Tag: drink

2024)

See here for Part 2.

For our last full day, we’d be heading to Burano, rather than the business of Murano. The sun was blazing again, and we had a perfect day out. We hit the north side of the city to board at the Fontane Nove stops, and got the number 12 to the islands. I was told that you buy tickets aboard, but nobody came to check or ask us, so we rode over free-of-charge. This trip took maybe 40-50 minutes. To compensate, there were ticket machines at the Burano dock so we bought return tickets there – our consciences remained intact.

We stopped off at a bar near the jetty and bought a bottle of water each, and then proceeded into the town. There are places you go to which the camera doesn’t do any justice. The panoramic views surrounding Volterra is an example, and another one is Burano. We simply couldn’t get over how beautiful it is. The blue skies really brought out the best in the multicoloured buildings lining the streets. Everywhere you looked gave you potential for taking a postcard shot. Even the crowds, not that it was packed, couldn’t detract too much from its loveliness.

We stopped off briefly for gelato – which was pretty tasty, and explored a bit more. If there’s one slightly negative thing I want to say is that there’s a lack of rubbish bins, until you hit the periphery of the island. But it’s a small thing – hold onto your trash for a little while until you locate one. Pretty little lanes and streets were everywhere, and Burano being famous for its lace, had its fair share of fabric shops.

Soon, it was lunch time, and we found a place that had just opened for the day – Ristorante Riva Rosa (Rosa featured a lot in this mini-break!). We luckily got a seat outside and ordered drinks, and then a couple of courses. I tried a fancy version of the creamed cod, with what looked and felt like prawn crackers tinted by squid ink. They were yum – I had to get past that first mouthful again, but it was lovely after. Niamh had scallops in shells – which she enjoyed. After, I had spaghetti alla vongole (clams)… this time they were little lads and all of them in their shells, so I removed them all before tucking in. I’m not sure if you do it piecemeal or all at once. Let me know in the comments. Anyway, I was pleased that dish was still pleasantly warm by the time I’d finished my surgery. It tasted… nice… creamy. I’m not 100% sure clams are the thing for me, though. Niamh had more scallops for seconds, this time with gnocchi – not easy to see in these photos! We really enjoyed the food.

We explored the island a little more afterwards, noting that it, too, had a leaning belltower. Niamh popped into one of the lace stores and bought herself a scarf. We pondered what to do next. On our way in, we had seen a long wooden bridge span Burano and the island of Mazzorbo. So, we took the bridge over there, and it was like a little oasis of peace and quiet. We hardly saw another soul. There are a couple of nice restaurants near the dock, but there’s not much else. However, it’s not the point – the point is to be able to break away from the crowd elsewhere. There’s not any photos of Mazzorbo, for some reason, but there’s some footage in the video below.

We had debated about going on to Torcello and Murano on the way back, but instead we’d leave them for a subsequent visit. We caught the vaporetto from Mazzorbo – note that if you do this you will most likely be standing all the way home to Venice. The stewards opening and closing the gates on the craft can be quite authoritarian, so get quickly on, and quickly off when you need to. When we stopped towards the end of the ride home at Murano. A couple must have dilly-dallied around whether to disembark. The lady in charge of the gates was halfway through closing them, and absolutely refused to let them off – they were on a strict deadline.

It gets busy – maybe get a seat at the terminus instead!

We got back and made a move back towards the hotel. Rather than taking the main roads, we snuck about narrower streets and alleys, and eventually came across a little square, with a path in and path out opposite. In this square, there was a gorgeous looking, ivy-covered restaurant, a bar which was also serving nibbles, this particular neighbourhood’s well and the well’s cat. It was idyllic. We ordered spritzes at the bar and got chatting to a lovely Welsh couple, who were operating under the same open-ended itinerary and timeline we were. Soon, another couple of tables were grabbed by other British couples. We ordered another spritz and a plate of gyoza, of all things. They were tasty enough. The waiter explained where all the produce came from, including the soy sauce, which I found a little amusing.

The cat then provided a lot of ooh’s and aah’s from passing tourists, some of whom stopped to take a photo, when it jumped on top of the well and started cleaning itself. But soon it was time to move on, and we walked back to the hotel and rested a while.

Later that evening, we sought a place to go for dinner. Instead of taking a recommendation, we had a stroll about town, looking for nice, intimate locations. We’d found a couple, but found the menu wasn’t quite to our taste. In the end, we threw caution to the wind and shattered all five of our own rules, and found ourselves in Al Teatro Goldoni. A tourist restaurant. When I looked at the menu, I realised I’d been craving two things: veggies – I’d had so little of them thus far in Venice, and a deep-fried, breaded ‘thing’, be it fish, pork or chicken. I satisfied one craving with a soup that I would swear came out of a Knorr carton, with added chilli oil… still… it sorta did the trick. Niamh, on the other hand, ordered a beef carpaccio, and in fairness to the restaurant, it was really nice – the beef was tender and melty and flavour balance good. My cutlet was nice – maybe a tiny bit dry, but I threw it into me along with the fries. Niamh had a veggie pizza which was less of a roaring success. So, a mixed bag, but a little better than I was expecting.

Another stroll, and back to the hotel for our final night’s sleep, which was perfect! Our flight was in the early afternoon, so we were able to get up at a normal hour, and have some breakfast and a stroll before checking out. Very lengthy video of our stay below!

So, where does that leave Venice for me? I think it’s a magnificent place, but I get a little sad now when I see people flitting from attraction to attraction, heedless of the fact that their every move is slowly eroding away the stones, the buildings, the culture and pebble by pebble the history of the place. It seems like there’s an enormous grab for tick-box experiences in exchange for cash, with the natives slowly being pushed out and into neighbouring Marghera, or nearby towns such as Treviso and Padua. What happens when the damage becomes too much? With the Acqua Alta flooding on the rise, and footfall set to increase with the potential re-arrival of the cruise ships, the city is in danger of being slowly whittled away. Personally, I found I really enjoyed the quieter zones when we came across them, and dining in areas not particularly frequented by tourists.

