Buon Compleanno Valentina!

This post is all about our wonderful time in one of the most beautiful places in the world (but not as beautiful as Corsica... sorry Valentina!), Tuscany. People have always spoken highly of this little part of Italy and being a pseudo 'off the beaten track' tourist, I was sure that while I would enjoy it, and it would be a good holiday, it would ultimately prove to be a tourist trap where fat Americans, moaning Frenchies and pompous Brits would finally take their toll and confirm my belief that A list holiday spots are best left to the unadventurous and the hordes of bogstandardesque types (and yes I did just make that word up). I am delighted to announce, however, that I was proved utterly wrong: our stay in Tuscany proved an outstanding and memorable holiday which ranks at the very top of our list of 'must go back to' spots:

When Valentina, Tommaso, Julie and I walked into a bar and we were asked what we wanted to drink, my attention was drawn immediately to this can with a picture of a little man with his head on fire. Turns out I picked wisely and I discovered this delicious and flavoursome drink which can only be compared to Dandelion and Burdock. The barman did look a little surprised by my selection and Tommaso told me that this is a drink that only old men ask for. Well chosen I say.

The next key factors to our great holiday were the regular consumption of delicious cheeses, age cured hams and to die for wines.

The fact that around every corner ice cream stands sell the most delicious and mouthwatering gelati known to man were a bonus, especially when served in portions that can only be described as gargantuan and sold at a price that is akin to being one step away being free. Puts those Thornton's ice cream sellers who do their very best to put as little ice cream in a scoop as possible to shame.

As you can see from this picture, even the indigenous population get excited about their ice cream... greedy, greedy Valentina!

Now I cannot talk about Italian food without the mention of pizza. Quite possibly the best pizza in the world comes from this little restaurant in Florence where there is no menu, no wine list and certainly no pomp or circumstance. You go in, you are told to choose between two types of pizza (margarita or marinara) and two types of drink (fizzy water or red wine) and then the pizza is cooked in a wood fired oven. The base was not as thin as I had expected but it was crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. The cheese was gooey, the anchovies delicious and the wine spine tinglingly rich and fresh tasting.

Florence was a city where every turn opened up hundreds of years of history, beautiful architecture and stunning cafes to soak up the pensive mood of the city.

People who know me, will know that coffee can make me a little prone t0 highly energetic bouts of frantic behaviour. As coffee (especially Afogato which is a shot of espresso and a scoop of vanilla ice cream) was consumed on an hourly basis, Julie capitalised on my energy levels and got her wish: for me to get off my rear end, to stop 'soaking up the atmosphere' and to actually visit the country.

I was initially worried that Florence's reputation as being an art capital of the world would prove boring to me but as most statues and paintings were full of gore, violence and debauchery, this worry soon vanished.

Valentina was kind enough to led us her brand new car to vavavoom (I know, different make) around the rolling countryside and stop off in age old villages at our leisure. Considering neither Julie or I had a driving licence or passed a driving test, that was very, very generous indeed!

Wine. How often we overlook this beautiful drink. Italy taught us that no longer can a bottom shelf, randomly selected £3.99 bottle of wine ever be 'bloody good stuff' and the selection of this drink must be done wisely.

Julie took this to heart and to her absolute dismay, she was the one left to swirl, sniff, taste and swallow countless glasses of delicious wines. I was lucky enough to drive and so not have to put myself through such misery.

I am also pleased to anounce that unlike our trip Down Under, I did not have any close encounters with any individuals that could pass even a fleeting similarity to horrible, filthy, state sponging, washing machine boycotting, soap dodging, oil dripping, nit attracting, scabies infected, shoeless scumbag hippies. Hooray!

Valentina and Tommaso live in the really ugly and horrible town of Siena. As you can see, there is nothing special or interesting about it. In fact, I don't undertand why the Italian government has not bulldozed it all down and built something useful with the space... like a car park or a giant Starbucks for example.


As you can see, there were so many beautiful things to see and romance to be had.

The Italians are famous for their sense of extravagance and their sophistication. This is mirrored by their pigeons. Not content to drink from the water in the fountain, they demanded and sought out the freshest spring water... straight from Lupa's mouth!

This beautiful landscape above was the view from Valentina and Tommaso's kitchen. You may be interested to note that from our own kitchen we can see a decrepit shed with a mouldy asbestos roof. They win!




But the main reason our time in Tuscany was so perfect was thanks to the generosity and warmth of our hosts. Valentina and Tommaso welcomed us to their home and their country and they made us feel so welcome that we are certain to go back. So as a little 'thank you' we are going to ignore their request not to put up any videos. The first video is an introduction to our night's meal and the second one is brief window into the sort of meaningful and intelectual conversations we had together... and yes, they really do speak like that!



Finally, I want to wish my good friend Valentina a very happy birthday. I hope that you have a beautiful day and that you smile from morning to night.