Tuscany – Fucecchio

Venice is obviously not an auto zone which is quite refreshing. Since we arrived in Europe we are constantly yelling “CAR” and in typical Canadian fashion, we attempted to locate a non-existent hockey net in the middle of the road.  We all quickly became accustomed to the traffic driving on whichever side of the road pleased them that day.  The cars come quickly and the sidewalks are narrow and apparently reserved for Vespa’s when speed and auto avoidance converge. The set-up is usually Calvin in the front and then all of us single file behind him with me pulling up the rear.  We are pretty sure that most drivers will try to avoid him.  On our last day in Venice we needed to get to the auto rental agency which is obviously located off of the island. 

The route to the rental agency is only ten minutes but when you are carrying 100kgs of cargo in high humidity, 10 minutes can feel like an hour.  The only real obstacle in Venice is the stairs to the bridges that cross the various canals.  Calvin had the largest backpack and pulled a wheelie filled with Aidan and Devin’s gear plus other stuff (read my shoes).  We did it without any serious problems and picked up our Fiat people carrier a bit earlier than expected.   The auto was quite roomy in the back for its size.  We set the GPS for Tuscany and said arrivederci to Venice.

Calvin and I came to Italy a few times before Noah arrived on the scene and we remembered that the gas station/rest stops in Tuscany were quite amazing. They are called Autogrills but they should be called Gourmet Autogrills. We stopped at one about 1 1/2 hours outside Venice and had a great 3 course pasta, salad and dessert meal. Before we got to the villa we made our regular three day grocery stop to get our supplies.  Noah needed some extra model paint as well but we gave up our search after a few stops with no success.   

We booked an apartment at villa La Scuola in the countryside of Tuscany about an hour outside of Florence just north of the small town of Fucecchio.  La Scuola is a renovated old school house which seemed appropriate given our ‘plans’ to begin homeschooling.  It now has 5 apartments with 1, 2 or 4 bedrooms. Ours was spacious for us with 4 bedrooms. Enough space to be very comfortable and a great swimming pool just a short walk down a hill. The owners were great (brother and sister team) and went over the map of the area with us and told us about the weekly market 10 minutes away. We have a few set questions that we ask now. Is the water safe to drink? where is the grocery store? What is the Wi-Fi password? and where do we dump our garbage and recycling?  We unpacked the groceries and swimsuits and headed for the pool. We met another family from the UK who are also staying in one of the 5 apartments and chatted with them for a while. A light dinner and straight to bed.

The next day was market day in the town of Fucecchio and there were some supplies we weren’t able to pick up the day before so we set out to find the market. Half of the market reminded me of a flea market with clothing, shoes and household items and the other half was fresh fruit, vegetables, cheeses and nuts.  The third half was unique – it was cages full of pets for sale. There were parrots, parakeets, and other birds that I did not recognize, rabbits, ferrets, hamsters, rats, mice, gerbils and other lovely little rodents.  Most apartments in Italy are tiny and most pets are proportionate to the apartment size so the animal market was very active with young children picking from the more popular birds, hamsters or gerbils.  Devin had a brief flashback to his gerbils he gave to a loving family but luckily he didn’t dwell too long as there were birds and parrots to investigate.  We sauntered around the “flea market” and really found nothing of interest and then headed over to the food section.

There was very, very little English to be heard in this small town market so I relied on my small Italian vocabulary and sign language. I managed to buy olives, cheese, oatmeal, figs, and some assorted vegetables. As we were leaving, we spotted an outdoor rotisserie which had a large group of people and incredible looking grilled meats. Where there is a long line of locals, we go!  I wanted to get in on the action and we decided that we would pick up some delicious looking spareribs for lunch. The boys went to get the car and I stood there for about 10 minutes before I realized (did I say ‘limited’ Italian) that everyone was holding a little pink piece of paper with a number on it. Darn! So I grabbed #75 when the sign above the chaos read #56.  Oh well, I took the extra time to see what everyone was buying - mostly grilled chickens, ribs, rabbits and mozzarella balls. I was so caught up in watching the locals ordering that I almost missed my number when it was called. I successfully ordered my ribs and mozzarella balls and walked away quite proud of myself. We enjoyed our lunch back at La Scuola and swam for hours just watching the clouds sail by.    

It has been really great for the kids and for us to meet other families while we travel.  We didn’t plan to rent villas with 4-5 apartments but it certainly has worked out better than expected as most places have had wonderful families with kids within a few years of ours.  The kids are hearing all sorts of different languages and accents and we are having some great conversations, dinners and drinks with the parents. 

After dinner, we joined a couple from Germany and from England outside the villa for some drinks and a chat.  The men seem to drift into conversations about the economic situation in Southern Europe and the Germans rarely lacked an opinion on the subject as they were the ones expected to bare the brunt of the south.    

Day trip to Pisa

Calvin and I visited Pisa when we were in Italy previously, and would not have gone again but Pisa’s leaning tower is an iconic symbol of Italy and the boys REALLY wanted to go so we packed up a lunch and hit the road.  There is really nothing else of much interest in Pisa so the intention was really to get in and get out.  

For some reason the GPS wasn’t leading us to the tower so we were driving around for a bit until one of the kids spotted it leaning in the distance. It was quite exciting for all of us! We managed to find a really close parking spot and walked over to the square. Unfortunately, cheap souvenir shops line the entire walk to the tower but we tried to steer the kids away from them. We took many fun pictures of us pretending to hold up the tower. 

The tower itself was smaller than Devin thought it was going to be but more impressive than Aidan and Noah expected it to be. It has been heavily restored even since Calvin and I was here in 1997 and it is quite lovely. We enjoyed our lunch before leaving and then stopped in the city of Pisa for some gelato and model paint for Noah…have you noticed a pattern – gelato, gelato and more gelato?

That night we set the table outside with candles and enjoyed a great BBQ steak under the Tuscan sky. After dinner, Noah and I were having a serious discussion about which one of us was the strongest to which Calvin interjected “there’s only one way to find out”. I declined the offer to wrestle my 12 year old out on the grass in beautiful Tuscany until he called me a chicken. I said “ Pardon ? GAME ON “!!! 

We squared off and within minutes I had him on the ground in a submission hold that would make Hulk Hogan proud. Of course Noah wanted a rematch because he apparently “slipped”. Funny enough each one of the boys wanted some of the same medicine afterwards and I had to take each one of them down. I ended the night with grass-stained knees and the boys ended the night with a new found respect for their dainty little flower of a Mother.

The next night we converted the lawn of the villa from a wrestling ring back to an outdoor eating area and spent the evening talking with the two other families. The 11 of us (kids as well) sat out until the wee hours talking and laughing with each other. We had to finally say goodnight and wish our new friends a safe journey back to Germany and England as we needed to get up at 7:00am for our trip into Florence for a cooking class.