Where does the crunch point come? Is there a percentage of the buildings which can be sacrificed to keep the tourist dollar coming in? Maybe some Venetians would disagree, but I would like to see Venice become an actual lived-in city, with affordable property pricing, perhaps protected in favour of inhabitants of, say, the Veneto. Turn it back into a functional town – there are very few stores for the inhabitants themselves – more real commerce and less tourist tat. Let’s see real life amid the sprawling alleys and beautiful nooks and breathtaking bridged junctions on the canals. Maybe, when all is balanced, Venice visits will be limited to not the wealthy few, but the lucky few.

Venice Day 2 (13/04/2024)

Part 1 here.

Day 2, which was Niamh’s birthday, was really excellent throughout. We walked our feet off, but we had a wonderful tour of the Doge’s palace and amazing food.

I had a horrible time of it during Covid – most of us did in fairness – and so, like many, my mental health deteriorated catastrophically. While I was building myself back up, I loved to watch travel videos, which included a type of long format video in which the host takes you on a live explore. One of these channels on YouTube is I Love You Venice. It’s less active now than it used to be, as guides are now active again post-Covid. Anyway, one of the hosts was Igor Scomparin (note that the link may fail at first, but try it again in your browser and it should be ok). I always loved his upbeat style and his knowledge of Venice is superb, so as part of Niamh’s birthday present, I organised a skip-the-line-tour of the Doge’s Palace and Cathedral for a few hours that morning.

First, we asked the receptionist to turn our room temperature to 20 celsius, and then – breakfast – we made use of our voucher and had pastries and hot drinks next door to the hotel. Really delicious, I have to say – no complaints there – and there were a good few locals present too, which is always a good sign. We had a small walkabout, and then met Igor just off the hotel lobby. He showed us exactly how close we were to St. Mark’s square – much closet than any route we had previously taken had suggested. We were a little early, so we learned a little history in the southeast plaza. Igor showed us a few graffiti on columns supporting the arcades of the building opposite.

Then it was our time to fly past the baffled people in the queue and entered the palace courtyard. I won’t harp on about the place, suffice to say that it’s incredible. The artwork, stairways, ceilings and art are out of this world and are a must-see. The floors and arcades are uneven in places due to age and subsidence. Unfortunately, I was asked to stop filming by one of the attendants at one stage, which was a pity – I saw others film unpunished, so footage (at the end of Part 3) is limited. Also housed here is one of the most impressive displays of medieval armaments I’ve ever seen. The Doge’s Palace is amazing, and there are other ways you can skip the queue by ordering tickets online. You can google them easily.

Afterwards, we had a quickish stop at the cathedral – I’ve wanted to see the mosaiced Christ, as I have wanted to see the versions in Cefalù and Ravenna. The cathedral itself looks a little eastern orthodox – unusual for this far north in Italy, I would have thought. There were golden mosaics everywhere – it was incredible. The Christ at the back of the Cathedral is a stupendous work. However, it was then that I began to notice things. It was pointed out that the floor was uneven, and parts of it actually were in small waves. So few were looking anywhere else but up. I began to realise that people were here for the sake of being here, and mentally box-ticking, while the cathedral was dying in front of their eyes. And that we were part of the problem. This was confirmed by the sadness I felt when Igor told me that the Venice council were thinking of allowing Cruise Ships back. He told us that although 50,000 people were registered to live in Venice, only 36,000 did so, and yet the number of visitors a year is 36 million. That is insane. What made me saddest of all, however, is that he said he was once asked by a tourist what time Venice closed at… as if it was Disneyland.

After that I tried to make a concerted effort to be more aware of my surroundings as I walked. Acknowledge each water cistern I passed, and noted whether or not it had a little cat-bowl carved nearby for the cats who used to keep the rat population under control. Looking out for a little more graffiti. Checking out the interior of smaller restaurants as we passed by them, and even trying to listen in on a conversation or two.

Anyway – I can’t recommend Igor highly enough for a tour. I’ll leave his details in the description box below – do consider him if you want a special tour to yourselves. At the end of the tour, we asked him for a recommendation for somewhere to go for lunch, and he gave us criteria selection, and we finally settled on Osteria Oliva Nera, which served good food, and was in a quiet neighbourhood. And the selection was bang-on! Although when we got there we asked to be seated outside. The larger table near us was chosen by what seemed to be another Irish family… the irony. Anyway, we both had deep-fried stuffed zucchini flowers, Niamh followed that up with lasagne while I had the best pasta dish I would have in Venice – bigoli pasta with anchovies in an onion sauce. Amazing. The locale was so lovely too – a quiet junction near actual functional shops for locals and another restaurant.

All done, we used the facilities, paid and we started making our way towards the Cannaregio district (or sestiero as they’re called in Venice), to check out the Jewish quarter. We were about a quarter of the way there when I saw in Google that the little island was closed, so with expectations properly set, we ambled our way there. We hit the main street and started walking. We soon tired of that, as there were people everywhere (yes, we are part of the problem), and tried to make our way there through back alleys or walking alongside canals. The latter is rarely available – and we found that exploring alleys was fun and led us to some wonderful views, but they often led us to dead-ends, and so we were inexorably drawn back to the main Corso. At least we got a glimpse of Venice’s leaning tower!

