Tag: drinking

2024)

Let’s power through this. Although now I say that, the next one after this will have fewer photos and more words, for those of you who like a good read.

We, inevitably, returned – this time for a month-long stay – week of work, two weeks holidays, week of work. I’d put my house on the flight leaving at least an hour late, and us arriving to Volterra around the 01:00. I’d also put money on party-place Vena di Vino still hopping when we arrived. We must make a habit of going there. Rumour has it that they used to give a free bottle of wine to ladies who removed their bras. Look up, and you’ll see said garments scattered across the ceiling. I don’t think it’s still done, but I can’t be sure.

From here, we did nothing but work, eat and drink. So, let’s split up the photlogue by Food and Drink, External Views (i.e. outside the walls), Internal Views (i.e. inside the walls). I will comment on photos of which I have key memories, or I find interesting!

As you can see from above, we like to spread our business around a lot – and usually dine at a core of about 8-9 restaurants. Apart from gelato – since L’Incontro stopped selling gelato, that’s almost always L’Isola del Gusto (which it was 75% of the time before anyway!).

Next up are Volterra’s internal shots:

Migliorini – usually our place of choice for pasties. Hot chocolate not so good, unfortunately.

And finally, a set of photos taken outside the walls, or largely pointing outside the walls:

It’s about 20km to the top of that mountain on the right

And that was that. We just worked – didn’t go anywhere. We enjoyed the week nonetheless. These working weeks show us how we’d cope by just working over here should we ever decided to move (of course we’re moving!).

Another Working Week (03-08/06/2024)

I’m slowly catching up!

Much of this week was without travel, I’m afraid to say. We spent most of the daytime smartworking – the company for which we work allows us to ‘work away’ from your home or the office for up to 20 days a year. It might not sound like a heap, but I am really grateful for the benefit! Much of this week is a blur of food and walks, but I’ll jot a paragraph or two in respect of photos that stir more specific memories.

It looks messy, and it kinda is to eat, but this burger from La Sosta del Priore was damn delicious – and lunch for one of the days

Have a look at the photo on the right above. The man, in order to perform some works underneath the tiles, painstakingly removed the tiles and placed them in their correct order for re-applying later on. A day or two later – this is how things looked:

And now this year, you wouldn’t know anything had occurred!

A great job, no? The above pic is from a blast from the future (past?) in March 2025.

I did a little walking the following morning and evening:

I’m looking at the food photos and I am not entirely sure where we ate, which is unusual – I can often tell where we ate by the crockery, glassware and table-layout, let alone food. I suspect it was Antica Taverna, but I can’t be 100% sure. The quality looks good, but they’re service spag bol… the soup presentation is unfamiliar to me – at the same time, the cacio e pepe looks great!

Moving on through the week, I had a gelato before we had a larger lunch from a wonderful place run by sisters and their mother: La Carabaccia. They have a couple of set things on the menu e.g. antipasti platters, zuppa alla Volterrana (yay!) and desserts, they rotate their menu every day – they just have a couple of pasta dishes and a couple of secondi (meats or vegetarian). It’s nonna-style Tuscan cooking all the way – delicious, and all the ladies are very sweet too.

We had an early evening walk that day:

One of the best shots you can take in Volterra

And I kept up the cardio-vascular the next day – both first thing in the morning, and a quick mid-morning stroll and gelato raid!

Yes, I have Volterra wallpaper on my laptop

That evening, we decided we’d had enough of Tuscan cuisine (yes, it happens – about once every two weeks), and headed with a friend to Cecina and an Asian Fusion place called SUSHI.BA. We were still on our quest to find a decent Asian place to eat. One has since opened up in Volterra (Ristorante Kibou sushi), and both Niamh and I think it’s one of the better ones – but we don’t each much sushi – so it’s largely the stir-fry, rice, dumpling and noodle dishes we prefer. Are either as good as a Chinese restaurant back home, no. You have to go to one of two Element Restaurants for some wonderful Cantonese goodness.

Anyway, this place was ok – I really liked my beef stir fry – it was well-presented and the beef didn’t taste cheap. I have since returned, but the quality of that dish had deteriorated.

Deep-fried icecream – it’s been a while!

All-in-all, not a bad place. If I recall correctly, the spicy tuna roll was nice this time around.

The following day was work, walk and eating as usual.

Finally, thank the good Lord, we did something on our last full day. We must have felt like cooped-up chickens, because we split to the coast. Both Marisa from Tales from Tuscany and Marie and Lorenzo from Authentic Tuscany all recommended that we visit a little coastal village of Quercinella, so we did!

This is a small place with a rocky, sheltered beach, a couple of hotels and restaurants, just a little south of Livorno. It’s nice and peaceful, although it can get busy. But most of the people who land there are Italian. So, having spotted a couple of carparks, we grabbed one, but Niamh declared it slightly too far away and so we grabbed the other. If you’re lucky, you can actually find some street parking closer to the coast, or maybe the unmarked carpark will be opened.

Anyway, we got out, walked up to the busy street and crossed it, and aimed towards a suburban offshoot. We got about halfway down this, when a kindly resident told us that it was a cul-de-sac, and we should aim for the tunnel underneath the railway tracks which will bring us to the beach. So, back up we went, and walked back to the carpark and found that it did indeed snake under the tracks.

We walked under a second archway, which brought us to the lungomare (seaside promenade).

It was kinda busy. We could see the entire stretch of promenade and knew enough that we had seen it in its entirety. It might be a cosy getaway for the local Italians, but an explorer’s dream it is not. However, it intrigued us enough to make a second visit another time (with find company) and stroll along the rocky pier you can see in the centre photo above.

Italians like their skimpy bathing costumes, and both Niamh and I were in civvies and opted not to walk along the beach. I always feel a bit of a perv if I do so when I’m dressed and everyone else is nearly naked – especially since I sometimes have my phone out to take photos or video. So, really, that was enough of that! There’s a small village area to the south which we still yet haven’t walked around. Instead, we walked back towards a restaurant recommended again by both parties (Lentisco). On the way, we chose to duck into their half-closed carpark and along their outdoor space to the restaurant itself.

If there’s one thing that can be said about Lentisco, it’s that they are located like few other restaurants: on top of short cliffs, with incredible views of the coast – it must be amazing for sundown parties. Today, we would just have a little lunch. We got a seat a little away from a window, so at least one of us (Niamh) could gaze out over Mediterranean loveliness. The people were pretty nice and the good was above average. Sometimes you sacrifice quality for great location, and this was only mildly the case here.

