Archive for 'Books and Movies'

The gorgeous and dreamy historic town of Montepulciano in Tuscany known for its delicious wine gained international fame back in 2009 when it was chosen as a filming location for one of the movie adaptations of Stephanie Meyer's Twilight book series, New Moon. Fans worldwide were suddenly focused on this Tuscan gem and were were captivated by both the town's beauty and its newfound connection to the beloved franchise. So, if you love the movies and/or books and have always wanted to experience the allure of Montepulciano for yourself, then browse our villas in Montepulciano and plan a visit to this charming town...

Lots of people like to follow their favourite characters on their fictional journeys through destinations and then shadow those footsteps themselves in real life. Think of Bloomsday in Dublin, each summer, that sees fans from all over the globe come to follow Joyce’s protagonist Leopold Bloom around the city. Recently, another Irish author has given us yet another engaging and fascinating protagonist whose journey we can chart with Maggie O’Farrell’s fictionalised novel about the life and death of Lucrezia de' Medici, Duchess of Ferrara, in The Marriage Portrait.

The celebrated and well-loved O’Farrell released the book in 2022 to great acclaim and immediately transported readers all over the world into the life of an incredibly young bride in Renaissance Italy. Certain liberties have been taken with the details of her life but the story is rooted in historic record and real events and places. Those, therefore, who have read and adored the book can pretty easily track Lucrezia’s path from birth to childhood to a rather nerve-wracking young married life in a strange court. In fact, many of the places in the novel are already key tourist attractions that one might already be planning on visiting if booking a villa in Florence and/or a vacation rental in Emilia Romagna. 

Continuing on from our last post and our residual excitement from the finale of the excellent season two of HBO’s hit show, “The White Lotus,” we have been outlining a tour of some of the key destinations and locations that were featured in the show and that gave us yet another reason to start stalking incredible villas in Sicily and plan a vacation in this gorgeous part of the world! In the previous post, we mentioned some of the places in Taormina that were used as filming locations but noted that there were many more key destinations featured in addition to this impossibly dreamy city in Italy.

In fact, even the beach from the Taormina scenes was actually located elsewhere as, while the city does have some very charming stretches of coast in and around it, they are somewhat rocky and not quite perfectly sandy enough. So, they had to go elsewhere, to Cefalù for her picture-perfect beaches though the town also got to be a star in its own right too. The show actually introduced us to several other unimaginably picturesque towns and settings and made us fall in love so, if you have booked your holiday rental in Sicily and you are ready to start exploring the island as a whole, here are the other key spots from the show to visit during your trip:

It seems like everyone and their mother has been talking about the second season of HBO’s hit television show, “The White Lotus,” especially since its nail-biting finale on Sunday. While the twisting and turning of the plot, the charismatic characters, and the actors who have been made stars by the show were all key elements to the popularity of this season, another major component of the success was its dreamy setting. The previous season had made fans dream of a less eventful holiday of their own in Hawaii and this season introduced many to the undeniable charms of Sicily! As we’re big fans of both the show and the destination and we have an array of some gorgeous villas in Sicily to choose from, we thought it might be a good idea to tell you about some of the spots from this season where filming took place. These are the spots that you can see and admire for yourself (likely and hopefully without all of the drama but certainly with all of the beauty and delights) while enjoying a getaway in Sicily in Italy.

If you’re looking to emulate something even close to the plush style of the show, we do have a range of luxury villas in Sicily to choose from, offering you all of the amenities and space and elegance you could ask for, while also benefiting from the increased privacy and flexibility of a private villa rental. Those, however, who want to take in those gorgeous views from the show and soak up a vacation in Sicily at a more competitive and reasonable price point will have a great selection of holiday rentals in Sicily to choose from, all across the island – it’s all up to you!