tuscany

Along with seven friends, I spent last week high up in the mountains of northern Tuscany, relaxing, reading, eating and drinking. Our home for the week was La Collina Del Sole - the most perfect villa, a converted farmhouse that overlooks the Carrara mountains. Many sculptures of the Renaissance, including Michelangelo's David, were carved from Carrara marble, quarried in this mountainous region. Although the majority of our time over the week was spent sunbathing and eating copious amounts of pasta, we managed to squeeze in trips to the city of Lucca, famous for its Renaissance-era city walls, and Viareggio, the main centre of the northern Tuscan Riviera known as Versilia. The perfect summer holiday.