The slow boat to China arrived in Livorno and my car was on it.....Yippee!!!

Off we go, the dogs in tow....on a train to Pisa!  When we were shipping my car, there were only a few places it would arrive, so we picked Livorno, which is right near Pisa so that we could do some sightseeing.

It was an early morning, and we took the dogs on their first train ride.  Let me say that in Italy, dogs are well loved and welcome pretty much everywhere.  So we hopped on the first of 3 train changes and set off to pick up my pretty convertible! Train #1, no problem, a quick hop.  Train #2, even better....dining car, great A/C, plenty of room for the babies, beautiful views of the sunflower fields of Tuscany! Train #3....oops delayed.  No problem, we will wait for the replacement.  Hmmmm....delayed again.....well, apparently there was a bit of an accident and someone decided to check out via jumping in front of the train....not a great omen.

Finally train #3 and we are headed to Livorno....not so much A/C on this one....and did I mention it was a muggy 95degrees....oh and at the last stop all of the people that were delayed got on at one time...it was a hot sardine can full of Europeans.....not so fresh!!

Allora, we finally arrive, catch a cab to the port, just in time for our appt to pick up the car.  Not too much paperwork and we find the car in great condition and ready to roll.  Zip out of Livorno and to our hotel, so we can start off to Pisa in the am.  

I swear I didn't photoshop him in

Arrive in Pisa, thanks to Siri's directions and a kind sunglass vendor shows us right to a parking space.  Apparently he didn't notice that we both had sunglasses on and were not in need of a new pair of "Ray Bans" or "Maui Jim's".  He didn't look pleased!  Well, Pisa is not very large, and we could see the tower from our parking space.

Now my first memories of the Leaning Tower of Pisa are from Bewitched....the episode where Aunt Esmerelda decides she will straighten the tower....I know, I am dating myself, but I bet most of you know what I'm talking about!  And Craig and I decided that we would have to indulge in the cheesy pics of holding up the tower with our hands....with a twist, we settled on a "pushing" the tower shot.  Let me just tell you that it was difficult to get the shot in, because EVERYONE was doing the cheesy tower pose!!

The area was beautiful, as were are learning most of Italy is.  Once we pushed the tower over and looked around, we decided to head of to Florence, which was conveniently, on the way home.  Did I mention it was hot.....now above 98, and the dogs were a bit bored.

Hop back into the car, and set toward Florence.....ahhhhh, glad to be in a car with A/C!  Whoops!!! What happened to the A/C?????  We just paid for a new $1200 compressor, before we left the states!!!!!  No and I repeat NO A/C!!  YIKES!!  It is molto caldo!!!!  HOT HOT HOT!!!

After an hour of driving and now it is 105 outside, we scrapped the plans to Florence and headed home.  Let me just say that cranky, doesn't even begin to describe the ride home, and I'll leave it at that!!!  We were home a day early and the dogs were thrilled to be out of the oven car!

On Sunday, Craig decided he wanted to go for a ride.....Seriously??? Do I really want to get into a car again???  Ok, I will do it, but only because we are going in his car and I know the A/C works!  We decide to take a ride to Asiago....yes, the cheese place!  It is the mountain view that we see outside of the house.  And being a mountain, there were 2 things certain....a winding steep drive and it was about 10 degrees cooler!!  And it was a steep drive!!!  But gorgeous! 
 
We stopped for some cheese.  I always thought of Asiago cheese as similar to Parmesan.  Apparently, I was not aware that there is Asiago Pressato, the dry, aged cheese and Denominazione di Origine  Protetta or DOP.  DOP is delicious and we bought a kilo!! Yes, 2.2lbs of the stuff, it was that good! We are definitely going back, it is only a half hour ride from our home.

We truly are enjoying our life here in Italy.  I managed to pass the test for my driver's license, so I can drive in the oven/car now!  I have joined a local gym/pool, which is right by the supermarket so I can walk there for GPG....Gym, Pool, Groceries!  We are doing our first entertaining, this weekend, dinner with one of Craig's co-workers, so I get to cook.  On Tuesday, I am hosting a luncheon for Army wives that live in Caldogno, just an informal get together.  

I am settling in to "housewife" status....not the Bravo dramas, the cooking, cleaning kind.  I have adopted the Italian way of laundry....hanging clothes on a drying rack, instead of using the dryer.  I have yet to even use the dryer, I swear.  And no, it's not because I haven't done any laundry...I'm actually liking the rack.  And for those of you wondering, I am doing quite well with the small fridge, no regrets.  I am rethinking the no microwave choice that I made.....I may have to break down today and get one!

Hope everyone is enjoying the last bits of summer!  Where does time go????

Until next time......Ciao for now!