Katie & Justin

From Venice we made our way to Treia, a small town in the Marche region where my great-uncle and great-aunt own a beautiful villa. They graciously let Justin and I stay at their stunning property, which includes two houses, an outdoor pool, a bocce ball court and olive groves. (They produce their own olive oil!)

TREIA

As we approached the villa, I think we might have made a wrong turn because we ended up crawling up, down and around various hills on dirt paths — rather than enter from the town. Thank goodness for the GPS! It lead us across “unnamed road” and finally we arrived.

Like a scene out of a movie, the front gates opened and we drove up a driveway lined with Cypress trees (I think — whatever those tall skinny ones are called). The house and the land and all of the surroundings were so picturesque that I spent the first hour just running around taking pictures.

We then enjoyed the views of the hilly countryside on the patio and put our chessboard to good use for a couple of games before dinner. For dinner, we met up with my friend Jessica, who lives in the area, and her boyfriend Marco at a nearby restaurant.

I met Jessica 10 years ago when she visited the United States with my great-uncle and great-aunt. Her grandparents lived near the villa so that is how they all met. When she came to Chicago, we had lots of fun in the city with a crazy bike tour, a 14-inning White Sox game and my brother’s wedding. She even helped me move in to my dorm when I began my first year in college. We’ve kept in touch over the years through email and Facebook, and I got to visit her a few more times when I was in Italy in 2008 and in 2009.

It was great to catch up with her once again, and to meet her boyfriend. (We’ve since found out the two got engaged!) They treated us to a true Italian meal with fried lamb, a variety of pasta, homemade chips, good wine and limoncello. Oh, and the best tiramisu in the world. It was seriously to die for! We had lots of good laughs throughout night and kept the two up way best their bed time, haha.

That night Justin and I sat outside on the patio again — that is until we heard the strangest animal noise we’ve ever heard. It was a combo of squealing and screeching, and it was getting closer… I remembered one time when my mom was driving in Italy, a wild boar ran out onto the road in front of us. Maybe it’s a boar? I thought. We googled it and learned they are one of the meanest animals around. Not sure if that is what we heard, but we called it a night at that point. :)

The next day we grabbed lunch at another nearby restaurant owned by my aunt and uncle’s friend. She was very patient with me trying to communicate in Italian, and it was so fun getting to talk to her. She wouldn’t let us leave before trying her homemade limoncello, which was pretty tasty (and strong!)

The rest of the day we spent hanging out by the pool, and one of us went in the water for a swim. (That would be me.) It was very nice and relaxing.

NEXT STOP:  Abruzzo

To be continued…

Click here for Honeymoon Part 3: Venice

Click here for Honeymoon Part 2: Verona

Click here for Honeymoon Part 1: Lake Como

To see all of our pictures from Italy, click here for our photo albums and then click on “honeymoon.” The location will show up when you click on each picture.