coast – Our Man In Volterra

We were heading towards the end of a holiday week, when we decided to embark on doing something stupid. Fun, but stupid. Niamh had a couple more days of annual leave to take from work than I did, and she and our friend thought it would be a splendid idea to Castiglione della Pescaia on Friday at sparrowfart to have a nice old day at the beach and for the first time ever spend the night there – as our pal loves it so much. The only problem was that I had no more days to take off, so if I wanted to go, I’d have to pack away my laptop and be at the tender mercies of the wifi of the hotel at which we were staying, and work there for the days. Yep – Friday would be a working day for me.

But first! There was getting the Thursday out of the way. I got up and had a fair walk around much of the walls.

It was a grand, clear day, despite the warmth – and you could see the Apuan Alps from the walls in decent detail.

Later on we had lunch at La Sosta del Priore, had a walk about town, grabbed a gelato at L’Isola del Gusto and decided to take a trip to Mazzolla to see if the newish café there was as open as Google claimed to be. It wasn’t, but Mazzolla is a lovely place to visit anyway. The views are fab, and if you are playing Pokémon with Maura Staccioli‘s sculptures, you’ll grab or one or two of them on thew way, or in the village itself.

That evening, we had dinner at Enoteca del Duca, the first time we had done so since the managership and chef changed. Inside, the only changes we could see were of the staff, and of the inclusion of some amazing copies of classic works by artist Michele Nardiello, who has a studio on Via dei Sarti. The food was nice, but as good as it was, we do miss Alessandro Calabrese’s cooking – which can now be found at Bis restaurant in Colle di Val d’Elsa. We stopped off first at L’Antica Velathri Café for a quick aperitivo.

It was still a nice dinner indeed, and my last before I’d start work again in the morning.

The next day, we duly got up super-early, and walked to the car and Niamh drove to Castiglione della Pescaia. The E80 (part of the ancient Via Aurelia) has been hugely improved improved lately, but there are pockets of it a bit south of Cecina which will bounce you about a bit, particularly on the inner lane. So, we were nice and awake by the time we pulled up outside our hotel (Miramare – there must be a thousand hotels in Italy called Miramare!).

About 30 minutes before we arrived, I had a sudden shock of realisation: the hotel room wouldn’t be ready so early, and so I would have to try to see if they could accommodate me elsewhere with a wifi signal so I could work. My fears were somewhat founded. Our friend and I waited in the hotel, while Niamh followed a hotel attendant in a golf-cart to show her where to park. She arrived back in said cart after 10 or so minutes, and sorted the check-in.

Our rooms weren’t ready. This is neither a surprise, nor a discredit to the hotel, as it was only 09:00-09:30 in the morning. In fact, I really must write a note about how wonderful and helpful the staff were in trying to find a spot I could work until the room was ready. They were courteous and diligent, and found a spot in the raised corner of an other wise discreet part of the restaurant. I set myself up and BEHOLD! I got a signal, and checked the speed on my phone. Oh dear… 7.6mbps download. The speed did impede me somewhat, but I was able to hobble along and get a few things done. Being on camera for Teams meetings was out of the question, however.

Anyway, I worked away that morning while Niamh and our friend hit the beach at Bagno Perla – our Lido of choice in this neck of the woods. The sand is soft and golden, and for hydrophobes like me, the water remains shallow for 30 or meters out – sadly, Niamh took no photos. Back in the hotel, the hours ticked by, and the kindly hotel staff checked in on me every now and then, wishing me a ‘buon lavoro’ – they really were super.

Then, at lunch time, I made a big mistake – I went outside for lunch. As you may know Niamh and I have been on the hunt for a good Cantonese or Asian Fusion restaurant, and I saw that there was one about 10 minutes walk away on the other side of Castiglione. Rather than have lunch at the hotel, I went in search it. I have since been told that the food in the hotel is pretty good, and I’m kicking myself. In Ireland, Niamh and I have a natural aversion to the restaurants of most hotels, due to the transient nature of their business, and the fact that I’m convinced that chefs go to hotels to train before moving on to restaurants. This goes doubly for establishments on the coast. There are exceptions, of course, so I’m generalising.

Anyway, I found the restaurant (ITOYA Sushi Fusion), and like many of them, it was merely ok. I liked their dim sum and fried rice, but their sweet and sour stir-fry wasn’t great. I also over-ate, knowing that we’d be going out to dinner later. So, not only was I ungracious at not dining in the hotel, I might have screwed-up the evening dinner too. Here are the dishes I had:

After I waddled back to lunch I was shown my room, and given an old-school key with a chunky key-fob.

I grabbed my gear and brought it upstairs. Maybe the wifi in the guest rooms was better than in the more public areas below. Sadly, no. I was getting the same speeds. However, they were still adequate and I was able to beaver away until the evening when I quit and packed-up.

That evening, we hit the town to a couple of places for aperitivi, one of which was recommended by our friend where, in particular, they were especially generous with their portions of food – Bucazucche – well done!