Out of pure coincidence, I checked the map to see if I could find the famous Libreria Acqua Alta. I was hoping to see if I could employ the doctrine of mindful tourism here, but my God it was arguably one of the most disappointing things we did in Venice. Now, this is no discredit to the owners and runners of the bookshop. Had Venice been a normal, functional city serving its population, it would still be no doubt frequented as a nice quirky bookshop with a decent stock of new and antiquarian volumes. What actually greeted us were two circular queues – one to enter and leave by (separate doors), and then at the bottom of the shop, past the mini gondola filled with books, is another circle where you got to climb the steps made of books and take a photo as quickly as possible, and climb down the other side. Always on the move. Never have I felt more like a shepherded animal. Finally, you can exit through a door if you don’t have anything to buy, or go up to the cash desk if you do. I marvel at those who had actual book purchases, because if there’s one thing you need in a bookshop when you’re browsing it’s time – and you simply had none. We were walking out, when a group of tourists who entered through the exit were given out to and made go back around to the front door. And in fairness, the owners have to do this. There is not much space there, and the bookshop would fill up extremely quickly otherwise. Anyway – it wasn’t a great experience.

There’s much more in the video in Part 3

Afterwards, we stopped in a large square, which contained the old famous hospital Saints Giovanni e Paolo. One of the Rosa Salva bars associated with our hotel, for which we had a discounting voucher – but this one also had artisanal gelato, so we indulged, and it was really nice – and needed. When done we trudged onwards. I would say we made it to within 5 or 6 blocks of the closed ghetto when we released that we were both footsore. We made our way back. It took a long time, but it was enjoyable exploring more nooks and crannies, even if some of them were rammed with people.

One of those secluded squares worth seeking out

We got back to the hotel and aahhh’d in satisfaction at the coolness of the room, and had an hour’s rest before we headed out for Niamh’s birthday celebration meal at our sommelier friend’s recommendation: Osteria Da Carla. It was only a short walk. It’s a nice, intimate place, with excellent food.

We had an aperitivo each and both ordered a glass of wine. For starters, Niamh had tortelloni (cappellacci as they were called on the menu) stuffed with rabbit, and I had deep fried sardines. Afterwards, I had linguine with clams and bottarga – the clams were already out of their shells so I could have at them immediately. It was a beautiful plate of pasta, but I think I would give the nod just about to the anchovy dish I had earlier. Niamh’s, however, was a pure winner – Iberico pork fillet wrapped in bacon. Perfectly cooked, a little pink in the middle and tender. Desserts… Niamh had fancy tiramisu and I had a wonderfully inventive home-made cream egg, where the white was ricotta and the yellow pureed mango – delish. A lovely place all in all for a fine meal in a romantic environment.

Afterwards, we had a little walk about town, stopping off in Il Salotto di San Marco for another drink (see Part 1). There was a table of 6 next to us, and the kitchen/bar had prepared squid ink risotto. We were the only other people there (the place is tiny), so rather than see us go without food, they gave us a half-plate between us to try. This is a wonderful example of Italian hospitality! We chatted briefly with the locals, and it was just one of those special moments.

and that squid ink risotto I mentioned earlier. Anyway – and so to bed. I tell you, getting up with that 20c setting was a great deal chillier than we expected, so we asked them tap it up to 22c for our last night – would it be the goldilocks temperature we needed? We’d see.

Part 3 here!

Venice Day 1 (12/04/2024)

Sorry about the long break, but I’ve been a busy bunny. Anyway, here is a break from the current timeline to something more recent: our 3-day trip to Venice.

We are part of the problem. Of course we know this. It would be hypocritical of us to deny that and yet take part in what is assuredly a slow degradation of a proud and beautiful city. And this is why I left Venice with a tinge of sadness, but with a bittersweet longing for return.

First things first… why Venice and not Volterra? Well it was a significant birthday for Niamh, and she shopped around for the holiday and chose Venice as her destination. We had been there for about 7 hours in 2010, and watching live walks in it during the pandemic whetted our appetites, particularly those uploaded by the YouTube channel ‘I Love You Venice’.

We flew Ryanair, but didn’t opt for FastTrack. We had regretted that at first, as the queue snaked back all the way to its opening, but it actually moved quite nicely and we were only in it for maybe 15 minutes. There was a slight delay to takeoff, which was made-up during flight time, and when we landed… ahhh, the temperatures. It was 22-23, whereas Ireland hadn’t gotten higher than 14 and was still frequently in single digits. I was feeling the jacket I was wearing.

Anyway, we navigated our way past the first vaporetto ticket booth to the docks, where the booth was empty. We bought tickets for the vaporetto, went to dock 12, and then queued… and queued… and queued. A larger vaporetto was boarded by the waiting in the dock next to ours, and they too seemed to be going to Rialto, so I was beginning to get squirmy. The vaporetto filled and left. Then a few minutes later, a smaller version came to our dock and our queue started moving – but it took two further boats to enable us to get on board. All part of the process, I guess. In fairness, they weren’t long in coming. We boarded and had to wrestle our handheld luggage down the stairs. I stupidly chose a row of seats beside a life preserver, so I had nowhere to put my case, save between my legs for the hourlong ride.

Ten minutes in, I realised that at times we were banking a lot. It was due to the fact that there are actual lanes demarked in the bay and traffic rules to be obeyed. I guess it makes total sense, given the amount of water craft in the area. We breezed past a few islands, only making a stop at one, I think, before making it to the grand canal. We had our first wow moments there. The weather was perfect – the best weekend they’d had to date that year – and everywhere you turned was a Canaletto painting. It’s a remarkable-looking place. We hit our stop at Rialto bridge, and set about finding our hotel.

There were plenty of people about, but crowds were not the foremost thing on our mind. We were keen on finding our place, dumping our bags, finding a light bite and going on an explore. I have heard many people in videos say “don’t bother with Google maps”. Maybe this was down to their provider. We only had occasional signal issues, with our location darting about the map as a result, but by and large, we found Maps to be reasonably useable under Vodafone (not sponsored). We found our hotel (me noting a couple of gelaterie on the way) without much fuss in less then 10 minutes. We stayed in the Rosa Salva, a small boutique hotel not too far from St. Mark’s Square, on a quiet enough laneway. Note, that everything we mention by name will have a link to it in the description box below. This hotel is associated with a small chain of pasticcierie and gelaterie in Venice. There was no breakfast, but we had some free food and drink in the room fridge and a discount voucher for their stores – one of which was right next door!

