I have just noticed that I last posted on March 17th… just plain lazy: that’s what the spring makes me!
It’s finally here: the sun, the cool breeze, the birds, the flowers, the grass, the buds on the trees. I always think it’s my favourite season, then when November arrives and the countryside is so beautiful, I think that the fall is…! The first warm evenings are so beautiful and quiet…
Since my last post, we have spend some time in Civitella, my village, getting ready for the new tourist season and enjoying the countryside. We had the pleasure of having Giulia, owner of the amazing holiday farm La Locanda della Valle Nuova near Urbino, and Letizia and her husband from the beautiful Alla Madonna del Piatto near Assisi over for lunch last Sunday. We “met” on the Slow Travel Forum several years ago and after a first “Slow Travel Inn Keepers GTG” we have made a habit of meeting at least once a year. Who says that you can’t meet real friends online?!
We missed a few “pieces” this year: Diana from Baur B&B, Megan of Bella Vita Italia and Rebecca of Brigolante Guest Apartments. They had last minute “impediments”, but we hope that next year we will manage to get together!
We had a great time with our friend Francesca, and with Giulia, Letizia and Ruurd. We always have so much to catch up on! And we always eat way too much!
Casina di Rosa, our vacation rental south of Siena, is almost ready for the new season! The first guests will arrive on Saturday! This week we had to be in Pisa, so I asked my friend Lorella, the amazing florist of Fiori e Dintorni, to go and fix up our loggia with flowers! A bit of landscaping!
In March, we didn’t rent our holiday apartment in Pisa, Behind the Tower, because we wanted to do some structural work. We have finally installed an air-conditioning system, because the city gets very hot in the summer and we have wanted to do this for a long time. Of course being so close to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, we were not allowed to install the dual split machines, so we installed the large machines with no external unit. They are huge, but hopefully they will make our guests’ stay more pleasant.
The weather in Pisa has been amazing lately. Today it was 22°C (72°F)! I went to the park with the dog and it was full of people reading on the grass, laying in the sun, or exercising! Last weekend the city celebrated the Pisan New Year’s Day (March 25), and this weekend the city center will be turned into a large garden for Pisa in Fiore, the flower festival!
But the image which best describes how great it feels to be out in the sun these days is no doubt this photo of Nina, one of my dad’s puppies, lying in the sun!
No doubt she was enjoying it!!!
Ciao Gloria!
It sounds lovely, spring in Tuscany. I was planning to visit in October but have since postponed until next March-April. So this time next year, rather than sitting here in my kitchen in Brisbane sipping coffee I’d be doing same thing in Florence or Montepulciano. I have your rental house in Civitella bookmarked and will be in touch closer to the departure date. I’ve also installed some useful apps on my iphone to monitor the weather in Tuscany. Interestingly, even tough Brisbane is moving into our (very mild) winter and Tuscany is in spring, the air temperature in both places is more or less the same.
Take care
Ciao!
Hi Gary! Thanks for stopping by! Yes, we have had a mild, sunny spring. Fabulous weather. This May has been fantastic up to now. Let’s hope next spring is also so nice!