Afterwards, we headed to the fish restaurant that came highly recommended by our friend. We avoided the places closer to the water, and landed in a place very definitely favoured by locals: Ristorante La Casa Rossa. The lady owner greeted our friend enthusiastically, and we ordered. It was fun and noisy, with lots of banter between the owner and locals. It had a taverna sort of vibe, with good-restaurant quality food.

Thoroughly satisfied, we went to bed.

Next morning, we had to travel back to Volterra the next morning, but while in the room we took a few snappy-snaps.

Niamh took a ride on the golf-cart back up to our car, and took it back to the hotel. We clambered in and took the non-E80 route back to Volterra.

Here’s the video of Livorno, Mazzolla and Castiglione della Pescaia from back in September 2023:

Thanks for reading this. If you liked it, or have any comment to make, please drop me a line. Also consider subscribing to the blog. It will remain a free resource for the foreseeable future!

There’s a bit of write-y stuff in this one, but there are photos and a video below – I promise!

The town of Castiglione della Pescaia is one of those rare coastal places which has an old-town feel to it. This is because there was a profusion of dwellings settled nearby a large fortress, protecting them from potential raiders. The possibility of Saracen (and others) attacks was so high, that people tended to settle on hills inland, rather than risk slaughter. Perfectly understandable. Tuscan towns with an old-charm feel are incredibly rare in Tuscany, with many places with beaches having become more settled in post-war Europe. So, it’s always cool to find something that matches the tastes of the culture-vulture, the history-hound and the beach-baby. The foodie? Well… see below…

But first, bathroom remodelling! After our failed attempt to engage the builder, our appointment was properly set up for this morning. Our nice lady from Milianti (estate agents and property managers), Alice, arrived early, and although she’s young and slender she commented that climbing the 76 steps to our apartment whilst wearing a face-mask was tricky! A few minutes later, there was another ring at the door, and we let two gentlemen in: one was the builder, the other was an older man. This latter guy turned out to be the consulting geometra. What is a geometra? They are essentially internal building surveyors. One of their responsibilities is carrying out technical reviews of buildings for extensions and changes etc. We took them through the changes we want, with Alice translating all the way. All was tickety-boo.

Once gone, we headed out and took our 8 minute walk to the carpark, to our little stick-shift Fiat 500. Definitely one of our favourite rides we’ve rented since coming here. We stuck on Missus Google, and headed down SS68 towards Siena.

I don’t have any photos of the journey, because I was filming! You can catch the video towards the end of the blog. We decided to head the ‘country’ route, rather than along the coast. That made the journey very long, but it was interesting to see new towns appear on the signposts. I love to explore, so even new signposts alone sometimes give me an endorphin rush.

We passed tantalisingly close to Casole d’Elsa. We have visited it a few times (blogged about it once), and it’s a lovely little borgo, but we had a schedule! We blasted past it. Other highlights include also blasting past the Instagrammable Ponte della Pia. We didn’t stop. You can hear me squeal about it in the video below. We drove through the lovely Rosia, and shortly afterwards the 12 year-old in me was pleased by seeing signs for a town called ‘Orgia’ (literally ‘orgy’ in Italian). I imagine the property prices there are quite steep, but the people fit and healthy. Just outside Rosia, we were stopped for the third time this year, by a randomly parked police checkpoint. Once they found out we were tourists, they waved us on – but we found it prudent to carry identification documents with us at all times just in case. Just past Siena earlier in the year, they had us pulled over checking passports and licenses for a good 15 minutes.

When we were in the latter stages of the journey, on the multi-laned SS223, we flew past another hilltown. I checked my phone, and I’m pretty certain it was Civitella Marittima – one on my list to visit… but we ploughed-on!

If there’s one thing I really enjoyed about the journey, it was it showed us how hugely varied the countryside is in Tuscany. From the typical undulating hills and olive groves and vineyards, to winding valley roads with streams. Sometimes, yellow-golden, sometimes grass-green. Here and there farmhouses dotted throughout, with the occasional castello or hamlet crowning a lonely hilltop. It is beautiful land.

We knew we were getting close to the coast when we started seeing the coastal pines (I think they’re sometimes called Stone Pines) – tall trees topped with wide, flat foliage. They began to line to roads, once we left the highways.

I think that the journey took us a good two hours. Blame me… I just wanted to see more of the countryside. It took us 20 minutes less on the route home. Anyway, we got handy parking here, and had a quick stroll by the marina before heading up into the town itself.

It was close to lunchtime, so we just wanted to explore a little before having food. We strolled up the what we considered to be the main tourist drag, checking out some restaurants and a gelateria (for later!) on the way.

Now for some much-needed controversy. I have often considered my blog to be something of a hagiography of Italy, so a little criticism is overdue. For a while, I have been exploring the Italian coast on Google Maps (yes, I have a sickness). So far, I have gone from the French border, and have just past Naples. It takes a long time! Anyway – one of the chief observations I have made is that generally, restaurants in touristy coastal towns are poorer than you will find a little inland – especially those along promenades. There are, of course, exceptions – but many… hmmm… I would say most, would seem to rely on seasonal, transient trade. My chief point is: do your research on Tripadvisor, Google etc. before selecting a place to eat, if you have a definite preference of quality over location.

