Dear Eliza & Enzo

This week's a bit crazy for us as …. so we just wanted to send a quick message to say what a brilliant time we had last week. It was one of the best holidays we've had, for all kinds of reasons- great company, wonderful food, friendly animals and of course the sculling sessions which were hugely inspiring and productive. We had so much fun with Margery & Peter too, and being taken round Tuscany to some of your secret places was a great privilege and made us all feel like kids again! It was a real bonus to stay in your house- this created a uniquely relaxed atmosphere among us all.

Eda was very kind and patient and fed us some amazing food during our stay- we were really made to feel like part of your family.

Now we just have to stay in training and build on all the good work we did last week....we've had a quick look at the website and are pleased to see Enzo & Matteo making an appearance! But where is Eliza? As requested we may send some suggestions in a few weeks- you're really offering a great experience to people, and for us it was an unforgettable trip.

Don't forget you're always welcome to come & stay in our little house if you fancy a weekend in London- it would be nice to stay in touch.

Thanks again for a great week and all your hospitality

Love from Ed & Fabiola

Emily and Amy's Blog - May 2006

Splashdown in T minus three, two . . .
May 22, 2006
This is the final week of the our countdown to Italy! Leaving Thursday, so if i can just hold my breath through Tues and Wed . . . we’re goingoingone. In the meantime, here’s our wet ’n wild foreign correspondent Amy of the Arno with an exciting new way to see Florence — by water. Thanks, Amy looks like great fun!

GETTING OUR FEET WET IN FLORENCE

FLORENCE, Tuscany— Messing about with boats — what could possibly be more fun? Sailboats, ski boats, kayaks, rowboats, canoes — I’ve done ’emall. When I got to college in 1981 I was so excited to join Crew — alas, too small to row, too big to cox (despite my impressive vocal amps). 18 years and three kids later I decided my time had come. In 1999 I finally got some lessons and a single shell; in 2005 I found the discipline to train for the recreational race at the Head of the Charles (Boston) in October.
My 14-year-old thought that the race (and maybe even her mom) was pretty cool. She wanted to learn, and wanted to figure out a way to get other high school kids interested. I was happy to help, but there was one significant problem — rowing a single means one person with two oars. Most team rowing means each person has one oar (it’s called rowing ”sweep”) and I’d never done that before.
ROW, ROW, ROW, YOUR BOAT . . .

So, ”Emily”, I said, ”Why don’t you find us a rowing camp to attend during April break where we can learn sweep together?” A few hours and several web sites later, she informed me that she’d found the perfect place: good weather, great coach, sweep rowing, about the same pricetag as her usual ”Y” camp. There was, however, a tiny bit of small print: the camp happened to take place during a non-vacation week, and, oh yeah, it also happened to be in Italy.
What’s a mother (who LOVES rowing and LOVES Italy) to do? We saved our pennies and, on April 1, 2006, met Enzo and Eliza, the owners of the Terralba Rowing Camp in San Miniato.
MERRILY, MERRILY, MERRILY . . .

The experience was truly magical. We stayed in their guest rooms and Enzo’s mother, Aida, treated us to her wonderful country cooking each evening. During the days we explored Tuscany with Eliza until training started at 4pm. We were the
only campers that week, so we trained with the high school club.
For you rowers out there, you’ll be impressed to hear that Emily and I learned to row a pair (one boat, two people, each with one oar) — the most challenging boat around because the rowers have to be perfectly synchronized (identical twins are ideal for a pair).
Emily was a natural, and politely tolerated her mother. Mid-week she got to row with another high school girl and they had a wonderful time.

LIFE IS BUT A DREAM.
But how incredible was Wednesday, when we travelled 30 minutes to Florence and got to use the facilities and boats of the Florence rowing club? Rowing along the Arno, cat-calls and curious gazes everywhere, enjoying a vantage point that few get to experience.
Afterward we sipped champagne on the club lawn (right below the Uffizi, by the way) and watched the 9-year-olds taking their first strokes on the learning barge.

