A ($XX) Grand Tour of Europe - a great excuse for a day at DLP

[PrincessInOz]

The one in Sorrento is a thick hot cacao. The spoon stands up in it. It is just scrummy. I actually have a photo of it in my kitchen just to remind me and sigh at....

That's the one!

One of the cafes in Melbourne used to make it...but the owners sold and I can no longer enjoy it here. *sigh*

 

[areweindisneyyet]

With a heavy heart we woke on our last morning in Rome. We went back to our little patisserie for breakfast before heading to Termini again to take the Airport Express train to Fiumicino Airport to pick up our hire car. A quick 30 minute train trip later and we found our way to the car hire. The train had space for bags, but don't take help from anyone, they will ask for Euro.

We collected our Fiat Doblo who we nicknamed Dobby.

Plan A was to take a short drive to nearby Ostia Antica, a must do for DD1, again the books. Plan B was to drive past twice, grab the first park we can find and then go investigate leaving all three cameras in the car.

It was just beautiful, the theatre ruins were amazing. It was so worth the drama to get there, a great alternative to Pompeii.

After grabbing takeaway sandwiches at a local deli we found Dobby and headed north on the autostrada to Tuscany. We had booked a farm between Volterra and San Gimignano. We plugged the coordinates into the GPS and hoped that we would find it.

After a quick stop at an Autogrill on the way we made it in around 3.5hours. I was very nervous about this, what if it was really awful, what if they were creepy, I assured DH that I had back up plans in place.

But when we arrived there was no need to worry. We were greeted by the owner Luigi who served us drinks on the terrace and pulled out maps and information to give us ideas for day trips throughout the area. The views were breathtaking. He booked us in for dinner at his cousins restaurant and then took us to our apartment.

I thought I had died and gone to heaven.

The farmhouse and Ristorante

The view from the farm to Volterra

Our apartment was in the front of this building.

After settling in we headed to the ristorante down the road for dinner. DD1 had carbonara, DD2 lasagne, I had a leek risotto and DH had a marinara pasta.

The wine was beautiful, the service amazing, the grappa and biscotti melt in your mouth. We thought we would cook here quite a bit with our own kitchen but if the food is like this we decided, hey, we are on holiday.

 

[areweindisneyyet]

We awoke to a beautiful sunrise from the house. A breakfast was optional at the farm in their own ristorante. We decided to go with it especially the first morning. Our plan for the day was to have breakfast, catch up on some washing and relax in the morning, have lunch at the farm ristorante before heading to Volterra.

Let's start with breakfast
WARNING FOOD PORN APPROACHING

The owners mama makes breakfast each morning. She speaks no English but smiles and tries to communicate with hand gestures. She is a delight. When we arrived these were on the table.

Then came a basket of toast with cherry jam and nutella. There was cereal and yoghurt on a central table to help yourself. We thought all of this was good value, but just like steak knives - wait there is more.

Feeling very full we went back to our little house. The girls played on the playground and DH and DD1 went for a bike ride. Many loads of washing hung out to dry and we headed off to lunch back at the ristorante. Now we are expecting panini's. NOOOOOO

Antipasto, then DD2 and I had lasagne, DD1 carbonara and DH had a pot of boar casserole type thing. The farm raised boar and pigeon and all the salami's, prosciutto all were made from their own produce. A bottle of wine to wash this down. We rolled out the door, we had barely recovered from breakfast.

We drove 15 minutes to Volterra and found the beautiful church that we look at from the farm.

We then walked the streets looking at the local alabaster, finding handbags and being amazed at the ancient walls of the town.

All the stairs helped to walk off some of the food, and there was not one request for gelati from one of the girls. The town was just beautiful. It was a lovely afternoon. We found a park which the girls had fun playing in.

We headed back to the farm where there ristorante was open for the one night a week it opens. As we were expected we did not want to be rude but at the same time we did not need to eat.

We went in and they gave us a pass on the anti pasto as we had eaten it for lunch, the girls had ravioli pomodoro, I had ravioli with truffles and DH pasta with wild boar.

