After our busy urban travels, staying at Le Renaie, a family run country hotel and restaurant in Pancole, near San Gimignano, was just the ticket to end a perfect vacation.

Besides enjoying Le Renaie`s pool and gorgeous gardens, we drove many kilometers exploring the stunningly beautiful back roads of rural Tuscany. Some were quaint and quiet, others were a blast to drive. Secret to driving in Italy - drive like you are in a Ferrari and own the road. You had better back it up with strong gear shifting, steering and braking skills and not panic when a tour bus roars through a switchback corner taking up half of your narrow lane. Sue needed a strong grip on the "oh-sh!!" car straps while I chased down a couple of road rocket motorcycles that had the gall to pass us on a winding curve. Amazing to take the curves in a car at the same speed that they had to bank hard over to negotiate. Had to give up the chase after a few exhilarating minutes ... just to get my breath, heartbeat and car speed back into safe zones.

I was pleasantly surprised that a loaded Ford Focus could be decked out with a powerful diesel mated with a six speed sport transmission and give a run for the money against anything I have ever driven. Not many places in the world that has better fun driving than Tuscany (right, Sue?).

After exploring the countryside and villages, we usually returned to a fantastic four course Italian meal at the hotel.

One special evening, we bought second row tickets for the opening performance of the San Gimignano music festival. This festival has run for 79 years and is a smorgasbord of music of all kinds.

The weather was perfect, the stars (astronomical and theatrical) were shining as we enjoyed a compilation of `greatest hits` of famous Italian operas. Four opera stars accompanied by a full orchestra in the outdoor setting of a medieval plaza in front of an ancient church brought tears to our eyes ... bravo, bravo, bravo.

Getting back after midnight made it tough to get up at 4am so that I could be at the hot air balloon for a pre-sunrise takeoff. But I managed ...