Tim and I rented an old farmhouse in Tuscany, Italy with our friends the Ubbelhodes (Bob, Miriam, Emily and Jessica) for Christmas. So we packed up our car and borrowed our friends cargo carrier and headed to Tuscany. The drive was nearly 11 hours as we hit traffic right outside of Florence that slowed us down for awhile.
We had such a great time hanging out with the Ubbelhodes and our dogs. We were the only ones on the property so Josie and Leo were able to explore without being stuck on a lead. We stayed near Arrezo not too far from where we stayed in 2005 (Chianti region). We visited Siena, San Gimignano, Deruta and a monestary. We cooked in our farmhouse on several nights (Tim being the head chef). We feasted a lot on pasta's we bought at the local markets. Tim made a fabulous Christmas dinner which consisted of saltimbocca and tortellini. Emily and Jessica made our Chistmas dessert (chocolate cake's shaped like Christmas trees).
The first night we were in our farmhouse we went to a local restaurant. The food was delicious the service was excellent and the restaurant was quaint. This would turn out to be a repeat place for us. When I woke up the next day and started to gather my things I realized I didn't have my purse (what a way to start a vacation) so I had Tim run me back to the restaurant to find that it was still there in tact. What a relief! The owner recognized me immediately (although he spoke no english) he was able to convey to me how he found it and wanted me to make sure that everything was still in it! There are a few honest people in this world!
