Our summer road trip begins, an iPad free vacation, and the biggest lesson we've learned renting in Italy.
Plus, a bit of This & That.
A Summer Road Trip In Italy
We've been planning our summer adventures just as long as we've been in Italy. The new normal here in the past few years is booking rentals and making restaurant reservations 9 months to a year in advance. Once we learned this, we scrambled to create a plan to drive from Turin to Puglia on an extended summer road trip. And, once our move to Rome got thrown in the mix, we decided to just stick to our original plan of slowly making our way down south, leaving all of our organizing and settling into our new apartment until August.
PIAN DELLA CHIESA IN LERICI
On Saturday, we made our way back to a small coastal town called Lerici, located in Liguria, in the province of La Spezia. Nestled into the hills above town, is a beautiful estate called Pian Della Chiesa that we fell in love with eight years ago on one of our first trips to Italy with Costa. The owners, Ottavio and Margot, have spent years nurturing the land, growing a vineyard that makes exquisite organic wine, and creating a relaxing and affordable getaway perfect for families. There are four rustic and charming country houses on the property scattered throughout, equipped with all the basics one might need to cook and hang out, so each one has lots of privacy and space. Immediately upon our arrival, the kids lept out of the car and spent the afternoon running through the grape vines, swimming in the pool, and playing ping pong.
Andre's oldest childhood friend Jared and his wife (sleep coach extraordinaire), Jess, met us, and we headed out for an aperitivo down the road at Il Caffe Delle Ragazze in Montemarcello and dinner at Trattoria dai Pironcelli. Then, we spent Sunday in the medieval town of Lucca, and two beach days in Forte Dei Marmi before getting back on the road to Roma.
ANTICA LOCANDA DI SESTO IN LUCCA
As you might have guessed by now, our vacations always revolve around food. Whenever we're even remotely close to this restaurant, we make a point to go ever since our friend Marc Popper (owner of Bombar and Marius in Geneva ) introduced us to it years ago. Antica Locanda Di Sesto is a little over an hour from Lerici, on the outskirts of a fantastic medieval walled city called Lucca. An authentic country trattoria with a rich family history dedicated to preparing the food that Tuscan farmers used to make, providing a true education in how good simple food can be. The family has carried the tradition since 1911, each generation picking up where the last one left off. From the rich lardo that spreads across warm bread like butter to the Bisteca Fiorentina that is perfectly charred on a wood-fired grill and then bathed in rosemary and peppercorn extra virgin olive oil to the homemade tagliatelle pasta in a light, bright lemon sauce and spaghettoni prepared table side in a giant wheel of cheese, each bite bursting with that umami flavor. If you're ever in the area or even an hour away, having a meal and meeting the wonderful family running this trattoria is definitely worth the trip. After lunch, we headed to Lucca to show our friends this historic old town. We strolled along the top of the medieval wall surrounding the city and then headed into the center to see the Duomo while a warm summer rain fell upon us.
FORTE DEI MARMI
Beach days are always the best days with our kids. No complaining, smiles all around, as they never tire of body surfing and playing in the sand. It's the ideal activity to do with them and much easier than spending hours in city centers going to museums or attempting to see landmarks (at least while they are so young). Years ago, our friend, Marc Popper, mentioned above, also told us about the Tuscan beach town of Forte Dei Marmi. He introduced us to Spaghetti alle Arselle at a small and special beach club in Forte called Bagno Bruno, and it's one of those dishes that has stayed with us ever since. For years in LA, we would search for the Arselle (super tiny clams) with no luck, so when we booked Pian Della Chiesa again, we knew a few beach days and bowls of this pasta would be essential. Through a friend, we secured two days of beach chairs and umbrellas at Bagno Costanza, one of the many posh, comfortable, and kid-friendly picturesque clubs lining Forte's long stretch of sandy beach. This year's weather has been very tough at the beaches in Liguria, but luckily, it has started to warm up, and we had two perfectly sunny days. The first morning was spent swimming in the sea with the kids, and lunch at Bagno Costanza's restaurant, where we devoured perfectly fried calamari and scampi, the most delicious anchovies drenched in olive oil eaten on crispy focaccia dusted with oregano, and bowls of Spaghetti alle Arselle.
On day two, we started the day in the pool (it took a moment to convince the kids that wearing a swim cap was not a big deal, but we did it!), then Campari Spritzes and a walk down the beach path to go to lunch at Bagno Bruno. This beach club and restaurant has been around for a long time, officially 76 years, and they always make us feel like family whenever we visit them. We ate sweet, juicy melon with paper-thin prosciutto draped over it, fritto misto, the bowl of Spaghetti alle Arselle we've been dreaming about, and an incredible oven-roasted fish with tomatoes, capers, olives, and potatoes. Then, back to the ocean for another dip in the sea before closing it all out with icy cold popsicles and cool coffee shakeratos.
It all went by too fast, as it does when you spend days laughing and eating with people you love.
An iPad Free Vacation
The iPads in our house became a real problem in the past few months. As the house became chaotic in preparing for our move to Rome, we relied on them more and more to entertain the kids. And with this, of course, came all the negative side effects that always come with too much screen time. The colossal mood swings, tantrums, aggravated behavior, anger, and constant need for more, more, more. After reading and listening to a lot of Jonathan Haidt since his book, The Anxious Generation, came out this year, we decided to completely eliminate the iPads for the summer, cold turkey. If the kids know they are somewhere in the vicinity, the constant hounding and incessant preoccupation with trying to get even a little screen time is not worth it. So, we put them in a box, gave them to the movers, and shipped them to Rome with all our belongings. When Costa and Paolo found out, the devastation set in. "What is wrong with you?!" "You're the worst parents ever!" "They are gone for the entire summer?" It was a week of A LOT of this. Breakdowns, frustration, and anger.
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