Tag: exploring

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.

Yes. it’s sliced hodog – wuerstel. And it’s yum.

We were destroyed and went back to bed after getting home. Thanks for reading… please let me know if you have any questions or comments!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I’m surprised I got any sleep!

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

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

Goodness me! How did that sneak in there?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here’s a video of the day – enjoy!

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

And to bed for the last time this holiday.

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

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

From a Morning Walk to an Evening Meal (30/03/2023)

I’m expecting this to be a short one.

Well, the morning started off super-well! I went on an enormous walk: all the way out of the walls through San Giusto and on to the cliffs. The path that I thought took you to the base of the cliffs was actually reopened after a couple of years being closed.

After I’d gotten to the campsite near San Giusto and breezed past the old Etruscan walls, I decided to walk the narrow track to see if I could get a good shot of the Balze – the cliffs surrounding the northern part of the the town. I passed by the super-sized stile (steps really), leading down towards the valley below. They had been closed for 2 years previously, so I was eager to give the route a go. I wasn’t wearing sensible footwear for a strenuous hike, but it turns out that was ok.

The pathways and steps inexorably down, down… towards the road. Hmmm. I thought it was going to eventually lead all the way down past the valley to the base of the cliffs where old Etruscan village ruins are rumoured to be found. But no – it led to farther on down the road that just leads back to Volterra. Although, more positively, it leaves you within a much safer walking distance of the abandoned abbey of Badia Camaldolese and the hamlet of Montebradoni, neither of which I have yet visited. I see lengthy walks in my future this year!

However, I walked back towards town. You can see some of the photos of the view above. When past the Conad supermarket, I paused at the studio of the ‘dreamwalker’, Nico Lopez Bruchi – a mural-painter here in Volterra.

Once home, I shaved and showered and prepared myself for the trip of the day: to Ikea in Pisa. Ok, not particularly glamorous, so I didn’t document it really. Our friend was moving apartment, so we said we’d help out by bringing her there to shop for knick-knacks, and doo-dads. Oh yeah, and see if any furniture grabbed her attention. On the way to pick up our friend, I grabbed a gelato (what else is new?) and papped the wonderful Vicolo delle Prigioni, which flanks part of our apartment.

We had a little lunch there in Ikea, and while our friend got some joy in finding what she wanted, Niamh and I ended up buying THE WORLD’S GREATEST CHAIR™. Our sofa is annoying us somewhat, so we wanted another comfy chair we could sit in, and actually point towards the telly, rather than contorting ourselves into all sorts of unnatural poses. It’s sort of a balancing light-rocker that’s only enhanced by an accompanying footrest. We didn’t buy the accompanying footrest, as we have a couple of blow-up poofs in the apartment at the right height.

In case you want one in your life – I think the cushions come separately

On the way home, our friend said she wanted to take us out to dinner and asked us to recommend a place. Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I suggested Trattoria Albana in the lovely hamlet of Mazzolla – a 15 or so minute drive outside Volterra. I phoned them up and booked a table. Me! Alone(ish)! Yay for improved Italian skills!

So, later that evening, we prettied ourselves up and I was designated driver. On the way, we experienced a little bit of magic, as we got caught behind a herd of sheep who were being moved to another field. It was golden hour, and it was amazing to see the golden light kiss their woolly hides.

I WAS DRIVING! Cut me some slack… you can find slightly better footage in the video below.

We parked, walked about the panoramic perimeter of the town, suitably going ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’.

We were the only people for a while in the back of the restaurant/bar. The food here is always great. Don’t expect haute, but flavourful, well-cooked, rustic Tuscan food.

Afterwards, we went home, and I squashed a poor hedgehog on the road. I still feel sad about that nearly 9 months later. Poor scrap. We ended up in Antica Velathri Café for digestivi and cocktails. Pietro attended another couple and we got a fantastic demo of him making a very fancy cocktail for them, which you can see in the video below.

It was off to bed, then – via testing of the WORLD’S GREATEST CHAIR™. We went to bed happy!

Below is the link to the video of the day. Enjoy!

Nearly Choking to Death on Pistacchio Cream in Siena (27/03/2023)

To Siena, then, to continue our guests’ intial foray into Italy. I prefer Siena to Florence, but acknowledge that I have not explored it fully enough. We frequently end up doing the same cycle when we visit: same car park, up tons of escalators to the Basilica di San Francesco, a game of spot-the-peek-a-boobies, circular or back-and-forth around the shopping streets until we hit the Piazza del Campo, a trip around the Cathedral square, a spot of lunch, gelato and maybe on the way back stop in Cannoleria Ke Cassata to grab some arancine for a light evening snack.

We pretty much did that, but skipped Ke Cassata this time around – they may have been closed, or moved to their main shop indicated by the link above (do try them if you’re in the mood for a snack, though).

We had to get there first, and so we stopped off to ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ at the amazing countryside surrounding Staccioli’s ‘O’, just outside the town.

We didn’t walk down to the sculpture itself, because we made that mistake already in wettish weather in April 2019. Now, I know it doesn’t look wet in the above picture, but the above soil is super-loose, potentially damp (yes, it rains seasonally in Tuscany!) and you stand a chance of destroying your footwear. If you really want to ‘gram the ‘O’, do call later in the year, when the soil is far dryer. If you’re visiting before May, then you can still park near it as we did and admire the incredible views.

