Today is the first of May and in Italy it’s a bank holiday too, except here it’s called ‘festa del lavoro’ or workers’ holiday. Last year we went to Cinque Terre in Liguria, but this year we’ve been invited to spend the day with one of Annette’s students who works for the Regione Toscana in Florence. He used to be the mayor of his home town, Sassetta, which is on the Tuscan coast and has a farmhouse there, where every first of May he invites friends and family for a day of fun and feasting..
Sassetta is a very small town in the province of Livorno situated near its more famous neighbour Castagnetto Carducci. It's an unassuming town with a population of about 500, set in the beautiful Val di Cornia
The drive is typically 'bank holiday' and we arrive after a 2-hour, traffic-jammed journey in sweltering heat, an hour late! No matter as this is a pretty informal day. Saverio greets us warmly and introduces us to his wife, Pina and all his friends. We are seated outside on a long, makeshift table and everybody is already tucking into 'bacelli' a kind of broad-bean, eaten raw with fresh pecorino cheese, after which Pina brings out a huge pot with pasta in a ragu sauce. 
It's a great occasion with young and old alike, munching away, chatting and generally having a great time. The red wine is flowing and the barbecue fired up for lots of grilled meats. Somebody has brought a football and so some energy is let off between courses. Everyone makes us welcome and by the end of the day we feel part of the family...We stay for the night at the farm in one of Saverio's flats. In the morning we pop into the small town for breakfast and bump into Saverio and join him for a frothy cappuccino. We also see some of the people we met yesterday. Sassetta is a small town and everybody here seems to know each other... This is the kind of Italy you dream about, and yes, it does still exist! A far cry from the bustling, touristy Florence.
(Original journal entry 1/5/2003)
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