I wanted something light, as I knew we were going to eat later to cap off our holiday, so I went for a fillet of fish with veggies in a broth. Both veggies and broth were yummy, and the fish mostly good, but it still had a fair few bones and was undercooked (as you can see in the pic) in places. They also served us “when ready”, meaning that Niamh was finished her sandwich before I got my fish. Anyway, do me a favour and go in the evening and let me know what it’s like!

On the way back, we went back the way we came, got in the car, and I assumed that rather than taking the fairly dangerous left-hand turn onto the SS1, we turned right and then took the next left back towards Lentisco – cooing at the fabulous very-neo-gothic-looking Villa Jana, thinking we’d have an easier right-hand turn when we completed our loop through the village.

We turned left before Lentisco, and saw a couple of young boys, dressed for the sea, stopping cars and trying to sell the occupants glasses of water. Cute as it was, we didn’t succumb and I took the the second left, which I immediately recognised as the pedestrian route we took, which led us back to the carpark. I felt a complete idiot, but still negotiated the tricky left-hand onto the SS1. This road does have a speed limit, but those who drive coaches and logistical transport on it do not seem to be aware. There are two pieces of good news: the first is that the far lane has a short painted merging lane you can use. Italians are used to these and so won’t panic if they see a car suddenly pull out into one in what looks like the same lane. Tourists, on the other hand, will shit their britches (excuse me), so be careful.

The other piece of good news, of which I have only become aware in the writing of this, is that if I had taken the next left on the promenade, I would have found a much safer route onto the SS1 after about a kilometer through a suburban area.

We were on our way home along the coast, when I decided to drift off somewhere else we’d never visited before: Rosignano Marittimo. It was only a fleeting visit, though. I needed both a drink and a bathroom break, so after parking, we sat for a little while in the cute Caffè Carducci, just off a small piazza.

Although we were refreshed, the weather had taken a bit of a cloudy turn over these mountains, and overall the atmosphere oppressively humid, so we only explored a few hundred meters, gave the gorgeous castle a nod and drove home! We will explore farther another time – apologies!

So, we were at the end of another holiday, and visited La Vecchia Lira to cap it all off.

You can look at the video linked in the last blog, the last couple of minutes of which cover Quercinella and Rosignano Marittimo.

Thanks for getting to the end of this one. I’m happy with the pace, and soon I’ll have caught up with 2025! Drop me a line and let me know what you think!

Viareggio, Pietrasanta, Sunsets, Art, Friends and Buti (31/05-02/06/2024)

The one good thing about saying goodbye to a guest, is that we get a chance to head north – a direction we rarely travel in beyond Pisa. We said goodbye to my brother, and I had in mind to visit once place we had been before a loooong time ago – and one new place I had read about.

We took the road to Viareggio! Our first introduction to Tuscany back in (I think) 2008, was on a Travel Department tour. One of the places they took us to was Viareggio – one of the classic seaside towns lining the Versilian coast in Tuscany.

It took us longer than expected to arrive, and we ended up parking a ways away from the promenade, here (at the time of writing this, this is temporarily closed). I’m sure you can find somewhere closer! I thought we’d enjoy a walk through the town, until we reached the promenade strip. The truth be told, however, is that in the main part of the town, once you get to a block beyond the coastal road, Viareggio becomes incredibly workaday. Little neighbourhoods in blocks, served by bars and bakeries and the occasional craft store. Not unpleasant, but nothing inspirational either.

Our walk took us the guts of 15 minutes, but sight of the promenade walk is so worth it. It’s really lovely just on the coast.

It was still early enough in the morning, and we hadn’t had breakfast yet, so we found Gran Caffè Margherita, which is a lovely café with an old-style feel, attached to a bookshop. We had a pastry and drink each.

Once done, we walked a little bit of the promenade, and then up one of the piers, stopping only momentarily (honest) to look at a couple of lady beach volleyballers being coached – they looked quite pro, from what very little I saw of them. We got to the end and took snaps. The wind was up and the sea was rough.

A nice town, but we didn’t really want to explore up the far end, and so walked back to the car. Several blocks in, we came across one of the above-mentioned craft stores – this one was more householdy. Italians always dress their stores really well, so we had a good nose in there for a little while.

One last thing about Viareggio: it hosts the largest mardi gras in Europe, with gigantic floats parading down its promenade – I haven’t been there yet during this celebration, but hope to some year.

It was still morning, and I thought seeing as we were so far north (for us!), we could visit Pietrasanta for an explore and some lunch. Pietrasanta is to marble-work and statuary as Volterra is to alabaster. I’d read an old travelogue by an American, who travelled along the Versilian coast (Hidden Tuscany by John Keahey), lauding Pietrasanta and it’s artistic inhabitants and their workshops. I was excited to maybe see live some marble being worked, so off we went. Parking was free and easy, but a little walking is required to bring you back under the train tracks via an underpass. There is one there in the carpark linked above, so don’t go to the trouble of hiking along the roads to make it to the old town, or you’ll add 10 minutes to your journey!

You come out at the train station, and just a little beyond it, around a bend, you’ll spy one of the arched entrances to the centro storico.

Not the straightest of photos I ever took!

We walked through the archway and immediately to the right were shelves of marble knick-knacks in a window. Ah cool! I thought, The first workshop! But it was no such thing, but rather a Tabaccheria! I thought that if a Tabaccheria is displaying items like this, the rest of the town must be pure gold for marble-work. Well, I soon discovered that it is, and it isn’t.

The book I mentioned above had been published back in 2014, and it would seem a lot had happened in the intervening decade. Once you entered the archway, you are practically in the main square, directly ahead with a slight left, and it is impressive. We decided an explore of the square and its church, before looking for a place for lunch.

Ugh! I hope this isn’t as crass as it looks!

After that, we hit the streets to check out the workshops of Pietrasanta. Except there weren’t any. Not on a streets, anyway. There were plenty of art stores and boutiques, all lavishly appointed – even by Italian standards, the shop-fronting and fitting was impressive for many of these places. But it wasn’t exactly what I came for – which indicates the importance of doing more relevant research to ensure that expectation-setting is performed correctly. I can’t blame Pietrasanta – I blame myself. I guess sometimes that while 1000 years doesn’t diminish architecture in Italy, a mere 10 can heavily influence local economies.

We killed another half an hour by having a refreshing drink at the bar in the main square (Bar Michelangelo), before settling on Ristorante Quarantuno for a bite. Dishes were ok – mine a little salty, Niamh’s a little soupy.

