I’m not even sure where to begin to describe my trip up
north. I do think the
pictures do a pretty good job of telling the story so this post is mostly
pictures. I've updated my photo links at the top of the page as
well.
A little back story for this part of the trip...
our friend from Denver, Colin Bunker, decided a few months back that it would
be pretty amazing to see Andrea Bocelli perform a concert in Teatro del Silenzio.
This is an incredible natural amphitheater carved into the beautiful
backdrop of the hills of Lajatico, Tuscany, where Andrea Bocelli was born.
Colin currently lives in Australia and being so far away from his friends
and family has given him reason to travel as much as possible while he's there.
He came across information on this concert, reserved a handful of
tickets, found an incredible villa nearby and invited a group of his friends to
join him. I will never be able to thank him enough for organizing and
basically hosting one of the most incredible trips I will ever have the
opportunity to go on. Grazie mille Bunker!!
The group of people could not have been more
perfect. Sometimes you never know how well different crowds will mix, but
to me it felt like we had all been friends for years. The group
included: RJ (Colin's friend from Santa Clara) and Fernanda, RJ's wife
(American and Brazilian and currently living in Switzerland), Bobby, (Colin's friend from Santa Clara), Joanna (Bobby's soon to be wife) and their GORGEOUS baby Laura (Polish and
German, currently in Munich, Germany), Max, Colin (currently in Australia),
Ashley and Evan (grew up with Colin, currently in Denver), me, Sadie (grew up
with Colin, currently in Denver) and Claudio (Colin's friend from Santa Clara,
Italian, currently in NYC).
Our leg of the trip started with Sadie and I
taking the train up from Rome to Firenze to meet up with Bunker. We
picked a random cafe in the middle of Florence and somehow Bunker found us
right on time. We explored the city a bit and met up with Claudio on Ponte Vecchio. I received a recommendation
from one of Rita's friends about this restaurant we had to visit in
Florence so after a few texts with a woman, Elisa, whom I'll never meet, we
found the restaurant and enjoyed some delicious pasta and wine and
crossed our fingers Max would find the restaurant based on an email I sent him
the day before. He too arrived just on time - finally, something was
going as planned! We then loaded into the car and took off to the Villa
in Montaione, Tuscany.
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| Ponte Vecchio, Firenze |
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| Driving to the Villa, Montaione, Tuscany |
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| Villa Fignano, Montaione, Tuscany |
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| La piscina at Villa Fignano, Montaione |
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| Baby Laura!! Quite possibly my favorite baby of all time. She was ALWAYS this happy. |
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The band! RJ and Fernanda (American and Brazilian, currently in Switzerland), Joanna and Bobby (Polish and German, currently in Munich, Germany), Max (Denver), Colin Bunker (currently in Australia), Ashley and Evan (Denver), me (currently in Rome), Sadie (Denver) and Claudio (Italian, currently in NYC).
Clearly the Villa was pretty incredible. There were
fields and vineyards for miles. These are just a few pictures of the
area surrounding our villa. When you didn't feel like walking around or
taking one of the car tours, the beautiful swimming pool was readily available
and where we spent most of our mornings and evenings.
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| How most of our mornings and evenings were spent - by the piscina. |
Each day our incredible team drivers, Colin and Bobby, would
take a few groups out to nearby towns to explore. Colin was on the
lookout for sunflower fields for me and we made a special stop at the one in
the pictures below. How can you not smile when you see those fields?
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| Overlooking Tuscany from Montaione |
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| Driving to San Gimignano, Tuscany. We had to stop every few miles to take pictures. |
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| San Gimignano had incredible statues throughout the village. I loved this guy. |
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| Wine tasting at the nearby vineyards. |
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| Wine tasting at the nearby vineyards.
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At night we would either cook at the villa or venture out to
a nearby restaurant recommended by one of the locals we met. We would all
sit back and let Claudio order the 5-course meal and enjoy every bit of it.
The mix of atmosphere, location, food, wine, conversation and company
made these some of my favorite moments of my time here in Italia.
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| I love this picture of Ashley. |
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| Some of the nights ended with a dance party back at the Villa... obviously. |
Bocelli Concert
The drive to Lajatico insanely beautiful. We were a crew of 11 plus a baby, so every time the whole crew went along, a few people had to be "trunk people" for rides.
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| Train of cars driving to the amphitheater. |
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| This was Ashley and Evan's turn being trunk people. |
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| Tailgating with wine and cheese before the concert. Keeping it classy. |
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| Some of the most incredible views I've ever seen. |
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| This theater was built for Bocelli and these concerts - such an incredible sight to see. |
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| Such a special moment. Bobby out in the field rocking Laura to sleep. |
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| This went on for miles and miles. I'm unable to put into words the beauty of this place. |
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| The concert begins! |
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| Incredible! |
None of
us knew what to expect, but I have to say that I believe every one of us were
blown away by this experience. The talent of Bocelli and those he
performed with, the venue and surrounding area, and the company of great
friends made this an unforgettable night.
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and we all had
to go our separate ways. Bobby and Joanna graciously offered to drop team
Sadie, Ali and Max off in Lucca on their way. Bobby somehow managed to fit 5 people, a baby in her child's seat and
all of our luggage into this car. I'm still amazed.
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| German efficiency at it's best! |
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| The band is breaking up. Our last day at the Villa! |
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