We lived and worked in Italy that week. We met wonderful adults and kids, were part of a warm and loving family, and created memories that will last forever. OK if we come back next year?
See you in Italy!
Amy

I had a gggggggggreaaaaaaaaaat time in Italy! I've copied below a journal excerpt for you. Thanks for all the crazy adventures and all the inside tracks within the Italian rowing world... All the best, thanks again! Janet

Journal entry:
Day 1 in Italy officially complete.
I am staying with Eliza and Enzo in their B&B in San Miniato which is not too far from both Florence and Pisa. The views are amazing! We’re surrounded by acres and acres of olive groves and gorgeous hillsides all bathed in the beautiful Tuscan sun. –The birds never seem to stop singing!
After a lunch consisting of the freshest mozzarella I have ever tasted and raviolis, I rested my stomach with a lovely two-hour nap. We then made our way down to a small body of water called Roffia, this is where I’ll be training. The water was unlike anything I had ever rowed on up on the Hudson River in New York. It was SO flat, and basically all my own! No trains interrupting practice or 15-foot wide wakes from barges to try and avoid. I really don’t have much experience in a scull so they had me go out in a training single first. I’ll admit, it was pretty rocky to start but it definitely got better, well everything except the steering, that’ll just have to be my goal for tomorrow. After a few laps around the course it was time to call it quits and get ready for the greatest meal of my life!!!
I’m probably the pickiest eater ever but this pasta was to die for! –This, and the three other courses we had! The seafood pasta was mouthwateringly delicious! Shrimp, clams, fish, and I even tried the squid! Next was fish cooked in blocks of salt which I had never heard of, then salad and of course to finish if off, gelato! I don’t think that I have ever been this full in my entire life. What an awesome day, I can’t wait for tomorrow! Goodnight, Italy!

Email - March 2005 (9 months after this Alexandria,VA crew’s visit)

Dear Eliza & Enzo,

We haven't written to you in a while, but we've definitely been talking about you! Suzanne discovered how you can make really professional looking scrapbooks using an online service so we spent the better part of Saturday sorting through our Italy photographs and writing captions. Your pictures have titles like "The Renaissance Woman" and "Another Picture of the Renaissance Woman." You'll have to imagine what we wrote under Otto's [Enzo’s dog]. It's frustrating to try to remember what we did on a particular night, and fun to tell the same stories over and over. We've made the trip last a year -- planning for it, doing it and we're still talking about how perfect it was!

So we're still trying to be better rowers. Suzanne and Mike are members of a club near their house where they can go sculling anytime. They sneak off and only tell Krista and I later what a great time they had! Krista is at the boathouse in the evenings and jogging most everyday, and the rest of us are down there pretty much every morning during the week.

You can imagine all the fantasizing that we all did at Christmastime when we got your newsletter. Got lots of others involved too.

So what have you all been doing? We love seeing our pictures on your website. Can't tell you how many people have called our attention to them. Needless to say, if you need any testimonials, or if someone wants to talk to anyone before they decide to come to Terralba, we'd be happy to do it! ED

...and again, 3 months later....

Hi Eliza & Enzo

Mike, Suzanne, Krista and I are celebrating our one year trip anniversary -- marking the days and reminding ourselves what we did, and then the end of next week a year after Florence, we're going out to dinner. Haven't picked the place yet, but the availability of fried zucchini flowers is one of the criteria.

Funny the conversations we've had over the past couple of months about coming back. The most common response when any of us raised it was -- the second time could never be as good as the first. So we pretty much put this summer out of our heads. We were all at dinner a couple of weeks ago, and I don't know who started it, but as the conversation went on, we quickly decided we're coming next summer again. Not possibly or maybe. We're coming. We've told other folks and you may see others along with us, but you can count on us! So what kind of plans can we start making?

(there was along, really long paragraph here about the trials and tribulations of their humble rowing activities)

So let us know how you and Enzo are doing! What's new in Terralba and San Minato? ED