We were tempted to take the coastal route home, but instead opted for speed and were back in Volterra in time to take a nap!

That evening, we had a pizza-date in La Mangiatoia, and took a walk and had enjoyed the tramonto (sunset) in Piazzetta dei Fornelli. I had one of the newer fancy pizzas on their expanded menu – mozzerella blob with sun-dried tomatoes and anchovies. It was nice, but next time I will stick with the regular recipes.

The next day, we spent as tourists in our own adopted town. Banksy, the legendary urban artist, had an exhibition in the exhibition centre, which is worth a visit anyway as it has semi permanent showings from local artists, and Etruscan ruins in its basement.

NOTE – BANKSY ISN’T FOR EVERYONE, AND A COUPLE OF THE WORKS BELOW MAY OFFEND.

Back in Piazza dei Priori, we noted that they were getting ready for the palio di cere – Volterra’s tug-of-war competition between the neighbourhoods. We had a lightish lunch in Ristorante Etruria.

Afterwards, we went, for the first time, to the new Mauro Staccioli exhibition hall, which is in itself quite lovely. You might remember Staccioli created the geometric sculptures found around the Val di Cecina – the most famous of which are the two ‘O’s on roads just outside of Volterra.

Later that evening, we went to Torre del Porcellino for a large dinner! We over-ate, really.

You may or may not be pleased to know that we have started to eat not as voraciously in the past year.

Bring on the next day and its walk around Volterra!

Today, we were supposed to go to Lari for their cherry festival (we have since done so – check out the video here). We managed to get as far as Lari and park in a looong row of cars, just outside town. Then the heavens opened. It was like being in a carwash. We checked with friends on our WhatsApp group and were told that Vicopisano was still dry, so several cars’ worth of people hightailed it there instead.

We spent an afternoon nibbling, drinking (except for designated drivers, of course) and laughing. Before long, several hours have passed – if that makes any sense. We were getting our hunger on. Marie (of Authentic Tuscany) suggested a place she knows in the nearby village of Buti. We hadn’t been there, and food was on the menu (literally!), so we leapt at the chance and went.

It was only a short drive, and it began to drizzle a little bit – but it didn’t dampen our spirits (I apologise for these awful puns). We parked (here), and had a short walk to the main square. Marie took us to a bar first to kill a little time before the restaurant opened. Niamh and I had a crema al caffe, and marvelled at the loveliness of the place. Marie assured us that the people here were mad and loved to party. I still haven’t been back, but I don’t know why – perhaps I need some sort of sanity test. Anyway, when Enoteca Acetone opened, we bundled ourselves inside, and after aperitivi and snacks, were presented with antipasti on clotheslines (no, really!) and some wonderful pasta dishes!

And after more laughs, we trundled home. Cheers, Fran and Nick and Marie!

Thanks for reading this – I hope you enjoyed it – but please check out the video below which covers the last couple of blogs, but in video form! Enjoy that too!

Certaldo and Castagnetti Carducci Redux (29+30/05/2024)

We had a busy couple of days in store with my brother, and both days we visited towns Niamh and I had already visited. One we’d gone to I think in 2018, and one we’d just been to the previous year.

The first morning, my brother and I took a walk part way around the walls. It was a good day!

Calories burned and consumed, we debated where to go and what to do, but by the time we had done so, we felt it was a little bit late to skip lunch in Volterra, and attempt to dine in our target. This is because that many kitchens in rural Italy will close their doors for lunch around the 14:15/14:30 mark. So, we went next door to Porgi l’Altra Pancia.

Just the one course – something I have to get used to, to get rid of my ever-increasing belly. And then we were on to one of the area’s loveliest hill towns: Certaldo!

Parking is a bit of a weird one. You can either park in the modern square from which you can grab the funicular up to the old town. When we were visiting, however, the square was under construction. We hit the place where we parked last – a designated spot just outside the walls of the old town. A note of caution here, though. Google will try to take you through a ZTL to get to it – not a good idea, as you’ll be fined. So, you have to go around a long way – through some suburban estates and along a very narrow road, along which you’ll sorta double-back on yourself. It’s a lengthier way, but at least you don’t run the risk of losing some money.

Certaldo is a lovely hilltop village, surrounded by a much larger new town. The old town is closely associated with pre-Renaissance poet Giovanni Boccaccio, who you probably haven’t heard of. But maybe you have heard of the Decameron, which was his masterwork? A very famous piece. Anyway, he is rumored to have been born in Certaldo, but certainly died and was buried here in the church of Saints Jacopo e Filippo.

We got out of the car and entered through the northern gate.

Giovanni Boccaccio’s tomb in the church. Blow this photo up and look in the bottom right corner!

In the tombstone photo above, you can see a little object on the bottom right-hand corner. It’s an onion! Certaldo is famous (at least in Tuscany) for its red onions – a more bead-shaped onion, than spherical. They are sweet, like the more world-famous Tropea onions, but while they don’t have DOP or IGP status, they are highly regarded by the Slow Food Presidium. So there you go!

We carried on with our little explore, and came across the Osteria Del Vicario, who kindly sat us in their beautiful back garden so we could have a refreshing drink. They less kindly refused people to take photos of their premises without buying a drink, but oh well. In fairness, they should have just bought a drink – it was worth it.

We had a little explore of the other side of town, before we took the funicular down to the new part of town, which we’d never been before. One snag, however: The machine at which you buy tickets was out of order, and there was nobody at the the ticket booth. We were told we could buy tickets at a nearby touristic shop. We couldn’t, but she kindly phoned a dude whom she told about the broken machine. He had to travel up to verify us and come back down when we did. At the bottom, we played fair and bought a return ticket.

It’s not quite as impressive or as lengthy as Montecatini Terme’s track, but it’s nice and very practical. Volterra could do with at least one!

I had a reason to explore a little of the new town, and dragged poor Niamh and my brother along to the Irish Bar – Fionn Mac Cool. I was wondering if it could possibly be the place closest to me at which I could enjoy an ice-cold hard cider. For some reason, this most perfect of summer drinks is infrequently available anywhere near Volterra. In fact, I have yet to find it outside Florence. But, by the time we got to the place, it was closed! I was sick! It only opened in the evenings – maybe moving to longer opening hours a couple of weeks later – further into the tourist season. The new town itself is modern and functional, and in need of a little TLC.

A little disappointed, we walked a different way back to the funicular terminal and went back up.

