Two Weeks!

We're working on the final touches to our itinerary; I'll post it later this week. Y'all will be soooo jealous!

In a major discovery (I must have been living under a rock), I have come to find out that Italy is about 10 pounds of shit in a five pound bag. There is so much to see, so much to do, so much to eat, that I don't think even Italians could ever see, do and eat it all...and I'll bet that those of you who have been to Italy will attest to this...can I get a "si, si!"?

In the last couple of days, we've laid out our trip day by day, tweaked it and made some new decisions...some of you will be disappointed that we're not going to Orvieto; some of you won't be surprised that we're planning a tour through the wine country (yeah, I know, it's pretty much all wine country.) But none of this trip would be possible without the sure and guiding hands of Roberto Torrini and Nicoletta Polla at LCDM Travel. So here's my blatant plug. If you are planning a trip to Italy, these are the folks you need to work with. They are located in Rome, even though Roberto is in California, and they work with operators and companies all over Italy. We gave them a general outline of what we were interested in doing, and they came back with a plan. Joe and I took their suggestions and objective input into consideration and we've ended up with a fabulous vacation that is sure to be amazing.

I talked to Roberto last week. I told him that we were pretty much solid on everything, but I wanted him to tell me his favorite restaurants; his favorite places. You know...that one little cafe that's down some narrow medieval street, behind a blue door that has the most amazing terrace or food or whatever. I took down two pages of notes...confirming my above suspicions...there's too much stuff to see and do in two weeks. I told him (jokingly) that I was learning Italian so that I could deal with a realtor, because...um...yeah...we're not coming back. Roberto told me that he, in fact, had his broker's license, but not to buy in Tuscany right now because it's overinflated. Anywhere else you can get for practically a song (I wondered which song. Hey! I can sing.).

And who would want to come back? Who wouldn't want to live in a villa surrounded by Cyprus trees and olive groves? I saw "Under the Tuscan Sun." Who wouldn't want to have neighbors down the way who's family has made a certain kind of cheese for the past 200 years and who will invite you to eat with them on a weekly basis? Who wouldn't want to be able to go into town and have a meal at a local trattoria that's been in business since the 1800s, making wine from their vineyards, just steps from their doorstep? Who wouldn't want to wake up in the morning and look out the window to see an achingly beautiful countryside, sleepy and bucolic? I'm telling you...every time I hear that Italian music, played on what I'm thinking is a concertina or a mandolin, it just makes me Never. Want. To. Work. Again. ...ever.

Roberto, I may be calling you!

Italian lesson for the day: Quanto è la villa sulla collina? Quan-toe ay la villa soo-la co-leena? (How much is the villa on the hill?)

Ciao.