The last mouthfuls were so delicious but so hard to get down. Then we were asked what to have for main, rabbit, pigeon, boar ... We were all feeling but also on .

We rolled into bed after our day of gluttony dreaming of another mama breakfast in the morning. Tomorrow we will trip to Lucca.

 

[PrincessInOz]

I want the name of that farm! That looks GORGEOUS! And the food.....OMG! Just died and gone to Volterra!

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

I'm with PIO, name of the farm, how you found it, how much it cost, how to get there, well tomorrow .

The food, don't even get me started.

 

[queenie82]

WOW!!! Amazing food...lol...
LOVING your TR.

I was very disappointed with Pompeii. This was in part because of the events that entailled...but I still was underwhelmed. Italy aren't looking after their ruins or other monuments very well at all. Not so long ago a large wall in Pompeii collapsed
It's all in a very poor condition... (yes it's a 'ruin'...but it's getting RUINED by neglect)

We had looked at the various options because ideally we would do it on our own. If you have the time and confidence I applaud you. You certainly make it seem easy
- Car we ruled out because they regularly get broken into as they know they're rentals from tourists who won't be back for a while (Naples isn't a very 'nice' area)
- Train we ruled out because Naples is derelict in parts and we were on such a tight schedule I didn't want to have to deal with that

We went with a day tour...which wasn't great The 'local' guide moved so slowly through Pompeii we'd barely have seen a 1/4. We left halfway through to see the rest ourselves and met the group later.

 

[areweindisneyyet]

Glad you are all enjoying,

Queenie, I agree with you on the upkeep of the ruins. Rome has just introduced an accommodation tax for which we paid 3 Euro a night which is meant to go towards the preservation and upkeep of the ruins in Rome.

We noticed a lot more scaffolding and work going on at Pompeii on this trip making some of the back streets hard to get through. Sadly it all goes back to how it started to be uncovered back when it was discovered in the 1700's.

This time we loved the Villa of Mysteries which was very well preserved, the other part I like is the ampitheatre and theatres. A lot greener and trees lining laneways.

The streets are quite narrow in part and tour groups stop and mass and can make it difficult to pass. It is such a large area, I have now made two visits and have not seen it all.

 

[areweindisneyyet]

The farm was called Agriturismo Santa Vittoria. I found it on trip advisor and after emailing the farm directly I enjoyed the friendly emails from Luigi who was very open and honest about what was on offer. There are eight apartments ranging from 1 to 2 bedrooms.

The cost was 75 Euro a night. Food was extra but on average for two course, drinks we were spending around 50 Euro. We plan on heading back for a month next time and basing ourselves there only. It was just magical and the photos that are on the website and even on here struggle to capture the beauty. While we were there they had planted summer crops for those staying over the summer to use in their cooking. They were just so generous with their time, advice and welcoming us to such a beautiful place in the world

Disneyland has always been my happy place but it now has a twin. If I am not in Disneyland then I am at the Farm.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

I am totally in love with the place, I have to say. It has always been a dream to stay in a villa type accom in Tuscany somewhere. And I adore having someone recommend a place to me, that they loved. It gives me alot of confidence going in. Of course, TripAdvisor is the next best thing hehe.

A shame the website is all in italian though hahaha. Does he email in english ?

 

[areweindisneyyet]

For the next two days we enjoyed the dolce vita.

Up for breakfast at the farm (1/2 an hour later each morning), one morning we headed to Lucca in our trusty Dobby to explore the old town and it's beautiful town walls. Here we bought some food at the markets and supermarket (6 Euro for Coffee, Laundry Washing Sheets, Milk, Biscuits x 3, Butter, Deodarant)It was much fun trying to buy things from the labels. . It was a beautiful place but we visited on our coldest day of the trip so far (only to be outdone by Disneyland Paris day). We had planned on riding bikes around the town wall but we really enjoyed exploring the streets and shops.