On the way back to the car, I made did two things – one a mistake, the other something relevatory which made me feel like an idiot. We stopped off at a gelateria, and while Niamh had some gelato, I didn’t. But all the time I was looking at the Certaldo onion flavour, but I never got it. Next time I’m there, I will get the onion flavoured gelato. I’m still annoyed I didn’t get it. Anyway, instead I got a can of Lemon Soda’s Virgin Mojita. For the past couple of years I have had a virgin mojito in a bar in Volterra, but never saw them mix it. I even recommended the drink to non-drinkers – I thought it was expertly balanced and mixed. Then I took a gulp from the can… and it was the exact. Same. Drink. I had to laugh at my own stupidty: of course it wasn’t the bar – they just poured a can and added ice and a little mint. Having said that, it’s still a wonderfully refreshing drink (not sponsored!).

We rested and chilled until it was time to go out for some dinner. Now, I am almost loathe to give the name of the place, because they’re usually good – and you know what, almost all the dishes we had that night were good, but there was one that was an especial travesty. Sorry, Ombra della Sera!

My fish was literally pulled apart in order to make some sort of attempt at filleting it. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. There’s no way a professional restaurant should have served it like that. Anyway, fortunately the rest of the dishes were tasty – so I have to tip my cap for that.

The next day, I decided to take my brother to the open Etruscan tombs past the Porta Diana. The journey to and into the tombs is wonderful.

I’d visited them a couple of times before but they’re still cool to visit – and motion-detecting lights switch on when you get inside them – looks grim and scary before you do, though. My brother waited patiently outside while I took a few snaps – and then it was time to return.

The journey back is less fun, as it’s uphill all the way – sharply in some areas. I had to pause at one point to catch my breath. On the plus side, the Oratorio della Visitazione chapel was open, and it very rarely is whenever I pass by. I took my chance to step inside and grab a shot o two.

A year ago, we went on a tour of the Val di Cornia and Valle del Diavolo, where our last town visited was Castagneto Carducci. We toured the residential area, wondering where the business/shopping district was, when we came across it – I thought it was a great little place. At the end of the shopping street is a really cute little piazza, and beyond that again is a panoramic viewpoint where you can view a huge chunk of the Tuscan coast – gorgeous – if only I had a drone!

Looking all the way north to Sassoscritto, just north of Quercinella

The weather wasn’t the very best that day, but we made up for that by having lunch in Risto-Macelleria San Martino. Vegetarians and Vegans – sorry about ya, but don’t even bother. This is a carnivore’s dream. Lunch turned into dinner when we saw the menu. I started by having tagliatelle al ragu – with one of the best beef ragus I have ever had. It was rich, intense and maybe even a little smokey – I wondered if they had put a trace of smoked paprika in the sauce. Anyway – I was blown away. For seconds, I got grilled sausage – I didn’t know that there would be three, and although they might look a little dry they were moist and succulent. Incredible. I just ate too much. Niamh and my brother had a chargrilled burger, with Niamh having had a . It might have been a little too much on the rare side, but it tasted nice.

We went home and chilled and, incredibly went out to eat in Don Beta. Honestly, I don’t remember this meal. I remember being absolutely stuffed by the meal earlier in the day. I look now at the photos below in disbelief. Then at my belly, and appreciate the reasons why I am quite overweight at the time of writing this!

I had three courses – soup, spaghetti all’olio aglio e peperoncino and cheesecake? What a pig!

We did burn some calories with an evening walk – it was the Italian equivalent of Corpus Cristi that night, so there was a little religious parade.

I’m going to leave this dark moment in my history alone now! I hope you enjoyed the read and the photos, but let me know what you think.

The Big Bumper Book of October (19-27/10/2023)

Well, we did lots, worked lots. There were a few magnificent highlights, and all are below in this summary of most of the rest of our October stay.

Thursday, October 19th
The best thing we did this day, and indeed possibly one of the best things you can do ANY day if you’re in the area is go to Bis Osteria for dinner. We didn’t visit it during the whole of 2024, and that is a fact about which I am absolutely disgusted. It’s one of the best restaurants I know, and that night we had one of the best pastas we’d ever eaten: green lasagne sheets with mushrooms – amazing – certainly the pasta of the year for me for 2023.

Before that, we had lunch in Porgi l’Altra Pancia and looked at some classic Porsches!

I had this! With tomatoes! Am I making peace at last?

And later we drove to Colle di Val d’Elsa and headed to Bis. They remembered us from last time (we know the chef, but waiting staff knew us too – good memories). We had the fabulous food:

Friday, October 20th
We actually did a thing again this day! That evening we had dinner with local friends in La Vecchia Lira, before we all headed off to the theatre to watch a Pink Floyd tribute band. They were fabulous – more true to the album than Floyd themselves, accents aside – and it was an excellent night!

Saturday, October 21st
Today, we rested. We went to the market and for our big meal went to La Mangiatoia for pizza!

Sunday, October 22nd
It was Volterragusto – the twice-annual foodie-fest in Volterra; mostly focusing on chocolate and black truffle. A winning combination, in my book! Here are some pics from the day.

But that wasn’t the main event. Oh no! There was the matter of the second palio (competition, more or less) of the year: Palio dei Caci, where contestants from the various contrade (neighbourhoods) guide cheese wheels downhill through an obstacle course made of straw bales. And it was good fun! Interestingly, a guy from Villamagna, a small village within the comune (township) of Volterra won it – this meant that they had done the double that year, by winning both the tug-of-war palio and this one! Couple all of the action with medieval pomp and ceremony, then it makes for a fun day.

Afterwards we had a walk and a gelato and wandered until it was time to eat. We went to Ristorante Etruria, but indoors to the wonderfully frescoed area. The food was decent enough.

Monday-Wednesday, October 23rd-25th
It was a working week again, and the weather turned. We still got out for walks, gelati and local meals!

Thursday-Friday, October 26th-27th
These were our last two days in 2023. They started off with a walk…

But it ended up with a wonderful evening with Ivana and Claudia from Marcampo. They know the area so well, and choose the restaurant we ate at. They’re such lovely people too – no finer people to stay with if you’re planning on coming over. And I got a chance to practice my Italian a little – a bonus only. We drove to Agriturismo Santa Vittoria and had a little aperitivo while we waited on the ladies.

The views from here during the daytime must be amazing

I told the owner he had a beautiful place and he thanked me. Then started talking naturally, which he kept up for the entire visit there. While the ladies gave me tons of confidence with my Italian, the owner’s staccato gunfire somewhat reduced that! I just need more listening practice. Anyway, did he make up for it with the food. One of the best pastas I had this year – pici with pheasant and black truffle. Magnificent.

