Tuscany accommodation

Tuscany the quintessence of everything that is most glorious about ltaly The landscape is lovely the food delectable, the wlne fine, the paintings sublime, the buildings magnificent, the` people friendly the light clear and golden and the country unspoilt. But it is the harmony ` with which all these elements are combined, and their continuity with the past, the feeling that the heavenly iigsaw was not completed recently but has been in place for centuries, becoming ever more mellow as the years pass, that makes this, ` the most Italian part of Italy so very seductive. lt is a cliché, but a true one, to say that to look at the background of a Renaissance painting is to see the landscape of Tuscany as it still is, with smoothly rounded hills etched with advancing rows of cypresses and topped with walled towns or medieval castels. Yet this is only half the truth because the region is sovast and varied that there are infinite changes in scenery from the mountainous peaks of the Apuan Alps to the reed-fringed waters of river Arno. So firm are the rural traditions of Tuscany and Umbria, and so ` great and uncrowded the , space that even at the busiest holiday times, the timeless , landscape absorbs the visitors with hardly a ripple caused to the tranquil countryside. As infinite as the gradations of the landscape are the pleasures of a holiday in these settings. You can walk (or ride,or bike) for miles through chestnut forests or fields of. brilliant spring flowers, or follow in the footsteps of the pilgrims over chalkland ridges. ' You can steep yourself in history from the time of the Etruscans, or immerse yourself in the study of paintings and frescoes, or ‘ marvel at cathedrals and palaces, Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance. You can linger over a picnic in the shade of an olive tree, sample the wines at vineyards too numerous to count and indulge in meals as mammoth as those enioyed by the locals, Or you can simply bask in the sun by the swimming pool and read a book in peace. Every season is a delight, ` whether it’s the chilly but blue skies of winter; the colourful profusion of spring, the langour of summer or the vivid golds and reds of autumn. "Nowhere in Europe, and maybe even the world, offers such combinations and such choice, amongst such serenity and beauty