mining – Our Man In Volterra

Oh yeah! I’d almost forgotten that we decided to splurge on a long weekend back in Italy. It was the August bank holiday in Ireland, so we used that Monday to bolster our weekend.

We flew out the Thursday evening, and arrived in Volterra half past midnight.

Friday, August 4th
We did a lot this weekend to maximise the money-to-fun ratio, and so sleep may have suffered. We found ourselves on the go a lot. So, our first date was in Bagno Perla beach club in Castliglione della Pescaia (parking). We met our friend by the entrance to her apartment stupid early, and had a quick breakfast at L’Incontro. Then we walked to our rental and drove the ninety minutes to Castiglione – a lovely village on the coast (duh), with a rare old-town feel. It’s a bit of a walk from the carpark, but parking is tricky elsewhere in the town – plus at least the carpark leaves you close to the centre of the town itself, which was to be our target afterwards.

Unsurprisingly, we did beachy stuff at the beach. I stood among the waves in the warm water. The strand goes out about 30 or so meters before you have to worry about floating, and unlike many Tuscan beaches, the sand is silky smooth. I cannot swim. I cannot even float. I know people say they cannot swim but they can at least float or doggy-paddle. Not I. So it’s a big deal for me to get out there.

They have a restaurant at the beach club too… don’t expect anything haute – but it does it’s job more than adequately.

Back to the beach for a couple of hours. Our friend could stay there all day (thereby getting best value for money from the rental of seats/beds/parasols.

But Niamh and I have to do something else – something different after a while. We have no patience for just lying there. We walked back and had a wander about the town. Once done, we stopped off at a bar on the main street for a spritz… which was nice, but the service was a little south of friendly. While we were there, we were caught in the mother and father of all downpours! Leaving that establishment, we thought we’d check out the menu of an Irish bar there – we had no real intention of eating there, as we had our sights on a burger bar. The food wasn’t Irish really, but at least the beer was!

Downpour – check out the early part of the video towards the bottom of the blog

Afterwards it was off to the burger bar for a tasty treat. The bar has since moved to Florence, and rumour has it that it’s not as good as it was, so no names dropped here. The bar wasn’t opened yet, so we went into the hotel bar opposite, where a few locals were hanging out, and had another spritz.

The burger bar opened and our friend reacquainted herself with the owner – we made our order and got our burgers. They were every bit as good as they looked!

Once done there, we (that is to say ‘I’) had the arduous task of driving us home. No staying overnight – we did that later in September, though.

I left the ladies off and parked at in the free area, as the resident’s carpark was full. Awesome times!

Saturday, August 5th
A day of travelling and exploring was in store for us!

I did start the day with one of my trademarked walks, although I kept it brief and inside the walls.

Walked, breakfasted, showered and off we went. We’d harboured significant interest in the forested areas around the Val di Cornia recently, and headed off in that direction again this time. We wound our way through a metric ton of mini-valleys, and saw a town in the distance: Gerfalco. I didn’t see much in the way of anywhere to eat after an explore, though. Sorry, Gerfalco – maybe another time. Checking Google now, I see the Cirolo looks like it serves antipasti and sandwiches – so I’ll put it back on my map. But for now, it was on to the larger town on the other side of the valley: Montieri (parking).

I got a good vibe from Montieri from the get-go. There are fab views into the forests below (check the video), and by the time we reached the heart of the town, we saw that the town seemed to have a good sense of community. There was a group of guys sitting in the curved main part of the town, all chatting, gossiping and generally enjoying each others’ company. There was a bar and a restaurant – only the former of which was open then. The restaurant was due to open, however, and so we spent the time going up and down Montieri’s hills, and exploring its nooks and crannies.

The one thing I will say that marks Montieri as being quite different to most other towns we’ve explored, is that it’s rather grey. So, rather than the amber of tufa, the houses were made of a different, more rugged stone. Even the flagstones on the roads and paths were different. Different is good, and so we enjoyed our time nosing around.

It was lunchtime, and exploring a hilltown can be hungry and tiring work, so it was off to a restaurant in the middle of town: Il Baccanale. Once inside, we were given placemats, giving a brief history of the town, which was a cool little feature. It told us that the silver of which the Volterran medieval currency (the ‘Grosso’) was made was mined nearby. If you attend Volterra’s annual Medieval Festivals, you can use the Grosso as currency at it, instead of Euros.

I don’t want to harp on about a placemat, but it was a super idea!

Niamh and I shared an antipasto plate, and followed it up with tagliatelle al ragu (Niamh) and a traditional Tuscan plate of sausages and beans (me). The food was nice, and the people lovely. Worth a spin if you’re in the area.

A bit more sauce with the beans would have been better

Once fed, it was time to move on and explore another wee town: Sovicille. It was a 45 minute drive from Montieri, but we nearly stopped at Chiusidino as there seemed to have been some sort of festival on. Unfortunately, there was simply nowhere to park and it was on to Sovicille. We parked, and walked about the town.

There were almost no people about, and so the town, as well as being small, was also incredibly quiet. It was certainly warmer than Montieri. It was pretty – especially the central square in which we stopped for a quick drink before finishing up. There was little else to it, to be honest, apart from a large building we were unsure as to whether it was a hotel, stately home or collection of apartment. A lovely setting, if not a particularly lively setting.

