Bring on the long European summer nights!

To welcome the summer to London, we held a BBQ at our place in London. It also was to farewell friends before we head off to the next chapter in the East. Kebabs, Steaks, Chorizo rolls, and Courtnay's famous potato salad was all so delicious. As usual we over catered and we should have enough food for the next month. Sydney-siders... jealous?

Tuscany (Florence, Pisa)

We stayed for 1 night in the heart of Florence. In between looking at David, Uffizi, and Bascilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, we stuffed our faces with more pizza, pasta and ragu. Leaving Florence, we did the obligatory pushing Pisa picture above before we flew out. Apart from the leaning tower, must say that Pisa does not have much more to offer.

Tuscany (Siena, San Gimignano, San Casciano)

Our base for 2 nights in Tuscany was the 18th century built Villa Poggiale located in San Casciano. From here we ventured out to a beautiful town called San Gimignano that had the best pizza and gelato in Italy.

Tuscany (Bologna, Chianti, Badia a Passignano)

May Bank Holiday and what could be more perfect than a long weekend in Tuscany with good friends! Flew into Milan and after navigating our way out of the airport, we made good progress to make it to Bologna for lunch. Have a guess at what we ate... Yes, we had Spag Bol! or as the locals call it Tagliatelle with Ragu. Tucked away in the light industrial areas of Bologna was Antica Trattoria della Gigina where Heston Blumenthal visited in his Search for Perfection series. It was undoubtedly a fantastic "spag bol" or shall I say "tag bol", but Marisa still thinks that mine is better. Tuscany is also famous for Chianti. What better to indulge in liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti! The Chianto Classico went down all too easy, and mixed with wild boar ragu, it may have been too hot to handle for some people on the trip.