In the Etruscan village of Vetluna

Vetulonia is at the tip top of a hill with a view far across the Maremma and especially to the sea. Straight down are deep valleys. This just one town in an area of many towns first settled by the Etruscans. Today you can walk on the road, the Decumano, they built and view the ruins of homes they built. It also has a small but really nice Etruscan museum. The brochure said they also have small restaurants and taverns that serve dishes based on ancient Etruscan and Renaissance but not much was open when we arrived on a Sunday afternoon.

Porto Sto Stefano

The Mediterranean is beautiful even in winter. Surrounded by the sea, we walked around Porto Saint Stefano, the place where you can take a ferry to Giglio and other nearby islands, something we plan to do. There are several seafood markets on the waterfront with a huge variety of fish to buy, all from the surrounding sea. We watched men lined up on the waterfront fishing for squid with a simple line, no pole. The road around the Penninsula is windy, narrow and treacherous. We're leaving that for another day as well.

The 3,000 year old olive tree

We headed to Magliano in Toscana, a hilltop, walled Medieval town to see the 3,000 year-old olive tree. On our way, we encountered these hunters who were happy to pose for us with their guns. Every morning, very early, we hear their guns shooting Cinghale or Uccelli (wild boar or birds) and there are hunters everywhere in the country. In town, we ended up in an Enoteca tasting wines, olive oil (the proprietor's own made by his own hand!) on bread that had garlic rubbed on it and then salted. We purchased wine, olive oil and a cookie called Brutta Ma Buona (ugly but good) made in nearby Ortobello. Then we head for Talamone, missed it and ended in Porto Saint Stefano on a pennisula that is almost a complete island except for two slices of land with roads in and out. We ate at a restaurant that jetted out over the water, took in the views across the water to see the snow capped Mt. Amiata and the new snow on the hills surrounding it. We were able to see Talamone cross the water and the imposing high hills of the natural park we hope to eventually hike.




We picked olives from this 3,000 year old tree which is also called Ulivo della Strega or witches' olive because it is said to be the site of ritual dances in pagan days and is still haunted. It didn't seem the least haunted to me but we were not there at night under a full moon, so you never know. And though the sign says that it is a 3,000 year old tree planted by the Etruscans, a guide book says its over 1,000 years old. I guess 3,000 years is a bit over 1,000 so it seems an accurate number. In any case, the entire grove has very large, gnarled trees and if I read the sign right, the olives on the trees are there for the taking.

Poggio La Mozza

We are living down a road called Poggio La Mozza. There are only two other country homes on this road and both are about 5-6 kilometers from us. But what we lack in neighbors we more than make up for in sheep. This scene is our daily morning and afternoon scene. We happened to encounter the sheep on the way to "our pasture" (of course, not ours but Louise and Guiliano's). I love the sound of the bells on the sheep as they head to graze.

Our home away from home

I'll add more pictures later of our home away from home on Poggia La Mozza but for now here is our kitchen table -- note Christmas decoration including a single pomegranate from a tree in the yard -- and the downstairs sitting room. Upstairs we have our bedroom, bathroom and living room which includes a fireplace, couches and the desk where I am now sitting writing this blog. The downstairs and upstairs are heated by separate wood-burning stoves that we have to keep fed or freeze. A hot water bottle helps as does two down comforters and blanket heaters for our bed.

For Christmas, a Gregorian Mass in an 11th century church

We were invited by our neighbors down the road, Wanda and Mario, to join them for Christmas mass at the 11th century Abbaye di Sant'Antimo. The church sits in the middle of the famous Brunello di Montalcino wine region. After a Gregorian mass in a very cold and huge medieval church we headed to a nearby restaurant for a wonderful lunch. I finally had the local specialty of the season -- wild boar stew. I am happy to report that it lived up to my expectations. The food in Tuscany is all so good it is hard to stop using superlatives to describe it. We then headed to the beautiful stone town of Montalcino walking around the near deserted streets on a foggy hilltop day. We'll add Montalcino to a list of sunny day excursions. Today is the first day in a week that we haven't had blue skies and sunshine.

Buon compleano é natale

To celebrate Tom's birthday, we headed to the little town of Istia where we were the only patrons on Christmas Eve at the 15 seat trattoria osteria Oca Nera di Michele. We ordered a first and second course, but what happened after was right after The Big Night. First came a delicate "sandwich" of beautifully prepared duck, then a single spinach ravioli with foie gras and truffle, then a risotta with wild boar, followed by a white bean puree with delicate circles of pig fat, followed by what we ordered -- Tom had pork encroute and I, deer. The presentation was spectacular and the food, unbelievable. Finally, the chef came out and talked with us telling us the restaurant would close at the end of the year and reopen next fall in Grosseto. Istia's loss. We toasted to his future restaurant with gratis grappa and a plate of tiny tarts. Also gratis. We felt like principessi for an evening. Check out the photos below.

Random photos of our first week in Tuscany

The area has numerous picturesque hilltop towns like the one below, Montiano.



