Lee's Tuscan Odyssey

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

119. Gemma & Titz

Our visit to Prato to see friends Gemma and Tiziano finally happens! Postponed because of our move, we are only three weeks late...

However we enjoy a very pleasant day at their home in La Badie. They have a huge flat and garden, complete with orange, lemon and Cedro trees. We have lunch and then head off to nearby Galcetti, which is a conservation park for injured animals. The day is sunny and bright and we see lots of animals, including peacocks, deer and some very noisy wild boar!

We're back at their house for tea and biscuits, bringing the happy day to a conclusion.

118. Winter Warmers

The end of February and beginning of March have seen some of the worst weather (and football) this winter in Italy - cold, damp and miserable. So how to warm things up?

A Valentines meal at home, with chocolate and red wine. Annette finally gets to taste her Brunello, Poggio Banale riserva 1997! We enjoy 2 meals at our local Chinese with work colleagues and a wicked 'sweet' pizza at a snazzy pizzeria called 'Bacco' in Colle val d'Elsa with good friends Francesco and Ilaria.

We catch no less than 5 oscar winning films at the Odeon in piazza Strozzi...

The sun doesn't even come out for the ladies day celebrations on March 8th - but we buy ourselves a new basketball! Roll on spring...

117. Corso Italia

Well what do you know, the weekend we move it snows in Montefiridolfi! Friday night we stay at work colleague Jane's house as we can't get back home.

Saturday and I have a new class starting and we take the coach in at 6.30 am!

Sunday we make a very cautious two-car-journey to our new flat, but we're in! The flat is on the fourth floor in the very trendy Corso Italia near the river Arno. We're two minutes walk from the Cascine park and a fifteen minute walk from work... and just check out our new neighbour... resident conductor at Teatro Comunale, Zubin Mehta!

115. Rignana

Just one week to go for our move into the city... and so the perfect excuse for a celebration meal. We've heard about this restaurant near Badia a Passignano and so book a table.

The drive is quite an adventure as it's in the middle of nowhere! Down what seems like an endless dirt track, we eventually find an old tumbled down hamlet with half a dozen farmhouses. The restaurant is very cosy and the food wonderful. Tagliatelle with truffle sauce, veal chop and guinea fowl and some very interesting strawberry grappa to finish... now how do we get back home?

(Original journal entry 24/1/04)

114. Tijuana

Our good friends Francesco and Ilaria are back from their travels. While we were in grey old England, they were jetting off round the world, literally! Their destination was Hawai, to visit Francesco's sister, but they missed a connection in Munich. So it meant they had to travel via Rome-Munich-Tokyo-Hawai and back via LA - so literally round the world!

This evening we are meeting up for a meal at a very trendy Mexican restaurant, Tijuana, in Via Ghibelline. So jalapenos, fajitas, burritos and tequila! We have a great time, the restaurant is buzzy and food a nice change from the usual Italian fare.

Afterwards we go back to their flat and catch up on news. Francesco has brought us some more wines from Puglia... what a guy!

Unfortunately they are moving to Australia and even have their moving date, March 15th. So we only have them for a few more months, so a bittesweet evening.

http://www.tijuanaristorante.it/

(Original journal enrty 17/1/04)

113. Fiorentina vs Cagliari

Somewhat of a football weekend starts here as Cagliari are paying their visit to Florence's Artemio Franchi stadium. I'm going to witness my first competitive football match in Florence (the match I saw last year was only a friendly) Fiorentian now have their old name back and have been reinstated in serie B (the second division). This season they're doing ok, about mid-table and I've chosen to come and see ny old 'Chelsea' favourite, Gianfranco Zola. He has gone back to finish his career in his home town of Sardegna.

I ease my way into the 'curva ferrovia', the station end of the stadium along with all the 'ultra', the crazy hometown fans and enjoy a very entertaining match. The customary purple and red flares begin the game and the stadium looks pretty full.

Zola is somewhat frustrated all evening, only a few touches of the old magic that graced Stamford bridge for 7 seasons. The Fiorentina defense is playing him really tightly. Fiorentina's 'bomba' centre forward, Rigano scores a wonderful overhead goal early on, which gets the crowd singing. They unfurl a huge banner that says something like 'We welcome you in your own dialect - ba ba ba!' refering to the large sheep population of Sardinia! The first half finishes 1-0 to the Viola, with midfielder Enrico Fanti impressing.

In the second half Rigano scores from the penalty spot to make it 2-0. Cagliari then score a goal to make it 2-1 and have another disallowed as Fiorentina hang on for a 2-1 win.

Forza Viola!

(Original journal entry 16/1/04)

112. Montegufoni, Cerbaia and Montespertoli

January seems to be going quite well and the weather has been kind to us. While the rest of Italy appears to be under snow, so far we've escaped it! The temperature has kept above freezing and even reached double figures. A little rain and plenty of sun and blue skies... We are really looking forward to moving into our new flat in the big city and everybody seems to be throwing work at me!

This afternoon it's lovely and sunny, so we take a drive out towards Montespertoli. The road from San Casciano to Cerbaia is breathtaking and we spot this gorgeous castle at Montegufoni. The crenelated tower is like a smaller version of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. We enjoy a pleasant walk around it, there seems to be a restaurant inside, but some unfriendly guy refuses to give us any information... obviously they don't need our custom! We just admire the stunning views and can even see the snow-capped Appuan Alps. A short drive on to Montespertoli, where we have a wander before heading back home to Montefiridolfi.

(Original journal entry 11/1/04)

Isabel's first year Dec. 2010- Dec.2011

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9MyaYNINYU&feature=youtu.be