saline di volterra – Our Man In Volterra

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!

In an effort to remind folks that this blog is supposed to be about Volterra, we thought we’d post something at least themed in that direction – even if it is rather short!

First and foremostly, we’re not there. Bummer. But our property manager is, and managed to grab some shots – one of our kitchen, and a couple of angles from our terrace. Thanks again to Alice of Milianti. If you’re looking for property in the region (hi-diddly-ho, neighborino!), we would sincerely recommend them… not only for their portfolio and assistance, but also for the peace-of-mind they give us by looking in on the property from time to time (for an annual fee).

We wish we were there!

The last time we wrote about Volterra, they only had 2 or 3 Covid cases. Unfortunately, that has rocketed back up again to 57, due to a large outbreak discovered over the past few days in the medium-security prison, housed in the Medicean Fortress (Eoin managed to get a tour of one of the towers some time back). As there is a real chance that not only prisoners are impacted, the schools are closing for a week to ensure tracing can be carried out and potential carriers identified. Scary stuff – but hopefully it’s reasonably well-contained.

We also hear that while Italy has been slow to vaccinate, Tuscany is one of the better regions (albeit now an Orange Zone region again). Although we only have anecdotal evidence of that. Anyway… we hope it gets moving there, for their sake. No idea of what’s holding things up!

In better news, Volterra will be the inaugural City of Culture for Tuscany in 2022. We’d love to get involved in promoting it in some way, even if it’s informally like this. A typical calendar in Volterra is usually replete with festivals, so we imagine the stops are really going to be pulled out next year. The site still lists it as a finalist for Italian City of Culture, so we assume it will be updated soon enough.

Volterra has also been named a ‘Salt City’, to add to its tourism-feathered cap. Salt has been mined there since Etruscan times, and it was an important source of salt during the Medicean regime. Nearby town, Saline di Volterra, still produces, and it is known as a the purest salt in Italy.

Lastly, but by no means the least, Agriturismo Marcampo will be hosting a free Wine Tasting and Foor Pairing session through Ciao Tours. You have to register for the Zoom link. Given how fantastic their wines and the Del Duca restaurant is, it’ll be worth a look!

A presto!

Eoin & Niamh.