Tuscany trip 2014 (I write the 2014 as I hope to return in 2015)

These good people...

came to visit us.

The darn plane had problems, so they showed up a day later than we anticipated.  Did they relent and go to sleep and postpone our road trip?  No.  No, they did not.  They are made of tough stuff.

We went to Duseldorf to so Tierney could visit her German family.  Karen is darling.  My boys heard we were going to Germany and wanted schnitzel for dinner.  Karen (the mutter) did not disappoint.  I loved "breaking bread" with them.  They had eaten their main meal earlier (cause they are smart) and then at night, we all sat around a humongous table for a "lighter meal."  We ate bread and cheese with salami, and salad.  De-lish.  We also went to a fun neighborhood playground.  I have said it once, and I will say it again, Europe has the best playgrounds.

 The next day we went to Legoland, while the Syndergaards went to Neuschwanstein Castle.  Legoland was a hit, naturally, with our three little gents.  And the crowds, well, they were non-existent.  We went on our favorite knight roller coaster 3 times in a row without getting off the ride at all. AWESOME!

The pirate ride here had more participants who were watching the riders.  We rode around the first time and some dude was waiting for his family or friends who happened to be behind us.  For practice he aimed at us, and proved to be a good shot.  He showered us, like seriously bombarded us with H2O.  Isaac was so drenched I took his shirt off and rung it out, then had him put his coat on instead.  We all had a good laugh.

After Legoland, we drove through beautiful country.  It was amazing and it seemed like there were picture worthy fortresses, or chateaus around every bend.  It was lovely...well, everything except the 16 kilometer tunnel that took backed up traffic for about an hour.

 This little lady greeted us at our less-than-stellar-accomodations at the Sea Pine lodging in Livorno, Italy. Andrew tells me she was carrying hundreds of baby spiders on her back.  I hoped he was wrong, but alas, he was not.  Ewwww worthy.

The leaning tower was majestic standing there in all it's leaning glory!  

 We were their early in the morn, before anything was open.  So we went to the Campo Santo aka the cemetery.   Supposedly, a shipload of sacred soil from Calvary was hauled back during one of the crusades and the cemetery is built around the Holy Field (Campo Santo) where they put the dirt and grew grass on top.  Eric was especially impressed here.  On the outside of the walled cemetery we found some interesting (super random) bricks, like this one with a face in it.

 Isaac went up with me, Drew, and Tierny, while Eric took care of the littles who were, well, to little. We climbed up the looooong staircase that wrapped around the tower.  It was interesting to feel the pull of gravity on the "tiped" side, and the stair case leaned to the outside wall on one side of the tower, while leaning to the inside wall on the other.   We guessed where Galileo dropped (maybe) the two cannonballs of different masses. And to top it off, we were up top when the bells rang.  That was COOL.  After all, the Leaning Tower of Pisa is a bell tower.  The bells ring as a sign that mass is going to start soon, and calls worshipers.   

 

After Pisa, Eric took us to Lucca.  He had read that it is a non-pretentious town and offers a fun bike ride.  Cheers to Tiers for cycling Seth.  It was very enjoyable and one of our favorite activities of the trip.