Mary and I have just returned from our summer holiday in Tuscany. We stayed in a lovely villa in Monterchi owned by a lady who's had the house in her family for the past 100 years. This was really a culture vulture holiday, because we visited 9 cities in 14 days, starting with Pisa in the North West, moving on to Lucca, then Assisi, Urbino, Cortona, Arezzo, Siena, San Sepulchro and Perugia. We concentrated on studying Piero della Francesca and in particular his mural work, both in churches and museums. I was also allowed to indulge in two of my favourites, Fra Angelico and Luini, whose work can only usually be found in Milan. Although we saw wonderful examples of da Vinci, Michelangelo and Donatello, the discovery of the tour was unquestionably Signorelli, whose three paintings - the crucifixion, the assumption and the birth of Christ - literally took my breath away.
A few observations about Tuscany... they allow no building permits outside of the cities; you can buy an old house and renovate it, but you cannot add any new extensions. Because historically the land was poor - each family lived in a large house surrounded by a substantial amount of land, which they farmed - the countryside remains surprisingly unlittered, giving the impression of belonging to a different century, with quite beautiful results. The food was as always superb. I don't know how they manage it, but everything tastes better. And as for the home-made icecream ... disaster; Mary and I found it very hard to resist. The miracle was that when we returned home, we found we'd both lost a couple of pounds, presumably because of all the walking we did up and down hills for hours in the sun - yes, even the weather was perfect.
We spent the last four days with our old friends and former neighbours Jim and Shirley Sherwood at their lovely home on a hilltop which is in fact a working vineyard. Those two sure have style, but then you wouldn't expect anything less from the man who heads up a company that runs the Orient Express, Cipriani, Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons and La Residencia in Majorca. I returned home to find my 11th draft of A Prisoner of Birth ready to work on, and had to have a very cold shower before I was able to pick up my pen again.
A few observations about Tuscany... they allow no building permits outside of the cities; you can buy an old house and renovate it, but you cannot add any new extensions. Because historically the land was poor - each family lived in a large house surrounded by a substantial amount of land, which they farmed - the countryside remains surprisingly unlittered, giving the impression of belonging to a different century, with quite beautiful results. The food was as always superb. I don't know how they manage it, but everything tastes better. And as for the home-made icecream ... disaster; Mary and I found it very hard to resist. The miracle was that when we returned home, we found we'd both lost a couple of pounds, presumably because of all the walking we did up and down hills for hours in the sun - yes, even the weather was perfect.
We spent the last four days with our old friends and former neighbours Jim and Shirley Sherwood at their lovely home on a hilltop which is in fact a working vineyard. Those two sure have style, but then you wouldn't expect anything less from the man who heads up a company that runs the Orient Express, Cipriani, Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons and La Residencia in Majorca. I returned home to find my 11th draft of A Prisoner of Birth ready to work on, and had to have a very cold shower before I was able to pick up my pen again.
3 Comments:
Monterchi is indeed a wonderful place in Tuscany. We know Donatella and her Villas in the village. Our family were in fact your next door neighbours in Monterchi. We also had a lovely holiday there and were pleased to see that you also enjoyed your stay.
Derek and Susan
Jeffrey,
I visited Siena this year too, and was amazed to see the square where they do the horse racing each year. We drove from Genoa down the Ligurian Coast via Porto Fino, Rapallo to Portovenere before driving to Siena and then down to Rome.
Rome was amazing, together with the Vatican Museum and various 2,000 year old temples that are still standing.
It rained our whole time in Tuscany, but I was still amazed by how green Northern Italy looks when compared to Provence where my Dad lives.
You may well have been to Provence, but I would recommend that for a vist too.
If you are looking for somewhere a bit different to visit I think you may find Krakow, Wroclaw and Warsaw an interesting mix of old and new.
My girlfriend is from Poland, and being just 30 remembers when people used to que for days for such things as tv's and fridges. I think your Prime Minister (and many others in the government of the day)can take a lot of credit for the fact that Poland and the rest of Eastern Europe is now free and enjoys the freedoms we take for granted - I remember in my teens (in the 80's)many times where the Tories were the only people with the guts to face down the Soviets despite it's risks.
Regards
Richard
susan - many thanks. It really was a lovely trip. anonymous - much appreciate your interesting comments.
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