94. Roma 7

We arrive at the port in Civitavecchia at 10.30am and are only 50 km from the eternal city... hummm too good to pass up!

We park up near the Vatican and have a whole day, without guests to entertain with the usual sights, today we can check out some things WE want to for a change...

First stop is the Piazza Navona, which we've both never seen before. An immense oval square, originally a stadium, then market and dominated by Bernini's impresive fountain representing Earth's four greatest rivers. The square buzzing with cafes and street artists is also flanked with some colossal buildings and churches. We indulge in a wicked ice cream in a famous gelateria.

We find a cool Neapolitan restaurant for lunch- mozerella in carozza!

In the afternoon we seek out a couple of architectural gems that I've wanted to see for years. The first one being Bramante's Tempietto. For this we make the climb up the Janiculum hill, which in the July heat is no mean feat! We are however rewarded with some great views over the city and some delicious fresh figs which we pick from a tree!


The tiny temple is inside a small convent and for me idealizes the whole concept of Rennaissance art in its simplicity and perfection... Suffice to say I am not disappointed!

Our final stop for the day is the Porta Pia, which is right across the other side of the city. The walk down the Janiculum is rather easier and we pick up the car from outside the walls of the Vatican. We carefully navigate our way to Michelangelo's masterpiece and spend some time oggling it, before our three-hour drive home, exhausted, but happy

93. Sardegna

Fri. Civitavecchia


Yipee! We broke up from school yesterday… no more work for 6 weeks! Staff party is done and we’re packed up and ready for our holiday on the enchanting island of Sardegna. The ferry leaves at 6.30pm from the port at Civitavecchia near Rome. We leave nice and early at 10.30am which turns out to be a good move because a truck spills toxic chemicals on the A-1 motorway and the trip takes a little longer than expected! Still time to have a look around the very uninspiring Civitavecchia and at 5.30pm we roll on to the ferry.

Our cabin is tiny, but everyone is in happy holiday mood. We have dinner on board at 8.00 – just time to see a gorgeous sunset together...

Sat. Costa Rei

It’s a 16-hour crossing! So arrival time in the capital, Cagliari is 10.30am. I somehow manage to wake up at 5.30 and watch the sunrise (Annette is somewhere in snoozeville!)

The drive to our apartment in Costa Rei is only a 70 km drive and check-in isn’t until 6pm, so the plan is to find a nice beach on the way. I've bought a cool book with pictures of all the best beaches on the southern coast and have been told they are somewhat reminiscent of the Carribbean, but seeing them for real is quite another thing!

We drive out of Cagliari and along the coast past some unbelievable beaches and it’s oooh! Followed by aaah! And wow! Cove after cove of sandy beaches, rugged mountains, forests and the most incredible turquoise sea...

First a stop for lunch is in order and we find a cool restaurant called the Blue Spider, with great views overlooking the sea and by 3 o’clock we’re ready for a dip!

We stop at Simius beach near the famous Villasimius. It’s on a promontory with sand on both sides, wow! We buy a huge sun umbrella and those bat and ball thingies and settle down, getting into holiday mode- unfortunately we eventually have to tear ourselves away to go and check in. We drive on to Costa Rei, via a wild goose chase in Muravera. The flat is huge and we can even see the sea from our terrace. Time to unpack, shower and hit our second restaurant, 'Sa Cardiga e su Pisci', in the lively town only a 5-minute drive away. Annette has a seafood pizza and I have a fried fish mix. Afterwards we sit at a bar and watch some traditional dancing and then go for a romantic midnight stroll along the beach, interrupted by some strange man with a stick, a man sleeping on a sunbed and some hippy playing the bongos! Now that wasn’t in the script...

Sun. Cala Sinzias

After a sweltering night, today the plan is to do a bit of local exploring and essential shopping for the week. After lunch on our terrace we decide on beach no.2, Cala Sinzias and very beautiful it is too! A 20-minute drive and we’re relaxing on a long sandy beach, with emerald coloured water to cool down in... In the evening I try out the barbecue and grill up some lamb chops.







