Dear Willie:

You would love Tuscany. The countryside, the City of Florence, the wine, the people all made me think of you.

We stayed in the mountain village of La Valle 20 km outside of Florence. La Valle is just a cluster of houses hugging the road passing through the most glorious rolling countryside. Everyone seems to have vegetable gardens, chickens and fruit trees. La Valle has a single store by the bus stop that sells basics plus meats, cheeses and breads made on premises. Like all of Tuscany (except the tourist spots) the store hours are 7am-1pm and 4pm-7pm. I want to be an Italian!

Life slowed way down. The land, the buildings and the people were beautiful, inviting and earthy. All of Tuscany seemed to take its time and occupy space with languorous confidence.

Even Florence, a city of 400,000 people, was in no rush. The narrow streets and incredible architecture hug the Arno River and are in turn are hugged by the mountains. The city is all old stone, fountains and flowers. Even the working class neighborhoods on the edge of the city, with the newer apartments and shopping centers, were lovely. Cars were small, busses were easy and bikes were everywhere.

The people, the buildings, and even the roads and trails are part of the landscape. I read this quote from Luciano Bartolini, Mayor of Bagno a Ripoli (one of the Tuscan municipalities) in a tour book:

“…the trails along which you will walk … have been opened, marked and cleared by those same women and men who … teach us the value of slowness, of a more respectful, almost symbiotic, relationship with nature.”

Wow, what a way to live!

XOX, Your little sister