Tag: cooking

The calm before the storm

After tidying ourselves up, we went outside to the market to buy sundry knick-knacks for the house. Once my head is protected, it’s not often I actively seek shelter, but while shopping there the sun was scorching, so I ducked out of the light as often as possible. Fortunately, stalls have their own covers and awnings, so it wasn’t too much trouble.

We went to other shops in town to grab some meats and veggies for dinners for the next couple of days. We both agreed that we needed a short break from pasta!

On the way back to the apartment, I grabbed myself a lemon granita from L’Isola del Gusto. It was fab. After a short time in the apartment, I went out to La Sosta del Priore and grabbed a burger there for lunch. It’s not the be-all and end-all to look at, but God did it taste so good. They put it with caramelised onions and a type of mayonnaise that tastes amazing. I will be back for one of those again next week!

We blew much of the rest of the afternoon in the apartment, in an effort to escape the searing sun. Suddenly, around 17:15, we heard a hullabaloo outside the guest bedroom, which looks down into the main street. It was a cacophany of drums and trumpets, so we guessed that it must have been something to do with the impending Medieval fair.

We dollied-up as quickly as possible and went to the main square. There was a wedding there, and I think they had to be given the bum’s rush at 18:00, so the Medieval procession could start.

Anyway, shortly after 18:00, the MC, fully dressed in oldie-worldy garb, started reciting Italian poetry, and announced the lords, ladies and representatives of both the sbandieratori (flag tossers) and balestrieri (crossbow men and women) for Volterra’s 8 contrade (districts), who will be in competition.

Afterwards, there was a very impressive display by the sbandieratori, who are among Italy’s best.

When I get the time/bandwidth, I might stick up a couple of vertical, shaky, iPhone videos 🙂

Once this was all done and the festival declared open, we went home to have a meal. We’d bought a rotisserie chicken from one of the market’s foodstalls earlier in the day, and so Niamh put together a lovely meal. She baked rosemary fries (an oxymoron, I know), and they were fantastic.

While out on the terrace, we heard some music, and so washed the dishes and went out to have a gawk. We found some medieval buskers. They were great players, and had a little coterie of people following them about town. I uploaded the video to Facebook – hopefully you can see it there. We inadvertently joined them for a little while, as we wanted to go for a drink on Via Gramsci. We ended up in the Antica Velathri Cafe again. I had a fab chilled mulled wine there. I’d give it another go!

We then went back home and vegged out on the couch for a while, before going to bed.

I slept right through ’til 05:30, which is unusual for me, and so headed out early to see if I could find if any more stuff had been set up for the festival.

It’s supposed to hit 35+ celsius today, so I, for the first time in a long time, will be showing off some ankle and calf in very fetching shorts. We’ll probably spend a lot of time outdoors today, so I expect tomorrow’s blog will be very media-heavy – apologies in advance! We’re both really looking forward to this!

Roll out those days…

Nat King Cole once sang “Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer…”. I guess two out of three ain’t bad, to quote another song. Yes, we had a slow day yesterday.

After screen-watching, we went to the Co-Op to buy food for the next couple of days, and refil our Chariot of Fire… well, it’s more a like a smouldering dustcart… with fuel. Fuel is damned expensive in Italy. In Volterra it’s about 20% more expensive on average than it is in Ireland.

We got prezzemolo (flat-leafed parsley) and peperoncini (chilies) for tonight, and stock cubes for future attempts and making Zuppa alla Volterrana or risotti/orzotti (the latter is like a risotto, but it’s made with pearl barley). Amongst other stuff, I also bought some deodorant, which I wore for the first time this morning for my walk – in order to prevent me being chased by flies. For a while I couldn’t put my finger on what it smelled like to me – then I had a revelation. It’s like the spice mix you get in digestif liqueurs – specifically Amaro or Jägermeister. Er, lovely?

About an hour after dropping shopping back up to the apartment, we went out to La Mangiatoia for pizza and beer!