Anyhoo, we got to Siena, and once up and past the Basilica, we started shopping for a handbag. I can’t remember the specific brand, but I remember it being important to the ladies. We popped into one bag shop, had a quick look-about and asked the owner if he knew of a place which sold <BAG-BRAND>. He said he didn’t, so our long search came to an end. Instead, we spent 30 or so minutes in a make-up store. I can’t say I was in my element, but was happy that the ladies seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Once done, and with a growing sense of pride, we led the guests to the Piazza del Campo, all ready to show them what, in my opinion, is Italy’s greatest square. Others think of St. Peter’s in Rome or St. Mark’s in Venice, but they were designed to make you feel small and insignificant – Piazza del Campo is more secular, warm and welcoming. ”So, here we go! Ta-daaaaah…. uhh…?” Except that today, the lighting was flat for that little while we were there, and the place looked like a building site. Shit.

Ugh. You did me dirty, Siena. Can I ever forgive you?

Lunch was next on the cards, and we knew of a place at the bottom of the hill down from Siena’s Cathedral – past the catacombs. We brought the ladies to the main Cathedral square, so they could have a look at its incredible facade.

At last they were suitably impressed. We were just giving them a taster of the town, so we didn’t go inside – but in the square you can go to the ticket office to buy tickets for the catacombs and to enable you to explore the roof – definitely worth a bash if you’re in town and have some spare time. Anyway, we hunted for the restaurant, and for the life of us couldn’t find it. We instead found a place (Ristorante Osteria Bonelli). There were a couple of other groups in, so the service was a little… weird… at times – I think we had to change one of the plates. In fairness, it might have been one of the first days of the season for them. Some of the food was nice enough, though.

We successfully negotiated our payment, as a large gaggle of students kindly stepped aside to let us go first. Each one was only paying for their own food, so I’m glad we dodged that.

We decided to head back to the car, but taking a slow route. We passed by one of the steep and stepped lanes to the Piazza del Campo, and I cast a wary glance at it, having already considered it a bit of a traitor this visit. And I gasped. And took one of the best photos I’ve ever taken. Lookit! It’s like a Canaletto painting!

All was well with the world once more, until the guests spotted Siena’s branch of Nino and Friends, which is a confectioner with branches scattered throughout the regions of Tuscany and Campania – with stores also in Venice and Taormina (Sicily). They’re are instantly recognisable, with their chocolate ‘waterfalls’ in the shop windows. Now, I don’t have a general problem with Nino and Friends. Their products are good, and you’ll have a fun time with the salespeople there, most of whom, I am convinced, popped out of the womb being able to smooth-talk the Inuit into buying ice. Anyway, our interaction went something like follows (I have taken some artistic license – also, apologies – I have no idea this will read on a mobile phone!):

I ALMOST DIED, a drama

Cast of Characters
HAPLESS IDIOT: An overweight middle-aged man, with pattern baldness, Irish
WIFE: HAPLESS IDIOT’s long-suffering wife, Irish
FRIEND: A friend of WIFE for many years. Irish, but having lived in Scotland for many years
TEENAGER: The daughter of FRIEND, current champion of the universe in 8-ball pool on the XBox, very definitely Scottish
SALESMAN: The salesman in a confectioner’s shop, very definitely Italian

EXT. STREET IN SIENA, TUSCANY – DAY
It’s bustling in the streets with the sounds of many accents and languages mixing in an excited babble. HAPLESS IDIOT is filming a sweeping shot on is iPhone, while WIFE, FRIEND and TEENAGER look excitedly towards a store.

TEENAGER
Ooh, look – a sweetie shop!

WIFE and FRIEND (together, longingly)
Chocolate… waterfall…

TEENAGER, WIFE and FRIEND walk into the shop, as if spellbound. HAPLESS IDIOT finishes his sweeping shot, spins around some more looking for the three ladies who have seemingly vanished into thin air. He then spots them in the store, and spends the next half-minute trying to turn off his phone, muttering curses under his breath. HAPLESS IDIOT then walks into the shop.

INT. NINO AND FRIENDS, A CONFECTIONARY STORE, SIENA, TUSCANY – DAY

SALESMAN (seeing HAPLESS IDIOT and indicating TEENAGER)
…and we can try some. Ah! Is this the Pappa?

HAPLESS IDIOT (incredulously, indicating TEENAGER)
Of her?! Have you seen her? She’s gorgeous.

SALESMAN gives HAPLESS IDIOT a quick appraising look up and down.

SALESMAN
Ah, yes – perhaps not.

Quick cut to to HAPLESS IDIOT, frowning.

Cut back to SALESMAN producing a tray of several types of spherical candies.

SALESMAN (indicating a pile of yellow candies)
So, maybe we start with this one.

Everyone takes a candy, places in their mouth and bites down.

FRIEND
Gosh, there’s quite a bit of booze in that, isn’t there?

TEENAGER (puzzled look on her face)
What is it?

WIFE
Ah, Limoncello!

HAPLESS IDIOT
Yummo!

SALESMAN
Yes, Limoncello. Nice, huh? Try this one.

SALESMAN proffers another corner of the try. All 4 take a sample and bite down. The 3 adults look a little more disappointed with it.

SALESMAN
This one – just lemon, no alcohol.

TEENAGER
Yum!

There is a beat.

FRIEND
Do you have any more with booze?

SALESMAN looks thoughtful, before reaching towards sample bottles of liquour.

SALESMAN
These are cream liquours. Like limoncello, but creamy. Maybe you
like to try melon?

SALESMAN pours pours out samples of the creamy orange liquour into 4 tiny paper cups. (Screenwriter’s note – due to my upcoming trauma, I can’t remember if TEENAGER partook in these samples, but for the sake of added comedy value and given her Scottish heritage, I am assuming she did. When in Rome, etc.). All 4 grab a cup and sip the liquid back. There are murmurs of appreciation from all 4.

HAPLESS IDIOT
Wow! It really tastes like melon!

SALESMAN
Yes. It is made from melon.

HAPLESS IDIOT
Yeah.

SALESMAN
Yes.

There is another beat.

SALESMAN (excitedly)
Pistacchio! Let us try pistacchio!

