Under the Tuscan sun

IT has been a long time since I visited Tuscany in the height of summer to make my usual rounds of my favourite wineries, preferring instead the cooler (and less-touristy) months of September and October.

I just returned late last week from a brief visit to Burgundy and a two-week visit to Sicily and Italy (mid-June to mid-July) and found it a very pleasant change, even with torrid summer temperatures of 33-38 degrees C in the middle of the day. Fortunately not as humid but scorching nevertheless.

The compensations were the longer days, daylight up to 9pm, and the beautiful brilliantly sunlit landscapes of Tuscany with the rolling hills and vineyard-covered hillsides and valleys. For this city-dweller, it was a huge and welcome change, a timely reminder of Nature and its beauty.