As summer recedes and autumn takes hold, the landscape around us once again changes, revealing yet another Tuscany.
Tag Archives: villa
It must be an Italian thing
On the car trip home from Slovenia we were driving south from Bologna towards Florence on the A1 – Italy’s main north/south motorway – when we passed a flashing sign warning of an accident ahead and after another kilometre we gradually slowed and slowed and then stopped.
Both southbound lanes were blocked by cars as far as we could see. Clearly there had been some form of accident ahead and the road was blocked.
When it became clear the delay was more than just a momentary stop all around us car engines were turned off and the drivers and passengers got out of their cars to have a smoke, stretch their legs, have somethnig to eat or drink, or just chat with other motorists about what may have happened ahead.
Now we were not used to this behaviour but quite clearly in Italy this is what you do when there is a delay. No one seemed to be getting anxious or stressed, everyone just smoked, stretched, ate, drank and chatted until the traffic eventually started moving again about 25 minutes later.
This movement was short lived and 300 metres further down the motorway we stopped again. Same drill – the cars emptied out and the impromentu social gathering reconvened. We did our bit to amuse the locals by taking photos of the traffic and having Jean and the girls pose by the car.
After another 15 minutes we were on the move again, this time for good.
-
- Accident ahead – lets get out and have a break
-
- Cars backed up for miles
-
- Jean, the girls and friends take a break on Italy’s main highway
Visitors
Over the last week or so blog posts have been infrequent – so infrequent that there haven’t been any actually. The reason is simply because we’ve had visitors – from New Zealand and the UK. We have been busy – a complete novelty after 3 months of doing, well, nothing.
In addition to Charmaine, Mike and little James we’ve had Danny Malone a mate from KiwiRail arrive on his latest European trip and Gill, Andre and Josh and Jordan jet in from the UK.
In the last few days we’ve been sightseeing in Pisa, Florence, Siena, San Gimignano and Volterra. We’ve eaten out in cafe’s, our local pizza restaurant and a restaurant with a carpark that turns into seating at night. We’ve laid by the pool, we’ve made a dent in the national stock levels of Chianti and Birra and generally had a great time.
A mixed assortment of pictures follow.
-
- That tower
-
- Charmaine, Mike and James at that tower
-
- The Duomo in Firenze
-
- Firenze taxi
-
- Jordan in front of Florentine tapestries
-
- Souvenirs of Firenze
-
- Artist at work in Firenze
-
- Piazza delle Signoria in Firenze
-
- Firenze carriage driver taking a break
-
- Graeme and Daisy on church steps in Castellina in Chianti
-
- Mike and Charmaine at Radda in Chianti
-
- By the pool relaxing
-
- Jean and the girls by the pool
-
- It’s not always the Germans that hog the loungers
-
- Wee James and Mike go swimming
-
- More relaxing by the pool
-
- Andre photographing the kids
-
- Josh on the lilo
So you own a villa that needs major renovation…
But the villa is way below the road and there’s a lot of building materials that needs to be moved down and lots of rubbish that needs to be moved up.
What do you do? No problem, just put in a bit of scaffolding for a hoist up to the road.
I’m not sure that a kiwi health and safety person would be completely happy with the Amalfi Coast approach.
The Beach
Today we went to the beach. We walked down the 239 steps to Arienzo Beach and paid €9 each for a lounger, an umbrella and a spot on the private part of the beach.
After an hour of tanning and swimming we adjourned to the Arienzo Beach Club for a pasta lunch, beer and Gin & Tonic. The beach club is a restaurant and bar built on the beach and consists of poles, canvas, chairs and tables. It’s amazing they can produce good food but based on our choices for lunch, they can. What’s more, anything to do with seafood is fresh – caught that morning, in fact.
After another hour in the 32 degree sun we headed up the steps. – all 239 of them. The walk up takes you past some of the most expensive villas in Positano and at the leisurely pace we were walking we got to see them in detail. I was most impressed by the one with the brand new Ferrari out front and, to allow the car to turn around, a turntable at the end of the drive.
