Our time in Tuscany

6 months later...

2009-06-17T22:35:00.000+02:00

Re-reading our blog 6 months after we left Tuscany and I'm wondering how we can get back.

We are now in London, which is another adventure in itself, but we're back to work, separated by a job that requires commuting, kids are more indoors than out and truly....I would give anything to go back...

Watch this space

Best of Italia

2008-11-28T21:30:00.018+01:00

The best of Italia as voted by the Wettach family (there may be more than one winner per category):

Best Village
Scarperia, San Gimignano

Best Food
Pizza, Caprese Salad, Proscuitto

Best Day
Ralph's birthday

Best Activity
Climbing Ropes, Olive Picking

Best Ice-cream
White Chocolate in Scarperia
Apple Cake in Borgo San Lorenzo
Panna Cotta in Siena

Best Italian Expression
'Allora'

Best Neighbour
Truffle man

Best Meal
Teatro del Sale

Best Restaurant
Ristorante Montebuoni (http://www.ristorantemontebuoni.it/)

Best Lunch
Nuccitelli's - thank you Gilberta!

Best Pizza
La Tana Pizzeria, Galliano

Best Pasta
Osteria de' Benci

Best Steak
Francesco's

Best Dessert
Jennifer's Tiramisu

Best Drink
Prosecco
Aperol Spritz
San Pellegrino Arancione

Best Espresso
Cafe 'Giuliano' - Cafe con Grappa at the Olive Grove

Best food cooked by Daddy
Schnitzel
Bread

Best drive
Strada del Vino, Rufina
From Palazzuolo to Barberino
Via Fiorentina (drive into Florence

Best Place to Swim
Lago di Bilancino

Best Tourist Spot
Museo dell' Academia
Ponte Vecchio
Piazzale Michelangiolo

Best Market
Sant’Ambrogio

Best Purchase
Ferrari Cap
Meat Slicer
Sexy Dress

Worst Purchase
Bathroom Scales

Best Holiday
London

Best Song
Grease Megamix
Cover of the Rolling Stones by Dr Hook
Volare sung by Mario after lunch

Best festival
Truffle festival in Barberino
Festival of bread in Borgo San Lorenzo

Best Scorpion
The one that fell into the silver paint

Best outdoor eating
Volunteer Fire brigade festival in Eichgraben, Austria

Best Playground
Erzbischofgasse, Ober St.Veit, Vienna

Best Wine Bar
Osteria di S.Piero

Best Croissant
The one when we went to see The David

Best Natural Sight
The marble mountains in Carrara

Best Statue
The Appennine Colossus by Giambologna

Best Vegetable
Cavalo Nero
Melanzane
Zolfino Beans

Best Car
Ferrari 430 Scuderia
Ferrari FXX
Fiat Panda 4x4

Best Shop at the outlet
Lindt
Prada
The coat hanger yellow label shop

The last post from Italy

2008-11-28T01:20:00.000+01:00

This will be my last post from Italy (this time around!).

As I have no adequate words (for once!) to describe the incredible 6 months we have had as a family, I hope the following list will be sufficient to summarise our adventure and give you a feeling of the amazing, wonderful, words-failing-me time we have had here in Scarperia, The Mugello Valley, Tuscany, Italy:

Days in Tuscany: 181
Sunny days: 162
Rainy days: 17
Snowy days: 2
Highest Temperature: 41
Lowest Temperature: 1
Visitors: 34
Ironed sheets: 84
Bottles of wine: 242
Pizzas: 98 (not all eaten by us!)
Ice-creams: stopped counting at 100
Espressos: 362
Caprese Salads: 50
Proscuitto: 12kg
Baking sessions: 13
Additional Kilos: 15 (all four of us together!!)
Home grown courgettes: 7
Home grown fennel: 11
Home grown lettuce: 36
Home grown radicchio: 12
Home grown chillis: 20
Pairs of new shoes: 28
Visits to Designer Outlet mall: 18
Market visits: innumerable
Meat Slicers: 1
Antiques: 0 (see http://tuscanydream.blogspot.com/2008/06/not-much-to-write-about-today.html)
Olives picked: 80,000
Dance Parties: 8
Birthday parties: 3
Birthday surprises: 3
Books read: 36
Ferrari crashes: 1
Car in the ditch: 1
Helpful Italian men: 4
Swims at the lake: 27
Visits to the beach: 1
Trips to the hospital: 2
Trips to Florence: 17
Trips to Venice: 1
Trips to Pisa airport: 5
Trips to London: 2
Trips to Belgium: 1
Trips to Austria: 1
Canal trips: 1
Villages visited: 26
Kilometres driven: 18,000
Crazy overtakers: stopped counting on day one
Mountain passes: 8
Motorway tolls: EUR300
Scorpions: 15
Scorpion bites: 0
Snakes: 3
Stray dogs: 1
Geckos: 2,000,000
Geckos caught: 5
Squirrel babies: 3
Sheep invasions: 6
Walks to the goats: 75
New friends: 8
Laughs: too many to count
Brilliant children: 2
Dreams come true: 2

Memories that will last us all forever? Priceless.

Ciao bella Italia. Ci mancherai!

No miracle

2008-11-27T20:30:00.005+01:00

Second to last post. Second to last evening here.
And that's all I have to say.

Snowing!!

2008-11-24T08:50:00.002+01:00

It's been snowing!!! We woke up this morning to a white lawn and then it started snowing huge snowflakes. Now we really have had everything!!

Here are pictures from our place today:

And some pictures from the area around us:

Dinner and the weather!

2008-11-23T22:27:00.005+01:00

2 degrees tonight!

We've just finished an awesome meal - kids in bed of course for this! Menu follows.

Starters: Antipasti - burrata (soft-centered mozzarella), tomato salad, grilled radicchio, grilled fennel, grilled eggplant, prosciutto and crostini all served with our own olive oil.

Main: filleto di Manzo in crosta (beef fillet wrapped in bacon and bread with rosemary and sage), roasted potatoes and stewed beans.

Dessert: wine!

Unbelievable!

No miracle yet

2008-11-23T19:43:00.005+01:00

6 days to go, and no miracle as yet to enable us to stay in Italy.

One very nearly happened - we came oh-so-close to running an agriturismo (a kind of "farm stay" or B&B with olives and vines!) but we were pipped at the post by someone else at the last minute. We'd stay in a heartbeat if we could find work here but unfortunately nothing has turned up...or nothing that will allow us to eat!

I am, however, of the opinion that there are still 6 days...anything can happen!

Olives and our Italian friends

2008-11-22T21:32:00.000+01:00

We have had a wonderful week.

Beginning on Sunday - lunch at our place with Gilberta and Mario (Francesco's Mum and Dad), Laura, Gabriele, Tomaso and Alessandro (sister, brother-in-law and two nephews) and of course Francesco and Jennifer. Ralph cooked up a ferocious Austrian feast, as we knew we could not begin to compete with Gilberta when it comes to Italian cooking. The weather was incredible - I was in a t-shirt until about 3 when the sun started dipping behind the hills. We ate lunch inside, but dessert, coffee and grappa outside, with games of soccer and hide 'n seek dominating the afternoon. A truly wonderful time and we have begun to think of Francesco's family as our own. They have been so welcoming and loving to us in such a short space of time.

So, to ensure Sunday wasn't our last goodbye, we decided to assist with the annual olive harvest and spent Monday and Tuesday at their family plot picking olives. Together with Mario, Francesco and a couple of Mario's good friends, we harvested over 400kg of olives (only about 1/5 of the total amount). The kids had a ball - as did we. Lunch on both days was a wonderful affair with red wine, Vin Santo (a type of dessert wine/brandy), grappa and espresso always on offer. The weather both days was wonderful (though cold - the grappa helped!) and the fact that we could peep out from the olive branches and look down on Florence kept our spirits very high. We had such fun and it will be something we'll never ever forget. Some pictures from our two days:

And then, to top it all off, we were invited today to watch the olives being pressed into olive oil...followed by lunch. I don't think I can adequately express what this meant to us, Ralph especially. We feel very privileged to have been included in this experience. And to thank us for our work we received 5 liters of the nuovo olio (new olive oil). Lunch was again wonderful and long - with us finally dragging ourselves away at 4.30...with more gifts and the promise to try and see each other one more time before we leave next Saturday. We'll miss them all very much.

Here are some pics from the olive pressing:

The olives:

Washing our germs away:

Down the shoot they go:

Being pressed:

Here it comes:

Liquid gold:

The left over mulsh (which is pressed again for more oil):

Photos of our holiday

2008-11-17T19:43:00.007+01:00

As promised, though a few days late, here are some pictures of our brief trip up north last week:

Carrara and Colonnata

The Cinque Terre

The fourth stomach

2008-11-14T19:13:00.004+01:00

We returned on Wednesday evening from two days in northern Tuscany and Liguria - firstly visting Castelnuovo in the Garfagnana, then Carrara (where the marble for The David was mined) and then Colonnata, where they make Lardo (or for the uninitiated, cured back fat from a pig)! We then drove onto La Spezia on the coast staying in the cheapest hotel in town before driving the following day through the Cinque Terre (check out Mathew's blog for photos).

