Wanderlust! The Adventure Continues!: Tuscany, The Eternal City and Eternal Travel Truths

Happy Independence Day my fellow Americans! It's the fourth of July, the sun is shining here in Germany, and we're back from our Italian Blitz...It's great to be alive! Time to light the grill as well as some fireworks today.

So, our last hurrah here in Europe took place in the land of vespas and pasta. Our travels took us to Tuscany (including Pisa, Lucca, Tireannia, and Camp Darby) and Rome, the Eternal City.

One of the highlights included a wonderful dinner in the heart of Rome. Keep in mind that leading up to this dinner, our Italian culinary experience had been super disappointing. Overpriced food that tasted like crap was pretty much the norm. And then we found an inviting ristorante while wondering the streets near the Piazza Del Poppolo in Central Rome. It didn't look like anything extraordinary from the outside but it definitely had character. As we sat under an umbrella and began to feast on our pasta, we were amazed! Not only was the food unbelievable but the kids behaved and the weather cooled off significantly. Oh, did I mention the wine? I had the best vino rosso I've ever had!

We also had a blast in the Tuscan town of Lucca. This place is off the map of many foreigners which made it that much better for us. It really had an authenticity about it which was such a welcomed contrast to tourist trampled Pisa. We decided to set off on bikes and pedal the city walls. Later on we headed to the Piazza San Michelle (Saint Michael Square) and do what Italians do best: peoplewatch. From what I read, Italians head to the town square for nearly every reason. Need to get the latest gossip? Head to the piazza. Need to check out the ladies/fellas in their latest clothes? Head to the piazza. Need to take a hit out on your enemy? Head to the piazza. For Luke, the piazza was a place to pick up chicks. As you can see in the pix, a couple of Italian cuties had their sights set on our little guy.

Another high point was the American Beach in Tirhennia which is just west of the American Army base at Camp Darby. Of all the beaches we visited, this was most like a SoCal beach anywhere in Europe. It was hard to leave. If I were to have done it all over again, I probably would have skipped everything else and hung out at this beach all week. The kids loved it and so did mom and dad. It's hard to please everyone but the beach does it to us every time.

Okay, so we had some good times on this trip. That being said, this trip was ROUGH! Between insane Italian pace, the searing heat, the tricky logistics, the blown budget, etc, etc, we were glad to be home when our plane landed at Frankfurt Hahn early this morning. But the biggest struggle we encountered was traveling with our little ones. This reinforced one of the enduring travel truths: Travel with small kids is tough business! Every day they get older, travel becomes that much more difficult. It was easier for them and us when they were smaller and easier to cart around/entertain/feed/please/etc. My parents definitely learned this enduring truth a long time ago. I remember my parents took my brothers and I on a six state, Western US tour-de-force when we were all really young. A few years ago they told me what a pain in the butt that trip was and I think they vowed never to do it again. I can now relate after this trip!

Don't get me wrong, I know how lucky we are. We have two wonderful kids who put up with three years (a little less for baby Luke) of hard-core European travel. Now that they are getting older we find ourselves transitioning to a new, more stable lifestyle in San Antonio. I am convinced that this will be better for all of us. The timing couldn't be better. Julia is going to Kindergarten next year and Jen is planning to return to work while we're in SA. Gone are the days of visiting a new village/city/country every weekend. It's been fun but we anticipate a lot of exciting weekends chillaxing in our backyard with our little ones as we set up shop in the Alamo City.

Here are some pix from our trip: