Tag: food

2024)

And so I was seated (in the apartment), for a thousand seasons (about 36 hours) upon my throne (frequently on the toilet) – see last blog. During that time I ate plain (but still yummy) food, and Marie and Lorenzo from Authentic Tuscany came over. We were supposed to go to lunch with them and I ushered Niamh to do so, but bless them – they came to the apartment and we had a good chinwag for 90 minutes or so. I felt guilty. Then I had to use the bathroom again.

My tummy felt better for a few hours, and we decided to hit the town and go for a pizza. I thought I was being wise by not having beer, turns out I was only slightly wise.

I even went for a white pizza, in case my stomach found the tomato base too acidic.

It transpired that this was the dumbest move I had made possibly all year. Even before I reached the apartment, I felt a lead weight in my belly, and drew the conclusion that I had just given the new nasty bacteria in my belly a fresh meal. It was about 3 days before I would recover from this mistake – the guts (pun intended) of this week’s holiday. During this time, I had more plain(ish) food and I ventured on walks that didn’t take me too far from the apartment.

Once I’d become well again, it was back to a cycle of walking and eating, but generally keeping to the town as much as possible.

We hadn’t seen a friend of ours from Montaione for a while, and though we’d treat her to lunch. She and her husband, spend a lot of hours in work in their shop (they run an antiques business: Tutto Torno Antiques), restore antiques or are out buying or delivering their wares. They don’t have a lot of time to themselves, as is the case for a lot of people we know who work for themselves in Italy. Anyway, we reached Montaione, collected her and we drove to her recommended restaurant: Ristorante Il Caminetto. We found out during the meal that it was her birthday soon, so of course we told her we totally new this and she was very welcome to her birthday lunch! It turns out that not only was the food here was mostly great, it was also quite inexpensive! The steak was cooked perfectly, but the sauce had a sourness to it, like the base was mustard instead of cream.

Not many places in Tuscany do steak au poivre

We had a good chinwag and a laugh. After dropping her home, we drove back through the picturesque Val d’Era – which, to my mind, always gives the Val d’Orcia a run for its money.

A couple of days later, we headed to Livorno with our friend. We stopped of first, though, at the lovely lavender fields of Santa Luce. There’s a small carpark there near the more cultivated show-grounds a little bit away from the town itself – the more extensive commercial grounds, being closer to the town. We got out and had a small wander around the smaller, prettier, set first. I didn’t stray too far, as there were bees, which I am a little afraid of – I love them, but have issues with being stung (pain, more than allergies!). The plants here were full and smelled fantastic, and there were a few people around wandering through the rows.

Once done there, we headed back to the more extensive fields. The flowers there weren’t as fully grown, but there were more fields, plus it looked like searing for a lavender sagra – nothing was open there at the time.. a pity, as I wanted to try the lavender gelato. The views from these fields, however, were fantastic.

It was one of those places you occasionally come across which I call a ‘Tuscany in a bottle’ scene. It had rolling hills, vineyards, olive groves and, for once, lavender fields. If you’re in the area, it’s definitely work checking out, especially during the lavender festival.

Anyway, onwards to Livorno. We parked in our usual spot, and ventured forth. Our friend hadn’t been to the food market there before, so we had a look around and she bought some spice and rice. The usual market was outside too, but also the outdoor food market – it’s an amazing place to go if you want true sight into the heart of Italian life. Livorno, although a port town, where cruise ships land is seriously under-visited by tourists. I guess it’s a little rough around the edges in places, but there are parts – the food market, mini-Venice, the fortress and Terrazza Mascagni – which are really lovely; and the food scene is great too, once you do your homework.

There are times when you just want to skip Tuscan food after a week or two of it, and burgers were the order of the day. We went to Livorno’s branch of I’m Burger. We loved it!

Then it was off to explore – and yes, we went to the usual places – and drove to the checkerboard Terrazza Mascagni to boot. I love these places.

We decided to drive home by the coast. The road south out of Livorno is a thing to see. It has some of the most startlingly over-the-top properties I’ve yet seen in Tuscany. Give it a go! Anyway, we drove down the coast, avoiding most towns, but stopped at Vada, for which Niamh and I have a strange kind of love. On the way home, just past Cecina, we found somewhere we could stop to take photos of some sunflower fields. These are at their best for maybe a month if you’re lucky, so it’s an advantageous to come in early to mid-July.

We largely stayed at home for a couple of days after that grand adventure, sometimes eating out, sometimes cooking at home.

We still had some more days left on this holiday – but this is where I’ll leave you for now. The 2025 season is now over for us, so I’ll be able to start updating the blogs more often. Hopefully, I’ll be all caught-up in time for 2026! Thanks for reading, and take care!