The process begins again. The SALESMAN fills the same 4 tiny paper cups with a creamy green liquid. Again, the cups are raised, but the faces are different after the first sip.

WIFE
I like pistacchio, but I don’t like this.

FRIEND
Yes, it’s not great is it?

TEENAGER
…

HAPLESS IDIOT
I prefer melon.

SALESMAN
You like pistacchio! Un attimo. Eh, moment, please!

SALESMAN dashes off for a moment, while the 4 take a casual look at the goods in the shop. SALESMAN returns quickly with a short, wide jar of something.

SALESMAN
Crema di pistacchio! Very delicious. Like Nutella, you spread it, but it’s pistacchio.

HAPLESS IDIOT
So, it’s pistacchio, then.

SALESMAN
Yes.

HAPLESS IDIOT
Yeah.

WIFE
Yes, we’ll try some.

SALESMAN gets 4 little tasting sticks and opens the jar. One by one, he places a generous topping on the green cream onto each stick, offers it to the ladies first, before ending up with HAPLESS IDIOT. Each person tries it and indicates through sounds of approval how yummy it is.

HAPLESS IDIOT
Wow! That’s delicious! I really…

There is a gagging sound, as the cream slides down HAPLESS IDIOT’s throat, and gets caught there, seemingly blocking his airway. He is still breathing, but his larynx feels like it has just been sandblasted, and breaths come in gasps. His voice turns into Brando’s Godfather’s.

SALESMAN
Sir, are you alright!

HAPLESS IDIOT (in Godfather voice)
I’ll be ok in a minute.

Tears are streaming down HAPLESS IDIOT’s face while he simultaneously coughs as he fights for breath. SALESMAN grabs a fresh mini paper cup and adds creamy meloncello. FRIEND and TEENAGER have grabbed a few more limoncello candies from the sample tray while SALESMAN is distracted. SALESMAN hands the cup to HAPLESS IDIOT who knocks it back between gasps. It does not have the desired immediate effect.

HAPLESS IDIOT (in Godfather voice)
Need… water…

HAPLESS IDIOT turns away from SALESMAN, and is quickly joined by FRIEND and TEENAGER, leaving WIFE standing by SALESMAN. Quick cut to WIFE looking thoughtfully at the jar, and back again to the other 3, who are standing in a row. HAPLESS IDIOT fumbles for a bottle of water in his manbag while FRIEND and TEENAGER are popping limoncello candies. HAPLESS IDIOT finds the water and unscrews the cap, while looking at FRIEND and TEENAGER. He seems FRIEND and TEENAGER red-faced and shaking with laughter, tears also streaking down their face – but not in sympathy. Oh no.

TEENAGER
We’re walkin’ oota here pished!

Cut to a close up of SALESMAN and WIFE. Coarse coughing and hacking and squeaks of feminine laughter can bear heard in the background. WIFE hands the jar to the SALESMAN.

WIFE
I’ll take one of these.

Cut closer to WIFE, who is now uplit from below, giving her a sinister appearance.

WIFE (sotto voce)
Yes, that ought to be enough.

FADE OUT

THE END

I hope you enjoyed that. I certainly didn’t.

We walked out of the store with some sweets and a jar of death-cream in the end. In fairness, this was an unfortunate fluke – their pistacchio cream is absolutely delish. But our taste for sweet treats didn’t end there. Oh no! We passed by a very tourist-choked gelateria. I had a fair idea that it was not going to be the best, but I also didn’t want to argue, as I thought any gelato would soothe my throat. The gelato was piled high in troughs – almost always a bad sign. I got a couple of flavours, and it was incredibly sweet. Too sweet, in fact. For the first time ever I didn’t finish off a helping of gelato, but chucked about a third of it in the bin.

We got back to the car, and I felt that we had enough time to have a quick tour of the nearby tiny walled village of Monteriggione. We just missed grabbing a free carpark spot. We didn’t spend too long there, as we also missed being able to walk the walls. Sure, any one of Volterra’s panoramic views beats those!

You can trot it from end-to-end in 30 seconds, but it’s so lovely in the sunshine, that’s it’s really worth the visit! There was a brief(ish) stop in a jewellers; little knick-knacks were bought. Sadly, the Pratesi store there wasn’t open yet.

Home for some much-needed relaxation.

Later that evening, we had a little bit of hunger on us, and so I was sent forth on a quest for pizza we could share. I went to La Mangiatoia and the chef there was working on a larger order (I opted for a burger and fries instead of pizza), so I made ours and sat down to have a beer and a chat to kill the time. They’re so nice in there.

Wearing my jacket. It can get chilly in Tuscany!

Afterwards, we relaxed and before bed I was once again soundly thrashed by TEENAGER in pool.

She has the socks of a baby angel, but the eyes of a ravenous hawk

Cheerio for now – I hope you enjoyed this read. Let me know what you think!

A Double-Tour of Volterra (26/03/2023)

It was to be our guests’ first full day in Volterra. So, rather than head out to show them the wider sights of Tuscany, it only seemed fair to show off our lovely town.

Firstly, I got up that morning and had a walk about, marvelling at how green the land is around this time of year.

Via Portal all’Arco looking unusually good this morning

It was deliciously fresh that morning, and this doesn’t sound too farty, a boon for the soul, as you look at the light cascading off the hills, and capturing the pale brickwork of the buildings.

I took myself towards the residential area near the football stadium. I worried a couple of cats, and got caught in a cul-de-sac. Going past the stadium itself, I walked as far as the entrance to Park Hotel le Fonti. We stayed there for our second ever Volterra stay in June 2018, over a year before I started this blog. We found the place a little careworn, but the room pleasant. They had a pool on a plaza which overlooked the Val di Cecina/Val d’Era (latter as you looked farther north. The views were stunning.