Our morning routine -- drink our tea outside where the sun warms us and the dogs wait for a piece of bread. We get our drinking water at the communal pump where you see all of your neighbors filling their bottles. Wines of region are displayed. Morellino is the predominant grape grown; it is a variety of Sangiovese. We are surrounded by vineyards, wineries, and olive groves. This is a big agritourism area.





Some olives remain on the trees after the last crush. You can see the house from the olive grove. A neighbor's sheep graze on the property keeping the grass down and giving the appearance of a newly mowed lawn. We are getting used to the sound of the sheep's bells and the shepard's motorscooter taking the sheep to and from the fields.






These are photos taken on the property. As you can see its rural, peaceful, and beautiful.

The best pizza in the world and Paolo

Rachel and Kate at their home on the road to Scansano high in the hills with a view to match. The day we were there workers were in the vineyard pruning vines.

Friends of our hosts, Rachel and Kate, invited us for a birthday celebration for Rachel at a restaurant with "The Best Pizza in the World." But I can only write about it if I do not disclose the name or the town. It was not only the best pizza ever but so great to be invited out on our very first week in Italy with two terrifically interesting and fun women. Especially coming on the heels of Paolo. Paolo is a hunting dog that apparently lost his hunter or his hunter him for he found us walking near the woods on this property and followed us out. Now this is hunting season big time. Everywhere, literally, are hunters in camoflage searching for wild boar, Cinghale, and birds, Uccelli. Hunters in Italy can go on private land, no restrictions. As this is a large property with perfect brush for birds and wild boar. Each day we wake to shots and hear them throughout the day. We won't take the dogs out of the fenced portion of the property because we are fearful that they will be mistaken for a boar. Back to Paolo. We know his name because it was written on a large, yellow plastic collar with a telephone number. We were able to hand him over to some hunters on our road who took him. But at midnight, we woke to dogs barking in our yard. Looking down from our window was Jack (the cheeky Jack Russell who had really endeared himself to us already) out of his kennel and wagging his tail. Tom quickly dressed and went down to put Jack away only to encounter Paolo who had squeezed himself somehow into the front gate and into the kennel, had returned. Tom put the shivering Paolo to bed in the wood shed and the next day we called the vet giving her the number on his now orange collar. Fearful that Paolo was a dead dog walking if he was taken by the dog catcher, who had been called we think, we were relieved when we think his family came to get him soon after. Every day we half expect Paolo to show up on our doorstep.

Beautiful campagna

Ci arrivati a Italia. We are housesitting, an assignment we found as members of a website that matches people who want a housesitter with people who want to housesit. I am now sitting at my host's computer (despite every attempt I cannot access the Internet with my computer). We've been here two days and I can say that the beautiful Italy countryside remains very, very beautiful. We are in an agricultural area (olive groves and vineyards) in the very southernmost part of Tuscany. We are near the Mediterranean and from much of the area can see the water, the island of Elba and a large seaside natural preserve. One side of the farmhouse faces toward the Mediterranean (though we can't see it) while on the other side are rolling hills dotted with olive groves and vineyards. There are many wineries surround this 80-acre piece of peace. Louise and Guiliano have an olive grove here and one in Siena. This year they made olive oil from each, even though they just moved into the house less than a month ago. They've been commuting between their two properties. The olive oil is so good that I have been putting it on everything. Freshly made olive oil is completely different than anything we typically get in the states. It has a peppery temperment, fruity, and delicious. We had two homemade dinners with Louise and Guiliano and two wonderful wines -- one from Sicily and the other from Montelcino -- both very different, both very good. We intend to visit local wineries first then branch out to towns such as Montelcino and Montepulciano. It is cold and clear here. The light in Tuscany is just different from anywhere in the world. We heat by wood burning stove in the kitchen/sitting area downstairs and a wood burning stove in our bedroom area. As I write this blog I am watching the sun set outside and am keeping warm in front of the fireplace listening to songs on my iPod.

This is the area of sheep and Pecorino cheese. At this time of year you can buy fresh Pecorino. Later on we will be buying only aged. Today we purchased 1 1/2 pounds of the fresh just to make sure we have some in our frige.

If Louise and Guiliano read this blog post -- we walked the dogs today to the woods, keeping them safely away from the sheep and I'm happy to say that we lost none of them. In fact, we picked up a lost dog who followed us home and we turned over to two hunters. Also, I'm so happy I brought the rubber boots. Maybe the most practical thing in my suitcase.

Rain rain go away...

It's been raining in Italy but that doesn't stop Italians from a leisurely lunch. This photo was taken in Venice and the Venetians know a few things about walk ways under water. But we hear that its been a soggy couple of weeks from Venice to Rome. So we are packing rubber boots.

Heading to Tuscany

We are heading to Southern Tuscany in December returning in March. We will carry an armful of books, a list of fly fishing shops in Grosetto, introductions to wineries in the hill towns east of where we will be staying, the Italian Touring Club's places to eat and visit, maps, treks with a food/wine theme, and so forth. We will be doing a lot outdoors (Tom keeps talking about mushroom foraging) and because we will be taking care of three dogs (and a couple of cats) we expect to be doing some walking on the nearby beaches and trekking in the hills. Visit this site in a few weeks for more information on our stay in Italy and a list of great resources.