We left with hugs and very satisfied! Thanks, ladies.

Our last day was another working day, and the major highlight of it was the amazing sunset we had out Piazza dei Fornelli. Take a look at these beautiful colours:

Well, that was 2023! We started off 2024 in Venice, of all places, and I have already blogged and videoed that – look a few rows up on the archive page – there’s a trio of entries. I’ll clump the rest of 2024 into groups like I have done recently – with special attention given to the very cool.

Here’s a video of the last couple of weeks in Volterra. Give it a watch, and thanks as always for your support!

Dinners with Friends Old and New, and a Return Home (23/06-25/06/23)

We were heading into the last three days of our holidays, and we were going to spend a chunk of it with various friends. Marisa and David of the Tales from Tuscany YouTube channel were housesitting near the lovely village of Montecatini val di Cecina, and we would visit them for dinner.

The next night, we had been invited to join a vineyard dinner table at Azienda Agricola Castelvecchio by Marie and Lorenzo of Authentic Tuscany (check them out for a base for a Tuscany stay). Sadly, Lorenzo had to work, but we’d meet Marie and some of her guests for an amazing set dinner.

Friday, June 23rd
Unsurprisingly, I got up and went for a walk. I was due to work later on, so I kept it briefish.

We had a light lunch of pizza and milkshake!

Later on, it was time for the main event!

We took the sexy road towards Saline and switched out at the even sexier road towards Lajatico and Montecatini val di Cecina. The latter is a lovely village overlooking the val di Cecina (duh), and the northern part of the val d’Era. The road to it from Volterra is a masterpiece, going through rolling hills and tilled land. Lone trees or sculptures dot the land here and there, like exclamation marks to the lines of poetry that are the panoramic views. It’s even better looking coming the other way.

Just before Montecatini, however, we turned off onto a road that must have been created by a giant mole with delirium tremens. There are many such of these unpaved “white roads” in Italy, which lead to lone private properties. These properties can look like Heaven on Earth, but there’s an obvious purgatorial metaphor in the roads which precede them. This road was unpleasant at first, and then downright awful. I was beginning to wonder if our car was fitted with crampons. Was it possible to get seasick in a car? We lost the horizon multiple times, before it became a solid dirt track, which was the final driveway. Phew!

And it was a lovely place. It was airconditioned throughout, had a (technically) above-ground swimming pool, and best of all, a fabulous view over the valley back towards Volterra. We were enthusiastically greeted by Marisa and David, and a couple of lovely doggos they were also minding.

But we had a little bit of comedy to kick off the night, courtesy of an unfortunate Marisa.

A risotto with fresh porcini was supposed to be on the menu, but poor Marisa accidentally threw these (fairly expensive) mushrooms out with a bag of dogshit. An ignominious end for one of Italy’s finest delicacies. However, she deftly rescued the situation by having cooked a killer ragù to go with some toothsome pasta.

We had a little vino to wash it down, which paired perfectly with the food.

Afterwards, we had a trip up the driveway of the property to have a look at another large house, protected by its hedging. No breaking and entering tonight. We were shepherded by a lovely cat on the way back.

Another vino was had, and then, sadly, my metabolism caught up with me after a week of work, and I just began to get drowsy. They didn’t get the best of me that night – sorry, guys. It’s not like we were looking forward to leaving – we’d have to head down that poxy road again. But needs must, and we headed off with a wave.

Saturday, June 24th
This was our last full day this holiday. We did get out for a light lunch at Ristorante Etruria. It can be touristy, but Niamh loves the melanzane parmiggiana there, as I love the zuppa alla Volterrana. We also snuck in a little fritto misto.

But what this day was really about, was attending an evening dinner amongst the vines of Azienda Agricola Castelvecchio. We were invited there by Marie and Lorenzo, but sadly Lorenzo had to work that night, so we met up with her group for a little aperitivo beforehand.

Music played while we made our way to our table

There were lots of tables scattered throughout the vineyard, which itself was in beautiful surroundings, made all the more amazing by the golden hour. After we had introduced ourselves to a lovely bunch (mother and daughter Leslie and Suzy from the US, whom we met again this year, a pair of fab ladies from Cork with their partners, and of course Marie herself).

We were serenaded to our tables. We wound our way a few minutes to our own table and once again marvelled at the views.

We sat, and had a good old chat and a laugh, while we waited for the food and wine to arrive. And they were generous with both! A glass accompanied each course, and the experience was heightened not only by the booze, but by the sinking sun, which coloured the landscape from honey to a deep amber.

First time I had steak tartare – not bad, but I wouldn’t go wild for it. It needed the caper and anchovy for taste

It began to get dark when the dessert came out, and we yummied it down and reluctantly moved back to the agricola buildings.

We were able to walk about their shop and wine-making facility, while they gave us a snifter of their grappa – which I have to say was rocket-fuel! Their wines are awesome, but the grappa has a bit of a bite to it, haha!

It was an amazing end to an amazing holiday, and Niamh and I couldn’t recommend a night like it highly enough – we loved it! So, thanks to our friends Marie and Lorenzo from Authentic Tuscany for the experience!

Sunday, June 25th
It was the day we were to fly home, but the flight was a little later in the day, affording us a little time to explore the ladies’ crafts market (mercato rosa), and have a little treat from L’Isola del Gusto before we drove to the airport, dropped the rental car off and flew back to Ireland.

Thanks for reading – let me know what you think. We came back in September/October 2023! Expect some content soon!

Return to Val di Cornia – Did We Find a Casole Marittimo Beater? (15/06/2023)

So blown away by the Val di Cornia last time we visited (only a few days previously), that we said we’d have to return as soon as possible. And that’s just what we did as soon as our half week of work was over. There was at least one town I wanted to return to – and that was Monteverdi Marittimo. Return to, the more observant of you may ask. Well, yes – sort of. Unfortunately, I failed to blog that we had driven through the town last time we were here. It looked really nice, and there were people out and about and sitting in the small piazza in benches, just taking in the magnificent views. I think it was in the accompanying video, but I’d forgotten about it in the blog. Anyway, it seemed so nice that we wanted to give it a go, and stop there.

Along the way, we’d stop at a nice village, and a further surprise awaited us in the form of a town we found so lovely, that we considered it might be a Casale Marittimo beater! There’s a video of our day near the bottom, so be sure to check that out.

But first – I had a wee walk that morning. Enjoy the photos.

Righto! It was time to go and explore. Of course, to explore one must load up on calories, so that’s what we did, courtesy of L’Isola del Gusto!