To be honest, we were both not that impressed with the Cinque Terre - a bit too overly-tourified for us! Very similar to Venice in that respect. The coast is beautiful and the 5 villages are very impressive, but now that we are used to local food and local prices, we were very disappointed to see how un-Italian the villages have become. As an example...Mathew ordered an "Elvis" pizza at a pizzeria in Monterosso - which happened to be the only pizzeria open. And we weren't able to order our usual 1/2 litre of wine for EUR2...they could only offer a half bottle for EUR6. The other restaurants that were open had extremely expensive "tourist" menus on offer, even though I believe we were the only tourists in town. In a way, cutting off their noses.... I suspect the weather may have played a part in our opinion - it bucketed most of the time, although we could picture how crowded and therefore unbearable the place could be in the height of summer. We did wonder where all the locals were and decided that no Italians actually live in these villages - that they rent out their rooms to tourists and simply manage the properties or restaurants from afar. I know I must sound very ungrateful but I think it's just that we are now very spoiled due to the length of time we have stayed here.

We managed another trip to Florence today to shop at the market for Sunday lunch (visitors) and to lunch at what is now our second favourite place in Italy - Trattoria Da Rocco. And as a pre-lunch snack, Ralph ordered a "Panino con il Lampredotto"at Sergio Pollini's stand. I'm not sure you really want to know what this is, but basically it is the "fourth stomach" of a cow in a roll. Who knew that a cow has four stomachs but apparently it does, and today, we ate the fourth one! I guess it had to be tried once as this is typical Florentine street food and in fact we had to queue with hordes of lunchtime Florentine locals to get our roll. All members of the family (including Mathew!!) had a bite...in fact Ana had three! So another day with another very interesting experience!

I'll post pictures of our tour up north tomorrow.

An incredible two days

2008-11-09T20:40:00.014+01:00

Yesterday saw the world finals of the Ferrari Challenge (the Pirelli Trophy and the Shell Cup) at the Mugello race track. We thought, based on Saturday's turnout, that it would be a fairly low key event. How wrong were we? The track is about 5 minutes drive from our house and about 3 minutes out, we saw people parking and walking. We had not prepared ourselves at all for what turned out to be a fantastic day at the race track.

To begin, we arrived 2 minutes before the flying start of the Ferrari final. As we parked ourselves on the grass hill about 100 metres from the start, the Ferraris roared through the start line and then, quite spectacularly, crashed. Big time. Right in front of us. Five cars (worth apparently a million each) written off. A huge adrenaline rush!

The race started again about 20 minutes later and was heaps of fun. I have to admit to not being that much into cars but watching Ferraris, in Italy, on a beautiful autumn day really did it for me! The kids loved it, the crowd was incredible, lunch was fantastic (roast beef bread rolls with vino rosso) and the weather was incredible - all in all a superb day. And Mathew and Ana are now so much into siestas, that we arrived home at 2.30 and they promptly fell asleep for 2 hours!

And when you think life can't get much better, today happened.

Firstly a quiet start with Ralph taking Ana on the weekly supermarket shop, while I worked on our family scrapbook with Mathew. Then we all drove into Florence, where there was not a cloud in the sky. We wandered around a market, ate EUR2.50 lasagna for lunch, drank some more vino rosso (EUR0.50 per glass!) then came back and "siested" (can I convert that into a verb?). When the sun started setting at around 5pm, we lit up the BBQ and started roasting chestnuts. We then mulled some red wine and sat outside as the sun set in front of us over Florence. And if that sounds cheesy, it really was. I had to pinch myself a couple of times...I hope these photos give you a sense of what the evening was like.

We are blessed - by what or whom I don't know but I'm feeling it!!

Ferrari Challenge

2008-11-08T17:10:00.006+01:00

The credit crunch seems to have skipped right past the Mugello valley. We've just arrived back from watching the Ferrari Challenge Europe at the Mugello course (race track near us) and the money just oozed out of the atmosphere. Well, that's what it felt like from afar - we were part of the riffraff in the cheap seats but still close enough to enjoy the cars and the noise. And apparently we get to enjoy it all again tomorrow! Might need to pack the ear plugs next time.

The three biggest fans:

The cars

2008-11-08T03:22:00.000+01:00

Fair enough comment after the last post...so here are pictures of the Ferraris

And pictures of the FXX's which apparently are some type of supercar!! All I know is that they hurt my eardrums!

P.S.

2008-11-08T02:07:00.000+01:00

You've gotta love Italy...I've just watched one of the best firework displays ever (very red!) out of our upstairs bathroom. Credit crunch? What credit crunch? Let's drive Ferraris, eat pizza, drink lots of wine and send off hundreds of thousands of dollars of fireworks...just because it's fun! You've gotta love Italy!!!

New Zealand elections

2008-11-08T01:16:00.000+01:00

I've realised that I commented on the US elections, but have omitted commenting on the New Zealand general election that happened today.

Poor Mathew and Ana had to put up with both of us clinging to our laptops as the election unfolded this morning. And we're very pleased that New Zealand has opted for change. Let's see what this government will bring - we're both hoping for leadership that encourages and supports those that work hard; that works through NZ businesses, big and small, to grow the economy to help everyone; that assists those that genuinely need assistance; that creates jobs for those out of work; that inclusively works for all New Zealanders.

And that's my two cents worth after a fair bit of wine at the pizzeria tonight!

What a lunch! Oh, and olive picking...

2008-11-04T09:47:00.007+01:00

We spent Sunday with Jennifer and Francesco, meeting them at 10am to help pick olives on Francesco's father, Mario's, garden plot. The day started perfectly with a Café Corretto, or espresso with grappa. We then spread nets under the trees and got to work. Very light work mind you - we only managed two trees before heading off for a wonderful lunch at Mario and Gilberta's (Francesco's mother). All the family was there so Mathew and Ana had two boys (Thomaso and Alessandro) to play with. Despite the language difficulties they all got on well.

Lunch was a long affair starting with quiche, then cold meats (prosciutto, salamis and wild boar mini sausages) with bread and new olive oil, then spelt and mushroom soup, followed by lasagna, then spare ribs, chicken and potatoes (that were cooked in the wood fired pizza oven in the middle of the kitchen), then Bistecca alla Fiorentina (massive t-bone steak) cooked on the open fire in the living room. Then there were cheeses with a variety of sauces, then tiramisu made by Jennifer - an unbelievable meal with very good company. We were so warmly welcomed by the family and felt like staying the whole week! It's a great pity we are only making friends now with only four weeks to go.

Here are some pictures from our time picking the olives:

The plot and the view

Mathew

Jennifer and Francesco

Francesco

The result

US elections here in Tuscany

2008-11-04T07:31:00.000+01:00

We're sitting in Tuscany watching the US elections. I truly believe that what happens tonight will affect our future - I think that we (the collective we) under-estimate the power that the US unfortunately has on each of us. Of course, we here at Fontirosa are hoping for an Obama win and can't imagine that America may choose otherwise. I am foolishly perhaps, predicting that the hope and optimism following the election of Barack Obama will flow into the financial quarters and rejuvenate people enough to halt the current tide (and therefore, very selfishly I know, result in me finding work in London!). Conversely, I predict that a McCain scenario will result in, not only a greater economic upheaval but possibly more instability in terms of world relations.

And there’s my two cents worth. I’m sure you’re glad that I haven’t moved into opinionated postings prior to this!

P.S.
And in my inbox tonight, an email from our now favourite restaurant in Florence (Teatro del sale) - "per festeggiare (in ogni caso) Obama - due giorni di festa!"

Which roughly translates as "To celebrate (in any event) Obama - two days of celebration!". God bless the Italians!

Olive harvest

2008-11-01T08:05:00.006+01:00

We harvested our olives yesterday - 21kg in total. We have around five large trees that produced olives and although that would not usually be enough to crush to make oil, we have been very kindly invited to add our olives to those from Francesco's father's harvest and in exchange, we'll receive some olive oil. So tomorrow, we will take them our olives, help them harvest theirs and sometime in the next weeks, receive a bottle of dark green, peppery, pure, Tuscan olive oil. Can't get much better than that!

Here are some pictures from the continued harvest this morning (now up to 23kg) - we missed some in the dark last night!

And what some of us did during the olive harvest:

And the harvest

4 weeks to go...

2008-11-01T07:36:00.000+01:00

And I've just realised we have exactly 4 weeks left here. We're still hoping for a miracle. The thought of arriving in the UK in the middle of a recession trying to find jobs doesn't exactly fill us with joy. Another year hiding out in Italy would be just the answer. Who knows....

And just so you know why we want a miracle, here are some photos of our place this morning. An incredibly beautiful day and as I write this, Katie Melua is blasting out through the stereo and the kids are dancing in the lounge. And I predict a(nother) very happy, wonderful day. Just need to get those tears out of my eyes.

Tuscany Idol

2008-10-29T15:41:00.006+01:00

Presenting the winner of Tuscany Idol...probably only appreciated by 4 loving grandparents and a few loving aunts!

Chaos!

2008-10-24T14:42:00.005+02:00

The last group of visitors left this morning. The weekend has been mad with 12 people in the house - all to celebrate Ralph's birthday on Saturday night. We've had a chaotic 5 weeks to be honest, starting with Beverly arriving on the 18th of September followed by a week in the UK, then back in Tuscany with Mum and Dad visiting for two weeks, 3 days in Brussels, then Mindy and kids for a week and finally, over the last weekend, friends from Vienna popping down to surprise Ralph. I am now well and truly over ironing duvet covers! But it was a time full of happiness and good food and far too much wine and friendship and wonderful memories. Thank you to everyone who was here and helped out with entertaining the kids or with Mathew's schoolwork or with the ironing or making chocolate eclairs exactly when I needed the indulgence!!

