Italy with the McLeans

It has been about ten years since me and Rob (my brother) first went to Italy. I was looking forward to going back and seeing some new sights as well as spend some quality time with the McLean and Castillon clans! Terry had organised a week long trip at a Villa he and some friends had been to the last couple of years. The villa is located in a remote little town called Londa, about a half hour train ride from Florence.

We had a wonderful week of food, vino and exploring the countryside! Here are some highlights from our trip:

* Siena and San Gimignano - We had planned to go to Pisa and Lucca but due to a traffic nightmare we inadvertently (but thankfully) went to Siena instead. I was expecting a tiny little town in Tuscany but clearly I did not do my homework! It was a fairly large, somewhat cosmopolitan city. It was nice to be in the countryside and see all of the wonderful vineyards. The rolling hills and windy roads got me and Jordan a little sick on the car ride there but it was well worth the trip....especially for the gelato! After Siena we went to San Gimignano - a little touristy town but so cute! I loved the fact it was nestled up on a hill and overlooked the Tuscan vineyards. We had drinks outside and delicious cookies to end our afternoon.

* Wine tasting in the Tuscan countryside - Mark found a random guy in Florence who agreed to take us out to go wine tasting. Well, it wasn't your typical wine tasting venture as we only went to one winery however it was a lovely place. In addition to wine tasting we had a food pairing complete with a boisterous fellow whose family has owned the winery for a number of generations. The main entree served was a homemade lasagna to die for! The wine was all very good and the food was so good! All fresh and full of flavor.....

* Hiking in Londa - We went on a couple of different hikes, one by the river and another up the hill. It was interesting going up the hill for several miles and having homes up so high on the hillside. I seriously have no idea how or why people would live so high above town. Also, it's not like your neighbor is right next door, the homes are pretty spread out. What happens if you need a cup of sugar or some milk? Guess it just requires more planning? Aside from lots of green grass, we saw a family of cows and some handsome looking German Shepherds!

* Family days at the Villa - There were a couple of days we just lounged at the Villa. A typical day for me was to wake up at noon or 1pm (late from the jet lag) and eat brunch. Afterwards, I'd go for a short walk, run or visit the grocery store with T. I LOVED going to the grocery store, it had so many fresh fruits/veggies and what is better than fresh pasta and breads? Not much but if I had to choose, I'd say bottles of wine for 2 euros! Yes, the vino was as cheap as water - I'm surprised but given that vineyards were everywhere, I guess it makes sense.

* Pasta, pizza, pasta - Let me take a moment to pay homage to all of my favorite pastas...I found my new favorite pasta, potato tortelli. It's a ravioli filled with potatoes usually served with bolognese sauce. I also really enjoyed the fresh tagliarini, a pasta that's a hybrid between spaghetti and linguine. Angela made a lemon and olive oil pasta sauce that was so fresh and delicious one of the nights. We had great pizza every night, especially the night that Gabriela, a local Italian mama, came over and made us fresh oven baked pizza. After being stuffed with fresh artichoke, salami, prosciutto, mushroom and margarita pizza, we had homemade tiramisu! This was probably my favorite night of feasting but really there was no bad food on this trip.

* Pisa - We didn't spend too much time in Pisa but we did get to see the leaning tower. I have confirmed that it is in fact leaning. It's nicer looking than I thought it would be. I really hope it doesn't fall one day....it seems like tourism is a very big part of what keeps this city going.

* Cinque Terre - I had heard many great things about Cinque Terre, particularly from May and Geo who went there during study abroad so I made it a point for T & I to visit. It was such a breathtaking city and although it was rainy at times and overcast, we still had a great time. We went to two of the 5 cities and one of my most enjoyable moments was sitting at a cafe between the cities and having drinks and a snack with T, just relaxing and enjoying the Ligurian coast. We decided to take the coastal route up to Milan, our final destination. About 2 miles into the drive, I drove over a sharp rock and popped my first tire. That was upsetting! We parked on the side of the mountain road and T changed his first tire...a first for us both. I suppose that having the backdrop of mountains and the coast isn't such a bad place to have had this happen yet it definitely threw a wrench in our travels. Next we got lost, thanks to the GPS system. It had us going up REALLY steep, one-car wide road, which just didn't seem right. Luckily we eventually found our way to a real highway before it got dark. The trip to Cinque Terre and seeing how beautiful it was definitely made the trip.

* Milan - Milan is very much like NYC, it was a nice way to get us back in the mindset of returning back to our city. We did a lot of walking around, doing the normal touristy stuff and we also went to the castello (castle), which I really liked. I also liked the park right next door. We sat and watched people and little dogs prance around. We also went for a run in the park, which had a lot of bugs. Because T was sweating up a storm, by the time he finished running he had half a dozen bugs that lost their life on his face and neck. We could not confirm how many bugs he swallowed (poor bugs!). We ended our day at a pizzeria that was good, there were lots of locals.

Overall our trip was great! I felt like we had multiple trips in one and I got to re-experience Italy with my baby-cakes. Also, it was nice spending time with the extended family.

Villa Roster:
T - mi amore
Tim - T's brother. Likes to say 'aw, yeah'
Jordan - Tim's sweet little daughter that found a new love in Italy...nutella
Pat - T's brother. Snapped a muscle in his leg from soccer, what a trooper!
Angela - T's sister in law and Pat's wife. A culinary extraordinaire
Ian - Pat and Angela's little one, is a wonderful little ball of energy
Dan - Pat and Angela's friend who found our day long hiking trail in Londa
Terry - The other Terry who is a fellow Californian
Louis - T's aunt who had an amazing recovery from jet lag....
Vicki - T's aunt and pro day planner
Marie - Vicki's friend
Mark - Vicki's son and wine expert