Category: Uncategorized

Going Up in San Miniato

The previous night, Niamh whipped out the pasta maker and had a crack at making it for the first time – we settled on tagliatelle.

The result was excellent pasta, and a good taste to the sauce, but it was a little dry. This was down to a couple of things, but principally it was down to the meat we were given was far too lean, sadly – and ended up being far too crumbly. More lessons learned! It will be interesting to see how our cooking course goes on the 16th.

Anyway, yesterday we dropped our guest off at the airport, and decided to make use of the fact that we were on the SGC FI-PI-LI (the main artery linking Florence, Pisa and Livorno), to go to San Miniato. It is about 35-40 minutes away from the airport, by that dual carriageway. We drove all the way to near the outskirts – a good way up, only to drive all the way down into an inexpensive carpark (50c/hr). There is a lift which goes all the way up to the start of the old town. The shaft is an impressive looking thing.

We went up, and had a little explore, to get our bearings, before heading into a bar for a quick pastry for brekkie. The ‘touristy’ part of town is banana-shaped, and is very pretty. We went to a more modern set of buildings, which contained some community buildings, a good example of which was the library, which had what can only be described as ‘face seats’ in an outside area. A church just lay off one of the main squares – so we had a little explore in there too.

We then went to the more ‘quaint’ (I hate that word) section. The square there is gorgeous and is often their setting for festivals and is where they hold their Christmas markets. The cathedral lies above up some steep steps. The roof and artwork within is worth viewing.

They were prepping for a wedding that was to be held there later that morning. We were lucky to see it, as about 30 minutes later, they’d closed the door.

There are a bundle of panoramic viewpoints within the town, but the two highest are up the Torre di Matilde, or on the little green where the Torre di Federico II lies. The former costs €3 to enter, while the latter is free. We went to the latter, as (honestly!) it was the first one we saw of the two. The views were amazing, as the green is completely open. A bit of a climb up some steps is required, though – and you’re not actually allowed in the tower itself.

Check out the panoramic shot above!

It was a little cloudy, but still warm. On our way back to the car, we stopped briefly at La Pennellessa (aka Santuario del Santissimo Crocifisso – Sanctuary of the Holy Crucifix), a fat cross-shaped building topped with a dome. Inside were pews, an altar, and yet again some wonderful artwork. We then headed home.

Unfortunately, lunch back in Volterra was one of the worst dining experiences we have ever had. I’m not going to name and shame the place, as sometimes you can just have a bad day – but our order was wrong, food came out at different intervals (often to be expected, but not at 20 minute intervals). We just stared and watch each other eat. My main was tasty enough (a veal cutlet), but Niamh’s was a travesty – a burger (on it’s own – no bun), dry, with dry grilled veggies and weirdly, slices of (dry) pecorino. She barely touched it. All around, people were looking pissed off with bad service and poor food. It looked like they were completly unprepared for a busy service. What a shame. We’d been there before for pizza, which they’re great at (no, it wasn’t Ombra della Sera Pizzeria!), and so were shocked by how bad everything was. They tried to make amends by not charging us for a portion of fries, but this damage is pretty much permanent – it’s doubtful we’ll ever return to that place.

We went back to the apartment and chilled. Later that evening, Niamh cooked herself a small meal and I just had some simple cold-cuts. I ended up not going out at all, except to buy some sliced turkey and ham in the supermarket. I have to get into the habit of going for a quick evening stroll again!

The day was interrupted by a hell of a thunderstorm. We had a batten down the hatches, and wait for it to pass over. Lightnight crackled overhead and there was the most terrific boom at one point – the windows seemed to vibrate in their frames. And there was a lot of rain. It looked like we were practically in the middle of the thunderhead itself.

This morning, I got up and walked down to the CoOp and took a long route back up. It’s a loooong, steady climb up, so I got a decent workout. I also wore my puffer jacket for the first time. Temperatures have definitely dipped this week – but I have to admit I was a sweaty mess by the time I got back home. Lovely cloud-lakes formed islands again in the hills below. That always looks amazing to me. Oh, for a camera with decent optical zoom, though.

We have a motorbike race timetrial on this weekend. Part of the main road to Cecina/Siena will be closed, and we figure this leaves us stranded in town for the weekend. Maybe I’ll catch some of it – might be a bit of fun.

I’m late with the blog today, as our Mondo Convenienza delivery of furniture arrived today. Unfortunately, they had other deliveries in the area and so came with a massive truck, despite us telling them already on the delivery form that we were in a centro storico. Our property manager even told them that a second time when the date was arranged, but still they messed it up, and will now have to phone *again* to re-arrange. Bloody annoying, and not very professional. The delivery lads themselves were apologetic, but I got nothing out of the lady in head office when I complained.

Anyway – there’s nothing we can change about it now, and so just have to get on with it.

In other slightly annoying news, or wifi extender simply isn’t playing ball at all. We’ve tried it several times, but althought it worked at first in December, it is now fiddly to get any signal – plus it often drops. We might have to get a new one… not Asus, though.

See you in the next (hopefully happier) one!

All is Quiet in Peccioli

Our guest wanted to assist us with getting some sort of environmental solution in, other than having to rely on fans. Niamh looked up mobile air-conditioning units in Comet, and then we went off to their branch in Pontedera to see what we could get. I’d previously remembered it as a bit of a dull drive, but as we went along this time, I found it quite pleasant. The second half of it is rather flat, but there are still hillside villages dotted about to go ‘oooh’ and ‘ahhh’ at.

We got there, and found they only had units which needed to be fixed to the wall, and were very expensive. No sign of any of the products on the website. I asked one of the store’s assistants, and she confirmed that they no longer had any of that stock. In addition, she said that there was no other large domestic electrical retailer around, unless we wanted to see if the CoOp had anything. It wasn’t a wasted journey, though, as Niamh grabbed a pasta-hanger, an egg brush and a fancy food processor.

Driving to the CoOp took all of a minute as it’s not too far at all from the Comet. Unfortunately, they didn’t have anything there either, but we did get some plums and felt padding for our chair in the sitting room. No more groaning as we pull it into position! I also took this photo, which proves I am 47, going on 8.

On the way back, we decided to stop off at Peccioli. We’d driven by the old town a couple of dozen times now, and never visited it. The bell-tower in the distance always intrigued us, as it looked almost Moorish from a distance. We were also hungry enough to have a two-course lunch, and were on the hunt for a good, sit-down restaurant.

Peccioli was, unfortunately, as shut as it was pretty. There were a couple of bars open and I did see an enoteca, but it was advertising pizza and cold platters, so we didn’t bother going in. I suspect it was called Il Grano E L’Uva, and if so, going by the TripAdvisor page, it looks like we might have missed out! The town probably doesn’t get a lot of tourist traffic, and is probably busier from June through August. I know it had a Moon festival sometime in July. So we left hungry, but still impressed with this nice little village.

We high-tailed it home to Volterra, parked in a pay-spot just outside our gate (residents get two free hours parking in pay-spots), and went to Il Pozzo degli Etruschi for food. Strangely, they didn’t have wild boar sauce to go with the pappardelle our guest wanted (they had dove sauce, which I ordered!), nor did they have the boar cutlets Niamh wanted. She opted instead for a Chianina beef sauce (yummy) and our guest went for spag-bol. Niamh also got grilled veggies, while I went for steamed. We all seemed quite happy after the meal.

I must have been exhaling in that photo! 😦

Our guest and I grabbed the shopping from the car and carried it back up to the apartment. Niamh took the car to our residents car park, but unfortunately our luck had finally run out – she had to wait 10 minutes or so for someone to pull-out so she could park. Meanwhile, I was happy watching telly.

We stayed in for the rest of the day – we were all a little bushed. Our guest and I did go out at around 19:45 for sandwiches from La Sosta del Priore. When I say ‘sandwiches’, I also include burgers in that definition. As always, they were delicious.

We sat back and watched a couple of episodes of Conan Without Borders on Netflix and hit the sack.

Our walk this morning took us down to the stairs at Docciola, and up past view looking down at the hospital/asylum area – then up to the prison gate and past the entrances to the park (which was closed, unfortunately). We spent a couple more minutes at the panoramic viewpoint taking snaps before heading to the pasticceria. If ‘C’ can be short for ‘Cream’, then my breakfast this morning consisted of plenty of vitamin C!

