While visiting Florence I chose to go on the "Tuscany in a Day" tour.  It was very good tour but it was also very long.  It started at 7:00 AM in Florence and ended back in Florence at 9:00 PM.  Perhaps it would not have seemed so long to me if my hotel concierge hadn't booked my "Rome in a Day" tour for the following day.  If I were younger or a much higher energy person that might have been OK. 

I named my post what I did because it was a cloudy day.  I was also reminded of the movie "Under the Tuscan Sun" starring Diane Lane.  I don't regret visiting Italy in November as I believe Italy is worth visiting any time of the year.  I do think Tuscany will be amazing when I'm able to visit during the spring or summer when it's sunny and the flowers and fruit trees are blooming.

I absolutely fell in love with Tuscany!  We started in Pisa and although I was happy to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa, it was not my favorite  part of Tuscany.  I liked all of Tuscany, but Siena was by far my favorite!  Unfortunately, Siena was our last stop on the tour and we arrived at dusk.  It was very difficult to take photos in the dark while I was so tired.  I plan to return to Tuscany and spend more than a few hours in Siena. 

For those of you reading this post who are planning a trip to this area of Italy, there are other tour options that only visit one or two areas of Tuscany as opposed to all four like mine did.  If I were to plan my itinerary again I would choose to visit Siena on a one day trip which only lasts six hours.  The only downfall to visiting the different areas of Tuscany separately is that it will cost your more.  I paid 99 euros to see all four areas during my day trip.  If I had broken down the trip into three or four shorter days it would have cost approximately 200 euros.

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The above photos are of the center of Siena at dusk and a famous tower across from the beautiful Siena Cathedral. 

I happened to witness my third wedding in just a few weeks.  The bride is wearing a red wedding dress and her groom draped his jacket over her shoulders as she was cold.  I was very happy to see chivalry is still alive and well!
Here is the Siena Cathedral.  I have visited many, many churches and cathedrals and this was probably my favorite.  I apologize for the low quality photo:
The inside of the cathedral was absolutely magnificent and one of if the not the most grand I'd ever seen in my opinion!





The following photos were taken in San Gimignano.  This area of Tuscany is known for it's medieval towering buildings.  Families in the middle ages wanted to build their homes and or towers as high as possible to show their wealth.  They believed that having a towering home showed others their wealth.  

I really don't like asking strangers to take my photo but I made an exception in San Gimignano and the following eight photos were taken there:

I will leave you with a view of the vineyards in the Chianti region during the fall season.

Thank you for visiting my blog.  I love hearing from you and treasure all of my comments.  I hope you all have a fantastic week and are enjoying the holiday!

~Michelle

I visited Italy for the second time in September 2015 I loved it the second time as much as I did the first time.  It really just made me want to visit a third time!  My first trip was to Florence, Venice, and Cinque Terre.  This last visit was to Lake Garda.  

To get to Lake Garda I flew into Verona and then went to my hotel in Sirmione.  I loved this little medieval town. I thought it was so charming and colorful with the flowers everywhere.  This was one of very few places that I have visited on my own that I felt safe going out at night alone. 

Lake Garda is very large and the only thing I would do differently visiting again, which I might do, is to spend time in other areas around the lake.  I will say that I am very happy to have stayed in Sirmione.  Everyone was very friendly and the food was excellent as always. I am also very happy to say that I didn't see any stray cats or dogs during my stay!

I was a little worried that visiting in September might be a little chilly, but it was actually quite warm during the day it was usually in the 80's (Fahrenheit).  At night it would get cool but not until very late.  There is a ferry that runs all around the lake which stops running at some point in October.  Otherwise I think October would be a fine time to visit Lake Garda as well.  

Wherever you walked in town the castle was usually in view:

I loved the colorful flowers and architecture:

 I found this pink villa when I walked off the beaten path that I thought was lovely!

There were grapes, lemons and lime growing all over as soon as you got out of the town:

 A garden I found not too far from the beach which is just a short walk from the town

 Here is the pathway beside the beach which makes for a nice walk:

I had heard that glass washes up on the shore of Lake Garda and I didn't believe it until I saw it for myself!

As with most areas of Italy there are gelato and pastry shops on every corner:

There were also many beautiful churches:
There were many fun shops and restaurants around town.  The prices were very reasonable!
The sunsets and sunrises were nice every night I was there as it only rained for a few hours during the ten days I was there:

Thank you so much for visiting.   Please feel free to leave any comments or questions as I value all of them.  Have a great week everyone.

~Michelle