The most major problem with the hotel was also its location – it was a cruel walk up to the town, and if you had mobility, heart or pulmonary issues it would have been an extremely difficult feat to get to the town itself. But we managed, and in the evening we remembered the stunning smell of honeysuckle and the playful darting and weaving of fireflies.

Sadly, I have since learned that the hotel closed down, which is a great shame. I hope they find a new buyer who can do justice to the location’s potential (start by offering minibuses to the town!).

I climbed back up towards Porta all’Arco, via the lovely Chiesa di Sant’ Alessandro. There a lady stopped me to beg for money. She seemed to me to be quite well-dressed, and looked comfortable – so I was surprised. I dropped her a coin and went on my way. I heard a few months later on my return that she passed away. You just never know what’s going on with people. I have also been told that there are a number of people in town who were originally held in the Psychiatric hospital on the outskirts of Volterra, and have been accosted by an older gentleman from time to time. Bless them. It’s hard to imagine the atrocious conditions they may have had to put up with.

Later that morning, we took our guests around Volterra.

A few years ago, Volterra’s cathedral reopened after having been under renovation for a few years before that. We were actually there for the reopening (see towards the end of this blog). Some time back, they started charging into the Cathedral and the nearby baptistry. I will neither support nor condone this. If you want to see Volterra’s Cathedral, then pop in on a Sunday during a mass. Niamh’s friend wanted to see the inside (the outside is rather austere). We found out that tickets were not on sale just inside the door like they used to be, but rather at the nearby exhibition centre. It turns out that they were charging the same price for the exhibition centre, but now including the Cathedral and baptistry. You still had to buy a ticket for them, but at least my righteous indignation was somewhat quelled.

We first went into the exhibition centre and had a wander around the temporary alabaster exhibit, before checking out the more permanent local art in the rooms upstairs.

What a fab surprise that awaited us after checking out the art. They had opened a new panoramic viewing balcony in the centre! I was able to grab a couple of never-before-seen (by me) shots.

Then it was off to the religious buildings – starting with the baptistry.

If you visit many of the larger towns with historical religious squares in Italy (e.g. Pisa, Florence, Volterra – ahem), you will quickly note that the baptistry is often on its own, separate to its accompanying Cathedral. This is because, back in the day, you weren’t allowed to enter a place of Christian consecrated worship unless you were yourself a Christian. So, you got baptised in the separate building and then were allowed into the Cathedral. Anyway, you can see Volterra’s baptistry above. It only requires a short visit, before you can head off to the Cathedral.

Forgive me if I’ve recounted this before, but Volterra’s Cathedral is somewhat unusual, in that it is attached to the more secular Palazzo dei Priori. This is because, when the town’s ruler (only for a period of 6 months, I think) was elected, they and their family had to spend their entire tenure within the Palazzo, lest they be bribed, murdered, tickled etc. But they also still had to attend mass, and did so via a chamber which joined both buildings. There you go. You can learn a thing or two on this blog.

The Cathedral’s exterior very much belies the interior, which is rather more swanky.

Along with yesterday’s visit to Pisa, I recorded some video of Today’s visits. Have a look below!

We didn’t do too much of note for the rest of the day. We had lunch at Terre di Mezzo, a gelato from L’Isola del Gusto (che sorpresa!) and I marvelled at the quality of the Sky app on my new XBox (hint: it’s very good!).

Ok, this is YouTube, not Sky – but honest, it’s good!

Thanks for reading – let me know what you think!

Tuscany’s Classiest Dump (21/03/2023)

Gah! I know! It’s been another awfully long time since the last blog. Sorry about that. I was enjoying myself working and holidaying in Volterra for a couple of weeks. On the plus side, it means plenty more content on the way… at some stage.

First things first – I got out on a walk this morning – all the way down to the bus car park. The views from there are lovely. In fact, if you hiked for 3 minutes, you’d be in the middle of the countryside.

The countryside beckoned, but I was unsure of the trail and I didn’t have hiking boots on. I wonder how many use this trail, and if it goes far.

The trail is out of the picture here, but it carries down into the valley towards the hills

Niamh had wanted to go to the mercato dell’usato (2nd hand market) in Capannoli for while to see if we could find a little table or even stool on which we could place drinks/food etc. while sitting. It was closed for riposo, so we decided to make a drive of it, rather than going directly.

So, we decided to head out of town and make for a village in Volterra’s comune we’d never been to before: Villamagna. From there, we’d go to Legoli via a curiosity in the countryside: Triangolo Verde. I may have mentioned before, but the comune of Peccioli has made itself relatively weathly by creating a facility which handles much of Tuscany’s non-recyclable waste, and from that to energy production. The villiage itself is an outdoor art museum, and there are some curiosities in the area, not least of which are the ‘Peccioli Giants’, which represent the power of Peccioli coming from the earth. There is one squatting (a man, quite naked and anatomically accurate) over a building a little way outside the main part of town, and another visible from a modern terrace on one side of the old town, and there are a couple more in Trinagolo Verde. Now, I wasn’t too sure what this place was, other than the home of a couple of these giants – but we’d find out. But first, the drive!

We headed east, past Staccioli’s red ‘Ring’ and took a left at Roncolla, taking a looong route to the village. I’d read in Facebook posts that the inhabitants of Villamagna (who won the last tug-of-war palio, if memory serves me correctly) knew how to have a better time at night than the Volterrans. I wouldn’t get a chance to try that theory out this time, as it was shortly after lunch. Well… it was quiet. In fairness, it was riposo and those that weren’t resting or lunching were working. We stopped briefly so I could grab some video footage (more on that later) and a couple of snaps of the countryside.