No travel plans today. Niamh is going to have a crack at making pasta, and I will make a ragu to go with it (hopefully lamb). We also have to see about getting a frame for that art I bought, seeing if the other picture we were getting framed is ready, and hanging up as much as we can!

There will also be no blog tomorrow, as we have to go to Pisa to drop my brother off at the airport for his flight home. Another guest that will be missed!

Cheers!

Monteriggioni and Colle di Val d’Elsa

Warning: this post is photo-heavy!

With my stomach all better, we decided to head to a town we’d been meaning to travel to for a long time: Monteriggioni. It’s a fully-walled medieval village, and is only about a 45 minute drive from where we are. We drove off and stopped off at the ‘O’ for the usual photos!

We got there, and parked handily enough – just a bit of an uphill walk into the town. And gorgeous it is! It’s certainly a bit of a tourist trap, but if you’re ever in the Siena area, it’s a must-visit. There are a few spots at the wall you can climb to and take snaps over. It costs €4 per person, but you can climb up to any of the spots around the wall for that fee. The whole village is tiny – you could walk it briskly in about a minute from gate to gate. But, as the saying goes, it’s small but perfectly formed.

After some gelato (naturally), there was a bit of impromptu shopping at Pratesi, where Niamh bought herself some nice boots. I was looking at a cool pair of shoes, but they didn’t have them in my size – and don’t seem to be available in their online store either. It was suggested that we go to their main outlet store in Ambra to try. It’s a bit of a drive, but we might give it a go one day.

I also bought a fabulous ink drawing (from this dude), which I’ll frame and position. I won’t show it ’til it’s in its rightful place! The artist either paints in oils on wood, or draws using everyday ball-point pens. When he heard that we had an apartment in Volterra (and so shipping wasn’t an issue), he said that he was due in Volterra to sell out by the viewpoint, but for some organisational reason couldn’t go at the last minute. Some things happen for a reason, I guess!

Before we left, we had lunch in Ristorante Il Pozzo. We all went for a pasta course, but were rewarded with a gorgeous mini-carpaccio amuse bouche to begin with. The winner was our guest, who had the pappardelle with wild boar sauce.

Instead of going directly home, we stopped off for an hour in the old part of Colle di Val d’Elsa. When we first visited Volterra, this town had completely escaped my notice, so when we decided to visit Siena early on, our jaws dropped when we rounded a bend and saw this long, town, atop a narrow ridge – but surprises like this are frequent in Tuscany. We drove through Badia A Passignano quite by chance, when we were on our way to the Chianti region, back in December. Anyway, I digress – we walked up and down the narrow town, stopping in the Cathedral and it’s crypt underneath. In a way, the town mirrored the crypt, in that it was almost completely devoid of people!

Then back home for some deserved R&R! Later that evening we spoiled ourselves further by going out for pizza and beer, but found ourselves completely unable to do anything else after, except watch a bit of telly before bed!

This morning, our guest and I got up to do a walk around the walls, albeit a bit of an abbreviated one. We left by Porta Fiorentina (the gate nearest us), and then walked anti-clockwise until we hit Porta a Selci (by the prison). A good distance of the way through that 3+km, we saw Niamh jogging on the other side of the road and gave her a wave.

Today, we might go to Pontadera, to see if they have any mobile air-cooling units. There is a certain irony in that, as the temperature has dipped somewhat today, and may only peak at 24 celsius. We had to close the door to the terrace due to the temperature, for the first time today! Anyway, the unit will definitely come in handy. I just hope it’s not too expensive or to heavy to haul up those stairs!

I’ll let you know how we get on in the next one!

Shaking off a Stomach Bug

My stomach was acting up for much of yesterday, and so I didn’t have enough confidence to go far from the apartment until that evening. I got a little better later on, and I had a couple of beers and the rest of Niamh’s ragu with spaghetti. It gets better after a day, when the flavours are allowed meld.

That evening we all went out for a walk, and our guest and I polished off an gelato from L’Isola del Gusto.

Much of the day was spent screen-watching, although I did write 700-800 words yesterday, so yay!

Wow. Nighttime shots on the iPhone are a bit on the crap side.

We heard back from the furniture store (at last), and they are going to deliver our wardrobe, TV cabinet and bedside lockers this Saturday. I learned on my walk this morning that a motorbike rally will take place between Saline and Volterra this Saturday and Sunday, and so that road may be closed off for long portions. The delivery van should be coming in the Pisa road, though.

So yeah, my tummy was trustworthy enough this morning to warrant a walk. I went all the way around the walls again (about 4.5km), but took the anti-clockwise route out the gate closest to us. It was invigorating!

Low-lying banks of cloud made islands of some of the hilltops again, and it never fails to impress. The photos don’t do it justice.

No set plans today, but with my stomach seemingly behaving itself, we might take the car out and go somewhere!

Cheers!

Another Visitor

We got up early together to travel to Pisa to pick up another visitor: one of my brothers. It was the same flight as our previous visitor, and, as before, it landed 15 minutes early. He arrived safely, and had my long-lost wallet with him, so off we went to Hertz to get me added as a driver – to finally save Niamh from having to do all the driving.

We went to Pisa (again!), but this time just had a quick wander around the square. I only took a few pics this time.

On the way home, we stopped off at the Conad supermarket in Capannoli to grab some groceries, snacks and beers, as our guest isn’t a wine drinker. Back in Volterra, we had lunch at La Terra di Mezzo before we dropped all our bags at the apartment. We had a caprese salad, beef ragu with tagliatelle and I had pappardelle with truffle and a ricotta sauce – one of the best plates of pasta in town, in my opinion! A couple of us had desserts afterwards, along with a freebie shot of limoncello.

We went home to chill, as our guest had been up since about 03:00, and was a little tired. We just chilled and dozed. At around 15:30, there was a hubbub outside our window – drummers were approaching the main square, but they were not recognisable as being Volterra’s own.

We went downstairs and out to the square, with the afternoon’s thunder booming off in the distance. There was definitely an event on, but I couldn’t see it in Volterra City‘s list. If anyone local is reading this – could you give me a definitive source for these events, please? Anyway, it seems to have been a competition of sbandieratori (flag jugglers/wavers) from Volterra, Florence and Pistoia. People were sat in the metal bleacher seats provided, and watched the entrance of each team.

About halfway throught, fat drops of rain began to fall. Moments later, there was a flash, followed by an immediate booming – one of the loudest sounds I’ve ever heard. We couldn’t have been more than a hundred meters away from a lightning strike. People began immediately moving off the bleachers, and the restaurant in the square suddenly found a half-dozen people to take away tablecloths and fold up parasols of their outside seating! Still, the sbandieratori remained in position, with their flags held high.

Nobody moved until the rain started coming down heavily. Then all three teams scarpered under the archways of the civic buildings lining the east side of the square. We stayed for a little while, but there was no sign of them coming back out, so we toddled back to the apartment. I didn’t hear anything recommence until about 17:00, and it lasted until we were going out for dinner – around 19:30. A cannon sounded off to announce the end of the competition.

I’m not sure what the results were, but I’ll have a look-out. I still don’t know what the results of the crossbow competition were from the previous week!

Anyway – we headed out to Il Sacco Fiorentino for dinner, stopping off at the viewpoint for a couple of snaps.

Niamh had eggplant parmagiano, and I the zuppa alla Volterrana to start. Our guest’s single course was a burger, and looked amazing – but for some reason, I didn’t take a photo. Niamh liked her’s – mine was merely ok. Afterwards, Niamh had seabass and I had a sliced pork steak, served with cheese onions and cavalo nero (kale, more or less). Niamh’s fish was well-cooked. Mine was tasty, but the pork a little overdone. We both had a side of fries, as they are amazing here.

I went home with a full, but worryingly, grumbling stomach. I had contracted some sort of unpleasant gastric issue, which upset my sleep overnight. I don’t think it was anything I ate yesterday, but perhaps the previous day. We re-heated some chicken and broccoli bake – this might have been it, but Niamh had it and she was ok! So who can say? Either way, my tummy hasn’t settled properly yet, and I didn’t go out for a walk this morning – I just left the trash downstairs. I need to remain close to the apartment until I can shake this thing off!