I’m sure the Ferrari driver was equally impressed by the two hot, sweaty, smelly, gasping tourists staring at his car and his turntable.
-
- Arienzo Beach – the private and public parts
-
- Prawn, zucchini and tomato pasta – and a beer at Arienzo Beach
-
- Three umbrellas
-
- Spiaggia Arienzo
Villa Greta
A couple of photographs of Villa Greta taken from across the road.
-
- Jean and Poppie on the terrace
-
- Villa Greta
Breakfast
Those of you who have stayed at Eden Roc Hotel will know Tony and the experience of breakfast. When we were staying in the hotel, we would stumble down to breakast – usually late – and be met by Tony’s smiling greeting across the restaurant and cups of his famous Cappuccino.
I am not a coffee drinker except for Eden Roc and only because of Tony. My record is 3 cups by which time I was bouncing off the walls.
When we booked the villa we were told we would have full use of all the hotel facilities – including the ability to pop down for breakfast. While this has proved to be the case we were a little nervous as we wandered down the road to the hotel the first morning.
We needn’t have worried. When we arrived Tony was nowhere to be seen but within a minute we heard his traditional greeting “good morning sir and lady” across the restaurant and he arrived at our table with two cups of his famous cappuccino.
He then proceeded to ply us with croissants (the last two kept just for us), watermelon (fresh from the Eden Roc garden), toast (toasted both sides – past guests please note) and slices of breakfast pizza/quiche all prepared especially for us.
We don’t normally eat breakfast so working through the mountain of food that arrived required concentration and complete disregard for the effect on our waistlines.
Girls out and about in Positano
Today the girls got their first taste of Positano with a walk from our villa to Eden Roc Hotel and back.
The stop at the hotel was an excellent chance for a drink and to catch up with Carlo who manages the bar and restaurant. As always he had some great tips for places to eat in and around Positano although tomorrow evening we will be enjoying his hospitality with dinner on the terrace overlooking the bay.
On the way back to the villa Jean and the girls posed for the classic Positano photo.
For sale – one superyacht
We snapped this photo of one of the superyachts moored in our front yard last night.
It is called Lady Joy and a quick check on the interweb found that it accommodates 12 people in complete luxury for between $US250k and $US300k a week.
Interestingly it’s also on the market – for $US43 million. Any takers?
A rare sight in Positano
The rarest thing you see in Positano isn’t some exotic bird or animal, it’s an empty carpark. Parking spaces on the side of a cliff are strictly limited, unlike the number of cars, scooters and motor bikes in Positano.
If a trip out is planned, locals make a judgement call about whether it’s worth taking the car and losing their park – because finding another one may mean a long wait or, worse, a long walk. Some cars have been parked in the same spot so long they are collecting dust.
The photo shows an empty park opposite the villa. It stayed empty for about 2 minutes, maximum.
Welcome to Positano
We arrived in Positano on Saturday after a 5 hour drive from Tuscany to the warmest, friendliest greeting from the staff at Eden Roc Hotel. We aren’t staying at the hotel but have rented a villa they own called Villa Greta. The villa is situated just along the main road, 10 minutes easy walk from the hotel.
When we arrived there were fresh flowers on the table, wine and fresh fruit in the fridge and a home made cake on the bench. A lovely touch by the hotel we thought.
Compared to our cottage in Tuscany the villa is huge and everyone is enjoying the additional space and various mod cons – like a dishwasher.
The dogs have recovered from the drive south and have settled in. They already bark at everyone walking past on the street – much to the delight of the locals.
We normally arrive at Positano later in July but the good news is that the weather is great and the temperature is around 30 degrees. The town doesn’t feel packed and the superyachts are just starting to arrive in the bay. The bonus is that we can use the hotel facilities – pool, bar, restaurant, did I mention the pool, etc – so we have the best of both worlds.
