Tag: pizza

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!

A St. Patrick’s Day Return (17/03/2023)

This will be super-short. I’m aware I haven’t posted in a while (sorry about that), but I’ve been away, and taking time off to be present on a whole month away in May/June – more on that in 3-4 month’s time! Also, I’ve been editing content for my Writer Group’s second anthology, and am really excited about that, but it does chew up a bit of my time.

Anyway, back to St. Patrick’s Day! Actually, did you know that March 17th is also Italian Reunification Day? Well, you do now. From prior observation, they don’t seem to celebrate the day with any material significance, but please do correct me if I’m wrong.

Anyway, we had the day off, as all Irish people do, on St. Patrick’s Day. We had a lie-in and had an afternoon flight. This time, we would be flying out with a friend who would be staying with us for a few days, of a 15-day holiday in total – more guests would join us the following week. We only met at the boarding gate, and I can’t remember if Niamh and I had something to eat either in the airport or mid-flight. We must have had, as we would have been too hungry by the time we’d gotten to Volterra. Truth be told, we were still hungry by the time we got there anyway, haha!

We got there in one piece, had no baggage to pick up, thankfully – and walked the 4-500 metres to the car rental building. These past few times, Niamh has booked with the RyanAir partner, but there seems to be significant churn on them – a different provider every trip! This time, it was Italy Car Rent, who I have to say were very good, in that the process of picking up the car was one of the fastest we’d experienced. We got another Fiat Panda. Look, we know it’s about about half as powerful as a dead mouse, but it’s got a decent transmission (5th to 4th a bit janky, though), is comfortable and has a fast-acting aircon system – certainly for those sitting in front. Given its size, it’s also easy to manoeuvre and park – no wonder Italian country roads are littered with them!

We climbed in, noted that the boot was barely big enough for all our hand-helds and backpacks and drove to Volterra. It was already dark by the time we started driving, but was pitch when we got there, just before 22:00. We parked in a pay carpark, which are free from 20:00-08:00 (so I’d have to get up and move it!), and marched towards Porgi L’Altra Pancia, which is chiefly a restuarant, despite what Google says. Unfortunately, they were packing up, but we got a warm welcome from Adrian – one of the waiters there. We had to double-back where we were then accosted by Ilenia from La Sosta del Priore, who also greeted us enthusiastically and we chatted for a minute or two – she’s so lovely (and bloody hard-working!).

After that, I trotted up to Terra di Mezzo, but it too was closed. A shame – I could have murdered a pasta dish. It had been almost 6 months without a decent one! Anyway, looks like we’d settle for a pizza. We lashed back towards Pizzeria Ombra della Sera and got a nod from the dude who has seen us 20 times before and ordered. I was silently grateful that they were at least open (if only for pizzas – they have other fare on the menu, but the main kitchen was closed). We ended up thoroughly enjoying what we ordered – along with some beers.

Once done and paid, it was off to the apartment where our friend got her first taste of the 76 steps. I hadn’t set the expectation properly, as she thought the steps were on the outside of the building, not the inside, and so she wasn’t as put out as she thought she was going to be. A 15-minute tour of the apartment later, and we were all in bed after an exhausting day.

It’s good to be back! Let me know what you think, and feel free to like and subscribe!

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 🙂

Another Working Week (05/09 to 09/09/2022)

Well, so began a week where we would work during the day. Because of the time difference, there’s still plenty of time for a decent walk first thing in the morning. And because of the location, there was ample opportunity to believe we were still on a form of part-time holiday. This is so useful when having to return to work. It’s why I always ask if we can finish off the holiday with a period of working. Instead of taking the double-whammy of having to go back to work AND having to leave your holiday place, you cushion the blow somewhat. I have found it’s much easier to take it in stages this way.

Anyway, back to the week.

Monday, 5th September

Well, I went for a walk and took some snaps on the way (what else is new?). Looking at this pics, there is a stark difference in the colours of the landscape between then and when we were just on holidays there recently (late March). They are both beautiful in their own way.

For lunch we did somthing we’d never done before: eat at the Caffé del Teatro, on Via Sarti. It always looked a little under-utilised to us, but has some inexpesive panini and Zuppa alla Volterrana on its menu. No prizes for guessing which one I went for. The place itself is nice, but (most likely because we were new there) the service was a little impersonal. Still, I’d go again for a €6 zuppa, thank you very much!

We sat and people-watched people in the main square for a while, and bought some cornstarch for sauce-thickening before returning to work.

That evening, I had to do something that I’d put off for too long – finding a better place for the new super-sexy wifi extender we’d bought from Amazon Italy. We had it delivered to Ireland, then brought it back over to Italy! Anyway, with our previous extender, we were getting about 65mbps from the main wifi network, and a lowly 17mbps on our bedroom/bathroom extended network. It was barely enough to work with.

