x-ray life and military wife: Tuscany

We've been so blessed to be able to travel around Europe the past 3 years. There are so many countries and cities that we have visited and when I think about those experiences I have nothing but awesome memories. This last trip we took was the exception to that. Our trip to Tuscany went so bad that it was enough for both of us to say "We've had enough traveling." Don't get me wrong.. Tuscany is amazingly beautiful. It's like right out of a movie, but all of the things that went wrong on that trip are enough to cloud the beauty of it.

Our morning started at 2:30 am. We had to be at the base by 4 to catch our bus. I packed Rosalie a lunch and an extra cup of milk in my playtex cooler. We got to the base and in the hurry to get everything out of the jeep, I forgot the cooler. I shoulda known right then and there it was going to be a bad day.

It was almost 80 out at 4am. The bus had absolute no AC. Rosalie fell asleep as soon as we started off which was awesome.. but we had to pass her back and forth just because she gives off so much heat when she sleeps.

We stopped 3 hours at an Auto Grill, which is basically an Italian rest stop. Rosalie got a fresh diaper and dressed for the day.. got all dolled up and we headed back to the bus ready to finish our journey. We got on the bus and got Rosalie's dvd player out and got her set up with breakfast. She didn't want to eat. She didn't want to drink, which is very unusual for her. She just laid her head down on Kevin's lap. We knew something was up. She started getting clammy so Kevin picked her up and put her on his lap. Then it started.

We spent the next 3 hours dealing with Rosalie vomiting everywhere. Thank goodness she did not drink any milk or eat any cereal. She was throwing up straight water. By the team we reached our first stop, Volterra, Kevin and Rosalie were both soaking wet and stinky. The best part: I laid her out an extra outfit to take JUST IN CASE and I left it sitting on the hope chest upstairs. FML.

When we got off the bus it was like a sigh of relief for Rosalie. She started perking up and getting her color back. She even ate her breakfast. We went on a guided tour of Volterra and then had some free time. We ended up being there the same time as their local market so we hit it up. Since we've been here we've never gone to any of the local markets. It wasn't what we expected. Did you know the sell delicates at the markets? Well i don't know if they all do but this one did lol. "Hey hunny, I'm going to run down to the local market and pick up some skimpy undies."

We had lunch at a tiny lil pizza joint and it was the first time since we've been here that I was disgusted by Italian pizza. Usually I'm the first one to say "let's get some pizza instead of having a sit down meal." But holy man.. that pizza was terrible. Strike 3 for the trip.

Volterra is famous for it's Alabaster, and the Twilight Series lol. Rosalie came home with a huge alabaster ladybug, a little alabaster ladybug magnet that says "Volterra" on it, and a hand carved alabaster heart that says "Twilight, Volterra" on it.

We boarded the bus around 1 and headed to San Gimignano. It was about an hour away from Volterra. Naturally Rosalie started getting bus sick again. Thankfully she was able to hold it in though lol.

We got to San Gim. and Rosalie had enough. She was tired. She was hot. Oh, forgot to mention.. it was about 100 out. We walked into the entrance of the city and she lost it. She started crying uncontrollably. She didn't want anything. She didn't want held. She didn't want down. She didn't want to drink. She didn't want to eat. Ugh. People were staring. Kevin was at his wits end. Me? How was I acting at this point? Well to be honest, I just want to throw myself on the ground with her and start bawling my eyes out. I just wanted to go home. My poor baby didn't feel good. She didn't want to be there. She wanted to be in her own home, with her toys, with AC.

Kevin suggested just to keep on walking, keep her occupied. I suggested that he throw her up on his shoulders because she really likes that. Well both of those things were the ticket. She calmed down and was as happy as a peacock. She ended up leaving San Gim. with 2 snow globes, which we started collecting for her after we went to Austria and Kevin and I came home with some wine. I'm shocked we didn't pop it open on the ride home. Ha!

Around 5:30 we headed back for Aviano. Good riddance. We just wanted to get home. Thankfully Rosalie did not get sick on the ride home and slept the entire way. I'm so glad she did sleep though because we hit traffic and it took us an extra hour to get home. I don't know how she slept on the bus. It was so muggy and miserable. Then all of the sudden the AC started working again and the bus became a freezing icebox.

You have no idea how painful it was for me to write this entry. The.Trip.Was.A.Nightmare.

Now that you read about the nightmare we lived, how about the beauty of Tuscany......

Volterra.............