A little coffee milkshake to get me going!

We wanted to hit Monteverdi Marittimo for lunch and be hungry with it, so we had a little time to kill. On the way, therefore, we would stop off at the previously unexplored village of Canneto – the old portion of which is shaped like a dagger in its sheath. We parked here, so it was only a few steps from town. There was a bar nearby, along with signs to wine and oil-tasting.

It’s a small place, so we had a wander around it’s walls and then inside – and went to the church there too. The bells went off and kept on going at one stage, bless them. It had great views of the valley on the north side, and was just so peaceful. As well as the little bottega, there was a pizzeria there – seems to get good reviews on Google – but it wasn’t open when we were there, and we simply weren’t hungry enough.

It was warm and breezy, and although I can’t see us visiting again too soon during the day time – it might be a nice place to go to for an evening meal.

It was time to press on to our main target of the day: Monteverdi Marittimo. We travelled on roads that were fairly familiar to us from our trip a few days ago, but the weather was nicer, and the colour of the sky contrasted nicely with the forested hills. When we’d driven through the town last time, we saw that there was parking right next to the Carabinieri station. Across the street, the viewpoint overlooked a footie pitch, before the vista disappeared into distant haze.

It was a short walk into town (a couple of hundred meters. We had a patter about the central area of the town, and up a bit of a slope to a small area consisting of a couple of tiny piazzette and roads leading down to what looked like a residential area. In truth, at the time we were a little disappointed as the town seemed to promise more.

We thought we had explored a lot of the nice area of town, and were hungry by now. We had a choice between a place which had better reviews, but didn’t seem to have outside seating – and a place which had nice seating with views into the valley. We opted for the latter (Bar Sport). No lights were on in the place, so I had to wander in and ask if they were open. They must have been opening just then, because we got a friendly nod. A few other people started wandering in too – cyclists mostly, so that was a good sign. It was fairly blustery out by now, so we had to clip down our tablecloth. I went for a 2-course, double primi meal (both soups and pastas feature as first courses on Italian menus).

After the meal was done, we had thought to head out and spend the afternoon exploring at random. However, just below the dining area a little street ran parallel, and contained a couple of food-related shops, so we walked there and headed to the right. It was then that we realised, as we ambled along, looking down the lanes to the left that led to spectacular views, that we almost did Monteverdi Marittimo a disservice.

We spent the next 30 minutes exploring the truly gorgeous residential part of town. Here was where the real beauty lay in Monteverdi Marittimo. Pristine streets and steep lanes led downwards towards shallow walls where you could get some amazing views of the forested valleys.

We were well chuffed with ourselves for having taken that little tour (the fact that I accidentally stood on a cat’s tail notwithstanding). We walked back to the car, and took a look at the map to see where we could go next. I spotted the town of Sassetta which we had skipped last time out, so we made our way towards that. It was a little bit of a squiggly drive. Due to its location on a spur in a valley, there seems to be only three ways in/out of the town. We took one of them in, and I gasped as we passed by a knife-edge of land on which some houses lay, and behind it forest-covered hills. It gave us the perfect parallax effect – everything seemed so unreal-looking. The rest of the town could be seen in the background a ways to the right. We parked on the edge of the main town in a little triangle with having a drink in mind.

We stopped at a small bar/gelateria – the guy was clearly closing down for riposo, and apologised, but pointed out that there was bar in a small square not too far from where we were. We ordered and sat, and were amused by how some worker guys who were having pizza there were feeding the piazza’s resident cat.

A look ahead to the amenities side of town

Once we’d watered and bathroomed, we had a choice to keep on the main road to explore the main part, or be drawn instead to the archway which led to a more residential part. We decided upon the latter and what a series of view awaited us there. We were both entranced by the narrow steep lanes, each house a little different, each decorated with miniature sculptures or flowers and potted plants. The town was mostly made of grey stone, rather than the sandy tufa we’re more used to, but there was pink stone set into houses and steps. Not painted pink, but a natural pink – not much of it, but enough to make the place characterful.

Some of the houses were built on a knife-edge and afforded the owners spectacular view either onto the neighbouring forested hills or the adjoining hilly valleys. We were really taken in, and wondered what kind of prices property would attract here.

After 15-20 minutes of being slack-jawed – I don’t think the above photos do it justice – we climbed back up to the amenities side of town – and that had its merits too.

They have a butchers, grocers, post office, pharmacy… we spotted some walks leading from the village we hadn’t the time to check. But we did walk down about 200 meters to have a look at the vista at a large new building made to look like an old building… or was it vice-versa. There was a fab view over the tree-covered mountains.

We walked back to, and then beyond, the car – as we wanted to take more distant shots of the town, because the vistas really blew us away.

So is it a Casale Marittimo-beater? I think they’re equally lovely, but Casale has it beaten due to its relative ease of access, closeness to the sea and nearness to Cecina and all its amenities. Sassetta is probably better as a chill-zone – somewhere to bury yourself into another life. I’ve also been told that Sassetta has thermal pools and spas – so we might duck back for another look, as that might seriously be in its favour.

Here’s the video of our day out!

That evening, we had one of our infrequent visits to Il Sacco Fiorentino – we tried going there a few times, but frequently found it closed. Anyway, I had one of the most unusual things I’ve ever had in a Volterran restaurant: Curry noodles with chicken and veg. Hear me out – sometimes you just need a different type of flavour-set! These went down a treat… they weren’t hot, but the flavour was great. Nice to see someone trying something different during the tourist season. There is a Pokebowl place on our street, and some places do sushi during the winter months.

We polished off the day with a stroll about the town.

I hope you enjoyed the read – all 3 villages are worth the trip if you’re in the area!

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.

Leonardo da Wherenow? (08/06/2023)

Yay! It was time for another Day Of Fun™! Due to our friend’s love of history, and that fact that we hadn’t been to it in ages, we decided to drive out to the village of Vinci. Yes, that place, where your man is from – Frank… nah, just kidding, Leonardo, of course.. While perhaps not quite from the village, it is said that he lived in a house up in the hills nearby. Scholars (and charlatans, probably), can’t be 100% precise where he lived, but they have all settled on a particular house, based on his writings and some drawings of the nearby landscape. We had been to the village before, seen the museum and even eaten there – but this was before I started blogging or vlogging. So, this is effectively net new to you guys.

What isn’t net new, is that I went on a lovely walk. This was going to be (mostly) a lovely day, so the colours are lush and were not unwelcome. Enjoy!

