by Penny | 5 Mar, 2014 | News, Social History, Tuscan gardens
Revised programme for garden tours in 7- 8th May – Tuscany -programme already announced NEW 9th-10th-11th May – Itinerary in Rome Cultural Heritage Walking Tours, Italy €720 per person – all inclusive Rome Garden Tour Designed by Dr. Diane...
by Penny | 10 Feb, 2014 | Films set in Italy, Garden tours, Italy and the American Imagination, The Medici, Tuscan gardens
Many Tuscan gardens in and around Florence are a mixture of Italian landscape and English formality. In the late 19th Century, after the Unification of Italy and Florence’s brief period as Capital of Italy, property prices in Tuscany plummeted and...
by Penny | 16 Oct, 2013 | Books, Florentine restaurants, Religious History, Social History, Tuscan gardens, Wine tasting, WW2
There are some strange prizes on offer for being friends with the winning side in a battle – In the case of Diomede Leoni he won from Francesco I de’ Medici the permission to knock window holes in the City wall of San Quirico Del Orcia to let light into...
by Penny | 8 Oct, 2013 | Books, Exhibitions, Fresco painting, News, Painting, poets and poetry, Renaissance Art, Sculpture, Social History, Tuscan gardens, Women artists, writer's retreat
I am enjoying a combination of many wonderful things this week – decided to share just in case anyone feels there is no life after redundancy! I have never been happier! On Sunday I drove a group of friends to La Foce for their guide Sybilla, to show us around...
by Penny | 10 Sep, 2013 | Architecture, Fresco painting, Renaissance Art, Social History, Tuscan gardens
Figs ripe for the pickingOn Saturday we visited the private home of the Benedettis, situated in Areceti , just outside Florence , which has one of the loveliest gardens that I have seen, particularly extraordinary when it is so close to the City. We were shown round...
by Penny | 9 Sep, 2013 | Books, News, Social History, Tuscan gardens, WW2
I think that La Foce, near Chianciano Terme in the Province of Siena must be one of the most beautiful gardens in the world and I make no apology for arranging regular trips to visit such an astonishing place. The estate’s late-15th-century villa was once a...
