Later in the morning, we walked to the car and made for Montegemoli. I knew it was only a little hamlet, but it’s supposed to have a fabulous restaurant: Osteria dell’Ultimo Carbonaio (Hostelry of the Last Charcoal Pile – I’m thinking BBQ, although it’s not a BBQ place).
I got in the car and selected the restaurant in Google Maps. When I ask for directions and hit ‘Start’, it promptly tells me that it will probably be closed when I get there. Sure enough, the opening time (again, according to Google – the place doesn’t have a website of it’s own) is 18:00. We thought we’d give it a bash anyway, as there are a number of places we could drive to from there.
We got there, and parked in the car park, and of course the place was closed., and actually doesn’t open on Thursdays ’til 18:30 But the village… it’s absolutely gorgeous. It stands on a hill of its own, with a vista to Volterra is blocked by another intervening hill, but there are panoramic views to elsewhere. It was like a ghost town. We did not see one more soul as we wandered around. We will definitely be back to sample the restaurant, and to show the town off. Here are some pics:
With lunch impossible here, I had a look at Google Maps to see where we might be able to go. Querceto is a lovely little hamlet we haven’t visited yet, and was a 22 minute drive away, but then I had to go and mention the Chinese place in Marina di Cecina, which is 37 minutes from Montegemoli. We hadn’t had Chinese in over 5 weeks, and so pell-melled it there (Grande Cina), and had so much grub that we had nothing else for the rest of the day. As Chinese restaurants go it’s ok when compared to back home, but it was just the change in flavours we needed.
We drove home with satisfied bellies, and lounged there, literally for the rest of the day. On the plus side, I got a few hundred words written, so the day wasn’t completely lost!
I polished off Santa Clarita Diet (which I have since learned has been cancelled by Netflix), and Archer. Carnival Row is out on Amazon, which both Niamh and I might be interested in, and I have yet to start Mindhunter!
Anyway, I got up this morning after a fitful night’s sleep, and decided to keep it within the walls.
Nothing planned for the daytime today, but this evening Niamh and I are celebrating our anniversary early by going to Del Duca for dinner. Should be yummy!
Bye for now!
Our Man In Volterra 
All the pictures which accompany your blog are beautiful Eoin, but the fifth one from the start of the roll in today’s piece is stunning, defo one for a frame. I love reading this every morning, especially now it is already winter in Ireland 🙂 Well done
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Cheers, dude!
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Happy Anniversary Eoin and Niamh! See you Sunday.
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Thanks!
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