Italia!

We play the "what has been your favorite trip since moving to London" game quite a bit.... and after this past weekend I have a new answer. Norway has been dethroned. My trip to Tuscany was literally the best weekend I've had since moving here (as Mom likes to point out, I know I say that a lot, but this time I really mean it).

Flying over the Alps on the way down - beautiful!

We landed in Florence and decided to take in a few sights before driving to our villa. Duomo with gorgeous blue skies as the backdrop. (London winters teach you not to take something as simple as blue skies for granted!)

Megan's co-worker recommended Il Italia to us (he knows the owner). We got the royal treatment from Nino (the owner) who ordered for us and gave us free wine and free dessert. Such a fun start to our weekend!

Look what I found, Dad!

We drove about an hour to where we were staying - love this picture of Hannah taking a picture of the signs that lead to the various villas. Our swas Barbena (about a 15 minute drive through the forest from the entrance).

First thing we see upon arrival... ahhhhh.

After we got settled, Megan cooked us a steak dinner! Delish.

My bedroom - adorable.

The next morning we headed to Siena... LOVE this shot of Megan and Louise walking the cute streets of Siena. Thanks Instagram.

Group shot - right before climbing the tower that's behind us in this pic

Another one from another angle...

Mid climb

Aerial views from the top - so beautiful

Megan and Louise still climbing...

Yay :)

After we descended we grabbed pizza and ate it in the sun with all the locals...

GELATO!!! Oh, the gelato. Oh I could just die from happiness.

When we got back from Siena, a local chef (Lisa) came to our villa to give us a cooking lesson and cook an authentic Italian meal for us. Just getting set up...

Yay for camera timers

We all got involved...

Lisa was unbelievable. This is us watching in awe...

The most amazing artichokes in the world

Homemade tiramisu in the making...

Making the ravioli (FROM SCRACTH)

I am salivating just looking at this picture. I can't get over how unbelievable the meal she made for us was.

We all went to bed in a food coma...
Next day we headed to a nearby winery for a tour

These barrels were enormous!

Wine tasting room!

Outside views from the winery

View from the drive home...

On our way home from the winery we stopped in a tiny little town for lunch and to buy groceries for dinner.

Our lunch spot! Could it GET any cuter?

Back at home, and inspired from our lesson with Lisa, we attempted to make pizza from scratch. We had a slight mishap with the dough (using a block of live yeast for the first time) - lol look at the mess. 

But Louise and Megan salvaged it. When Hannah and I finished a movie, we came outside to this!

2 masterpieces cooking in the wood-burning oven!

The 2 who get all the credit for Sunday night's amazing dinner!

On Monday we headed back to Florence to catch our flight home... we made sure to see what we didn't have time for on Friday - the Ponteveccio  (sp?)

Soaking in the last few hours of Tuscany bliss...

So thankful for this amazing weekend away during busy season... getting to go on trips like this makes it all totally worth it!