Italy in April best shows in these photos taken on my iPhone as I wander through busy streets, along back ways, in Piazzas, near shops, on stone walls, in the country. Gazing up brings tall towers and church bells, looking down, the uneven surfaces of brick and stone. All around me there is history, an ancient past and sometimes forgotten ruins.

A day in San Gimiginano

Italy covers many scenes during the day from busy train stations, buzzing cafes, carefree restaurants, sacred churches, quiet parklands, challenging street crossings, welcoming leather shops with their intense leather smell, old museums, medieval walls of Lucca, the sea at Viareggio, hidden galleries, public squares, fountains, Basilicas, book shops, wineries.

I have seen many colours in Italy, mostly Tuscan red, orange, sunflower yellow or mustard painted houses. green in different shades of olive, sage and dark green are popular too. The cracked and peeling stone walls vary from browns, to rusts and beige, but always beautiful to the eye, old and worn yet charming. From students cycling to fields of cypress trees and olives in the country, there is something for everyone in Italy.

In medieval Lucca