For the first few hours of the drive we all just sat in quiet awe of our surroundings. Or maybe some of us were just praying for coffee to drop from the sky? No? That was just me? Either way, I absolutely can not put into words how stunning watching the sun come up in the alps was. I tried unsuccessfully to capture how beautifully the light was reflecting all around us and failed miserably. I think that is the universe's way of ensuring that if you're ever given the opportunity to drive through this part of the world you take it.
I love myself some trees.
Is Houston getting mountains any time soon? I'd prob take these over the H&M. (It's a close call though).
Sunflares for you Jen.
Around 7 am, just as we crossed the Italin border, we finally came across a gas station that appeared open AND big enough to actually have palatable coffee. Win/win! The caffeine and chocolate croissant fixes were much needed as the millions of tunnels we had to maneveur through to cross the alps were starting to lull us to sleep.
And I thought I'd never find myself wanting to live across from a gas station... Never say never my friends.
So recently Jonathan has adopted an alter-ego he refers to as Karate Mc. An Agip espresso helped Ryan to discover his own - KarMar.
Karate Kid Mc?
After our morning pick-me-up we hit the roads again with a renewed zest for cross-country travel. DJ KarMar & DJ Magical Mel pumped up the volume and spun some fun tunes. The endorphins were flowing so freely that we NEARLY forgot that we were paying approximately $100 in tolls. $110 in tolls after an unfortunate misunderstanding of exit signs on our fearless leader's part. At one point in this leg of the journey I remember looking around me - having a dance/karaoke party in a car with our wonderful friends staring a pristine mountain in the face- and thinking that I was smack in the middle of one of life's absolutely perfect moments. Complete bliss.
The road goes on forever and the dance party never ends.
Don't go chasing waterfalls. (Landscapes make me think of songs, apparently).
Perfection.
I think this mini forest is the trees knees. (Did you really think I'd make it a whole post without a caption pun?!)
Around 12:30 or 1:00 we finally arrived at our hotel in Florence, the Villa Cora. L-O-V-E. Melanie found this hotel online and we were all smitten with it at first (web)site. It was slightly more expensive than your run of the mill LaQuinta; but most hotels in Europe are so we figured why the heck not? When in Rome Florence, right? Plus, since we were there outside of peak tourist season we were able to score a pretty good deal. The moment we stepped in the front door we realized it was probably the best decision any of us made in the past 2 years. (Marriages included, childbirths excluded.)
The front of the main building. Ryan & I's room was in this one.
The front of the smaller building. This is where Mel, Yanny & Jake's abode was.
View of the grounds looking out at the pool. The smaller building is to the right.
I adore whatever this plant is. If one day you come over to our house and I've commissioned a muralist to paint it all over the side- don't be shocked.
Entry way to the main building.
One of 3 dining rooms on the first floor of the main building.
Beautiful parlor on the first floor of the main building.
Incredible sitting area on the first floor of the main building.
Ryan & I's room was on the 2nd floor of the main building. The original owner dedicated this floor to his wife. He chose a rose theme because it was her favorite flower. As you can see, he was committed to the cause.
I loved this beautiful desk & chair in our room. Should have taken a bigger suitcase.
Following my obsessive photoshoot (this is actually not all the pictures I took, if you can believe that) - our stomachs demanded that we find some food. Ryan & Jonathan were charged with asking the concierge for a destination and directions. In hindsight we should have thought twice about this but apparently Melanie & I were intoxicated on paradise air.
Follow me or I'll tell everyone what awful singers you guys are.
Ryan, Jonathan, Jake & Melanie popping a squat just inside the gate to the city.
Reviewing the map after getting us lost. Apparently someone's "feel" hadn't been calibrated for Italy.
Palazzo Pitti. We were in search of a place called Cafe Pitti and we knew that if we found the palace the cafe must be nearby. I know nothing about this bad boy. I could tell you far more about the gnocchi at Cafe Pitti.
Tell me they aren't the cutest.
Feed me, Seymour!
The food at Cafe Pitti was delicious. The only thing that makes Italian food better is enjoying it as the experience they mean for it to be. We each had 3 courses for lunch and split a bottle of wine. We skipped dessert because we passed a few gelato places on the way that were just begging for our euros. Post lunch we decided to head back to the hotel to enjoy some of those enticing ammenities since we knew our other days in Florence were too jam-packed to squeeze them in.
Pondering deep things. Like what Billy Gillespie is doing RIGHT NOW.
I love this picture. I want this on your mantle when you come home, guys.
Ryan: Jonathan, do you want to get some beer for our walk back to the hotel? Me: Umm... I don't know if you can just walk around drinking here. Ryan: If you don't know the law, you can't get in trouble. (P.S. They did ask and someone told us it was legal... regardless of whether it was just a sales tactic or not, we went with it).
Our walk back to the hotel.
Jake had a little diva moment and demanded that he be carried over the threshhold. (Okay, maybe it was the cobblestone. Whatever.)
Upon our arrival back to the hotel we made a beeline for the pool. The weather was so perfect that it would have been criminal not to. While sitting outside, the wonderful maitre d at the restaurant, Sandro, talked us into getting a bottle of wine. He realllly had to twist our arm, of course.
Can I get some space, paparazzi? Trying to get a little construction done here.
So VIP.
Once we finished our bottle of wine at the pool we decided to search out the hot tub. We heard a rumor somewhere that there was one on the premises. The McMartin clan is not one to pass on a good hot tub opportunity - particularly when it doesn't require a "tool" (read: screwdriver) for Jonathan to "fix" (read: kick). After a little "jacuzzi" versus "ya-cuzzi" lesson from the locals we eventually found our way to the promise land of bubble jets. We spent a solid hour or so helping Jake "swim" and watching Ryan run back and forth between a scented "breeze" shower and the hot tub. Anyone watching would have questioned who the child in the party was if it weren't for the height discrepancy. Eventually we realized we were getting tired and if we didn't make our move to find dinner- we would miss out on another opportunity to grub on some pasta. Obviously not acceptable.
To avoid any directional challenges and because quite frankly we were exhausted- we opted to eat dinner at the restaurant by the pool. Once again we were spoiled with multiple courses. Everyone had the pasta special which was far more delicious than we expected. By the end of the meal we were all dangerously close to face planting in a bowl of pasta. A clear indication that we needed to put ourselves to bed. So we paid our bill and retired to our rooms to rest up for our tour on Sunday. Incredible, incredible day.
A view of the pool and the main building at night. We ate on the patio overlooking the pool.
Up next- Cinque Terre tour!
No comments:
Post a Comment