Anyway, once we’d checked-in, we ran out and came across a really cute little cichetteria – Il Salotto di San Marco – and stopped for a drink and those little tasty Venetian morsels. I tried the famed creamed cod. Atfter my first bite, I had regretted all my life’s decisions up to the point they took me up to that very moment and caused me to put this substance in my mouth. It was terribly fishy, even to the point of it being ammonic. I took a second bite, and then it didn’t seem quite so bad – and the 3^rd and 4^th were actually quite pleasant. Give it a go – but push past that first mouthful! I had a fancy version of it again in Burano, but more on that later.

We had a wander and of course Venice blew our minds. Let me get one thing straight: Venice is an explorer’s dream. There’s always an excitement of reaching another junction, which involved a canal, and you just knew that all 360 degrees would be Instagrammable. Wander down narrow laneways, away from the main arteries, and if you’re lucky you’ll find a secluded square with a bar or restaurant with few tourists, and surprisingly low prices.

Then there are the main Corso on the way to Canereggio, the grand canal walks and, God help us all, the Rialto bridge. We had a gelato on the southeast side of the bridge (meh), and then, girding our loins, crossed the bridge. We hit the Rialto bridge once during this stay (well, twice – we had to cross back), and avoided it for the rest of the trip. It was teeming, and even then it wasn’t high season. I shudder to think what it’s like then. It’s really the only way to cross the grand canal, unless you hire a traghetto. Actually, if you do hire a traghetto, you also get the gondola experience for about €2 per person – albeit for a much shorter duration – it just ferries you across the canal.

We hit the grand canal walkways a bit, checking out the bridge in profile. Look, it’s gorgeous from that angle, and a must-see when you’re in Venice. In fact, I’d find it difficult to believe that any visitor, particularly a first-time one, never went near it. Then it was off to the piazza at the far end of the fish market for a sit-down drink. The market was being hosed down, and the drinks were fine – the smell of fish assailed our nostrils from time to time – not necessarily a good companion to Aperol!

We went back to the hotel to have a bit of a rest. On the way back, we stopped off at an off-the-beaten-track Carnavale mask maker. Niamh picked one out to add to our mask collection in Volterra. We had begun gung-ho, with plans to stay out ‘til dinner time – but the early start got the better of us, and we headed back up. The room was warm, and we actually didn’t ask the receptionist to reduce the heat until the next day. In fact, it was the best spell of weather Venice had so far this year – there was a mini heat-wave over much of Italy that weekend – so we were very lucky.

We had gotten a recommendation for a restaurant from a sommelier, and walked out to walk in that evening… more than a bit naively… but when we found it, it was booked out. We managed to book it for the next night, which was Niamh’s birthday – so it all worked out beautifully! Anyway, there were a couple of other places nearby… and this takes me to a little tips section on selecting restaurants in Venice (and in much of Italy, to be honest), if you’re a foodie… If you’re happy to chuck any old muck into you (no judgement, honest), then you can ignore them:

Generally, don’t go for ‘does-it-all’ restaurants unless you have a family with you. If you want a chance at good pizza, go to a pizzeria, if you want good pasta and mains, go to a regular restaurant.
A menu with 200 things on it. Sometimes they can surprise you, but quality is inevitably going to suffer here.
A menu in the window translated into 5 languages
A menu in the window with photos that are supposed to represent the food on the menu
Restaurants which have people hired specifically to entice you into the restaurant. Yuck. I hate this.

Go for smaller, family-run places – if you can find a hand-written menu of the day, then you’ve probably hit the jackpot if you’re after local specialities.

All that said, we broke one of these rules and went to Il Calice, a pizzeria with a small menu with other plates. They had some really lovely looking pizza-by-the-slice squares, but we weren’t in the mood for pizza and so opted to go upstairs to the café-style restaurant and ordered from the menu instead. We had a fab salumi plate to share, with a delicious chunky piccalilli. So far, so good. Sadly, the pasta dishes weren’t great. Niamh had a pasta amatriciana and I had gnocchi in a white ragu. Niamh’s pasta was undercooked, but the sauce wasn’t bad. My gnocchi were definitely overcooked, and while the sauce was ok, it was very soupy. In fact, had it been served as a soup, I wouldn’t have minded.

After the meal, we wound our way to St. Mark’s square though the little local maze and sat opposite the Doge’s Palace and people watched. Of course we had to dodge the rose sellers, and the hawkers of those helicopter kids toys thingies.

When we’d had enough, we walked along the grand canal and, quite by accident, found Harry’s Bar – the birthplace of beef carpaccio and the Bellini cocktail. We had to do the touristy thing – it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience… yes, we paid €22 per teeny Bellini. Peaches were not yet in season, but it was fresh pulp nonetheless… however, to me, it tasked a little like cardboard box. They were serving food there that did smell quite yummy, though. We were fed enough, though, and instead headed back to the hotel as we knew we’d have a day of being on our feet tomorrow.

Part 2 here!

Friends in Vicopisano and More Smartworking (11/06-14/06)

A shortish one, but contains a little adult (childish) humour and some language in the video near the bottom – you have been warned.

Sunday, June 11th
Every second Sunday of a given month, the small town of Vicopisano hosts a huge antiques and collectibles market. We have been there a number of times now, and met up with friends Marie and Lorenzo of Authentic Tuscany, their Tuscan experiential and lodging rentals company. These guys work their fingers to the bone, so it’s always great to be able to see them relax. This day, we would meet them a little later, as they were checking out an annual car-blessing in a nearby town. Three great things about Vicopisano for me, is that you can check out 600 years of architecture in a single stretch over 200 meters, explore defensive battlements designed by Brunellischi, and finally it is a haven from the stretch of towns that run into one another in the Val d’Arno – which is rather densely populated (for Tuscany) – whilst still being a great base for exploring.