-
- Positano from Villa Greta
-
- Villa Greta front terrace and entry steps
-
- Villa Greta lounge and kitchen
-
- Villa Greta lounge and bedroom
-
- Villa Greta lounge looking out – dogs not included
-
- Villa Greta bedroom
-
- The villa is literally hewn from the cliff as the downstairs loo shows
Our photo album
Jean and I have taken hundreds of photographs over the last few months. We’ve put a selection of them into an album on our MobileMe site.
There are some shots we have used in the blog but a lot of new ones. Follow the link and have a look.
Summer in Tuscany
In an earlier post I bemoaned the fact that when we arrived in May, Tuscany was green – bright green – not the usual mix of faded summer colours that, for us, have always defined the area. What a difference 6 weeks makes.
Washday at our Pa
Life in Tuscany isn’t all fine chianti and al dente pasta you know. The washing still needs to be done and Tuesday is as good a day as any other. A load of washing costs €3 for casual guests but is built into our weekly rent. Given the rate at which we go through clothes that’s about $NZ500 which can be spent on fine chianti and al dente pasta.
Washing drying beside our cottage on a sunny summer morning.
Visitors from distant shores
We are starting to plan for the arrival of summer visitors. Today we bought a small freezer which now holds pride of place in the kitchen (and the dining room and part of the lounge) so we can do ice cubes, gelato and actually store meat for more than a day or two. And get beer really cold in a hurry.
The barbecue is being specified at present. We are thinking charcoal as that seems to be the accepted norm. Around here gas seems to be for gattino – look it up. Also a slew of other home comforts are being put in place because it’s the beginning of the visitor season.
In the next month and a half we have visitors galore.
Villa Crognole outside Radda in Chanti.
First up we catch up with Jean’s friend Kate Maclean who worked with Jean at Clemenger. Kate and her partner are working in the UK. Kate’s family are coming over from New Zealand for a holiday which involves a week in a villa in Chianti. It has been arranged through our villa wizard Olga and is the same one we stayed at in 2006. A fantastic place. We are popping up for drinks and dinner in mid June.
Next up is a flying weekend visit by Gill from the UK. We are thinking pool life combined with excellent meals in Siena. And the odd bottle of New Zealand Chardonnay mixed in.
At the start of July the Mowday family packs the car and leaves Tuscany heading for Positano where we have rented an apartment off the lovely family who own and run Eden Roc Hotel. The really good news is we get full hotel privileges (pool, bar tab, meals on the terrace, Tony’s cappuccino for breakfast, etc) but stay off site so the dogs don’t disturb the hotel’s peace and quiet. We are there for two weeks and Jean’s sister Charmaine, brother-in-law Mike and their baby James arrive towards the end of the stay.
Jean, Josh, Andre, Gill and Jordan around the pool in 2010 while the dolphin watches on.
Back to Toscana with Charmaine, Mike and Jimmy for a week and then Gill, Josh and Jordan arrive from London with Andre following after his pilgrimage to the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring. We are still looking for large, slightly disturbing, inflatable animals to go in the pool prior to their arrival.
We are also expecting a mate from work, Danny Malone, to put in an appearance at the end of July on his 2011 European trip to round things out. An excellent month at our place.
We then head south to Rome for a weekend at the end of July with Charmaine, Mike and James before aiming the Peugeot at Nice for a car swap in early August – and a week at the delightful Hotel Welcome in Villefranche sur mer. See an earlier post for rave reviews.
After that we are ready to welcome other kiwi visitors – you know who you are – through August and September as the summer crawls to an end and our thoughts turn to autumn.
Excitingly it looks like our old friend Isabel and Charlie will be visiting in late September/early October as well. I think I can call Isabel an “old” friend as we both have had very significant birthdays this year.
Let the fun commence.
La dolce far niente 