Abshire’s Abroad

March - May 2023
Gabe, Veronica, Andrew and Renee are spending 2 months traveling around Italy. With a few stops along the way. Read more
  • 66footprints
  • 4countries
  • 71days
  • 955photos
  • 26videos
  • 8.4kkilometers
  • 2.9kkilometers
  • Day 33

    Florence Day 1

    April 15, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    We woke up early to go into the Duomo, but quickly realized that we couldn’t, because the line was too long. Switching to plan B, we went to the bridge on the other side of the river, took some pics, and went exploring. We came across a whole street filled with jewelry stores . Mom and Dad enjoyed looking at necklaces, rings and earrings and Andrew even liked looking at the watches. However, I was starving. Dad eventually gave me some money to get Andrew and I brunch. We got paninis from a small bakery. We walked back to the other side of the river, and went into a Ferragamo store. It was surprisingly big. Then, we went under the store into a museum about the founder of Ferragamo. It was about how his wife took over the store after he died, and it is full of inspiring quotes. After the museum, Mom and Dad went into Gucci, and Andrew and I rented a scooter to ride around the square in. We somehow got separated so Dad went to get a sandwich, and I got gelato. We met back up and went to a cafe to get some pasterys. Next, we went into the church were Michelangelo and Galileo Galilei are buried. It was really big. The Church was having an event that was going on TV, so it was kinda busy. After the Church, Mom and I wanted to get home so we could get ready for our nail appointment. We got manis and pedis, we also got the same color for our fingernails! Then, we went home and relaxed until it was time for dinner. We went to an underground restaurant, which had some really good steak and chicken. After the amazing dinner, we walked into the square, where we rode the carousel that was out there, and Andrew bought a rocket copter. We were all very tired, so we immediately went home and to bed.
    A presto,
    Renee
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  • Day 34

    Florence Day 2

    April 16, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    Today is our 18 year wedding anniversary! It’s also Aunt Paiges birthday. She is in Italy as well. Tonight she is going to the opera!
    Gabe and I wanted to have a relaxing day without rushing. We started out the day at a cute shop who specialized in crepes, waffles, pancakes and bagels. I had an avocado bagel with “spreadable formaggio” it was good. Mostly because it was something different. We promised the kids we would all get on an E scooter and ride to this other part of town. It was about a 20 minute walk so the scooter defiantly helps. Since it was Sunday is was very crowded in town. we had to do lots of weaving between people walking. We wanted to go to one of the stores we like a lot called OVS. It’s a department store. They carry different brands. Renee needed to get a few things. Then we went to lunch at the Mercato Centrale. Which is a Food Hall. It was super busy but very good. We tried several different things.
    We bought some belts that Andrew and Gabe needed and then got back on our scooters and rode them back to our side of town. We dropped off our packages at the apartment and walked over to the Gucci Garden. It’s a bookstore, an exclusive boutique, a museum and where the Osteria is located. Once we arrived we found out that the museum was closed for renovation. Darn! Gelato time! We took the kids to the Lego store to get a couple of sets to build over the next week. Gabe and I went out to do some Anniversary shopping. We came back and fixed the kids dinner and got ready for our dinner at the Gucci Osteria de Massimo Botura. Recognize that name? Yes, we are going to another of his restaurants. The CEO of Gucci and Massimo went to school together for years. So Massimo agreed to be apart of the restaurant. The first one is in Florence, the 2nd in LA, 3rd in Hong Kong, and 4th is Seoul. ALL of them have 1 Michelin star. The space is very colorful and pretty. It’s much more casual environment than the one in Modena. I have been wanting to go to the one in LA for like 2 years. When I knew we were going to be in Florence I immediately went to look for a reservation. It’s one of the only things I had booked way in advance. The meal was 7 courses and there was only one really wow dish was the pasta. The rest were just good. Nothing like Osteria Francescana. The menu in LA is completely different. The chef in Florence is a female and she is from Mexico and her husband is Japanese. He was Massimo’s sous chef for many years. The experience was lovely and Gabe and I enjoyed our time together.