It took a while to set up, as the two main methods (browser and app) didn’t work, so I went with a WPS button pairing, and it worked a treat. It took us a few goes to find a better location for the extender. We put it in our bedroom the first night, because that’s where the previous one was. However, the lights on it burn with the fury of a thousand suns (slight exaggeration), so we placed it in the corridor just outside the living room the next night. It still worked amazingly well!

To celebrate, Niamh made a chicken which went down a treat, and we watched as the sun sank below the horizon.

Tuesday, 6th September

Skipped the walk this morning, and worked through to lunch. We went to Bistrot Lo Sdrucciolo, on the north-western corner of the square. Although it gets modest scoring in Google, both Niamh and I enjoyed our food.

Niamh’s – I tend to stay away from tomato-based sauces

We finished off with a little walk and a sit beside our local church with a gelato (sadly not pictured).

Niamh made us a lovely chops and veggies dinner during the evening, which we had out again on our terrace. Sometimes you just need a break from same flavour palette!

Humble, but tasty. String beans in Italy (when they’re in season) are so much tastier than back at home.

Wednesday, 7th September

Well I got up for a walk that morning, so yay!

For the past few years, I have been religiously taking a mid-morning walk (at around 10:30) for about 15 minutes. It’s good as it clears the head, and is a cool way to soft-reset. Anyway, for this walk I poked my head inside an alabaster artificer’s workshop, and grabbed a coffee milkshake from L’Isola del Gusto to enjoy at my desk. I don’t drink coffee, but their coffee gelato is amazing!

Lunch! And this time, believe it or not, it was my turn to cook. So, I made the simplest pasta I possibly could: spaghetti all’aglio, olio e peperoncino.

Pour a lot of olive oil into a pan making sure it is not yet on the flame (this is important), add thinly sliced garlic and chilli. Ensure your pasta is on the boil. Then put the pan on medium, and slowly heat up the ingredients in the pan. This allows the oil to be enfused with the garlic and chilli. The timing is important here. You want your spaghetti to be slightly underdone while ensuring your garlic doesn’t burn. Burnt garlic is very bitter, and would ruin the dish. It should be sweet, still a little pungent, and have the consistency of a waxy potato. Anyway, once your spaghetti is ready, take all pans off the heat and transfer the spaghetti to the enfused oil. For freshness, feel free to add some coarsely chopped flat-leafed parsely – not usually part of the recipe, though. Add pasta water to emulsify while you’re tossing (or mixing, in my case!) the pasta in the enfused oil. Then serve! Some like to add parmesan – up to you.

We enjoyed ours on the terrace!

Here’s a video of me cooking it at home another time.

We went out for a quick walk at lunchtime, and were glad of doing so, as we caught some amazing painterly clouds.

That evening, we continued our quest for good Asian cuisine, and headed to Poggibonsi. On the northern side of town, you can find a massive selection of electronics, white-goods and home/hardware stores. Consider going there if you’re nearby, rather than going to larger towns.

There is also a Japanse/Chinese fusion place called Wok Me (at the time of writing this – April 2023 – it has since changed its name to Insoo Sushi). I liked the chicken curry here, so returned home happy.

Thursday, 8th September

Not a lot happened during the daytime. I worked, but I *did* sneak in a little lunchtime beer at L’Antica Velathri Café.

I can’t recall the meals, but I do have photos of a pair of burgers.

I either got these from L’Hamburgheria or Atuttapizza – I am not 100% sure. I suspect the latter, and I suspect I had both!

That evening I heard a band play in the piazza and went to have a look. I was also rewarded with a bank of cloud passing close over the town, giving the place a deliciously eerie feel.

Here’s a recording of a livestream I made at the time.

Friday, 9th September

This day, I began with a walk to the archaelogical digsite of the ‘new’ Roman Amphitheatre that was first discovered in 2015.

I did a livestream of the walk too!

I worked, and we went to Porgi L’Altra Pancia where I yummied down a pici in Chianina beef sauce, while Niamh had one of their epic bruschettone (really large bruschetta-style topped toast). Of course, we had a little walk, so I could burn off a milkshake from the usual place!

Later that evening we went for pizzas in La Mangiatoia.

Afterwards, Niamh went home, but I went to the Cathedral! Yes, you read that right. It was the night before Volterra’s annual open-air arts night: the Red Night (more about that in the next blog). They had a Bach recital in the Cathedral than night, so I went to enjoy and live-stream a bit of it!

When all was done, I rambled home, taking in the beauty of the Piazza dei Priori and the corner of Via delle Prigioni and Vicolo delle Prigioni, where people sat eating at the Torre del Porcellino restaurant.