I had a 4-cheese and Niamh a cappriciosa, both were lovely – the second-best 4-cheese I’ve had here (Ombra della Sera Pizzeria being the best so far). The Moretti were lovely as always. They have large 660ml bottles of beer over here – slightly larger than your pint bottle of Bulmers (568ml). I’m not a huge beer drinker, but Moretti hits the spot. A Sardinian beer, Ichnusa, is pretty good too. But if anyone who lives local is reading this, could you please tell me where I could find some cider?! I can’t believe it’s not popular over here, given the weather in summer!

Afterwards, we had a stroll around town and got some gelato from L’Isola del Gusto. I got nutella & marscapone, and nocciola (hazlenut) – the first was great, but their hazlenut is a.m.a.z.i.n.g. So creamy.

And so back the apartment, pretty much until the sun went down. It took us a while to work up a hunger after the pizza, but at around 20:30, I rustled up my first all’olio, aglio e peperoncino dish (oil, garlic and chili respectively). We had bucatini to use up, so we used that instead of spaghetti – but ideally you should use spaghetti. I had a dread fear of over-salting since my last dish, and so didn’t salt the ingredients in the pan. The result needed salt, but that was easily recified after serving it up. It was yummy and I was well-chuffed! Certainly better than I’ve ever had it in Ireland.

Niamh stayed in, while I went outside in search of free entertainment and a shnakey pint. They had a band playing jazzed-up folk and avante-garde pieces in the Roman amphitheatre. They were pretty good, so I hung around for a little while.

This moring I went on a shorter walk (about 2.75km) around, and just outside, the town. In the cathedral square, a bunch of guys were unloading more props for the medieval festival, and the market was just about to kick off in the Vallebona carpark. Bleecher seating was out in Piazza dei Priori, presumably for the performances of the sbandieratori (those who practice the art of throwing and juggling large, medieval flags). They will be performing this Sunday, so I hope to get pics or movies. For the very first time, I also walked through the graffiti-lined shortcut that cuts out an entire corner of town.

We were planning to go to Massa Marittima today, but with the market in the main carpark, those put-out residents are on-the-prowl for handy parking. So if we left our spot, it could mean we’d have to spend a lot of time either finding/waiting for a spot, or parking in the arse-end of nowhere and having a difficult walk back to town. We have tons of time, and so can go next week.

Thanks a lot!

We Blitz-Visit 4 Hilltowns

Warning! This page is photo-heavy!

We showered and made ourselves pretty, then went to the bank (Cassa di Risparmio di Volterra) to renew our online banking security token. They are our mortgage provider. We had to go to an Italian bank, as Irish banks at the time (and still maybe today) were refusing to grant mortgages for foreign properties. Anyway, we were super-lucky that a local bank was willing to assist, and we felt comfortable with them from the get-go.

We entered, took our ticket and glanced at the digital display of which number was being served next, and at which teller. There are many institutions and stores at which you have to take a ticket and wait for your number to be called. It’s not a bad idea, as it means you can find somewhere comfortable while waiting, and not be worried about being queue-jumped.

Our number was called, and we explained that we didn’t have much Italian, and then showed them a Google Translate of what we wanted. Fortunately, she gave us an immediate appointment with the representative with whom we were dealing for our mortgage. He greeted us enthusiastically, and in about 15 minutes we were done and dusted. Excellent!

With that done, we stopped to get a quick bottle of water each and headed to the carpark. We drove a familiar route (which takes us to the airport) for much of the way to Lari, before Google Maps showed us an alternative route. We took it, and were glad we did. There were some fantastic views to be had. Unfortunately, as we didn’t know the road, I didn’t take any photos, as I was fixated on the route displayed on the phone (our Lancia POS does not have on-board GPS). In addition, there were no points on the road at which you could stop and take a few snaps in comfort. It can be frustrating sometimes, but we will take this road again and do our best to capture it for you at another time.

We got handy parking (with just a short walk), and wandered up to the main walled part of the town, which is quite small. The whole area is dominated by the fortress, which lies in the middle, atop huge, conical walls. The views from there were impressive.

