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Escape from the Empty Nest
One of the adjustments to having only grown children is the discovery that family vacations no longer exist in the same way. We used to load up the station wagon with suitcases, camping equipment, pack in the girls and an extra guest or two and take “wing”. We didn’t have much spending money, so air travel was limited to a once every three year trip to see the grandparents. Hey, no complaints here—we always had fun spending time together. Now that we have a little more cash air travel has nearly replaced the car, we stay in nice hotels instead of a tent, we eat in restaurants instead of out of the cooler, and the camping gear has been on a 15 year hiatus. But there are only two of us “love birds” migrating! Fun? Gee, I don’t know. We enjoy the trips, love visiting friends, family, and beautiful sights, but I have trouble attaching the word “fun” to the Empty Nester Vacation.
With this situation in mind, my husband decided that we should take our youngest daughter for two weeks of fun-in-the-sun Italy, experiencing artistic delight, great food, and a hands-on history lesson. Jane was all for it! Then Jeff got to thinking out loud, “I’m not so sure I can take a week of you and Jane together 24/7. Sometimes you don’t get along too well. You know, you and she are so similar it’s like your personalities can’t come to terms with each other, sort of like the same polar nodes of a magnet scattering apart.” His solution: invite more folks along to dilute the family dynamic. So his sister and niece Diane and Kelsie were asked and accepted the mission of providing a buffer zone between myself and my daughter, and six months of planning our Italian adventure began.
I was able to locate some fabulous places to stay after we set our itinerary. We decided to reserve a villa in Tuscany to accommodate us all. Because Jeff and I had both toured Italy previously by train, we planned to rent a car for a week to allow us to take day trips exploring the Tuscan countryside and smaller towns. Everything seemed so easy to arrange via the internet—(thank you Easy Reserve). I would check out websites complete with pictures and compare them with previous visitors’ comments. I knew I had done the best advance planning possible.
Rendezvous with Jane went smoothly, as did the overnight flight to Rome. We breezed through customs and found the rental car counter with minimum fuss, and we were pleased to find the rental Fiat had plenty of space for 5 and luggage.
At the Hertz counter Jeff refused the extra charge necessary to place me as a second driver on the car. “I usually drive anyway—that’s just money we don’t need to spend.” Just like old times, we loaded up the Fiat with our luggage, married couple in front, kid in the back, and took off down the road—Jeff at the wheel and me navigating. But as the hours passed smiles were replaced by grim determination to just get there. “How are you doing?” I asked a couple of hours later, patting Jeff on the shoulder. “Okay, I’m just really beat…didn’t sleep enough on that flight.” Jeff responded. “Only an hour more according to the map,” I assured him. Five minutes later my eyes and mouth flew open as I felt the car slip onto the shoulder and hit the guard rail. Jeff quickly stopped the car and laid his head on the wheel in exasperation, “I fell asleep,” he dejectedly admitted. No one was hurt, not even bruised by seat belts, and fortunately we had not been spun back into the traffic lane. The rental car, though, had a gash along the side from stem to stern. Ugly, no telling what that cost would be, but we were safe. Jeff pulled himself together and got right back on the road, “Kind of woke me up,” he said, “No use in trying to rest now. Let’s just get there.”
Thankfully, we arrived at the gate to our villa outside Florence without further ado. After gaining access via intercom, the security gate opened slowly to reveal a long tree-shaded gravel drive leading to a large two-storied building with a smaller residence out back. Driving to the back building we assumed would be our rental, we were pleasantly surprised to learn that, no, we had leased the larger accommodation complete with spacious vine-covered patio, huge living room, gigantic kitchen, three spacious bedrooms, two complete bathrooms, and best treat of all: lake-sized naturally landscaped swimming pool with stunning view of Tuscan hills.
Meanwhile, Diane and Kelsie were zeroing in on the property by taxi, the driver using his GPS to navigate him just 3 miles from the center of Florence to the surrounding hillsides. He pulled up to the gate, and as it opened he exclaimed, “Who are you guys?” he was so amazed by the estate. Many hugs and smiles, and a confusing trip to a local grocery store, (Hey, who knew you had to pay a Euro to rent the grocery cart in the store? We didn’t until we were “blessed out” in unintelligible Italian by the check-out cashier!), and we were dining al fresco out on the patio.