I hope you enjoyed reading about this week. When we’re working, we rarely get the chance to get out of the town, hence the lack of exploration. Anyway, let me know what you thought!

Casale Marittimo Redux… Redux (30/08/2022)

Some places stay with you.

Casale Marittimo, as I’ve said before, is my favourite hilltop village. It’s is a mini-labyrinth, left and right, up and down. It’s infrequently visited by people, easy to find parking there and is impeccably arranged and clean.

I had just visited a week earlier with our previous guests, but as Niamh hadn’t been that time (she had to work) and my brother had never been at all we thought we’d give it a bash. We would also attempt to eat a proper lunch there for the first time! We’d been foiled time and again in our attempts to eat eating there, so we were overdue some luck.

We parked in our usual spot at lunchtime, and then survived the 4 minute walk into the village. Incidentally, the approach from the east (which is almost always the way we approach the place), offers the least interesting views. From the west, you will see some fleeting glimpses of the villages upper strata towering over you. If you can, approach from the south, where you get to see the place in all its glory, where you can see it all crowning its hilltop.

On the way to the central square, we stopped to take snaps, in particular at an old chapel I hadn’t seen before.

The first in a series of stairs that go up, up, UP!

Ok, now where to eat? I’d fancied the look of the Taverna via di Mezzo, but it was once again closed. There was a place open (Osteria L’Impronta). There are a couple of tables sitting outside on a small covered veranda. I had heard that there might be a small amount of seating within. The tables were full, so I didn’t hold out much hope. It turns out I was very wrong!

We were welcomed to lunch, then went up two short flights of stairs, past one dining room, then another higher up, which had a nice view out onto the main piazza. Then we were led up *again* and were shown to a table on a covered terrace with wonderful vistas over the hills and woods to the east and south of the village. The food was good, not award-winning, but honest and homemade. I enjoyed it. The surprise of the place itself may have added to the whole package. The staff were friendly, and yeah, I’d recommend it if you’re in Casale Marittimo of a lunchtime!

We had dessert there in the form of gelato after the meal – they serve some homemade flavours on the ground floor by the small bar. Then we had a wander around the town. I took Niamh and my brother on more or less the same route as I took our previous guests.

At one stage, we popped out at the southern entrance and had a long look over the coastal plains, noting the huge ferris wheel just south of Marina di Cecina. Google says it’s permanently closed, which is a shame if that’s the case.

We took a bunch of staircases and ramps to the upper section, passing through the main square again. I wanted to take the other two to the leather goods artisan. On the way, we spotted the car we often spot here and gave him a rub hello. Sadly the leather workshop was closed. After taking in a few more viewpoints, we went back to the car. We were pretty roasted by then, and so drove home.

We made a video! It’s a nice gentle post-lunch walk.

That evening, we went to La Mangiatoia for beer and pizza. I’d never had a Calzone before in my life, so after seeing several others have it here before I thought I’d give it a bash.

And I’ve been put off them for life. Not that it tasted bad. I could be churlish and say I liked the dough, and it *was* nice, but sadly there was little else to enjoy. There was just a smear of filling and I was crushed. Pity – the pizzas here are usually really nice, as evidenced by how much Niamh and my brother enjoyed theirs. I consoled myself with a house beer, which was lovely!

At the end of the night, it was home for screenwatching and bed!

I know this was shortish, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless. Please feel free to leave a comment or question!

Markets, Crossbows and another guest! (27 & 28/08/2022)

Market day! Yes, Saturday means market day in Volterra. During the tourist season, it sends to be on in the Vallebona carpark outside the walls, rather than in Piazza dei Priori, Via Roma and Piazza San Giovanni. It tends to be a little smaller as a result – not just as a result of a lower real-estate space, but people are on holidays. Plus this year, the remnants of Covid were still hitting. Still, they’re usually pretty lively events, and a great place to buy cheaper ingredients.

Cheeses and fish side by side. You’d think they’d be warring in Italy 😉

We picked up some foodie bits and bobs. Niamh checked out shoes and something light to wear to a beach, should we venture – but came away with nothing.

We had a light lunch of cuts, leaves and cheeses. In fact, I think this was possibly our lightest day of the holiday, apart from the first day, when we drove from Ciampino. Afterwards I went out to scout for a handbag for a friend (who visited us in 2019). I was an expert by now, so I was happy to advise.

I sent her the photos from the shop, and a day or two later I bought it for her! With one thing and another (mostly Covid and return to office) I didn’t get it to her for another couple of months – in fact, I had to drive to her house to get it off my hands!

Good deed done, I rewarded myself!

That evening, Niamh made a super little risotto, complete with parmesan crisp. It was delicious. And just the fare we needed for the attraction that evening!

