Tuscan Bees

When we were starting our walk through the Galloway Hills yesterday we could hear the sound of engines near Forrest Lodge; it must have been quad bikes or motorbikes. It was quite loud and persistent. Suddenly I remembered what it reminded me of; the loud sound of buzzing bees in a field of sunflowers in Tuscany. In July 2003 we were on holiday in the hamlet of Varna, which was near San Gimignano, that beautiful little town with an unfeasible number of towers. Our villa was called La Pineta and it had stunning views across the Tuscan countryside, of fields and trees and rolling hills. Just below the villa there was a garden with a lovely swimming pool. It was a brilliant holiday; there were nine of us - the Anderson and Black families. Every day the two families would set off to explore different places in Tuscany; San Gimignano, Volterra, Florence, Certaldo Alto, Greve in Chianti, Siena, Monteriggioni - all beautiful and different and interesting. Castles, fortifications, cathedrals, churches, Roman amphitheatres, wine-tasting, great food, and many towers to climb; we all loved it. We had such a great time, the children still talk about all the places we visited. We would usually eat lunch in some little walled town, and make our way back to the villa where both families would meet up to have fun and relax at the pool. The children were so happy playing in the pool, they were all water babies. Later in the afternoon I would be relaxing on a sun lounger when I would hear a familiar clinking sound... It was Ewan or James with a tray carrying a bottle of wine and four glasses. Later we would take turns making dinner using delicious local ingredients, and Heather, Ewan, James and I would chat by the pool in the cool of the evening. Heavenly! Anyway, the particular day that I am thinking about, I decided that I wanted to take some photographs in a field of sunflowers which was just down the hill from the villa. This was in the days before digital photography, so I had no way of reviewing my photos. Instead I extravagantly shot a whole roll of thirty-six exposures! It was so hot in that field, and the bees were so amazingly loud, they really did sound as loud as motorbike engines! Out of the thirty six photos that I took, I got twelve which I thought were good enough to put into my photo album. Out of those twelve photos there is only one that I think is really good, but it was worth it for that one photo. The photos look bright and colourful but one thing they cannot convey is the heat of the day. By the time I got back up to the villa I was so hot that I couldn't bear it; I plunged straight into the pool with my clothes on, but even that wasn't enough to cool me down and I had to go into the villa and run a cold bath to bring down my temperature! How different from the cold of the Galloway Hills yesterday, and yet the droning sound of the motor bikes took me for a moment right back to that field in Tuscany! And that wonderful holiday! I want to go back to Tuscany!