south to a place I've always wanted to go - Tuscany. It all started back in 2003 with the movie, "Under the Tuscan Sun." From the moment I saw that movie, I always said if I could go anywhere it Italy, it would be Tuscany. (Little did I know that I would one day fall head over heels in love with Venice, but that's a different post!)
I squealed with excitement when we passed a sign on the highway letting us know we'd arrive in the Tuscan region. I was a little worried that it wouldn't be as beautiful as it was in the movie since we wouldn't be seeing it in the summer time, but it did not disappoint. We checked into our apartment which was part of a big resort complex called Hotel Paggeria Medicea in the little town of Artimino. It was the definition of picturesque and everything that you would expect an Italian hotel/villa to look like. Our apartment was located half a mile or so from the hotel in a little mini-village of sorts. After we hauled our luggage up the steps and took a quick walk through the apartment, I opened up the doors to the terrace and literally gasped when I saw the view. It was amazing!! We had arrived just as the sun was beginning to set, and it was breathtaking!
We had a gorgeous view of the hotel complex.
Even more spectacular was the landscape. I knew that before we left, I'd take a ridiculous number of pictures from our terrace.
Our first order of business, however, was finding a fantastic Italian meal to take the place of the turkey and dressing we would normally eat on Thanksgiving Day. After consulting Trip Advisor, we drove toward Florence to a tiny little restaurant called Osteria Pappafico. We were seated by the owner who proceeded to treat us to the best and most memorable dining experience we've had in Europe so far. The menu was obviously in Italian, with no English translation because the foods they offer change on a daily basis. The owner took the time to read every word on the menu to us and give a description of each dish. He even drew on our paper placemats to show us the shapes of the different kinds of pasta.
We settled on an appetizer and entrees and gave him our order. After bringing our drinks and bread (free bread - I'm talking to you, Germany!!) to the table, he came back with a plate of olive oil. He told us in the most Godfather-ish accent that "my father - he just pressed the olives ten days ago - is very good - please enjoy." We dipped our bread into the olive oil, and it was so good, but definitely a different taste than doing the same thing back in the states at Carabba's! Ha!!
When our appetizers came, he brought us an extra appetizer, complements of the house, just because he wanted us to try it. I honestly can't tell you what any of them were called, but they were all fantastic! Can anything wrapped in bacon be bad?
Don, Laurel, and I ordered pasta dishes which were all fantastic and handmade of course. Laurel had risotto with fried parmesan cheese, while Don and I opted for pasta with mushroom ragu sauce.
No matter the cuisine, Austin always tends to order the biggest meat dish he can find on any given menu, and nine times out of ten he always ends up with the best thing at the table. This night was no different. He ordered roast beef that had been cooked in a red wine reduction, and it was the bomb! Don actually said that it was better than his Grandmother's roast, and those words have never come out of his mouth before.
We couldn't end this amazing dining experience without dessert, so we ordered something fabulous that was akin to cheesecake.
Now...back to all the pictures I needed to take from our terrace! We got up the next morning to a beautiful sunny day. I even got smiles and crazy faces from my usually stone-faced guys!
These two - my heart!
These are shots from the little village where our apartment was located. When I say little, I mean the size of a very, very small American neighborhood with only one little store/restaurant.
This was the building where we stayed...
The entrance to our building...
And the stairs to our apartment.
The ceiling was so pretty!
On our final night in Tuscany, we had the most beautiful sunset. In the next couple of posts I'm going to write, you'll hear about some amazing man-made things we saw in Florence and Pisa, by great artists like Michaelangelo. While I will always remember those things and am extremely thankful for the opportunity to see them with my own eyes, they don't compare in the least to the view that God painted outside the terrace of our little apartment. From the rolling Tuscan hills to the breath-taking sunset, I was reminded that God is the greatest artist of all!
As we were prepraing to walk out the door and drive back home the following morning, Laurel said "wait, I need to go outside and see it one more time." So she and I walked onto our terrace one last time and took a moment to etch the picture in our memories. I said "Goodbye Tuscany, I'll probably never see you again", to which my sweet girl replied, "Don't worry Momma, I'm going to bring you back here some day." I'm going to hold her to that!!
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