It was time for one of the medieval sports events of the year – the crossbow competition – Ludus Balistris. There were a representatives (ballistrieri – crossbowmen/women) from towns across Italy (mostly Tuscany – Lucca, Massa Marittima, Pisa, Pisa Porta San Marco, San Marino and Volterra), all of whom had a squad of people aiming from 70 meters (guess) to try to hit a small target. Hint: they were all bloody marvellous at it. There were two trophies up for grabs: for the team, and the best crossbowman/woman.

I have some photos, but not much of the opening cerermony because I was shooting it live – videos below.

See how small each of these individual targets are (on the door, not the projection!)

As you can see in the last couple of shots, no bolts are removed from the targets between rounds. This makes it progressively more difficult for the team members featuring later in the competition.

Various towns’ Sbandieratori – the entertainment while we waited for the next competition to begin.

When the entertainment was over, the best of the group competition were selected for the indivual competition, and they had a shoot-off on a single target. You can see that in the last of the photos above.

When all was done, and judged. The winners were announced: Volterra had won the team competition, and one of the Luccan contingent won the individual. Yay us!

To close out the competition, there was some pyrotechnics!

The proud individual winner showing off his winning shot.

Below are the videos of the opening ceremony.

The next day, we collected another guest from Pisa airport, but before we did that – I didn’t walk! We picked up my brother, who had been with us previously and drove home.

We also did something for lunch we hadn’t done in a long time, and there is no good reason why: we went to Don Beta, just a couple of doors up from the arched entrance to our apartment.

When looking at the menu you’d be forgiven, if you were an Italian purist, for thinking the menu was more than a little touristic. And it kind of is. There is something for everyone here – be it pizza, pasta, meat or fish – the menu is fairly enormous. In addition, they do something most other Italian restaurants don’t do: foreign food! Yes, they do Poke Bowls here. Now, I have no frame of reference with these, so I don’t know how good they are – but I appreciate that they’re giving it a go. I think it’s a progressive move.

Now, with such an extensive menu you’d think the food would be so-so, but it’s actually pretty good. It’s by no means ostentatious, but it’s tasty and honest, and the service is friendly and pretty fast for a Tuscan restaurant. We had pici with ragu and pappardelle with wild boar.

I think Niamh and I had this – was toothsome and tasty

My brother’s all about the chilling, and we would have a busy day tomorrow (more in the next blog!). So, chill we did. Before dinner that evening, we had a short walk.

Food! We went to Pizzeria Ombra della Sera and had some food and a couple of beers apiece. I had been missing my veggies over the previous few days, so I had a Zuppa alla Volterrana, while the other two had pizza. Once done – it was TV and music time back at the apartment and to all a good night!

Thanks for reading this far. I hope you enjoyed it. Please drop me a comment with any queries. I’d love to hear from you!

Lunch Nearby, but in the Middle of Nowhere (25/08/2022)

Another short one – possibly the shortest ever – as we stayed in an around Volterra.

I went for a walk that morning.

As you can see, I kept it within the walls.

The arched walkway between the Torre dei Buonparenti

I have to admit that we really must have had a seriously lazy day. Thankfully, we did get out of the main town by going to lunch at a resort called Tuscany Forever. To get to it, we had to drive the winding way to Saline di Volterra, then head out of the town, toward the north-west before turning left at a gravel road which is a 1.7km drive to the carpark of the resort. As the crow flies, you’re almost halfway back to Volterra by the time you hit the carpark!

And this was the only thing wrong with it, for me, anyway. That blasted road is an uncomfortable drive – there and back. The resort itself looks lovely, and well-maintained. There are a couple of pools for residents among the mini-villas used for lodgings. The place is smack bang in the middle of the hills of the Val di Cecina – and commands some stunning views, so if you were looking for a place to chill for a while, without feeling the need to travel, this would seem to be a good solution. If it weren’t for that road. I understand that the road is not private, but the owner has been unable to successfully lobby to get the road properly paved/asphalted. You have to have your wits about you driving there and back.

Anyway, the restaurant there is called Osteria Etrusca, and given that it’s located in a resort, it’s very family-oriented and its dishes are what we would call at home ‘Italian’… i.e. there are common pasta classics, pizzas and steaks – just about everyone should find something here to eat. I hear that at nights they have live music and light the place up impressively.

Here’s some of the surrounding area:

Below is the food. I had a double-carb set of pasta and pizza. Niamh had fritto misto and a pizza. I think I was happier with my choices – I think most diners would be happy enough with the fare. The only thing that put me off while eating was being assaulted by wasps!

We drove back home on the bumpy track and slept off the calories and the heat of the day.

Our guests, bless them, had left a bunch of beers with us, and I had this little beauty:

Normal Ichnusa is definitely worth a go too. This lemon variety is delicious, but quite light in alcohol.

