One Thing Thursdays: Levanto, Italy

If it is not quite clear that I've got outdoor space on my mind, you're obviously illiterate.
(Youch, that was harsh. Allow me to recenter my mind and start anew.)

I wanted to show you all the amazing space that is our inspiration for this project. Not that they'll look the same, but we want to evoke the same feelings (look out, we're getting all hippie-dippie on ya) as the best patio I've ever had the pleasure of stepping foot on. So, without further ado:


One thing to do in Levanto: Stay at Agriturismo Villanova.

Last week, I told you all a little about the trip hubs and I went on after he graduated. Well, about eight months before we hopped on the plane, I was drooling over Italian villas online, weighing the merits of each. I settled on Agriturismo Villanova, a 17th century villa nestled in the hills above Levanto that produced its own wine and included breakfast. Sounds great, right?

Well, imagine my extreme delight when we drove up to the villa to find that it was even more amazing than I'd imagined. The villa was divided into a few rental apartments scattered throughout the main home, the barn and the church (yeah - the family had their very own church, how sweet is that?). We stayed in the area that was the kitchen and the living room had a giant old fireplace. As lovely as the inside was, though, that's not where we spent our time.

No, sir. Outside was where it was at. Wine on the terrace, looking at this:
And hanging out with this guy - Giro the villa dog. We're translating this into our flat Iowa yard by adding a trellis along one side of our deck and incorporating lots of bright flowers that will overflow from planters and creep up rails. Throw in some Peroni and prosciutto and heck, we're halfway back to Levanto.