Hot days, night markets and birthday fun..

August is a great month for night markets.  The days are hot and spent by the pool staying cool and one evening every week we love to visit the Anghiari night market which happens every Wednesday during July and August. 

Another night market which is a bit further afield takes place in August and it’s a bit of grand affar!   It is one of our favourite events during the season.  People come from all over the area to see the live bands that play all around the beautiful hilltop town of Castellione del Fiorentina. This lovely place really springs into life for four nights.  Lots of the locals dress up in vintage clothes, the town is decorated throughout plus there are some great stalls selling beautiful clothes, hats, knick knacks and jewellery among other things.  Great for a bit of retail therapy which I love of course!  And beautiful old cars are parked up throughout the streets to give it that really authentic feel.  It really does have the most wonderful atmosphere with dancing (jiving and jitterbugging) in the main square at the top of town. The fun goes on until the early hours of the morning when Italians seem to come to life! 

August is also my birthday month so we went into Cortona, a beautiful town about a 45 minute drive from Casa Leana which has one of our favourite restaurants, Il Torino. We had a lovely lunch and a wander around the town.  Such a relaxing day. 

Weather has been great this month so we have also been out to the various antique markets in the area – we particularly like the Citta di Castello one that is held the third Sunday of every month.  We love mooching around the stalls and then having lunch in the little pizzeria just opposite the duomo there. Sometimes we buy something but mostly we enjoy soaking up the atmosphere. Simple pleasures.  

We have had lots of lovely guests this month and we’re all booked up to the end of October so super busy as usual!  

I think that’s it.  Have a lovely week.

D I A N A   xxx