As well as meeting Marie and Lorenzo, we’d be calling into Chianni so we could Marisa along with us. Check out Marisa’s YouTube channel here. She had no vehicle and, as lovely as Chianni is, we would be giving her an opportunity to get out and about.

We drove the hour (plus the additional 30 mins there and back for Chianni), parked in a field at the northern part of town and had an explore of the market. We would soon find out that, as usual, the temperatures are 4-5 degrees warmer here than they are in Volterra. We were glad of it, though, as we were pretty tired of rain by this point. Having said that, it was a glorious day in Volterra too.

15th century architecture versus 19th and 20th in mere metres

We had a tour around the main part of the market – around the square and the roads spiderwebbing from it. There were the usual knick-knacks, signs, war memorabilia, books, glass and ceramics, ancient dildos and gramophones. Yes, that’s right: I said gramophones.

We were standing by a stall when I saw an enormous wooden phallus sitting innocently at the front of it. Out of nowhere. And what a remarkably, ah, detailed specimen it was, and had useful testes attached. A couple of tourists approached it – not us, a pair of older men, and picked it up and started making jokes, both verbal and physical. The rather aggrieved owner of the stall got shirty with them and ordered them to put it back on the table. I’m kinda glad he didn’t ask them to put it where it belongs. Anyway, they did so and the the spectacle was over, and we moved on.

Usually, you can find another stretch of stalls by the community Circolo – a wonderful bar with tons of outside seating. We traipsed down this area too, and Niamh picked up a demijohn she’s been looking for for ages. It was a small one – a sort of semi demijohn, if you will. It now rests in our apartment kitchen. I’m sure Marisa also picked something up too – check out the last 5 minutes of this video for a run-down of the market.

We had a drink in the sun, but Marie and Lorenzo were still delayed at the other town – but we were advised to go to the restaurant on the corner of the square. It’s currently called Aurora Taverna Toscana Osteria – but might have been called otherwise back then. We asked for a table and Marisa told them that we were with Marie and Lorenzo and that there’s a table for six booked (they were expecting another friend from New York).

We were shown to a table where we waited. And waited. And waited. They just didn’t seem to have any interest whatsoever in serving us. I’m not sure we even got water or bread – but we found it impossible to order. Admittedly, we could have been more ballsy, but I was caught eating as a group and not. Anyway, the sky didn’t fall, and by the time Maria and Lorenzo arrived it was only more likely that we’d enjoy our food all the more. We ordered, the food and wine came and everything was really delicious.

It’s possible to have just one course in Italy!

A little of the way into the meal, we were joined by another ex-pat in Vicopisano – a New Yorker whose name I completely forget now (sorry dude), but the more the merrier. We all had a good laugh – but soon it was time to leave and off we popped, and left Marisa back in Chianni.

We had just the one course to eat in Vicopisano (astonishingly), so that evening we had pizzas in La Mangiatoia and post-dinner cocktails in Antica Velathri Café, and then spent our night in the apartment – as we had work the next day! Yay!

This pizza was die würstel. Ha! Sorry again.

Mon-Weds, June 12th-14th
This next section is a collection of photos from the week. I’ll break them down between walks and food. At the bottom you’ll find a key memory – one of my best from Volterra – hard to explain why – with an accompanying video! Those few days went quite well, weather-wise, until Wednesday evening.

The entrance to the ex-psychiatric hospital

And now the food and drink-related pics!

Now for my fondest memory! We went midweek drinking with our friend – who usually doesn’t drink much. We’d had aperitivi in Volaterra (see one of the pics above), and decided that we were giddy enough to carry it on back at our apartment. We stepped outside and the heavens opened. We stopped at Fabio’s, and picked up some wine. Then it began to seriously pour, and so I took this little bit of video on the way. And it was good times. A core memory of Volterra for me now. Our poor friend had a 36-hour hangover after this night – we worked with little problem the next day!

And that was that. I hope you enjoyed the read and eye-candy. Let me know what you think.

A Day at the Beach and a Stunning Meal (06 & 07/06/2023)

Tuesday, 6th June
We promised a day on the beach to our water-friendly pal. She had been with us before back in 2019 to experience Marina di Cecina. It’s a strange, gritty strand and if I recall correctly there is a sudden dip only a few feet into the waves, which would make hydrophobes like myself too nervous. I didn’t get in that day. The benefit of Marina di Cecina, however, is that you have tons of amenities all along the strand – not just the beach clubs, but other restaurants, bars and shops a block inland.

This time we were going to Castiglione della Pescaia. This is a little town we have already visited, which is one of the few places with an old-town feel, but is also on the coast. We’d be using a Lido (beach club) for the first time ever. I booked it for us online. I’d heard that the beach was better – the sand golden. The Lido would have amenities, but it’s about a 10 or so minute walk into town from our Lido of choice (Bagno Perla) into town for a better choice of restaurant. Fortunately, we found the food at the Lido more than adequate! If there’s a downside for us, it’s that the town is about 90-100 minutes drive away. Additionally, the motorway leading from Cecina to Follonica – a good part of the trip – is not in good condition. It’s slowly being repaired, but because it’s not a tolled road, it’s not a top priority to those holding the purse strings.

From Follonica onwards, the journey is pleasant enough. Anyway, we got to the Lido, got ourselves ready and hit the beach. I nearly had my entire body on display, which is incredibly rare. I am rather pale. Not only that, I actually got in the water… up to my chest only – I have zero confidence in water unless both legs are planted firmly on sabbia ferma.