We watched the sunset, and I finally found some space left in my stomach for my evening ‘meal’:

I had a traipse around the town a bit, watched the telly an then hit the hay!

Strolling Days (13 and 14/05/2022)

Friday, 13th (dun-dun-dunnnn!)

I had a shorter walk this morning, up Gramsci, bumping into Robbi, the owner of Terra di Mezzo, towards the end of it. We exchanged pleasanteries and I carried on. Only a few shots today:

My time wasn’t my own for most of the day, so I had to stay in. Niamh got to ‘enjoy’ the outdoors a little more on the terrace while she repainted the terrace railings and that lovely terracotta orange on the outside walls. Honestly, I dread almost anything DIY, so I was somewhat happy to have been stuck indoors while Niamh carried out this task. Thanks, hon!

We grabbed a quick mid-morning mindful walk around the park with a gelato. On the way back, we waved hello to Massimo, the owner of La Vecchia Lira. Our lives, you might have noticed, seems to revolve around food.

For lunch, Niamh made penne with an aubergine and tomato sauce she had cooked up previously and frozen. It was toothsome and rich. I usually shirk tomato-based sauces (which is why I enjoy Tuscan cooking so much – yes, that’s right, Stanley Tucci! Tomatoes are NOT actually a major staple ingredient in Tuscan cuisine), but this sauce was tasty indeed! I went to the framers to finally pick up the drawing I bought from Fabrizio, but discovered he only works half days. D’oh! I’ll guess I’d have to wait another day.

That evening, after I became a free man again, we had to choose between the two men I met earlier in the day. We chose over aperitivi in L’Incontro. We chose La Vecchia Lira as Massimo had seen us again from his restaurant and waved. Also, in the end, we over-ate.

We had a short walk to burn off calories and to catch the sunset, before heading home to screen-watch.

Saturday, 14th

I had another walk this morning. I’m so proud of myself, to be honest. I had shirked somewhat on my previous few stays, so I’m glad to be back in the saddle, so to speak. This time, I walked a little longer than I had intended, but kept it mostly within the walls of the town.

I love this view. The town looks so different from here.

After breakfasting and tidying myself up, I FINALLY managed to get Fabrizio’s drawing. We hung it up in the kitchen.

Yes, I’ve posted it already, but so what? It’s great!

We just lazed about all morning, and then had lunch in Ristorante Etruria, in Piazza dei Priori. It’s a bit touristy, and is one of the few places that insists on limited table time during busy periods, which is rare. But there’s something for everyone here, and the food isn’t bad. In addition, they recognise us and treat us well – often presenting us with a half-bottle of Chianti to take home when our meal is over. If you’re ever there, and have someone who is a little picky with food with you, you should try it. Also, the inside seating area is lushly decorated and worth a quick view!

Some nice salted flatbread – complimentary, but not always availabel

We then, rather unusually, spent some time walking about town. I say ‘rather unusually’ as (a) we know better than to walk around town during the hottest part of the say, and (b) we spent a couple of hours doing it! I took some snaps, sure – but most of the time was spent going from one part of town to another, and people-watching as the sun began to dip in the cloudless sky. It may not be the only way to enjoy Tuscany, but it’s one of the best: just sit back and enjoy the present.

I think I began to doze a little while sitting in the bench at Piazza XX Settembre! We had a gelato at L’Isola del… no, wait. We actually had it at Enjoy Café! I think they’ve upped their gelato-game in a the last year or so – it was actually quite good!

We rested back at the apartment, and when hungry again headed out to La Mangiatoia. I love the pizza at Pizzeria l’Ombra della Sera, but it just isn’t as lively as La Mangiatoia. To be honest, I don’t think I could have put a pizza away after the lunch I had. And you can’t share pizza in Italy. It’s a mortal sin. Although in La Mangiatoia, they actually make massive, family-sized pizzas, with multiple sections similar to a Quattro Stagioni (the family at the table next to ours was chomping on one). Anyway, I wasn’t up for it. Niamh was, but I had a burger instead. For those reading in Ireland, the burger here is the closest you can get to a chipper-style burger in terms of taste, if you fancy that!

Once re-stuffed, we headed back to the apartment for audio-listening and screen-watching.

Strawberry Fair at Terricciola, lunch in Casciana Terme (08/05/2022)

I was true to myself and got up early for a walk around the walls. It’s such a good (and sweaty workout), as it involves a lot of inclines and declines on the 4.5km route. I’m always looking for a way to change the route up a bit and actually found one! But first, it was out the Porta Fiorentina for a clockwise path around.