One of the main reasons we visited Lari, however, was to check out the Martelli pasta factory. Unfortunately, the August curse struck and the place was closed until September. Generally, unless you’re in an area likely to be swamped with toursists, you take your holiday in August if you’re Italian. This was a bit of a recurring theme later on. Almost everything was closed, including the factory. We’ll go again in September with guests, so all is well. Plus, we consoled ourselves with food in a nearby restaurant. Niamh had a salad and spaghetti all’aglione, and I had a carbonara, but with sausage instead of pancetta or guanciale (the latter is pork jowl, and is the preferred cut to use for carbonara). The pastas were Martelli and were nice and toothsome.

I then had a chargrilled pork steak in one of the most unusual sauces I’ve ever had: gorgonzola, green peppercorn and paprika. I’m still not sure what to make of it… I think I liked it, but I might have to have it again to be sure!

We decided to wait for dessert until the next town. This was a mistake.

Seeing nowhere open we could actually buy Martelli pasta, we headed back to the car, and contemplated just heading home, but then I suggested we visit the spa town of Casciana Terme, as it was only 20 or so minutes’ drive away. We arrived from a height and saw the town neatly nestled below us. It is not an old medieval town, but still has its charms. It was getting very warm, and so we hunted for a place near the spa itself for gelati. We found one, and sadly it was one of the worst ones I’ve ever had. The lemon sorbet had a sort of cardboard-like undertone… not pleasant at all. I won’t name the place. At least it did it’s job of cooling us down.

Casciana Terme also fell foul of both August holidays and the afternoon siesta. There was virtually nobody on the streets. It might be an idea to try again in September, complete with a visit to the spa itself (which, in fairness, was open).

We returned to the car, and I spotted that a couple more places were nearby: Rivalto and Chianni. We drove to the former, almost via the latter thanks to a bum-steer by me. I must say, that while all the literature proclaims Volterra to be the highest hilltop town in Tuscany, Rivalto can give it a run for its money. Maybe it’s not included in the list, as it’s really more of a village. But the views were impressive, especially as you could see Volterra on its plateau way off in the distance.

Onwards to Chianni. I’m sorry to say we didn’t spend nearly enough time in it – maybe only 20-30 minutes, as we were seriously beginning to cook under the sun at that point. It was about 32-34 again yesterday. Chianni looks gorgeous, and we will definitely be back soon for a better mooch.

We drove home after that, and chilled.

In the evening we used up some perishables in the fridge and Niamh cooked a little vegetable pasta dish, which was nice – althought I wasn’t especially hungry after my afternoon meal. I then went out for a passeggiata (a stroll, usually taken en-masse by Italians in the evening), and took some snaps. There was a jazz orchestra playing in the Roman amphiteatre, so I stayed a while and listed to that.

This morning I headed to the balze (the cliffs and bluffs of the Volterran plateau), and realised that I was very near the Witches Stone. Here, it is said, the mother of all witches, Aradia the daughter of Diana, held her masses, during which orgiastic and sapphic pleasures occured with avatistic abandon. Sadly, today there was only an old font 😉

No strict plans today, so lets see whats what. I hope you enjoyed this post. Please let me know what you’d like to see more of. Cheers!

Booze and Books

We drove 35 or so minutes from Volterra to La Rosa to check out (no pun intended) the MD Supermarket there. We were a little disappointed – no intrinsic fault of that supermarket itself – when we got there, and found out that it’s a bit of a reverse-tardis: it’s smaller on the inside than it looks on the outside. In fact, it isn’t much bigger than the Co-Op Supermarket we have in Volterra.

One slightly curious thing about supermarkets in Italy, and their fresh produce: it is considered both rude and unhygenic to handle fruit & veg without using the disposable plastic gloves (so nicely modelled by Niamh in the photo below), even if you’re handling stuff to put in your own basket.

In fact, our own local grocer’s has a sign saying “No self service!” – they pick out the produce themselves for you. I guess they know where their hands have been!

Anyway, we picked up stuff for lunch and dinner (which at least seems to have been more inexpensive than other shops) and went straight home.

Lunch was a series of cold-cuts and cheeses. With added balsamic and a truffle-enfused honey, I had a plethora of flavours on the plate – from creamy to earthy, from fresh to salty and sour. Yummy.