Holiday Within A Holiday (29/06-03/07/2024)

Warning! Due to circumstances which befell me during this period, this blog may have a lot of scatalogical references.

We knew were were going away to spend a weekend in a hotel, and so spent a quiet day or two in Volterra after the white night in Vicopisano, just eating at home and in the lovely traditional restaurant La Carabaccia.

The next day, I went out for a morning walk, and managed to catch the beginnings of a classic car rally leaving from Piazza dei Priori. It was a lively affair, and there were plenty of vehicles and their proud, gabbling owners knocking about quite early in the morning. I took some shots… some artsy!

There seems to be some sort of early-morning vehicular activity in the square at least once a month. Mostly it’s cars – which might be brand-restricted, other times it’s motorbikes.. and on a couple of occasions in the last few years, mountain biking urban course championships have been held here, as well as the beginning of one of the routes of the Gira d’Italia.

That afternoon, we had bruschettone in Porgi l’Altra Pancia and a gelato from L’Isola del Gusto.

Later that evening, we went to one of our faves: La Vecchia Lira for dinner.

Finally, we hit what was to me the more looked-forward to part of the year: to spend two nights away from Volterra, somewhere else along the coast: a holiday within a holiday. We booked the improbably-named Mercure Argentario Hotel Filippo II on Monte Argentario. It wasn’t too expensive, had a pool, and was reasonably well located, but took a small car journey into the nearby coastal town town of Porto Santo Stefano.

Monte Argentario itself is effectively an island, joined to the mainland by two curving land-bridges and one actual bridge bisecting a manmade lagoon.

Monte Argentario

There’s Monte Argentario above, courtesy of Apple Maps.

A friend of ours was thinking of spending some time in Castiglione della Pescaia, and so we thought we’d join her for half a day, and give her a lift there. So, that was some unexpected fun! We got up at sparrowfart, drove via Cecina down the main vein of the Tuscan coast – the E80. We parked in our usual spot, and then saw our friend into her lovely Air BnB, before hitting Bango Perla.

The restaurant at Bagno Perla serves reasonable food, and we left happy. We’d usually head back to the beach for a dip and a rest before we’d head home, but this time we had a different destination.

We changed, and drove on entirely new roads to Monte Argentario. We even saw a little bit of Grosseto itself (the capital of this particular province), having to skirt around its train station and shaggy suburbs.

Our excitement grew as our distance to the coast lessened, and was palpable when we were crossing the northernmost landbridge onto the ‘island itself’. I love coastal scenes generally, and the ones here were no exception – people lying on rocky beaches or scurrying across the road to or from their accommodation. The air itself changes, and more stone pines can be seen, which always reminds us of the coast.

We finally reached the entrance to the spiraling road that led up to the hotel. It was over worrying narrow bridge, that was less than fun to cross back over unsighted onto the main road. Parking was handy enough, and we checked-in.

It turns out we were given something of a suite. A huge living-room/kitchen area, a big bedroom and bathroom and a large terrace to boot. All fully, and blessedly, air-conditioned. We were well-impressed!

We had a look over the terrace walls onto the Mediterranean and thought we’d landed in paradise. We rested for a little while, as we’d been going since the early morning (I can never truly ‘rest’ at the beach).

Later on, we took the car into the town to grab some dinner. It’s so cute on the way in.

It took us a little while to find a parking spot, and we eventually resorted to parking in Piazza Facchinette, which was essentially carpark, which only seems to charge daily rates – so go elsewhere if you’re on any kind of budget, or have a modicum of pride. Niamh and I were burdened by neither!

We walked along the promenade. It’s a noisy place. I didn’t mind it as much as Niamh, being a bit of a city boy and all. We found three restaurants in a row, settling for the first one: Osteria La Terrazza di Mataloni Riccardo.

Niamh looking smug, because her dish ‘won’

We sat outside, so we could look at the promenade and the bay. What we should have copped on to was that we were right beside a busy road. Again, I didn’t mind too much, but it was terribly noisy. Anyway, despite the location, the food was actually pretty decent, with the standout being Niamh’s pasta dish.

Rain came down quite heavily after a while. The couple near us on the other corner, and the couple behind us to my right had to be moved due to the leaky gaps in the parasols that hung over the tables. A spatter or two came near us, but somehow our corner wasn’t as bad as the other areas.

When done, we wandered up towards the end of the commercial part of the promenade and back again towards the car.

We drove back to the hotel, used the terrace to gaze about and went to bed, which was the end of night number one here.

The next morning, we got up, had breakfast, wore out the views from our terrace.

