Our Tuscan Winter started in Milan, but after a day that was hard to top, we were ready to head to our destination for the week — the Hotel Puccini, in the Tuscan town of Montecatini Terme. Though it was hard to leave THIS — Breakfast at the Hotel Berna in Milan. The plan was to zip down the AutoStrada, stop for lunch and a quick spin around Parma — famed for its Parmesan cheese and Parma Ham — then get to our hotel in time for exploration and a late dinner. But as I learned,

Tuscany — it’s impossible to say it without sighing romantically, impossible not to envision ridges of Cypress trees, rolling hills of grapevines and olive groves, fields studded with bougainvillea-covered farmhouses. Even in winter, Tuscany is still supremely beautiful. The grapevines are bare, their shapes starkly human. Grapevines at Podere Ciona in Chianti. Fog-filled valleys reveal themselves in layers in the angled light of the winter solstice. Siena sunset. Everywhere

Fall is the time of changes, of transition and letting go, and this year, well, perhaps the transitions are rougher and the letting go harder for some of us. Orange can still be a beautiful color. For my part, the changes have been concrete and exhausting, as I spent the months of September and October finally ripping up my deep roots in Los Angeles. Not only did I sell my home of 12 years (after having a tenant for the last  two), I liquidated furniture and possessions I’ve