It may surprise some of you that extended, large group settings are not our usual environment. When we bid adieu to our “strolling” group, it was a little bit sad, but also a relief. Ten days of 12 + hours of close quarters with 16 people is a lot to ask of a couple of introverts.
We grabbed a sporty little Opal in Florence.. We chose to “avoid tolls” in Google Maps on our way out of Florence, in order to get a look at things that weren’t Autostrade. Pretty fun little drive. We made our first stop after a couple hours at the hot springs- Terme Petriole– for a nice soak, a bit to eat, and an exhalation. It was a little crowded, but considerably less than anything we had seen so far this month. The water starts in a top pool, very hot, possibly 108 – 110 F. Barb saw something that said 45 C, which is 113 F. We found a spot I would think was about 105 or so. Anyway…enough temperature nerdery. Driving overall is pretty excellent in Italy. I’m glad I’m not on a bicycle, but the people that do brave riding with no shoulder are in much safer hands than in the US. Driving seems to be very precise, with a good level of just basic paying attention-ness. I recently googled why roundabouts were so hard for people to understand. Basically, people don’t want to think or pay attention to other cars and just have that part of their brain turned off. Easy cruise to Castiglione del Pescaia, quick stop for groceries, and then to the agriturismo where we were greeted warmly by Lorenzo.
The Agriturismo Serignano alle Rochette was amazing. The amount of fresh produce available was a little disappointing. The summer heat and the number of little beasties enjoying the produce that did grow made for a very challenging summer for Lorenzo. It was the first time I had heard farmers complaining about porcupines eating their crops. Most people would relish the idea of eating at restaurants in Italy for every meal, but after three weeks, I was ready for a break and was looking forward to the opportunity to eat some simpler food.
After we settled in, we took a walk the short distance to the beach for an outstanding sunset. I made a list of all the seas and oceans I have put my feet in. Looks like the Tyrrhenian Sea was the 10th big old body of water I have soaked my feet.
We ate a simple dinner, and off to bed. It was pretty wonderful not to be completely stuffed and exhausted at the end of the day and no need for any alarms to get up the next morning.
After lots of coffee, breakfast, and what would become our daily routine of yoga, we hit the road bright and early at 11 am with a list of way too many things to check out in the area. Our first stop was the charming medieval hilltop town of Massa Marittima. This write up will not be a great place for history lessons, but if you are crossing off medieval hilltop towns, this one should be on your list. It had it all; walls, cathedrals, Estruscan stuff taken over by Romans, cobblestones, picturesque narrow alleys, and the pièce de résistance was the Fonti della Abbondanza e Albero Della Fecondita. The Fountain of Abbundance and Tree of Fertility. I am not sure what kind of G-rated Sierra Club tour we signed up for, but I can tell you, after three weeks in Italy, I had seen enough Virgin Mary Baby Jesus paintings to last me. The second we take off on our own, we find a 1000 year old Penis Tree Fresco. What else had our tour guide steered us away from. I saw plenty of bare bosoms and bottoms, but did Michaelangelo go through an embarrassing middle school phase where he was just painting genitalia all over walls?
After we wondered around a little bit, we ate the snacks we brought in park, and went to the Museo deli Organi Santa Cecilia which had some very interesting exhibits among which was the ”A story on the threshold of the year one thousand. The jewel and the burial of Montieri.” You’ll have to hit the translate button on your web browser, but it is an incredibly fascinating archeological find.
Sword in the stone
We headed out of town in the late afternoon, and did a quick stop at the Castello Aldobrandesco above Scarlino, which was closed, but still worth checking out the view, on our way to Tirli for dinner at a restaurant that was also closed for a couple of weeks.
We ended up with a pretty ok meal at Trattoria Oasteria La Corte. Still can’t really eat a completely uncut pizza with a knife and fork. Spoiler for later posts that aren’t published yet when I learn that pizza in Italy is served whole, and uncut.
Bedtime comes again, morning coffee, breakfast and yoga proceed at a leisurely pace, and we make it out the door again by 11 am! Today is Estruscan immersion as we spend the afternoon wondering through the Acropolis and corresponding Necropolis of the super old Populonia. Lots of iron smelting, and lots of tombs. Barb was weirdly super excited about it.
Made a quick dinner at the Agriturismo I think.
After this day was finished, we were officially done running around, trying to see all of the sites and spent the day on the beach. Cala Violina. We didn’t hear the sands sing, but it was very nice. The short hike didn’t stop quite a few people joining us at the beach, but it was probably 75% less people that would be on the beach during high season. Water was great, snacks were great. Finished the day with a fancy dinner at Trattoria de Grazia.
Guess what, the next morning was coffee, breakfast, yoga, and we got out the door for a hike at 11!!! Spent the afternoon packing up our crap, and then ate the rest of our food and drank the rest of our wine.
Drove to Milan, got our hotel, actually, the Hotel Motel Luna right by the airport. We were scared about the airplane noise when we got there, but the night time was super quiet. Returned the car, got our Negronis and a couple of panini. Slept like crap since we had to get up at 3 am. Did I mention our flight over the ocean was cancelled? Instead of our splurge of economy comfort seats, we got to sit in the very back next to the restrooms for 11 hours. Barb got mad, stayed mad, was super fun to travel with. I watched my musicals, Kiss of the Spider Woman, five stars.