Our plan today was to drive anti-clockwise around the island, and make stops in Porto Ercole and Orbetello. I love to drive, but Niamh would often rather I didn’t, whereas I trust pretty much anyone inherently who drives me anywhere. So, it’s easier for the pair of us if Niamh drives. I still drive – usually from the destination back to Volterra, so I do get my chance. Anyway, it was Niamh who drove, so I got a smattering of a chance to take photos and film footage – more on the latter in another blog, but if you’re intrepid enough, you can find it in youtube.

Niamh negotiated her way left off the narrow bridge that led away from the hotel, towards Porto Santo Stefano. Missus Google took us through the backstreets, which were interesting little neighbourhoods in their own right, but not necessarily worth a separate visit. However, I certainly regret not stopping at the towns major tourist attraction: the Fortezza Spagnola. At least we’ll have something to come back for.

It took us on a loop, then, back to the promenade and we did one of my favourite things: a coastal drive. They’re not often easy to do in Italy, as either the most serviceable roads are a couple of hundred meters away from the sea, or train tracks are between the road and the sea, affording rail ticket holders better views. But when it happens, it’s glorious! And it was glorious, for maybe the first third of the journey, especially along the Via Panoramica and (to lesser extent) the Via dei Pionieri. Then something happens. Tuscany happens, to be precise. There is an instant where the road turns from freshly laid asphalt, to dusty grey and cracked asphalt and nearly halves in width, and then with a lousy 3km to go ’til you reach Porto Ercole, it turns into a strada biancha and narrow even more – see more below the pics. The best thing about the first part of the road, is that there are frequent enough places you can pull into and admire the view.

I took more video footage than photos. And we only stopped once or twice, as we had our eye on the clock. In reality, though, we had a lorry-load of time and needn’t have worried, even when what was about to befall us befell us.

We enjoyed much of the trek, even when the road became narrower, torn and pitted asphalt. It wasn’t until we hit the the strada bianca (white road), just 3km away from Porto Ercole, we said “no”. There had been some rain in the week leading up to our holiday – and rain the previous night, and the white road was in pieces. There was a large central hill with chopped-up tracks. We were mindful we were in a non-4×4 rental vehicle and instead performed a 15-point turn and then spent another 15-20 minutes driving back the way we came. The road, I’ve just learned while writing this, does have its normal days and only goes for about 1.5km before becoming broken asphalt again, and then back to normal road. Oh well.

Anyway, we took a slightly inland road that rises and dips and took us back to Porto Santo Stefano. We blew through that, and went clockwise this time and hit Porto Ercole a little while later. It really is a shame that about half the road is wonderful, and the other half is awful. You should be able to circle the mountain in a normal car – but it is what it is.

We parked here, and walked 3 or so minutes to the bay. What can I say? Maybe it was the time of year, or maybe it just is the place it is, but we loved the vibe in Porto Ercole – to wit: it was quiet. Much quieter than Porto Santo Stefano. There were only a few places open along the promenade, which we walked, but we didn’t mind. In the distance, on the other side of the bay, there was an old-town part to it, which we didn’t explore. It was getting hot out, and we were more inclined to feed our bellies than work our legs.

We passed by several groups of young ladies, most of whom were devouring gelato – so, sheep that we are, we had to join them. We stopped at Botania for some creamy goodness and bench-sitting, and both were pretty good – recommended if you’re in the area. A little while, we decided to look for somewhere for lunch. One of the best-scoring places seemed to have been getting ready for service on the inside of the restaurant, but when I queried they said they weren’t open until the evening. Please update your opening times on Google, please, restaurateurs. Grumbling, we walked back to the car, and drove at speed towards Orbetello. Shame, because the menu looked nice. All said, Porto Ercole – we will be back some day.

We drove back towards Porto Santo Stefano, but took the left instead towards Orbetello. There aren’t many towns on the coast with a medieval feel to them, but Orbetello is one of them. We parked on the eastern end of the (frankly) phallic peninsula (I almost spelled that incorrectly), here.

Looking back over the lengthy bridge towards Monte Argentario

Our primary focus was food – we’d explore a bit afterwards. We made a b-line towards the centre of town, admiring some of the streets along the way. It was so quiet, but we found one of the better reviewed places, run mom & pop style, which usually impresses in Italy anyway – Ristorante Bistrò Ale da Pasquale e Marcella.

This may or may have not contained more than I bargained for

I enjoyed my outsized clams and pasta, but occasionally had to spit out a bit of shell. We engaged with a couple of the local ladies outside while we were paying and they were surprised to hear that we were from Ireland. We said goodbye and I had not a care in the world, and so we walked through the town snapping some of the prettiness.

We’d had a full day in the heat and needed a rest. We did so back at the hotel, but when it was time to get up for dinner, we didn’t really feel like going back out again, so we thought we’d dine in the hotel. After tidying ourselves up, we went to reception and asked how we could get some aperitivi. She walked out from behind the reception desk and over to the bar, which couldn’t have been more than three meters wide, and poured us each a decent enough Aperol spritz and gave us a little bowl of mini-pretzel crispy things.