As you can see, I kept it inside the walls this time around. I then to it to the top of the walls to have a look at the beautiful countryside surrounding the town.

After breakfasting and abluting we walked to the car, and drove the hour or so there. There’s handy parking, but it’s at the bottom of the town and it’s a mild uphill walk through the new part of town before you hit the museum ticket office.

There were only a couple of small groups ahead of us. While we waited, we marveled at the little birds who had nested in the ticket office. Anyway, when we go to the front, he completely blanked my wonderful “Tre studenti, per favore.” and paid complete attention to Niamh and my friend, who were obviously the adults in the group. We got our tix (which incidentally cover entry to Leonardo’s childhood home outside the town) and headed up the ramp immediately outside, into the old town.

I assure you that there actually some people there! One of the great things about having a car at your disposal is that you get to visit tons of places most tourists will never see – even one as culturally significant as Vinci. We walked through the old town’s laneways, had a look at Leonardo’s possible place of baptism, and admired some modern sculpture, before entering the exhibitions themselves. A couple of things to note here: firstly, these exhibitions relate to his engineering and anatomical studies and feats, not his art – and second, I don’t have many photos, as I was taking video at the time.

Ok, there is also a third thing: it was mercilessly hot in the building. They only had air-conditioning turned on in one room, in which we sat down for a little while.

The museum itself is fascinating, and contains many miniatures and working models of his machines. I lamented how he had to turn to making war machines to satisfy his benefactors and make a living. One curious thing – they had a huge model of the wings for humans, spread across the ceiling of one of the rooms. When we were reviewing the photos after, the ladies were astonished – neither of them had seen it!

We were hungry, and when looking for a place to eat, we came across a little piazzetta in which there were statues of Leonardo da Vinci and Qi Baishi (Chinese painter) by a Japanese sculptor. I have no idea why I have no photos nor video of these, as they were quite lovely. Such is life. Anyway, we were hungry and spotted a couple of snacky-restaurants below. Now, usually I’d run away from these types of places in obviously touristy areas, but I wasn’t getting the ‘we’re here to fleece you’ vibe from it, so we gave it a bash.

And I’m glad we did! The food was above average, but the people serving were so chatty and lovely – I live for these kinds of random interactions. We were just talking about where we came from, and if we’d visited here or there – nothing World-changing, but just… nice!

Before heading back to the car to try to find Leonardo’s gaff, we first entered a tiny souvenir place where I desperately tried to find some t-shirts that fit me – some of the designs were cheesy but fun. Sadly, most shops in Italy don’t cater for the larger gentleman. I lost 22.5 kg (50 lbs) when I was very ill with generalised anxiety disorder. Now that I’m (mostly) out of that, I’ve since put that and more back on – I need to lose weight. But even when I was at my skinniest, buying clothes in Italy was a huge challenge! I bought one anyway as a ‘promise’ to myself to fit into it.

Then we drove up the steep and wriggling road to where Leonardo’s house is said to be. Parking is easy, and there thankfully was a refreshments van there too, which we made use of on the way back.

We walked across the narrow road, and through a small olive grove until we reached the complex, of which Leonardo’s birth home is a part. A nice young man took our tickets and we entered the building. It’s not particularly big – just a few rooms. The room to the right contains a little diorama indicating Leonardo’s travels and other memorabilia. The room to the left had the most interesting thing: a projected mini-documentary where a lone actor playing Leonardo tells his life story, but through his love of his mother. This is definitely worth catching. Italian and English versions play alternately, and there is another room in the modern part of the complex, which it also plays it on a small TV – I’d catch the more immersive version in his house, if I were you. I didn’t take many photos, because I was taking video instead (see below).

If I ever publish a travel book, this will be on its back cover

We strolled around outside after, taking photos and video. Then we walked back to the car, got ourselves some refreshments back at the van (it was a hot old day!) and drove home.

Except we didn’t get as far as the apartment, did we?

Espresso martini at Antica Velathri Café!

And we didn’t quite stop at Antica Velathri Café. It was golden hour, so we raided Piazzetta Fornelli to check out the sunset. We met another friend there, and took photos of each other in between sips of aperitivi.

We were getting hungry (what else is new?), and thought we’d give one of our favourite places a bash: La Taverna della Terra di Mezzo. We just love Robbi and Aurora, the owner and waitress respectively – and the food is good – especially the meats. So that’s just what we had: a big, flip-off Florentine steak.

You don’t get to dictate how a Florentine steak is cooked!

We were finishing up our meal when we heard a bit of a cacophony approaching Via Gramsci (where the restaurant lies). It turns out it was the feast of Saint Clement and Giusto – so there was a protracted procession of the town’s finest, chanting and holding candles while responding to a cleric on a loudhailer. You can catch this in the video just below:

And that was our day! I hope you enjoyed the read. Give me a shout with any comments/queries!

We get back to Volterra, then split to the coast (27-28/05/2023)

I guess it was on the cards, wasn’t it? Yes, we came back – we always do. This time, it was for 4 weeks. We broke down this time between holidays and working away (‘smart-working’ as it’s known in Italy – yes, they use that English phrase!). Our first week was spent working, the next two holidaying, and we finished up by working again. I would always recommend finishing your time abroad by working, if you have that benefit as an employee, or if the work you do suits, as a self-employed person. The post-holiday blues are split between (a) returning to work, and (b) returning home. The last couple of times I did this, I barely felt any sadness at all when I flipped open the laptop and started work. It sounds counter-intuitive – but trust me: work just before you go home.

Anyway, enough pontificating. We began this (surprisingly wet – more in weeks to come) stay with the guts of a weekend – three-quarters of Saturday and a full Sunday.

We got up at sparrowfart to take the flight over, and so we were tired enough when we got to Volterra. We dropped our bags up and had a little explore and a light lunch. We bumped into our friend at Volaterra before she had to get back to some work, and we had to get back to some food.

Afterwards, we had a wander towards the panoramic viewpoint at Piazzetta dei Fornelli.

Home to rest, and then out again. We always like to call into La Taverna della Terre di Mezzo as early in the holiday as we can to say hello to Robbi and Aurora, who always treat us so well. We had a wander about Piazza XX Settembre first.

But then it was time for the main event! We ate in the Roman-era cellar – it was lovely and cool down there. The wine and food pairing was as yummy as always.

As we’d had a little bit to eat in Volaterra, we kept it to just two courses. Then, to bed – as we promised a friend we’d meet her in Chianni the next day to catch up and treat her to a little lunch.

