Tuscany, 1988 to the present day

My first trip to Tuscany was with friends when I was 19. We drove over the Alps in my first car and two motorbikes. Past Genoa in the Cinque Terre, I swam in the Mediterranean for the first time before we finally reached Siena and Florence via Pisa and Volterra. Budget camping was the order of the day, with a small dome tent and hard roll mats, a gas stove and tins of food, petrol vouchers for discounted fuel and bundles of 1000-lire notes in my pocket. We lacked both the appreciation and the money for delicious Italian cuisine. What remains in my memory are the grey-yellow, bone-dry, hot hilly landscapes of high summer, the salty taste of a swim in the Mediterranean and the impressive art and culture in the cities.

Tuscany in Central Italy has been one of the regions Germans long for, and not just since Goethe’s time. They appreciate the Mediterranean climate with olive groves, vineyards, pine woods or macchia, the historic cities of antiquity, the Middle Ages or the Renaissance, and inviting beaches on the shores of the Tyrrhenian Sea. World-famous masterpieces of painting, architecture and sculpture were created here and can still be seen today. Added to this are regional culinary delights, ranging from the many grape varieties for rich red wines and crisp white wines, to Mediterranean herbs, fish and meat dishes and, of course, pasta. At the heart of it all, however, are the people with their often joyful, communicative, extroverted and—by our standards—somewhat chaotic way of life.

Beyond the classic triangle of Pisa, Florence and Siena, there is much more to discover: the Apuan Alps, the Maremma or extensive forest regions in the mountainous and less populated hinterland of the Apennines.