Mon. Piscina Rei & Torre Salinas

Today we agree on a double header, beach in the morning... beach in the afternoon! First we check out our local beach, Piscina Rei, a whopping 5-minute drive away! It turns out to be one of our favourite beaches... Between midday and three we have to be off the beach to spare our pale white English skin, so we take a drive to one of the local farms selling fruit and veg. After lunch we try out beach no.4 at Torre Salinas. We try out our new bats and ball and manage a 23 ralley! After our long day at the beach, it’s home, shower, change and restaurant no. 3, 'L’Aragosta' (lobster) and a seafood melangue is the order of the day and very tasty too!

Tue. Nora and Chia

Our plan today is to venture out a bit further. Even though we have perfect beaches where we are... The island is dotted with Roman, Phoenician and Nuraghe ruins, so today we are heading back past Cagliari, (where it’s just too hot to visit) and on to Nora where there is an ancient Roman settlement, oh and then on to the beach at nearby Chia.

We take the inland road to Cagliari and get more than we bargained for... a long windy road through some spectacular mountains, complete with goats nonchalantly wandering across the road. On past Cagliari and we reach Nora, just time for a picnic lunch under some palm trees and a snooze on the rug.

Our visit to the extensive ruins at Nora is taken in excrutiating heat... although it is quite interesting. There is a cool amphitheatre where they stage summer concerts and Greek plays.

On to Chia, where the beaches look even more stunning than at Costa Rei! First stop is at Monte Cogoni and quite impressive it is, the only problem is it's very windy and the sea too rough. We stay for a while and then move on to the beach at Turreada, which is a little calmer and very beautiful. We stay til about 8 o-clock, before the long journey home...







Wed. ‘Is Laccus’

Again we manage to make it out for the morning stint at the beach, nice and close at Piscina Rei. We’re rather shattered from yesterday’s long trip, so after lunch we have a rather long ‘pisolino’ (siesta) ready for our anniversary dinner, although we’re making it a celebratory week.! We open our bottle of Gosset Grande Reserve champagne (very expensive present from Annette’s brother, Phil) and have a couple of glasses to get us in the mood... Our meal is at ‘Is Laccus’. It’s a 10 course set meal affair at an Agriturismo in the mountains. Complete with local dishes, Malreddus (a sausage and tomato pasta) Porcheddu (a spit roasted pig with myrtle and juniper berries) and Sebadas (a ricotta filled pastry) for dessert. We down about 2 litres of the local red wine, Cannonau and finish with the local liquore, Mirto made with myrtle!



Thur. Cala Anniversario and La Quercia

Today is our actual anniversary day- 4 years! And this morning there is a local market opposite our appartment, so we take a leisurely stroll around. I pick up some shorts and two pairs of swimming trunks. In the afternoon we find this tiny secluded cove with no name, so we christen it ‘Cala Anniversario’ In the evening we go back to a restaurant we spotted the other day, La Quercia again in the mountains and we gorge ourselves on some wicked fish dishes, before returning home for more champagne!



Fri. Cruise

It’s our big cruise day on a wonderful 25 metre yacht!

We’re up at 9.30 for our 10.30 departure from Villasimius. As always it’s a beautiful sunny day and our first port of call is Punta Smolenta to an absolutely gorgeous secluded cove and sandy beach, inaccessible by land. We enjoy some snorkelling and I swim to the shore. Lunch is on board and it's Malreddus again washed down with copius amounts of red wine. Next we sail round to the tiny island of Serpenturia. Some go to shore, but we are happy diving and snorkelling off the yacht in the beautifully clear sea. A very splashy return to Villasimius, bringing a wonderful day to an end. We pop into the town at Villasimius for a wander and  granite. It’s our last evening and we’re just too tired to cook! And so we head for yet another restaurant, 'Gianni’s', again out of town and enjoy some more local Sardinian cuisine. Fotunately we aren’t sunburnt from our cruise!