There was a spring in my step the next morning, as it was a Fun Day Out™ day! Such was my effervescence, I headed out for a lengthyish walk. Firstly, past the main panoramic viewpoint, then on down Viale dei Ponti, past fonts and fountains and onwards and back upwards to Porta a Selci.

Instead of going through the gate, I walked towards our carpark, but carried on further ’til I hit the private carpark at the Seminario di Sant’Andrea. At least I still think it’s private – it now has a P symbol on Google maps, but I still think it’s not for use by the public. If there are any Volterrani reading this, please let me know! Anyway, I captured some less-often taken shots there.

It doesn’t look like Volterra from this angle, but it is!

I walked back up, to our carpark and entered the town at Porto Marcoli, and walked by the back of the block that faces Piazza XX Settembre.

An Ape… the Vespa’s slightly bigger brother

The morning walk and ablutions out of the way, it was time to go to Chianni!

Chianni is a cute village only about 20km away on the far side of the Val d’Era. It has a sweet centre with super views of the hills on one side, and has forested mountains to the other side. The two bad location aspects of Chianni (purely from our perspective) is that it still takes about 45 minutes to get there from Volterra. Ah, those Tuscan roads! In fairness you are driving through some lovely rolling countryside to get there. The second one… well, we’ll talk about that later.

We parked opposite the carabinieri station (there’s an unmarked (on Google) carpark there) and walked 6 or 7 minutes to the lovely little central square, where we found our friend, Marisa, already filming there. We waited until the end of her take before tapping her on the shoulder.

After hugs and pleasantry-swapping, we got to the serious business at hand: lunch! Marisa took us to Chianni Bistro, which as excellent reviews on Google. They were lovely – they sat is down and provided pedestals for the ladies’ handbags. None for my little man-bag, strangely, but hey-ho. Anyway, lunch was lovely, especially the pasta courses.

Marisa hit the winner here with gorgonzola gnocchi

After dinner we decided, what the hell… let’s drive somewhere fun. Niamh and I already had in our minds to check out the beaches around Rosignano Solvay, and ask Marisa if she’d like to come. We waited for her to collect some things from her house (which we couldn’t see at the time as she had a guest staying there), and headed out!

This brings me to the second unfortunate thing about Chianni. To be clear, Chianni is gorgeous, and the good faaaaaar outweighs the bad! If you want to get to the coast, however, you will find yourself having to undertake a bit of a dull and overly-long drive over the mountains to the east/southeast. There aren’t many views, as it’s largely forested. But when you actually get over the mountains and you are heading towards the coast, then you’ll get to see some amazing ones over the Tuscan coastal plains.

We drove through the cute little town of Castellina Marittima, and there we saw in the distance the huge towering stacks of Rosignano Solvay. Sadly we have no photos of this. The factory looms near the famous white beach. It makes soda ash, which is used in the manufacture of sodium bicarbonate and glass. So, the beach nearby is brilliant white soda-ash! As we got closer, we couldn’t decide on a car-park, plus we noticed there was a hell of a lot of traffic heading that way. Therefore, I made the executive decision to head to Vada instead. We’d been there before, and I felt that we hadn’t done it justice. There had to be more to it than just the little stretch of strand we found.

We found parking there much closer to the strand than we had before – right in a piazzetta with a couple of bars/gelaterie, and wandered to the mini-strand. Marisa has her own YouTube channel too, and I was happy to sit back and let her film, while I only took a little footage.

We hit the strand, and decided to walk over to the left, to see if we’d missed any of it. In fact, we’d missed a whole bay.

There was a lot going on – check out Marisa’s video below, mine is coming in later weeks. The beach had dozens of people, and in the background you could bunch of people kite-surfing. It was a really active place, as it turns out. Turning back towards the village after having done enough gawking (I always feel awkward snapping and taking video where I am fully clothed and the majority of the people are not), we saw there was a really cute outdoor craft market underway.

We had a good look at the life in that little mini-village, and I bought a steampunk fishy thing, made out of coastal flotsam – there was a whole stall dedicated to that! Marisa has better Italian, sounding naturalised (to me, anyway!), and was chatting away with the locals. It turns out, that rather than this market being a once-off, this was its prototype and test, in the hope that it would continue at least throughout the summer. She also chatted with some casual restaurateurs who would cook whatever fish was extracted by Vada’s fishermen same-day. It would have been tempting, but we had already eaten. Everyone was so lovely – as Italians generally are if you should genuine interest in their locality.

We took my booty back to the car, and walked back the 30 or so meters to Gelateria La Dogana for refreshment. In a rare moment, I skipped having gelato, settling instead for an ice cold diet Lemon Soda (hard to find!). The ladies enjoyed their gelato.

We decided the day wasn’t done yet, as we were having too good a time. So, we took Marisa to see Casale Marittimo. It’s my favourite village in Tuscany (so far), purely for street layout and architecture, and it usually blows guests out of their socks when they explore it.

I’ve already written a lot about Casale… you can do a search for all the blogs on this site. I think this was the only time we visited it this year, though. And it’s always fun showing people about if for the first time. It’s so layer-caked, hodge-podge and higgledy-piggledy… clean and frequently quiet. It’s a hilltown haven, only 15 minutes from the relative bustle of Cecina.

The leather worker here was sadly closed today

Marisa was delighted and was taking a lot of footage as we explored. We started at the highest part of town and worked our way down to the main square. There was more to explore on a lower level, where you can see down the coastal plains near to the Maremma. However, it was beginning to get late, and it was going to take us about an hour to get Marisa home, plus another 45 minutes to get us home.

So we headed back towards the carpark, only to pass by a bar that was closed last time we were there. However, it was open, and it was the most extraordinary mish-mashe of bar, perfumery and boutique/accessory store. We needed some refreshment, so we ducked inside and were amazed by it. It is called MADAMA caféshop, and it looks like it only opens seasonally.

The bathrooms were exquisitely decorated too!

We spent about 45 minutes there and then walked to the car and had a lovely drive back to Chianni, via Saline di Volterra and the lovely rolling hills of the Val di Cecina.

Have a look at Marisa’s video for a review of our day!

We said goodbye to Marisa and drove home. I’m almost certain that we didn’t go straight back to the apartment, but instead hung around for a free table at La Mangiatoia. It’s one of a few places in Volterra that focuses on pizza and they’re always so nice to us when we’re there. However, you cannot book a table there. You rockup, and you get a table or not – and if you don’t, you can either queue or leave. We queued, with beers, and they brough out a chair for us to use as a table for our drinks, bless them.