We were to meet up in the Campo (Siena’s city centre), but it was bucketing down as we drank our morning coffee and peered out at the gloomy weather. An hour later, things looked a little brighter, and by ten…

Every April 25th Panzano celebrates National Liberation Day by putting on a Festa della Stagion Buona to beat all festivals. Several days beforehand, furious pockets of activity took place all over town … in the square … beside the church…

And we thought the scenery around Lucca had been beautiful, but here in Chianti it’s just magnified … tenfold. Steep hillsides covered in a blanket of fluffy green forests … patchworks of neatly-rowed vineyards … staggeringly lovely villas and old…