As Rancho Chico has been demolished and is no longer an option, we decided to spend an active and cultural vacation this year. And we certainly did a lot and saw a lot. We spent a few days in Switzerland, then drove down to Tuscany, where we had rented an apartment from an adorable old italian couple in lost crossroads Poggio Cuculo. M did not know the region, so my mother and I showed him Florence, Siena, San Gimignano, and the lovely villages of the chiantigiana. We also drove down to Umbria and discovered beautiful places such as Assisi and Perugia. M and I then took the train down to Rome, where we spent 6 days walking the city under Ferragosto circumstances: no Romans, thousands of tourists, and 80% of its restaurants and shops closed. However, Rome still won me over again, and made of M one of its biggest fans. A long weekend at the Dottore's flat in the nearby future is already planned! All in all a wonderful vacation, although I have to say I miss our usual two weeks of relaxing and sunbathing in our lost haven in the south of Spain...
After 2 weeks spent in Italy eating la buona pasta and drinking wine every day, we are on a strict diet since our return home. A two week diet, which should enable us to lose the few kilos overweight, and look as good as the day we met. That's right, it's not because we're married that we don't want to look good for each other! So we're trying the Max Planck diet. Today's our 4th day.... 10 days to go! The hardest thing on this diet is the lack of any spices for me... without mentioning the lack of sleep. I toss and turn every night and all night long since Sunday. But being able to reach my ideal weight of 50 kg in just 2 weeks is definitely worth the suffering.