    **AP show UK the video.
    **Added in a few photos at the end of things from another day that wouldn’t fit.
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  • Day 35

    Travel day to Greve in Chianti

    April 17, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    Today we got up and went to Michalangelos square and that over looks the city. We took some pictures and after this we drove to a vineyard to have a picnic. We took a detour and went and saw a U.S. military graveyard. It flew the American flag and had guards outside. The people buried were from WW2.. After the detour, we drove for a little bit and then we were getting close to the vineyard. We drove for a little bit until there was a fork in the road and then we had to decide which way to go. We picked the right way and we drove for a third of a kilometer even though it did not feel like that. Once we got to the vineyard we walked to our picnic spot and had our picnic and it was delicious. We each had a bag with 3 sandwiches, strawberries and Baci kisses. The strawberries were grown at the vineyard. The picnic was in the backyard of the family’s home who own the vineyard. They dont live there all the time. One of the people who work at the vineyard gave us a short tour and explained a lot about the grape vines and how they make wine. After the picnic we drove straight to our inspirato villa. Once we got to the villa we went and explored the house. It is very big. After we sat around a while we went into town so Mom could pick up her Amazon package. She ordered our summer reading books. We also stopped at the grocery store. We went to dinner and walked in the square. I had some of the best gnoicchi I’ve ever had. After dinner we shot rocket copters out in the square for a little bit and then went home. After we got home we did find penguins and built legos.
    Ciao, Andrew
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  • Day 36

    Greve in Chianti Day 1

    April 18, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Culture Lesson: Remember we mentioned the 20 regions of Italy. Well within the regions are more regions. They like that word, Regions. Chianti is a wine varietal that we know well. Chianti is a region in the Tuscany region. Within the Chianti region there are 11 towns that are the ONLY towns that can produce Chianti Classico wine. If you are drinking a wine and the label says Chianti its not FROM one of those 11 towns. So that wine would just be made in the Chianti style of wine making. Remember the Consortium word ? Yep, they control that also. It’s not a bad thing. It’s a little exclusive and they are trying to again help those towns out.
    The vineyard and cheese farm we visited today is not in one of those 11 towns. They are 1 mile from the border of those 11 towns (across the highway). They may be a little bitter about it. This new “policy” was put into law just last year.
    This vineyard is owned by a Swiss family who still live on the property and they all work for the vineyard in some way. The owner was an architect in Florence and decided he wanted to move to the country. So he bought this place and taught himself the winemaking process.
    They also have 600 Sardinian sheep. They produce their own cheese on site as well. Almost every vineyard also has an olive tree orchard. Which allows them to also produce their own olive oil. Farming will never not be a thing in Italy. 90% of the wine this vineyard makes in sold to the US.
    We tasted 4 wines and 5 cheeses. I didn’t really love pecorino cheese. But I had a feeling its just the kind we get at Tom Thumb. Pecorino is a sheep’s milk cheese. I tasted several today that were really good. Their ricotta was the best thing we had tho. We bought some to use in a pasta dish.
    Then we wanted to go a visit this butcher from Chefs Table. Gabe wanted to get some food for dinner tonight. We stopped for a snack on the side of the road at a food truck. This famous butcher owns the food truck so we got to sample some of their meats. At the meat shop, the butcher was there but all his meat was cryo sealed and he charged to take a photo. So we left. We went to another meat shop in our town of Greve. We had to wait 30 minutes for them to come back from lunch. Have I mentioned at most places close from 12:30-2:30pm or longer for a mid day break ?
    The kids really wanted to make ragu in the style of Bologna. We had to ask the butcher to grind the meat in that way. It’s a tri blend. We also got a whole chicken to roast. We will get the veggies at the store. Dinner was so good and it was nice to take our time. We are going to work on Legos and watch the sunset.
    Ciao!
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  • Day 37

    Greve in Chianti Day 2

    April 19, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Today we decided to have a relaxing day at the house enjoying the views and the beautiful weather. I discovered an “all you can eat” meat restaurant owned by the famous butcher from yesterday. The restaurant is right across the street from his butcher shop in Panzano. They have 1 seating for lunch at 1pm and 1 seating for dinner at 7pm per day, 7 days a week. Gabe asked the chef and he said they are full everyday of the week. Just Gabe and I decided to go to the lunch. I actually ordered the vegetarian menu. It’s was fantastic. The tomato soup was so good. It was not puréed like you are thinking. It was chunky and warm. The tomatoes tasted almost sweet. They have their own salt blend that you sprinkle on some olive oil and dip carrots, celery, bread or fennel into. Gabe was served 3 cuts of meat. The first course was a beef tartare, a picanha and the filet. The sides were white beans in olive oil and stewed onions. I had a few bites of his and it was very good. They were grilling the meat over open flame right there inside the room. We were sitting at a long table squished with 10 other people we didn’t know. Everyone was from a different country. Germany, Brazil, South Korea and Us.
    After lunch, we came home and immediately went to sleep. Lol! After our meat coma we woke up and went for a walk around the neighborhood with the kids. Renee was busy building her Vespa lego set. Andrew finished his Bugatti this morning. Gabe and I weren’t very hungry but we had dinner reservations at 7:30. We were excited to go to this restaurant because the restaurant was on top of a nearby town, Lamole. The sunset was going to be beautiful because of their location. The owner of the restaurant has been open for 30 years and he said the sunset is different every day. Gabe order a rolled pasta stuffed with porcini mushrooms and topped with shaved truffles. It’s a TOP 3 dish of this entire trip for us. I got a very light gnocchi with fave beans and pecorino. It was an easy dinner to finish off a really heavy day of meat. For Gabe. Our dinner was fantastic! So glad we went.

