One of my favorite kind of “work” while writing a novel is the research, especially if the research consists of traveling to a beautiful location where my characters work and live. The books in my series called The Wine Lover’s Daughter take place in different wine regions and vineyards of Italy and California. I was lucky to be able to visit Tuscany back in fall of 2013 together with my relatives in Switzerland and spend a few days again in that marvelous part of the world.

We (my nephew and niece with family and friends) decided to visit Italy, Switzerland’s southern neighbor, and spend a week in one of my favorite parts of the world: Toscana or Tuscany! It was a vacation for my family and friends and for me it was also an opportunity to do a little research for my WIP, a novel that takes place, in part, on a vineyard in Tuscany.

We started in the German part of Switzerland at 4 o’clock in the morning. Getting up that early was a little tough, especially because it was pouring rain. And it rained all the way to Tuscany. Rain storms in Tuscany are not unusual in October and they can be fierce. If you have seen the movie Under the Tuscan Sun with Diane Lane you know what I’m talking about. When we arrived in the villa on a hill outside of Cecina (near the Tuscan Mediterranean coast), it was still raining. Since we were a fairly large crowd (ten people), we rented one of those large Tuscan villas. We unpacked and went shopping for groceries and when we got back, the house was flooded and we had to move. That was only a minor wrinkle in our vacation because the agency, from which we rented the house, moved us to a more elegant villa for the same price. What a treat! And the next day, it was sunny again.

Here it is: Villa Bacio, a two-story house with a big yard and swimming pool.

A view from our house. All around us fields and hills stretched into the distance. The main vegetation aside from the cypress and Mediterranean stone pine forests: vineyards and olive groves as far as you can see.

 

Relaxing next to the swimming pool after the long drive–the water was a little on the cold side but we braved the waves anyway.

Here are some pictures of the inside of Villa Bacio. I love the Tuscan architecture with its vaulted ceilings, stone and mosaic floors, and the huge fire places.

 

Getting ready to cook! Swimming, hiking, or simply relaxing makes you hungry.

Cooking together with everybody pitching in was fun.

Brunch outside, surrounded by a lush and beautiful landscape. What more could one wish for?

Pineapple bits topped with chocolate. Even Dad likes it!

 

The braver ones among us (my nephew and the two kids) went for a swim at night. Brrr!

 

I definitely preferred swimming during the day.

A truly beautiful landscape–both charming and mysterious

Volterra, one of my favorite hill towns!