{"id":85,"date":"2011-09-23T21:01:00","date_gmt":"2011-09-23T21:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/2011\/09\/23\/italia-it-gets-better-and-better-every-time\/"},"modified":"2017-03-16T09:10:12","modified_gmt":"2017-03-16T09:10:12","slug":"italia-it-gets-better-and-better-every-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/2011\/09\/23\/italia-it-gets-better-and-better-every-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Italia – it gets better and better every time…"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5655840983976881042\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Almost two years ago, we bought a week in a villa in Tuscany with several other couples from Houston. The villa<\/a> was supposed to be this great big, winery vineyard which would blow our minds… So three weeks ago, my mom kindly agreed to fly to London to watch the kids, while Scott and I went on this dream adult vacation. <\/p>\n

We were slightly disappointed to arrive Florence without any bags. No big deal…<\/p>\n

We were really surprised to learn that the villa was double booked and we had no place to stay. As hugely disappointed as we were, we were certain that the six other couples who had flown from the States (much farther than our 2.5 hour jaunt from London) would be outraged.
\"\"id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5655851292810496994\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Another surprise for me about human nature. Not one person was mad. No one. Of course we were very fortunate that the villa offered us our week again in 2013 (much more strategically planned in summer to avoid school issues) so we will be returning in a couple of years. Even nicer was that the villa folks were kind enough to honor the trip we <\/span>would have had. They put all of us up in extraordinary hotels. The first four days were in Sienna which was great. Scott and I neither one had been there.
\"\"id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5655840986227280338\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The last three days were in Venice. We had been there several months ago, but that didn’t take away at all from the time we spent there. In fact, it was nice to see Venice without the high tides and floods. <\/p>\n

Perhaps the highlight of the trip for us was going to a Tuscan vineyard. This particular vineyard plays Mozart on Bose speakers to the grapes 24 hours per day. It is believed to make the grapes sweeter, resulting in better wine. We tasted a few while we were there, but the cases we ordered arrived this week, so I’ll know better in a few days. (-;<\/p>\n

We met some new friends while we were there that we look forward to seeing once we arrive back in Houston. Scott and I were also able to spend some much needed stress-free, work-free, kid-free time together. We ate, we drank and we were merry! We are looking forward to the villa trip in 2013.
\"\"id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5655844400956886706\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The video:<\/span>
<\/param><\/param><\/param><\/object><\/p>\n

Honorable mention:<\/p>\n

The bar we hung out at last time, only this time sans flood…
\"\"id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5655834846892814050\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The bar we hung out at this time, nicknamed the Bra Bar by our crew…
\"\"id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5655834840527241282\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I’m no fashionista, but this guy gives Americans a bad name…
\"\"id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5655836139909786482\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This guy gives all proper beer drinkers a bad name… as he sits with his wife (and her big beer).
\"\"id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5655839692193816354\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Almost two years ago, we bought a week in a villa in Tuscany with several other couples from Houston. The villa was supposed to be this great big, winery vineyard which would blow our minds… So three weeks ago, my mom kindly agreed to fly to London to watch the kids, while Scott and I…<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[41,49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-85","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-italy","7":"category-micha","8":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8k10v-1n","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1157,"url":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/2017\/06\/26\/world-class-diving-in-amed-bali\/","url_meta":{"origin":85,"position":0},"title":"World Class Diving in Amed, Bali","author":"Micha Hooper","date":"June 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"We begrudgingly left Ubud for the 2.5 hour drive to Amed. 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We only slotted Bali originally because of the location. Cheap flights to and from Bali from Asia, and even cheaper flights to Australian cities made it too good to pass up. 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I was excited to see the sand dunes out in the middle of nowhere. But the icing on the cake for this particular place was that Gracie was able to go with us. The dunes were amazing.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Micha's Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Micha's Blog","link":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/category\/blogs\/micha\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/BD103917-6600-4B84-8785-A5770F5B9FF0.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/BD103917-6600-4B84-8785-A5770F5B9FF0.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/BD103917-6600-4B84-8785-A5770F5B9FF0.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/BD103917-6600-4B84-8785-A5770F5B9FF0.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/BD103917-6600-4B84-8785-A5770F5B9FF0.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12,"url":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/2015\/05\/06\/the-big-trip-finally-here\/","url_meta":{"origin":85,"position":5},"title":"The big trip: Finally here!!","author":"Micha Lunt Hooper","date":"May 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"We planned the long vacation back in July, almost a year ago. 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