Laura's Villa

     The Good Flea has requested I tell you about my trip to Italy.   Nooooooo - this is not one of those boring "let me show you my thousands of pictures" albums.  I'll only show a snippet or two at a time.  Promise!

      Two years ago, my sister and her husband, gave me the Christmas gift of a lifetime - a two week trip with them to Italy.  The best part of the whole adventure was having time to visit with them. They live in Atlanta, GA; so we don't see each other very often.

      We flew Delta via Air France from Atlanta to Paris and on to Florence.  There they had reserved a half of a villa as HQ for the visit.



      The owner was a very patrician lady named Laura.  She spoke a little English.  So with the help of our phone translator apps, we got along quite well.  She was still living in her half and was a most gracious hostess.  She left us fruit, espresso, and even a meal of sauteed zucchini.  We later found out she had cooked it in her own homemade olive oil from the trees in her yard.  That blew my mind. Then she left us on our own while she went on vacation to her other villa on the Riviera.

Olive tree in Laura's yard.

My room with mosquito netting.  This is part of a kitchenette.  The doors are also used as windows.  I never saw screens anywhere we went.  Open air is their Thing.  

Our rooms are on the left.  And, yes, that is a grapevine with yummy grapes overhead.  The garage housed the washer and drier.  They advertised these amenities, but, hey,  in true Italian style, it was not taken too seriously.  

 The drier didn't work, (but by golly it was there), so we had to hang clothes out to dry.  Wouldn't have been so bad had it not been the only day it rained.

And this is the street from the villa to the main drag to catch the bus downtown.  Barely enough room for one car much less two.

     Staying in Laura's home sure beat hotel living.  It was a retreat in the middle of the big city that gave the effect of country living - so peaceful.  

     We were sightseeing in Florence, Pisa, Venice, and Rome.  After I flew home, they stayed on to visit other cities.  So that's all folks.  Will share more later.

Have a wonderful week,

Kareen