Despite the time of year, there were still a few restaurants still open. We went to Pane e Vino on Corso della Libertà. It was open and seemed to be getting favourable reviews. We were shown to our outdoor table and were attended very quickly and enthusiastically. We needed the bathroom, and apart from a little lighting issue, all was good – the bathroom was nice and clean. We had a little struggle with the menu, as we aren’t huge seafood fans – mostly whitefish, salmon and mussels – I sometimes eat tinned mackerel too. Although, one of the nicest things I have eaten – in fact the very first thing I ever ate in Volterra – was an amuse bouche in Del Duca, of which anchovies were a part. I also kept hearing how anchovies in Italy were way better than they are elsewhere. Anyway, we found stuff we thought would be interesting and ordered. The results were…. mixed. The ingredients were cooked well, and some of the ideas novel, but in the main, they just missed the mark – one in particular was frankly bizarre. I laud restaurants for trying to experiment, and I think these guys were trying to do that – so, hats off on that front. One thing that bugged me outright, was that I had wanted a fritto misto, but didn’t see it on the menu. Nonetheless, a couple of parties came in after us and were served plates of it. Grrr! Off-menu items annoy me. Anyway – back to what we *did* get:

The staff were lovely I have to say, and attentive, but we left in something of an unsatisfied daze. If you love seafood, good presentation and experimentation (and what looked like amazing fritti misti – grrr!) then this place could be for you. I have to stress again, that the cooking was good. And Niamh’s coffee was great too.

Once we were done eating, we decided to delay our gelato fix until we were done exploring the old fortress part of town. What a lovely place it was. And hilly. Also, cats – cats everywhere! On our way we passed by an Irish bar – Tinakilly Pub. At first I thought that was a bit of a spurious name, as Irish town/townland names often derive from an Irish name that actually means something. However, I see that there is a Tinakilly House Hotel just a little over an hour from us – so it’s the real deal! Tinakilly is derived from the Irish words ‘Ti’ (house), ‘na’ (of/of the) and ‘Coille’ (woods) – so ‘House of the Woods’. There you go – very interesting! Of course, having blown a paragraph on that, I now have to tell you that we didn’t go in.

Steps and slopes – wonderful views everywhere

We briefly and indadvertently walked outside town through a porta at the top end. Beyond it was a carpark and what looked like a school, plus a hint of the bay view to come.

Not a bad view, but the best was yet to come!

Next, we returned back into the town, and found a church. It was nice and cool inside, but not as decorated as many you’d find. There was another cat guarding the door.

Upon leaving the church, we walked uphill past some lovely houses – passing by yet another cat – an enourmous fluffy lad, and then looked left. Wow. The view of the gently curving bay was amazing. I think you could also make out Monte Argentario farther along the horizon. The closer mountain I think is the Parco Rgionale della Maremma.

We walked over the hill to the other side of the village, and down to another porta in the fortress walls. We jostled for our space with some other tourists there to get our shot by it. There wasn’t much beyond that porta, so we headed all the way back town to the newer part of town. It was gelato time! We grabbed some yumminess from Bar Gelateria Angolo Gelato and sat on a bench around the corner in the shade.

We headed back to the car after our gelato and, driving past the cemetary we saw earlier behind the church, opted to go home via the more coastal route. It was a good bit quicker. I was too slow to grab a shot of Follonica and its bay as we crested a hill to look down upon it. It was a gorgeous sight. Follonica itself looks to be an interesting place to stop for a modern beach-city – I have read that it’s promenade is nice (remember the tip about restaurants, though!). We skirted around the outside of the town, through its more suburban areas, and shortly after there joined the multi-laned E80. We turned off just before Cecina, and headed through Saline di Volterra back to our home-from-home.

You can watch a video of that part of our day here:

I took a couple of shots of Volterra on our way back from the car to the apartment. I do this because all too often I only catch some shots during my morning walk when the light favours some scenes, but not others.

We weren’t quite done with the day yet, though.

We wanted some way to help celebrate my writing competition win (see last week’s blog), and it was going to be our last night for this trip. We decided pizza and beer was in order. We headed out later than usual and were very lucky to find La Mangiatoia still open – they closed shortly after we left. Many Italians eat very late when compared to the Irish – often at 21:00 or 22:00 – but La Mangiatoia looked like it was closing around the 22:00 mark. They looked a little worried when we ordered, but brightened up when we selected pizza – I presume we’d be told that a lot of the stuff was off the menu otherwise. I like their pizza – it’s second only to Pizzeria Ombra della Sera. The didn’t have any Moretti left, so we had one of their own beers. I wish I had taken a photo of it – it wasn’t bad at all!

Once done, we had a walk to the Piazza dei Priori, and then thought… No! We’re not done yet!

I wanted something sweet, but already had a gelato that day – so we went to Antica Velathri Café and had a couple of cocktails (ok, I had an amaro). But then I saw a homemade panacotta on their menu, with a variety of different sauces. I think I grabbed one with a chocolate sauce, or it might have been caramel… I do remember it being eye-rollingly delicious, though!