Apologies for ending on an unpleasant note – but that’s life. Hopefully, I’ll feel better today and have something interesting to post tomorrow!

Ciao!

Blogflash: Take a bow, Querceto!

Seeing as I won’t be posting tomorrow, and that we actually changed our plans today – I have a quickie for you.

Ever since I came to Volterra and scanned the neighbouring villages, I’ve been wanting to go to Querceto. It’s a beautiful hamlet on the edge of a densely forested area (on a hilltop, naturally!). I thought it looked lovely in Google Maps, but as usual, no justice is done in comparison to actually being there.

We did a quick shop at the CoOp, and made our way there.

The place is 30-35 minutes drive from us, so a full day-trip isn’t required. We parked about 150 meters outside the hamlet, and as the place slowly unveiled itself, it was beyond expectation. It is gorgeous, if extremely quiet.

We stopped here for food, at Locanda del Sole. Niamh had speghetti in a rabbit sauce (light and tasty), and I had a dish that I thought couldn’t possibly work, it was so bonkers – but it was yummy! It was pici (thick spaghetti) in a carbonara sauce, with smoked goose breast, topped with grated bottarga (which is a Sardinian delicacy of solidified, cured mullet (usually) roe – which can be grated over dishes). The bottarga worked really well with the smoked meat. Give the chef a medal, and maybe a few weeks’ therapy! We both had a chocolate tart to finish, which was broken up for some reason, but was still tasty enough. We won’t have much to eat tonight!

Now we’re in the middle of this afternoon’s thunderstorm. In the last 6-7 days, we’ve entered a sub-tropical loop of hot weather in the morning, followed by thunderstorms and rain for 90 minutes in the mid-afternoon, followed by slightly lower temperatures.

Anyhoo – see you Monday!

An Anniversary Meal at Del Duca

The title of this blog isn’t only the highlight, but it about the only thing we did all day! We lounged and watched telly. Carnival Row has started streaming on Amazon Prime, so we watched the first episode of that. Seems good so far: excellent visual production quality, writing and acting – just the music is a bit of a let-down. It sounds like it’s been produced on a cheap synth.

I had pecorino aged in walnut leaves and salami for brekkie, for a change (it’s usually cereal), and I just had two slices of the best cooked prosciutto I’ve ever had. So by the time our anniversary dinner came (early – our anniversary is actually on monday – 15 years!) around at 20:00, I had a sore belly and head from hunger.

We were early, so had a wander around the viewpoint first.

We were shown to the garden seating at Del Duca. It was the first time we’d eaten in that area, and it’s really lovely. It backs onto 20 metre walls which form part of the boundary of the public park. We sat, and were offered aperitivi; Niamh had prosecco, I had an Aperol spritz. We also totally accidentally (not) asked for a bottle of wine each. We ordered our food, and after a short time an amuse-bouche arrived: a mini bruschetta, topped with a little basil sauce. I usually don’t do ‘obvious’ tomatoes, but yummied it down anyway – it was excellent. I forgot to take a photo, I was that hungry!

Next came a series of breads, baked in-house, all of which were excellent, and arrived in time for our first courses. Niamh had fusilli pasta in a tomato-based minced pork sauce with thinly-sliced green peppers, and I had restaurant-made gnocchi with mushrooms and a salsa verde. I thought mine was nice, although Niamh wasn’t a fan. We both agreed that Niamh’s was the winner, though. It was lovely.

Next came the seconds: Niamh had a fillet of white fish, and I had beef cheek in a rich jus, with an eggplant sauce. It’s testament to the cooking at Del Duca that we were both jealous of each others’ dish, while also lusting after our own! The fish was perfectly flakey, and you could have cut the beef with a spoon.

Finally, we ordered dessert. Niamh’s was a chocolate-bomb style tart, with a melty middle, served in a creme that countained some sort of booze – Niamh wasn’t sure, although she loved it enough to say that she thought she was going to cry it was so nice. Mine was a dessert of chocolate cremes, both 73% Peruvian chocolate, with tangerine jam filling served with homemade ricotta ice-cream. Absolutely amazing, and the best dessert I’ve ever had in Volterra, and possibly Italy itself!