About a week earlier, I had a walk outside the walls, looking for things I hadn’t seen before (or too often), and I came across the workshop of artist Nico Lopez Bruchi. Well along the walls of the town, in the south-east on Viale dei Filosofi you’ll find another of his murals. Clever and striking it is too!

There’s a section outside Volterra I hadn’t been to before. It contains the old bus station, and an emergency helicopter pad for the hospital. The Bus carpark (if that makes sense) is there too. Now that alone doesn’t make it sound very attractive, but couple Italian architecture, sculpture and the Tuscan countryside and you could have something a little special. Not sure if hiking routes begin from here, but if anyone more familiar with hiking around Volterra is reading this, please let me know!

Once done there, I carried on with the rest of the familiar route.

I stopped off at Migliorini for a mille foglie for me and a creamy rice tart for Niamh. We spruced ourselves up good, as we wanted to check out the Strawberry Festival in Terricciola, about 30 minutes drive away from us.

We headed for the carpark we used the last time we were here. Well, that was a little too optimistic! The place was jam-packed. In addition, Terricciola a town some of whose roads are narrow, but are nonetheless 2-way. We had some fun navigating our way through the town which, incidentally, also had a market on that day. We had to drive the guts of a kilometer out of town to a carpark beside a restaurant. Not the worst thing to have happened, as we didn’t miss the lovely framed views!

The roads were initially quiet as we made our way back to the town centre. It turns out that was because people were making their way towards a park where a few stalls were set up. Outside, a menu indicated what was going to be served for the communal lunch, and sure enough, there was already a huge queue for food. Rather than queue, we wandered deeper into town, past more stalls and wonderful panoramic viewpoints (see the YouTube video below). People kept streaming past us, presumably on the way to the commmunal lunch area. We didn’t see much in the way of celebration of the strawberry outside the park – just one bar was advertising strawberry produce, and a string of cardboard strawberries were to be seen nearby. What I thought was cute, was that outside many places, people had left colurfully painted chairs, with pots of flowers resting on them. I am not sure if that’s a general thing in Terricciola, or if was just done for the festival.

We took in some more panoramic viewpoints and when on the way back to see if we could join the communal lunch, stopped instead at the marketplace and bought us some sugary goods (jellies, sugared almonds, nougat). We passed by a restaurant and were tempted, but it looked busy. Unsurprisingly, the communal lunch area still had a huge queue. It might have been fun to stay anyway, but we were too hungry – so we made the counter-intuitive move of driving while hungry instead of standing while hungry. We went back to the car (the restaurant we parked next to was closed, sadly), and headed to Casciana Terme to see if we could find anywhere to eat.

We had been there before and found it quiet. So, I was thinking (forgetting it was Sunday) that perhaps it would be a good bit busier than last time. Sadly, maybe due to on-and-off drizzle, it was even quieter! We were pushing our luck for lunch, as it was a little after 14:00, but we did manage to find a place that would serve us. Yes, many Italian restaurants close between dinner and lunch services. Inside, Il Merlo Pizzorante was pleasantly busy with couples and small families noisily enjoying their food. We experienced a nice meal – I think I enjoyed it a little more than Niamh. The one thing that will stand out, though, is the service – and for strange reasons. There was a 2-person team… I’m calling them father and son, but they could be easily much older and much younger brothers. Anyway, the father greeted us and told us our menus were online. We papped the QR code and chose. We saw the younger man, with a moustache, flit from table to table in almost all cases not saying a word to anyone at the table when he delivered food. I think a family near us got some words out of him, but he was the definition of ‘taciturn’, to the point of it actually being amusing. In fairness to the main, he was efficient at his job! He delivered our drinks – standing on Niamh’s toe in the process, not a word… – barely even looked at us. By stark contrast, the father was warm and generous with his time, and we chatted with him briefly using my broken Italian. Now the food:

Not pictured: toasted bread I scoffed. The garlic, when rubbed, was super-powerful!

Would we go back? Ah yeah – the food was nice, even though there was a large choice on the menu. There was something for everyone, and I have little doubt that just about anything you try will be well-cooked. Their pizzas might be interesting. But I would also personally come for the comedy value of the curiously quiet, moustachioed server!

Once finished, we headed out to explore the town a little again. We walked past the spa – there were a handful of people frolicking around in the pool. The weather had flitted from dry to wet and back again, but eventually setted on dry and warm. It’s a nice town, but very quiet – maybe the spa is worth a visit for sure. They had bleacher seats set up in the main square, so maybe a festival is imminent. One strange thing about the town – it seems to end abrubtly in most directions. Whereas most towns trickle out – this one seems to have hard borders.

We drove back to Volterra, but by that time there were diversions active around Terriccciola as they were having a concert to help them celebrate their festival. It added about 10 minutes to our drive home, but at least we explored roads we hadn’t been on before.