We've managed to visit a couple of food festivals recently, including a truffle festival in Barberino. We purchased a black truffle and ate shavings of it on top of spaghetti at Ralph's birthday dinner. Then there was plenty still left over to jazz up the scrambled eggs at brunch the next day. The remaining third has been crushed and put into olive oil. And if you don't know, here is what they look like:

Ralph's birthday went off superbly. We managed to surprise him by organising a visit from Georg (Ralph's good friend from Vienna) with his family. They arrived on Friday evening and stayed the weekend. Dinner on Saturday night was, as usual, brilliant. We started with antipasto - grilled vegetables, foie gras, slivers of Colonnata lardo, Caprese salad and amazing 'nuovo olio d'oliva' or 'new olive oil' - olive oil pressed the day before. Green, cloudy, peppery and incredible. This was followed by Spaghetti with Truffles, then Rosemary infused Pork Loin roasted in our pizza oven. Finally Cantucci (or biscotti) dipped into sweet Vinsanto wine. And some pictures to whet the appetite:

We are going to be very spoiled next weekend - on Saturday we will be picking all the olives in our garden, then helping Francesco's family pick their olives on Sunday, followed by a long lunch (the rule is olive picking for 2 hours followed by lunch for 4!). Our olives will be added to others and we'll be given our very own olive oil. We are all very excited - more so by the idea of the lunch I think!

And now we are alone until we leave here on the 29th November. I'm feeling like I used to feel at the end of a long weekend on Waiheke...only 100 times worse! I'm trying not to count down but I know how quickly the next weeks will go. And then it will be over. And we'll have to start saving again for another trip back!

The week of Indulgence

2008-10-16T10:01:00.010+02:00

The week of indulgence, as this week has been aptly named, started on Sunday with a 4.5 hour lunch at Ristorante Montebuoni, http://www.ristorantemontebuoni.it/, south of Florence. We were invited by Jennifer and Francesco who had visited us for lunch a few weeks ago. What an incredible feast which started with prosecco and ended with prosecco! We decided to trust our very able waiter (Francesco) and left all food and wine choices up to him. The meal began with an antipasti selection including stuffed squid, prawn cocktail, smoked tuna and crostini with fish. We then went on to Primi - firstly squid ink risotto with cuttle fish followed by maccheroncini (type of pasta) with whole crab:

Secondi was whole grilled sea bass with rosemary and roasted potatoes:

Finally, tiramisu and espresso. Then we were treated to a bottle of prosecco from Francesco's parents - a wonderful way to end the meal. Some more photos from our day:

The week of indulgence continued yesterday with Mum and I going out for lunch in Florence before walking up to the Piazza Michelangelo which overlooks the town. After arriving home, we ate a magnificent meal courtesy of Ralph, then Ralph and I went out to a local Enoteca to try some Italian wines and because the Italians don't believe in drinking without eating, we were treated to various small dishes as we drank our way through some lovely Chiantis. One dish looked like chicken liver pate but we subsequently discovered it was Wild Boar liver pate! Unusual and probably not my cup of tea.

Today we're cooking - apple torte and then tomorrow, Ralph and I are joining Jennifer and Francesco at Teatro del Sale (http://www.teatrodelsale.com/start_e.html) for dinner. Then Saturday night we're out for dinner at our now favourite pizzeria, then on to the Chestnut Festival in Marradi on Sunday.

I think I may have to start exercising again!

Marradi

2008-10-11T21:33:00.005+02:00

Last night's dinner is definitely one of the reasons why we have come to enjoy Italy so much - pizzas EUR4.50, 1/2 litre of wine EUR3.00, free bread and a wonderful atmosphere. All up, EUR30.00 for the family dinner (maybe you can work out that we needed more than 1/2 a litre!).

And today we visited Marradi which lies north east of us. Chestnut country. Again, a cloudless day and a beautiful area. The town begins its annual chestnut festival tomorrow, and it runs on the next 2 Sundays, so we're planning to visit again. In the meantime, we sampled some roasted chestnuts (delicious but in 29 degrees, a bit too warming!), some chestnut cake (hmmm, not so fantastic), chestnut deep-fried tortelli (recommended...especially by Mathew) and some other chestnut products which looked like they tasted...not that fabulous to be honest. But we had a great afternoon - taking the train then ambling through the town. Next weekend, the transport is in the form of a steam train so that will be fun. Anyway, here are the obligatory photos:

Another beautiful day

2008-10-10T17:31:00.005+02:00

An incredibly beautiful day at Fontirosa today. The local temperature setting said 29 degrees at 5pm so it has been wonderfully warm. Surprisingly though, the Italians living in our area seem to think it is winter. We visited the local playground and no one was wearing a t-shirt or open shoes. We definitely looked like the foreigners! I've concluded that people must pack away their summer clothes at the end of August so are only left with winter ones to wear now. Otherwise, there seems to be no reason why in 29 degrees everyone would wear long sleeves and jackets.

We've booked at a Pizzeria for dinner tonight. It is located in a small village near us called Galliano. It is one that was recommended by our landlords but we have still not been able to get to it. So, we're all looking forward to dinner in 1.5 hours time!

I went around the property today taking some photos to give you an idea of how beautiful it was today. Here they are:

Rufina

2008-10-09T20:14:00.007+02:00

We visited the area around Rufina today, about half an hour east of us. The trip was on the spur of the moment as Ana refused to sleep so we decided an afternoon drive would do the trick (she was asleep before the end of the driveway - there is real satisfaction that comes from tricking one's children!). We had thought we were only driving a long distance to an ice-cream shop (yes, still hot enough for ice-creams). However, the added bonus was discovering the most beautiful part of Tuscany we believe we have seen so far. Incredible countryside and the light and colours just blew us away. It may be that the time of year, with some autumn leaves appearing, has added to the beauty but the olive groves, vineyards, hills and golden houses were just amazing. Some pictures to give you the idea (although they don't do the area justice):

I can't believe that we haven't visited the region before so for those of you still coming to visit (you know who you are!!), we will do this trip with you. We discovered a couple of restaurants that look perfect for a long, long lunch.

My parents arrived last Friday and on Saturday, Ralph and I took off to Brussels for three days to celebrate a friend's 40th. Brussels was cold so for the first time we had to hunt out our winter clothes. We had a great weekend - fantastic dinner on Saturday night at the Belga Queen followed by some dancing at the Irish Pub nearby. Fabulous! The next day we wandered around the old part of Brussels, saw the friends off back home to The Hague, then went out for dinner and a movie, the first in 5 months! Not much to see in Brussels so we weren't sad to arrive back home. And as it has been sunny and 26 degrees all week, we're loving having the heat back.

That's it for this week. Otherwise, life continues pretty much normally here. As mentioned, still warm and sunny...long may it last! We're continuing to love Tuscany and Italy and it's hard to think about our end date...but the flights are now booked to London for the end of November so unless a miracle occurs, we'll be off then. Very hard to think about it!

Ciao for now.

Sorry for the siesta

2008-10-02T22:45:00.004+02:00

So time is racing by here. The last two weeks began with the arrival of Beverly (youngest sister) and ended with all of us flying over to London to surprise my father for his 70th birthday (please look at Mathew's blog for a run down of what we have been up to...http://mytuscanyoe.blogspot.com/). We spent one week in London (in oldest sister's house) and had a fabulous time - far too much good food! It is the first time in years that we have been all together as a family - so thank you Beverly for pushing us to do it. Very, very much worth it.

Now we are happy to be back home. And yes, it is feeling like home. I'm feeling rather down that we are on the downhill slope to leaving Tuscany - we have decided to move on to London at the beginning of December so we have only two months left. I'm excited about London and the prospects for me and for the family, but I'm enjoying the lack of stress, the jigsaw puzzles, the afternoon dance parties, the gorgeous lunches, the sleep-ins (every second day!!), the view, the air, the colours and yes, even the geckos! It's going to be hard to leave. Maybe a miracle will happen and....

Truffles in Tuscany

2008-09-17T17:54:00.018+02:00

Ah, truffle season!

Regularly on our morning walks, Mathew and I have seen camouflage-clad men with their dogs strolling through a clump of trees. As truffles don't really care whether you're camouflaged or not (although maybe they do - who really knows?), I had decided the men weren't hunting for truffles (despite Mathew insisting they were!). Yesterday, Ralph joined us and proved me wrong by risking a frosty response and asking one gentleman whether he had found truffles. And he had! He produced three small white truffles (5 grams in total) and held them out for the kids to sniff. And then told Ralph he could keep them. I don't think I have ever seen Ralph's face light up so much (seriously). So the rest of the walk was spent discussing how we could best make use of 5 grams of truffles.

Presently they are infusing a jar of risotto rice. And in a few days, we will eat scrambled eggs with white truffles (using the biggest of the three). Ralph is also planning to infuse some olive oil with the smallest ones. For things that look like clumps of dirt, there is surely a lot of thought going into them! What they certainly have done is infuse Ralph and Mathew with an enthusiasm for Autumn in Tuscany, where truffles, porcini and wild boar reign. I am hoping that this makes up for the turn in the weather - we are now enjoying mid-twenties temperatures which feels cold and the sky is blue today but I fear it won't last. At least the feasts that await us will ensure we're happy transitioning from summer to winter....

Chianti

2008-09-13T23:52:00.019+02:00

We toured Chianti today...the day Tuscany decided to produce her first autumnal rainfall.

