It's been a couple of days since I've posted pictures, but between very slow Internet connections, late nights out for dinner and then games of Wizard, time has gotten away. After we left Cinque Terre, we had a 3 hour drive to Impruenta. About half way was Pisa where we stopped for a short visit to take a peek at the tower. It really was remarkable to see, so I am glad we made the pit-stop. We were a little thrown off by all of the street people out hassling you to buy sunglasses and watches. It really took away from the experience for us. Once you were in the gates around the tower you weren't bothered by them, but the walk to the car was quite unnerving.
The boys caught sight of a McDonald's and couldn't resist a stop for fries and a milkshake. Jordyn and I just couldn't do it ~ we are in Italy of all places and we weren't going to waste a meal on McD's!!
We arrived at Villa Relias in Impruenta, Italy where we stayed for 3 nights. Impruenta is about 20 minutes from Florence and is set in the beautiful Tuscan countryside. It was incredibly hot so we were so glad to have the pool to cool off in.
The apartments we stayed in were really cute with 2 bedrooms and a little kitchenette.
The pool also had a sandy beach for the kids, so they had a great time digging and building in the sand. Most of the beaches we have visited were quite rocky so the sand was a nice change. The Villa was about a 5 minute walk into town and we enjoyed 2 dinners out and did our own Italian BBQ our last night.
Wating at the bus stop! Our first full day we took the bus from Impruenta to Florence. It was great because we didn't have the hassle of parking which has proved to be quite a challenge in some of the cities we have visited.
Once in Florence we took a double-decker bus which toured us around to all of the main landmarks.
We got off of the bus and wandered through the streets of Florence. Jordyn has always wanted to try an Italian Cannoli ~ I don't think she enjoyed it as much as she thought she would though. The gelati is much, much better!!
Evan spotted Duff beer and convinced Rod to buy it ~ it is after all Homer Simpson's favourite beer.
Not sure what was going on here, but Rod and Ang have some explaining to do!!!
Our second night in Impruenta we walked to The Bellavista restaurant. It was on a beautiful terrace overlooking the town.
The guys were being somewhat inappropriate during dinner.
Yesterday, Rod and I took the kids to a 10th Century Castle/Winery in Chianti country. It was spectacular to say the least. There was a beautiful garden, a wild boar farm and a castle where they make Verrazzano Chianti.
These barrels hold enough wine to fill 4200 bottles. Rod was tring to sneak a little right from the "tap".
The cellar was actually in the dungeon where barbarian prisoners were held at the beginning of the 10th century.
After the tour we enjoyed wine tasting and a great lunch. Evan even got to enjoy a little sip.
We arrived in Rome this afternoon and actually walked around for almost 7 hours ~ without the camera UGH!!!
Anyways, we have decided on what sights we want to see tomorrow and will spend the day exploring this beautiful city ~ with camera in tow. I cannot even believe we only have 2 days left before we come home. It has gone by so incredibly fast.
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