The Riviera Woman takes to the hills and goes olive picking in the 13th century village of Colletta, along the coast in Liguria.

When I received an invitation to go olive picking, my first reaction was not one of overwhelming enthusiasm. I carried the notion in my head of 'well I've done that and got the t-shirt'. But this was undeniably a little different. Like all good travel shows and home hunting programs, this was equally a case of location, location, location.

We travelled way past Sanremo and up into the hills a bit. Colletta is a medieval village that has been so beautifully restored. What makes it so different to other restored villages, is that it was built with the future in mind. Each apartment is cabled for high speed broadband internet and digital television, with the intention of it being a "Borgo telematico" a technology village and a conference centre to attract the business sector. Joanna, who I had met previously tells me how things have turned out.

Olive festivals are a common sight at this time of the year and as Colletta is run as a condominium, everyone just knuckled down and enjoyed the beautiful sunny day. A fun lunch was organised and even though 50% of the residents are expats it still had that rustic Italian feel.

As part of the two day event, a craft fair and workshop was being held and organised by Lorraine who lives locally and produces beautiful cards and other crafts using the art of decoupage. What is also so lovely is that her crafting benefits local children's charities.

My attentions were drawn to Raffaella dell'Orta. I was enchanted by her eccentricity and positve outlook on life and her comment that she decided to change her life at the age 50. How appropriate, I thought, given the subject of our first Chatroom only a week earlier. It would seem that women share a common desire to re-invent and achieve a better way of living. She was definitely a 'can-do' Riviera Woman.

I decided to take a little stroll around the grounds of Colletta, which had a swimming pool and vegetable plots and the path I took led me to the little wood and the quaint bridge over the stream. It really felt like something from a fairy tale book except I was suddenly faced with a huge piece of glass art. It is rare that words fail me but it left me standing... very much in the same way as the artefact, fixed to the spot. The sculpture was the creation of Jonty Hurwitz and the sheets of glass and there were 12 of them, are a series of CAT scans of the sculptors father. The piece called 'Dietro di Me' (Behind Me) won the 2009 Bernard Noble Sculpture Award. The Foundation was established in 2007 and aims to encourage and promote young, emerging sculptors in Italy and in the U.K. by means of an annual award.

I am sure that artists will find inspiration in Colletta and more so, that visitors will appreciate the beauty that makes Colletta the village it is, further enhanced by the wonderful people who live there.

And for the record, 310 kilos of olives were sent to the olive mill.