Before I get into it, my September cooking class is up and it will get you back into a routine of cooking healthy food for yourself and your loved ones. For the price of one takeout lunch, you can learn 5 new recipes, techniques and my favorite products to use.
Here’s the menu: Broccoli, Apple, Quinoa Salad with Honey-Mustard Dressing, Chicken Scarpariello, Invisible Apple Cake, Spaghetti Squash alla Norma, Sheet Pan Gnocchi with Shrimp and Pesto
As promised, I am sharing a bit of our big family trip to Italy. This had been planned almost a year ago. None of this is sponsored (unless you count my mother being the sponsor LOL.)
We wanted a trip that could accommodate 15 people and three generations, ages 10 to 78. My sisters’ children have never been to Italy and my kids haven’t been in a while. Since my father was born in Italy and my mother is Italian-American, my mom really wanted all the kids to experience their roots.
We had only one possible week of the entire year that everyone could go, so we braved the August heat and booked a trip to Italy. If I could go in June or September, that would be less crowded and less hot, but all good. Here’s what we did:
Hubs and I went ahead of the group and spent a few nights at Borgo Sant’Andrea in Amalfi for a mini anniversary trip. Our travel agent recommended it and it was truly magical, a very special place. In the summer, I recommend flying into Naples for an easier transfer than flying into Rome. Hubs and I can’t eat three huge meals a day, so we opted to enjoy the amazing breakfast buffet at the hotel and snack on pizza made at the hotel in the afternoon and then go out for dinner. Yes, Lo Scoglio is fabulous for lunch, but we were perfectly happy chilling out at the beach at our hotel. We ate at the hotel one night, La Sponda at Le Sirenuse (classic, vintage Positano hotel and a beautiful experience), and Lido Azzuro (which was just so-so.) Fun to take a water taxi to dinner at dusk!
My mother worked with the group sales department at Delta to get flights for the larger group. They flew directly to Rome where Hubs and I met them.
Dinners in Rome were at Frezza, Emma, and Maccheroni. All great for a group and reservations are generally easy to get if you book at the unheard of hour of 7:00 or 7:30 pm when restaurants open LOL.
If you want something more upscale and you like seafood, try Pier Luigi. Anything Roscioli is great. And follow my friend Barrett Prendergast on IG or Substack. She moved from LA to Italy a year ago and lives in Rome. I also follow Elizabeth Minchilli, an American living in Italy.
We did a tour of the Forum and Colosseum, had lunch at Crab (fabulous) and then did a golf cart tour of more sites in the afternoon. Everyone loved it!
Our favorite gelaterie are Giolitti (went there many times with my father, so a little nostalgic), Fatamorgana (my favorite), Gunther Gelato, and Torcè. Hubs and my son preferred granita di caffe from Sant’Eustachio.
For the next part of our trip, we rented three cars and drove to Tuscany, specifically to a villa we rented in Greve in Chianti. Lunch was at Auto Grill on the autostrada. I have eaten many a sandwich or hot lunch at Italian rest stops. They are WAY better than American rest stops!
I decided on a specific villa rental company, TuscanyNowAndMore.com because a friend rented a villa through them. Renting a villa is a great way to vacation as a large group. It provides more space, privacy and flexibility. We selected Villa Caprolo because it could accommodate our group size and we liked the location. Overall, we were very pleased with the villa. The bathrooms were brand new and very clean. The linens were good and the caretaker on the property was helpful. Air conditioning in Italy is not quite like air conditioning in the US. The villa was air conditioned, but it was not “cool.” We got used to it. Also, there was a washing machine, but no dryer, so we air dried our laundry. No big deal.
There are many options for villas including having a private chef, daily maid service and more.
The villa service recommended an Italian travel agency, Taols Luxury Travel, to assist with booking excursions, cars, guides, etc. They were very easy to work with and everything they helped organize was great.
We went on a DIY outing to Siena and got sandwiches from Il Bocconcino.
We went on a bike tour of Tuscany and with a lovely lunch at a vineyard. The e-bikes were great and so were the guides. Wasn’t appropriate for everyone in the group since the roads were not all paved, but non-riders met us for lunch.
We did a walking tour of Florence with a guide. Lunch at Trattoria Zaza was fun and delicious. We split up for shopping and sightseeing the rest of the day. Favorite gelaterie: Perchè no! and Badiani
The guys did a Vespa tour throughout the countryside while the ladies did a pasta-making class at Fattoria San Donato in San Gimignano. Both were super fun and lunch at the farm (with all of our handmade pastas) was amazing.
We left some room for flexibility. I went to Castellina in Chianti one day and then Panzano and a small local vineyard called Montecalvi in Greve the next day. Panzano is home to a legendary butcher, Dario Checchini, who also has a lunch food truck close to the shop. I don’t love beef, but the beef in Tuscany is insanely delicious and I enjoyed it. A bunch of our group ordered the burger and everyone said it was the best burger they have ever eaten. There are countless wineries in this region and there ones more famous than others (e.g. Antinori), but it’s practically the wine capital of the world and you really can’t go wrong!
One of the highlights as far as family bonding and creating memories was an unplanned dinner at Perlamora in Figline on Ferr’Agosto which was a holiday. They had a price fixe dinner with wine and dessert and coffee, live music and dancing. We were the only Americans and we had truly the best night ever.
We shopped at the local COOP grocery store for breakfast items, drinks, and snacks. Keep in mind, Italians, especially in the smaller towns, take a generous break from work in the middle of the day, so not everything is open all day.
Next week, I’ll share links for outfits, accessories, travel helpers, etc.!
Even More Musings is an extension of my weekly newsletter, Monday Musings. My newsletter is a sponsor-free zone and is fully supported by readers like you. Consider becoming a paid subscriber to get Even More Musings! Each week, I share my tips and tricks along with a new recipe. For only $5/month or $50/year (less than $1 a newsletter), you'll also gain access to the entire archive, featuring favorites like My New Hyper-fixation High-Protein Fluffy Breakfast Bowl and the Hillstone Copycat Emerald Kale Salad. I recently made a super easy one pan orzo with shrimp and pesto, which my son told me he could eat every single day. It was so so good!
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Pamela’s Monday Musings to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.