The sand may look a little dirty, but it’s still smooth and pebble-free. The sand bank also goes out 20-30 meters which is nifty. We splashed about a bit, and then took lunch at the Lido’s restaurant.

After some grub and a beer, we did the unthinkable in Italy: headed immediately back to the water. Many an Italian Mama (and if I recall correctly, many an Irish Mammy), would advise never to re-enter water after having just eaten – best to wait an hour or two. Pish and tish – in we went!

When we’d had enough, we headed into town to work up an appetite. We took our friend up to the old town of Castiglione, which is essentially converted walled fortress. It’s rather hilly, but pretty and offers some amazing views of the bay.

Ok, after walking up and down (mostly up, somehow), we had another hunger upon us. We were told by another pal that we should try burger bar Harbor Crew, so that’s just what we did. First, we hit a hotel bar just across the street. It was a local place, no frills. We yummied some light snacks and our spritzes and as soon as 18:30 struck, ran across the road to snaffle some burger. Unfortunately, this place has closed down since, because he has actually moved to Florence. Wah! The burgers are fantastic, it has to be said. I’ve been there a couple of times since (while it was in Castiglione). I think we’ll head over to Florence to re-partake later this year.

As soon as we were done there, we left for home. Part of the route home we took off the motorway, just for the sake of change.

Wednesday, 7th June
The rest of the blog is a further testament to food. We spent the next day in Volterra, and our friend spent the morning shopping and exploring again, while we lazed about in the apartment. I didn’t even go out for a walk! We met up for a single course lunch in the touristy Ristorante Etruria.

I took this shot while we both got money from the ATM in the northeast corner of the main piazza

Hmmm… maybe I had too much to eat at lunch, given that we were going to head out to eat again at our favourite chef’s place: BIS, in low-key foodie town Colle di Val d’Elsa. Alessandro used to be head chef in Del Duca in Volterra, before the managership of that restaurant changed. His cooking – from breads to desserts and everything in between is fantastic, and we always get a warm reception when he sees us. However, this time would be our first time in this new eatery.

Colle di Val d’Elsa is a large town, with a historic centre set on a knife-ridge, between Volterra and Siena. It has a nice new town as well, and one of the biggest markets I’ve ever seen every Friday.

We drove to Colle, having to pause at a stop-go system tantalisingly close to Ristorante Arnolfo, BIS’ 2-Michelin-starred parent restaurant. We haven’t eaten there yet, but look forward to doing so. We wound our way to a car park just outside the walls of the old town, and took a couple of snaps.

We had arrived too early (my fault) and so had a little walk about the old town with our friend – only as far as the bridge, though – then it was time to enter the restaurant. We were shown to our table by the very friendly staff. We saw there was a burgeoning terrace outside, with a fab-looking view:

But enough of that – it was time for food. BIS is a contemporary fine-dining restaurant, and you can have some variants on pasta meat-based dishes, but you there is also an extensive ‘nibbles’ section, which we ordered from.

The food was absolutely delicious and the portion sizes perfect. When we were on our way out, a waiter caught us and asked us if we wanted to say hello to Alessandro. So, we did! The kitchen was immaculate, and he was warm and welcoming, but there were so many dishes being worked upon, so we didn’t want to outstay our welcome. He was a busy man!

After that, we headed home, had a drink and then went to our beds! Thanks for reading this – please let me know what you think!

Palazzo Viti and Etruscan Tombs in the Rain (05/06/2023)

We picked up a friend who’d be staying with us for a few days from Pisa Airport. This was a detail I had unfortunately left out in the last blog. I honestly had forgotten, and the photos I took gave me absolutely no clue. I strongly suspect it was in the late afternoon, after we had eaten in Porgi l’Altra Pancia. We must have picked her up, and then I spared her my documenting every moment of life in Italy, and we just spent a chill evening at home. In fact, now that I have some recollection – she was quite tired and not up for doing much, so we chilled along with her.

The reason why I am now drawing this conclusion is that the day I’m now blogging begins with a walk to the Etruscan tombs north of Volterra. There’s simply no way we would have picked someone up that early in Pisa and then gone on a walk. We definitely made this trip in the early morning, in an effort to avoid overheating ourselves on the very uphill walk back.

So that’s what we did. I had been there a couple of times before, but not with anyone – so this would be a bit of fun. Our friend had recently signed on for a Celtic history course, and while the Etruscans weren’t Celts exactly, her interest in the ancient was piqued enough to join me. What sealed the deal was a chance at a distant sneak preview of the archaeological dig site of a Roman Amphitheatre just opposite the town’s modern cemetery. The cemetery itself is also worth a visit.

We had a few peeps of the of the amphitheatre from above and near eye-level and wished that the digsite would open soon for tours! We continued down the road towards the tombs, passing fully by the cemetery and through Porta Diana – the Etruscan gateway which is missing its arch, and finally around the sharp bend which led outside the town boundary. There was a new sign on the corner which seemed to point into someone’s private field, labelled “Volterra Urban Trekking”. We didn’t take that, but continued down the road towards the tombs – shooting the lovely countryside on the way.

When we got to our destination, I had planned on taking her into both tombs, but the path to one of them was horribly overgrown, and we gave it a skip, given our bare arms. Last year, it had recently been strimmed (weed-whacked), but no such luck this year. So, we went to the other one, had a look about and a read of the information on a the small nearby sign.

You still wouldn’t want to be too claustrophobic

It was fun and interesting and is to be recommended – but a word of warning here about the walk back to town, which is entirely uphill for a couple of kilometers, if your destination in Volterra is the main piazza. We took pics of the town at a distance and finally poor Porta Diana, which so few visitors ever see. Shame – the whole area is quite lovely.

We huffed and puffed our way back (especially me), and chilled for the rest of the morning. Then lunchtime came. Our friend had nipped out earlier to do a little touring and bag-shopping, so to whet our appetite we had small walk about, looking for a decent place to eat for just ourselves. Some of the following shots are wonderfully dramatic, but indicative of what was to follow!