    *The photo of the back and white pigs are the very special and endangered Cinta Senese pigs. Their pasture is just down the road from our villa. I got some prosciutto from these special pigs from the butcher and it was fantastic. We all really enjoyed it.
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  • Day 38

    Greve in Chianti Day 3

    April 20, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    Ciao! Today, we are going truffle hunting! We drove to Badia a Passignano, the town where we met a man named Jacapo, and his three dogs Bianca, Pia, and Uffo. We were going truffled hunting with him. We walked into the forest, because that’s the place to hunt. Pia was the best out of all of them, Bianca was a troublemaker, and Uffo ate the truffles! There were also a lot of thorns (very painful). When we were walking back to eat lunch, we saw some really pretty flowers, purple ones! We ate at a restaurant that only served us truffle based food! It was really good. Then, we tried to get in the montestary, but it was closed. We then drove home, Mom and Dad took a nap, then when they woke up, Dad started on dinner. We had steak and mashed potatos (yum). We watched a movie called Rocky. I didn’t really understand it. We paused mid-movie to go to bed, but we will finished tomorrow.Read more

  • Day 39

    Greve in Chianti Day 4

    April 21, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Gabe cooked us a nice breakfast of bacon, eggs with ricotta and toast with the best crust less bread. We sat outside for awhile enjoying the view. After a nice relaxing morning Gabe and I got dressed for a wine tasting. We are meeting Mike and Nicole Rose, Bill and Annika Bennett and another couple at a vineyard. Mike and Bill are in Gabes EO forum. They have been in Tuscany for the week. We saw them in Florence for an hour or so a few days before. They are staying in a Villa in Cortona. After being here for a few days, we realize that Tuscany is huge. Cortona is 2 hours away from us.. So we picked a vineyard to meet at in the middle We are meeting at the Colle Bereto vineyard. They are a fairly large producer of Chianti Classico for Tuscany. And 80% of their production stays in Italy! Bernardo the winemaker met us outside and started us on a history lesson. He is super passionate about the Chianti region and getting the wine to Texas. Rick Perry has been to the vineyard before and he gets wine shipped to him often. We are also having lunch in their amazing 12th century building. It was the original winery from the 70;s but they have since added other buildings to the property. They were also able to expand the underground facility to have gravity fed grapes during harvest. The owners bought the vineyard in the 70’s for nothing. The owners also own a business in Florence that makes the metal chains used for most all designer handbags. The owner uses the chains in other designs such as placemats, chargers, and candle holders. It’s really cool. Bernardo has been the winemaker for 23 years at Colle Bereto. He has received some very honorable awards he is proud of. In 2020, 3 of their wines made the top 3 spots on the wine spectator list for Chianti Classico. The day before we arrived he found out that another wine just made the list for this year. 95 points! The lunch was simple, homemade and fantastic. Fresh vegetables from their garden. Ravioli and of course wine. We tried 1 sparking, 1 white and 5 reds.
    After the tasting we are excited to get back to the house because we are having a pizza dough making class and making our own pizzas in the pizza oven. Chef Nando and his assistant Illyria are the best! They of course made everything look so easy and taste amazing. Our pizzas were so good. We were stuffed!! We even had Nutella pizza. We are so sad to leave in the morning.
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  • Day 40

