Italy.

Good morning from just north of Genoa. The brief overnight rain has cleared and left that dewey, damp feeling underfoot. Spots of drying rain sit on windscreen. The air is full of the smells of drying vines and sweet Jasmine on the air. The sky in front of me is light, broken cloud with patches of clear sky to the horizon. Small clusters of white walled, terracotta roofed houses cling to the sides of hills, vines and tilled soil as far as the eye can see, shades of lush green, tall thin trees, and the earthy almost white of the local soil. The hills each seem to have a church on, their towers and spires pointing skywards. Behind me lay hills in varying shades of blue into the far distance. Swallows flick here and there hunting for food, a cuckoo can be heard, chattering house sparrows, and the clanging of a bell attached to some unseen beast in the valley below echoes around the hills. Machinery breaking ground already underway below me. The sun is up and it’s bright already. The sounds of church bells bleed into the landscape from the various towers, marking the hour.

Ernest Hemingway wrote :

“ Italy is a country every man should love once. “

An overnight stay in a lovely family run vineyard and winery, see a final arrival in Italy. A chance to slow down, chat to the owners, visit and hear about the vines and grapes and as I say to slow down. What better way to learn the lesson than at a vineyard where care and patience is one of its mantras and the result, if you’re so inclined, a perfect combination results in a perfect wine. For me, time to stop and be for a while, take on the lessons of patience and care, which during the journey here have been somewhat mistreated. This morning to look out over the landscape, drink it in and be, also to try and remember to slow down. Lovely days people.

“ If you're always racing to the next moment, what happens to the one you're in? Slow down and enjoy the moment you're in and live your life to the fullest.” Nanette Mathews.