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Beautiful Tuscany,

by Mary O'Callaghan
(Dublin, Ireland.)

Stunningly beautiful historic, authentic and unspoilt hill top medieval villages. Friendly and courteous very welcoming locals who smile and gesticulate passionately. Delicious and fantastic food based on freshest locally sourced ingredients, and the most wonderfully diverse red wines in the world, in Tuscany these are produced mainly from the complex Sangiovese grape, grown in the magical vineyards of the delightful Tuscan hills.

Our love affair with Italy began on our honeymoon in Venice in 1971. We try to return at least once every year since. If, for whatever reason, we miss our visit to Italy, we feel as if we have not had a " proper" holiday.

Every corner everywhere unfolds another delightful surprise.! There are still many Italian regions and their treasured surprises that we must discover- our bucket list is crammed!!

Maria's reply: Mary, It sounds as if you are as much in love with Italy as I am :-) If you ever need any suggestions or advice on discovering beautiful corners of Italy please just ask me. Over the years we have discovered some fabulous little towns and villages - many of them don't feature in any guide books either while others, like Asolo, are better known but still far off most tourist's radar.

Another great area to visit, seeing that you love good wine, is Piedmont - some would even rate it higher than Tuscany in terms of the quality of the wine produced. The region is home to great wine names like Barolo which is grown in the region from the Nebbiolo grape. Plus, you have fabulous little villages such as Neive just waiting to be explored. In fact Neive was recently voted one of the loveliest small towns in all of Italy.

If you haven't been to Piedmont already then you have a wonderful treat still awaiting you.

P.S. I hope you like the photo of Venice - I though you might enjoy it considering it was where your love for Italy - and your husband :-)- was cast in stone forever more.