Tuscany

hiyaaa everyone- annie here (surprising, i know). I am blogging to inform ya'll about our past weekend in roma. well actually, it wasn't in roma. On friday morning, Diana, our mom, invited rachel and i to go to her country house for the weekend . Honestly we were torn: stay in roma to eat, play, and hang out with raggazze OR go to tuscany with our italian rents and frolic in the hills like julie andrews in the sound of music? Guess which one we picked? (heres a hint: The hilllsss are aliveeee with the sound of music). yep, you guessed it: countryside. Rachel and I packed our goodies and bid farewell to the eternal city. The car ride was a bit uncomfortable seeing as we had to stuff our suitcases (come on, we are girls, we always overpack) into the mini Euro cars that barely leave enough room for your feet, let alone 4 bags. Anyways, off we go to Tuscany to spend a weekend with Italians. We pull up to the most quaint little house that I have ever seen- it was surrounded by vineyards ( i got to try their wine!) and trees of every imaginable kind of fruit. One quick glance past the house and I saw the greenest hills that seemed to stretch for miles and miles.  I knew that i had officially found paradise (or my retirement community at least). Diana and Ludovico's house was so perfect: complete with a mini Italian kitchen, dining area, two bedrooms and a bathroom. Ludo, needing to assert his manliness, immediately hopped on the lawnmower, while the gals headed off to the nearest town, aquapendente. We walked around, smelling scents of Italian goodness that i hope my nose never forgets. That night we cooked dinner of ravioli, salad, and pizza.After devouring dinner, we embarked on a journey of card games while listening to the Beatles greatest hits (is this heaven or what?). Diana and Ludo taught us a famous Italian card game that we will most assuredly bring back to the states. Saturday we hit the streets for a tour of tuscany. We drove through ancient medieval towns built into the rocks. We stopped in Savona, a quaint Tuscan town that is something out of a movie. That night we cooked dinner again and finished our card duel. The previous night, Diana and I dominated but luck was not on our side this night. Rachel and Ludo came back with avengence and killed us. Sunday we woke up, hit an outdoor market in aquapendente and then headed over to diana's friends house, Cristiana, for an italian lunch. Cristiana lives in the middle of paradise and heaven- her house is HUGE and she has the most incredible panorama of the Tuscan countryside. After peeling our eyes away from the incredible scenery, we noticed that 4 other Italian couples had arrived for lunch. we had no idea how we got ourselves into this- 2 americans and 10 Italians? This was not going to be easy- we met everyone and they tried to speak english but of course 2 minutes into the convo it was solo italiano. I wish i could count the number of blank stares we received during that long lunch...we eventually just started smiling and nodding. Diana and Ludo also acted as translators when things got really rough. Despite the language barrier, we enjoyed a true Italian meal: it lasted 3 hours and included pasta, some meat, 2 omelets, salad, rice salad, bread, cheese, and 2 different desserts. I felt like a roley poley afterwards. We ciao-ed our way outta there and hit the road for Roma- stuffed and satisfied. Overall, it was a wonderful weekend, full of unbelievable scenery and nice Italianos. Italy never disappoints...until next time- ciao my loves.