Italy 2015 - Part 3 - Around Lucca and Susan's Night Out

Monday, June 15, 2015

With Susan needing to rest her foot for a few days (at least), we stayed close to home...

...figuring out the laundry set-up...

...and getting more food from the grocery (it didn't hurt that we could also eat there).

That afternoon, Mom, Max and I checked out the nearby cemetery...

...and took advantage of a walking trail...

...to see the great views from above.

When we got back, Max and I found a snack in the fridge...

...and I was a little surprised he liked it as much as he did.

That evening, I decided to cook a squid I got from the market

...and it helped compliment dinner.  

For dessert, we went out to a gelateria/bar...

  ...with critters for Max...     ...and some great looking desserts.     We decided on a selection of gelato before calling it a night.    *************************   Tuesday, June 16, 2015     Our morning had a slow start, thanks to work they were doing on an electrical line.   With no power...   ...we had no hot water...   ...we couldn't get out of the gate...     ...and this alarm started going off.   Fortunately, someone came to the house to help me understand how to get out of the gate.   I went ahead and took a cold shower and we loaded up the car, leaving poor Susan behind to listen to the alarm go off until 1 pm.     We went back to Lucca where Max met the "white man" - someone he would ask through the rest of the trip (in a frightened sort of way).   Meanwhile, the carrousel was missing!   Where did it go?       We got some lunch (this is a cuttlefish salad)...     ...found the carrousel's new location...     ...and then headed back to the villa.  

That evening...

 ...Julia and I had a romantic evening out.

We dined at Gli Orti Ristorante...     ...where we enjoyed salads...     ...appetizers (anchovy, butter)...     ...and delicious main courses (rabbit).     We finished the evening with a lovely walk through town.   *************************    Wednesday, June 17, 2015     After a delicious plate of eggs, artichoke and ham...     ...we were off to Lucca once again.  

Mom and Julia went one way...

  ...while Max and I decided to climb the Guinigi Tower...     ...meaning that I actually CARRIED him up and down the tower...     ...but he seemed to really enjoy it.      I did too.     The top of the tower is interesting in itself, as it has a garden area to enjoy...     ...making the views just a wee bit more enjoyable.     Max and I continued to stroll around town before meeting Julia and Mom for lunch.  

We ate at Ammodonostro...

  ...where we got sweet red pepper pudding on cheese sauce...     ...seafood lasagna...     ...rabbit terrine with walnut bread...     ...and some lamb ribs with garlic sauce.     We grabbed gelato for dessert where Max nabbed my ice cream in exchange for his...     ...and we may have gotten some chips.     After a quick ride (or two) on the carrousel...     ...we walked a bit of the wall that surrounds historic Lucca...     ...and it was helpful to burn off lunch...     ...ice cream and the chips.  

That evening, we got Susan out of the house...

  ...and ate at La Griglia del Mare...     ...where Susan and Mom enjoyed the sea bass...     ...Julia got some lobster-stuffed black ink ravioli...     ...and I got this incredible fried seafood plate topped with fried veggies.   Delicious!     Max was also entertained by the whimsical kitchen staff who didn't hesitate to grab a fish and swim it through the air.     Before bed...I may have gotten into even more chips.

Italy 2015 - Part 2 - "Breaking" in the Villa

 Saturday, June 13, 2015

 For our first full day in Lucca, we went into town and Max got to taste his first meringue.

 We were told to have lunch at Trattoria da Leo and I got this delicious boiled tongue and beef with green (parsley, caper, garlic) sauce...

 

...Mom and Susan got vitello tonnato...

 

 ...and there were some rather flavorful eggplant pieces.

 Max was just happy that he got to ride the carrousel before we headed back to the villa.

 That evening, I made some stuffed zucchini flowers that were accompanied with zucchini, prosciutto and salad...

 ...and poor Max fell asleep a bit early while watching a program on the IPad.

During dinner, there was another unfortunate occurrence.  When Susan headed to the kitchen to get something, she missed a step in the hallway and fell, hitting the top of her foot in the process.