She suggested we could head down to the restaurant when we were ready – she didn’t think a booking was needed. When down there, we got a little bit of a stank-face from the lady at the door, who wasn’t totally impressed that we didn’t book.

In the dining area outside, there was nobody but us and a family of five. We took up 20% of the seating, and it remained that way until the end of our meal. We were still fullish from lunch, and so only we only had the one course… one savoury course… ok, we had two courses, if you include dessert (not pictured).

Or maybe it was this that did it to me…?

One last look around the bay from the terrace…

And then to bed! And apologies for what’s about to happen!

Next morning, we had some breakfast, and everything was fine. We’d mostly packed the previous night (force of habit), and had breakfast. It wasn’t until we were about to check out that, to coin an expression, I began to feel pressure from the rear. I rushed to do what I had to do and didn’t think much of it – perhaps just expunging the excesses of my recent couple of days.

I still didn’t think anything of it, until we started to approach the town I wanted to visit on the way home: Talamone. It’s not too far from Monte Argentario, and is a lovely little seaside village – definitely give it a visit if you’re not suffering from explosive diarrhea. I was beginning to feel extreme pressure again. There is tons of parking to be found here, and it’s only a short walk to the walls surrounding the raised town. Except I didn’t make it that far initially.

I ran across the road to Bar Il Porto, and while Niamh purchased drinks so I didn’t look like I was poop-mooching, I RAN to the bathroom behind – it was sort of an adjoined outhouse. I had to wait for a bit, giving my sphincter the workout of its life. The occupant came out a minute later and I might have broken the sound barrier as I rushed in to take his place. It was another mess, and I knew something was wrong with me. I only had the pleasure of evacuation for maybe 4 minutes before a poor woman (whom I really wanted to murder afterwards) knocked on the door to get in. I had to relinquish my throne, and scurried over to Niamh and had a drink.

We were at the bar five minutes downing our drinks, and then headed up through the Porta Garibaldi, up the steps and walked about the cute place. Moments later, I knew I had to go again. Thankfully, the town was providing many distractions.

I skipped the gelateria, instead opting to go down another set of steps to the admire the boats on display in the man-made marina. I was desperate to use the bathroom again, so I took another trip to Bar Il Porto and relieved myself posteriorly. I didn’t know how I was going to make it home – we had two hours to go in the car.

I spied several garages along the way for obviously accessible bathrooms, without having to ask for their whereabouts or a key – but no joy. I broke out into a sweat, and there it was – some sort of food poisoning that had led to stomach issues. However, I made it – against all odds – as Niamh powered us home. She stopped at the Piazza dei Martiri in Volterra, so I could scramble out with my case, and walk briskly to the apartment. How I didn’t (excuse me) shit myself royally on the stairs up I’ll never know, but I reached the apartment, shakily unlocked the doors (which I left completely open), dropped my case and bolted for the loo, where I remained for many minutes.

And so this was me for the next few days, which was unfortunate. Actually, this reminds me of the time my brother had visited us earlier in the year – something which I had forgotten. The water went in the apartment, including in the bathroom, and it took a couple of days to sort it. Nasty, nasty stuff!

I’m amazed you made it this far – but thank you! Drop a comment or question for me!

Nights in White Linen (28/06/2024)

When I’m asked why I would like to move to Italy, I dogmatically say “the weather” and “the people”, proclaiming how hard it is in Ireland (a beautiful country in many other aspects) to plan anything with friends more than 1-2 weeks in advance. But the reality is a little more complex than that. I’ll reserve some other personal reasons for another blog, but the two I will talk about here I feel are failings of Ireland, of which I am partly culpable. The second of these will lead into the lovely lifestyle part most of you are probably here for anyway!

Ireland doesn’t seem to be the country it used to be. Politics and the greedy buggers involved served to make property prices way higher than they should be. Some of this is down to the weird longing for Irish people to own a bit of land, i.e. a garden, leading to Dublin having spread out, rather than having been built skywards. The result is that Niamh and I became far removed from working colleagues and (for me) family and friends – Niamh’s family was already a ways away. In turn many of my friends scattered similarly. So, ultimately, we were less sociable in Kilcullen – the village in which we live. There have been a couple of pocketed periods where we went out with one group or another, but those fizzled out for various reasons. In Volterra, and Tuscany in general, we have found multiple people we are delighted to hang out with, and can do so with more outdoorsy ease, given the weather. Personally, I am more at my ease in Italy.

