Former Rick Steves Tour Members Relocate in Tuscany
A real life "Under the Tuscan Sun" story
We get many happy letters from the thousands of people we introduce to Europe. This one in particular is inspiring:
Dear Rick,
Just a quick note from a couple of former tour members. We traveled with you on your September 2000 Best of Europe tour. I am probably one of few people who have photos of you dancing funny dances in the Kranenturm Hotel on the Rhine. Remember that tour?
Well, since taking your tour we have retired, sold everything here in California, and moved to Italy full time. Your tour broke the anxiety barrier I had about Europe and the different languages and we loved it so much we wanted to truly experience it "as locals."
We live in a hill top village of 300 people in Northern Tuscany, where we have a two-bedroom apartmento in a 900-year-old converted barn with three-foot thick walls and shuttered windows. We have no parking, so we must park at the bottom of the village a half-mile walk from our apartment — up hill the entire way. There are a lot of things we are unable to find in Italy, but we enjoy making do with what we have.
I have learned to do the traditional Italian course cooking and serving, including the four or five after dinner liqueurs normally served, and have also taken comfort in the three-hour dinners with Italian neighbors and friends. We have learned how to make the ItaliTreno our very best friend — traveling by train almost everywhere we go.
Lucca is our nearest large city, and we love every street and ally in the walled city. Needless to say - WE LOVE OUR NEW LIVES!!!!!!!!
THANK YOU for introducing us to Europe.
Buon Natale and Auguri to you and your family!
The Coopers, Paulo and Carolina