My family spends almost every summer in Tuscany. It’s the most beautiful and relaxing holiday and it’s kind of everyone’s highlight of summer. Our days in Tuscany are all about time for family & friends but also time for yourself. It’s as if time stands still in this lonely big house outside of Buonconvento – no stress or obligations and it’s all about doing what you wanna do in this very moment. Whether this might be spending endless days by the pool, reading a good book (oder auch Schundromane), taking naps after lunch, exploring little Italian villages, going for long sunset walks, playing with the little ones or checking out the countless dirt roads with the Land Rover/KTM motorbike/dirt bike. But above all – Tuscany is all about the food, cooking together and spending time with each other. We like to cook with wine and sometimes we even add it to the food. Summer holidays in Tuscany are all about La Dolce Vita.

This year, my busy summer schedule only allowed for a week in Tuscany – Freizeitstress halt. The night train is the best way to get to Italy, you literally fall asleep and wake up in Florence the next morning. My sister and me dumped our luggage with a handsome Italian boy and set off to roam the empty streets of Florence. In the search for the only open café at 7am, we stopped by Scudieri’s right next to the Duomo and relished two delicious cappuccinos before our aunt picked us up – and all the other tourists flooded the city. She drove us to the house, where someone had been patiently waiting and was clearly excited to see us. 

As I said, holidays in Tuscany are all about the food. Lunch and dinner are a big part of the day, if not THE part. Preperations can take a long time and no efforts are spared. Everyone gets involved and we kinda make it an event. Someone lays the table, someone is responsible for cutting, the more talented ones do the cooking (aka not me), someone takes care of the fire in the oven and someone else does the shopping. It’s a big house and there are a lot of people, but the big table on the terrace is the place where everyone comes together. What makes it so nice is that everyone in our family really appreciates delicious food. It’s not just eating, it’s an experience. Big bowls of pici, pasta or gnocchi with amazing salads and desserts. We also had a huge BBQ with the help of a blow drier  and an abundance of side dishes. Or an evening filled with Antipasti and coldcuts, tomatoes and peppers, salami & prosciutto and a huge selection of cheeses including the region’s finest Pecorino. The highlight was a slowly cooked, juicy roast venison that was in the brick oven for more than three hours while we prepared Ratatouille and rosemary potatoes.

The terrace is where everything happens. In the company of great wine, we stay there long after the sun has gone down – and the old ones have said their goodnights. Essentially the terrace is for eating, drinking, laughing and fighting and occasionally also for a little dance off.

As I said, time stands still in Tuscany. And in the blink of an eye it’s already time to go home.