The courses were interspersed with friendly service from several waiters, and from the restaurant’s somelier – the daughter of the owner/manager – who also came over to press the flesh. They have an agriturismo about 5.5km outside town, wherein they produce their own wines (of which we had a bottle each!). The somelier, being aware that we are undertaking a long-term stay, kindly offered us the use of their swimming pool, which was a lovely gesture. We also enquired about a cooking class there, and she described a 3-hour affair, during which 4 courses will be cooked (which included breads, stuffed pasta, guinea fowl). Niamh and I will definitely go, but we are waiting to hear from guests to see if they also want to attend.

On our way out, what was left of our wines was re-corked, and we took them home with us. A live band were playing outside a restaurant beside the entrance to our apartment – we didn’t stay long. All-in-all, it was a wonderful evening!

Note, that the pictures of the restaurant seating area were taken towards the end of the night – most tables were full when we first entered.

No walk this morning – I didn’t get up until a little after 09:00. There will be no blog tomorrow, as we have to pick up another visitor from the airport early in the morning!

Montegemoli and a Cheat Meal

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!

A Couple of Walks and the Trouble with TIM

I dropped the bin down yesterday, and bumped into our neighbour, who’d been at the seaside for the last month. His skin was as brown as an oak’s. Fair play to him.

While I sat in and wrote, (the guts of 1,000 words – yay me!) Niamh went out for a walk. She took a route I’m unfamiliar with (there aren’t many of those), in and around the south-end of the urban stretch, near the hospital. She found that there are plenty of abandoned/closed buildings around there. I guess these all must have been part of the overall complex that comprised the mental hospital – as there were 6,000 patients/inmates in there at one stage. She took some pics.

For lunch, Niamh had some mixed meats and salad. I continued my quest to sample as many street-food vendors as I could. I stopped on the way, at Ristorante Enoteca Del Duca to book a table for two for Friday night, to help us celebrate a special occasion. I’m looking forward to this – Del Duca has the best technical cooking in Volterra, and a fab selection of wines. Anyway, my eventual destination was far from Del Duca; it was Mesopotamia, to be exact… Mesopotamia Doner Kebap! It’s a simple Turkish kebab style place, but unlike other eateries, this place often stays open super-late.

I grabbed one of their kebap sandwiches and took it home. The photo makes it look a little dry, but it was quite tasty – I added a little cabbage, salad, hot sauce and sour cream. The meat isn’t bad at all – definitely a couple of steps up from the savaloy we’re used to over in Ireland. For €4, I’ll be having one again!

We crashed for a while that afternoon – while boggling over the news in Britain – and then had to call into our property managers to see if she could assist us in setting up a direct debit for our internet service provider (TIM). We thought we’d set one up before, but when we arrived back in April to spend 2 weeks in the apartment for the first time, we found that we’d been cut off, and had to go to a Tabacchi to pay the outstanding bills manually.

We got partially set up, but they have a blocker on completing the process, unless it’s done from our own Wifi connection with them. We went home and did this, and we *think* we’re set up! The lady at the property managers also called the furniture store in Navacchio to see when our stuff might be delivered. They (eventually!) said that they would call back within 48 hours with a date. They used the fact that we are in a Centro Storico (historical centre) to add bureaucracy, even though we pointed this out to them when setting up delivery in the first place. Anyway… fingers crossed the delivery occurs soon.

We had our evening meal (some of the soup I cooked a couple of days ago) earlier than usual – around 18:30 – and sat in for a while, before heading out to Antica Velathri Cafè for a drink. I had a couple of cocktails (Long Island Iced Tea variant (without tequila) and an invented cocktail with Kahlua. He made the latter fun by attempting to roast coffee beans in the foam at the top of the drink, but the torch burned them and made them a little bitter. Still, we had a good laugh with it, and the drink itself was nice. Niamh had yummy Moretti – one of the few beers I actually will drink. I still lament that Volterra (indeed, much of Italy) is devoid of cider.

