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10/10 Excellent
1 oct. 2015
Best Family Vacation Ever!
We are home about a week now and I want to write and tell you a bit about our trip to Italy, including our stay in this marvelous farmhouse villa. It was WONDERFUL. We had a few days in NYC, a few days in Venice, and a day on each end for travel, which was lovely all-in-all. But the two weeks in Lucca were just lovely, and beyond our dreams.
We jumped right in and felt right at home. We ate at the Osteria di Meati three times I think. I am a vegetarian and immediately fell in love with Mistra di farro…could not get enough! We found a great place to park outside the wall of Lucca, which gave us a quick entrance to the city and gave us a chance to get acquainted with the train station which we used a few times (once to Florence and once to Siena).
We were 10 people for a few days, but mostly had 5 in residence at the villa. The location worked out well for the areas we had planned to visit and for the red Fiat we had rented. I had stayed in Florence on a previous trip, but could not believe how crowed it was this time. San Gimignano was very crowded also. Lucca was just perfect! I love the size and pace of the city, and will love to return some day.
We noticed how green the countryside was of course, coming from drought-ridden SoCal. And, we loved how fresh the food was. Seven of us went to Chef Paolo Monti's Cooking School for one class, and it was fabulous, and a real high point of the trip.
My son is a pretty serious cyclist and brought his bicycle. He was able to do (4) 40+mile rides, including one over the hill to Pisa. He was in heaven! His son loved the flora and fauna of the villa…found slugs, and insects of every conceivable make and model, and practiced his catch-and-release policy.
It was a great family trip and I thank you so much for making your Italian home available to us. It was a dream!
So, thanks again for everything! It was lovely being there and sooooo tough to leave.