A week in a 100-year old Florentine villa, visiting world-famous sights, taking in the countryside, visiting nearby towns of Fiesole, Siena and Volterra, eating fabulous Tuscan food by day and reassuring home cooking for breakfast and dinner, watching World Cup Soccer with Italian announcer, spending time with relatives you love and wish were closer—now that’s vacationing!
Everything was perfect, and Jeff was pleasantly surprised to find Jane and me getting along famously. What’s to argue about when life is so pleasant? How wonderful to share time with Jeff's sister and niece, and how satisfying to see Kelsie and Jane grow to care for one another in their cousin relationship.
A few days into the vacation I pulled Jeff aside. “Hey, it’s great being with everyone else; but I need some romance. How about a day of just you and me, the Pitti Palace and a fabulous dinner out?” So the next day we went our separate ways.
Jane convinced Diane and Kelsie that they would be fine touring downtown while we took the car. Proving her competency as an adult she led them on to Florence via a tourist map and the city bus, reassuring the suburbanites that she would be able to guide them safely on public transport (all those years of making her take the bus and subway does have a payoff after all). What a thrill to see her so confident in a foreign land!
Meanwhile Jeff and I motored south of the River Arno and searched for street parking. The Pitti Palace was magnificent, as were the surrounding Boboli Gardens. And dinner at nearby Quatro Leoni was indescribable—combine cheese, pasta, and pears and you have a hint of heaven.
Another day sharing the fabulous art at the Uffizi Gallery was a particular high point when Jane chose to tour it with me instead of alone or with her dad, cousin or aunt. Day trips to Siena and Volterra were also grand despite occasional wrong turns in the rental car which led to longer drives and the hassles of where to park the car when we arrived at our destinations.
The week was glorious, passed quickly, and we turned our attention south. Jeff had particularly looked forward to a visit to Ostia Antica, ancient Rome’s seaport, on the day we were returning the rental car to the Leonardo da Vinci Airport. We pulled into a near full parking lot located next to the historic ruins, left our luggage behind in the car as we would be walking the town for several hours.
Jeff was truly in his element, being a student of ancient Roman history and Latin, taking in all the guide signs and walking the funerary remains, offices, warehouses, baths, residences, forums, theaters, and temples of a complete town. “Darn, I wish we had more time to go through the museum,” he complained as we downed a cafeteria lunch on site, “but we have to turn in the car and get to the airport.”
We quickly finished lunch and marched back to the now almost-empty parking lot. “What’s all this glass?….OH, NO! The window’s broken!” shouted Jane, the first to discover that the rental car had been once again damaged—this time by thieves. It didn’t take long to see that they entered quickly with a sharp tool left on the back car seat along with dirty footprints, and snatched the “small stuff”, my tote bag, Jeff’s leather briefcase, and Jane’s messenger bag (with contents all totaled, about $1,000 of belongings), before fleeing. Jane’s shock worked itself up to dismay and then anger as she assessed what she had lost in the bag: Iphone, make up, and clothing. How could we have been so stupid as to leave these bags in plain sight, practically inviting the theft? I was responsibly sheepish as feelings of dread came slamming back into the forefront of my mind. Parents are supposed to be able to handle vacations—how did I let this happen?! How was I going to fix it?
While Jeff drove toward the airport, Jane quickly dialed the number for the police, but was unsuccessful in discovering what to do as her question, “Parla inglese?” was repeatedly met with an immediate disconnection when she dialed the carabinieri emergency number. Her frustration grew while she angrily watched the sidewalks we passed seeking a likely suspect toting our bags.
Hertz employees scowled at the car damage when we arrived at their facility, but as we had a language barrier, discussion of possible cost and responsibility were absent. We rushed to the departure section of the airport, and arriving early, Jane and Jeff had time to visit the polizia station to make an official report of the theft.
We experienced a three hour flight delay, but all worked out, and we returned safely to our respective homes by 1 am, suffering mere jet lag and an emptiness associated with a quiet home occupied only by happy, long-married couple.
Despite the near disasters of this trip, I’m left with the final question: Was I able to have vacation “fun” this time because we had populated it with relatives and loved ones? “Yes!” I say convincing even myself as I respond in the affirmative. It’s so much more fun to fly in near formation with those you love than to hang around the empty nest—especially if you fly to Tuscany! (Oh, and by the way, we experienced no extra cost associated with the damaged rental car. However, next time we’ll skip it and take the train!)