Secondly, which is leading to the lifestyle part, is that the community spirit in Italy leaves Ireland’s in the dust, as does their civic pride. With respect to the latter, of course there’s crime and grime in Italy, but there seems to be a respect for history and beauty and for other peoples’ property, so you’ll rarely find beauty-spots overly-littered or graffiti’d. I look at the unprotected fields of olives and grapes in Tuscany, and think to myself that they wouldn’t last kissing time in Ireland. It would be assumed that the contents are fair game for everyone if not fenced-off, livelihoods of the land-owners bedamned.

In Volterra, and in many similar hilltowns, there’s always something going on. There’s some artistic event, a show, a festival, and outing, a free concert and sometimes, especially during the summer, neighbourhoods in town may get together and organise dinner in the streets. The most extreme example of these nighttime meals is Siena during the Palio. However, most towns and villages get together at least once a year to celebrate together. It could be a harvest thing – a sagra, or it may coincide with Labour Day (May 1st) or a day in the religious calendar. It doesn’t matter – it’s time for a public party and the Italians are about to throw one!

Volterra has several of them that I know about: a street dinner above the ruins of the Roman Theatre, May 1st’s celebration in San Giusto at which trippa alla Volterrana (a tripe dish) is consumed in vast quantities, and a ‘white night’ dinner, which is not a normal ‘everything stays open’ white night, but a night during which the people of Volterra celebrate all things alabaster. A large dinner is held in Piazza dei Priori, and everyone is expected to be dressed in white. We haven’t attended any of these, sadly – maybe next year.

A couple of years back, Marie and Lorenzo of Authentic Tuscany invited us to a sunset dinner among the vines at the Castelvecchio winery, just outside Terricciola – one of Tuscany’s fabled ‘wine towns’. I was happy to go along, despite my initial concerns about the touristic hokeyness of it. I often have fears of looking like a tourist in Italy, which, when I think more deeply about it, is completely ridiculous. Of course I’m a tourist – you only have to look at me to know I’m far from being Italian. I should embrace the fact that there are certain things built and available specifically for tourists, and that these tourists too may also be Italian. To get off me high horse! Anyway, this dinner not only blew me away in terms of both its setting, the quality of the food and how wonderful the company was, but also with the revelation that so many tables at the dinner (which were scattered throughout the vineyard) were also Italian.

So, if you have these same hangups, let go of them – because these things are there to be enjoyed by everyone. The same goes for our next invite by Marie and Lorenzo: to a street-dinner organised by the locals. In any event, touristic hangups or not, these are not touristic events, but a way of participating in a local celebration. In fact, it’s a pleasure and an honour to be accepted on such nights, and I cannot recommend them highly enough.

Back to pre-Volterra, we’d known about this night for some time, and were put on notice to bring something with us to share. Niamh had the idea of making sausage rolls, so for the first (but maybe not last) time ever, we brought uncooked Irish produce (sausage meat and Clonakilty black pudding) and had planed to get pre-rolled puff pastry over there. We arrived in Volterra, and found out halfway through the week that not only had the menu for the night changed, but Niamh’s culinary services were no longer needed. Fortunately, she’s married to a human trashcan. Moreover, I was happy to have some pork products for lunch for several days. I have to say that the sausage meat, which I formed into patties, was freaking delicious!

The black pudding is so black! (Ripping Yarns fans, anyone?)… the sausage patty looks well done, but inside was so juicy. Making myself hungry…

On the day we just rocked up with some wines. Sadly, Lorenzo had to work that evening, so it was just just us and Marie. And six of Marie’s guests. And a hundred and twenty or so locals. We parked closer to Marie and Lorenzo’s and were welcomed into their kitchen, where Marie had ingredients separated out for a bruschetta assembly line Niamh would join later. Being a manly man, with muscles on top of muscles, I was asked to fetch six large bottles of water at the carpark we had just come from. I had a little bottle-carrier so I only had to do one trip, if I recall correctly. In many Italian towns, you’ll find old-looking fonts at which fresh, potable water will be found. Water is tested daily and is safe to drink. There are now also modern-looking taps in some towns. Sometimes water is free, sometimes it’s not. At some modern fonts you can actually get fizzy water for next to nothing (in Lajatico it’s 10c per litre I think). Sadly, I haven’t found anything like that in Volterra.

Anyway, I fetched the water, and then spent the rest of the time either filming or looking idiotic until it was time to be seated for food and merriment. By this time Fran and Nick had also turned up, so we had a good gang of people.

We sat, and for a few hours were wined, dined, met the mayor, had little rolled-up parchment containing poetry given to us, received impromptu Italian lessons and were serenaded by a local violinist. The food was nice – penne pasta with tomatoes, and cuttlefish with spinach in a broth, over toasted bread. I got an extra helping on this, solely because it looks like I have a belly big enough for it. This was a source of great amusement to Niamh, who knows I can only take so much of the texture of squid/octopus/cuttlefish before I tire of it, despite how good it tastes (and this was nice). My politeness won out, however, and I cleaned my plate while we chatted and laughed.

