According to urbandictionary.com, a happy place is a place inside all of us where we are all happy and get the warm fuzzies. This happy place, however, has always been a mind over matter issue. It has always been a personal thing. But, if you were given a chance to actually step into a real-world happy place whenever the need arises, where would you go?
If a happy place is supposed to give us warm fuzzies, I would love to escape to Tuscany. It’s a peaceful and positively charming region in Central Italy. Famous for its vineyards and art, Tuscany feels like it was sculpted right from a painting. It’s made up of hills and mountains and plains. You could literally run all over the place and sing “The hills are alive with the sound of music…”
There are plenty of places to stay at in Tuscany, from farmhouses to bed and breakfast inns. These accommodations will make you never want to leave the wine region again. The Cabbiavoli Chianti Farmhouse, for example, has 9 lovely and renovated apartments ready for occupation. While the farmhouses emanate pure old world charm, they still have the modern necessities of today’s traveler. I imagine it would be lovely and calming to just sit outside one of the farmhouses sipping tea and letting all thoughts float away.
Then, before the sun sets, I would set off for one of Tuscany’s premier museums (I love museums and marvel at the amount of history “kept” in them).The Galleria dell’Accademia, perhaps? After all, it houses Michaelangelo’s David and Botticelli’s Madonna and Child.
Then again, Tuscany churches are works of art themselves with their Gothic architecture and breathtaking frescoes. And to add to their charm, one church, the Santa Croce to be exact, has world-renowned artists and thinkers buried under its stone floors. Michaelangelo, Galileo, Rossini and Machiavelli are buried there. Although I’m not exactly the type to set foot on holy grounds, I would nevertheless, enjoy being in the company of such great minds. (hehehe)