Thursday, June 25, 2009

Is there such a thing as too much vacation?!?

On the eve of taking off on the first leg of 2+ weeks of travel (for fun) I'm finally getting around to blogging a bit. 

I was away for a good week, lazing at the seaside near Pisa, Italy; attending a wedding in Siena; and touring medieval hill towns of
Tuscany. It was a great trip. I needed to get away, get somewhere warm and sunny (as opposed to staying in cold and grey Hannover), read lots, walk, eat good food and feast my eyes. It panned out: Hannover stayed cold and rainy while we were sweating and doing our best not to get sunburned in Italy; We spent 3 days with the In-laws in Lido di Camaiore, loungeing poolside (reading, reading, reading) and walking along the beach. I managed NOT to get a sunburn, miracles of miracles; We ate extremely well, which you have to work hard not to do when in Italy; and we saw lots of beautiful places. We visited Lucca, San Miriato, Volterra, Siena and Vicopisano, all within an hour's drive of Bientina where we were squatting at a friend's place, and most of them medieval towns situated at the top of high hills with great views of the countryside. Actually, Volterra is quite a bit older than medieval. It was founded by the Etruscans thousands of years before the Romans arrived there. 

Anyway, here are some photos from our trip.
















You might have noticed a certain roundness to my mid-section.  I've mentioned it elsewhere, so most people who follow this blog, will know already that I'm expecting! A little boy will grace us with his presence sometime in October. Official due date being my dad's birthday: 10 October. We are immensely pleased.

Tomorrow we're flying to Madrid for the weekend. Another wedding to attend. Next Wednesday we'll be on our way to the USA, where we'll first visit my parents and friends in my home town of Madison, Wisconsin; spend a day in Chicago (and have lunch with the famous author, Larry Santoro) before heading out to Missoula, Montana where my brother and his family are planning the most amazing 40th birthday party for me! :-) 

See you around!

4 comments:

Lizzie said...

Awww congrats!!

Anonymous said...

It's so perfect that your son is due on your father's birthday. Congratulations!

May the rest of your travels be safe and lots of fun. It's great to see your lovely pictures.

Matthew Sanborn Smith said...

Tell the famous author, Larry Santoro, that we said "Hi!"

Diane Severson said...

Fred! Thanks for answering my question! It's good to know that there is no such thing as too much vacation, because we feel like we need it! :-)