We hit Osteria Fornelli again and I made a pig of myself by having two courses: zuppa alla Volterrana and pici cacio e pepe (with truffle). Niamh had penne alla pomarola. Thankfully, the cacio e pepe wasn’t as rich and cloying as last time and it was so yum.

After lunch, we had a peep out over the Val di Cecina. Piazzetta Fornelli has one of the best 180 degree views of the valley below – and on a clear day you can make out Sardinia. Today, however, the more we looked on, the closer rain clouds moved towards the town. We’d have to find our friend, and fast!

We gave her a call, and agreed we’d go to Palazzo Viti. She’d been here before and bought a Volterra Card, but because Palazzo Viti is privately owned, it wasn’t covered (the card is great value otherwise!). The Palazzo, which is only open seasonally, was begun to be built towards the end of the 1600’s and is still owned by the Viti family today! The family made a lot of their wealth in the alabaster trade, and the rooms convey the level of prominence of the family. If you’re here in-season, and are fascinated by stately homes and palaces, it’s a must-visit! We met our friend, who was carrying some shopping bags, and went in.

I would be saying hello to these two guys again later on after our tour.

It’s so well-kept and beautiful! We continued through the rooms.

About halfway through the tour, we heard the heavens open. And it hadn’t stopped by the time we’d finished our tour of the house. Once again, it was absolutely pelting rain in Volterra. We waited in the hallway entrance for 10-15 minutes, waiting for the torrents to cease. I tried to strike up a couple of conversations, with varying degrees of success.

The rain didn’t stop, but abated enough for us to make a run for it to our apartment entrance. We got moderately wet, as the rain was falling vertically. Otherwise, we might have been able to creep beside buildings to avoid the drops. Anyway, none of us actually died, so all was well.

We chilled until the evening, went for an aperitivo in L’Incontro and, strangely, went to Don Beta for dinner. I say ‘strangely’, as Don Beta is one of those types of restaurants we would avoid elsewhere – a touristic one, where the menu is vast. On the plus side, if you can’t decide whether you want pasta or pizza, then Don Beta is one of the places to go if are with a group who want a mix of these things. You’ll find something for everyone here. There are times that we are looking for something light, and I love the veg soup here, and it is now also the only place I know in town that does a simple spaghetti all’aglio olio and peperoncino (garlic, oil, chilli). And that’s just what I had!

I gave Campari spritzes a go for a while

I pick my days to go there, but I always enjoy what I order and the service is really fast and friendly.

I was well and truly stuffed by this point and so it was just time to go back to the apartment. I took one more final shot from our Terrace, then it was wine and bed (yes, in that order!).

Thanks for getting all the way to the end of this blog or our busy day. Let me know what you think, or if you have any questions about life in this area of Tuscany.

A Week of Working (29/05-01/06/2023)

This will be a blog of many photos but very few words.

We worked this week, and when that happens nothing terribly exciting or noteworthy tends to happen. I get up, I go for a walk, I shower/change, then work. In the middle of the morning I get a gelato, work, lunch, more work, quit. I think you get the picture. There is something nonetheless wonderful about working away. The weather is usually better, the food is miles better. Gelato. After work, it’s aperitivo time, maybe meet and dine out with a friend or two.

So, with this in mind, I present to you our working week, mostly in photo format.

Let’s do this a little differently, and instead of going day-by-day I’ll group the photos in to various themes and spit out the whole lot. Firstly, walking within the walls of the town!

It bucketed down one day after lunch in Osteria Fornelli

The rainy day above somewhat set some of the mood for this stay. We couldn’t stay under the arch or we would have been late for work. We had to dash and get soaked anyway!

Next – what did it look outside the walls?

At the time of writing this, this lift STILL isn’t operable – but is close to being so

Finally, the pics related to food and drink. Sometimes we ate out, a lot of the time we ate in. It was all, unsurprisingly, good!

That was the week that was in it. I hope you enjoyed the photographs!

Spring Finale with a Coastal Trip to San Vincenzo (31/03-02/04/2023)

While not particularly verbose, this blog is chunky with photos – fair warning!

Well, they say all good Springs must come to an end (not apologising for that one), and so it was with this pre-Easter stay. This blog covers our last 2.5 days, during which we only did one new thing of note: visit a coastal town in which a local friend has a home away from home. However, on the first day – evening to be precise – something interesting happened. Read on!

Well it began one of those days I think I have described before as a ‘living’ day – a holiday, but spent as a day practicing living as an everyday citizen, rather than doing anything special. Could I tell you exactly what we did up to our dinner out? Well, I had gelato and Niamh made some cacio e pepe. So, there we go!

That evening we did go out to dinner, as we knew it was one of our last nights and we didn’t want to manually wash everything. Ok, so there was *some* recognition that we were on holiday. We went to the place beside us, Porgi l’Altra Pancia for a good dinner.

We left happy, as always. We decided to walk to burn off the calories. We walked towards the road above the Roman Theatre ruins, and it was then that we noted that there was an unusual quality to the atmosphere that night.

We saw the red light was in the direction of Piazza dei Priori, so we walked towards it, taking snaps along the way.

The cloud level had descended to just above the town itself, and so the fog bank was acting as a canvas to the medium of the city lights. I can’t say with 100% certainly that the lights were purposely switched to red because of the low cloud, but I would put good money on it that they were.

We wandered up to the square and it was magic. It was also spooky – like a movie set.

Very cool. We wondered what it was like from the main panoramic viewpoint and it got even spookier!

I’m surprised I got any sleep!

Anyway, the next day we vowed we’d get out of the apartment and try to do something new, weather permitting. But I had to take care of a couple of things beforehand. Firstly, there was the matter of my walk. I walked around the back of Piazza XX Settembre, which is something I don’t do often enough. At least some of the photos I take are from scenes rarely seen in this blog.

