Tuscany - June 15

Today is kind-of our last day in Tuscany.  We leave for Massimo and Chiara's wedding tomorrow in Varese, an hour north of Milan.  Since we leave at 9AM tomorrow, I did my "farewell run" this morning - and ran down to pick up croissants and latte freddo (cold milk) for breakfast.  Caden was the big UNO champ in all 5 rounds, so he won the right to be waited on today.  Really.  So I thought croissants would be a good start.  I ended up going to 3 different cafes, to ensure a good selection.  I had an espresso macchiato at two different places :)  Then I looped around the road and the vineyard.  Based on the time of the day, the colors of the Tuscan countryside are so different!  I love the way the morning light makes the leaves of the plans glow.

Lily used Google Translate for me on this.  It read, "What grows slowly takes deep roots."  Many great meanings.  For today, I am applying this to our immersion in the two little niches of Italy we embedded our family in these past couple of weeks.  We were able to slowly explore and get to know and love some new areas...and develop some good roots.  And I imagine as our kids grown and return, their roots will deepen.

I tried to take an inconspicuous picture of the coffee counter culture.  And "counter" is literal.  You jockey your way and drink your coffee and brioche standing there.  If you sit in a cafe, you typically pay a service fee of about 2 Euro. 

 

 Different lighting by the time I returned from the croissant expedition.

 The croissant platter for sampling.  We did snack on these throughout the day...or morning :)

 Where I found my kiddos starting their morning.  Caden required we all play Minecraft today.  We were all 5 in this amazing world they had built.  It was super cool!  They are really talented!  I can see why they love it so much!

We did a little swimming and water color painting, before heading out for the day.  Below is the collection of today's work.

Following another recommendation from our friend Lou, we headed to Montefollonico to have lunch at a restaurant he recommended. 

LOVE this wine collection!  If only we had more time...

Corey and I did the tasting menu that was designed to reflect what is in season in the area.  It was unbelievable.  Food pics below!

Chickpea soup

Savory cheesecake squares

The kids devoured this - pear, almond freddo, and cheese soufle

Duck with avacado

Ravioli with fruit sauce

Pork ribs with fennel

 

The dessert was a trio of chocolates and white chocolate gelato

Me and my babies :)

The kids each ordered off the menu.  All of the food was amazing!  We had a large bag of leftovers to take home for dinner!

Lily had the octopus

Gia had the cod

Caden had the tagliatelle with meat sauce

We strolled around the village afterwards - or at least Corey and I did while the kids played tag.

Beautiful church

 On our way out of town we stopped off at the play area for a bit.  The kids play so nicely together. 

 Stopping off to sort the trash in the respective bins.  One more thing I love about Italy is how serious all are about recycling!

One of the last swims of our Tuscan travels.  We did a family swim as the sun went down, and deflated Mr. Sparkle Pants.  Our packing has went better than we expected, so we think there's a chance Mr. SP might be working on his American citizenship soon!