This gallery contains 17 photos.
Now that our visitors have departed and life has returned to its usual ambling pace, we can take the opportunity to write some posts about the places we went and things we did through July and August when the kiwi … Continue reading
We haven’t had the chance to get out and about much lately, but yesterday the whole team made the short trip to the village of Pienza about 50kms from our cottage.
We had visited Pienza around 8 years ago and remember it for it’s fantastic Pecorino cheese and great views across the valley. In respect to both of these, nothing had changed.
We were in for an unexpected treat as the annual Pienza “Fiera del Cacio” or “Cheese Fair” was in full swing while we were there.
The highlight of the 10 day festival is later in the week when they have cheese rolling in the square. Effectively lawn bowls on a cobbled square using cheese rounds where the various contrada of Pienza compete for glory.
When we arrived, the main Piazza in Pienza, Piazza Poi II was full of flag wavers and drummers performing. Following that, and slightly less spectacular, was the presentation of a painting of the Palio by a local arist and the branding of the cheeses used for the cheese rolling later in the festival.
The drive to Pienza is through some of the loveliest scenery in Tuscany. Everywhere you look is another photo opportunity. One spot in particular looked familiar. It is a grove of Cypress trees standing in the middle of a paddock which has been photographed a thousand times and makes regular appearances in books about Tuscany.
On the way back with the sun setting it got it’s one thousand and first photographic outing.
Our girl has shown a steady recovery over the last week. She’s gone from not being able to walk without falling over to something close to her usual waddle. She is still wobbly and when she tries to shake herself ends up flat on her stomach with legs splayed.
Her revised heart medicine has also kicked in and, touchwood, she hasn’t had a seizure in over a week. Mind you with Jean and I running around after her every need there hasn’t been a lot of stress on her heart anyway.
One thing that has fully returned is Daisy’s attitude. She’s almost back to her cantakerous old self, and seems ready to take on the world, or more likely, other dogs, children, anyone who dares to come near the cottage, anyone who looks at the cottage, anyone who comes near the car, you get the idea.
The movie started out as some footage to show the team at our Italian vet clinic her improvement over the last week but it got a bit out of hand. We have nothing else much to do, really.
When Mike and Charmaine and wee James were here we visited the small village of Greve in Chanti. Greve is built around a triangular piazza which has the usual assortment of shops and cafes dotted around it.
It also has one shop which we think is special. The sign outside says Norcineria – or butchery – but the experience inside is something else.
Looking out towards the piazza in Greve. Love the sign
Describing Antica Macelleria Falorni as a butchery is like calling St Peters in Rome just a church. Entering the shop, you are hit by complete sensory overload. Everywhere you look there are cured hams, cheeses, salamis, and more cured hams hanging, stacked, packed and displayed. The smell is overwhelming (I’m told as I have no sense of smell) and it strikes you like a hammer the moment you walk through the door.
The shop also sells wines to go with the wide range of cheeses available as well as the ususal Tuscan butchery mix of meats, game, and poultry.
In the usual Italian way, things can be tasted before buying – just to provide even greater sensory overload.
Inside Antica Macelleria Falorni in Greve
The shop stretches through 3 street frontages so as you move away from the front door you move from one small area to another, and in each the ceiling is hung with curing legs of ham giving the whole shop the feeling of a cave. For food-lovers, almost certainly an Aladdins cave.
If you visit Tuscany, you really should stop in Greve and marvel at this most unlikely tourist attraction.
As a keen amateur photographer trying to capture the relaxed Tuscan lifestyle I can become a bit demanding on my available talent – which consists of one long suffering wife and two small white fluffy dogs.
When the demands become too great the dogs simply get up and walk off. Jean isn’t so lucky.
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Summer is soon to turn into Autumn in Tuscany. Already we are starting to see the leaves on the trees turn yellow and orange. All around us paddocks are being plowed for winter. The distinctive round hay bails that, to … Continue reading
The complex has ben really busy over the last few weeks. Guests are coming and going and we have had a great mix of nationalities – Dutch, Italian, the ocassional Brit and, of course, the Germans.
One day recently Jean and I headed to the pool for an afternoon of swimming and relaxing to find that, when we got there, every lounger was either being used or was empty but with a towel drapped over it – clearly the European sign for “reserved”.
It reminded me of a UK TV commercial that aired in the early 1990’s about this very subject. Enjoy.
You can never have enough pool toys
Daisy has taken up a fair bit of our time lately, but prior to that we managed a bit of pool time. It was the only way to keep cool in the 35 to 40 degree heat.
Clearly in Europe everyone turns up at the pool with some form of inflatable toy to amuse themselves. Often there are so many toys in the pool it’s difficult to find a spot to swim.
Not to be outdone Jean splashed out (excuse the pun) on a lilo. All of 5 Euro at the local inflatable pool toy store.
Jean and Nacho Libre
The man who sits by the pool has made a wee movie showing Jean in action.
Please note, the ocassional swat at the water is simply Jean avoiding wasps, bees, bugs, etc, that have made their way into the pool.
Watching the sun go down
The last week has been unseasonably hot.
Temperatures have hovered in the late 30 degrees during the day which is great for pool life but not good for cottage life or for the dogs.
Relief comes in the evening when it becomes bearable to sit outside and enjoy the sunset.
If you are a regular reader of Toscanakiwi you will notice that the look of the blog has changed. Why? Well, it just felt like time for a change. And, more importantly, I figured out how to do it.
