Pisa, with its famous Leaning Tower and handy airport is where most people begin a tour of the region. Tuscany is in central Italy and is renowned for its art, its history, its ancient hilltop towns, and those soft green rolling hills dotted with vineyards, olive trees and dusty roads lined with slender cypress trees. These beautiful images have been captured on film many times over the years. I remember falling in love with Tuscany when I first saw the film "A Room with a View". And then again with "Tea with Mussolini" and more recently with "Under the Tuscan Sun". Tuscany is a terribly romantic place. The sun is warm and golden, the skies are a striking blue, the cities are ancient and gorgeous, and those abundant vines produce the blood-red Chianti that people sip when falling in love.

Florence is the most important city in the region, and is known as the birthplace of the Renaissance. But Siena, is just as glorious as her larger more famous sister. Between the two cities lies the Chianti region, as well as many smaller hill-top towns, and some of the world's most opulent private villas. The Villa Del Monte would be our home for the next four days, set on its own hill, surrounded by vineyards and just a couple of miles from the ancient town of San Gimignano.

Heather's birthday revelers all arrived within an hour of each other at Pisa airport where we were reunited with our dear friends Howard and Mark. Twenty four of us hired cars and vans to make the journey to the Villa Del Monte. For Freddie and me, it was a brand new Mini Cooper Convertible. The perfect car for those windy little roads and the glorious sunshine.

After a couple of hours of incredibly pleasant driving, and a few wrong turns, we found the lovely old Villa Del Monte where its old fashioned caretakers eyed us with suspicion. They reluctantly checked us all in, and we made our way up the grand staircase to the third floor which we would share with Howard and Mark, Wendy Ann and Lorna. The three bedrooms shared a large kitchen and dining room, and what can only be described as a ballroom. Our jaws collectively dropped when we saw our accommodation, and we all shared a look of 'This is going to be fabulous...'

Once everyone was settled, we explored the villa admiring its ancient outbuildings, pagodas, the pool, the lily ponds and the gorgeous rolling countryside in every direction. We dressed for dinner and made the short drive into San Gimignano. We could see the towns oldest and tallest tower, the Palazza Vecchio del Podesta (built in 1239) from our villa, so the drive along the cypress lined roads was an easy one. "The City of The Beautiful Towers" is one of the best preserved medieval towns in Italy. Originally there were seventy six towers in this beautiful walled city, but over the centuries wars, earthquakes, and the elements have brought that number down to fourteen. Our large group dined al-fresco in a picturesque restaurant on the edge of town, with moonlit views of the vineyards. Yes, it was as enchanting as it sounds.

Sunday was the Big Party day and Nick and Heather organized a delicious, multi-course dinner to be served on the large wisteria-draped veranda. The guests were encouraged to be fabulously outrageous and there were lots of boas, wigs, satin and sequins in the crowd. Freddie and I broke out our tuxedos for the decadent affair. After dinner we set up a stereo in our ballroom on the third floor and danced the night away.

The next day Howard and Mark squeezed into the back of our Mini Cooper and we made the one hour drive to Siena. A new city for Freddie and me, it is like a smaller, cleaner version of Florence that thankfully, hasn't been overrun with tourists. The famous works of art are in Florence, so Siena relies on its beautiful medieval architecture set among its uneven cobbled streets, and its lively cafe scene to attract visitors. We found a little trattoria for lunch in an ancient alleyway that opened on to the Piazza del Campo. This fan shaped open air square is the center of the city, and all those narrow streets lead to and from this point. After our yummy pastas and a couple bottles of local wine, we made our way to Siena's most famous cathedral. The ornate marble facade of the Doumo opens to a cavernous Gothic church of black and white striped stone, and the most amazing inlaid marble floors depicting scenes from the ancient past. It was built by the citizens of Siena and it took over two hundred and fifty years to complete. It was finally finished in 1382.

We took the slow road back to the Villa Del Monte cruising through the hills of the Chianti region, and stopping for some wine tasting along the way. A glorious old winery caught our eye and we paused to drink in the scenery (and some wine). It was difficult to decide what was more beautiful: the wine, the view or our sommelier.  We were mesmerized by all three.

Back at the villa that evening, we decided to do something special for Heather knowing how she loves a good laugh. A drunken, hilarious, impromptu drag show ensued, with me, Freddie, Howard, Mark and our friend Jamie donning rugs, blankets, mops and God-knows what else to the delight/horror of the other guests. Looking back at the pictures, more than one person noted how much I looked like my mother!

The final day we went back to Florence to remind ourselves of the delights of this city that we first visited last summer. The four of us waited in line to see The Academia, the first art school in the world, opened by Michelangelo himself in 1563. There are many of Michelangelo's works of art here in the Academia, including the most famous sculpture in the world. The colossal Statue of David stands seventeen feet high, and established the 29 year old Michelangelo as Italy's finest sculptor. On our previous trip we had seen the copy that stands in its original position in the Piazza della Signoria, but this was the first time I had seen the original. As you can imagine, David is breathtaking. 

Howard and Mark, Freddie and I all made our way around the city and across the Ponte Vecchio (the ancient bridge) that crosses the River Arno and links the two sides of the city. We lunched at our favorite restaurant on the west bank with beautiful views of the river, the bridge and the orange tiled roofs of Florence. It all went by too quickly, and soon it was time to say goodbye to our friends and head back to Pisa to turn in the Mini, and fly back to London. Time to get back to work, sell a few more properties and save up for the next adventure.