We had a bit of a kip after lunch, and then ventured outside again. We had to get wine refills. On the way, we stopped into a bookshop and antiquary to check what it had. We were greeted very enthusiastically by a thin man, who took it upon himself to talk rapidly in Italian to us, while miming everything he was saying. We told him we were Irish, and he showed us… no wait… he literally capered from shelf to shelf, indicating a map of Ireland with a shamrock-laden Leprechaun’s hat perched precariously on it; elsewhere, printed quotes by WB Yeats, one of which he discussed at length.

He was very handsy, but not suspisciously or creepily so – he’s just a really nice guy, who happens to love what he does. I asked him if he had any books in Italian suitable for ‘an idiot’. He cackled at this, and showed us a couple of novels. With each one, he showed us the synopsis blurb on the back, and not only read it out, but mimed it too. Bless him, he was like Mr. Rogers on crack.

I ended up buying a chick-lit book in Italian. Two reasons right there why I won’t be reading it today or tomorrow – so he got his sale! We signed his guestbook and went back outside.

I don’t know how much money he makes, but he seems a great deal happier than most people I know. I’ll be back.

A looney, but a lovely looney

There are a couple of wineries which have stores in Volterra, which sell directly to us great unwashed. One of these is Santa Lucia, which is a farm about a 40 minute drive, north-east of Volterra. Not too sure about their whites, but their reds (I think) are 100% San Giovese, and so are very drinkable. And cheap.

You can waltz in, and sample up to 5 or 6 wines, and then take home what you fancy. The wines are there in vats. You can either get a bag-in-box or bring your own bottles, and fill them up like you would a car with petrol.

Did I mention how inexpensive they are. The wines vary from €1.20 to €2.10 per litre. We got 5 litres of red and 5 of white and paid just under €18 for the lot. That’s 13 bottles of wine. And it ain’t plonk either – it’s very drinkable.

There’s another place outside town (Cantina di Fabio) that does this too, but they do 8 litre bags, and given that it’s an uphill struggle to the apartment, we tend to stick with Santa Lucia.

I wrote a little bit in the afternoon, and lazed some more.

That evening, Niamh served up gnocchi, with mushrooms and smoked pancetta (bacon lardons, essentially) in a cream sauce. It was yummy – next time we’ll had something with a fresh taste to offset the other flavours – parsely or peas, maybe. But look how tasty this is!

I’m sorry to say we stayed in all night. I looked at telly for a bit, finishing off the John Callahan biopic “Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot”, on Amazon, and the next ep of Orange Is The New Black on Netflix. The movie was really good – give it a go – but OITNB is still a bit rubbish (although this episode was better than the previous one).

Despite being early to bed, I woke up tired, and thought I was going to cut short my walk, but I gave it a bash anyway, and went a particularly hilly route.

Not sure what the plans are today – maybe head up to Lari to check out the producer of one of the poshest pastas in Italy: Martelli.

See you in the next one!

Of Markets and Mazzolla

Niamh asked me to get her a nice pastry on the way back from my walk yesterday. I succumbed and got one each for us from Pasticceria Migliorini.

The one on the left (mine) is a traditional Sicilian pastry, most of you I’m sure will have heard of: a cannolo. The shell-like one on the right with a layered pastry, is called a sfogliatella, and is more native to Campania (where Naples is) than Tuscany. Both were yum!

After brekkie, we tidied ourselves up and went to the market held in Volterra every Saturday. Usually, it’s held in both the main piazza and the cathedral square – but as restaurants have outdoor seating, coupled with the setup they had to do for a silent disco, they moved it to the main car-park beside the Roman ruins. You can buy all-sorts of knick-knacks there, from kitchen and electrical applicances to clothes, household goods and all sorts of food. We walked out with a couple of decent pillows (the ones we had were cheap and way too soft), a salt grinder, grapes and rosmarino (rosemary) and basilico (basil) plants. On the way back, we passed a lady playing a hammered dulcimer – lovely!

