Lee's Tuscan Odyssey: September 2010

In 2001 I came to live in Italy. I had some fun, wrote a journal and this is the blog of my story...

"Tuscany is a state of grace. The countryside is so lovingly designed that the eye sweeps the mountains and valleys without stumbling over a single stone. The lilt of the rolling green hills, the upsurging cypresses, the terraces sculptured by generations that have handled the rocks with skillful tenderness, the fields geometrically juxtaposed as though drawn by a draughtsman for beauty as well as productivity; the battlements of castles on the hills, their tall towers standing grey-blue and golden tan among the forest of trees, the air of such clarity that every sod of earth stands out in such dazzling detail. The fields ripening with barley and oats, beans and beets. The grape-heavy vines espaliered between the horizontal branches of silver-green olive trees, composing orchards of webbed design, rich in intimation of wine, olive oil and lacy-leaf poetry. Tuscany untied the knots in a man's intestines, wiped out the ills of the world. Italy is the garden of Europe, Tuscany is the garden of Italy, Florence is the flower of Tuscany." Irving Stone from my favourite book " The Agony and the Ecstacy" A fictional biography of Michelangelo

55. Man in the Mirror

Our first year in 'Bella Tuscany' is nearly over and this week we have the privilege of hosting one of my good friends from England. To protect his privacy I shall refer to him by his middle name, Clayton, thereby shielding his real identity to all but his closest acquaintances and family.

However his visit does give me the perfect excuse to indulge in some tourist-like sightseeing and in particular a 2-day visit to the eternal city, Rome.

A 9.30 pick-up from Pisa airport and already he's looking in the shop windows, not at the wares, but to check that his hair is in place! We arrive home in the Chianti to a late night supper, prepared by the lovely Annette and catch up on all the latest Worthing gossip.

I'm working mornings at the moment, so I meet up with Clayton in the afternoon for a city tour. In the evening we enjoy a nice al-fresco meal out at our current favourite restaurant, La Paglietta in San Polo-in-Chianti. Of course he spends the evening checking out his reflection in the cutlery... ok so I'm exaggerating a bit!

Thursday and we meet up in the city again and buy tickets for the Uffizi for Tuesday. Unfortunately his excellency, David, is being restored at the moment, so I take Clayton into Santa Croce to check out the 'Giotto' Frescoes. Fortunately he resists looking too long at the marble tombs as his reflection is a little blurred! We finish day 2 with a cool sunset of Florence from Piazzale Michelangelo.

Friday and a scenic drive to San Gimignano with a stop off at our now second home, Villa San Andrea, for some wine tasting and purchasing of more '98 Chianti Classico Riserva. I enjoy walking round the medieval streets of this beautifully hill- top, towered town and Clayton... well, I thought he seemed interested in the shops until I realize that he's still looking at his reflection in the window!!! And this time I'm not exaggerating... maybe his parents should have named him Narcissus!

At this point I will skip our weekend trip to Rome... (Next Blog Entry)

Tuesday we have a date at the Uffizi and there is a special, temporary exhibition on, entitled 'The Rape of Europa,' this is the Greek myth about that unfortunate maiden so desired by Zeus, who then proceeded to transform himself into a dazzling white bull and carried her off to Crete and raped her. This story has been immortalized in art by many paintings depicting the unfortunate event, some of which are exhibited here, kind of a fitting end to my good friend's visit. Suffice to say, this would prove the last time I would ever see or hear from him... maybe like Narcissus he fell into a lake? Alas I will never know!

(Original journal entry 2/10/02)

54. Populonia, Campiglia Marittima and Bolgheri

After a wonderful afternoon at Massa Marittima we motor on to the coast... first stop is the very pretty gulf of Baratti, there is a small harbour and sailing school here and also one of the most important Etruscan burial sites at nearby Populonia, but we don't have time to look round, instead we drive up to the tiny village of Populonia Alta. Here there are a few crafty shops and bars and a 15th century fortress overlooking the Tyrrhenian coastline.

By now it's getting quite late and we have to find somewhere to sleep... so we head back into San
Vincenzo and manage to find a small, cheap room for the night!

We pop into town for a late night fish dish at 'La Bussola', the place is still buzzing, with people just hanging on to the last remmnants of summer...

Sunday and we enjoy a lazy breakfast in town and then decide to head up to another old mining town, Campiglia Marittima. We stroll round the small mainly residential town. The main square is simple and has a few bars and restaurants.

We stop for lunch here and as Autumn is coming I have a wild boar pasta dish and then wild boar stew main course! We drive back to San Vincenzo and relax on the beach in the late summer sun...

Our drive home takes us by way of yet another famous Tuscan landmark, Bolgheri. Bolgheri is a small town that can be reached by a 4.9 km drive from San Guido. This 4.9 km road is lined with 2,540 huge cypress trees and the is dead straight, making it an incredible sight to behold and drive along! The road was immortalized in a famous Italian poem written by local resident, Giossue Carducci and many Italians have bad memories of having to learn it by heart at school...

We drive along it, open mouthed and stop to take some photos, before finally heading home. A very long and enjoyable weekend, with some very nice new discoveries!

When I got home I bought a book of Carducci's poems, but they are only available in Italian. I have searched for an English translation to no avail. However I have found several bad translations and have tinkered with them and come up with this... (My sincerest apologies to the purists)

Here is a link to the poem in full...

http://leestuscanodyssey.blogspot.com/p/b-s-g.html

(Original journal entry 14/9/02)

53. Massa Marittima

With all these diversions we're not going to reach the coast before dark, so we decide to stop and check out Massa Marittima, 8th Century hill-top mining town on the edge of the Maremma region.

The Etruscans and Romans once mined copper, lead, iron and even silver in theses hills and the town was nearly wiped out in the 1600's by the malaria that spread from the Maremma marshlands.

We stop for a late picnic lunch enjoying as usual our stunning Tuscan views. Today it's towards the 1,000 metre volcanic hills of Montieri.

By now it's early afternoon and we enjoy a pleasant stroll through the old town, which at 380 metres has spectacular views of the valley below and narrow, winding medeival streets that lead to the main square, 'Piazza Garibaldi'.

It's a superb square with its silvery grey Travertine stone shimmering in the hazy afternoon sun. Here we find the very impressive 14th Century Romanesque/Gothic cathedral, San Cerbone. The square also houses the Palazzo Communale, which is actually two buildings that have been joined together, again in travertine stone and the 13th century Palazzo Pretorio which houses the Archaeological museum.

We wander the ancient streets, losing ourselves in this enchanting town, free from the hoards of tourists we witnessed in Cortona.

Next we stumble onto a pretty outside cafe, under a colonnade with a view of the Porta al Salinitro. Afterwards we climb up the tower and walk along the ramparts over the Arco Sanese for some more great views and a couple snogging away in the corner!

(Original journal entry 14/9/02)