I just love the way the land undulates and rolls

We took a route out of town along a road that topped a gentle ridge. It got narrower and narrower. We had to slow down to overtake a couple of young ladies on horseback. On either side of us, though, were some of the loveliest views of the Val d’Era. At one point it became too much, and we stopped a couple of hundred meters from a lone farming hamlet, one chimney of which was streaming pale smoke into the hazy sky. In the distance, a double lake shone like a jewel in the rolling green hills. Tuscany (sadly) isn’t known for its lakes, so these were eye-catching.

We found ourselves a little way outside Legoli at a closed automatic gate – the gate to Triangolo Verde. In front of a gate a huge shaggy dog lay in the sun. When our car approached, it slowly got up and ambled away, just outside of reach. I got out, and buzzed the intercom at the gate. I explained in broken Italian, and then broken English that we would like to come inside if it was open. The nice man inside the intercom said yes, and after registering us (names, addresses) pressed something to make the gate slide open. I raced back to the car, and we followed a curving path downwards towards a building, past an open air circular theatre and a place where we could park.

We got out and were very nearly blown over by the wind. But sure enough, there were two of the Peccioli Giants waiting for us to pose beside. The welcome centre (which is what I assme the building was, as well as perhaps being a bar) was closed, as were were out of season. In the distance some heavy bull-dozing-like machinery were busy doing something. It looked like they were operating near layered stone, and we thought that this place was a quarry of some kind. I was taking video, so there aren’t many photos. When I zoomed in at the machinery, it seemed that it was mostly bulldozing, and there were small flocks of birds everywhere the vehicles were working. Then it hit me: this was a landfill area – this must be one of the places in the comune of Peccioli where the trash is kept – the unburnable stuff maybe? Please correct me if I’m wrong!

Only in Italy, can you go to a dump and find sculptures of birds, giant humans, massive colourful art installations and an outdoor mini arena where events take place!

The sculptures are very impressive. That’s all I have to say about that.

We headed back out. Pressed the red button to open the gate, and I took a couple of of photos of the landscape on the far side of the ridge.

Actually, this was a vew from the ‘dump’

We got back in the car and decided to make more of a bee-line towards Capannoli. We drove through Legoli – considered stopping for a moment when we saw a couple of men setting up seating outside a bar – but carried on. We got through Legoli, but then Google threw us for a literal loop and took us away from Capannoli and back towards Legoli. We caught it early enough and chose out own route (following signposts) to Capannoli, until Google righted itself and chose the correct way.

We got there eventually, and just after opening time, except that it wasn’t. Because the thing closes on Tuesdays – this was *not* in Google. We instead made straight for La Rosa, to Biscottini. We spotted a little stool-like thing, but didn’t buy it (we went back for it another day though!). It’s an interesting store though – all sorts of house decorating stuff in it. Once done there, we went shoe-shopping – at the outlet store there – the one with the enormous boot outside – you can’t miss it! From there, it was across the road to the bar for gelato – and very good gelato it was too!

We got home and chilled before heading to L’Incontro for aperitivi and L’Antica Taverna for dinner. It was a nice enough meal.

It was chill-time again, then bed… but as an extra, here is a video of the day’s action!

Thanks for reading – let me know what you think, or if you have any questions about the area!

The Real Deposition (20/03/2023)

Sorry I’ve been away a while. I’m working on a project which is chewing up a lot of my time at the moment. Normal service will eventually be resumed.

We spent this day in Volterra – except to take our guest home. She wasn’t due to fly ’til later that evening, so we went on cultural excursion to the Art and Alabaster museum. But first, the walk of course! I kept it inside the walls today, starting with a trip down the steps at Docciola and then working my way up to the Bastione carpark. Although we’re allowed to use this carpark, we’ve never done so. It’s easily the closest one to us, but the entrance to the lane that leads to the carpark is super-narrow. The laneway broadens, but it really isn’t wide enough for 2-way traffic (which it is!), so we have a vague terror of meeting another car going in the opposite direction. At both ends you would have to reverse around narrow corners… and at one end up a steep hill. We’re too chickenshit to do this in a rental.

Some of the views over the Val d’Era from the carpark are rather nice, though.

The walk continued inside the walls. It’s not as demanding a walk as outside, I feel, but there are enough hills and dips to give the heart a good workout in places.

Look! It’s a classic Italian scooter shot!

Not untypical of me, I had dessert before I had lunch, at Chic & Shock. I rarely go anywhere other than L’Isola del Gusto for gelato, but sometimes a change is as good as a rest. Afterwards, we went to La Taverna della Terra di Mezzo for some lunch. And more dessert. I have a sickness.

We said our goodbyes to Robbi and Aurora and made a beeline towards Volterra’s lovely Art and Alabaster Museum, to show our guest around. Failing to secure tickets for three students, we went in grudgingly as adults.

I was super-excited, as I thought they had restored Rosso Fiorentino’s Deposition of Christ, and it was on display. I was surprised at the time, as I thought it didn’t particularly need any restoration. Anyway, it’s one of my favourite pieces in the entire collection, and it’s always nice to see it.

We entered the courtyard after buying the tickets and I noticed a peculiar thing: an exact copy of Rosso Fiorentino’s Deposition of Christ turned on its side, and leaning casually against a wall. I didn’t think anything of that until later.

We toured the alabaster museum first. Volterra is one of the European centres for Alabaster, so if you’re a fan of the medium, you’re in for a treat. I was taking video at the time (see below), so I only have one well-taken photo of a ‘slice’ of a replica of the bell tower in Pisa.

The detail on those Corinthian-style columns is something else!

Our visitor was enthralled with the history and examples, and rendered slightly terrified at the bust of the scary smiling lady in the mock-up of a workshop they have in the museum. This seems to freak everyone out – you can catch a brief glimpse of her perched in front of a window at 09:37 in the video you can find a bit below.

