We arrived in Italy yesterday. I nearly had a new wardrobe. We arrived at the carousel only to see someone else with my purple Samsonite suitcase on their trolley. It turns out they did have exactly the same suitcase . On reflection she looked better dressed than me so it may have been to my benefit rather than hers. Italian efficiency at its best. It took an hour to collect our car. Once we had our car Michael mastered driving a manual on the right hand side of the road and sitting in the passenger seat! We drove north for just over 2 hours. We stopped in Chiuisi for a few groceries. We had to drag Kirsten away from buying up half the delicatessen. Montepulciano was only 10 minutes away. We can access little roads that only residents can. A little hair raising with the narrow streets. We were met in the gardens of our apartment by the owners of the apartments. They are lovely people. Marguerite and Elena have had the property in their family since their grandad was born in it in 1899. We settled in and then went out for dinner at 9pm. I must say there are the largest mosquitoes we have ever seen. Once home Michael gave me a lovely diamond ring he designed and had made for our 30th wedding anniversary and my 50th. Feeling very spoilt. We woke up to an amazing sunrise over Tuscany. Really uplifting. Excited about our next two weeks of family time as we start our language school tomorrow. But now for breakfast on our balcony and a day of exploring. Although we think Kirsten wants this to be at the shops.