Sorry for the delay in posting- we had an adventurous couple of days but now are settled into Florence. We went to leave Venice on Sunday morning, but when we got to the rental car place (a bit of a journey in itself), they had screwed up our reservation (which I didn’t catch). They only had one car (and a small one). After much back and forth (the people there were very nice), we discovered that our other car was at a different pick up location back in Venice (we were slightly outside of the city). At this point, time was not ticking in our favor, as Eli and I had a scheduled tour of the Lamborghini factory and museum that we didn’t want to miss. So, we split up. Nic and I took Eli and Houston in one car, while Sophie and Nancy took the train back into the city to the other rental car place. Nic and I were a bit apprehensive driving on our own, which may have been confirmed after we had to drive around a rotary three times within a few blocks of leaving the car place! The directions led us to a road that didn’t exist, but we rallied to the cause, figuring out which way to go and successfully navigating tolls along the way. We arrived at the Lamborghini Museum with 2 minutes to spare!
Nic and Houston stayed in the museum while Eli and I went to our factory tour. They make you lock away all cameras and phone before hand, so I have no pictures. Suffice to say, it was really cool. Everything is done by hand, and so they can only produce 5 a day for the model we saw being built. Every single element of the car can (and is) customized for the owner). We saw a gold VIP car and lots of other really cool stuff. The museum had cars from throughout their history- turns out the guy that started the company did so because the Ferrari guy was a jerk to him when he bought his first super sportscar.
The ladies had a continued adventure of their own, arriving to find that while we had a reservation there were no cars left. Nancy ended up scoring a brand new car that didn’t even have its registration done yet (well done, sis). We all met up again in the gift shop at Lamborghini, sharing stories over lunch across the street where you would occasionally see one fly by doing a test drive. As a two car caravan, we headed next to Pisa. We climbed the Leaning Tower (which leans waaaaay more than you think) and had a lovely time looking out over the city in the late afternoon sun.
We then headed to the coast. We drove along this gorgeous road along the water (getting a tad bit lost trying to find our B and B). The place was in Castiglionecello, and it was adorable. Maria got us settled into our rooms, and then we were whisked off for a late dinner at a restaurant right on the beach. It was a wonderful meal full of laughter and stories. Our most challenging day ended beautifully!
Yesterday we got up (slowly). Nic, Nancy, and I had breakfast, letting the kids sleep in. Then we headed to the beach. It was a gorgeous, rocky beach (but tough on the feet), and we had a great time there.
We grabbed lunch and quick showers before heading back to Florence. We will be staying in a B and B run by Nancy’s friends, but they were full for this one night. So, the kids and I were at another place across the street, while Nancy and her crew stayed with Alice (her niece). Nancy and I got me checked in, while Nic and the gang hung out at a park nearby Alice’s (playing the new Monster game with another niece Alessia who joined them). We all went to Alice’s for her birthday, and it was a tremendous reunion. I hadn’t seen Alessio in over 20 years, and it was great to reconnect (especially since he English remains really strong). His brother Andrea was there as well, and it was such a fun night. It was really amazing for Nancy to have her two families joined together – very special night (although as you will see Humpty almost caused an international incident). Now we will be in Florence for the next few days, and we will be connecting to Louise and Meredith (friends from theUK who came over to see us!).
