Tuscany + Beach + Sea + Sun + Italian Food = What more could you ask for? It's all in Viareggio, on the Versilian Coast of Tuscany. Our first trip here, unlike the stop in Lucca, was totally planned. Mapping out our first Italian holiday adventure since moving to Europe, I thought what about a [...]
A missed turn on the A12 in northwest Tuscany led us to Lucca, a medieval gem of a Tuscan town. (Original destination...Leaning Tower of Pisa...we saw it from the road. ;) ) And while only there for a few hours, we knew we'd return. Developed as a Roman city in 180 BC, Lucca sits inside still intact [...]
As we pulled off the paved back road just off the sea onto the quiet dirt road per our TomTom instructions, we came upon two white stone pillars and a gate which opened to the gorgeous grounds of Masseria Torre Coccaro. We circled around the drive and into view came the pure white washed main [...]
A cuisine born of peasants living seasonally off the land, Pugliese cuisine is rooted in olive oil, wheat and vegetables. Puglia produces more than 50% of Italy's olive oil and it has been a thriving industry here for centuries, thus the huge olive trees and there are 50 million of them! Durum wheat grown here [...]
After a few days lounging by the pool and beach at Masseria Torre Coccaro and touring towns of Valle d'Itria, we drove south to explore the splendors of the Salento region, often considered the third island of Italy because it's very hot, dry and lined with beaches. Lecce Our first stop was the capital of [...]