Tuscany 2005 -- Part 1: There and Back Again

Harry and Elle visited Italy last year and really enjoyed themselves and the villa they were staying in: Corte Medicino (www.cortemedicino.com) is in the heart of Tuscany but outside of all the major urban areas. It's on the road between Altopascio and Orentano between Pisa and Florence. Close enough to the Autostrada to get around easily, but very rural feeling. Corte Medicino Tuscany 2005.

They had such a good time that they decided to return this year with the rest of the family. Sarah and I were sorry to hear that Oriana would not be able to make it and we were all very sorry to hear that Nick was going to be fighting with Air France rather than flying them across the Atlantic. So our crew was Harry and Elle from New Jersey; Sarah, Robert and David from DC, and David, Lindsay and Ian from Seattle. We fit well in the house but had plenty of room for Oriana and Nick, had they been able to join us.

Saturday June 25 we left from Dulles (a million thanks to Hank and Sally for giving us -- and our luggage -- a lift there) and flew Lufthansa to Munich then on to Florence (Firenze -- one of my few words in Italian -- from here on out). Robert once again proved an excellent traveling companion; the night flight worked well for him and he slept most of the way across the Atlantic and was in a great mode on arrival in Florence Sunday. The fact that he is on the US Government's No-Fly list did not seem to hurt his mood, it did slow us down a bit at check in, however.

Munich Airport 2005.

It was interesting to see the nice video Lufthansa produced about the newly rebuilt, remodeled and modernized Munich airport. Once we got in to the airport we could briefly see that it was indeed very nice; but our 1 hour layover was timed exactly to get us from one plane to the next. Including the time getting to and from the terminal on buses (the jet-ways are not yet fully operational). So Robert got a nice, closeup, outside view of his plane to Florence.

Harry and Elle arrived the day before and met us at the airport with the news that the Seattle contingent was delayed and the much worse news that Nick was fighting, not flying Air France. Elle was our navigation officer from the airport to Corte Medicino while Harry stayed to perform the same service for the Seattlelites. Once we all were settled in, we had the first of many lovely meals in the back yard. As the weather was hot, most of those were cold meals -- but Tuscany is the place for Antipasto so we were all happily well fed. Corte Medicino Tuscany 2005.
Robert enjoyed being the center of attention. Ian again proved a great friend and they got along famously. Lindsay (and all of Robert's adoring fans) enjoying helping him work on his walking skills. He's up to about 3 steps on his own now. That will no doubt change soon...
Corte Medicino Tuscany 2005 (photo by SZap). Corte Medicino Tuscany 2005 (photo by SZap).
Big hits at Corte Medicino (other than the great company): the saltwater pool -- they use salt rather than chlorine and it really is much more pleasant. We all, including Robert, enjoying swimming, diving and generally playing in the pool (while the weather was hot, the pool was always refreshing). Generally our days were wake up, breakfast, head off to tour somewhere amazing, return to the pool followed by afternoon drinks and dinner. I highly recommend the lifestyle.
Corte Medicino Tuscany 2005 (photo by SZap). Corte Medicino Tuscany 2005 (photo by SZap).
Corte Medicino Tuscany 2005. Corte Medicino Tuscany 2005.
We also enjoyed the grass in the front yard. Robert had fun playing in the shade and working on his walking skills (a real theme of this trip). Corte Medicino Tuscany 2005 (photo by SZap).
Corte Medicino Tuscany 2005. Corte Medicino Tuscany 2005.
Robert also got a lift with his folks for some short walks around Corte Medicino. We were enjoying the chance to get out and about without needing to get in the car.
Corte Medicino Tuscany 2005 (photo by SZap). Corte Medicino Tuscany 2005.
On one of her excursions into Altopascio, Sarah found this sunflower field -- which spawned the great sunflower photo contest (more later) -- and the Millennium Bug computer store.
Orentano Tuscany 2005 (photo by SZap). Altopascio Tuscany 2005 (photo by SZap).
Corte Medicino Tuscany 2005. Corte Medicino Tuscany 2005.
Corte Medicino Tuscany 2005. Breakfast was usually inside (and Robert tended to have dinner inside as well). The kitchen worked perfectly with the table mat and booster seat Sarah brought for Robert. (The espresso cup, which seems about the right size for Robert, came with the house.)
Corte Medicino came equipped with wildlife and beautiful flowers. On the left (you probably need to click on the photo to look at the larger version) is a little chick looking not unlike Robert with his mouth open waiting for food. On the right is a salamander blending into the border of the path.
Corte Medicino Tuscany 2005. Corte Medicino Tuscany 2005.
Corte Medicino Tuscany 2005. Corte Medicino Tuscany 2005.
Corte Medicino Tuscany 2005. Corte Medicino Tuscany 2005.
Corte Medicino Tuscany 2005. Corte Medicino Tuscany 2005.
Corte Medicino Tuscany 2005. Corte Medicino Tuscany 2005.
Corte Medicino Tuscany 2005. Corte Medicino Tuscany 2005.
After a hard afternoon of playing, a nap is just the right thing... Corte Medicino Tuscany 2005.
The rural area around Orentano is home to family farms for hay, grapes and sunflowers. It was the sunflower field that inspired Sarah to create the great sunflower photo contest. We're waiting for all the entries to arrive before we set that up. But the concept of a contest of course meant I had to take a lot of sunflower pictures...
Orentano Tuscany 2005. Orentano Tuscany 2005.
Orentano Tuscany 2005. Orentano Tuscany 2005.
Orentano Tuscany 2005. Orentano Tuscany 2005.
Orentano Tuscany 2005. Orentano Tuscany 2005.
Orentano Tuscany 2005. Orentano Tuscany 2005.
Our sunflower days had to come to an end eventually. On Friday July 8, we headed back to the airport for our afternoon flight over the Alps and across the Atlantic back to DC. Though we tried to tire Robert out walking around the Munich airport (we caught an earlier flight from Firenze to Munich so our layover was long enough to enjoy the amenities), he did not sleep much on the flight back. That made him a bit fussy as he had so many faces to look at on the plane that he had a very hard time bringing himself to close his eyes. He did fall asleep late in the flight and managed to sleep through the landing, customs, baggage claim and getting strapped back into his car seat (thanks another million times to Hank and Sally for the ride).
L to R: David, Sarah,Robert, Ian, Lindsay, David Z, Leaonor and Harry at Corte Medicino Tuscany 2005. Flying back from Tuscany 2005.
Alps between Firenze and Munich. Munich Airport 2005 (photo by SZap).
Of course, we did not fly to Tuscany just to sit by the villa's pool for two weeks (though that does have appeal). Our first site seeing trip was to Lucca.