Sun. Departure

Check out time is 10.30am, but our ferry doesn’t leave until 6pm, so one last trip to the beach is a must. This time to the fabulous Cala Pira a tiny cove and another sandy beach! It’s our last go with the bat and ball and we manage a new record 31 ralley! Just time to find a last restaurant for lunch on the way back to Cagliari, a trip to the hypermarket and we’re back on the ferry, a very sad good bye to the very beautiful Sardegna...

90. Summer concert extravaganza

Radiohead
 up Piazzale Michelangelo


It's a weekend concert extravaganza in Tuscany as I get to see 4 concerts in 5 nights! Unfortunately the tickets for Radiohead sold out months ago, but tonight I'm covering someone's class and am working in the centre of Florence. As the concert is in Piazzale Michelangelo, which is outside, I decide to see if maybe I can gate-crash... I drive up, but the road is cordoned off, somehow though I manage to convince the Carabinieri that I need to take this road home! I find somewhere to park. You can hear the music from a mile away. Hundreds of people have gathered outside the walled off seating area. You can just see the stage and hearing Tom Yorke and the boys is not a problem. So I settle myself down with a beer and enjoy 2 hours of free Radiohead! And pretty slammin' it is too!

Craig David
in Lucca

Friday night and we have tickets to see Mr Southampton smoothie himself. A 1 1/2 hour drive to the enchanting Lucca, we arrive at 8.30, grab some take-away pizza and settle ourselves down in Piazza Napoleone. He starts promptly at 9.30, all dressed in white and bangs out all the hits from his two albums, no Sting and only an hour and a quarter... still his performance is very slick and polished and we have a good boogie! Drinks after in a very buzzy bar, 11.30 and the city is heaving with throngs of people enjoying the balmy summer evening and party atmosphere.

Zubhin Mehta
in Siena

One of our work colleagues, Barbara Curtis, who lives in the beautiful Siena has told us that the 'Maestro' himself, Zubhin Mehta is performing a free concert in Piazza del Campo tonight and so an opportunity to see the world's greatest conductor is too good to miss!

After the 45 minute drive we park up and make our way to the Campo through the narrow winding streets. It was only two months ago that we were here enjoying the magical Andrea Bocelli! There are plenty of seats available. Some at the front are reserved, but further back they're free. We find a spot right in the middle and enjoy a wonderful evening in the company of the 'Hungarian hurricane'. He is conducting the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the orchestra based in Florence! This evening they are playing two pieces by Brahms and Prokoviev's Romeo and Juliet... a super evening under the stars and a big full moon!

Alanis Morrisette
 in Lucca

Our final concert (for this week anyway!) is the multi-Grammy winning Canadian superstar, Alanis Morrisette. As a 'Jagged little pil' purchaser, Annette is particularly happy to be going along... For this gig we are back in the lovely Lucca, as the concert is part of the Lucca Summer Festival, an event now firmly engraved in our diary.

We decide to come to early and enjoy some time in Lucca. We arrive at about 2 pm, but struggle to find somewhere open for lunch. Eventually we find a shady outside table in a restaurant  in Piazza San Martino and have a simple risotto and salad. There is still plenty of time for us to chill out before the concert starts. We've heard you can hire bicycles here and cycle on top of the 2 1/2 miles of city walls, sounds a bit dangerous? So that's exactly what we do! Actually the walls are about 50 metres wide, so it's pretty easy to stay on! We start at the Porta San Pietro and cycle anti-clockwise, many other people are doing the same thing and it's car free! We pass by the Palazzo Pfanner (used  for the film 'Portrait of a Lady') and its fabulous gardens and come down and stop for a drink in the very peaceful Piazza Anfiteatro, where we get chatting to a local Lucchese woman. A small costumed parade passes us, complete with trumpeters and flag throwers. We enjoy a lazy nap in a shady park back up on the walls and then pop back to the car for a change of clothing for the evening...

