In fact this was not the first shot that I took when I wandered out for a pre-dawn stroll.

I really needed a tripod. There is no way that I could carry a tripod. Packing had not been optimised and even if it had been, space was at a premium. Being so massively under-prepared-but-not-by-choice was compounded by being sloppy and a tad overconfident. Image stabilisation will only get you so far and even cranking all the way open to f/2.8 with an ISO of 1000 (which is way outside a micro 4/3rds comfort zone) I was still getting speeds slower than 0.6 of a second. In short, I got a whole bunch of grainy blur-fests.

The first two shots I took... I won't delete, as they'll remain mementos, but not ones which are worth publishing. They probably would have been had I been able to sit them on a tripod; one in particular has the first light coming over the Tuscan hills, behind the hotel's illuminated swimming pool.

Sigh.

This sign on the other hand is not the most significant of subjects, especially as the dynamic range did not allow any background so it looks like it's hanging in space. But if you happen to see it while driving on a Tuscan road and have the time, I do recommend a stay there.

This shot really serves no purpose other than a reminder that we were there, and it was good. And sometimes that's enough.