The Tower in Lucca

The Church in Lucca

On leaving Lucca GPS didn't kick into gear straight away so we drove home through Pisa. It was very funny driving along the highway to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa out to the side. Went past Pisa airport where we were dropping Dobby off and timed our trip back. Our friends loaned us their Tom Tom and we downloaded the Italy maps. It was great and caused no major dramas. Driving around was easy but we did avoid the big cities, driving around Tuscany itself was very liberating. There was nowhere else on the trip that I felt I needed a car, but here it was essential. Parking was easy to find and not too expensive. Can imagine this being quite different in Summer.

We had decided to have a night in, enjoy a bottle of wine or two. The pasta was beautiful and the homemade sauce disappeared. It was nice to sit around in our PJ's for dinner. The kids played outside until it was too cold and then we all climbed into the big beautiful beds for the night.



Breakfast again and then off to San Gimignano. This was spectacular.

San Gimignano

There was a harpist playing in the gardens, and the streets were so clean. It is known as the medieval Manhattan having over 70 towers in its prime. Each family built a tower bigger than the last as a sign of power. We found a little bakery and got some bread to go with the rest of our pasta that we had bought yesterday and some desert and went back to the farm for a late lunch, to pack, and get ready to go back to the cousins restaurant for dinner for one last taste of the fine life.

The girls again swapped dishes from the last time we were here, can't remember about DH but I had tortellini with marscapone and walnuts. And yes it was more magnificent than it sounds. Finished with gelati for desert and an espresso. The food and hospitality of Luigi and his extended family was magical. Locally produced food, cooked with love to old family recipes can not be faulted.

Our last night at the farm presented us with this.

It felt like the sun was setting on a very special part of our holiday.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Another wonderful update. I'm interested in the driving thing. So had you and your husband driven in Europe before? I assume they drive on the right hand side? Or is it the same side as us?

The scenery looks amazing.

How long did it take you to drive from Rome to where you stayed in Tuscany? And how long did it take to drive to Lucca?

 

[areweindisneyyet]

All opinions expressed in this post are made with a severe case of Post Farm Depression. All travel party members suffered for 48 hours. Since returning to the farm was not an option for immediate cure we soldiered on.

We drove away from the farm with a heavy heart but determined to return for a month on our next visit.

We drove Dobby to Pisa Airport and said a fond farewell. Dobby did good. We caught a cab into Pisa straight to the tower. Now here is a point. There is a left luggage office at the train station and the website for the tower also stated that they had a left baggage area. I had booked a climb time for us to go to the top of the tower. We assumed we could drop our bags, have a quick walk around for an hour or so before our time and then head off to Florence. No, you can only leave bags 15 minutes before your designated climb time.

We were going to go to the station first, oh well. So I plonked with the bags on the steps of the church and DH and the girls went exploring. We had packed some morning tea which we ate and before we knew it we could finally drop off the bags in readiness for our climb time.

Off we went, it was so cold inside and the steps so worn. The marble was just amazing. DH and the kids got to the top, I made it to the level before and my knee was telling me stop now and I will get you back down, go further and the relationship is over. Still too many places to go for this to play up. The views were lovely.

Once we finished we took a cab straight to Pisa train station to catch a train to Florence. We grabbed some lunch here as we had an hour to wait. The train trip past quickly and on arrival in Florence we grabbed another cab to our hotel.

The hotel was on the Via Cavour halfway between the Duomo and the Accademia home to David. We were in Florence for two nights. As it was the last day of Cultural week we headed to Accademia to see David which was much bigger than I thought.

Not the real David, a sample.

We then wandered the streets to the Duomo, had a look at the shops.

Found a Disney Store. We had shopped in Rome, been to a little Disney store in Sorrento, but in the Florence Disney Store a miracle happened. We bought nothing. DH and checked his eyes, no Disney bags from his three girls. After checking our temperatures to see if we were he suggested we go back to the room for a little rest before heading out to dinner.

This is where we first noticed PFD (Post Farm Depression). There were too many people (not really), it smelt (we are in a city) and had lost our appetite (too many choices and how could they live up to our gluttony of the past four days).

