ITALY TRIP The beautiful town that made me a morning person

We had been having  lie-ins and turning up sloppily late to the Tuscan towns we visited.  The car parks were full, the streets crowded and the attractions shutting for the midday break.

But the rising temperatures made us put our house in order.

We got up early and went straight to Colle di Val d' Elsa.

We drifted up the empty street, paved in limestone and bordered by towering Renaissance palaces. It felt like being in a film.

The churches were empty too - just the five of us admiring frescoes and altarpieces. We could discuss without disturbing anybody else.

I puzzled for so long over the cryptic Latin inscription on a pulpit that I broke out into a sweat and the twins laughed at me.

When we went to a cafe we were able to take the best seats under a fragrant-flowered lime tree, with a view across the valley to the duomo, patrolled by shrieking swifts.

When finally we met another couple (Dutch), I asked them to take a pic of us all together in front of the ancient city gate, and nobody got in our way.

I'm an evening person, but I think I'll be getting up early again tomorrow.