Once done in the alabaster section, it was time to check out the paintings in the adjoining building. Most of the artwork is religious because, back in the day, the Church (or wealthy families needing to curry favour with it) was the only patron wealthy enough to commission pieces.

The stunning ‘Annunciation’ by Luca Signorelli, late 1400s (or is it?)

And the grand-daddy – Rosso Fiorentino’s mannerist masterpeice, The Deposition. I remember seeing this painting in art books when I was a kiddo. However, there was something different about it. It was not in the same condition I was used to seeing it, and access to it was blocked off by plastic glass and temporary walls. Some of the paint had flaked off. And then I understood. This was the real version undergoing restoration – so they were not finished yet. Then what had I been looking at before? Was it the one so casually left leaning on the wall in the courtyard? I lingered for a while, feeling a little disillusioned. Maybe all galleries do this with their masterworks. Is the Signorelli painting above a restored original or another copy? I’m almost too afraid to ask. Perhaps I’m being too idealistically romantic.

Below you can find a video of our day to that point:

We left fully culturalised and took a meandering route back to the apartment.

A while later, it was time to drive our guest to Pisa Airport. I think she enjoyed her time with us over the weekend, and there’s still plenty for her to do should she decide on a return visit.

That evening we chilled. We had hunger pangs and so nipped out to L’Hamburgeria for a bite to take away. It was not bad. I love the fries here – they’re like shoestring chipper-chips!

Finally, we topped off the day with a slow walk on our street and around Piazza dei Priori.

Thanks for reading. Let me know what you think, or if you have any questions.

Cemetery Tour on a Cloudy Day (19/03/2023)

The weather took a turn for the worse which, truth be told, seems to by and large been a prevalent feature of our visits to Tuscany throughout this year I’m sorry to say. At the time of writing this, however, there is something of a heatwave in many parts in Italy – but we’re stuck in rainy old Ireland.

Our guest wanted to hang around Volterra to check out bits and pieces she missed, so we didn’t stray from the town – well, not far, anyway.

I got up alone and had a walk. It was a full walk around the walls, which is always gratifying.

The circumnavigation continued…

The elevator Volterra is finally getting – under construction

Not having walked enough, I entered the town through Porta a Selci, walked parallel to the prison and entered the park for a quick circling!

The prison in the background. It’s an old fortress, which was enhanced by the Medici in the late 15th Century

I had walked so much by then, that unfortunately I broke through to another universe altogether!

Fortunately, I was not one of the droids they were looking for, and I was allowed to re-traverse the veil between planes and return to my apartment!

Our guest took their time to explore a little more around the town, while Niamh and I lounged around at home. We went out ourselves after while for a short walk and parked ourselves a while in the main piazza, people-watching. We met up again with our guest (sort of) at the Roman Theatre ruins.

Being impressed as she was by those ruins, we asked her if she want to check out the dig-site of the Roman Amphiteatre. She gladly agreed, and we wound our way down. When we got there, we discovered that some shrubber had been cut away to allow a better look at the site. It’s not fully open to the public, but sometimes they advertise site tours.

There’s really only so much time you can spend here when there’s no tour arranged. We ooh’d and ahh’d a bit before we crossed the road and into the cemetery. I don’t think our guest had seen an Italian cemetery before, so we explained (not that we are experts on the matter) that after a period of burial, the remains are removed to a ‘drawer’ in the walls. All of these slots are well-maintained and many have photos fixed to the front.

We moved from one massive courtyard to the other, by taking stairs down, taking glances at the photos every now and again. Some of them are smiling, some are dour – all are interesting. Niamh suddenly exclaimed “Wow – someone’s put one of the O’s on their grave!” After inquiring what she meant, she instead pointed towards the tomb in question. And it did indeed have one of Staccioli’s O’s on it – a mini-version. Then it struck me: this might be his grave – he is Volterran by birth after all!

I clattered down the stairs excitedly and marched swiftly over to it, and confirmed that it was, indeed, Mauro Staccioli’s grave – his wife is interred there too. I love his sculptures – simple but stark and strong. At stated in other blogs, his works are dotted around Volterra like hidden Pokemon! Google Images of some of his works.

I was filming at the time, so I stood there in reverence for a while, just occasionally nattering at the invisible people on the other side of the camera.

Here’s a video of the day!

We trundled back uphill.. all the way uphill, mind you – the walk there is fine, the walk back can be challenging, depending on your fitness.

We chilled back at the apartment for a while, and then went out for a brief walk (the Sith were still hanging about in the square), and wolfed down our dinner at La Vecchia Lira!

Thanks for reading, all. Please leave a like and let me know what you think!

A Tricky Journey Home – Airtravel Wheelchair-bound (17+18/09/2022)

We had finished work for this holiday, and so it was time to start packing for home. I did most of that, due to Niamh having a broken leg or something.

I did also get out for a walk in the afternoon, to find out it was one of the clearest days I’ve ever seen in Volterra.

There was an amazing view of the Apuan Alps

Later that day, Niamh phoned Pisa airport and booked passenger assistance for the next day.

That evening, I had to go out again to get some takeaway, as obviously Niamh couldn’t enjoy her time in any restaurant. I opted for pizza instead of pasta, this time.

Well, the morning to go home came. We called upon the misericordia one last time to bring Niamh downstairs. We asked them to bring her to our carpark, but they said they needed to use the ambulance again quickly. So, Niamh hobbled towards the seating in Piazzetta San Michele, which I marched towards the car. We can drive through the town because we have a resident’s permit.

I got the car, drove through Porta a Selci, and up to where Niamh was. She struggled into the car and we made our way to Pisa Airport. We parked in the short term, and I helped Niamh struggle into the departures area. She was in pain using the crutches, and we just had the worst time, until she found a sear in a café she could use. I had to run back out and bring the rental car back, and walk back from that area to the terminus.

