A Castle in Heaven

Sweet friends, as you know, we are headed to Italy soon with my MIL & FIL, SIL & BIL, Opa (Grandpa), and 4 cousins who currently live in the Italian Alps.  I am BEYOND excited.  Like, I am practically so giddy that I've increased my consumption of vino in preparation.  It's my favorite place (hello PASTA, PIZZA and WINE) ever.  It's magical and glorious and beautiful.   

For the past month, we have been in full planning mode for this trip.  As you can imagine, getting 7 people over to Italy from America and then meeting up with 4 Italians was quite a challenge.  (Heck, now I know why travel agents still exist!)  But, once the flights were booked, we quickly turned our attention to a bigger question:

"Where the heck are all 11 of us going to stay?" 

After going 'round and 'round (get me off this carousel) searching for a villa that could accommodate all of us, my FIL just booked this beauty!  Yes, a Castle in Heaven!

Holy goodness--this castle/mansion/hopefully my future residence is a FAR cry from the dumps hostels I stayed at my first time in Italy.  I mean, really, look at this place!



I imagine as soon as I get there, I'll sprint to the top of those stairs (catch my breath) and start singing "The hills are alive, with the sound of music" as I hold out my arms (palms up to the sky) sweeping the landscape....

Oh wait, that song is referring to Austria.  What.ever.

Situated in the Chianti region, this villa has some breathtaking real estate (and some mind boggling wine).  I'm positive I'll get to explore most of the land on my daily runs (gotta try to keep those carbs & wine from going straight to my thighs).  There is also a tennis court, and I imagine we'll have one or two "friendly games" of tennis.  (We are all pretty good at tennis and anytime we get together, we do play.)  Most of the time, us "kids" get beat by my MIL & FIL.  Somehow, they manage to win even though my FIL is smoking a cigar...the whole time.  I gotta hand it to the old man---that's talent.  (Opps, forgot he might read this....let the "friendly" trash-talking begin.)    

Anyway, we have this bad boy for 7 days, which will give us just enough time to NOT WANT TO LEAVE.  It's centrally located so that we can take day trips and always return back to "home base".  I'll leave you now with a few more pictures of the beautiful villa........