The good news is that everything is still where it has always been, however there are a couple of additional things to mention. Firstly I can now include video in the blog. This probably means a series of home movies will crawl onto the site over the next few weeks.
Secondly there is a new section called “Travel Tips”. This is a place for us to leave helpful tips we’ve picked up traveling over the years. It will have new bits added as they come to mind. Also if you have any questions about traveling to Italy simply ask us. We will do our best to answer them.
Anyway, I guess “new but old” sums this change up.
It’s Friday evening and Daisy has had her ECG and there’s more wrong with her heart than right. Having said that, the cardiologist has altered her medicine to best suit her condition so there’s a bit of life in the old dog yet.
Pictures of Daisy's big heart at work
When we arrived back at our vet, Julia had talked to the cardiologist and apparently he agreed that Daisy was a medical miracle.
Her inability to walk without falling over has been diagnosed as Idiopathic Vestibular Syndrome and not anything to do with her heart. It means a loss of balance and co-ordination – a lot like a big night out on the town by the sound of it.
Best Google it for details but it’s something that just needs to work it’s way through her system with some assistance from medication. Some drugs that they usually prescribe for this syndrome would be bad for her heart so they’re off the list. That means there’s no quick fix and she will gradually improve over the next month or so.
Until she recovers she will need to be carried everywhere – and I mean everywhere. For up to a month?
The more observant of you may have noticed that there have been very few posts over the last few days. That’s because we have been busy looking after Daisy. She is not well and it seems her old age is catching up with her.
Last week she had two seizures in the space of 24 hours where she collapsed and did her best impersonation of a dead dog. Both times she recovered, picked herself up and soldiered on in her own unique way but it gave us a huge fright and she was off to the vet in record time.
Daisy has a heart problem and takes medication to manage it. Julia our vet thinks the medication needs to be changed so Daisy has had a thorough check-up, X-rays and now is booked in for an ECG this afternoon at a cardiologist in Florence. (We didn’t know there were dog cardiologists but apparently there are.)
Sick Daisy and friend
To complicate things in the last 24 hours she has started to fall down a lot when walking (or even just standing) which meant another rushed trip to the vet and further discussions in a mix of English and Italian and occasional arm waving.
It seems that the falling down is probably not related to her heart and is something else – most likely a neurological infection that is affecting her balance. The catch 22 is that we can’t treat the infection until we know what state her heart is in as that will affect the medication used to fight the infection. So we are waiting for the ECG to be done this afternoon. It is a long wait.
Daisy of course doesn’t know all this medical stuff and just thinks life is miserable. She has to be carried everywhere as she has given up walking. And her favourite treats and even Jean’s famous roast chicken dinner won’t cheer her up. Right now she is asleep in the bed next to me with her head buried as far under the pillows as possible.
If I were her I would do the same.
Gentle readers, I have just updated our photo album with all the latest shots used on the blog and a bunch more. Click here to see them.
All around us the rhythm of the Tuscan countryside continues.
Fields of crops that were green and growing when we arrived have been harvested and plowed ready, waiting for next season.
The last week or so has seen hot settled weather. Temperatures have been in the low to mid 30s day after day prompting even the hardened locals to comment “troppo caldo” and roll their eyes skyward.
The countryside is dry and baked – under our Tuscan sun.
Having been back from Nice for a few days it was time to catch up on some chores. You know, those things you keep putting off because they are a bit difficult or mean going out of your way.
Well our chores revolved around a trip to Florence. Yes, alright, I can hear a chorus of “you poor hard-done-by things” reverberating around the world.
But, Florence is an hours drive away, and the parking is a bit of a trick, and it’s full of tourists, and it’s always warmer than around our place. Ok, reading this back it’s not really that much of a chore. And it is the birthplace of the Renaissance after all.
Anyway, we headed north on Wednesday with two planned chores and one that crept up on us over the last few days. My darling wife had an ear-ache – probably an ear infection. One of those that makes you miserable, hurts like hell and requires drugs – lots of them.
We decided to seek medical help in Florence because we had the name of an english speaking doctor who has a practice there – and we were going anyway.
On the drive north we called the doctor to find that, like most people in Italy, he was on holiday during August. He left some alternative places to visit, one of which was very close to the Duomo. Even we can find the Duomo in Florence so the plan was set.
We found the medical centre quite easily, signed in and waited for their ear specialist Dr Alonzo Attilio. He spoke very little English and our Italian is still a work in progress so things boded well for medical misadventure.
One thing we have noticed is that the Italian medical system – for people or dogs – seems very efficient. And sure enough our wait was only 5 minutes. We struggled to explain the ear problem to the Dr Alonzo but one look into Jean’s ear and he understood. He then explained, in great detail, what he was going to do to fix it none of which we understood.
Within ten minutes we knew what he had said – vaccum, prod, poke, vaccum, clean, prod, vaccum, syringe, poke, vaccum, a course of antibiotics, cortisone and pain klllers for an ear infection – grazie and arrivederci.
Jean said that if she had known what he was going to do she would have done a runner, so maybe a language barrier isn’t always a bad thing. Dr Alonzo must know his stuff as Jean’s ear is improving by the day.
On a happier note we then went to Tiffanys to collect a necklace for Jean and collected skin care products from the only pharmacy in Florence (or Siena) that stocks that particular brand – or in this case had to order them in especially for Jean.
On the way home we stopped at Piazza Michaelangelo which overlooks Florence and, along with about 1000 other visitors, took the classic photo of Florence.
All in all a successful day.
Toscanakiwi 