Admittedly, I  can’t let go of those homes. I’ve been dwelling in, or better on, them ever since I came back from Italy more than a week ago. After this was – luckily – one of the busiest springs in my real estate career, it seemed like a well-earned indulgence to steal away from work and family for 8 days. A wedding in the Tuscan countryside, a day trip to Siena, and then a few days in Florence, just walking around and marveling. Ahhh.

I’m also a bit envious, but this will pass. This time, I’m not going to rant about the transitoriness of my 1988 US-built home. I’m just going to tell you that the country apartment I stayed in was part of a 14th century estate and winery (Check it out: Mona Lisa was born there, and Kenneth Branagh shot “Much Ado About Nothing” there).

800 years old, and nothing was either dated or dusty. Renovators there have this marvelously elegant way of showing off a bit of the old under the new. You see this everywhere: a freshly painted wall or smooth new plaster, and here and there, a whimsical little patch is exposed where you can see the tile or the rocks the house was built with. I have no doubt the estate will still stand in another 800 years, just like all those medieval apartment buildings in Florence.

And did I mention the food? The only packaged or processed thing I ate all week was some chocolate. (And there’s certainly nothing wrong with that!) It felt just great. Io amo quel paese.

This is from the country side. The cities will follow.