The top of everybody’s list when asked about Italy has to be the cooking, but for me it is much more than the food, it is the actual ritual of making it.
One of my favourite things is to watch my friend Giussepina roll out pasta, or make a salsa di Pomodoro throwing the tomatoes and herbs from her garden into a large saucepan, where the olive oil is already simmering. I love to hear her laughter and her lilting Italian voice, knowing that only a short while later I will be overwhelmed by her warmth and generosity, in a farmhouse surrounded by her family, where hospitality is as normal as the air that they breathe.
Then of course there are the architectural reclamation centres. Throughout Italy there are salvage yards that would excite anyone with a passion for the past. Here you can buy a fireplace from an Italian Palazzo, a font from an ancient church, even a roman pillar. I bought a well head near Citta di Castello, that once came from an old monastery and now stands in pride of place in my Italian garden. Somehow the history has come with it, and I can almost see the monks drawing water from the well as they must have done in the past.
I love the roads that wind around the hillsides making you actually take note of the glorious scenery instead of always rushing from A to B. I love to see old women dressed in black foraging for mushrooms, and of course there is Cortona.
It was this exquisite hilltop town that made me buy my house in the first place. When 12 years ago, I climbed up through the winding alleyways and narrow lanes to the Basilica di Santa Margherita at the top, I was enchanted by the houses huddled together on either side, the architecture that was never the same. Each house was an individual gem with a host of secrets hidden behind their ancient front doors. On some of the larger houses, carved stone stemmi still bore the coats of arms of past noble Italian families. When I reached the top and looked out over the terracotta roof tops towards Lago Traisimeno glittering in the distance, I knew why I loved Italy and I also knew that this would be where I would buy my home.
An Italian Affair by Caroline Montague is out now (Orion, paperback, £7.99).