01 Jan 2013

Not many people choose to visit Tuscany in winter, but those who do are rewarded by its beauty and quiet at this time of the year!

Tuscany through my eyes – Week 5

Now that my project about Tuscany over the seasons is over, I have decided to start a new project: Tuscany through my eyes. Well, more or less… I am planning on publishing one or more photos of Tuscany every week, and not just some beautiful photos, but images that “match” the way I see my beautiful region at that time of the year. I will publish photos that I have taken and photos that I have not taken but I wish I had! 52 posts to show you Tuscany the way I see it and feel it. Here are the other posts in the series.

Week 5 – The first day of the year

My laptop broke at the beginning of December and for a while it was practically impossible for me to blog regularly, so I am a bit behind in my “Tuscany through my eyes” project. This should have been week 11, but as you see, it’s week 5!

First of all, happy new year! Today is the first day of the new year, and the perfect opportunity to start blogging (hopefully) regularly again.

I have come across three photos that really show what the countryside looks like around here at this time of the year. I realized only later that the Flickr user “Juls1981” is in fact Giulia of Jule’s Kitchen: it is not the first time I’ve told her that I often wonder whether we are related somehow because we could have grown up in the same household, so many are a the resemblances between our lives!!! Anyway, if you don’t know her amazing food blog, click on the link above and visit it: she is a talented writer, cook and photographer! She has also just published a book, “I love Toscana”, which I recommend to anyone who loves Tuscany, good food and amazing photography!

Most people choose not to visit Tuscany in the winter, but I think it has much charm. Sure the weather is not as pleasant as in the other seasons and the chance of rain is greater, but the colors are amazing, and everywhere is so peaceful!

The photo below is really iconic of the seasons passing, I believe. Bales of hay usually feature prominently in many photos of “quintessential Tuscany” as a symbol of the glorious summer weather in our beautiful region. But not many people stick around long enough to see the few hay bales which are left in the fields literally dissolve under the rigours of bad weather over the fall and winter months. By the time the fields have reappropriated of them, it is spring again!

tuscany in winter

I also think many people have no idea what the countryside looks like at this time of the year. It is neither green as in spring and autumn, nor yellow and brown as in the summer. Rather it is a mix of greys, browns and pale and dark greens that blend delicately while the fields and woods are slowly unveiled by the rising morning fog.

01

 

02

Another part of Tuscany that is gorgeous at this time of the year is the coast. Without the crowds, the umbrellas, and the chairs, the beach is magical. There is no better photo to show the quiet of the coast of the Maremma with its sandy beaches enclosed by the dunes and the pine tree woods than this one taken earlier today by a friend of mine.

marina

To all of you who honour me by reading my blog, my best wishes for a wonderful 2013! May it be a great year for all of us!

(And don’t forget to check our vacation rental near Siena and our holiday apartment in Pisa if you are planning your next vacation in Tuscany!)

Comments

  1. Liz Nichols

    Hi Gloria
    So excited I stumbled across your blog from A Lifetime of Travel I think. Ilove all things Italy I have ordered the new book Amalfi Blue and eagerly await its arrival. We briefly visited some ports on a cruise last year. Fell in love with Venice Sorrento not so much Naples or Rome. I want to do a hike do a wine tour thru Piemont and go to cooking schools in Umbria and Tuscany.. Im 57 so wonder if I should just pack and go by myself wondering how safe Id travel?? On trains etc So I want to lern to speak the language as we had trouble getting understood at lots of places in Italy..Keeping posting and love the photos thank you for sharing Regards Liz

    • Very safe in fact. You should have no troubles at all, especially in the countryside.

Leave a Comment