Flashback Fridays: Amazing India

Here it is... The first installment of Flashback Fridays, a look back at our past adventures around the world. It's a long one (unlike the trip itself) so make yourself a hot drink and be prepare to look at a tonne of photos - followed by hours of researching Indian vacations online!

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Back in October 2009 we were lucky enough to be able to take the trip of a lifetime to India with a group of friends. A good friend was getting married in Kerala, a tropical paradise in the south of India so we all tagged along for an amazing cultural experience.

Despite the fact that she was only two and a half years old, and that everyone thought we were absolutely crazy, Ava came along for the trip with us. It turned out to be the most wonderful experience for her and more than five years later she still talks about the trip regularly.

Ava in India

Here's a look at our week long adventure in India. Prepare for lots of photos...

Four days in Tuscany

Time for a break from the Christmas posts...

Back in September Lola and I went on a whirlwind trip to Italy to attend the wedding of our friends Amy and Andrew in the stunning Tuscan countryside. I've been meaning to write about it and share some photos since, well... September but I keep getting distracted with other things; Halloween preparations, Thanksgiving preparations, Christmas preparations and of course Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter etc etc etc. Even now I'm being distracted by my blog feed!

Ok, enough procrastinating, let's get these photos up...

Our trip to Italy was short but sweet. Only four full days in total. Along with the bride and groom travelling from London a handful of good friends had travelled from Australia for the wedding. It was lovely to catch up in such an amazing location.

Amy and Andrew's wedding was held in a little Tuscan town called Greve-in-Chianti. Our accommodation was located a short drive away in Rignana which is not really a village but rather a few farm houses, a villa and a restaurant all accessed by narrow and bumpy dirt roads. Lola and I stayed in Fattoria di Rignana, a lovely old farm house converted into a B&B. The bride and groom, along with many other guests, stayed in nearby Villa Rignana about a 10 minute walk away.

Our first evening in Italy was spent doing just what Italy is best for: eating delicious food and drinking great wine with good friends. Then, of course, a big sleep to recover from our fifteen hour flight. Fifteen hours with Lola on my lap - what was I thinking?!

Our first full day in Italy was spent doing the tourist thing in the nearby medieval village San Gimignano. The entire village (or at least the medieval part) is completely enclosed within a stone wall. We ate pizza and gelato, posed for photos, bought souvenirs... all the touristy stuff.

Lola and I outside the walled village of San Gimignano