Tag: eating

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!

Mists on the Edge of the Val d’Orcia (18/10/2023)

Today, we did a thing: we invited our friend to what we term a ‘sticky day of fun’ (referring to the state we land home in, given the usually hot weather in which we explore). This day would be fun, but would be considerably less sticky – the weather wasn’t the best. However, Tuscany can be grand in all weathers and a little rain (or a lot of rain) wouldn’t spoil the day….. completely.

We took the road Siena road, going through Castel San Gimignano, Campiglia, Le Grazie and Colle di Vald’Elsa, and from there joined the motorway system all the way to our first destination: San Quirico d’Orcia. I’d been wanting to visit this little town ever since we blazed past it during our first trip to the valley, over two years previously. The journey took a little under two hours. We parked in a free carpark and took a couple of flights of steps up to the outskirts of the old town. As soon as we’d passed by a couple of buildings and a sculpture, and we passed through behind the wall into the town itself, the rain started to come down.

One of the first things Irish visitors say about Italian hilltowns, once they’ve gotten over the different aesthetics, is how clean the streets are. And we, even though we were used to hilltowns, all commented on how clean San Quirico’s streets were. They were immaculate. There were also large sculptures within the piazzette dotted around the town.

We found another gate into town at which stood a white-stoned church. Not the one above, but another smaller one. Inside was the most extraordinary sculpted relief on a lectern, which looked very Celtic in origin – it took Niamh and I by surprise.

Hunger was beginning to be a factor, but we completed our route around the town – in as much as the rain allowed. We came across gardens, squares and lovely little courtyards. The one thing I thought was lacking in the old town, were views of the actual Val d’Orcia itself. It seems to rest on a hill, which gently declines all around, and on which are build modern areas. Even when I managed to climb to a walkway atop an old wall, the view into the modern town and beyond was blocked by larger olive trees. There are some views, but they seem to be across a more level plain near the Val d’Orcia. Just an observation… not much the townsfolk can do about it.

Hunger took us, and we had a look at a couple of menus until we found one that would suit all of us, and settled on La Bottega di Ines.

We were pleased with both the food and service, and it was just a nice place to sit and relax out of the rain. Would I recommend San Quirico. Yes – it’s lovely, and it’s perfectly well-positioned to be a base of operations for exploring many Val d’Orcia sights, like the Vitaleta Chapel, the Cypress hill and our next destination – the spa hamlet of Bagno Vignoni.

It’s not often Google sends us all over the place, but we were about to experience the havoc it can occasionally wreak getting into Bagno Vignoni. This village lies just 5.5 kilometers south of San Quirico. Google took us to a dirt track to park. The so-called carpark must be for the nearby thermal river. We rechecked before we found a ridiculously obvious carpark just outside of the village.

Bagno Vignoni is pretty much there for tourists… the whole village. Buildings surround a thermal pool, which is emptied and refilled periodically. Small offshoots of roads with hotels, shops and holiday rentals spread away from this central square. All is perfect and seemingly ready-made. Normally, this might annoy me, but honestly the effect is profoundly lovely, and we swore that we’d come again in better weather to spend a couple of nights in the spa hotel. We actually have not gotten around to do this yet.

The town was surrounded by distant thick fog and mist, but rain threatened, and we only made it about two-thirds of the way around the pool before the heavens opened.

Love the view of the background tower here

I had to laugh, as I was pointing my phone everywhere, when I got closer to the row of sculpted monkeys and saw that they too were not fully present, and were too on their phones, not paying sufficient attention to their surroundings. To my credit, I started filming and taking photos less. We stopped at a shop recommended to us by our friend – one of those general Tuscan crafts stores, but sadly it was closed. Protecting our heads, we stopped under an awning and pondered our next move. The bar!

The ladies had a prosecco each, and I had a refreshing cedrata.

We had one final stop – one of the most famous hilltowns in Tuscany: Montalcino; a town famous for its incredible wines, most notable Brunello di Montalcino.

When we approached the town, we gritted our teeth when Mrs. Google seemed to take us through part of the centre of town. I was keeping an eye out for ZTL signs, but it didn’t look like to me we went through any. We wound up near the top layer of the town in a carpark right next to its magnificent fortress (more on that later).

