Welcome and Benvenuti to all my Lovely Followers around the World,
I know you will forgive me for starting this blog with an emotional outburst about the state of our roads and bridges. Last week was the great holiday exit to the coast and mountains, so the roads were full of happy Italians heading off for their little bit of paradise, meeting up with family and friends, some never made it……. The loss of so many lovely people with the collapse of the Morandi Bridge is unforgivable. There will be thousands of people counting their blessings, including ourselves, who have driven over the same bridge in the past. We have lived here in Tuscany for fourteen years. The first thing that hit us was the terrible state of the roads. Roadworks and bridge repairs are started and left unfinished, the weeds taking over and years passing before the work is completed; some never finished. We see it every day! Thank you for listening.
Meanwhile, families gather round and support each other, many still on holiday and so help them, they will still enjoy the rest of the time they have on the beach. August is not our most favourite month of the year, but nevertheless, when we sit under our big ash tree and gaze across these Chianti Hills towards San Gimingiano and beyond, where our lovely family lives, we are reminded just how lucky we are.
Other things to celebrate include Our local restaurant, C’era una Volta, which continues to serve up the best Tiramusu in Tuscany,
And, Jam Caffe in Certaldo, which continues to make the best early morning pastries and our lovely local Villagers in Fiano who continue to smile and greet us like we are old friends. Life eeez good, Life eeez now. Fotos J Finnigan
And, some good news for us fashionisti. Autumn fashions are starting to appear in the shops and newspapers. This is my time of year for both the colours and the styles, and as my man and I will be off for a short luxury break on the coast in the near future, its time to check my wardrobe.
I love this outfit in the foto, which I spotted in La Republica. Luisa Spagnoli website is one of my favourite Italian designers. Did I tell you that I have dropped a dress size after I stopped drinking alcohol last January? Living in Tuscany surrounded by vineyards is wonderful, but it can also have its negative effects. No my friends, this does not mean I will never drink a glass of Chianti wine again, but it may be some time before I do! Salute x
And, down in our local town Certaldo, it is time to celebrate that beautiful glossy red onion, with La Sagra della Cipolla, famous for its flavour and uniqueness. I may have mentioned before, but I keep a stock of Certaldo Onion Marmalade in my cupboard; it’s delicious.
So, as you can see, there is a lot to celebrate and be grateful for in beautiful Tuscany.
Have a great week and do drop me a line and/or visit my author site at My site
Salute June x
PS Just sending off my short story & thriller ‘The Man in Black’ for publishing. It will be available to download free, so watch this space!
We have just had heavy overnight rain. “So what?” I hear you say. The UK has virtually had no summer and we are excited about the arrival of rain! Yes, I know, large parts of the World have been deluged with terrible storms and our thoughts are with those people struggling with loss of life and property. But, here in Tuscany, it has been over three months without a drop of the refreshing stuff. Now the countryside smells wonderfully damp and the vines are sighing with relief. The crazy thing is, until today it has been too hot to work outside, now it is too wet! But lets move on…. Foto Storms clouds arriving, J Finnigan.
Last week I mentioned the Certaldo Red Onion and was disturbed to hear a tourist guide beside me telling a group of American tourists all about the onion, whilst standing next to baskets of red onions that were, in my opinion, the Statina variety and not the bright red Vernina as she was indicating. You really do need to know your onions in Certaldo and it’s important to ask the vendor if they are ‘The Certaldo Onion’ and which variety they are. Now I am not trying to be clever here , and I would be very happy to have one of you knowledgeable readers put me right, if you think I am wrong! See Foto. Also, you cooks out there could tell me, which are the best varieties for the various cooking methods. Grazie Mille! Foto J Finnigan.
It is also the season for Fichi (figs to you and me) and at Ristorante C’era Una Volta in Lucardo, they were on the menu last week. Paolo the owner, grows all his own fruit and veg and the freshly picked Fichi were not going to last long. So I had my fill on two separate days in the week! Yummy. Foto J Finnigan.
about food! Back in our local village of Fiano and over coffee, I read a fascinating article by Paolo Pejrone in La Repubblica, about ‘walking’ Olive Trees. Well, you only have to see the pictures to understand why, and amazing to look at they are too. As olive trees get older they can take on the most amazing shapes and characters! Fotos Alejandro Chasklelberg.
Meanwhile, the Regional Election in Sicily is hotting up and it seems that the Rock Star of Politics, Beppe Grillo’s Five Star party, is currently slashing its way through the front-line. I love this magazine cover that depicts his rivals as either blind or struggling to see. But I am glad to see Silvio on the hustings promoting his Forza Italia party, it certainly puts the colour back in. I’ll just go and check when the elections actually take place, so don’t go away, I’ll be back in a minute…. OK, that didn’t take long; the election is on 5th November and the winning party will be found using some kind of complicated ‘proportional representation’ system. Whoever wins, the current President Rosario Crocetta will go, as he has not been candidated by his own party due to lack of popularity! I won’t go any deeper than that! But I’ll keep you posted.
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