In our 2018 Financial and Travel Objectives blog post, we jotted down on nr 3″Plan and relax two weeks somewhere in the world with the family for a SUMMER vacation”. During the year, after paying ourselves first in our investment portfolio, we set aside month after month vacation money (Layer 3 in our Financial Strategy – Saving for specific goals)
This year we decided not to travel to France but to travel to Italy. A country that I have never visited as a tourist. It would be the first time for the complete family to visit Italy.
Our Vacation Home
My favorite search starts normally at the website Home-Away.nl where I use the advanced filters to downsize the numbers of vacation locations. This year was different as this website only seems to be popular for houses in France. For houses in Italy it was not a good option. In November 2017 I searched at the Airbnb.com for the perfect holiday location in Tuscany. I came across the below beautiful rental house of Rodolfo and Leana. If you want to check out the house and location, you can click this AirBnB link.
The house is located in Chiozza. The house is located in the Tuscan mountains in this beautiful village close to Pieve Fosciana. You can do all your shopping in the supermarkets in Pieve Fosciana. In Chiozza you have a delicious pizza restaurant where you can eat at the terrace. In Pieve Fosciana there’s also a great Italian restautant Il Pozzo where you can eat different types of food.
The owner of the house named Rodolfo was fantastic as he send us with Whatsapp the correct directions to the house. He even send us two videos on how to drive to the house when entering the village and where to find the light switches when entering the house. Everything was perfectly communicated.
During our stay Rodolfo and his wife came to meet us and explained the cleaning of the jacuzzi and swimming pool. The house had three big bedrooms and two bathrooms. The stone house kept the temperature in the house low and comfortable. The weather was sunny during the 14 days unless a heavy rainstorm showed up and the clouds opened up for two hours. Heavy winds, heavy rain changing in hagel, street changing in a river,… It happened twice during our stay at the house. An interesting experience !
The Route to Tuscany
On the 20th of July we headed to our vacation location but the trip to Tuscany was too far to drive in one day. So we decided to book one night at Annabelle’s house at Zimmersheim close to the Swiss border. AirBnB locations in Switzerland were all more expensive. After a 7 hour drive we arrived at the house of Annabelle’s family and the two families united during a joint BBQ.
We had a great evening and we did talk with a great bottle of red wine with Annabelle and Richard about our life and interests while the kids of the two families played together in the garden.
Next day we headed to Tuscany and got stuck in a traffic jam at the Gotthard Tunnel. We lost more than 1 hour there before we headed to the border of Italy. At the Italian border we lost another 1 hour as all cars need to pass a toll gate once you enter Italy. At the end we got stuck in a car accident traffic jam. After 10 hours we arrived finally at Pieve Fosciana where Rodolfo had reserved a table for us at the restaurant Il Pozzo. Thank God as the restaurant was completely full ! All the time Rodolfo wanted to know if we arrived safely at the restaurant and house. What a Super Host !
Highlights of our Vacation
After the long two days drive we started to relax at the swimming pool and jacuzzi. Then we made a plan where to go during the 14 days. Below you can read the cultural and relax activities that we did during our stay.
Visit of the city Lucca
Lucca is a very charming city, a stop that you can not really miss in a classic itinerary to the discovery of the region. The city can be visited in a day, but we visited it twice.
Most of the attractions in Lucca today show its ancient history: from the trace of the Roman amphitheater that can be seen in the shape of the Piazza dell’Anfiteatro to the archeological remains under the 12th century church of Saints Giovanni and Reparata (the first city cathedral, located just around the corner from the present-day cathedral of San Martino), to the various towers and villas from the 12th to 16th centuries.
Extraordinarily, as the city grew and modernized, the walls that surrounded the old town were maintained which was not the case for many other cities in Tuscany, including Florence. As the walls lost their military importance, the top of the walls became a pedestrian promenade, today one of Lucca’s main attractions. The area around the walls is well taken care of, with green grass and trees everywhere along the walls. They have in essence become a park that surrounds the city and blocks out more modern life. Here we did enjoy a bike ride around the entire perimeter of the city. That was a lot of fun !