We got out of the car and walked back down the hill more towards the centre of town. The first thing I noticed was there there seemed to an incredible number of enoteche, where you can go in and have a wine tasting, along with some nibbles to help with the flavour profile. I would have said there might be a couple of dozen in the town, maybe? I imagine most large producers have a tasting shop in Montalcino, as well a space near the vineyards.

It was a little wet, with rain spitting down every so often, and so our explore was somewhat cursory. Having said that, the town had a really positive effect on me, and I found myself falling in love with it. But we also had to do what people do when they usually come to Montalcino: wine! In our explore, we hit the main piazzetta, with its magnificently narrow council building and secular belltower, but wandered down some side streets, trying to settle on a place to stop for a half hour to try out the vino, and maybe have an afternoon pastry.

We walked into a place and were greeted by the owner, and showed into the back, where one would ordinarily be able to see a magnificent view of the valley over some of the town’s rooves. The ladies stalled, not otherwise liking the look/smell of the place and because the view was non-existent today, we walked out again. I hate doing that – especially in places that are already quite empty. I get an attack of the guilts. Instead, we walked back to the main square, into a fairly hifalutin place, where I’d say they already get their fair share of custom, despite the reviews on Google: Caffè Fiaschetteria Italiana 1888.

The enoteca was trying to be more than actually was, but the service was friendly enough – one new girl was being trained in very diligently by the other on duty, who was dressed like an old-school waiter. We asked for three Brunelli of different levels of maturity, with me getting the middle one. I came out the victor, more through sheer dumb luck than any true oenophilia. They were expensive, but I have to say I enjoyed mine.

Once done, we headed back to the car, but visited the fortress before heading home. It’s a magnificent place, and I is a wonderful venue for outdoor cinema and concerts. I didn’t take too many photos, but you can see more footage in the YouTube video below.

When it was time to go, I pulled my usual trick of setting a route home to avoid tolls and motorways, so we’d have something new to see. Unfortunately, for the first 10 or so kilometers we were taken on a white road. Not fun to drive on, but in fairness it gave us some potentially wonderful views, especially the thumbnail of the video below – which would have been nicer in better weather.

So, would I visit Montalcino again? You betchya… I’d even stay over once the weather gets finer!

Thanks for reading and viewing all the way to the bottom. Please drop a comment – I’d love to hear from you!

Quick Blog: A Trip to Mensano (16/09/2023)

Yeah, yeah, I know what I said last blog – but I had one day hanging over, and thought it was worth its own separate entry. It’ll be as quick as the town we visited it small.

There is a teeny tiny town on a hill (what else is new?) about 25km southeast from Volterra, as the crow flies. We first noted it on the way to and from the larger town of Radicondoli when we visited it in 2018 – before I set this blog up, unfortunately. I looked it up on the map and it seemed like it might have some fab views of the surrounding countryside, PLUS it had a restaurant. I was sold, and vowed to visit it at some stage. Again, over the intervening years I’d noted it on signposts as we drove just about everywhere else in the vicinity. So, BOOM! five years later we were there.

On the way that day, we noted that the chocolate fair was on. When I say ‘noted’, I of course mean that we slavered over the stalls and bought several kilos. It ain’t cheap, but it was worth it… except perhaps for one of the most celebrated chocolates in Italy: PGI Cioccolato di Modica. This particular type of chocolate was sold in bars of varying natural flavours. Now, how to explain my issues with it… One of the most important things for food, for me, is mouth-feel – texture and consistency, if you will. Well, I will absolutely agree that the flavours of Modica Chocolate are spot-on – but I would also have to say that the consistency is awful. It seems to me that it’s made of chocolate paste with little fat, and which is subsequently stirred vigorously with granulated sugar. The substance you end up eating is both chalky and gritty – I can’t handle that. Chocolate for me must be smooth and buttery, and melt in the mouth. Anyway – do try it for yourself if you ever come across bars of it and let me know what you think!

Dear Lord, the smell alone would drive you wild

Anyway, we took the car up to Mensano and found parking easily enough here on the side of the road. There is another carpark if you carry on straight at the next junction, but we were happy here.

We got out and started taking shots of the village. There are great panoramic views as I guessed, around about 270 degrees of the village – especially in the north-eastern to south-eastern corners.

