12 - 16 Aug 2009

Wow sublime tuscany, we spent a week here in August 2009 with Partizia and her cousin Isabelle. We stayed in Villa Poggiale and had our own private annex with views of the Tuscan country side from every room in the house, even whilst sitting on the thrown.

As we had a car we did a couple of day trips. We visited Sienna and just missed the famous palio (horse racing) all the colorful flags were decorating the city streets and the atmosphere brought the whole place to life, there was an excitment in the air which felt contagious. We also spent some time in San Gimignano where an ice cream is not to be missed as one of the Gelateria's holds the worlds best ice cream title for the past 4 consecutive years running.

As we were in Tuscany going on a wine tour is a must. We went to Vigna Maggio (This estate used to be owned by Mona Lisa's family, once upon a time) The views of the surrounding landscape were breathtaking. For lunch we drove a short distance to Lamole were we had a scrummy lunch in a restaurant perched on top of a hill with stunning views of the valley bellow.

Most evenings were spent outside picknicking underneath the of stars, on one particular night we watched a meteor shower, I have never seen so many shooting starts in all my life.

We ended our Tuscan trip with a short visit to Florence and Pisa. In Florence watching the sun set over the city from Piaza Michael Angelo is highly recommended. That night we had a fantastic meal in a local osteria. The following day we drove to Pisa where the obligatory photos of propping up the leaning tower were taken.

The food was delicious the wine was fantastic and the views were to die for for. A week was not long enough, we will definitely be back...