It was also a market day, and on top of that there was the Ladies’ Crafts market *AND* it was the spring edition of Volterragusto. More on these later and in the video faaaar below.

Goodness me! How did that sneak in there?

We left the town in the late morning and drove to San Vicenzo. We parked probably too far away from the town, and so I won’t link where we parked here – you should be able to do a better job yourself! When we got out of the car, we discovered we were on the wrong side of the tracks, so to speak. We took a little underpass to cross the tracks.

San Vincenzo is a lovely little town, with some pedestrian zones with shops, eateries and bars – and also a lovely marina promenade. Today was very quiet. Or would have been had it not been for the roaring wind. It was exceedingly blustery out – very handy if you want to cool down, but we were already in the off-season. At least it was a dry day, with a largely blue sky. I couldn’t ask for much more, given the time of year. We just took a little stroll (filmed rather than photographed – see video below), before we stopped to look for a place for lunch. Many of them were closed, but we did find a place whose food we really enjoyed: Osteria Christian’s. They had a lovely little… well, I can’t call it an amuse bouche, as it was quite large – but it was a shared place of couscous with cold veggies. It was really tasty and refreshing – I bet it would be a wonderful way to start a meal in the heat of summer.

Afterwards, we retook to the streets and had a blowy look at the strand. The wind was powerful. Clustered on the sand were little puffy balls of air, which may have once contained something, but were now empty. Maybe seed-pods of some kind – I’m not sure. You’ll see them on the video a bit below, about 5m 10s in. What are they?! I think they’re in the bottom right corner of the first pic here.

We went back up the town and then decided to take the marina promenade. It was really lovely around here, I have to say. The sky was clear blue, and because of the time of the year, there weren’t too many people around.

Upon walking back inland to return to the car, we noticed that there were about 3 or 4 gelaterie were open, and I could have gotten my fix there today instead. Not many other shops were open, however – just a couple of restaurants, bars and those gelato stores!

When we got home, rather than returning immediately to the apartment, we had a walk about the indoor Volterragusto stalls. Lots on offer here…. truffle products, beer, salumi, cheeses, wines, pasta… I bought a couple of truffle-based condiments/spreads and we each got a beer; me a stout, and Niamh an IPA. They were nice enough.

Lavender dude – we got something from him later in the year

We didn’t hang around, as we wanted to get a little rest in before heading out for a bit of food. Now, here’s a shame that’s on me: I am not 100% sure where the heck we went for food! The carbonara below very much reminds me of Torre del Porcellino‘s style, as do the tablecloths, but I didn’t think they’d have been open yet, and I could have sworn we finished off the year somehow without going into them. For no good reason – the food is nice there! Maybe I misremember, and it was indeed Torre. Now that I’ve re-looked at the video – I really *was* Torre! Lol! I think I owe Niamh some money!

Here’s a video of the day – enjoy!

Afterwards, we wrapped up the night – our final of this stay – with a stroll.

And to bed for the last time this holiday.

We did have half a day this time around, so we could walk, have lunch at Don Beta… grab a little you-know-what from L’Isola del Gusto – which was the very last thing we did that holiday.

You’ll see us again, when we came back in May/June!

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!

The Calm Before A Disaster (12&13/09/2022)

Another brief one!

Something awesome and something terrible happened this week, but all will be revealed in the blog after this one.

We had another week of work (or so we thought) this week, and sure enough the Monday and Tuesday went swimmingly enough!

Monday 12th
I’ve been well proud of myself looking back on this time away, as I got right back into the habit of walking in the morning again. Today, I carried on with that.

The light that morning was spectacular, so I carried on farther around the walls.

We worked through the morning, and went to Osteria La Pace, a lonely little place, just at the prison end of town. This makes it sound unattractive, but really that small section is also quite lovely – the ‘Cool shot!’ photo above is taken right next to it. They have some lovely home-cooked Tuscan favourites here. Niamh had the the strozzapreti (a twisted pasta shape that literally means ‘priest-strangler’) with wild-boar and olives. I didn’t want to have anything quite so heavy, as I wanted to have their killer tiramisu after, so I had their version of zuppa alla Volterrana (because veggies).

The boar sauce here is killer, but the dish is quite heavy

They used to serve the tiramisu in an outsized coffee cup, but it was just in a massive dessert cup instead. Still tasted lovely – one of the best in town. Afterwards, we took a brief walk about town before heading back to work. The light was still being fantastic.

Laneway of the Castrated. Does your home town have any weird street names?!

That evening we went to La Vecchia Lira that evening. It was my turn for wild boar, while Niamh took the lighter option of (I think) seabass. Neither of us are fans of whole-fish, but Niamh made no bones about it (sorry)!

Home, then bed and ready for another day’s work!

Tuesday 13th
Another morning, another walk!

We worked dutifully again (so haaaard for the money), and grabbed a sandwich shop in Pisa Province: La Sosta del Priore. Tuscans sure love their sandwiches. You’d see what I mean if you went to Florence and checked out the queues at All’Antico Vinaio (or any of their branches). However, Volterra has its own queue-generator in La Sosta del Priore! The food is excellent.

Also, Estathe… an amazing drink in hot weather!

And of course a quick walk to burn the calories!

The view from the killer kitchen stairs in our apartment (more next week on this!)

That evening we tried a place we’ve only ever gone to a couple of times in 4 or so years: Antica Taverna. It’s one of those places that has everything on the menu (i.e. pizza and pasta), so we kinda shunned it for maybe being a bit too touristy. However, we thought we’d give it another shot as places can change. We were glad we did. While the food didn’t light up the night, it was still pretty good, and the service was super-friendly. They had a little display of fresh porcini, so I went over to check it out – the smell of fresh porcini is amazing!