It was overcast at home in Scarperia (unusual in itself) and by the time we hit Florence the skies had opened and we felt our first downpour in 3 1/2 months. The car's thermometer also plummeted - from a chilly 22 degrees at home to 15 by the time we hit Greve In Chianti - our first destination. Chianti is very different to The Mugello - at home we lie in a fairly flat valley surrounded by mountains but Chianti is filled with rolling hill after rolling hill each one covered by vines or olive trees. At home, the ground is dry and brown but Chianti must surely have its own micro-climate as it's so lush with a brilliant colour of green.

We had initially decided to stop in Greve In Chianti but as we're no longer used to rainfall we were totally underdressed and under-umbrellared (i.e none) so we moved on to Radda In Chianti, where we rushed into the historic walled town to buy umbrellas, hoping to then wander around and settle on a cosy pizzeria for lunch. The small walled town was beautiful but we found no pizzeria (and were at this stage, starving) so we drove on until we hit Gaiole In Chianti. The first restaurant we came across in Gaiole was brilliant - just what we were looking for - fantastic pizzas, cheap wine, family atmosphere, yummy Tirimasu, cheap wine!! So we ate, then drove home via Montevarchi.

I think we will have to drive through Chianti again as I don't think we saw it at its best...but here are some pictures taken on our trip today to show you what it looks like at its worst. Not too bad considering.

P.S. I need to confess that the smudging on the photos is not due to some fancy filter but to a 2-year old's peanut butter fingers!

Back home in Tuscany

2008-09-04T22:38:00.014+02:00

Mathew and I returned home on Monday from two weeks in the UK where we spent 10 days on my parents' canal boat travelling from Milton Keynes, north of London, to Hampton where my sister, Annette lives. The canal boat, called the Celtic Kiwi is around 17 metres long and about 2 metres wide – very close quarters but for four people was very adequate and in fact very cosy in the evenings. Mathew had a fantastic time and has a great description of the boat on his blog - so to save myself repeating (and out of sheer laziness!) here is the link to his post about the first part of our trip:

http://mytuscanyoe.blogspot.com/2008/09/grand-union-canal.html

Below are a few photos from our trip down the canal. All in all, a great holiday and I've come home with very toned arms due to all the locks we had to open and close! The UK was cold so we are very pleased to be back to 30 degrees plus.

While we were away, Ralph, Ana and Ralph's parents (visiting from Vienna while we were away) were adopted by a puppy (we think about 3 months old). We're not sure where he comes from but he has been with us now for over a week, despite us encouraging him to move on. We have had to feed him so we don't go to bed feeling guilty every night, so I think he's settling in. We've reported him to the local community police who are now trying to locate the owner. They asked us to babysit him until such time - hopefully it's before December! Here he is...no name yet except "Arrivederci"! (And for all you animal lovers - he's only tied up as he loves nipping at Ana's nose and he and she are the perfect sizes for it!!).

Villa Demidoff Park

2008-08-18T21:20:00.016+02:00

We visited the Villa Demidoff Park on the weekend for a wonderful, lazy picnic lunch. Here is some information about the park:

The Villa di Pratolino (Villa Demidoff di Pratolino) is a patrician villa in Tuscany, Italy, 12 km north of Florence. It was built by the solitary Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany in part to please his Venetian mistress, the celebrated Bianca Capello. The designer of villa and gardens was his court architect- designer- mechanician- engineer Bernardo Buontalenti, who completed it in a single campaign that lasted from 1569 to 1581; it was finished enough to provide the setting for Francesco's public wedding to Bianca Cappello in 1579. In its time it was a spendid example of the Mannerist garden.

So, now you know! In the middle of the park is an incredible statue - The Appennine Colossus by Giambologna. It is about 10 meters high and as Ana said is one "big man"! Pics below:

The weather has become a bit more manageable - a very easy 33 degrees today. And I swear the gods are reading my blog - the day after my last posting, boasting that we had not had rain for 60 days or so, it bucketed the entire day accompanied by some spectacular thunder and lightening. The temperature dropped that evening to 18 and for the first time, our shutters stayed closed during the night. But the next day, the sun was out and I was happy to see it. Despite the fact that the continuous heat can be draining, I will miss it once it turns colder. How will we last in England?

Speaking of which, Mathew and I are off on Wednesday for 10 days in the UK - most of the time to be spent on my parents' canal boat. We are canaling from Milton Keynes (north of London) down through the Thames, past the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye etc, before mooring outside my sister, Annette's house in Hampton. Should be fun though I've never been on a canal boat before and am a bit concerned about the space (or lack thereof). However, there are apparently, enough pubs along the way to keep me amused!

No email or internet access while we are there so I'll only be able to update the blog once we are home again on the 03rd September.

Siena

2008-08-14T17:11:00.007+02:00

I have omitted to say that we visited Siena in the last week - a walled city south of Florence and about 1.5 hours drive away. A stunning town...but Mathew describes it best in his blog so I'll leave it to him.

http://mytuscanyoe.blogspot.com/2008/08/last-saturday-we-all-went-to-siena.html.

Thank you! Oh, and Venice...

2008-08-13T19:45:00.025+02:00

The last of this round of visitors departed on Tuesday leaving us with very mixed feelings. We've had a wonderful month with three sets of visitors and they've ensured we've seen a lot of Tuscany, enabling us to even venture as far afield as Venice. The kids have been fully entertained and it's only now that we are by ourselves that we've realised how little we had to do while they were all with us! So to everyone who was here - a very, very big THANK YOU for the entertainment, the long (very long!) summer evenings under the grapevines (and if that sounds too idyllic for words, it is!), the prosecco and limoncello, the retirement dreams, the babysitting and kids entertaining but most especially for the incredible friendship and fun we have enjoyed.

Ralph and I were given a wonderful gift of a night away in Venice on Sunday night. Although Venice in August is not to be recommended given that everyone on the planet seems to be there, it is still an incredibly magical place.

Having been there a number of times in the past, we had no need to see the touristy areas, although it is hard to escape them! We found a wonderful restaurant for dinner away from the crowds, though only after a few hours of pushing our way through the hordes trying to find the perfect place. We were determined to eat in a local restaurant but they are very few and far between, especially in the San Marco district which is where our hotel was located. But we were lucky and stumbled across a restaurant (Osteria Al Portego) with no sign outside, no menu pasted on the window and very reasonable, excellent food. Wine was 80c a glass (!!) and our meals were outstanding. The next day we visited the Peggy Guggenheim museum in the Dorsoduro district - a beautiful part of Venice and an area which seemed devoid of anything touristy. We had a fantastic lunch at the restaurant of Hotel Messner, walked back to our hotel, grabbed our bags and headed home.

And now they've gone and life has become very quiet again. We are trying to get back into a routine, but it won't be for long as Mathew and I head over to the UK next week for 10 days on Mum and Dad's canal boat. It should be fun and we are both looking forward to it...and being able to speak English in the shops again! Although I'm not so sure about the weather. We've had 35 plus everyday in Tuscany and virtually no rain for 2 months. London is 16 degrees today and according to weather.com is due constant rain for the next week. I may have to hunt out my winter clothing!

How to feel very Italian

2008-08-06T19:55:00.013+02:00

A day in Florence today...just Ralph and I. Pure bliss. We skipped the Duomo and markets and spent most of the day wandering around the Santa Croce area - bookshops, delicatessens and beautiful restaurants.

We went armed with a shortlist of restaurants for lunch, only to find that our top choices were closed for the month of August. You may or may not know that Italy closes down in Agosto. To get anything done, be it plumbing fixed, the car repaired, or a restaurant to visit, one has to wait until September. This apparently is a well-known fact, but not well enough known by us!

So, we lunched at Restaurant No.4 on our short list - Osteria de' Benci. And I can't wait to eat at No's 1, 2 and 3 if No.4 is anything to go by. Starters were white bean & garlic bruschetta (for me) and spaghetti dell'ubriacone or drunken spaghetti (for him). This aptly named dish is in fact spaghetti cooked in red wine - an incredible sight on the plate, an unbelievable aroma and an even better taste. Nearly as good as my bruschetta. Secondi was carpaccio of beef with rocket and parmigiano (for me) and bollito (for him). However, the appreciation for our secondi was not as it should have been given the wonderful dishes as we were already stuffed to the brim by our starters. A truly wonderful meal.

We spent an hour or two in two English bookshops - to escape the excruciating humidity as much as to peruse the excellent selection of books. And then we just strolled around Florence - as far away from the madding crowds of tourists around the Duomo and markets as we could go.

And Florence is certainly a city that brings out the romance - I was kissed at every landmark or street that was considered famous (by him who did the kissing) so I've ended the day feeling very Italian indeed!

And we arrived home to find all the kids alive and happy (thank you Mindy!), the house cleaned and lasagna cooked for dinner. In our meanderings, we found a wonderful shop in Florence (Bortolucci) that sells handcrafted wooden toys so 2 slingshots were purchased and hugely appreciated by Mathew and Alex when we got home.

The day ended with a long awaited half-hour downpour and loud thunderstorm. Rain at last. A perfect end to another wonderful day here in the land of luurrv.

One beautiful town after another

2008-07-30T07:10:00.010+02:00

Despite the last posting, we've actually had a wonderful, albeit stinking hot, 10 days so far together. Last week we visited Stia, a beautiful town about an hour from us. We walked around the old centre (centro storica) and ate the obligatory ice-cream (we seem to be ice-cream eating our way around Tuscany). We declared the ice-cream to be the best so far, but the result may have been helped by the extreme heat.

