When you rent a villa in Tuscany there is an experience we REALLY want to share with you, Olive Oil and Wine Tasting !When you stay at La Collina del Sole just a 15 minute drive from your favourite Lucca Villa Rental you will find the Osteria Vecchio Mulino which is run by Andrea Bertucci, it is on Via Vittorio Emmanuelle 12, their telephone number is 0583 62192. This Historic “Osteria di Garfagnana” was built into the lower stone walls of Castelnuovo the nearest town to your Holiday Villas in Lucca , It has been in this location for several centuries. The Vecchio Mullino Osteria is a destination for Italian wine lovers. It sells local and Super Tuscan wines alongside local products, it offers wine and oil tasting, you can choose from Local, to Tuscan, from Northern Italy or Southern Italian, He can also do non-Italian wines like Champagne, but why miss out on the fruit of the region where such glorious Villas for rent in Tuscany are found. To book your Italian wine or Tuscan olive oil tasting session, call giving 2 days notice, a minimum of 2 people is required. Cost of tasting starts at Euro 10, so very accessible ! to book speak to Andrea, or email him at Andreabertucci1@virgilio.it the Vecchio Mulino is normally closed on Mondays.

Now that we have spilt the beans on our favourite experience how about the latest information on all the Parties ! Close to your Villa rentals in Tuscany for the week coming up there are LOADS of Festas so many in fact that I will write it up by location starting with the closest to La Collina del Sole

As Castelnuovo is in the North we will start there, keep going north and in Pieve Fosciana there is the Feast of the Raviolo from the 1 to the 10 of July, Pieve also hosts the restaurant Pozzo featured in the we love section in our site.

Still north, you find Orzaglia in the region of San Romano on the 1 and the 8 of July they have the “Cheese form round throw” a VERY traditional pastime. If you like wine on the 6 and 7 of July in Silico they have a wine feast called “Di…Vini Sapori”. Also going north of La Collina del Sole you find Camporgiano and they have on the 7th and 8th of July they have Street Artist evenings. Also on the 7 and 8 of July Villetta in San Romano hosts the feast of the Porchetta or suckling Pig with whole pit roast meat ready to eat. West of La Collina del Sole you will find the Verrucolete in the region of Minucciano and on the 8 of July they host the Village fete. Also on the 3 of July there is the feat of the patron saint of Calomini in the area of Vergemoli.

Going South of our glorious Villa Rentals in Tuscany you find Barga, where on the 4 of July you will have an evening street market, on the 6 the 45th Barga International Opera Festival kicks off and continues until the 15 of July, ALSO on the 8 of July Barga hosts a antique and artisanal market. On the road to Barga you pass Castelvecchio Pascoli which has its Festa from the 6 to the 8 of July. Still going south If you stay on the main road going to Lucca then you will pass Galiicano where the church of the immaculate conception has a feast on the 5,6,7 and 8 of July. In the same direction you pass Turritecava in the region of Gallicano, whcih literally explodes with parties this week, first on the 5 of July there is the Ceremony of the Rosary, on the 6 a liturgical music concert, then on the 7 there is the procession of the immaculate conception and finally on the 8 there is a Street feast with dinner, music and DANCING ! Also in this region the inhabitants of Bolognana have organized a walk between the old water mills on the 1 of July, whcih should be charming and very special.