…that no matter how many pictures you ever take, you can never truly capture it.

(although I DID try!)

I have been to a lot of gorgeous places, but there is just something about this patch of earth that makes it so stunningly unique.

View of Cortona from Il Falconiere, Baracchi winery

Is it the fact there is a castle ruin on every hilltop?

Ruin of Castle Motecchio Vesponi dating back to 1014… as seen from our villa garden

Is it the acres of sun-drenched grape vines lined up in mathematically precise rows?  

Is it the lakes?  The tiled roofs? 

View of Lago Trasimeno from Cortona

Tiled rooftops, Siena

The patchwork of green stretching as far as the eye can see?  Or is it the row upon row of blue hills that fade to sky?

Westward view from Cortona showing Santuario di Santa Maria delle Grazie al Calcinaio in foreground

The monuments… piazzi… centuries of history… breathtaking views?

View eastward from Siena

Piazza del Campo, Siena, Italy

It MUST be the food!

http://instagram.com/p/oWH9LJTMvp/

The wine…

Baracchi wine tasting

The people…

Vinyard owner Sylvia and her beautiful falcon…mascot of Il Falconiere, Baracchi winery.

…and the warmth of mia famiglia bonding on foreign soil…

http://instagram.com/p/oZQ_xkTMor/

Me and my honey at Trattoria del Pescatore, Perugia, Italy

It is all of this.  And more.

http://http://instagram.com/p/oYZj1mTMvq/

I may be back in England now and the damp cold has me lighting a fire in late May.  But my heart remains in Tuscany.

Touring with the grandkids… Cortona

Mother Hen

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