This morning, I decided to do a full walk of the walls again (about 4.5-4.7km). Halfway through, Niamh (who was jogging) frightened the living crap out of me by tapping me on the shoulder, as she moved past – the disadvantage to wearing noise-cancelling earphones!

And after having just completed it, I feel fantastic, but am in desparate need of a shower!

No plans today. I might suggest somewhere out-of-town for lunch, but we’ll see.

Cheers!

Goodbye dosh, plus The Museum of Sacred Art

The furniture store in Navacchio still hadn’t been in touch, so we decided to check out the artist’s store and afterwards head into the less interesting looking part of Colle di Val d’Elsa to purchase a single chair.

The artist is a lady, who is wildly effusive about her work, and from looking at her work on a current piece, operates solely from memory or imagination, with no recourse to reference images. Quite a talent to have. Her work is relatively inexpensive, but is nonetheless pretty and colourful. We ended up choosing a wide piece, without a frame, of a bucolic scene with lavendar and poppies, with a farmhouse and cypress in the background, all overseen by magnificently painted clouds in a cerulean sky. Lovely.

She boggled when we bought it and was extremely grateful – we’d only been in her store maybe 15 minutes. I’ll slap up a photo when we hang it. We have to wait ’til the end of the first week until the first piece we bought is framed. I’ll show you this too when it’s ready and in-place.

Then onwards to Colle. You might recall that this is our second attempt to visit this furniture store – they had been away on holidays the last time we called out. We arrived and the store was open. It was also a great deal warmer than Volterra at about 33 celsius. We went inside, where it was nicely air-conditioned. I think we might have been in the place less than 10 minutes when we had the chair selected. I think it was her first day back after having nearly a month off, so she probably couldn’t believe her luck! We managed to fit it in the car (the advantages of having a hatchback), and drove home. I took snaps on the way back.

Once home, we carried the chair between us up to our apartment. In hindsight, we should have driven into town and deposited the chair much nearer the apartment, but oh well – lesson learned. The tendons in my arms were sore afterwards, leading to comic instances of shakey-hands when I tried to eat lunch. Here’s the chair!

We went to Da Beppino for lunch, where I ordered the pici with lamb sauce, and Niamh sliced grilled beef with a side of greens. Niamh got what she ordered. I didn’t. But I’m kind of glad I didn’t. Instead I got pici with a sauce of Chianina beef and it was excellent, and proof why I prefer a stock-based ragù to a tomato one.

That afternoon, I had a little siesta, and then got up to go to the Museum of Sacred Art. Whether you’re a believer or not, I think it’s an essential visit, just to see the progression of humankind’s skill in painting and sculpture. I got there around 17:50 and paid the €5 to get in. They have a couple of touch-screen sections in Italian and English, explaining a little about their masterwork pieces.

I had a good nose around, and with some of the works, the sculptures in particular, it was hard to believe that many of them were about a half-millenium old. One in particular, of Pope Linus (the second Pope, who was born in Volterra, and succeeded St. Peter in the role). The bust is the one in the photos below with the robes in blue lacquer.

St. Linus

I was almost done, when a lady approached saying that they were closing the Museum – but they could give me a few minutes to finish-up. The closing time was 18:00, and they only gave me the bum’s-rush at 18:25. So a 30 minute visit should be enough – unless you are a student or historian of art. I grabbed a few evening shots of Volterra on the way home, and snuck into L’Incontro for a cone of chocolate and coffee gelati (practically the only way you can get me to ingest coffee).

What could be more Italian than spaghetti (or bucatini) and meatballs? Quite a lot, as it happens, as that dish is an American concoction, and can only be found in Italy in the hokiest of tourist restaurants. Meh, we were going to have it anyway! On our last trip to Ikea, we grabbed some frozen meatballs on the way out. Niamh cooked these up in a tomato sauce with bucatini for dinner. Rawr! Those meatballs are worth a purchase, should you happen to find youself in an Ikea.

My right Achilles is giving out to me a little – most likely from all the hill-climbing – so I’m resting it this morning – therefore, no walk. My brother is a keen hiker, so I need it to be ok for whatever he might put us through when he visits on Sunday.

Thanks for reading – I hope you enjoyed it!