From Stia, we drove to Camaldoli, a monastic community in the Tuscan-Romangese Appennine hills (http://www.camaldoli.it/en_index.htm). Not much to do there besides admire the buildings, drink espresso and attempt to keep the kids in a monastic silence! The area gave the impression of intrigue and mystery that could feature in The Davinci Code or similar such novel, with mysterious looking figures scuttling around and people looking far too peaceful and serene. Not really my thing to be honest and being sick didn't really help my overall feeling about the place. But it was beautiful.

We then drove on to Arezzo - yes, another beautiful old town. The centro storica was a bit touristy for me but still incredible to look at with colourful crests adorning the buildings. However, the heat had by this stage wilted everyone again so we hurried through and back to the car to begin the 1.5 hour drive back home. We will have to do these towns again when it's a bit cooler.

We had a day's rest, then took the train to Brisighella a charming (couldn't use 'beautiful' again!) medieval town an hour's train ride from us. The town is overlooked by a castle on a hill, which we would have visited if it wasn't for the stifling heat. So we had lunch, ate ice-creams and sat in the park until our train home.

Two day's of rest over the weekend, then a day in Florence on Monday. I suppose it's saying something when a day in Florence doesn't elicit an immediate blog posting! We trawled through the markets, made lots of purchases, ate lunch in the food market (Dad ate the local delicacy - a tripe roll!), walked around the Duomo then came home, only realising on the train that we had forgotten to visit the Ponte Vicchio. No one was overly disappointed though - we were all virtually suffering from heatstroke by that stage.

And another rest day yesterday - we managed a visit to the lake in the afternoon which was wonderful. It is such a peaceful, idyllic spot. Today, we're hosting some fellow New Zealanders for lunch and then pizza making in the afternoon. And I'm over my NZ cold, received with love from our previous visitors. There is something to be said for pure isolation!

[Disclaimer: photos are someone else's - bless the internet!]

Home made ice-cream

2008-07-27T21:43:00.011+02:00

Oh my goodness....family!! Excluding of course, Mum who is absolutely marvellous...and sitting right next to me as I type this! Seriously, the ironing, kids bathing, feeding and so on - I'm going to tie her down so she can't leave. But aside from her ... arrrrggggghhhhhhh. Only the Limoncello gets me through.

But to be fair - we've had a wonderful week with my family...including parents, sister and two nieces (beautiful, wonderful nieces who have entertained Mathew and Ana all week). We've had a day's trip to Arezzo - south of Florence and visited a wonderful monastery on the way. No photos I'm afraid as I was (am) sick and nobody else could be bothered obviously! Yesterday we took a train trip to Brisighella - an hour long train trip north east of us. A beautiful little town - unfortunately it was 75 degrees Celsius in the shade which kind of dampened the whole experience.

And now we're eating home made ice-cream by the sister...okay, so she can stay as well!

House moving day

2008-07-21T15:39:00.008+02:00

It's obvious that news of the credit crunch hasn't quite reached the squirrels at Fontirosa. Today they moved house - from this two storey terraced apartment overlooking their neighbour's garage (located in our front garden):

to this magnificent palazzo with light-filled rooms, multiple terraces, friendly quiet neighbours and extensive views of the Mugello (located in our back garden):

Their move required the transportation of three babies from the old house to the new - involving the crossing of our front lawn carrying said babies in their mouths. Three trips in total - skipping across in front of us as fast as they could go.

Very efficient, extremely fast, and we may ask for their assistance when we move the next time!

Tuscan Sloth

2008-07-20T20:22:00.009+02:00

I seem to have succumbed to the "Tuscan Sloth" affliction which can hit at any time here in Tuscany. It seems to creep up on you gradually, until you realise that you haven't done anything constructive in weeks! Including writing in this blog - so my apologies for not keeping this up to date.

The last week was filled with friends from New Zealand and The Hague. Six adults and six children...a very full house indeed. And we loved every minute of it. Here are some pictures of us hanging out around the place, our first night together and of course an example of the food we ate all week!

The changing of the guard happened on Friday, with my parents arriving and Andrea and Mark leaving. Mindy and kids left today - due back again in a couple of weeks.

Today we invited to lunch an ex-colleague of mine who arrived in Italy four years ago on holiday and has never left. We had a wonderful time with her and it's great knowing an English speaker here as the lack of language is a bit daunting after a while.

The next couple of weeks are filled with family - and the first babysitting offer has already been voiced so Ralph and I are off for our first dinner out together tomorrow evening. Tuscan romance is in the air - I can feel it!

Sleeping under the salamis

2008-07-18T19:03:00.007+02:00

You may have thought that Rachael and Ralph had melted under the Tuscan sun as there has not been a blog posting for so long. But no, they have just been inundated with guests, and this is the first of hopefully many guest entries. So, it's Mindy here, and I'm going to give you a condensed version of our week in this fabulous part of the world.

After an 18 hour car drive (a delightful experience with 2 kids) we were met by Ralph "at the Ferrari roundabout" which actually has a red Ferrari on it. We followed him in the dark up the long bumpy windy road and discovered the amazing villa, which is just everything you would imagine it to be, including our bed under the wooden beams supporting Ralph's newly made salamis. The week has been filled with amazing long dinners looking out at the sun setting over the hills, lots of prosecco, kids running around rekindling friendships, fabulous food, lots of sunshine and laughs. I don't know how many times we have raised our glasses to toast the fact that we are all actually here, in Tuscany, together. Wow! Amazing!

We did two day trips - the first to Pisa to make sure the tower hadn't fallen over, and to put Barney on the plane back to work (poor guy!). It wasn't a stress free trip as the Satnav didn't work well in the old town, and trying to navigate the small streets and frustrated Italian drivers, while trying to find a carpark was a challenge. Then we had to persuade 5 children to walk the 1km to the actual tower in 38 degree heat. Luckily there were lots of gelaterias on the way, so through bribery and corruption we got there. Here they all are.

Then after a day of rest, we put the all the kids on the train to Florence, accompanied by Mark and his three wives. We walked around the Duomo, the kids got their caricatures sketched, we did lunch and gelatos, meandered through the San Lorenzo market to buy Tshirts, belts, and more gelatos, then managed to miss the train home, so were forced to while away an hour at the bar cooling down with beer and more prosecco. Man, did we all sleep well that night

So, in between the day trips, we discovered the Designer Outlet Mall has a sale on and the girls were released from duty for the day to see if the credit card was working (and it was!). We have cooled off at the lake -

and explored Scarperia´s supermarkets, shoe shops and playgrounds.

All in all, an incredible week, with amazing hosts. So please don't blame them for the lack of communication, blame the guests. We have been extremely well looked after, and will leave reluctantly, but will return shortly to experience more of what Tuscany has to offer. Needless to say, we have decided to retire here. Rachael has been given the task of finding the right villa to accommodate her long standing group of friends!

Lake Day

2008-07-04T20:58:00.004+02:00

Another very relaxing day. Again, we spent the afternoon at the lake. The weather was glorious with a bit of wind to keep the scorching heat away. I even managed a swim out on the lilo to the middle of the lake - very peaceful and serene. Until (I think to the amusement of the entire lake) Ralph tried to swim out to tip me over. I paddled furiously even further so managed to escape him. However, it then became a case of cat versus mouse as I tried to get back into shore. He was not going to let me back in without turning me over into the water. So, I enlisted the help of Mathew. I offered to pay him EUR1 if he could help paddle me quickly enough to evade Ralph. After a few attempts, Ralph realised we were in cahoots...and offered Mathew EUR5 to bring me closer to him! At which point, Mathew promptly turned to me, whilst clinging onto my lilo, and said "Make it EUR6 and I'm on your side"!! The bargaining continued, again to the amusement of the lake audience. And in the end, the boys had it and I was pushed back to Ralph to be tipped very unmercifully into the water.

Mathew spent some of today taking photos of the area around us and they are incredible. So, he is starting a photo blog - I've added a link to the Blog List on the left. I think he will be putting up his photos tomorrow.

A fairly fabulous day

2008-07-01T18:58:00.002+02:00

The heat is continuing with most days being around 37/38. Everyday we think we're going to get some relief in the form of rainfall but the thunderstorms stay above the mountains - we're only teased by the sound of thunder in the distance. Some rain would be wonderful as the ground is starting to brown and we can't use too much water.

Ralph and Mathew managed a Boys' Day Out in Florence today. For all the upcoming girl visitors...I think this now entitles me to a Girls' Night Out while you are here, or at the very least a day out shopping! Ana and I had a quiet day - baking lemon shortbread (I'm not beginning to recognise myself!), burying Playmobile figures in sandpit, chasing geckos, NewTubing (or YouTubing...) and dancing to the Wiggles. A fairly fabulous day!

The boys arrived home earlier than expected. They had wanted to visit two exhibitions in Florence - one was mostly under reconstruction and the other seemed too expensive for what it was. In the end, they ate two ice-creams, had lunch, wandered around the markets, bought some art supplies, then came home. We've discovered the train to Florence - EUR2.50 for an adult one way and it takes around 1/2 an hour.

Our guests start arriving in 10 days time and then we're busy until September. I think we are all looking forward to the diversion - although we've coped better than I thought we would being 24 hours a day around each other, we are feeling a bit isolated (okay, I am!) and some other company will be very welcome. We're already planning the menus!

I will hopefully have something more interesting to write in the next few days.

Video No.2 - upstairs of house

2008-06-28T19:38:00.003+02:00

This time, the upstairs of the house....

