The Vacation of a Lifetime… Part 2
For one glorious week, fourteen of us, from 8 month old Luca to 91 year old Gigi made Il Palagio di Panzano our home. We filled the 5 apartments in this ancient villa nestled among rolling Tuscan hills lined with grape vines and clusters of olive trees. It felt like Paradise.
Il Palagio, an ancient villa, with parts dating back 1000 years overlooks a pool and vineyards and olive groves outside Panzano
Valentino our chef prepared a daily breakfast buffet geared to everyone’s tastes (fried eggs for Mom and nutella crepes for the kids!). What a leisurely way to start the day, sipping coffe and fresh juices as we chatted around the large communal dining table and indulged in whatever treat Valentino had baked up that morning!
Monia was our hostess. Irina is her somelier and right hand. With Valentino, this trio made us feel welcome and pampered every day.
The vacation was a perfect balance of activities and relaxation. We all spent a day in Lucca- of course we had to take Luca to Lucca! We enjoyed shopping on market days in Greve and Panzano. Cory’s family and I devoted one marathon day to a tour of Cinque Terre. One afternoon some of us explored Castellina in Chianti and had the best gelato ever and of course brought some home for the rest of the crew. We split our meals between Valentino’s treats at Il Palagio and a few meals in the village. I was delighted to introduce a few of my new Italian friends to my family.
Brandon, Jill, Carter and Luca in Lucca
At Il Palagio Valentino taught us how to make four kinds of pasta and the world’s best Tiramisu (his personal recipe). Irina shared her knowledge at a wine tasting.
Perhaps my favorite times were the afternoons in the pool with Joey, Nathan, Anna and Carter. What a luxury to have a whole pool to ourselves!
When they tired of swimming, the kids switched to catching lizards. Carter was the champ! I’m not sure how many “tail-less” lizards are running around Il Palagio this week. After Carter caught a lizard he would tell us, “The tail fell off!” It all made sense when Jill’s research revealed that lizards dropped their tails as a defense mechanism. He was so enamored of lizards we joked they needed to double check his suitcase to be sure he didn’t try to take one home as a pet!
All of us will share stories and memories about this week for a long time to come. It was a truly rare blessing to have time away in a beautiful place with people you love! I am so grateful that they made the trip. It was a wonderful celebration for my 70th birthday...and for Brandon’s 39th which happened to be the day they all departed. Everyone said we’d love to do it again…maybe for Jane’s 70th or my 75th??
Gigi and 5 of her great grandkids
The communal dining room with Irina, Valentino and Monia in the background