Not before we'd tested the waters of the gorgeous Swiss lakes along the way, though. And then it was, "Ah! In Italy at last!" If you ever have the chance to visit Il Lago d'Orta, we all highly - HIGHLY - recommend it...
Bandits with their beverages...
& innocent bystanders with theirs: 
This first night out in Lucca was short but sweet. We were serenaded at the outer gates to the city by an opera singer in full throttle in one of the flats looking over the park & parking area. Then, when we'd walked about 100 meters, we were waylaid by a wonderful seller of fine wines and meats and so on. He served us so well and so much as we chose our vino & victuals to take back to the villa for consumption over next few days that we could hardly get the (again: wonderful) three course meal down that we (accidentally - there was no way you'd've believed that you'd get a fine, three course meal for this price) ended up with at the wine bar, later!Images from a day on the beach at Viareggio:
And a sweet image from bedtime for the four bonzos that night:
A statue and her little girl at the gardens in a village nearby, followed by a scene from the pirates' taking over the situation a few moments later:
Scenes from Adults' Night Out in Lucca (having left the kids in the able hands of Sveva, the sexy lawyer-babysitter who can handle four English-French-speaking children under eight all evening with 10 words of English and 0 words of French):
While some went to Florence for the day, others went to Pinocchio Land. Here are the kids, making hats, and the lovely woman who helped with the stapling and such:
And then, while two played the 3D Alice in Wonderland Memory Game, three went behind the scenes, exclaiming loudly, "WHY DON'T THEY TAKE THESE TWO, HERE?! THESE TWO ARE THE SAME!!" and so on... heh! heh!
While the other six lounged by the poolside, we four went up into the hills above our villa and discovered many's the treasure, including the place where we would go for the second of our two Adults' Nights Out: a gorgeous café & restaurant that serves everybody the same series of down-home Italian dishes every night, serves wine from the tiny village behind it, and serves you up a breathtaking view of the valley below, to boot. There are many reasons for which I'm hoping that we'll be able to get back to this area, and this wee wayside inn is most definately one of them...
The chillins exploring Barga in their own, special way; yet another magnificent pizza; and our pied prince(sse) of Casa Maria:
Last laughs in Lecco:
One last look at the lake:
And then it was home again! home again! jiggity-joo-ja (as Tomi would say)!
I realised, once we were home, that I hadn't got any pictures of the incredible villa that Clare had found for us. It was so amazing, so gorgeous, so... I wouldn't even know where to begin describing it, to be honest. The villa itself was an immense brick and stone structure, with huge rooms, including a kitchen the size of our entire living-dining-studio-area-room. Each couple and each pair of kids had their own beautiful room, and each room had its own bath. Outside, there was a dining and lounging terrace where we ate pretty much every meal made at "home." Behind this, there was a play area for the children, a washroom and an area to hang things out to dry. To our right, as we exited by the kitchen door, there was a romantic hillside garden which led to the olive tree groves and down to a pond, complete with palm trees and singing frogs. To our left, on the other hand, was a long, rolling garden, which finished at the swimming pool, which in turn was surrounded by olive trees and chaises longues, as well as a bamboo screen against the constant, golden sun. It really was hard to go home after living in this beauty for even a week, and after the fabulous meals, wines and wanderings we were able to do. I'm tempted to say that it was hardest for the children, who got along so famously, and who never tired of running and leaping and inventing new uses for plastic swords and new ways of encouraging adults to kick footballs around and lose against them. (heh! heh!)
And so: here's to Neil, whithout whose 40th birthday, none of this would have happened; and here's to Clare, who made it happen! Two fantasic friends who are great crack - and who are the parents of two fabulous kids ("Hear! hear!" say Leo and Tomi).
