Maybe the second day of our Tuscan retreat I met Lucky. He is one of 10 cats that prowls between these hillside villas. He is silvery gray with black stripes and he loves hard. He wants to be held and pet and squeezed. Each time I pick him up he digs into my shoulder with such … More Lucky
It turns out the villa life is not for me. Oh, its beautiful and relaxing and I would not turn down and opportunity to come back, but after a handful of days I’m ready to plug into the energy of an honest to goodness city. This morning under the cover of darkness we load up … More Villa Schmilla
Driving past this vineyard, even driving up to it, nothing really remarkable stands out. It is so much more than the sum of its parts. And yet it is the details of these parts that hold the enchantment. It’s an invitation to time itself. Stop, slow down and notice how the jasmine vine nearly covers … More Invitation to Linger
He told every one of us a different story. Those of us he spoke to, anyway. He flirted shamelessly with Angela. She was drawn to him like a bear to honey, practically tugging on my hand to come with her to see him. I don’t know what he said to her but she was smitten. … More The Summer Affair
There are special places on this earth that aren’t marked by giant signs, there’s no neon involved or fancy marketing, they just quietly exist. These are the places I live to uncover. This is where enchantment lives, where it originates. Little wellsprings of wonder bubbling up only once in a while and when the bubbles … More Enchanted Wine
We are to be up, dressed and in the car early, early, early this morning. Today we are going to Florence. Of all the cities in Italy, this is the one that gets the most thumbs ups from my friends. I am really looking forward to whatever magic it chooses to reveal to me. The … More Bones, Venus and God’s Brother
A few friends have asked me for my specific itinerary from my Italian Adventure this past May and June. I thought I would lay it out in brief here. It was a full 26 days with 2 towns on some days and one town for three days but each place will get one short paragraph … More The Italian Adventure – Abridged
The sweetness of doing nothing. This one has lots of photos of sweet nothingness. This turns out to be more of a practice than a lack of doing. So does that mean I am doing something when I am trying to do nothing? Today Karin and I have decided to stay at the villa. It … More La Dolce far Niente
With a name like Volterra this better be a particularly formidable or deliciously spooky place. It is medieval so it’s sure to have some gluttony and debauchery. And who doesn’t love that? After San Gimignano, the lot of us pile into our respective shuttles to visit the next town – Volterra. I know I probably … More Don’t Mess with Volterra
San Gimignano. This is where our adventure begins today. The walled cities and towns we’ve visited so far have been a mix of stucco and stone, a few bricks maybe, all in the warm sun-worn colors of Tuscany herself. And, of course, the bright but faded colors of the small towns in Cinque Terre. By … More Another Day, Another Tuscan Hill Town
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