Back to Italy- Days 2 & 3

So, back to our Italy trip! 

After we left the Alps, we made the 5 hour drive South to Tuscany.  I don't remember much of the drive because I slept for the better part of it.  (Blame it on the jet lag!)  We made it to Florence in record time, and with only 30 more minutes of the drive, my FIL triumphantly declared "We're going to be there right on time!"  Ohh, the foreshadowing of that statement is quite ironic.  What happened next was straight out of a horror movie....or Vegas Vacation. 

If you've ever driven in Italy, you know they love round-a-bouts.  And as you are going around these intersections, you are expected to find your correct exit (while going in circles) and rocket-launch out of the circle.  Well, we got lost.....very lost.  No kidding, we went round and round and round in 1 circle for a good 10 minutes while my FIL yelled "WHICH EXIT" and I kept saying "THAT ONE" to the one with the correct sign, but then he'd pass it....again...and again....and again.  Everyone else was yelling out their 2 cents and trying to keep from throwing up.  Finally, he yelled "I'm getting the hell outta here" and spun us out of the circle----in the wrong direction...which took us directly into another circle. 

In the words of Opa, "Mama Mia".  By the time we finally got back on track, it was even later...and we all had to go to the bathroom. 

Seriously, all the signs were this confusing...WHICH WAY?

Things only got worse as we continued driving through Tuscany...in the dark.  I went to look at the directions we'd printed out, and they didn't take us to the Villa.  They stopped in the town NEAR where the villa was located.  OH CRAP!  At this point, it'd been 2 hours.....2 hours when we were only 30 minutes away.

To make a long drive story short, we finally made it, 2 hours later.  Oh well, we were there and happy to finally be out of the van.  I wish I had pictures of the drive, but sorry, it was pitch black and I was dizzy from the round-abouts.  After a fantastic dinner prepared by Chefs, we all went to bed, exhausted from the journey. 

The next morning, after an amazing night's sleep, we woke up to this:

Paul in the Villa's front yard, looking out to Radda.

A close up of Paul with
Radda in the background.

Posing with the town of Radda in the background

Our Villa - simply Amazing!

We spent the rest of Day 3 exploring and enjoying the Villa.  We were expecting my sister-in-law & brother-in-law, as they flew to Italy a day after us, so we stayed close to home base and our cell phones--just in case they experienced the same "fun" we had in the round-a-bouts.  It was nice to have a day to just wander around because after several days of flights and driving and sitting, I definitely needed the exercise! 

The name of the villa was Villa Vistarenni.  It's located about 2 miles from Radda, in the Chianti region of Tuscany.  Check out more pictures of the villa here!

Tomorrow, I'll share our day 4 with you!  We went to a little town where part of the TWILIGHT series was filmed!!!!!