Golden Mushrooms

2008-06-27T19:15:00.022+02:00

Today was a wonderful day. Cooler than previous days - early to mid thirties - definitely more bearable than 40.

In the morning, we went to the local market and I bought some mushrooms. That is to say, I thought I was buying mushrooms but in fact, unbeknown to me, I was buying gold nuggets. They looked like mushrooms (albeit GE modified ones as they were huge) and smelt like mushrooms, so I chose two which personally I thought was rather meager. So go on, guess how much they cost me. EUR6 (or NZ$12)! For two mushrooms! It was only later that I discovered from Ralph that they were Porcini mushrooms, apparently the gold nugget of mushrooms! And here they are....

Ralph cooked one up for lunch...porcini mushroom with garlic on toast. Mmmmmmmmm. And the most wonderful thing about these mushrooms is that no one else in the house eats them...and there's still one left! Here is the cooked version:

It tasted incredible - much better than a gold nugget!

The afternoon was spent at the lake. Absolutely glorious. Ana is confident enough to swim by herself, with her wings on. So, we're able to sit on the shores, keeping an eye on the both of them as they don't venture too far from us.

And a video...just 'cause I can now!

A video

2008-06-26T21:56:00.005+02:00

My first go at a video....

Please let me know if you can or can't view it. It's pretty boring, but I have plenty of time to work on my production skills. I think I may give up ironing for movie making!

Our routine

2008-06-25T22:00:00.003+02:00

We're settling back into our normal routine after a pretty disruptive week. I must admit to liking routine - everyone knows what is meant to be happening and when and it all works very well.

The mornings are when Mathew and I disappear for school - around 9am. We are working through some English and Maths websites (as the Correspondence School pack has still not arrived) as well as doing his blog. He works while I iron (yes!!!). This ensures I'm not breathing down his neck and continually correcting him (as I'm known to do). I'm even ironing our pyjamas just to make sure I'm doing something else (Mum, you will be so proud of me). If nothing else, we all look superb - well, our clothes do! While we work, Ralph and Ana hit the shops or playgrounds or just explore around the area. They usually arrive home around 11.30 and then prepare lunch. We all meet outside for lunch at 12.30 or so, then Ana goes off to bed around 1. After she wakes up (usually around 2.30) we play for a bit and then go out. Today, we swam again in Lake Bilancino. And this time, we found a free area - we like free! Ana and Mathew had a ball so we'll probably make this a regular jaunt especially now that it remains in the late 30's until 6 or 7pm.

Then home, then dinner, then baths...and then the task of getting Ana to bed. Every day since we have been here has been different with her. But tonight, she was off within 5 minutes so we're definitely going to make swimming a regular outing! Mathew cooked lasagna for dinner - absolutely superb. So much so, that I had 3 helpings! No weight gain yet but I'm sure it's coming!

That's it for today. Will try and do something more interesting tomorrow!

First hospital visit

2008-06-23T20:28:00.005+02:00

We've had a wonderful weekend with Annette visiting. We managed to get out every day, despite the 40 degree heat! On Saturday, we visited Lake Bilancino, about 15 minutes from us. We paid EUR13 for 3 deck chairs and an umbrella and use of the facilities. At least this is more affordable than the local swimming pools.

Other than that, we had dinner out one night in a local restaurant in Scarperia, visited a couple of markets and went on a walk through the forest near us. Today, we drove the 2 hours to Fiorli and dropped Annette at the airport before continuing to Ravenna where we spent a couple of hours on the beach. As you can see from the photos, the beach is incredible - probably the most perfect I have ever seen for children.

As it was out of season, we didn't have to pay for use of the deckchairs and umbrellas and we had an incredible time.

Unfortunately the day was cut short as we discovered a tick, deeply embedded behind Ana's ear. So, we packed everything up, drove the 2 hours back home and for the first time (but most probably not the last!), we visited the local hospital. Tick removed and hopefully no lasting consequences.

An observation about Italians and the sun - they sure do love it! No one wears a one piece or board shorts - it's skimpy bikinis and speedos no matter what your size. They seem to lie in the glaring sun for hours on end, spraying coconut oil all over themselves and look rather strangely at us with the kids fully covered up after having had SPF40 slathered all over them! I wonder what the skin cancer rate is here?

Update to Italian Playgrounds

2008-06-20T22:04:00.002+02:00

An update to our post "Italian playgrounds"...

I seems as though someone on the Scarperia town council has been reading this blog. Today, when we passed through the village, we noticed a new playground being built in the town square! It looks like it will be beautiful and probably ready in a couple of weeks. I am pleased to have contributed to the lives of children in Scarperia!

Annette arrived today much to the delight of everyone. And the thermometer reached 39 degrees, the hottest day yet. We put out the sprinkler for Mathew and filled Ana's small paddling pool...then promptly ran out of water this evening! A big adventure for Ralph and Mathew who have run around the property and been in constant contact with the landlord to try and resolve the problem. It worked out that too much water has been used during the day and we've run the local well dry. Luckily, it is continually refreshed, so half an hour ago, water started rushing into our tanks. A beautiful sound. Especially to Annette whom I'm sure was worried that her weekend was going to be a very dirty, smelly one!

Florence

2008-06-19T21:46:00.015+02:00

Florence....ahhhhhhhh.

Kids....arrrrgggghhhh!

We should never have expected to be able to stroll leisurely around the city, slowly perusing the shoe shops, or meander through the food markets stopping to inspect each stall, or possibly try some espresso and panforte whilst quietly watching the world go by...

We managed two hours in Florence before it got too much for Ana. So we saw the Duomo...

and the Ponte Vecchio...

We then hurried through the markets with Ana either screaming "out, out" when in her pram or running away when out of it (we try not to take it personally). We were meant to take in the Boboli Gardens, specially for the kids, but the traffic was horrendous and our navigation system kept trying to take us on streets we were not allowed to drive down. Until it all got a bit much and we very quickly made our way out of Florence to a Pizzeria overlooking some beautiful olive groves. We are thankful we are here for 6 months so there will be plenty of time to see Florence again. And the next time we'll plan for a shorter stay...or leave the kids with Grandma and Grandpa when they are visiting...

It was 36 degrees today so it's heating up. Ralph has started painting (watercolours now rather than his usual acrylic) as well as producing bread every day. And yesterday he and Mathew made salami which now has to dry out for 2 months before we can eat it. The man is a god.

The day ended with two ferocious games of Pick up Sticks between Mathew and I. Who knew Pick up Sticks could evoke such dissension between mother and son? The decider will be held tomorrow

And for all those experiencing winter...the weather forecast for the next ten days is sun, sun, sun with an average temperature of 32 degrees. We may wish we have a pool!

16 Day Blues

2008-06-18T00:06:00.007+02:00

I'm staying up later tonight as it makes me feel closer to the other side of the world. It is very strange wondering what people are doing and realising they are working, doing something productive. It's also odd to not have anyone, anyone, to talk to. Even if I learn Italian it won't be enough to enable me to carry on an intelligent conversation with anyone here.

At home, we don't have TV to watch, books to read, newspapers to look at. Were we crazy or what? Ralph doesn't need all this, being very happy to look at recipes all evening or read books on artists in Florence. He's definitely the intellectual out of the two of us. I however, am going to kill someone soon.

Seriously, I'm sure this is just the 16 day blues. It will all be fine tomorrow when I hit the 17 day ra-ra-ra period.

Vegetables

2008-06-17T19:21:00.006+02:00

Okay - who had bets on how long I would last before I strangled my kids? We left Auckland on May 17th, and today is June 17th. One month. I'm sure I've failed all bets miserably!

Today I had them all to myself as Ralph went off to Florence for the day. He came back buzzing, full of gorgeous shoe shops, delicatessens, food markets and cobbled streets (I turned a Gucci shade of green). As Ralph was away, Mathew and I were not able to do the usual schoolwork so by mid morning, he and Ana were at each other's throats and by midday I felt like my first glass of Chianti. We managed our walk in the afternoon and came across a mother duck and around 20 ducklings (I always thought Mother Ducks had five little ducks that went out one day, over the hill and far away). A great discovery and we had immediate thoughts about asking the owner for a duckling to take home...although I'm not sure he/she would be very safe here!

Then I cooked dinner - roast chicken and veggies. I think we have to have a rule from now on that lunch and dinner must include one vegetable - bread and salami does not a healthy dinner make! Nor does pizza or pasta alone. We are going to have to get tough, which may lead to more blogs like this where I mention violent acts against my children! Watch this space!

We're off to Florence!

2008-06-17T09:10:00.000+02:00

Some pictures of our house and the view tonight. It really is magnificent although I suspect that farmland throughout the world looks much the same. I don't think however that if we had decided to experience this in Te Awamutu it would have felt quite as special as it does. Don't ask me why though!

The Gucci envy green did its trick and we're all off to Florence on Thursday. This city girl needs some city atmosphere - all this beauty with no concrete is too much!

Children in Italy

2008-06-16T20:52:00.003+02:00

A note today about the Italian and children. Children in Italy are incredibly well behaved - very quiet and obedient - not at all like ours! I have decided this is due to the fact that all young children are allowed their dummies and cuddlies whenever and wherever and to whatever age. I am very tempted to try this with Ana! [Update - we tried this in the afternoon when we went to the supermarket and it worked a dream!].