    Travel Day to Sorrento

    April 22, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    After saying goodbye to Villa Dante we started our road trip to Sorrento. It’s a long 6 hour drive so we are going to stop along the way. Our first stop is in Siena. Gabe and I came to Siena in 2006. I remember the square well. It’s very different from other piazzas. We wandered looking for a few restaurants we had picked out. But decided on a different one. We had a light lunch and went to find gelato. The square was very busy and it’s defiantly getting warmer as we drive south. Our 2nd stop is in Montepulciano for a quick snack. We hiked up to the center of town and didn’t find much to see. We were trying to remember if we had been there before. But neither of us could remember.
    I have been trying to find us a Agruiturismo to eat at. We have eaten at them with Vitto before but I hadn’t been able to find one on this trip yet. Agriturismo means “independently owned farm”. How they got started were travelers would come up to peoples homes and ask for a meal and a place to stay. Not all of them today are hotels but most are. I hadn’t been having a luck because most have a 3 or more night minimum. I was able to find one in a small town called Sarteano. They have about 20 rooms, they are a vineyard and of course a farm. The owners live on property and eat dinner with the guests every night. The restaurant has been in the Michelin guide for several years. Gabe absolutely loved the steak. The pasta they made us was amazing But I was a little disappointed there were not any vegetables. Only potatoes. And the dessert was ehh…I haven’t been feeling great the past few days so I was very ready for bed.
    *The wisteria smells so good. And looks beautiful. Am I allergic ? Or the cypress ?
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  • Day 41

    Travel Day to Sorento Part 2

    April 23, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Today we left the hotel and drove to Sorrento. First we stopped in Tivoli to get some lunch. But we couldn’t find a parking spot and 2 restaurants weren’t open yet so Dad decided we should keep going. We got a little turned around and saw a sign for KFC. It’s inside a mall. We parked, ordered and were back on the road in 30 minutes. It was finger lickin Good. It was expensive. $34 dollars for our meal. After KFC, we got to Sorrento and we checked in at our house. We are staying about 7 minutes outside of the center of Sorrento. We got changed and drove into town. Parking was hard to find because its Sunday. We decided to get an apertivo for a snack at the hotel that P And UK stayed at. After this we walked around for a while and shopped. Once it was time for dinner we walked to dinner and dinner was not good. We all had pasta and I wanted some calamari but it tasted very dry and was hard and crunchy. After dinner we got gelato and Mom got Kennedy a limealade dress. The Gelato which was not too great but because we choose bad flavors except for Mom who got what she wanted exactly. After we walked around eating our gelato we for a lil bit we went home. Hopefully, we will have some better food tomorrow.
    Ciao, Andrew
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  • Day 42

    Sorrento Day 1

    April 24, 2023 in Italy ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    Today we are going to Pompeii. We hung out at home most of the morning then left the apartment to go to the lunch place. I had chicken. The place had this really cool rotisserie oven. My mom had a cotoletta that I really liked also. She shared with me. After lunch, we headed to the train station to go to Pompeii. We were going to get on the 1:00 train, but we let it go. We had to wait for the 1;38pm train. It took about 30 minutes to get to the Pompeii stop. We met up with our tour guide Natalia. We got our tickets and headed into the city. It had walls all around it and had many shops. Along all the roads and inside houses, there were small white rocks. The moonlight reflected on them and illuminated the roads at night. They are called “cat eye’s”. The first room we went in was like a court room, where they would discus laws and punishments for prisoners. The second room was called the Fourm. It was used for meeting up with people and selling goods. Fun fact: People in Pompeii used urine to wash their clothes. There was also a LOT of shops. The workers of the shops slept upstairs. They were typically slaves. All of the roofs were destroyed by the ash from the volcano. It wasn’t lava that destroyed Pompeii, it was deadly ash, that could kill you if you breathed it in. People died by suffocation. But the lava did in fact destroy one town, but we didn’t go there. Next up was the theater. There were two. The big one was used for comedy and plays. The actors were played by slaves, because it was bad it be a actor. Politicians usually paid for everyone to watch for free, this was their way of saying “vote for me, I paid for this.” The small theater was where music was played. Then, the bathhouse. There was a men’s and women’s side, and they had a commons area outside, where they did exercises and talked. Then, inside, there was a cubby to hold belongings and they didn’t really have showers. There were steam rooms, and huge bath tubs. How did they get the water? They had fountains. It was coming from the aqueduct, which is like gutters we still have to this day. They also stored rainwater. There are many many fountains on the streets of Pompeii. Most still work today. I drank water from one. We explored several different houses. Inside the houses, there was a small pool in the atrium. It was open to the sky so that the rain water could collect in the pool. That’s where they stored the rainwater. In some houses, they had big living rooms that opened into an interior courtyard. The bedrooms were small and near the front door. Several houses have been restored with a roof and plants added so that we can see how things would have looked. We explored a lot for more than 2 hours. After we left Natalia, we walked up to the train station to catch the train. After we got off, we got back home and rested. Then we went to a pizza place, which had good pizza, but none of us really liked it. It was soggy Napolitean pizza. Dad went to have calls, and I watched “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” with my mom. We were all tired, so we went to bed.Read more