This is the sixth time we’ve been in Volterra, and ever since the first, I’ve been meaning to eat in a place called Trattoria Albana, located in a small hamlet about 8km from Volterra called Mazzolla. Niamh told me that Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan shot there for their Trip to Italy series, which I didn’t know before yesterday.

We wandered to the car, and drove there. It’s not too bad a drive, just a bit wiggly when you get off the main road. We parked handily, and got out of the car. It must have been 32 or 33 celsius, and the cicadas were so loud that you had to be next to a person to understand what they were saying.

Peek-a-boo – I see Volterra in the distance
Another distant shot of Volterra

A lot of the grass is dead this time of the year, but here and there off the road, you can spot little oases, where farmhouses are surrounded by their patch of green and cypress trees.

We decided to be a little piggish and had two courses. Niamh had a caprese salad, while I went (yet again) for a zuppa alla Volterrana – it’s the chief way I get my veggies over here! To follow, Niamh had pici all’aglione (traditional thick noodes in a tomato and garlic sauce), and I had papardelle al cinghiale (wide noodles with a boar sauce). Both were good, but while Niamh raved about her pasta, mine was no better than a couple of places I’d had similar back in Volterra – still tasty, mind you. I would eat there again – as I heard their desserts are also nice – we skipped them this time around.

We toyed with the idea of going into Colle di Val d’Elsa afterwards, but figured that the shops we would like to visit would be closed for the afternoon break – a factor non-Italians often fail to take into consideration when visiting a place. Many businesses, outside of restaurants, are often closed between 13:00 and 16:00. Sundays are also problematic, with many functional business not opening at all. Anyway, it was also murderously hot, so we went home, stopped off for a bit of gelato/sorbet and vegetated for a while – at one stage going for a snooze.

Niamh wanted to make a curry that evening, so I hopped out to the shops to get her some rice. She’d gotten chicken breasts and veggies the previous day, and we packed some herbs, spices and powders we figured we’d have difficulty getting in Italy, without a trip to the larger cities. The rice I got was vacuum-packed, and so felt like a brick, more than a pack of loose grains we’re used to back home. Seriously, you could have bludgeoned someone to death with… rice!

We didn’t have dinner ’til quite late. It was very tasty indeed.

We wanted to check out the silent disco, and so waited ’til a little after 22:00 to venture out for a short stroll. We looked at the party – strictly for the young ‘uns, and passed by the Roman amphiteatre, where they were holding an award ceremony.

I had difficulty sleeping, as we have to keep the window open for airflow purposes – there was a lot of activity near us ’til about 3 am. The fan we bought is good, but blows a little unevenly. We might have to look at getting a portable cooling unit, anyway – as we will have guests at some stage, and will have to start sleeping with our door closed (nobody wants to see the eldritch horrors that lie within!).

This morning, lack of sleep aside, I felt good, and took on a walk of a decent length (about 4.5km, up and down hills galore!).

Witch Lane!
The Tyrrhenian Sea in the background

No mad plans at all today, so we expect to be a little lazy! Cheers for now.

Eating in again

Most mornings I pay what I call the ‘Volterran Sleep Tax’, and get up early to drop the trash down for collection. This must be done each morning, except Sunday, between 06:00 and 08:00. The trash is split between various types (normal, paper/cardboard, plastic and metal, organic, glass), each one having its own collection day(s).

Organico has 3 days, because, well… stinky. I think this is a fantastic idea, as it prevents the town from looking nasty for the visitors who arrive in the mornings. I’m an early riser anyway – when I’m in work I usually get up around the 05:15 mark – so it’s not a huge deal.

I usually do a walk after that, and document it here for you folks!

Yesterday, after the walk we just stayed in and Niamh threw lunch together from some odds and ends in the fridge. The thing about Italy, is that the ingredients here are so good, that food as inoccuous-sounding as I just made it, is actually pretty damn good!

I knocked half of my red wine over our lovely outdoor table. Sometimes I have the coordination and poise of a two-legged giraffe.

It was a hot one again yesterday, and we had a small stroll and topped it off with an amarena (cherry) granita each.