Although the Italians seem to love children, the activities, restaurants, social places and even parks are not set up for kids in the slightest, making it very difficult to find things to do. There is a website that provides ideas of activities for kids in Tuscany - unfortunately most of the suggestions are museums which gives you some idea of the lack of amusements for children here. We have looked into public swimming pools, however our local one has an entry fee of EUR7.50 per person - this does, according to the website, include free use of the changing rooms!!

It is very unfortunate that 2-year olds, and 10-year olds for that matter, don't find beautiful villages, markets, or shopping in the least bit interesting! So it seems as though we will have to keep cooking and eating and entertaining ourselves at home. And hope we don't drive each other stir crazy!

Bread Festival

2008-06-15T20:11:00.015+02:00

Today started with a visit from Massimo our favourite rabbit. He must be getting used to us as he came within a metre of Ana and Mathew. Ralph managed to get a flying photo...

This morning, we discovered a superb walking track near us which is a relief as walking around our house is virtually impossible due to the absence of any sidewalks. The area includes good mountain bike tracks so Mathew and Ralph tried them out while I walked with Ana. We hope to make this a regular morning activity before schoolwork starts.

In the afternoon, we attended our first Italian festival, being the "Il pane… in pappa e '900 in Fiera" festival in Borgo San Lorenzo, the largest town in the Mugello Valley.

The festival name literally translates as "The bread… as pappa and'900 Fair" and was a celebration of characters, crafts and food that were a part of the historical town. We sampled a typical Tuscan bread salad, tripe and beans (nice, but once was enough I think!), fried doughnuts, pizza bread and pieces of cake.

The food samples were huge - enough for a meal and there were crowds and crowds of people. It was lots of fun and makes us excited about the summer of festivals in the towns around the Mugello. We finished with drinks and ice-cream at a Gelateria (Ice-cream)/Wine Bar in one of the town's squares.

To end the day, we caught, Scorpion No.6. And here's a picture....still want to visit??? At least this one was outside:

Tortellini

2008-06-13T18:21:00.020+02:00

This evening, we are making our own tortellini.

I say "we" but really I mean Mathew and Ralph. Ana and I are observing and placing our requests...should they be prosciutto and sage, ricotta and rosemary, pecorino and pear, nutella and smarties...I think tonight they are pork, pecorino and oregano.

This the first attempt at homemade pasta so we're hoping it doesn't all turn to mush in the pot.

[Update]

No, it certainly didn't turn into mush as these pictures attest - absolutely delicious:

Mathew had such a wonderful time this evening and was very proud of his pasta. He even cleaned up the kitchen and dining room after dinner. And he didn't even blink an eye when told there was pecorino cheese in the filling. He has become a lot more adventurous in his eating in the last 10 days - even eating, with great gusto, my zucchini frittata.

Annette (older sister who lives in London for those who don't know) is coming to visit next week which we are very excited about. I've been wanting to make our guest bedroom look cosy and welcoming with bunches of flowers so her visit is a good excuse. The cheap European airlines are incredible and enable these whimsical journeys. I have booked a EUR0.00 flight in August to London (plus taxes of course) - for Mathew and I it has worked out at around EUR90 return.

Bed time I think. We had to partake in some Limoncello this evening to counteract the pasta!

A thought

2008-06-13T09:35:00.000+02:00

Now don't you think we should start a cooking class for kids in Tuscany? After multiple searches, we can't find one that exists and so we think we are perfect candidates for the job.

Now all we need is a multi-millionaire backer so that we can live here in luxury until it's running successfully. Any takers, please leave us a comment and we'll get back to you after siesta tomorrow...

Pizza Party

2008-06-12T19:21:00.029+02:00

This afternoon we held a Pizza Party - invited guests: Daddy, Mummy, Mathew, Ana, a couple of geckos and Massimo the rabbit (he didn't turn up - we think he took one look at the pizza oven and decided it was healthier for him to stay away).

The real work began at 4pm with the preparation of the oven.

Firstly, the wood needed cutting and the fire preparing:

Then the dough had to be kneaded and stretched and pulled and rolled:

Then the fire was started...

And we announced a new pope to the whole of Tuscany:

The fire burned hotter and hotter:

While the fire worked to reach the right intensity,

we started on the pizzas:

And set the table ready for the feast:

Once the fire was perfect, it was time to put in the pizzas:

And quicker than a gecko can scuttle under a bush, they were ready...

...to eat!

In the dying ashes of the pizza oven, we made our bread for tomorrow:

And then we danced...because life is so good!

Mathew commented on his way to bed that today was the best day yet!

Some pictures

2008-06-11T20:42:00.014+02:00

Only some pictures today:

Gecko hunting!

Lunch today...

Planting basil...

The lounge at night...

And finally, my dinner tonight...costing less than 1 EUR - including the wine!

Blog changes

2008-06-11T11:00:00.005+02:00

Decided to open up the blog to everyone as I think people were having problems with signing on. Hope this helps.

Mathew has started his own blog - I've put a link on the left. We'll make his blog public as well.

Italian playgrounds

2008-06-10T22:05:00.007+02:00

So the Italians lost the football 0-3. I think we may have become honorary Italians half way through the game with the amount of hand waving and shouting that was going on.

Today we visited what has to be the worst playground I've ever seen. As background...it was 32 degrees and Ana only slept an hour after lunch cutting our siesta very short! So, to make the afternoon bearable, we decided to go in search of a playground. We started on the Internet as all good searches should...but the lack of Italian tends to hinder our Internet searches so we gave up and tried the Satellite Navigation system instead. Unfortunately it only found some parks in France so we decided we needed to get in the car and drive. We happened upon a playground quite quickly. Ana was excitement personified - she basically wouldn't have cared if we had only found one swing. This playground was interesting...next to a kindergarten, with a broken swing, a couple of slides and a plastic construction with sand covering everything. We initially decided that the Italians may not really know how to do playgrounds and spent a good 10 minutes playing...until we decided that this had to be the place where the next-door kindergarten off-loaded all their broken equipment. No wonder we were getting strange looks!

So on we went until we came across the 'real' deal. NZ OSH would have a field day with this one! It looked like a WW2 bunker (it probably was once!) - un-mown grass, concrete everywhere, a token swing and slide. I will take a picture of it as you have to see it to believe it. Ana is too small and thought the place was wonderful. Mathew unfortunately is used to NZ playgrounds with the soft underfoot, wonderful trees, cushions provided as you slide down the slides.....

We were obviously a bit early for the Italians, arriving at 3.30. It was still incredibly hot and the place was largely deserted. By 5, when we were leaving, the kids had started gathering. I can't believe they find anything in the place to attract them. But as so many people live in apartments here, any piece of greenery is welcome. Although I was thinking how lucky we are in NZ, I was also thinking how lucky we are to be experiencing all of this. It is so different to anything we've had in NZ and, I hope, can only be good for the kids to see and be a part of.

Dinner tonight...caprese salad as it has been most nights. Mozzarella is EUR0.42 a bag...fresh tomatoes from the market...basil from the garden. It can't get much better than that!

Prada, Gucci, Versace etc

2008-06-09T21:57:00.005+02:00

Today we tortured ourselves by visiting a shopping mall near Scarperia. The mall consists of outlet stores for Prada, Gucci, Versace, Ralph Lauren, YSL, D&G etc etc. A stunning place to shop...but on my EUR40 per week I will probably never be able to purchase anything there! However, for all the females visiting us over the next few months, it's highly recommended. I don't think I've ever seen such beautiful shoes - I may have to start saving some of my pocket money. We did manage to buy something...from the Lindt outlet store! What an incredible shop - piles and piles and piles of Lindor chocolate balls. Exercise will start tomorrow I promise!!

Other than that - Mathew and I started "school" this morning. The NZ Correspondence School pack hasn't arrived yet so I've had to devise some lessons. Boy, teaching is hard work! And Mathew and I are going to have some challenges remaining on good terms. But I think for the first day it went well. He started his blog and spent some of the morning going around the property taking pictures to add to it. We then did some maths, started a project on Scarperia and another one on countries of the world, tried to learn some Italian and practised his guitar. We learnt for 3.5 hours...long enough in my book! He is very keen - I think mostly as it takes him away from Ana! She and Ralph spent the morning exploring shops and some of the local villages. I'm getting the feeling from the talk this evening that tomorrow may involve a trip into Florence. Lucky them!

We are now all sitting (minus Ana) watching the Netherlands vs Italy Europe 2008 Soccer game. Netherlands is up 2-0. I'm just enjoying watching the Italian players - they do have style!

Baking

2008-06-08T22:21:00.011+02:00

Not much to write about today. We've discovered a great second hand shop in town that sells everything from meat slicers (our first purchase I fear!) to Tuscan antiques (our last purchase I fear!). And there was another market in town today - there is a regular weekly one on a Friday so I don't know what today's one, on Sunday, was all about. But they are great places to pick things up cheaply - clothes, cushions, eggplants, roast chickens....as below...

We drove past a "procession" of very old sports cars on their way to the Mugello Autodrome this afternoon so Ralph and Mathew went off to investigate but unfortunately could not get near enough to see them racing. We can hear the autodrome from our house but it's quiet enough not to be disturbing.

We did some baking today - I think this is the first time I've baked cookies in about 10 years. No there are no photos - I didn't want a picture of me baking to be available for people to dredge up in years to come!!

The below pictures are mostly for family...just some of the kids playing on the lawn. They have a "wonderful" game where Ana runs as fast as she can, and then Mathew trips her up sending her flying into the grass. She loves it...but then again, she is turning into a bizarre child!!

Ciao til the next time....

We love pizzerias!

