Barberino Val d'Elsa, Italy

The fourth stop on our european tour is Barberino Val d'Elsa, Italy, which is a medieval hamlet 30 minutes south of Florence.  Once again we thought that staying on the out-skirts of a large city would be ideal.  The apartment is owned by an american women who authored an Italian cookbook focused on the Tuscany region.  We are hoping to arrange a cooking lesson with her while we are at her apartment.  Here is the view from the master bedroom:

We are planning day trips to Florence and an overnight trip to Venice [which is a 3 hour drive].  Pisa is just over an hour away from our apartment, which will also be a day trip:

You know what would be hilarious?  A picture with the kids pretending to hold up the leaning tower.  I cannot believe that no one has thought about doing this before </sarcasm>

Italy is relatively new territory for us and we have two stops in this wonderful country [next stop, Rome].

Sit vis vobiscum.