Viva Italia!

We were thrilled to arrive in Milan. Our time in Italy would give us the chance to see family and the beauty that Italy offers… and we couldn’t wait to get our first taste of that thing that tells us God REALLY loves us – gelato!

We arrived late in Milan and spent one night and one day there. We visited the very impressive Duomo and the kids tasted their first-ever gelato in front of it. From there we got a bag of warm, salty focaccia bread and headed to the fountain in front of Castello Sforzesco to meet cousin Giovanni. (His grandfather and my grandmother were first cousins). Matt and I had not seen him since we attended a football match with him in Verona back in 2002. He took us for a nice walk around the streets of Milan. Caroline, who was slow to warm up to him initially, was holding his hand by the end. You would have thought she was showing him around.

That evening, we got on a train to Viareggio – a seaside town in Tuscany. Upon our arrival, cousin Gaia (Giovanni’s sister) was there to meet us and take us to her home in Lucca. We were all tired, but so pleased to be at our destination. The last time I saw Gaia and her now-husband Nicola, life was very different for all of us. They were not yet married and were living in a different home, we were fresh off of our “Big Trip” and, oh yeah, neither we, nor they, had children yet. Now, there are four kids between us. That’s what five short years will do, I guess. Alice in almost 3 and Luca is 10 months old. (I know, Luke and Luca meeting in Lucca – you can’t make that up!). When her kids and my kids met, another generation would know each other. Our grandparents were smiling down.

Gaia showed us to our rooms, which was really our own wing of the house. We hadn’t planned to spend all of our eight nights and nine days with them, but the kids (and we) were so comfortable in that house and in those beds that we were compelled to stay. It was one of our most restful and relaxing times in recent memory.

Lucca is a beautiful city in Tuscany. It is known as the only city in Italy with its walls fully intact. Cars are not allowed in the streets of the Old Town, so it is just people, dogs and bicycles. We got some exercise running on the walls and also took Gaia and Nicola’s bikes with child seats for the kids.

The weather in Lucca, though forecasted differently, was always sunny and warm. We walked on the walls and in the beautiful squares with the kids every day, found several playgrounds (I wish we had a count of all the PGs we’ve visited since late January), walked into and by Lucca’s many churches, ate lots of pizza, pasta, fish and did what we could to find the best gelato in town.

Our favorite times were spent with Gaia and family. Caroline and Luke had lots of fun playing with Alice and really enjoyed sweet, little Luca. We spent a couple of great days (Mothers’ Day being one) at a beach club with them in Viareggio. It was pre-beach season, so not crowded, but warm, breezy and pleasant. We even swam! The kids loved playing in the sand and the girls flew a kite. We had some of our best meals in Viareggio. You can’t beat a seafood lunch right by the sea. The crab with fresh pasta and homemade ricotta cheesecake stand out in my mind. Mmmm!

We did take a short bus ride to Pisa and all enjoyed seeing the Leaning Tower, but that was about it. As well seasoned as our young travelers are, that was not a good day for them. When traveling with small kids, you have to know when to pack it up and go home. After seeing the tower, having lunch, and avoiding raindrops, that’s just what we did – we jumped on our bus and went back to Lucca.

The night before we left, we celebrated Nicola’s birthday with him around their big table where we’d had so many great meals. Our time in Lucca was amazing. It was a different pace than we usually move at, but so restful and enjoyable. It was so pleasing for me to see Gaia and her children (and Giovanni, too) and to know that our familial connection is alive and well… and now extended.

Our time in Italy came to a close with a half-day in Bergamo. We probably would never have visited this place, except for the fact that our flight to Istanbul left from there the next morning. What a great surprise it was! Cita Alta, the old part of the city up on the top of the steep hill offered amazing views, quaint narrow cobblestone streets and beautiful old churches and municipal buildings. We decided to splurge a little bit for our farewell dinner – complete with apertifa, homemade pasta, wine and our final gelato. Italy will always be one of our favorite places on Earth. Until next time, Arrivederci Italia!