2008-06-07T15:37:00.010+02:00

We had our first visit to a local pizzeria for lunch today. And were very pleased to discover that eating out will be affordable - 1/4 litre of wine - EUR2 (2!!!)...pizza with prosciutto - EUR6...prosciutto with melon (enough for the whole table) - EUR5. Now we just need to find a cheap babysitter!

Siesta time after lunch was wonderful - another lazy afternoon in the sun, then wandering around the garden and various sheds that are on the property. There are old pots lying around the place that I cleaned up to put around the house as decorations. It's wonderful to have the time to do things like this.

A bit about our surroundings. We sit on the top of a hill surrounded by fields and vegetable plots. These plots are owned and farmed by people who must live elsewhere - they arrive every morning in their Fiat Panda 4x4's (super cool car) or in their Piaggio's (pictures below) and stay for the morning then disappear again. All oldish men - all quite surly looking. Each of the plots has a cage in which lives a dog or two. We believe these are hunting dogs that are used for the traditional pig hunting.

Ana and I have started a daily routine of walking down our driveway/road and visiting one dog in particular. Ana calls him Buongiorno as that is what I tell her we have to say to him. During the past two walks, we have met one of the Italian farmers who seems to deliberately walk our way with his two dogs just so he can talk to Ana and let her play with his Dalmation puppy. Although I have said both times "Non capisco" he blabbers on in Italian to us and pats Ana on the head repeatedly. She's quite an icebreaker! I managed to get another farmer to acknowledge me today but generally they keep to themselves. I'm sure they will start to come around once they realise we're here for a while.

And with restaurant prices like we experienced today...we may stay for a long long while!

Pizza Oven

2008-06-05T23:16:00.000+02:00

Today was experimentation day with the pizza oven...

Ralph has just produced the first pizza from the pizza oven...

...as good as any I've ever tasted so I'm looking forward to subsequent attempts. Though my thighs are not!

And this is Mathew's first attempt at bread...

The boy is in heaven!

Baked beans & the truck driver

2008-06-05T21:21:00.010+02:00

And this is apparently what you do with a pizza oven after the pizza...make baked beans for breakfast tomorrow.

And to continue the food theme (though I suspect food is what this entire blog will be all about!), here is our resident truck driver after her first spag bol meal...

Scorpion No.3

2008-06-05T13:32:00.000+02:00

Scorpion No.3 found this evening in the folds of the lounge curtain...will take a picture the next time.

Today was a brilliant day. We managed a siesta after lunch - Ralph and Mathew worked the pizza oven, Ana slept, and I lazed in the sun with an espresso and a book. Every now and then I dragged myself up to sweep a floor or hang up a wash...or to peer into the pizza oven to check on progress...or to eat the results of the pizza oven.

Ralph's dad arrived this evening with the rest of our stuff. He is here until Sunday...our first official visitor. The red wine is flowing, Katie Melua is on the stereo and, apart from the discovery of the abovementioned scorpion, it's a wonderful evening.

Life is good.

Insect disco party

2008-06-05T12:18:00.000+02:00

One last entry before bedtime...

We had an insect disco party in our vegetable garden tonight. I personally believe it was Tinkerbell and all her friends jiving down to some fairy beat. I have absolutely no clue to whom or what the flashing lights belong. Will have to investigate. In the meantime, we'll add "fairy" to the list of creatures visiting us at the house.

Sweet dreams.

Nightingales

2008-06-04T22:30:00.014+02:00

We've just enjoyed an awesome meal in our kitchen and I'm now sitting in the lounge (picture right) and everyone else is in bed.

I didn't make our bed today! I think that's the first time in 10 years!! I felt so guilty when I went up to our room this evening and realised it was still unmade. I fear that I'm on the slippery slope to slothville!

We walked into town this morning around 8..."town" being our local village called Scarperia. I have a feeling that Italians don't go on walks- we received so many strange looks from everyone we saw. However, whenever we cheerily yelled Buongiorno we always received a friendly reply back. They'll get used to us I'm sure.

Mathew and Ana are, so far, loving Italy. Mathew is absolutely buzzing - full of excitement about everything and can't stop talking and asking questions. Ana is being an incredibly difficult 2-year old though I hope that changes when she gets used to the place. The poor child has been pushed and pulled every which way for the last 2 months I suppose one can't blame her for being continually stroppy. She loves all the creatures and animals around the house - we've taken a bet that she will be the first to be stung by a scorpion...although I sincerely hope not as I don't fancy a trip to the emergency department.

That's all for today. The chianti is taking its toll and I think I'm off upstairs too. I've just heard my first nightingale. I had no idea they were the only birds that sang at night. Just my kind of bird!

Vienna

2008-06-03T23:34:00.000+02:00

We've survived a very hectic two weeks in Vienna. Here's where we stayed - absolutely beautiful.

The fire brigade festival was excellent - we had dinner there twice. And we managed a few dinners in the local heuriger (wine tavern) which had a playground to occupy Ana and Mathew.

We finally managed to buy a car in our last couple of days - a Renault Espace. Brilliant car and big enough for most of our stuff. Ralph's dad is bringing the rest at the end of the week.

We left Vienna on Monday morning, 2am and travelled for 9 hours down to the house in Italy. Kids slept some of the way and we managed to entertain Ana until 2 hours before the end when it all turned to custard. Only the thought of where we were going kept us sane!

And now we are here. The place is incredible - even better than we were expecting. We met Mario the gardner this morning who doesn't speak a word of English so that will be an interesting relationship. And we've just finished our first supermarket shop. Wow! The vegetables and fruit are incredible as is the selection of cheese and cold meats. Ralph is in heaven.

Now it's raining - I didn't think it rained in Tuscany! Hopefully it won't last long and it will get back to 40 degrees soon!

I'll post some pictures of the house.....

Pictures of the house

2008-06-03T22:21:00.000+02:00

Here are some pictures of the place where we are staying in Tuscany...

Pictures, Snakes and Scorpions

2008-06-03T21:25:00.004+02:00

I haven't written about the most important aspect of our house in Tuscany...there are scorpions! And the occasional adder and viper and not so occasional grass snake (one seen already). And geckos and a rabbit (which we have named Massimo in memory of...well, that's another story!) and squirrels...and did I mention scorpions?? We've already seen two very alive, very angry ones. There goes any thought of summer sandals - tomorrow it is gumboot shopping day. Did anyone else know that Italy was filled with such poisonous, deadly, icky creatures?

Speaking of poisonous creatures, I drove for the first time today. Nearly knocked down a couple of Italian mamas...Italians don't seem to understand the concept of sidewalks, i.e. they don't have any especially out in the countryside. It'll make my planned morning runs a bit more interesting!

The plane trip

2008-05-23T05:51:00.002+02:00

If you’re reading this, you will know what this blog is about – we’re off to Tuscany for 7 months to enjoy some time together as a family…and maybe eat a pizza or two! This has been a dream for a number of years and we both can’t quite believe we’ve managed to make it happen. Thank you to everyone for all your kind thoughts and your voices of support and love. We’re going to miss all those we won’t be seeing for a while.

We said a very teary farewell to my family last Saturday evening, to start a horrendous 36 hour journey to Vienna. Our Air NZ leg to Shanghai was unbelievably turbulent – the seatbelt sign was on 10 hours out of the 12. Then we were informed that our luggage had not been checked through to Vienna – instead we had to collect it, clear Chinese customs (an experience in itself) and recheck our baggage in with Air France. We hit the Air France counter tired and grumpy with an extremely hyper 2 year old to be told we had to pay EUR80 extra for our bikes. They were unsympathetic to the fact that we had phoned Air France in NZ to check on this and unsympathetic to the fact that our luggage should have been booked through to Vienna. After a few (okay, many!) tense words we capitulated…there goes a week’s worth of Chianti!

Our next leg on Air France was also extremely turbulent and of course, they forgot the kid’s meals. But good on the French – unlike Air NZ where the drinks trolley arrives once, 10 minutes after the food trolley, Air France produced the drinks trolley first, then again straight after the food, then again 10 minutes late and then again after coffee! This certainly helped us forgive them the EUR80! And reinforced why we’re spending the next 7 months in Europe!

To finally top off the worst 36 hours of travel we’ve ever had, we arrived in Vienna, but none of our luggage did. Ralph picked it up on Monday afternoon…minus the bikes!!! What was the EUR80 for? Maybe it was all a ruse and in fact they had been warned about how much wine I would drink on the flight! Apparently the bikes have now been found (4 days later) - whiling away some time in Paris. We’ve yet to see them but hopefully will tomorrow.

Vienna has been a balmy 8 - 10 degrees and raining since we’ve arrived. Frigging freezing! We are staying about 20 minutes west of Vienna in Ralph’s parent’s summer house. It is a gorgeous wooden log house on 2000sqm of beautiful lawn and trees. Unfortunately we have not been able to enjoy it much due to the weather. Tomorrow, the local volunteer fire brigade is hosting a 4 day festival to raise money so we’re hoping the weather will change to enable us to walk down to the village and enjoy a spritzer or two and some rotisserie chicken or stelzerl (roast pork knuckle apparently!). It should be fun. We’d better not eat too much as Ralph’s dad is cooking Weiner Schnitzel for lunch!

We think we’ve found our car for our Italy trip. We’ve decided to spend a bit more than originally planned and we will then sell it again in December which should mean we remain in budget. We leave Vienna on 02 June for the 8 hour drive to Italy. At least we’re not flying!!

Will write more soon.