Back to Volterra, and the the rest of the day, consisted of gelato, aperitivi and food. I don’t have much else to say about it, but please do enjoy the photos – some of which of the sunset are fabulous!

Thanks for reading to the end – part 2 to follow – let me know what you think!

About 15 kilometers away from Volterra, across the valley, lies the old mining town of Montecatini Val di Cecina (hereinafter simply referred to as Montecatini – but not to be confused with the town of Montecatini Terme, which is somewhat farther north in Tuscany – also lovely).

We had visited it back in December 2018, when we first picked up the keys to the apartment – but before I started blogging. Resting in a hill, it too commands superlative views of the rolling hills and woods, but that last time, it was completely foggy and we couldn’t see past 100 meters. It was well past time that we made another visit, and I can say that after having done so, it won’t be that long before we visit again.

Is was essentially a mining town – chiefly copper – but the mine is now exhausted, but some of it is still open for exploration… well…. as part of a guided tour, anyway. So that’s what we were going to do today.

We drove through the town itself (we would back for an explore later) and directly to the free carpark of the mine itself. There should be loads of parking there, and you could potentially use it as a base from which you can explore the surroundings on-foot, without attending the mine museum at all.

We wandered into the ticket-office and had a family of Dutch people step in front of us – it turns out they had booked. We were still lucky enough to buy tickets upon walking-in. So do please book in advance if you’re going. I linked the site above. We all had to wear a hard-hat. As usual, the strap had to be adjusted to its max so it would fit my ENORMOUS head. Seriously, it’s deceptively cantaloupe-like. It surprised the heck out of the man fitting it. Anyway, the cost of the tour was €7 per adult. That sounded pretty good value, but we didn’t realise how good it was

The tour was split into two groups: English-speaking and Italian-speaking. The lady who delivered the Italian tour had great English and she was very engaging. She gave us the history, and we had a walking tour around the first level. We passed by the stairs to the second level. They were lit up and just deemed to go down endlessly, but were blocked off\. We hit a chamber which was a little warmer, because the shaft (railed and safe!) went down the entire depth of the mine, so warm air was circulating up, as it does (thanks, Science!). If I had one complaint about the tour, is that we didn’t get to go down to the second level. However, we were taken outside to the sifting and mining equipment and shaftworks.

It’s a fascinating place, and I strongly recommend a visit. At the end, the guide passed around some ore for us to weigh up. By the end of the tour we realised that the tour took around 80 minutes. Not too shabby for for €7 a head! We were unlucky in one other way, but you’d have to see it in the video below (basically the German and Dutch families accompanying us were a basketball team – I’ve never felt so much like a Hobbit in all my life!).

If it looks like I didn’t take too many photos, you’d be right – I spent most of the the time filming. You can catch a chunk of the tour below:

Lunchtime! We scrambled into our tiny Fiat Panda, marvelling at the towering Continentals as they drove off. We needed some food. There are a few places to go in the village of Montecatini itself, hanging off the main square. Last time we visited, we parked in a carpark leading off the main square up a lofty ramp. Going up wasn’t a problem. Coming back down inevitably meant we scraped the underside of our bumper. This time, we parked in the much more level, free place on the edge of town and walked in.

Because we had much better visibility, we were able to see that the village from the western approach looked absolutely gorgeous! Wow!

We went to Ristorante Pizzeria La Terrazza sul Borgo on the square. I was hungry enough for two courses, so I ordered two primi – a bean and kale soup, and a sausage and mushroom pici dish. Niamh got an amatriciana and my brother a pappardelle with wild boar (not pictured below). Because I’d ordered two primi, by golly I *got* them as two primi. In fairness, that doesn’t happen very often – restaurants will servce one after the other as separate courses. So, I had two dishes to juggle at the same time.

The food was nice. I really enjoyed my pici.

We left the restaurant and then took a stroll around the residential part of town – which is the hilltown proper, really. And like most hilltowns, offers several rewards for those who like to explore these urban mini-mazes. It’s a hilly walk up to one of the town, and as usual when walking about in a medieval place on a hill, always look behind you in case you miss some amazing views.

We strolled up and down through town, pausing to stroke the occasional cat, and to allow me to go astray to grab an epic shot of Volterra from across the valley. One of the best shots I’ve ever taken, I think.

You can walk by the tower that dominates the town’s skyline. You can stay here if you want – Torre dei Belforti

We finished our walk in the Campo Santo Vecchio. It offers some grand panoramic views, provided you are over 165cm tall!

We went back through town, past the square.

As you may have spotted in the two galleries above, the light had gotten poorer, as clouds began to gather over the town. By the time we’d gone past the village proper on the way to the car, it had begun spitting rain. And then it absolutely tipped down when we were within 100 meters of the carpark, so we trotted there and hid safely from the rain. It was like actually being in a carwash. Mad rain altogether!

It didn’t let us spoil our time in Montecatini Val di Cecina, though. I would strongly recommend you visit if you’re in the area. A car is certainly required.

Below is a video I took of our walk of this special place.

We didn’t do much else for the rest of the day, except look for a place to eat in the evening. We chose Quo Vadis for the Guinness, the view over the ruins of the Roman theatre, and for food that suits most palates. It was fine.