Here’s a little vlog of our day up to that point:

Back in Volterra, before we returned to the apartment, I took a couple of snaps of Via Gramsci and for the first time I saw my favourite server at L’Isola del Gusto: Giorgia. She is a truly lovely and generous person (who also happens to speak 6 or 7 different languages). She also lets me practice my Italian, but I don’t delay her too much as the queues here can be long. I was in desparate need of a granita, as although it was probably 25 celsius, the day was quite humid and I had been out a long time. Unfortunately, it was not quite the season for granite, so I had to settle for a cup rammed full of lemon sorbet instead. It did the trick!

Back in the apartment we napped, screenwatched and edited some video footage. Then we did something a little piggish: headed out for more food. Just a pizza (just!) this time, with a beer, in Ombra della Sera Pizzeria. On the way there, we bumped into the builder we had been dealing with recently – he let us know that the wine bar he was entering (Enoteca Scali) was the best one in town. It’s a nice place, and we’ve been there once or twice, but dang it, he closes around 21:00-21:30, so we rarely get a chance to visit after typical Italian eating times. He has an excellent selection though.

Back to Ombra: We skipped fries this time. For me, pizza can get samey about halfway through, so I like to break it up with the occasional mouthful of fries. Anyway… we ate and drank everything up!

We rolled out of the place, and went for a nightime walk. I captured some lovely photos!

Afterwards, we sat up screenwatching for a while, then went to bed!

I hoped you enjoyed the read – please let me know what you thought!

A Wet Florence and another Farewell (26 & 27/12/2021)

It was St. Stephen’s/Boxing Day, and I was tasked with driving to Florence. We had a mission: the ladies wanted to buy some gloves. I went with our usual idea of going the country route there, and parking in the Coop Carpark, and then going back via mostly the autostrada. I was thinking to myself “Gosh, wouldn’t it be great to be able to show Lily and Mark (Niamh’s sister and her husband) some of the wonderful countryside, in particular between Volterra and Montaione!” Three unfortunate things occurred, which somewhat spoiled the journey:

The weather. It was foggy in Volterra, then we got further down to a corner of the Val d’Era where it was relatively clear, but the climb began again into more fog. Well…. dang! Then came the rain, which further reduced visibility. It’s a shame, as some of the countryside is beautiful – so reserve it for a sunnier day if you ever wish to explore.
I was perhaps driving a little too quickly. Niamh and I are usually so used to both the road and having no people in the back seats, but about 20-25 minutes into the drive, I was informed that the ladies in the back were feeling queasy, so I had to slow down (sorry, ladies!).
I joined a much busier road a little after we passed Montaione. I took a left onto the route, and saw a huge puddle in the road – a lane wide, which chunks of asphalt aroud the rim of it. I had no doubt that if I had driven into the puddle, I’d have probably hit a hidden pothole – a bad one. I swerved to avoid it, but didn’t properly notice a mini-cooper coming up behind me in the other lane. He was still a little away from me, but made a show of his anger by blasting me out of it with his horn. Almost a kilometer down the road at a roundabout, he blasted me again as we parted ways. I can never get over the fact that Italians are so chill, but put a good number of them behind a steering wheel they can turn into demons!

We got to the Coop carpark in the end, and from there hopped onto a tram into the centre. We were hungry, and somehow all had a simulataneous hankering for pizza, not having had any while Lily and Mark were with us. I tend to lean away from restaurants where the staff are selling seats outside the door, much preferring to let the food do the talking. However, we were ravenous, and the establishment into which we were being ushered had some pretty good reviews (Lorenzo di Medici), so in we went and had our pizzas. They were delicious! In fairness, the service was good and the staff friendly too.

It was damp when we got out, and getting damper. Fortunately, we dressed for the occasion! We wended our way towards the Duomo, passing a few landmarks on the way, both old and new.

Cappelle Medicee – spectacular inside – haven’t been in it yet…

On the outside of the Basilica, at its north-eastern an alternative presepe (nativity scene) had been set up, but instead of a stable, it was a medical facility where doctors and nurses working to exhaustion in surgical PPE. This was a wonderful mark of respect to them during these past couple of years when the pandemic had put us, and them in particular, to the sword.

This is not my photo – it belongs to Firenze Today.

We reached the Piazza del Duomo, and wandered about the front of the cathedral. We had never seen the presepe there, nor the Christmas Tree, so it we covered off visiting Florence in yet another season. You’ll see that the town was pretty busy!

We then wandered to the Piazza delle Signoria. The city still looked great in the rain, and there were no complaints about the weather. I’ve seen videos of Florence’s Christmas lights in the evening, and they look amazing, so some of the following photos don’t really do them justice.