We walked for 45 minutes past lots of lovely places to eat I am sure and yet we ended up in a family type place which the girls loved and we suffered through. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't the farm. Pathetic and self pitying I know. Stock standard Pizza and Beer and Hot Chips.

Breakfast the next morning was in the hotel which was not the farm, but we could freshly boil eggs which the girls loved. We went for a walk back to the Duomo, to Uffizzi, to the Ponte Vecchio, Pitti Palace and then back to a small piazza where they were having a food festival for morning tea. We visited the Sicily stand for custard filled pastries.

We then headed to the main market in Florence which was a treat looking at the cuts of meat, the different fruit and veg, flowers, cheeses. Just scrummy. DD1 loves dried apples and sultanas but she was stopped in her tracks by the variety of dried fruit. She made a huge pick and mix bag of strawberries, bananas, peach, pear... who can complain at that. We visited a Leonardo da Vinci exhibit where they had built some of his inventions from his plans that you could play with. We all had lots of fun turning, twisting and pulling. Then we visited a visiting exhibit on Anne Frank which was really moving and raised a lot of questions from our girls. DD1 read the book on the flight on the way home.

We shopped a little and by this stage the girls could smell a leather shop from 15 metres. By this stage we had five handbags on board. We booked train tickets to Venice for the following day. After much begging by the children they wanted to go back to the same restaurant as last night. Whatever keeps them happy I suppose?

A quick pack and we were ready to leave for Venice tomorrow.

 

[areweindisneyyet]

Another wonderful update. I'm interested in the driving thing. So had you and your husband driven in Europe before? I assume they drive on the right hand side? Or is it the same side as us?

The scenery looks amazing.

How long did it take you to drive from Rome to where you stayed in Tuscany? And how long did it take to drive to Lucca?

Hi Ms Shuttergirl

DH had driven in the States before. I found it really hard for the first few hours sitting in the normal driving seat with nothing in front of me, sitting on the edge of the road. Driving on the right side was for the most part fine as there was someone ahead and we kept thinking the driver in the middle, passenger on the outside. The GPS also helped by saying go right into the roundabout and take the 3rd exit for example.

From Rome to the farm which is about 7km from Volterra took 3.5 to 4 hours. To Lucca not going through Pisa took about 90 minutes and likewise back from Lucca to Pisa. San Gimignano was only half an hour or so. They were really comfortable day trips getting there around 10.30 or so and leaving by around 3. As the trip went on we were getting up around 7.30 for breakfast at 8 or 8.30. Also at the start we were eating dinner at around 6.30 and by the end 10pm. We became very European.

 

[areweindisneyyet]

Next stop Venice.

We walked back to the train station in Florence with the luggage. DD1 was awesome. Caught train to Venice which was about 2 hours. Amazing heading over the water to the Islands.

Off the train, we pulled out the instructions from the hotel on how to get there. The water buses depart from right opposite the train station. Worked out which to catch, it did tell us, just made sure we were in the right line. Cost 26 Euro to get to San Silvestro stop. The bus zig zags across the Grand Canal and is used by tourists and locals. Lots of fun. It felt very surreal to finally be here. Off the bus, following the vague instructions but they were really very good and made perfect sense when you were there.

Buzzed into the hotel. Now, ahead of us were around eight steps. We then turned 90 degrees and I told by DH that there were a lot of steps, he goes yeah yeah keep going, I tried reemphasizing the THERE ARE A LOT OF STAIRS

When he finally saw what I did, he asked Please go up and be sure this is where we need to take the bags. It was ... and they had lovely cold glasses of juice waiting for us all. But it was worth it. Our room was ready and this is what greeted us.

The owners of the hotel also own a restaurant so we decided to go there for lunch. The Bistrot di Venise. Oh My Lord! The Post Farm Depression was beginning to lift - there is still good food in Italy.

