Slow is the Point - Field Notes from Tuscany

I've been coming to Cortona for twenty years. And I still get that feeling when I arrive — the one where you didn't even realize how tense you were until you weren't anymore.

This year I came early, before everyone else. Which is actually my favorite part.

There's something about getting to a place before the group arrives — before the energy shifts and the schedule kicks in — that I genuinely love. It's quiet in a way that doesn't last long. I stocked the refrigerator - you know, the special Italian water everyone wants but won’t tell you. Put fresh flowers in every room. Set out the pilates mats, the swag bags, made sure every little detail was handled. Not because it has to be perfect, but because I know what it feels like to walk into a space and immediately sense that someone cared before you got there. That's the feeling I want everyone on this edition to have the moment they open their door.

Our first two mornings started with Pilates. Tuscany light, movement, coffee — honestly, a hard combination to beat. The view up the hill to Cortona is extraordinary.

Then we went to Doveri Winery to meet Fabrizio.

If you ever get the chance to taste wine with Fabrizio, do not pass it up. He poured the first glass and told us to wait — to let it open. And then he explained what he meant, which I will never forget: letting a wine breathe, he said, is like letting your lover slowly take off one piece of clothing at a time. Come back in ten minutes. It's someone different. Come back again. Different still.

The whole room just stopped.

He was completely right. We kept coming back to the glass and every time it had shifted — opened up a little more, given us something new. I've been to a lot of wine tastings. That one was different.

We took a day trip to Siena, did some people watching, ate well. Back at the villa, we had a private wine tasting as the sun went down over the hills — which, if you haven't experienced it, is exactly as good as it sounds.

And mostly, we were slow.

That's the thing about coming to Tuscany the right way. The slow isn't empty time. It's the whole point. It's the long lunch that turns into a real conversation. It's going back to the wine glass because Fabrizio told you to. It's sitting somewhere beautiful and not reaching for your phone.

I've been coming here for twenty years and this place still reminds me of that every single time. I'm grateful I keep needing the reminder.

More from the field soon.

Cynthia Plath is the founder of Sojourn & Soirée and the host of Next Chapter Anywhere. The Italy Edition is underway. Follow along at sojournandsoiree.com.