As I hadn’t been feeling 100%, I found myself wrecked tired after the short walk, and for the first time during this stretch I disappeared to my bed for a couple of hours, while Niamh snuck out to do some additional food shopping.

Niamh cooked again tonight, and it was a minced beef ragù, with a passata base. She began with a stir-fry of the holy trinity (celery, onions and carrot – often said to represent the Italian flag, but looking more like the Irish one!), and ended up with a nice, coarse (just the way I like it) sauce to go with the bucatini (thick spaghetti with a hole running through it). It was fab, and we have enough left over for more this evening!

Little did I know that during her sneak-shop while I was resting, she got some take-out from L’isola del Gusto – cherry (again), and their award-winning Crema d’Ersilia. We have enough left over of this too for this evening… Yummmm!

After dinner we went out for another stroll. They were setting up for a dance and music special in the Roman Amphitheatre. We caught a lovely sunset as we watched them prepare.

We went home, and watched the second episode of Orange is the New Black from the latest series. Not holding out much hope for the rest of the show after some of the dumb plot turns in that episode. Oh well.

This morning, Niamh paid the Sleep Tax, and so I was able to have a little lie in of 30 minutes before heading out for my usual walk.

Down in the valleys below, thick blankets of fog made islets of the colline (hills) below. This is the Tuscan countryside at its best.

Today, being Saturday, is market day! Instead of being in the Piazza dei Priori, it’s down in the main car-park, which might scupper our plans to visit Colle di Val d’Elsa today – but we’ll see. At least we’ll still have a mooch in the market! The Piazza is being used for a silent disco later on, so a chance to people-watch at their most primal, then.

A presto!

Hot deals, but not hot wheels

Yesterday, we drove a little outside Navacchio, to a complex of malls and stores and had a look at some furniture.

Although our rental is brand new, there’s something that rattles in it ferociously if you’re in too high a gear. Couple that with the fact that it has all the power of an asthmatic sloth, and you have an object into which I am currently pouring much of my malice. It gets us from A to B, and the aircon works a treat, so I suppose I should be thankful for small mercies.

We passed Peccioli on the way. One of these days we’ll actually rock up there and explore it! Here it is, looking very pretty by a field of sunflowers.

We were reminded how much hotter it gets several hunderd meters closer to sea-level when we got out of the car. I think it peaked around 34 celsius.

In Casa, we bought some bins and sun loungers, all of which we took with us and stowed in the car, and then in Mondo Convenienza we got ourselves a lovely, accessorised wardrobe and a couple of side tables, and a cabinet for the TV. All-in-all, these weren’t too expensive and looked really nice, so it was a win/win. The mall was great to look at and spotlessly clean.

We will have to wait until August 26th for the delivery unfortunately. We were brought over to a desk to finalise the order (the wardrobes are modular, and can be completely designed from the inside out), and were introduced once again to peculiar Italian bureaucracy. In order to buy furniture, we had to provide:

A codice fiscale (the Italian social security number)
A passport (after checking with her manager, she accepted Niamh’s passport number)
An Italian phone number. We don’t have one, so we had to give them the number of our Estate Agents, who also look after our house while we’re back in Ireland

Finally, at the cash desk itself, Niamh had to provide 8 digital signatures to accept and pay for the order and delivery. Seems bonkers to those not living in Italy, but I guess it prevents money laundering and other nefarious activities. However, I wonder if one of the reasons that Italian economic growth is so low is because their process and bureaucracy acts as a deterrant to commerce. Anyway, I digress.

After Niamh bought a nice top for herself, we did this for lunch in the mall, and I’m not one bit apologetic about it:

We went back home, the car struggling up the hills closer to Volterra. It was still 28 degrees there, and we dragged the two sun-loungers and bins through town and up to our apartment. We were a bit wrecked by the time we got there. Hopefully, the loungers will get some use by us and the few guests we’re having over our stay. Here they are on the upper terrace:

Niamh cooked again in the evening, but it was a light meal, given that we’d pigged-out earlier on.

The string beans here are so tasty and the fish was very tender and flakey.

