Hints and tips:
...Sun....
...Tuscans may proudly tell you they are Tuscans. But Umbrians are a more discreet people, and prefer more local loyalties, as they do in many parts of Italy....
...The sun loungers lining the sands of Maronti are set in sardine-tin proximity, and the bodies reclining in them, clad in microscopic bits of Lurex, tend to be bracingly un-Capri-esque; rotund, jiggling,...
...Tuscan wine dynasty Antinori dates from 1385, gunmaker Beretta from 1526....
...There’s a billiard room, a small spa, and a rock-floored sitting room hung with oil paintings of Grant’s bewhiskered ancestors....
...Why Those unsoothed by the neutral interiors can seek relaxation in the spa, which has a swimming pool, steam room and massage area....
...Why The layout of the house has been designed to maximise heat and light from the sun, which means many of the south-facing walls are made of glass or have large windows....
...Il Borro, Tuscany Not a hotel or villa, but an entire medieval Tuscan village, restored by the Ferragamo family....
...It also offers multiday and night trips … Claire Wrathall: A Tuscan idyll “What does it feel like to wake up in a Tuscan farmhouse?” Virginia Woolf asked the Anglo-American writer Iris Origo....
...Nevertheless, Scilla Huang Sun, head of equities at Swiss & Global Asset Management in Zurich, believes that longer term the weakening of the dollar against Asian currencies should play to the advantage...
...In her last months as EU antitrust commissioner Ms Kroes has delivered a slap across the chops to several state-owned banks, and rolled up her sleeves regarding Oracle’s bid for Sun....
...And the guy on the nearby sun lounger is Bill Fischer, the New York travel agent who charges clients a $10,000 joining fee just to get his telephone number....
...There is also a golf academy with a floodlit driving range, practice range, golf shop and teaching bays and a luxurious clubhouse, with its own bar, restaurant, health club and spa....
...This is a villa without the bustle of an awakening hotel, a view without pool attendants straightening the sun loungers, and a lake without jet-skis and noisy speedboats....
...European investors made hay while the sun shone on Monday, continuing the theme of last week's late buying spree and shrugging off concerns about high oil prices and their likely impact on third-quarter...
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