I can’t recall if there was a dessert, but I think not. We helped clear up and afterwards took a stroll into the main square of the town, while many were still chatting and drinking digestivi (think limoncello, amaro, grappa) at their table. Fran and Nick had left, so only about twelve of us rocked up and ambushed the poor girls working at the bar. We took some seats outside, while a duet were finishing up their act. We were joined by the lady, who was a singer, and she hung around while she and her pal played the kazoo and finally managed to convince Marie’s guest to see their act in a nearby town the next evening.

We had to watch our drinking due to tummy issues (me – occasional acid reflux) and driving home (Niamh), so we took our leave after about an hour and slept like logs when we got home.

If you follow Marie and Lorenzo’s Youtube channel, you might have already seen that they have an open invitation to guest at this dinner in 2026. I would highly recommend it if you really want to see what authentic town and village life is like in Tuscany. You can watch their video of the 2025 dinner below to see if you’d be interested (my own 2024 footage is on Youtube too, but will be linked to in a later blog), or find their contact form on the Authentic Tuscany website.

Thanks for reading all the way to the end!

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!

A Week of Walking, Eating and Exploring (14-17/10/2023)

We hit the ground crawling for much of our first week back. Rather than striking out for new towns, we favoured spending time more slowly within the town of Volterra, leaving the latter half of the week for visiting a friend and a new town.

Day 1
Chill time. Of course breakfast was followed by gelato, what fool wouldn’t do that?! By the evening time, the cloud breakup was just right for the sunset and there were God-rays aplenty to be seen at the viewpoint at Fornelli. Afterwards, we had a colourful and tasty meal at La Vecchia Lira.

Day 2
The next day began with a morning explore and coffee, and a wander to the main square (Piazza dei Priori). We bought some salumi and cheese at this newish store on Via Gramsci (Bottega Toscana), and found it to be about 10-15% cheaper than the cheese store just around the corner from it. We had our coffee (in my case a hot chocolate) and pastry, and found something peculiar in the square when we went there afterwards.

There was a little TV crew there standing by a table with local produce. They were there to promote Volterra’s DOP pecorino cheese, which is notable because it’s made from a vegetable rennet, rather than the rennet from the stomach of an animal. I am not sure I have ever had this DOP cheese, but I looked for some in cheese shops in 2024, but to no avail. I suspect it might be expensive. Side question: if cheese is frequently made with animal rennet, what do you vegetarians do about that? Ignore it? Answers in the comments, please!

Additionally, they had an art exhibition – mostly sculptures, and many were absolutely wonderful. In fact, I’m kicking myself I didn’t take the names of the sculptors. They frequently have exhibitions in Volterra, many of which are completely free to enter.

Afterwards, we had a little walk around the town.

I love this shot looking back up Via Porta all’Arco

That night we rocked up to La Taverna della Terra di Mezzo for dinner, and a little calorie-burning walk after.

Day 3
Well we packed quite a bit in today! We actually got in the car and escaped Volterra for a bit. But first, of course, I had a little walk.

We had never visited Palaia before, and so took a trip there to check it out. Like many towns, especially just out of season, it was very quiet – but its main square is lovely, and there are some fantastic views of the hills around its edges.

I loved this little church, and these small scultures.

The best part, though, is the square and the bell tower is wonderful.

We skipped around a park which I regret not going in. There is a restaurant there which gets good reviews, but it was closed on the day for us. We did something that we very rarely do for lunch: grab a sandwich. We went into a minimarket in the main square and shared a lovely ham, cheese and mayo… and honestly it really was delicious! Sometimes the simpler things in life is all you need.

We skipped town and, solely for our visual delight, drove into the best parts of the Val d’Era. And it is so lovely – it’s comparable to Val d’Orcia on a good day. That day, given the time of the year it was, the sky was cloudy, but the viewing distance was good. The problem with ambient light and no shadows is that you really don’t get the true shape of the hills or, sometimes, the depth of the vista. Plus I spoiled these shots by putting myself in them. But here they are anyway.

Rather than heading towards Volterra, though, we took an unfamiliar route towards Montaione. We had been in touch a virtual load with Tutto Torna Antique’s Emma. We arrived while she was closed for riposo, so we had a drink and nibbles in L’Antica Vineria Vanni. Nice place – I was complimented on my Italian, which always both mortifies and butters me up!

Anyway, we soon caught her, and we had one of those chats where it seemed like we’d known each other for ages – we were so comfortable in each other’s company, and our senses of humour were not too different (or to put it another way – mine was tolerated!). Two hours flew by, and it was just a lovely way to spend the afternoon.