The hamlet was small and quiet, but there were one or two people being busy about town, plus one cat that let us approach him. We got up to the top of the town, near a small play area and the views got even better.

I love this pic – not sure what that town is in the upper left-hand corner

We were getting peckish, and silently prayed for the restaurant (Ristorante Carato) to be open, and indeed it was! We sat outside and had some wonderful deep-fried zucchini flowers and really amazing pasta dishes. The roadway was narrow, but still used by traffic, and Niamh and I marvelled at one point when a large 4×4 reversed all the way up the street, passing by our table, leaving seemingly centimeters on either side. Occasionally, the owner/chef came out to talk to locals who were relaxing at a table a little aways from us. It was just a fine way to spend an afternoon, and I would really recommend the restaurant if you are in the area.

After eating our fill, we strolled back to the car.

After resting back in Volterra, we just went to the Hamburgheria for nice, if slightly over-sauced, burgers, and rested for our journey home to Ireland the next day.

The chocolate fair was still going strong

But we came back in October, so 2023 is not quite done yet!

Red Night 2023 and the Following Week (09-15/09/2023)

In the interests of moving things along more speedily to 2024, I’m going to start condensing blogs a bit, unless there are special occasions to be detailed. So, this week was a week of work, at the beginning of which was Volterra’s annual arts night: the Red Night. I’ve written about this a couple of times before.

It’s a night held once a year during which, if you visit the walled part of the town, you will find both ourdoors and indoors works of art, demonstrations, music etc. You can also visit private palazzi which are otherwise closed (they’re peoples’ homes!) on other days. It’s a relaxing and chill time, once you have mapped out the attractions you want to visit – some may close early, as I found to my cost in 2019.

I will say this: as fun and interesting as it is, it hasn’t quite returned to the heights of 2019’s night, as there are very few art installations and demos in the streets since Covid. There are some bands out playing, and the palazzi (we visited one) and dance school is open. A couple of additions made this year’s great: the Sacred Arts museum was open and free. I think the Etruscan Guarnacci museum was also too – I think it usually is during Red Night. Museums may be free, but I’m not sure on this point. There was a lot of activity around the pinacoteca (art gallery) and alabaster museum too. But best of all for us, was coming across a wonderful choral group in a chapel on Via San Lino.

I didn’t take photos of the choral group, but you can check them out in the video here:

Niamh went home early, while I went to the dance school, and then ambled along Via Porto all’Arco to KALPA Art Gallery. I heard some piano playing, so walked upstairs to listen and caught a couple of friends. We chatted briefly, before I headed home again. We didn’t attend the 2024 version, as friends of ours were using the house, so I can’t say if the night is on the mend – but 2023’s was a little better than 2022’s in terms of attractions.

On the Sunday, after a pizza lunch (no pun intended), we had a drive around looking at a couple of the mercatini dell’usato (2nd hand markets), but came back empty-handed. We decided to treat ourselves by heading to Pontedera to a Thai restaurant which was reviewing excellently, in our quest to find good Asian restaurants.

They really were lovely people, and the drinks were incredibly authentic, but the food was less so. It was merely ok, and Pad Thai I had didn’t taste at all like I’d expect it to.

Didn’t quite hit the mark there, guys – sorry

The rest of the week was broken up into walks, work and food. Here’s a selection of photos:

We really like to spread our business around, as you can see above!

We finished the week off by attending an exhibition of Roberta Staccioli’s (niece of Mauro Staccioli) works at Osteria Fornelli. After that, a bunch of us clubbed some tables together and we had one of those magical evening where the meal goes on for a few hours, while we talked with both native Volterrans and incoming expats. I remember the North American lady who pronounced the word ‘avvocato’ (a male lawyer) as ‘avocado’ the famous creamy fruit, which led to all sorts of hilarity. I will chiefly remember Costanza, the lady who works at the ticket desk of the Guarnacci museum, who was so generous and patient in insisting that I only speak Italian in order to help my practice.

It’s nights and people like these that make Niamh and I want to move over permanently.

A Little Work, A Little Play (07-08/09/2023)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thoroughly satisfied, we went to bed.

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

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

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

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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.