Tuscany 2014 - Day 2

Sunday, 20 July 2014

Today it is hazy, hot and humid, with occasional strong sun rays. First program: pool !

I read the book “Gut with Charm” by Giulia Enders, which is really well written and entertaining and has rightly received very good reviews, halfway through in one go. My favorite sentence in it is: “In the backstage area of life, everyone is unvarnished.”

At lunchtime we take a short break and have a snack and then head back to the pool. But then it starts to get dark and drizzles every now and then, the forecasted weather front is on its way.

So I went home and got ready for the evening meal. The shower was built by little Italians for little Italians, and it was too small even for me. I got sunburn on my belly, and now my stomach is tense even before I eat.

We pay for the accommodation for this week to Signore Valerio, the good spirit of the house, who lives in the garage, and he gives us two small bottles of olio from his own production. We will taste it straight away and then probably order plenty of it.

We drive to the next town (Ponsacco) and after a while find a pizzeria - fantastic pizzas and really cheap. The tiramisu is just too much, so we go home and play dice poker. The children are already ready for a bit of spread and Christian and I have some very important manly conversations about tennis, cars, motorbikes, scooters, work and some age-appropriate medical issues.

We are still standing outside in very pleasant temperatures, but it is still too long until the next ISS sighting at 3:37 a.m. So day 2 ends at 2 a.m.

The third day begins after 3 hours of sleep. Lisa is awake at 5, it is too hot, a mosquito is really annoying and the rooster crows cheerfully and hoarsely. The mosquito has to give up its life, the rooster can live on. The wind picks up, all the hatches are closed and we can go back to sleep.