Take Off - Italy 2010

The inception and planning of our Italy trip began at the end of Summer '09. My parents were going to be celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary in April of 2010 and since I was the oldest of their three children, I began to ponder my responsibilities as far as a party and/or celebration was concerned. My mom is a low key, private kind of person and I didnt want to overstep and plan something if she and my dad didnt want it. Upon asking my mom if she would like me to organize something, she replied "no." She said she'd prefer to do something with just my sisters and our families. I'll admit, I was relieved. Though I was totally willing to throw myself into organizing an anniversary celebration, party planning is not my thing. Bullet dodged. ;) I think it might have been the next Sunday at family dinner that my mom told me she'd been thinking she'd like to go someplace together. My family is no stranger to family vacations. We often travel to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico together and in 2009 enjoyed a wonderful winter vacation in Lake Tahoe. I figured she was thinking about a trip along those lines. I was wrong.

My mom admitted to me that she had been thinking about a trip to France. I was shocked! In recent years, my Mom traveled to France twice: once with my dad and once her sister, Mel, and my sister, Miranda. I didnt realize she was thinking about a trip of that magnitude, but was excited by the prospect. Id never been to France and imagined a once in a lifetime trip with my parents and family. Over the next couple weeks, the trip to France morphed into a trip to Italy. I still cant recall if I had any influence on this change or if it just happened naturally. Regardless, Matt and I were thrilled! We traveled to Italy in 2007 and were excited to take the boys along too.

For a few months it all seemed like an abstract dream. We made tentative plans and discussed hypothetical options. With all of us participating, we would be traveling in a group of 11: my parents; my sister Miranda; my sister Jennifer, her husband Barry and their kids Eli and Abbey; and the four McGarveys. We decided with such a large group that it would be better to rent a house rather than stay in a hotel. By late November, we had rented the villa at Capezzana - the same property that Matt and I had stayed in 2007. That was the first big step in legitimizing our travel plans. By January 2010, the plane tickets were purchased. As each of these big milestones were finalized, the reality of what we were doing became concrete. We were going back to Italy, but this time with my family.

Along the way we lost some participants and gained others. Jennifer and her family chose not to go. When the Paweleks dropped out, my cousin Michelle and her husband Rasheed signed on. They live in France and would meet us in Italy for a few days. Also joining the group was Miranda's boyfriend, Chris. Rumor had it that he was planning to propose to her in Italy.

The beginning of this year was a blur. The days were flying by fast and yet they couldnt seem to come quick enough. Finally on April 2nd, Mom, Dad, Miranda, Chris, Matt, Seamus, Finn and I drove up to Los Angeles for a red eye flight to Zurich, and from there a quick flight into Florence. With the multiple time zone changes and the 7pm flight time, we were going to experience only 4 to 5 hours of night. The flight out to Zurich was 11.5 hours and I was concerned that the kids wouldnt sleep and/or be out of control because their ADHD meds would have worn off. Im happy to report that Finn slept for most of the flight. Unfortunately, he was the only one. Matt and Seamus got less than one hours sleep. I dozed for a total of about 2-3 hours, but mostly stayed awake watching movies. All that withstanding, the kids were fantastic! I am so proud of how well they traveled and how agreeable they were on such long flights. Id been praying for weeks, hoping the long flights and constant moving wouldnt bring out the worst in them. Im happy to report they did amazing. Their cooperative and pleasant behavior/attitude was a huge relief and it set the tone for the rest of our vacation.

When we touched down in Zurich, I couldnt get out of that small airplane seat fast enough. It felt great to walk and stretch my legs. Our layover was only 2 hours but it was enough time for us to tool around the airport and check things out. One thing that Seamus liked (and that I found very impressive) was that various Swiss chocolate companies gave away HUGE chocolate samples in the airport. When I say huge, Im not exaggerating - they were the size of a large bon bon. The companies set up stands where you could watch them make the chocolate and eat samples. Im do not usually like chocolate, but Swiss chocolate is so damn good! On Swiss Air they give you chocolate at the end of each flight. I ate every single one they gave to me. Yum!

Our flight from Zurich to Florence was quick - only 1.5 hours long. (Random side note: We flew over the Alps en route and Finn was dazzled by the mountains and snow.He couldn't stop looking at them and was amazed that they seemed to go on forever.) When we arrived in Florence it was almost twilight. We grabbed the rental cars and headed out to Capezzana via GPS. We drove through small towns and back roads to get to the villa and I was surprised how after 3 years, the sights up to the winery were still familiar. When we arrived at Capezzana it was dark, but Michelle and Rasheed were waiting for us. That was awesome. They had arrived earlier in the day and bought groceries for dinner. Once we had settled into our rooms, we made something quick and fresh to eat and then collapsed into bed. Actually, I think Miranda, Chris, Dad and Matt might have stayed up talking and drinking, but he boys and I collapsed. It was a long day.

Tomorrow: The villa at Capezzana and our first day in Florence.