It was also great to stroll through the small streets and discover the different areas of the city.
We visited the top attractions such as the Piazza of San Michele with its beautiful Church of San Michele in Foro, the Basilica of San Frediano as well as the Clock Tower and Guinigi Tower, to name just a few. We also visited the Puccini Museum and discovered the life and music contributions of Giacomo Puccini.
Visit of the city Florence
Yes, we know it’s impossible to condense all the things to do in Florence in a ONE day ! You need at least a couple of days to fully enjoy the city, visit most museums and neighbourhoods and to REALLY get the taste of the city, the vibes that locals breathe everyday! We wrote a separate blog post about our visit. Make sure you enjoy a dinner in the city to finish the night with an evening walk at below place.
City Break Report : The 5 Places We Visited in Florence
Visit of the city Pisa
The Leaning Tower has made Pisa famous all over the world. This world wonder was a MUST on our discovery list of the region. When you first arrive at the beautiful Square of Miracles (Piazza dei Miracoli), your sight will be captivated by the magnificent Tower. The square was full of tourists making pictures in all kind of poses with the tower. We did not climb up the tower which seems to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. No tickets available. Make your reservations weeks in advance.
Once we admired the Tower of Pisa from all angles, we continued our visit to the other monuments in the Piazza: the Cathedral and the Baptistery. Along the perimeter of the square, there is also the Cemetery, the Cathedral Museum and the Museum of the Synopses.
If you want to find out more about what to do in Pisa, visit the website of Tourism Pisa
A day at the Beach in Viareggio
A day at the beach was also on our list of relaxation. We chose the beach of Viareggio.
It is the foamy waves from the Tyrrhenian on one side and the stark white marble peaks of Massa Carrara on the other which give way for the nickname Pearl of the Tyrrhenian Sea. The access to the sea has always been one of the primary characteristics of Viareggio, causing most of its ups and downs throughout history. There are a little over 10km of sandy beaches between the private and public areas in this town along the coast of the Versilia though most of the public beaches are within the beautiful Parco Naturale Regionale Migliarino-San Rossore-Massaciuccoli.
We made a reservation at the Bagno Maurizio, a beach club where we reserved our sun umbrella spot with seats. You can also change clothes there and rent a separate locker cabin for your family. Maurizio was a superb host and gave us all practical information to enjoy our stay at the beach. We had a great swim in the sea and time spend at the beach.
For the website of Maurizio’s place, visit this website Bagno Maurizio . You can find all practical information (address and opening hours) there.
A Sunset Boat trip in Riomaggiore
To finish a family vacation, I always search for a once-in-a-lifetime experience. This time we booked a boat trip at the Cinque Terre coastline.
During this boat trip we were served with prosecco and focaccia. My wife and one of our sons were allowed to steer the boat in supervision of the captain. A lifetime experience for both ! We had a great evening which gave us a incredible sunset and lasting memories. If you want to read more about this experience, read this recent blog post
Kids Education : Spending Money on Experiences vs Things
Another experience we enjoyed a lot during our vacation, was the authentic pizza baking evening with a wood furnace with our neighbours. Our Italian neighbours baked 8 different pizzas for us and showed us how to create them and how to bake them. A great experience for the family !
Final Reflection
During this family summer vacation, we were able to relax and switch our mind off from work. We had a lot of relax days full of fun in the swimming pool of the house. That is the main goal of a vacation, right? We did not read any email on our phone. I can’t understand people who still read their emails from their company during vacations…how can you relax your mind?
Well, we enjoyed quality time with the family and combined cultural activities with relaxing days at the vacation home. In two weeks we were able to discover this Tuscany region and drive to any interesting spot as we wanted. We definitely want to return to Florence one day… We also did read in our books and did feed our mind with new knowledge… Here is the list of books we started to read…
My Vacation Books : feeding my mind…
We hoped you enjoyed your vacation too and gave you some inspiration for your next year’s vacation. In 2019 we are planning to book our honeymoon vacation. Let us know where we should go…give us your ideas where we should travel ! Thanks in advance ! As always we end with a quote…
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