She was still in distress, so I had a walk around to see if there were any wheelchairs we could grab. I found chairs alright, but they were behind a barrier. The Customer Service booth was also unmanned, so I was beginning to get a little bit desparate.

Niamh suggested I bite the bullet and jump the Aer Lingus check-in queue to see if someone there could help us. Jumping any queue is hell to me, but I went up there anyway and thankfully the people at the top of the queue were sympathetic. The check-in lady called for the assistance, and I had to wait a seeming age until the assistance lady arrived with a chair. She was so lovely, thankfully. We got Niamh to the top of the Aer Lingus queue again, and got us checked-in. (At the time, Aer Lingus was making people physically check in for flights, even though they had already checked-in online and had a ticket in their phones – is this still happening? ‘Cause if it is, it’s terribly offputting!).

From there, it was easy-street. We hopped every queue in the airport! Finally, out on the apron, we waiting for Niamh’s special vehicle which would raise us up to the aircraft. It’s a weird beast of the thing – essentially a maxi-van on extendable trellised stilts. It raises the compartment up to door-height and allows entry onto the plane.

They brought us to the back entrance of the plane, and we managed to grab our seats – not too far from the back-entrance, thankfully. The flight was otherwise uneventful for me – but I imagine was hellish for Niamh. She had to be given blood-thinners for the flight, due to her leg, as she had to keep it down. We weren’t given any special seating with extended legroom.

When we landed, matters were somewhat reversed. We were more or less last off the plane, and for some flipping weird reason, the groundstaff in Dublin brought the extender vehicle to the front of the plane. They then asked “Why did they put you in the back?!”. Anyway, they weren’t moving it, and Niamh had to struggle all the way back to the front.

We waited just inside a part of the terminus at Dublin and waited for care assistants. A couple of ladies arrived with alternative chairs, but declared that they were there for an old couple coming in from Las Vegas. Their flight were delayed. As a courtesy, they checked our names on their roster, but we weren’t to be found. Sigh. Their couple was a no-show in the, so they took our details and made a roster entry. We were seen to all the way to our car from there – a good service once the booking logistics can be sorted out!

Anyway, that was the end of our September 2022 holidays. We didn’t return for another 6 months, and the blog will continue from there!

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave me a comment 🙂

Happiness and Disaster (14-16/09/2022)

I don’t really split this out using date headers, as the days merged into one another.

Well, it begins. The most trialling sequence of days we’ve had to endure in Volterra yet.

It began well, though. We were having guests that evening! But first, it was a working day, so we had to do our duty. I remember very little of the day up to the evening, I have to admit. The only two photos I have are, unsurprisingly, food-related.

I think this was outside at Il Poggio again for lunch.

Once work was done, we were to meet Marisa and David at the free car park at Docciola. Bless them, I don’t know how they do it (and I hope I’m not shaming them here, and that they see the funny side of it), but they unfailingly manage to get lost every time they use an app that I’m going to call Schmoogle Maps, coz it sure isn’t Google Maps. It never plays ball. Today was no exception. A call or two later and they were set on the right path.

We parked (a little bit naughtily) near the Docciola gate itself so we could drive them up to town without them having to climb the 200 steps with their luggage. A municipale police car drove past and clocked us. They slowed down, but we indicated that we’d only be there a couple of minutes as a pick-up and they drove one. As well as driving into the carpark by entrances flush with the road, there is a ramped entrance which, if you’re not careful, will cause you to smack the underside of your bumper. A crunching sound announced the arrival David and Marisa. Their white Panda bore the brunt and Niamh and I both winced at the same time. Fortunately, the car didn’t looked marked. Anyway, we greeted with hugs and we drove them up to the resident’s carpark and walked back to the apartment.

We showed them around the town. They were lovely and suitably enthusiastic. Out by the main panoramic viewpoint at Piazzi dei Martiri, we met our friend Mary. During the course of conversation she mentioned that it was going to rain about 02:00 tomorrow morning. This is important for the happening later on (ooo, foreshadowing!).

I didn’t take many photos of video, as Marisa was filimg for her own channel and I wanted to be a bit more present for that. You can catch her footage here:

We entered the theatre to check it out, but also to look at the miniatures exhibition I visited with my brother before. I took some pictures of that at least.

That evening, we went to the seasonal restaurant Torre del Porcellino. The food there is damn good, and if you get a seat on the outside, you’ll have some pretty views of Volterra’s premium laneways. We got a seat inside, but had a fun time regardless. We may have had a few courses. As we were walking out I caught the unmistakeable smell of fresh porcini. The aroma is incredible – you just don’t get it with the dried/reconstituted variety. Another little explore followed, but it was mainly around the square.

And then home, to sleep, perchance to dream. Except something happened.

Not too shortly after 02:00, I was woken by the bedroom door opening, and Niamh gasping as she slowly hopped her way into the room. It frightened the crap out of me, as it really sounded to me that her breathing was laboured. So the light was switched on and it took me a moment or two to clear my mental cobwebs.

I soon realised that it wasn’t catastrophic in the real sense. No heart or pulmonary issue. She was limping heavily, however. Unfortunately, and this is nobody’s fault other than Fate’s, she’d left a nightie out on the washing line on the upper terrace and had remembered that it was going to start raining. So, she got it into her head to go up and grab it off the line to save her having to do another wash. She’d left the lights off and was relying on her nightsight. This was a harsh lesson to learn, in the harshest way possible. She missed one of the steps going from the terrace down into the kitched and fell awkwardly. She thought she heard a crack, and assumed it was a flip-flop hitting the floor (more foreshadowing).