We left in fine fettle. The only other thing to report on that day was the food we had that evening in Don Beta:

Day 4
The only thing of note we did this day, apart from

…was to drive all the way to Ponsacco, to an Asian-fusion place called Haru Sushi, which had been recommended by a pair of friends. Additionally, we had heard that you could get served by a robot waiter here, and so were intrigued.

The restaurant wasn’t in the sexier part of town, but there was ample parking immediately outside which we were happy about. We were sat down, and as is usual in these places now, used a fixed tablet to make our order (it’s either that a paper checkbox menu on which you write the numbers of the dishes you want ordered).

We ordered our stuff, and Lo! Along it came, bearing gifts… it wheeled slowly towards our table and we were thanked by the thing. The effect was somewhat spoiled by the human attendant who faithfully trotted after it, and set it to reset to it’s station as soon as we took our food. A cute gimmick!

In fairness, the food wasn’t half-bad, with the meat quality being among the better of those we’d been to previously. A particular standout was salt and chili cauliflower!

We devoured the dumplings before we could snap them!

Below is a youtube video of the above. Have fun watching it!

We were going to do something special the next day, and it turned out to be a fun one, despite the weather, but more on that next time!

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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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Showing A Pal Around Livorno (06/09/2023)

We knew that our friend in Chianni, Marisa (check out her YouTube channel), was without transport. And although there are buses that roam around the countryside, you really have to plan ahead with about a third of your daylight hours being on them if you want to travel to one of the ‘premium’ towns (and back again, duh!). They tend to go everywhere, and frequently you may need to change buses. The service is good, though, and is generally timely and reliable – so long as you have your expectations set.

Anyway, we knew it had been a while since she travelled out, and we decided to do here solid by bringing her to Livorno for the first time. And we love Livorno too. We’ve visited the place a bunch of times before. Check out the blog archive, or do a search for Livorno.

Earlyish in the morning, we picked Marisa up at her place, and drove the 50-60 minutes to Livorno. We always park here, because it’s only a couple of blocks away from the food market, and we can always find a spot here. This time around, we came close to not finding a place, and had to park on the roof.

Never noticed this belltower before, so roof-parking is A-OK in my book. Madame Moon also makes an appearance.

We took the lift down, and made immediately for the food market, and for the normal Italian-style market which surrounds it. It’s always fun to see the wonder and enthusiasm on the faces of people who are seeing the market for the first time. And Marisa was no exception. And, in fact, the tables were slightly turned, as Marisa’s Italian is a chunk better than ours, and she wasn’t shy in talking to some of the stall-owners about their produce – in particular, the famous Livornese white eggs.

Early into the excursion, we stopped off at the common area in the market building (check out the architecture above, by the way), and had some coffee/hot-chocolate and pastries.

Afterwards, we walked about Livorno’s “Little Venice” area. It was a warm enough day, but a light breeze around these roads kept things tolerable.

Those of you who have read about our trips to Livorno, particularly when we’re accompanied by someone breaking their Livornese cherry, can probably guess what’s coming next – and you’ll be right – it was a 15 minute walk around the fortress, and oo-ing and ahh-ing at the sites that lay about it.

Then it was off to the fortress to admire the canals and central from a different angle. I love the fortress. It’s usually a little oasis of calm amid bustle of Livorno. This time around, Marisa pointed out the little boat ‘garages’ that lay along the canals, adding colour to the scenes.

There is a photo above of Livorno’s Piazza della Repubblica (yes, the name is not just confined to Florence). You’ll see the little archway under which water flows? Well, that goes all the way to the other side of the square and feeds the ‘New Venice’ quarter of Livorno’s canals. Some call this Piazza della Repubblica the widest bridge in Europe, as a result.

When we were done with the fortress, we had quite a hunger on us then, and needed to grab something for lunch. Instead of going for views, we went for quality of food, and found Dietro l’Angolo, a Livornese specialist restaurant and, as it turns out, one that serves the best food we have had in Livorno – plus it’s fun! Niamh and I knew we were going to be eating later that evening and so eased up on our order. I had deep fried anchovies, and shared a collection of polpette (balls of beef, fish and veg). The beef ones were tasty and spicyish, and the fish were nice too, but I’d have to give the rosette to (incredibly for me) the vegetarian ones. They were delicious. But I loved the fried anchovies!

We had been sat next to a group of four people, who were evidently hungrier than we were, because at one stage, the owner/manager came out and excused herself before ringing a manual bell on a rope. This heralded not only a fright from us, but the entrance (onto the street) of an enormous bowl of cacciuco – Livornese fish stew. There were legs and claws poking everywhere! The people who ordered it seemed to like it, and each received a badge from the restaurant! A good and funny thing to do.