Not the clearest but the view from the table

Out came a complimentary serve of octopus with salad. DD1 and DH ate all the octopus and me the salad. We were served a beautiful bottle of wine and the girls had the normal peach iced tea. DH had arrowjack fish, me a ravioli with an ancient Venetian sauce, and the girls had a pomodoro pasta. There was no kids menu here. Well just amazing. By now I didn't care how much it was costing, I did not want the the meal to end so desert time.

DD1 had gelati which came in the most amazing glass bowl, we are in Venice. DD2 had a chocolate pudding with gelati, I had zabglione with the most amazing caramelised wafers that just exploded in the mouth and DH had a creme brulee. Oh, there is a heaven and it is in Italy.

We left with PFD lifted and smiles on our faces , straight into a gondolier. This was on the Venice list but for tomorrow but we were so on board we got.

Past our hotel

Just amazing. After our hour trip we walked to San Marco and back through the small calle to have a drink by the Canal and watch the world go by.

A perfect start to Venice. We checked the menu of a restaurant on the canal just down from our hotel which we were all set for but in the 45 minutes it took us to go up and get changed they changed the menu and everything we wanted wasn't there. Not the best but did not change our mood. The lights of Venice and the sounds from the canal were just great.

We got up the next morning and had breakfast in the hotel and then went exploring. We had mapped out a route through three districts but we had done it all by lunch so we headed through the next three districts. We watched school kids play, fish being gutted in the market place, fruit and veg being delivered by boat to restaurants. It was just wonderful. We shopped, we ate gelati, we sat and watched the world go by.

A truly wonderful city. It is our last day in Italy. Tomorrow we are off to Munich, before France and London and home. Half way through the trip. It does not feel rushed, nor slow, just perfectly paced. Still love Italy and will have to come back. What a shame.

 

[shushh]

I am so green with envy! Thank you for sharing your photos and your journey. I have a soft spot for Italy. Fell in love with it after my first visit when I was 21, and have loved it even more every time we've gone back. The farm looks absolutely divine. And Venice! Sigh...

Can you remind me again when you were there? I noticed that you were all mainly wearing short sleeved tops. We are trying to plan a return but trying to work out when to go. I want to avoid June/July/August but I don't want it to be too cold.

 

[areweindisneyyet]

Thanks Shussh

We were there in April and it was unseasonably warm. It was in the high 20's the whole time we were in Rome, the coldest two days were in Tuscany at 14 and Paris Disneyland - below 10.

We lugged a suitcase full of coats and jumpers and had to buy some extra T Shirts and some shorts. The average temp was meant to be around 13 to 15. Even at these temperatures it was a nice time to go. They were gearing up for the busy time but still not especially crowded anywhere. We have also been in Feb which was around 7 to 10 and I think I liked it even more then.

I am like you and prefer cold to hot. Bring on winter tomorrow I say.

 

[shushh]

Thanks for that! We are very likely to go to Europe next year and we are tossing up between September school hols and December. As much as we like the cold, I would like to go to Italy in warmer weather. The plus of September is that we could tack on a Greek Islands cruise... However, we have to take the children out of school again.

And how easy did you find the car rental process?

I forgot to comment on your great dedication to the Disney Stores. I love it!

 

[PrincessInOz]

You are making my job very easy to convince DH that our next holiday should be in Europe! Keep it coming.

I could easily spend 2 weeks at the farm and use it as a base to head round Tuscany.

I'm guessing that the Room with a View of the Ponte Rialto did not come cheap...but it seems so worth it from your pictures!

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Another great update. Wow, you will have us all booking trips and staying at that farm hahaha.

 

[areweindisneyyet]

I am totally in love with the place, I have to say. It has always been a dream to stay in a villa type accom in Tuscany somewhere. And I adore having someone recommend a place to me, that they loved. It gives me alot of confidence going in. Of course, TripAdvisor is the next best thing hehe.

A shame the website is all in italian though hahaha. Does he email in english ?

There should be somewhere to click en so it shows in English and yes he emails in English but with an Italian accent, my husband was going why are you reading with an Italian accent but the sentence structure just makes you. The couple who own the farm speak english well