We chilled for a while, and then I went out for a quick stroll about town.

The Irish Bar had no free tables, which was great to see. A pair of seated gents were playing jazzy tunes on electric guitars outside another restaurant, while over-excited kids screamed and wheeled about in front of them. I have to admit to having a little bit of ice-cream from L’isola Del Gusto on the way! The lady behind the counter recognised me, and welcomed me back… it’s the small things in life that often make an impression.

For this morning’s walk, I took a route past the prison, on one side of a small valley, the other side of which houses both the modern-day hospital, and the closed mental hospital. The road leads down to Porta e Fonti di Docciola, where the largest free car park for Volterra can be found (get there very early if you want a spot for a daytime visit, or if staying overnight you should be able to find parking spots after 20:00).

The font here was built in the mid-1200’s, and was an important source for water for both living, and for commerce back in medieval times. Today, it houses both fish and pigeons!

I took the 200 steps back up to town, which gave me a decent workout.

Despite the pasta, pizza, and the occasional cakes and gelato, my belly seems to be slowly reducing, so yay! A lot of that is down to portion control and exercise, but also to the fact that crisps and sweets simply aren’t as prevalent in the stores here, and we seem to have way less inclination to buy them as a result.

Today, we have to let our Estate Agents know that we are expecting an order for furniture, and to renew some sort of security dongle at the bank. Other than that, it’s chillout time – we’ll proably eat out today, and I have to commit a few hundred more words of my novel to electronic paper!

Thanks for reading this. If you have any (polite) comments, questions or suggestions, please leave them below.

My Scooby-doo moment

I lazed about for a couple of hours after my walk yesterday, and then we both went out to buy ingredients. If we’re not eating we’re buying food – that’s the way it seems to be right now! After shopping, we saw that the Volterra theatre was open, so we went in, donated and had a looksee.

It’s small, but perfectly formed, as the saying goes. Gorgeous! Niamh made lunch with some of the pasta we’d saved over from the previous day, plus a few grilled veggies, rocket and some mortadella (a wide sausage, with pistacchio nuts – not going to lie: it reminds me a lot of fancy luncheon meat, but I love it).

I had to spend more time indoors while I dealt with Sky over our inability to stream via SkyGo. No satisfactory conclusion was reached, but we’ll get by with YouTube, Netflix and Amazon… and, of course, all Volterra and Tuscany has to offer!

After that debacle, we decided to get some much-needed dessert, but rather than going to L’isola Del Gusto (the place to go to get gelato usually, as it’s one of the best in Tuscany), L’Incontro was also recommended to us, so we gave it a bash. I had orange cream and tirimasu, and it was fantastic – well done, folks!

We walked the calories off a little before heading home, chilling, and having another meal, cooked by Niamh. Are you beginning to sense a pattern yet? We got a couple of juicy pork steaks on-the-bone from Antica Macelleria, and had ourselves an Irish-looking dinner. It was fab, and a needed change.

After another while we headed out to see if there was anything going on around town. In the main square (Piazza dei Priori), a stage was erected, and some seating placed out for the townsfolk and visitors. While Volterra gets a lot of tourism from the UK, Germany and Holland, the bulk of it seems to be Italian, which is a great indicator, in my book. A couple of comedians (we think) warmed the crowd up, but it being entirely lost on us, we went back home. Looking at my social media feeds this morning, it seems as though there was music afterwards. Ah well…

This morning, while Niamh continued her ‘Couch to 5k’ programme, I walked to the only gate in Volterra I hadn’t been to yet: Porta Diana. The town’s cemetary is nearby and it’s a relaxing little walk. At least the walk there is, the walk back is a different affair.

The gate no longer has its arch, sadly. I can only speculate that this happened during the retreat of the Germans. Portal all’Arco was saved, but sadly Diana was not. If anyone reading this knows, please drop me a comment. You can check out some old photos of it here.