When we finished, we praised the food and the interior, and what do you know, after a brief bit of hesitation, we got our badges too! We went back to the car, but instead of heading home, we introduced Marisa to Terrazza Mascagni – Livorno’s bewildering checkered tiled coastal terrace. She was blown away by it, and remembered a friend of hers stayed in the nearby Grand Hotel Palazzo. We stayed awhile, admiring the bravery of the bathers in the natural bay and took a few selfies, before heading home.

We drove back over the mountains. It’s a route I have a love/hate relationship with, because although the first half has views back towards the sea and you get to drive through the cute towns of either Castellina Marittima or Castelnuovo della Misericordia, depending your route – the second half’s road is narrow, winding and in places subsided. Additionally, it’s tree-lined, which sounds fab, but I know the views that the trees are blocking (all the way across the Southwestern part of the Val d’Era and the Val di Cecina, and I’m gutted!

Here’s Marisa’s video of the day out to Livorno. Mine will be linked in a later blog.

After the lengthy drive, we chilled, before heading out again for dinner in Ristorante Etruria. It is very definitely one of the more touristy restaurants (it’s temporarily closed at the time of writing this – December 2024), but I like their Zuppa alla Volterrana and Niamh their Parmigiana di Melanazane. They often welcome us with a glass of fizz, a plate of salted flatbread and, after paying the bill, a half-bottle of Chianti It’s a good way to retain clients. Anyway – we enjoyed ourseves!

Thanks for reading to the end. I hope you enjoyed it – but let me know if you would like to see anything covered!

A Lazy Few Days Mostly in Volterra (02-05/09/2023)

Unsurprisingly, we came back!

And what a day to come back to! There were multiple celebrations on the 2nd of September:

It’s our wedding anniversary
We came back to Volterra
Lajatico had its annual ‘foods of the world’ festival
It was Volterra’s White Night

It was kind of the locals to throw those two festivals on for us to help celebrate our anniversary. As we’d seen a bit of Volterra, we decided to take our friend and head over to Lajatico in the baseless hope that there’d be some Asian food to be had. There wasn’t any, but we found Lajatico to be buzzing with life and had some nice Ukranian and Romanian grub anyway!

But first, our car. We hired the car and drove it away without incident to Volterra, but due to it being parallel parked when we found it, rather than being in its own bay, we failed to spot damage to one of the front corners. We only saw it after parking in Volterra. LESSON: ALWAYS check your car fully for damage. Anyway – we did try to contact company and couldn’t get anyone on the local number, but were just told to document the damage by their head office, and were told no more. I began to get paranoid, as you often hear horror stories about some rental companies scamming people, and it resulted in me making a complete arse of myself when we returned the car – but more of that in a later blog.

Still mortified that we failed to spot this

We did land in the afternoon, and before going to Lajatico, had a nibble at Volaterra – and, of course, a cheeky Aperol, gelato (from L’Isola del Gusto) and explore.

Anyway, to Lajatico.

We had to park in a sportsground and walk 7 or 8 minutes into town. I papped some sights on the way in.

The ticket ‘office’ was on the way in, and you could either just wander in, or you could buy yourself a neat little pack of some credit stamps for stalls and wooden cutlery, all in a neato mini-tote back that could go about your neck. We all indulged, and were only together for maybe 5 minutes of the first 30 we were there, as we scattered looking for food we’d like. I’d never been in Lajatico at night, and it’s a pretty place – as it is during the daytime.

If I had one complaint, it’s that it was incredibly crowded – in particular at the food stalls. We still managed to get some grub in!

We sat near a well at the bottom of the road, and enjoyed the street entertainment.

We were there for a couple of hours, but then headed home. To chaos. Volterra was celebrating a white night, which meant there were no parking spots to be had. Not at either of our usual residents’ carparks. I had every intention of looking for more places by driving through town, but roadsigns and crowds completely impeded my route down Via Minzoni, and I had to park there, rather illicitly, as there was no way I was reversing all the way back down.

Instead we had a couple of drinks at Volaterra, noted that the concert in the main piazza was a ticket only affair. Everywhere, people were dressed in white, and tons of shops and bars stayed open until the small hours of the morning.

There’s not much more to the week, as we worked most of it. Niamh took one day off to replaster and repaint parts of a damaged outside wall. Check it out in the video near the bottom of this blog. But before that, the week consisted of walks, working and the stuffing of our faces. During one day, we went to Poggibonsi to pick up plaster and paints for Niamh, and stopped in an inoccuous looking restaurant on the side of the road in the industrial outskirts. Inside a lot of the food was based on wine, and was really delicious – Bottega Torciano! Here’s a large collection of photos: