A quick round up..

We are having a quiet rest day today so we thought we’d compose a story for you about Italy (in between going to our pool for a swim and sunbake). We are having the best time. You know we flew in to Milan and in the last week and a half have been to Florence, Impruneta, Pisa, Riccione, San Gimagnano and Greve and all around the countryside to little villages and towns. We are going to Siena on Friday.

We are now staying at Il Paganello farmhouse villa. It is a farm in the middle of the Tuscany region of Italy further south of Florence (about 40kms away) than the last place we stayed. It is between Florence and Siena. The farm is a working winery and olive oil producing farm. Our local town is Tarvanelle Val de zPesa about 3 kms away. (We are going to the local markets there tomorrow). Our villa apartment is very luxurious inside a very rustic heritage listed farm building. It used to be an old monastery for monks up until 200 years ago. Our bedroom is separated from mum and dads by a long elevated hallway which you step up to and then down. We have a long balcony overlooking the courtyard and surrounding valleys and hills. We have a great pool area with panoramic views across the wine tree covered valley and to other farmhouses and castles.

The weather has been fabulous, hot and sunny every day. About 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit which they say here). We have been for drives around the countryside and seen how little villages spring up all over, often around historic castles or large farmhouses. Very often these are on top of hills. This is because in medieval times there were often wars and battles between regions and being high up allowed them to see all around and to fight from a more commanding position. The countryside is beautiful, lots of wineries and olive farms, forest areas and it is very green. It snows here in winter sometimes. The roads are very narrow and winding but there are a few wider roads which we use sometimes when wanting to travel a bit faster. Sometimes through the mountains and through little villages the road is only one car wide. In the villages the old houses are along the edge of the road with their doors opening straight onto the road. Paige asked how do we speak to the Italian people in conversation like when we are at the shops. So far in Italy we have tried to use the basic sayings in Italian but we often have to use English and speak very slowly and clearly. They mostly have some English understanding and can interpret what we are saying. Particularly people in shops and restaurants. We have met some people from Germany and France also who speak English. We have been told that children in many countries in Europe have to learn English throughout school years up to around Year 10 in high school. English seems to be the common language that people converse by if other than in their native language.

We went to a wine tasting and food night at our farmhouse villa two nights ago and there were Canadian, French and German couples there as well. Riccardo (the owner) spoke to all of us in very good English, although he struggled a few times with some words. He kept apologising for his English but it was very good for an Italian. It is very impressive how a lot of people here try very hard to speak to us in English. Dad and mum say that learning a foreign language for us later on at school would be a good idea. If we have trouble understanding Italian we ask “parli inglese” (do you speak English?). Some other basic phrases that we have been trying to use are “come stai” pronounced “ko-me stay” (how are you – how ya goin?). We say in reply “Molto bene, grazie” (very well thankyou). Others include “buongiorno” (good morning), “buonasera” (good evening), “arrivederci” (goodbye), a good one is “ciao” (which means either hello, hi, bye), “vengo dall Australia” (I am from Australia), “non capisco” (I don’t understand), “quanto costa” (how much does this cost). We have been learning and trying to use numbers also. When we try to use these we are pretty slow because we have to think about the words before we say them. People have been very patient. Things seem a lot slower here anyway, except for the Italian drivers. We use Euros for money which is the common currency for much of Europe. They are in Euro dollars and cents. Dad tells us that one Euro dollar costs about $1.25 Australian. Some things seem more expensive here (meat and soft drinks) and some things cheaper (bottled water very cheap). Clothing (much made in Italy, foods, Maccas are similar price to Australia. Petrol/diesel is very expensive (about 50% more expensive than Australia).

We have been eating out at restaurants about half of the time and cooking and eating in at home about half of the time. When out we have steak, chicken or pizza. Yesterday for lunch we had lasagne and spaghetti carbonara. We have had lots of Marguerita pizza as a starter when eating at restaurants. Dad says it fills us up. Mum and dad tried pheasant liver on biscuits at the wine tasting night and also had wild boar salami and sheep cheese which mum liked. We had Maccas for lunch in Pisa and Florence. It is the same as Australia, similar price and similar burgers and nuggets. No thick shakes but yummy sundaes. We have had lots of gelati (Icecreams). Heaps of flavours. Dad had a five scooper waffle cone in San Gimagnano a couple of days ago. We have been boiling our drinking water as it comes from underground bores but often we buy bottled water which is very cheap (25 Euro cents for 1.5 litres). Mum and dad have been drinking Chianti wine which is famous from this part of Italy (Chianti Tuscany region). There are wineries all around including where we are staying now. We have been having lots of fresh salads, juicy tomatoes, lovely ham. Mum cooked risotto the other night and she has also cooked steak and chicken and veg. Mum also made pesto pasta salad. Mum says most foods are very healthy with the processed foods having generally less additives, salts and sugars compared to home. Arrivaderci. The Creber Girls.

Cooling off.

Mum piggy backing us in the pool!

 

 

Oh, it's a hard life sometimes (not)n

 

Grieve in Chianti.. We spent half a day here and had some lunch. The old town square was a triangle, it was a really nice town full of great little shops. Italy seems full of strange statues.