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Sneaking off to a Tuscany villa vacation rentals is one of the most refreshing ways to enjoy all that the Toscana in Italy has to show. Before, we used to have to conform with staying in the busy city accomodations but now so many different services are on hand to rent. There are youth hostels, campings, inexpensive out of city hotels, famhouses in the mountains and luxury villa all over Tuscany. No more relying on expensive taxis or getting in line for buses which only leave you somewhat near where you need to go. Now all types of car hire companies are dying to cater to your needs. Believe me, for peace and quiet, pleasureable tuscany tours and good food, go for a Tuscany villa.
Rustic Charm at Tuscany Villa
Wherever you go in the Tuscany area, you will find history, culture, architecture, great food, friendly people and good lodgings. In Pisa, in the town of Castellina Marittima, only 12 kilometres from the sea, I found a very comfortable farmhouse which used to be a hay loft, now two cute apartments. Another was in Chianni, Pisa in the Era Valley, which used to be an old barn and is now an apartment for six. From late September to around December 20th the price was dirt cheap. But I always like to take in a place out of the toscana area, so this time I will venture to the famous and notorious island of Sicily.
Sicily has Charm
As I was looking for leisure all the way, I took a ferry from Livorno to Palermo with the company Tirrenia which keep their clients well informed of price and time changes through the net and travel agencies. So there I was, in the very deteriorated city of Palermo, on the corner of the street called Quatro Canti ( Four Corners) which divides the city into four traditionally historic neighbourhoods, where the majority of interesting places can be seen. As I had always done on my tuscany tours, I went to the tourist information office on Castelnuovo Square, 35 and picked innumerous pamphlets, but the one called Agenda, which comes out twice a month, was particularly helpful. I spotted the famous church called Chiesa di Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio, dating back to the 12th century and once having been a Muslim mosque. There are Greek mosaics and an impressive mihrab ( arab oratory place inside). Being extremely interested in architecture, I strolled over to one of the most brillant masterpieces of what is called Arab-Normand style, the cathedral in Il Capo. It houses a magnificent crypt and treasures from the Queen Constanza of Aragon, Spain.
There was so much to see that I feel another visit to Italy and particularly to the tuscany area to relax and revigorate myself is necessary: especially a stay in a tuscany villa.
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