ikea – Our Man In Volterra

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!

I skipped my walk on Tuesday, so we could head to the beach as early as possible. We didn’t end up leaving too early – sleep had to be caught up on, but thankfully we left early to avoid parking woes.

I know some locals scoff a little at Marina di Cecina, but it’s our nearest beach, has the blue wobbly stuff, and has a promenade right next to it with a goodly amount of amenities. The pebbly sand is dark-grey and a little harsh on the feet, but there are showers and small fountains to wash your feet when you’re done. There are other, whiter beaches around in Rosignano Solvay, Castligioncello and north of Populonia – but we’re not as familiar with these areas, and Niamh and our guest just wanted a quick dip.

I’m not a beach person. I did wear less than I normally would, but I sat back in our rented spot (€25 per day for a parasol, a bed and two chairs, and a key you use to operate the shower on the shoreline), and listened to some tunes, while the ladies paddled about in the water.

We stayed about 2-2.5 hours, and handed the key back. Apparently, they looked really puzzled when told that we were leaving – they generally expect people to stay all-day. Personally, I don’t know how folks do that. I like the sun, but generally I have to be doing something in it, rather than just lying there, toasting.

Coming back from Cecina, you can get some really nice approach shots of Volterra along the way. I’ve posted some below:

We once again got one of the last spots in the car park and headed to Osteria la Pace, and each had one of their killer bowls of pici with wild boar sauce and black olives.

They hand-make it, and it’s nice and thick. As it doesn’t contain any eggs, it’s actually a little bready. The bowl looked smallish, but we were pretty full by the end of it… but not full enough that we couldn’t share one of their amazing Tirimasú!

With full bellies, and roasted bodies, we went back to the apartment to siesta a while, not venturing out again until it was about 20:00. We were still a little full, and so only managed to have some nice bruschette in Volaterra (mine were hot, with suasage and cheese and were lovely with oil and black pepper added). It was their own oil, from their farm in Molino d’Era, and was fab. We took a shot of it, and will be back for some when our current stock has run out. The last time I tried a Volterran oil I found it a little too herbacious for my liking; almost grassy – but this was tasty!

We went to bed after a small walk around the town, as we had to get up early the next day.

We said goodbye to our guest the next morning, after dropping her off at the airport. We will miss her – it was fun having her about the place! We realised, though, that with a guest, we were running short of vessels and utensils in the kitchen, and so a trip to Ikea was in order. Fortunately, it is right next door to the airport! Unfortunately, we were there an hour before it opened, and so had to walk about to kill time. There is a McDonald’s there, which we narrowly avoided!

Two blue Ikea bags were filled, and we also had a box of tableware on the side. Wondering what we were going to have for dinner, we stopped off in Capannoli on the way back to grab some veggies and other items. There is a discount/remaindered stock store beside it – and we grabbed a few household items from there too – nice and cheap.

When we got home, we realised we had enough to carry in the heat, without lugging any of the Ikea stuff, and so dropped the groceries back at the apartment and went to Osteria dei Poeti for soup and pasta. They gave us a lovely little amuse-bouche to start!

It was getting warm, and I was a little tired, so we spent the afternoon indoors, either sleeping or screen-watching. Later on, Niamh defrosted the marinated chicken we had left, and rustled up some veggies and rice to go with it. It was yum! Fortunately, the Conad in Capannoli had ground ginger (Niamh doesn’t like solid, root ginger) and soy sauce! We ate it outside and watched the lowering sun kissing the sides of the cumulus on the north-western horizon.

With darkness approaching and the temperature suitably lowering, I made for the car and brought the two full Ikea bags back to the apartment. I was wringing wet by the time I got home – that was a lot of extra weight to haul.

I took a couple of moody evening shots on the way.

Congratulating myself, I set up our Sky Go server to have a device code, and so unlocked Sky Cinema for us – now we have a huge choice of films! Yay! This is a good thing, because the weather for the next few days seems particularly sticky and wet:

I watched Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse, and I thought it innovative and enjoyable – give it a go if you like superhero movies and/or animation.

After a good sleep, I got up and did my walk again. This time, I took a circuitous route to our carpark, so I could pick up the tableware and bring that back to the apartment. Cue the sweaty mess again… this time, as the weight was higher and less-distributed, leading to the handles of the bag I brought constantly cutting into my skin. Fun times!