Back from Holidays!

Did you notice I was away?! :-) Well, we were on our summer holidays and this is how we mainly spent our time!

It was paradise!
We went to our favorite places in Tuscany - for the beach to Viareggio, for living and eating (really well!) to Lucca and for shopping to Florence! :-) What can be better?!

In Florence we could also visit some museums we never visited before. It is fantastic about Florence that there are so many things to see and to do, that even if you come quite often every time you discover something new. Every time we go to Florence I feel like it Christmas time! :-) I don't know why it makes me feel so, but I just love this place so much. I do not like that during the summer there are too many tourists and it is extremely hot there (it is one of the hottest towns in Italy). It is also a paradise for someone who loves shopping. And who doesn't?! :-) With two kids it is never easy to make shopping, so I just made quick visits to my favorite shops. It is still SALE time here!

Lucca. When we come to Lucca (and we do it quite often) I feel like I am at home! Though I like very much Florence I would never like to live there. But Lucca is a perfect place where to live. It is small and beautiful. It is surrounded by mountains and beautiful landscapes. Around the old town there is "mura" - the wall - perfect place for riding a bicycle, for jogging or for a walk.

The food is delicious as well. If you have a chance to visit Lucca I can suggest you two places where to eat. The first one is Trattoria Da Leo! It is always full, so I would suggest you to reserve a table one day before. Their vegetable soup is my favorite! It is different from traditional Ribollita, but sooo good! If you are meat lover you should try coniglio or faraona! Funghi with polenta are amazing too! Another place is Osteria Baralla! Here you should try zuppa di farro! Sooo good! Sophie just loved it! And you should try trippa, it is a bit heavy, but delicious! For desert we usually take cantucci with Vin Santo (it is a desert vine).
The good thing about Lucca is that the beach is very close too. It is about 20min to go to Viareggio. It is one of our favorite beaches in Italy (though I never visited Sardinia, but people say the best beaches are there).

In Viareggio you should try insalata di mare! We were buying it almost everyday, also as take away to make a picnic on the beach.

From Lucca it is also very easy to go to Pisa. By train it is only 20 minutes.

Well, I always like to come back home from our trips, but I always feel sad to leave Tuscany. We really feel like at home there.

 

I've been away for a while...

As you could notice I was away for a while... June was a month full of rest, joy and traveling... and almost no crocheting or knitting! :-)

First we celebrated our little son's 3rd birthday! I can't believe he is already 3! My mother and brother joined us and it was a great day!

Then we took a boat and went to the beach for one week! We had marvelous weather and a lot of sun!


When our guests were away we took our suitcase and went for another week to Tuscany! We love it and always enjoy staying there!

Now we are back! I missed my hooks and yarn, and now I have a new wave of inspiration, so many new patterns are on the way! Stay tuned! :-)

Surprise - another free pattern!

My surprise is arriving later than I promised, but I hope you will like it anyway. :-) On the last days of our Tuscany trip I got news that my mother broke her leg. So, just after we came back home, in a few days I had to take a plane to Riga to help my mother. Now with my son Alex we are here, in Riga, together with my mother. She is more or less ok. But already very bored to stay calm in her bed for so long. Well, now you can understand that I was quite busy these days and didn't have time for my blog... BUT, finally here is my surprise. I decided to share with you my Simply Cute Baby Booties pattern (on the right you can find the link where you can download it)! It is very easy to make them, it is perfect beginner project and they look so cute... Enjoy!

Now very shortly about our holidays! It was wonderful trip! I made almost 1000 photos! We visited many interesting places, saw many beautiful things... we had marvelous weather. For some days we stayed on the beach, then we made big tour of Tuscany... I will write more about places we visited and will publish some photos later...