A Passport is a Girl's Best Friend

When I was researching Florence, and asking friends for recommendations, everyone told me to go to Tuscany countryside. Yes, would love to..... but how the heck do I manage that with a toddler and not knowing anything about Tuscany.....or how to speak Italian? Finally, someone recommended Anna's CoolTours . I am not a tour bus fan, but this is different. I talked with Anna about what Duane and I would like to see with the caveat of the fact that we have a toddler in tow. She was more than flexible and came up with a customized private itinerary that work work best for us. Anna promptly picked us up at our apartment for our private Tuscany tour at 9:30am and whisked us away to the countryside. She also has a little one so she provided a car seat and knew that we needed a flexible schedule with Grayson. Our first stop was in a teeny tiny (population 500) medieval town called San Donato in Poggio, that is about half way between Florence and Siena. No cars are allowed in 2 of the 3 roa...

Haslach! We arrived to our little town Thursday evening, checked into our little apartment, to then walk over to the families house for a traditional German dinner. Have I mentioned how much I love being in Germany? It was so nice seeing everyone again, particularly for such a special occasion. Last summer, my cousin Florian emailed me that he and his long time girlfriend, Martina, were engaged and this weekend is the wedding! These three, such trouble makers. Friday we showed John around the town, did some shopping, went to Bollenbach to taste and buy locally made schnapps. Spring! Schnapps tasting Mmmmmmmm Schnapps Saturday was wedding day! Germans are crazy. They start their weddings at 2pm and then party till 5am. I cannot keep up with this. Sunday after saying our goodbyes, we drove through the countryside to meet some more family for lunch.