Monday 24 September 2012

La Dolce Vita...

For as long as I can remember I've wanted to visit Italy. From being a teenager reading A Room with a View to discovering Italian food through Jamie Oliver's obsession with the place I always knew I was going to love the place....and this summer we finally got there, the whole tribe went Italiano..and we loved it...

We had our very own Room with a View...


Surrounded by olive groves...

 
grapevines...
 

 

 
and fig trees ripe for the picking...
 
 
We were in Northern Tuscany, which I can promise you is even more beautiful than any film or book about the area. I was concerned that my expectations might be a bit too high - being twenty years in the making and all that...but I needn't have worried! As we opened the shutters on our villa to the views of the Tuscan hills we knew we'd arrived somewhere pretty magical!


 


 
BH got into the touristy spirit...the holding up the tower photo is a must!


The mini freerangers loved it so much I'm wondering if they are Italian!
 


 

 
 

 
but then whats not to love about sunshine, gelato and Chianti! We are about to begin a serious diet regime to recover from our two weeks of indulgence -I think if we lived there we would have to run up and down the mountains to burn some calories off...or we could end up looking like this fella!


Anyone who know me knows I love Yorkshire, but I have to say Italy is coming a close second now - if they could only make a good cup of tea we'd be emigrating...

 




 
Ciao!

10 comments:

  1. so happy it lived up to your dreams looks amazing

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  2. I like Italy too and Italian food. I even had a go at learning Italian and could manage to get by in non English speaking hotels. Probably have now forgotten most of it, I learned using a BBC programme set by Lake Maggiore and learned really useful phrases such a "pavone bianco" - white peacock and "pappagalli colorati" colourful parrots. The words sounded so beautiful that they stuck. The most beautiful part we visited was when we stayed in Molveno in the Dolomites

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  3. What a lovely holiday. I'm so glad that it lived up to your expectations. Jx

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  4. Looks like you had a fantastic time. I love Italy (although i've only been to Rome) and Tuscany looks beautiful !

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  5. Looks amazing - it's somewhere I've always wanted to go to. More than ever now!

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  6. Thanks guys, it was heavenly, I cant wait to go back! I love your Italian phrases Sue - I'm already practising them for next year! The only phrase BH can ever remember in French is ' the monkey is in the tree' -we've never needed it yet, but you never know!

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  7. I LOVE the romance of italian food - the garlic etc - hence me not having any for ages - due to diet! Just felt so old fashioned and boring reading your post! There am I doing good old english beef stew ....... hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm yes all good and wholesome but without the excitement eh? Hmmmmmmm back to the drawing board! NOW Pizza with anchovies.....mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

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  8. Le singe est dans l'abre hasn't let me down yet!

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  9. Le singe est dans l'arbre hasn't let me down yet!

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