The Cappella della Madonna di Vitaleta on the road from Pienza to San Quirico d'Orcia

In 2001 I came to live in Italy. I had some fun, wrote a journal and this is the blog of my story...

"Tuscany is a state of grace. The countryside is so lovingly designed that the eye sweeps the mountains and valleys without stumbling over a single stone. The lilt of the rolling green hills, the upsurging cypresses, the terraces sculptured by generations that have handled the rocks with skillful tenderness, the fields geometrically juxtaposed as though drawn by a draughtsman for beauty as well as productivity; the battlements of castles on the hills, their tall towers standing grey-blue and golden tan among the forest of trees, the air of such clarity that every sod of earth stands out in such dazzling detail. The fields ripening with barley and oats, beans and beets. The grape-heavy vines espaliered between the horizontal branches of silver-green olive trees, composing orchards of webbed design, rich in intimation of wine, olive oil and lacy-leaf poetry. Tuscany untied the knots in a man's intestines, wiped out the ills of the world. Italy is the garden of Europe, Tuscany is the garden of Italy, Florence is the flower of Tuscany." Irving Stone from my favourite book " The Agony and the Ecstacy" A fictional biography of Michelangelo



125. Omero

Day 2 of our easter holiday and the weather has greatly improved, so much so that we enjoy a couple of hours stretched out on the rug by the river Arno (a 5 minute walk down the road). A perfect pre-qual to our dinner date at a restaurant I've had my eye on for a while. It's in the very fashionable (and expensive) 'Pian di Giuliari' district overlooking Florence...



We arrive in time to see the sunset over the city, beautiful. Annette wins every course, but then it is her birthday! We indulge in a bottle of '99 Summus from Banfi in Montalcino mmm and finish with a stroll up Piazzale Michelangelo.




(Original journal entry 9/4/04)
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