Her foot swelled immediately and there was talk about going to the emergency room, but it was clear that she didn't want to.

We decided to wait and see how things were in the morning.

*************************

Sunday, June 14, 2015

 

Max woke up early and needed some juice to function.

 I, on the other hand, needed some eggs.

Susan got up and her foot was still swollen, causing pain each time she put pressure on it.

Finally, I convinced her and Julia to go to the Emergency Room...

 ...so off we went to get checked out by a doctor.

 Now allow me to say here that the visit wasn't all that much fun (surprise!).

Possibly due to the fact that it was a Sunday afternoon, we were here for 6 hours in order to...

...see the doctor to order the X-rays

...get the X-rays

...see the doctor again for the results of the X-ray (only I was allowed in because they didn't speak English very well)

...get the bandages

...check out

 But, even though it wasn't pleasant...

 ...we did end up learning that she had fractures in 3 metatarsals and needed to be bandaged (we also had to get her a boot)...

...and it only cost $124 in taxes for everything.

 So not really a horrible experience.

I even got to help out a German couple by being the English/Italian translator.

When we got home around 9 pm or so, my mom cooked us some grub and we had a very restful sleep.

Italy 2015 - Part 1 - the Arrival

This year, we decided to get Max his passport...

...and set off to Italy with our moms.

We wanted Max to get some exposure to the Italian language while meeting Italian friends and family.

The plan was as such - fly into Milan, rent a car and drive down to Lucca where we rented a villa.  After about 2 weeks, we would go back to Milan, send the moms back to the US and then continue on to Padua and Venice for a few nights before returning.

For these posts, I'll keep things pretty chronological, breaking the posts up and marking each date change.  Even after only a few days, it's starting to get jumbled together in my head, so doing it this way will help me just as much as it will help you when reading it.

*************************

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Departure from Cleveland via Newark.  Max fortunately fell asleep for 4 hours.

Thursday, June 11, 2015

This small amount of sleep was helpful since our hotel rooms for the first night weren't ready when we arrived.

He entertained us in the airport...

...and we all tried to distract ourselves with scattered artistic pieces.

When the room was ready, we slept for 2 hours and slowly woke ourselves up for the rest of the day.

Later that evening, cousins Nino and Rosalba stopped by the hotel to say hello.

We chatted with them a bit...

...before eating a picturesque (yet mediocre) meal at the hotel and going to bed.

*************************

Friday, June 12, 2015

The kind people at Hertz gave me an Audi that fortunately had just enough room to fit our luggage.

We arrived at our villa in Lucca...

...where we could cook...

...lounge...

...sleep...

...and enjoy the outside.

 

Outside is where we met Bombay the cat...

 

 ...our house toad...

 ...and an occasional snail.

After a bit of settling in, we took off to the store...

...nabbing some zucchini flowers...

 

 ...and some interesting octopus slices...

...and prepared a nice picnic dinner for our first night in Lucca.

told at Deagan's with the Ohio Blogging Association

 

Last night, OBA (Ohio Blogging Association) bloggers met at Deagan's in Lakewood, where I got to enjoy a magical dish of duck confit with root vegetables...

 

 ...and participate in our own private show of told CLE.

Operated by Dave Sobol, told is...

...a live storytelling event in Cleveland, Ohio. At each live show, featured storytellers and audience members take the stage to tell a story around the evening’s theme. (from told CLE website).

At the event, the following bloggers were present...

Jill Grunenwald - theyearofthephoenix.com

Holly Hammersmith - hollyhammersmith.com

Jessie Schoonover - blog.beessential.com

David Cunix - againreally.com

Julie and Stuart Smith - sosassociates.com

Alicia Hansen - poiseinparma.com

Michelle Bibb and Ulfet Ozyabagligil - cvilfoodlab.com and chefs-garden.com

Jen Rome - whycle.wordpress.com

 

 ...and many of us took turns telling interesting tales.

It was great seeing everyone, meeting new friends, eating some fan-tas-tic duck, and hearing some great tales!

If you've never been at a told event, I seriously recommend it.  

Public speaking has never been so much fun!