Month: July 2023

2023)

The weather took a turn for the worse which, truth be told, seems to by and large been a prevalent feature of our visits to Tuscany throughout this year I’m sorry to say. At the time of writing this, however, there is something of a heatwave in many parts in Italy – but we’re stuck in rainy old Ireland.

Our guest wanted to hang around Volterra to check out bits and pieces she missed, so we didn’t stray from the town – well, not far, anyway.

I got up alone and had a walk. It was a full walk around the walls, which is always gratifying.

The circumnavigation continued…

The elevator Volterra is finally getting – under construction

Not having walked enough, I entered the town through Porta a Selci, walked parallel to the prison and entered the park for a quick circling!

The prison in the background. It’s an old fortress, which was enhanced by the Medici in the late 15th Century

I had walked so much by then, that unfortunately I broke through to another universe altogether!

Fortunately, I was not one of the droids they were looking for, and I was allowed to re-traverse the veil between planes and return to my apartment!

Our guest took their time to explore a little more around the town, while Niamh and I lounged around at home. We went out ourselves after while for a short walk and parked ourselves a while in the main piazza, people-watching. We met up again with our guest (sort of) at the Roman Theatre ruins.

Being impressed as she was by those ruins, we asked her if she want to check out the dig-site of the Roman Amphiteatre. She gladly agreed, and we wound our way down. When we got there, we discovered that some shrubber had been cut away to allow a better look at the site. It’s not fully open to the public, but sometimes they advertise site tours.

There’s really only so much time you can spend here when there’s no tour arranged. We ooh’d and ahh’d a bit before we crossed the road and into the cemetery. I don’t think our guest had seen an Italian cemetery before, so we explained (not that we are experts on the matter) that after a period of burial, the remains are removed to a ‘drawer’ in the walls. All of these slots are well-maintained and many have photos fixed to the front.

We moved from one massive courtyard to the other, by taking stairs down, taking glances at the photos every now and again. Some of them are smiling, some are dour – all are interesting. Niamh suddenly exclaimed “Wow – someone’s put one of the O’s on their grave!” After inquiring what she meant, she instead pointed towards the tomb in question. And it did indeed have one of Staccioli’s O’s on it – a mini-version. Then it struck me: this might be his grave – he is Volterran by birth after all!

I clattered down the stairs excitedly and marched swiftly over to it, and confirmed that it was, indeed, Mauro Staccioli’s grave – his wife is interred there too. I love his sculptures – simple but stark and strong. At stated in other blogs, his works are dotted around Volterra like hidden Pokemon! Google Images of some of his works.

I was filming at the time, so I stood there in reverence for a while, just occasionally nattering at the invisible people on the other side of the camera.

Here’s a video of the day!

We trundled back uphill.. all the way uphill, mind you – the walk there is fine, the walk back can be challenging, depending on your fitness.

We chilled back at the apartment for a while, and then went out for a brief walk (the Sith were still hanging about in the square), and wolfed down our dinner at La Vecchia Lira!

Thanks for reading, all. Please leave a like and let me know what you think!

The Verdant Theatre and Colourful Lajatico (18/03/2023)

We had looked up the weather for our first weekend, and saw that today (Saturday) was going to be the best day of the next few. Our friend would be leaving on Monday, but had also declared that she would have been perfectly happy to stay in Volterra. We had spent a little time in the market that morning too, and it looked like the forecasts would pan out correctly, so we dragged her out, and were glad we did in the end. I think she thought so, too.

But first, my walk of the morning! Here are the pics… enjoy!

They were beginning to set up the market

As mentioned earlier we had a little trip to the market. It was still slightly shy of the season opening, so the stalls were still in the main squares.

We took another mini-stroll to some key photo-spots.

We took the Pisan road to get to The Theatre of Silence (Il Teatro del Silezio), where Andrea Boccelli holds his summer concerts near Lajatico, near where he grew up. We have visited it before, but when the land was still scorched from the summer. This time we saw it in all its verdant glory! I have to admit that, while I recognise Andrea Bocelli as an extraordinary talent, I have no hankering to ever go to those concerts. Howerver, the Theatre is absolutely gorgeous, no matter the weather.

The temperature hit about 21/22c – close to the max in which our guest feels comfortable. There was a little wind, as the place is super-exposed, but there wasn’t nearly as much as last time. We stayed, we saw, we took a few snaps and headed towards the nearby art-strewn village of Lajatico!

