Sorry for the delay of this next blog but we have been a bit busy as you will see later!

We sadly said goodbye to Sardinia after a fabulous 3 week stay. We were booked on an overnight ferry from Olbia to the port of Livorno on the Italian mainland. On the way to Olbia we passed by the rather impressive Santa Trinita Di Saccargia, the surviving part of a huge Benedictine Monastery built in 1112.

Before boarding our ferry, we had plenty of time to wander around the town. Of course we had a few drinks, pizza for dinner and Greg had to have his pistachio ice cream.

Our ferry was due to depart 10pm but we needed to board with Harley by 8:30pm. It was a very interesting exercise! We had booked “suites”onboard with our own shower and toilet and we have to say it wasn’t too bad at all. However there was a scramble by those without cabins to grab the longest couches in any corner they could , then lay their blankets down to “mark their territory”. Some even blew up lilos to sleep on. We were due to disembark at 6:30am and we were told we needed to be out of our cabins by 5:30am. It took us a while to drive off, as when full, which it was, it means that 1300 cars need to exit.

We needed to stop for lunch somewhere and Sienna was on the way. Julie had not been there so while Julie wandered the Old Town , we enjoyed a couple of beers, a nice lunch and the spectacular view of the Piazza del Campo where the famous horse race takes place each year.We would have had some photos but somehow the blog will not load them so sorry! But trust us , we did go there!

Then it was time to move onto the destination which the whole holiday has been center red around. 1955 was the year of our joint 70th birthdays so we had booked a villa in Tuscany 2 years ago to celebrate with family and friends who had happened to be holiday inn in Europe at the time.

Our Villa was in the spa town of Montecatini Terme in Tuscany which is located half way between Pisa and Florence.

Our first night saw us welcome our immediate family, Erin and Rich, and our 3 gorgeous grandchildren, Stew and Lyndsay, and our dearest friends and extended family, Judy, Alan, Julie, Tina, David and Louise. Excitedly for us, some of our “Swiss Aussie Family” also came, Esther and Jean Pierre, Claudie and Sandra and their gorgeous cute little nearly 2 year old Lio , who stole every bodies hearts!

The first night we decided we decided to eat at the villa. We had some fantastic pasta and then the boys cooked a great bbq!

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The next day was spent swimming and lazing by the pool. Our last two guests arrived also, Janet and Michael.

That night Erin and Stew and Richo and Lynds had organized a fantastic rustic dinner for us all at Menghino, high up just out of Montecatini.

Remember to click on individual photos as some are minimized! We had a fabulous meal, lots of traditional rustic Tuscany food enjoyed by everyone.

What a great night it was, the food, the view, the company. Fantastico! Thank you so much kids, it was a night to remember.

There were trips that some people took to close villages and some of us just lazed by the pool with a few drinks…….well some had more drinks than others but what happened in the villa stays in the villa!😂

One night we organized a dinner in the villa for us all. It was a magical night and the food was great.

We had a fabulous dinner poolside! We started with a calabrese salad, followed by a pasta entree , followed by roast pork with grilled veggies, ending with a pannacotta.

Some of us tried to improve our cooking skills by doing a cooking class with Giuseppe at the Olive Press Kitchen.

We first met Giuseppe at the local market in Montecatini where we bought our ingredients for our lunch. We never knew there were so many varieties of tomato’s

We then arrived at the old mill and the process began. We prepared fried zuchinni flowers, nude pasta, and zuchinni risotto. We finished with a Marsala Zabaglione. Not only was it a lot of fun, but we all learnt a lot. During the cooking process we consumed numerous bottles of wine and that continued whist we ate the fruits of our labour! We took heaps of photos, here is a very small selection!

It was a great day and we would recommend the class to anyone, we had a ball.

One night in the villa, Stew, Rich, Lynds and Ez cooked pizzas for us all in the great pizza oven. Stew and Rich would like donations so they can build their own at home. They did a fantastic job, the pizzas were sensational and the after party after all the pizzas were eaten was rather raucous , but again what happens in the villa stays in the villa!

What a fantastic week we had. Thank you to all our family and friends who made it so very special for us. It was 2 years in the planning and it was perfect. It was very hard to decide what photos to put on the blog, we have so many, but here are just a few more,

So after that effort to do this blog, it’s definitely time for a drink or 2 or 3. W are now in Slovenia, in Ljubljana, but that’s for the next one!

So cheers to all

Lots of love

Greg and Rhonda