Road Tripping to the Heart of Tuscany

The kids have two weeks for Spring Break, so we packed up the Passat and headed south to Italy for a week.  For this trip we decided on Tuscany and Venice, with the dream of finding some of that Tuscan Dolce Vita we hear so much about. 

From Ulm, it took us about ten hours (two extra hours due to heavy traffic on the mountain passes) to drive to San Gimignano, which is a small town south of Florence.  Since our last vacation was to Rome, I thought it would be a good idea to stay in the country somewhere so the kids would have space to explore, and I chose an agriturismo called Il Borghetto. 

The main building at Il Borghetto

The kids had lots of space to play and explore.

It was an absolutely beautiful villa set among olive groves and vineyards, and we were able to have an apartment with a private garden where we drank coffee in the morning while the kids climbed fig trees.   

 

Morning coffee and chess in the garden

I wish my fig bush was this big!

The owners offer dinner at the agriturismo a few nights per week, and we ate there twice during our visit.  The food was ridiculously delicious, and had us making all of those oohing/aahhing/groaning/moaning sounds associated with a fantastic meal.  I regret that I was not able to attend one of the weekly on-site cooking classes, because I would love to make food that good. 

 

Dinner at the agriturismo

 

From Il Borghetto, we made day trips into San Gimignano, Florence, Volterra, and Sienna.  While we enjoyed visiting these towns, hands-down we preferred to spend time at the resort.  If it had been warm enough to use the pool, we probably would have never left!

 

 

In coming posts I will share more pictures and stories from the trip.  Looking at all of these pictures reminds me how beautiful that area is, but to be honest, I never found that Zen feeling that one expects from a vacation.  I think that I tried to pack too much into one trip, and that we should have saved Venice for a separate trip.  We had been planning this as our last trip to Italy for a while so that we could explore some other areas in Germany and Europe, so I was trying to cram in as much as I could.  Hopefully I have learned my lesson, and will remember this in the future!

Reliving My Youth

Now and again, everyone wishes they could relive part of their youth.  Especially those summer days of carefree abandon.  Yes, those were the 'good-ole-days', but I also remember a lot of challenging and anxiety-ridden rites of passage.  When we moved to Germany, I did not expect to have the 'opportunity' to relive what was probably the most pivotal moment of my teenage years-having to get a driver's license. 

Example of a German driver's license.

The reciprocity of US-German driving licenses is a funny business.  Depending on which state a person recently moved from, they may have to take both the theoretical (written) exam and the driving exam, only the theoretical exam, or no exam at all!  Since we moved from North Carolina, Dan and I were required to take the theoretical exam only, and thankfully it is available in English.  However if we had moved from Wisconsin, we would have not had to take any exams, and only traded in our US license for a German one.  If we had moved from New York, we would have had to take the written and driving tests!   

New residents are required to get their new licenses within six months of moving to Germany (um, oops, we are almost at eight months!)  Going through the process of getting our new licenses was no easy task.  First, we were required to attend a six-hour long safety training, where we were the only attendees over the age of 20.  It was also all in German.  Then we were given a computer program, which simulated all of the possible test questions (over 1000!), and told to STUDY!  So, study we did.  I probably spend close to 40 hours of total study time. 

The part that made me feel like an anxiety-riddled teenager was the fact that I failed my first driving test when I was sixteen, just like I failed my first driving test in Germany!  And just like when I was sixteen, I cried my eyes out after leaving the examination building.  It was a moment of overwhelming emotion and unwarranted disappointment in my capabilities of living life as an expat.  Not to mention, I have been driving for 20 years, and consider myself to be a good and safe driver!  Of course, Dan passed his test the first attempt, which twisted the knife a bit! 

Two weeks later and after hours of additional study time, I went to take the exam again, and I PASSED!  Whew!  Now we have officially taken care of all our new-resident responsibilities, and can move on to other things, such as out trip to Tuscany next week!  I guess I should also finally sign up for some German classes...