It’s such a beautiful little place, with well-appointed art-installations – and like many picturesque hilltowns, is kept immaculately clean. We walked about it, admiring how well they’ve curated the buildings to blend in with the artwork, or is it vice-versa? I think maybe it’s a little of both.

Even the water-tower is getting in on the action – painted like one of the floors of the leaning tower of Pisa.

After I had posted some pictures on Facebook and Instagram, Alice, who works in our Property Managers but who lives in Lajatico, gave out to us (in a friendly way) for not letting her know we were in her town. She promised to go out for a drink with us next time we were here. I love Italians!

Back in town later that evening, we had aperitivi in Bar Sportivo and L’Incontro. Our guest met our friend, Mary, and both are originally from Chicago, so there were good chats had! Our guest, Niamh and I finished off our day in Porgi L’Altra Pancia for a well-deserved meal and a glass or three of wine!

We filmed the day too, and you can watch that below!

Thanks for reading (and watching?) all – I hope you enjoyed the blog. Please leave me comments and suggestions below!

A St. Patrick’s Day Return (17/03/2023)

This will be super-short. I’m aware I haven’t posted in a while (sorry about that), but I’ve been away, and taking time off to be present on a whole month away in May/June – more on that in 3-4 month’s time! Also, I’ve been editing content for my Writer Group’s second anthology, and am really excited about that, but it does chew up a bit of my time.

Anyway, back to St. Patrick’s Day! Actually, did you know that March 17th is also Italian Reunification Day? Well, you do now. From prior observation, they don’t seem to celebrate the day with any material significance, but please do correct me if I’m wrong.

Anyway, we had the day off, as all Irish people do, on St. Patrick’s Day. We had a lie-in and had an afternoon flight. This time, we would be flying out with a friend who would be staying with us for a few days, of a 15-day holiday in total – more guests would join us the following week. We only met at the boarding gate, and I can’t remember if Niamh and I had something to eat either in the airport or mid-flight. We must have had, as we would have been too hungry by the time we’d gotten to Volterra. Truth be told, we were still hungry by the time we got there anyway, haha!

We got there in one piece, had no baggage to pick up, thankfully – and walked the 4-500 metres to the car rental building. These past few times, Niamh has booked with the RyanAir partner, but there seems to be significant churn on them – a different provider every trip! This time, it was Italy Car Rent, who I have to say were very good, in that the process of picking up the car was one of the fastest we’d experienced. We got another Fiat Panda. Look, we know it’s about about half as powerful as a dead mouse, but it’s got a decent transmission (5th to 4th a bit janky, though), is comfortable and has a fast-acting aircon system – certainly for those sitting in front. Given its size, it’s also easy to manoeuvre and park – no wonder Italian country roads are littered with them!

We climbed in, noted that the boot was barely big enough for all our hand-helds and backpacks and drove to Volterra. It was already dark by the time we started driving, but was pitch when we got there, just before 22:00. We parked in a pay carpark, which are free from 20:00-08:00 (so I’d have to get up and move it!), and marched towards Porgi L’Altra Pancia, which is chiefly a restuarant, despite what Google says. Unfortunately, they were packing up, but we got a warm welcome from Adrian – one of the waiters there. We had to double-back where we were then accosted by Ilenia from La Sosta del Priore, who also greeted us enthusiastically and we chatted for a minute or two – she’s so lovely (and bloody hard-working!).

After that, I trotted up to Terra di Mezzo, but it too was closed. A shame – I could have murdered a pasta dish. It had been almost 6 months without a decent one! Anyway, looks like we’d settle for a pizza. We lashed back towards Pizzeria Ombra della Sera and got a nod from the dude who has seen us 20 times before and ordered. I was silently grateful that they were at least open (if only for pizzas – they have other fare on the menu, but the main kitchen was closed). We ended up thoroughly enjoying what we ordered – along with some beers.

Once done and paid, it was off to the apartment where our friend got her first taste of the 76 steps. I hadn’t set the expectation properly, as she thought the steps were on the outside of the building, not the inside, and so she wasn’t as put out as she thought she was going to be. A 15-minute tour of the apartment later, and we were all in bed after an exhausting day.

It’s good to be back! Let me know what you think, and feel free to like and subscribe!