What a difference a day (or two!) makes…..

Packing took two minutes, which was a real novelty. I usually take about a week to pack for the five of us! Going through the airport without the kids was also a real novelty, bliss. Apart from sitting on the runway for about half an hour because we had missed out slot, the flight out was pretty uneventful. We invested in the Italian map for our sat nav a few months ago and used it for the first time. So finding our way was a piece of cake.

We were meant to be viewing three properties on the Saturday but unfortunately one of them was under offer. Having said that, the one that I really wanted to see was still available. The road that the villages are on is single track twisting up the hills, which is about 8km long. Not great for my travel sickness!! The first property was beautiful with loads of original features, which I loved. The second property, which is the one that I really wanted to see, is what I imagined it would be like and more. The views from the property are breathtaking.



It has four bedrooms upstairs, which by UK standards are good sizes. The lounge, dining room and kitchen/diner are all big. The only thing that is small is the bathroom. You cannot have it all! From the front of the property it looks like a normal house but as it sits on the hillside, it goes down another two levels that you cannot see from the front.


The first level below the house has its own (run down) kitchen, enough space to convert two bedrooms and also enough space to have a good-sized bathroom. Perfect for visiting relatives. According to the agent we will have them crawling out of the woodwork wanting to visit us once we have moved!! It has a nice sized terraced garden, plenty of room for my chickens! It also has about 5 hectares of land around the village, which we were unable to see because the owner is not entirely sure of where it is!!!! Lastly it also comes with a stone building at the beginning of the village that might be able to be converted into a little dwelling, perhaps for mother-in-law!! The keys were left with a neighbour so we were able to have a second visit on our own, so we went back the same evening and took lots of pics.

On Sunday we got up, had breakfast and headed to Lucca for the day. We hired a couple of bikes and went for the obligatory ride around the wall! Lucca was also full of antiques markets, which was lovely. So we spent the morning cycling and browsing. We then stopped for a gorgeous lunch before heading to the airport to check-in. After a few wrong turns (the air was blue in the car and the sat nav nearly ended up out of the window!!) we finally found it in time. We boarded our plane in time but to be told that we needed to hurry because the airport is closing in five minutes for two hours because of an air display! Pisa airport is shared with the Italian military. Surprise, surprise, we did not make it and had to be unloaded and wait in the airport. I really felt for the families who had children with them.

So after much deliberation, we made an offer on the house on Monday evening. We are just waiting now to hear if the offer has been accepted or not. Fingers crossed!