Niamh had sprained her ankle badly once before, and the pain she felt was similar, so she assumed it was a sprain, and said that the hospital wasn’t necessary. She managed to get into bed and take a paracetamol, but then she started to shiver. It was definitely shock, so I threw a blanket over her. Niamh has an uncanny ability to sleep, certainly in comparison to me. Amazingly, she was asleep minutes later. It was me that spent the night catastrophising and being unable to sleep.

We got up and Niamh’s ankle wasn’t any better really. She thought it felt a little better, but there was absolutely no way she could put weight on the bad leg without serious pain. She got dressed with assistance and somehow managed to give our guests breakfast options, and saw them off with me – we had warned them that they’d have to leave the apartment early enough in the morning, as we were due to work that day. They were understandably sympathetic and lovely towards Niamh and wished her the best. At that stage we were both convinced that all she had was a sprained ankle. There were times that she thought it was getting better. We had one eye on the calendar, as we were due to fly back to Ireland in a few days.

We worked through the day, but I had to go to the pharmacy and pick up more painkillers, a pair of crutches, some bandaging and an icebag. I’ll spare you (and Niamh) pictures of the bruising.

Pain would come and go, and Niamh had to tell her work that she’d have to dip in and out as pain would often get the better of her.

I had to escape the apartment, not least to get food. There was a a Chocolate Fair, and I bought a stack of comfort choccies for us both.

Mmmm… chocolate… the smell alone was amazing

We read up on flying home with an injury, and were informed that we’d have to get a doctor’s note that Niamh was safe to fly. Ok, we were goosed. We’d have to either get to a doctor, or go to A&E (don’t translate directly – it’s known as pronto soccorso in Italian) in Volterra hospital.

We opted on the latter and contacted our property manager to see how best this could be facilitiated, as there was no way Niamh would be able to walk to the car, crutch or no crutch. We were told that the brilliant Misericordia service would bring us by ambulance to the hospital. We agreed a time for that afternoon, and our colleagues in work were very understanding, thankfully.

A couple of guys from the Misericordia arrived at the apartment front door, and had a contraption with them. I had seen something like this once before in our apartment block, and assumed that they’d need the same to get Niamh down the 4 floors of stairs. It is essentially a wheelchair, which can also motivate by adjusting caterpillar-style (i.e. tank) threads from the back. The last one of those I saw was powered by combustion engine and it was extremely noisy, especially given the sound could bounce around our cavernous stairwell. Fortunately, this one was electric.

Many towns have their own ‘Misericordia’ – essentially a voluntary ambulance service – and have had for centuries. In fact, there is a mini museum dedicated to the Volterran misericordia next to the cathedral. Anyway, they assisted Niamh into the chair, and off they went!

The chair alone weighs something like 50kg

I travelled in the ambulance with her to the side of the hospital grounds we’d never wanted to see!

She was taken inside, while I waited outside. Covid fears were still around, so I couldn’t join her, sadly. Niamh recounts that the whole process only took about 3 hours. I was thinking that this put our own A&E in Ireland to shame, but was informed weeks later by my Italian teacher that Volterra’s pronto soccorso is never as busy, because the town is so small. Anyway, Niamh also remembers them being very gentle and kind.

During the three hours, I messaged her and watched the sky turn some glorious colours.

The photos that Niamh came out with, however, were as interesting, on of them far more interesting!

Yep, her leg was broken – the fibula was, to be precise. They put her in a backslab cast so movement would be restricted.

We’d also have to go back the next morning, as the specialist wasn’t there to give her the note she needed to fly. We were delivered back to the apartment, including the upstairs climb, and paid the guys €50 (€25 per trip!). Well worth the money.

Soooo, we went back the next day. Same The specialist was busy, and so Niamh had to content with being left on her own for over an hour while other patients came and went. She didn’t quite know what was happening, and didn’t have sufficient of the language to be able to find out, so it began to be a little upsetting. Eventually an order/nurse took her to the specialist who typed up the letter for flying, plus a diagnosis for specialsts back home. He also said he could operate in one or two days. Niamh seriously considered it, but thought she’d find being back in Ireland more comfortable.

With a few clicks of a button, and a modicum of pride, he produced the letter and handed it to Niamh. She had a look at it, and couldn’t understand it. But she also could. It took her a few moments to realise the letter was in Irish – I guess translation was a feature of the tool he was using. Niamh had to inform him that most Irish people didn’t speak Irish, and so the nearby staff all had a good laugh at his expense. He good naturedly re-printed the letter in English and then sent her on her way.

Where was I? Well, I decided to walk certain areas around the hospital and on nearby roads to explore. I’m like a cat that way.

Chiostro delle Monache. It’s a hostel – you can stay here!

Then I began to walk some lonely roads indeed. I think my anxiety was a little above normal, thinking about Niamh’s predicament, hoping she was ok, and not least because some of these areas that were new to me had delapidated, sad looking buildings.

At the end of this particular road which was lovely, despite the collection of dead buildings, there lay a large house that was actually in-use and which had a garden attaching. I think you can hire parts of it to run new-age and alternative therapy sessions.

I took a different road back to the hospital area, and got some fab views of Monte Voltraio and the Val d’Elsa beyond.

I went back to the hospital, and picked Niamh up (metaphorically) and went back to the apartment.

Our friend, Mary, who gave us the weather portents of doom visited us with more chocolate gifts. We weren’t complaining. She also gave us some suggestions to promote healing. It was a very kind-hearted gesture. I’d texted all our Tuscan friends about our predicament, and they were so supportive – thanks, guys!

That evening, I took a stroll just to get out again, and for dinner I grabbed a couple of pastas for takeaway from Porgi l’Altra Pancia – it just lies at the apartment building entrance. We munched on that and spent our time screen-watching ’til bedtime.

The next blog is the last accounting of our time in Volterra that September, and will recall the last day, and the tortuous journey home, but until then thanks a lot for reading.

Please leave a comment or question – I’d love to hear from you.