I noticed that there were some Etruscan ruins not too far away, so I decided to check them out. The road wound steeply downhill, and I knew in the back of my mind that I would certainly pay for all with the walk back into town. Halfway there, a car heading towards me had to jam-on, as an adolescent doe ran across its path, just yards away. Where it had come from, stood a young buck, possibly contemplating the same move. I didn’t make eye-contact for long, and swiftly made my way downwards. I’m sorry now that I didn’t take a shot of him. When I got closer to the ruins, I saw there were indents, cavelets (if you will), dug into the side of the road, with walls on top. I knew I was in Etruscan country then.

I found the entrance to the site and made my way by a dusty path to one of the tombs, and climbed in. It was electrically lit, so I wasn’t too spooked (yet).

I only spent a minute down there, as I thought the place might be mozzie-infested, although I didn’t see or hear any insects. A feeling of unease came over me, and I decided to, as masculinely as possible, make my way back up the stairs. Then I heard a click behind me. I moved again, and it became a crackling-crunch, so I bolted up the first few steps and then realised I had my damn water bottle in my back pocket. The plastic for water bottles in Italy is a lot thinner than we use back home, so you only have to look at it to make it crackle. I felt a bit of a tool, and slowly made my way up the rest of the steps and out.

The walk back was horrendous. I mean it was beautiful, but I am unfit and it damn-near killed me. I probably won’t go back to those tombs on foot, until I get a little more active. The 1.7km walk home was totally uphill, some of it steep. I had to rest on my feet a couple of times and took another snap of Diana’s magnificent Etruscan blocks.

Today, we might do a little furniture shopping. We really need a wardrobe and a cabinet for the telly. Maybe we’ll look at some sunbeds too.

A dopo!

Ti piace il sale?

It was the beginning of a lazy day after my walk was over yesterday morning – although Niamh began her ‘Couch to 5k’ while I was out – no mean feat in a hilltown! After some telly-watching, we did some food-shopping for the makings of lunch and dinner. The weather had certainly picked up, but the highest it got all day was 26 celsius, and I don’t think it was for very long. We pottered around the shops for a while, and I got myself a pair of lengthy culinary tweezers (is there a more correct name for them?) for plating long pasta and stir-frying. We also bought a fan to try it out.

I am an incredibly impractical man, and so Niamh had to jigsaw the device together, and it seems to work fine. She also prepped lunch – a carpaccio of bresaola (thin, cured beef slices), rocket, capers and pecorino (sheeps cheese).

A drizzle of olive oil finished it off nicely – it was tasty!

We went out later and tried out the new (to us!) granita shop on Via Porta all’Arco. Granite (pron. gran-ee-teh) are essentially dense slush-puppies, but usually flavoured more naturally. We both went for frutta di bosco flavour (fruit of the forest), and it was yum… but there were a lot of seeds to crunch through. They also found every nook and cranny in my teeth. The consistency was less dense than I expected, but still I’ll go back there again – it was really refreshing.

Back home for a siesta, a little novel-writing and relaxation, and my attempt at making conchiglie con carne di salsicce e cime di rapa (pasta shells with sausage meat and ‘turnip top’ greens). We couldn’t find cime di rapa, and settled instead for cavalo nero (black cabbage – essentially it’s kale). I managed to turn these:

Into this!

Here’s the thing about Italian sausages. They are denser than Irish sausages, in that they are really meaty, but they also have gristle in them, which is great for rendering down. They are flavoured with salt, black pepper, fennel and salt. I really did not appreciate how much salt there is in Italian sausages. I should not have salted the ingredients in the pan, nor put as much salt in the pasta water as I had. The cavalo nero would serve to temper the salt, but I also put in about 50% less than I should have. The result was that the dish was too salty. Ah well. The basic flavours were all there, though! A 50/50 hit/miss, so.

As it got dark after dinner, I noticed that Niamh had strung solar-powered light bulbs across the railings of the terrace, and they looked pretty neat!

I finished off watching The Boys on Amazon (try it – not for kids!), threw on some brainless laughter-fodder on YouTube and then went to bed.

Here are some shots of my walk this morning. I polished off listening to ‘Milkman’ by Anna Burns (more for literary flair than story-telling), and started off Jo Nesbo’s ‘Knife’ during the 50 minute stroll.