On the way to the Ponte Vecchio, Lily pointed out a shop where they were selling what looked like artisanal gelato. I checked the window briefly, and saw that they were serving the creamy goodness from little sunken tins (I forget what they’re called). I hopped straight in, without checking the awning on the store. I’d made my order when I noticed that it was a well-known brand of coffee (and despite trawling the map, I’m having difficulty locating the brand), who just so happened to be selling gelato in their store ‘on the side’. Too proud to cancel my order, took a goodly sized cup of it away. It was ok – not really artisanal, but ok – but it was still ok gelato, right? Yay!

We wandered over the bridge, all the way over to Palazzo Pitti, and guess what? Well if you’ve been following these blogs for a while, you’ll be pleased(?) to know that we kept up our habit of not actually going in! One of these days, I swear!

Wow – the banks of the Arno were not looking their best!

We were happy walking around and exploring though. Staying on the Altr’Arno, we headed over to the Piazza Santa Spirito. We were overdue a coffee (me, a hot chocolate), and found a place with indoor seating (Café Cabiria), and were promptly greeted by a lady with a Dublin accent! The world is too small. She sounded pretty fluent when she was talking to Italian customers, and had been over here a while. We had a 20 minute pause for refreshment, to chat with the Irish lady and to use the facilities.

Once finished, we had one more errand before the trip back home: the ladies needed to buy some gloves at Martelli on Via Por Santa Maria. It was only a trip of a few hours, but we really wanted to limit the time we would be driving in the dark. Anyway, we re-crossed at the Ponte Santa Trinita and made our way there. The ladies went in. Mark and I waited outside. And waited. And we waited a little more, a little more impatiently. It began to rain again, so Mark waited across the road, by the awning of a fancy men’s shop while I stood outside Martelli.

Then I was accosted by one of those African doo-dad sellers. Listen, I agree that every person needs to make a living, but the hucksterism some of these guys pull-off really try my patience. It began well, and we fist-bumped and chatted for a minute. Then out of nowhere he held out his hand to shake. This is where you back off, or move on etc. What happens here is that they attempt to pull and bracelet over onto your wrist and get aggressive when you refuse to buy it. I refused the handshake and immediately moved away, despite some weak protestations from him. He wandered off, while I joined Mark on the other side of the road to wait some more.

The ladies certainly spent way more time in that shop than we did in th café… not much fun, I have to say, when it’s grey and drizzling. But we bucked-up (glove-buying was our #1 mission after all), and waited stoically. They came out eventually, mission accomplished and very happy – and even a little apologetic. Satisfied, we walked back towards the tram.

We had a couple of unscheduled stops on the way. First, we paused briefly at Piazza di Santa Trinita to admire the conical Christmas tree there.

The one thing I regret this trip (no, not not Palazzo Pitti!) is not going to check out the lights at Piazza delle Republica. I saw videos of them afterwards and they are spectacular! Anyway, we instead continued farther north, and stopped in the vestibule of the Strozzi Palace to check out Jeff Koons’ balloon bunny. We didn’t go into the exhibition proper, as it was beginning to get dark.

Just a peek into Piazza della Republica!

Time for one final touristy photo-op before we boarded the tram. Yet another visit to Florence with too much time spent outdoors. We really have to pop inside some of these landmarks!

Piazza di Santa Maria Novella. Nope, not been inside it either… still so much left to do in Florence!

Mark had to drive home in the dark and rain… not the most pleasant of drives, but we got through it! We didn’t head out that night, but instead we had antipasti bought at La Bottega and the market a couple of days previously. Then Lily made a wonderful risotto with the blue cheese and kale, topped by a parmesan crisp (we picked up everything for this at the market). It was absolutely delish. Below is a photo of an adulterated one: Niamh doesn’t like blue cheese.

Unfortunately, the next morning it was time for us to once again leave Volterra. At the time of writing this blog we haven’t been back yet since, but are looking forward to going some time in May. Our guests were staying another couple of nights on their own, so we were more than a little jealous – but we had to head home to get our booster shots, which was more important in the grand scheme of things.

It was actually quite a nice day in Pisa itself, and Mark and Lily joined Niamh and I for one last cup of something hot and a slice of cheap pizza before we headed into the airport for the flight home. It was at a circular kiosk outside. The coffee and pizza were ok, but the hot chocolate I almost spat out. I had taken one watery mouthful that was barely tepid and left it at that. In hindsight, I should have taken it back to complain, but at the time I didn’t want to end the holiday on a downer.

So, this wraps-up this series of blogs until some time in May. I will have another one or two in the offing, in particular about Volterra being Tuscany’s inaugural capital of culture, so keep an eye out for that!

I hope you enjoyed reading this and admiring Florence’s beauty, even in the rain. Please leave a like and a comment to let me know, and please ask any questions. I’d love to hear from you.