We're back at the same Pizzeria, but today we have time to sit outside and enjoy a whole pizza at a more leisurely pace. 8.30 pm and we wander to Piazza Napoleone to await Ms Morrisette. She comes on 1 1/2 hours late! (A woman's perrogative!) But is well worth the wait... She plays an awesome 2-hour set, including all her big hits. Rock on!

89. Casa Petrarca, Carmignano and Artimino

Casa Petrarca

The overwhelming desire to have our own place has led to a short sharp burst of activity. Today after work we are looking at two properties. The first one is in a town called Pian di Scò near Regello. The town looks a bit run down and the house too is rather neglected, it’s big, but has no garden or view. The second place is more interesting. The Estate agent takes us to Incisa in the val d’Arno and winds his way up a hill to Castello, a tiny hamlet with some great views of the Appenine mountains. The house is an 800 year old buildingopposite ‘Casa Petraca’, the supposed birthplace of the famous Poet. The house is very grand, with 5 metre ceilings with exposed wooden beams and original terracotta floors, a tiny view out of one of the windows and an enclosed garden, across the road! The price is slightly out of our budget, but I don’t think we would have made an offer anyway...

On the way home we stop for a pizza at La Paglietta!



Carmignano

A few days later and we have another appointment to see a flat in the wine growing area of Carmignano,(In Tuscany you can’t escape wine!) to the west of >Florence. We meet the Estate Agent in Poggio a Caiano and drive up to the small, pretty town of Carmignano. The house is too small and only has a errace, which has a spectacular view! The other house we were going to see is off because the owners have gone on holiday for July and August and didn’t want to sell for another year anyway... cue end of our house hunting for now... tbc-


Artimino

Some time on our hands, we drive on to the very picturesque hamlet of Artimino, where we spot yet another Medici villa! And another winery, we pop into the Enoteca and buy a ’98 Carmignano riserva and find a nice bar to relax in for an aperitivo. We get chatting to a local who says there isn’t much chance of buying anywhere here and so the search continues... but we had a pleasant drive out in the countryside and discovered some new places!

88. The Merchant of Prato

The original Merchant of Prato, Marco Datini, was born in 1335 and travelled all over Europe setting up contacts . The result was a flourishing textile industry in Florence’s neighbour, Prato and continues to this day...

Today we are hosting Tiziano, who has his own textile company in Prato and his partner, ‘Welsh’ Gemma, one of Annette’s friends.Saturday is spent shopping in Greve market and a nice drive up to villa San Andrea for another case of their very fine and reasonably priced Chianti Classico riserva wine. They arrive at 1 pm and we enjoy lunch together in our woods, complete with giant hare and butterflies! Afterwards we hit the pool for some swimming and sunbathing and finish off a very pleasant day with a ‘passegiata’ and aperitivo in Greve.

87. La Traviata up Fiesole

La Traviata at Fiesole


June has turned into July and it’s new territory for us as this time last year we were back in England enjoying two weeks of solid rain! No such luck here, barely a drop in months and the thermometer is stuck at around 35°C.

This evening is very special as we are having our first taste of Opera in Italy and it’s Al-Fresco! We’ve seen La Boheme, Tosca and Aida together in England and tonight we have tickets for Verdi’s La Traviata in the 1st Century B.C. theatre in ‘uptown’ Fiesole. It’s only a 45 minute drive from home and we arrive at 8 pm, just enough time for a quick coffee in the pretty square, before our 8.30 pm entrance time. In true English fashion, we have brought a bottle of Spumante (smuggled in) and some strawberries and we settle down for what should be a great evening... The sun is still setting and we are surrounded by Roman and Etruscan ruins and a panoramic view of the surrounding countryside, the stars are easing their way out, the orchestra is sriking up and the players are taking their place... Wasn’t coming to live in Italy a good choice?

The Opera is wonderful. La Traviata is athe tragic story of a Parisian courtesan who is ill. She falls in love and moves to the countryside, then back to Paris where she eventually dies.The famous Aria comes early on in act 1. We polish off the Spumante and even manage to squeeze in a tiramisu ice cream in the interval! A great evening... Bravo! Bravo!