Ah, the first day with jetlag. And having just recently lost the weight I gained on my visit in November, I am determined that on this trip I will be more conscientious about my health… rising early, taking walks, and watching what I eat! I actually brought my bathroom scale with me. Seriously pathetic, but I have no inherent will power when it comes to Italian food. Absolutely bankrupt on that score.
So at 6:30am, after a very early, very animated conversation with my almost 11-year-old twins back home, I leave the house, turn the corner, and walk out…into the clouds!
Carrara's home in Volpaia lies above the clouds this morning! Only skiing have I experienced this sensation. The streetlamps are still lit, and the village of Radda is the only other thing that rises above. It's chilly, and I'm wearing 2 layers of fleece, but what a sight.
After a wonderful walk and a frothy cappuccino "alla Gina" (NO PASTRIES OR CAKE!), I hurry to Castellina to hit both the laundry ("lavanderia"), and the infamous bank.
Note: Here is my final word on the subject of dry cleaning in the Italian countryside. Don't do it. It will be late. It will shrink. Period. This is a manageable downside to life in the Tuscan countryside, but one you want to know about before you shrink your new Max Mara pants! (no, it was not due to weight gain).
It's then off to Casi di Sotto to solicit bids for some landscape enhancements. Casi di Sotto welcomes me like an old friend and the time since my last visit simply melts away. Well, maybe not "melts", per se. We have yet to turn on the utilities for the spring. But after spending almost two months with my family here last summer, I truly enjoy my homecoming.
Two meetings and a lunch away, my colleague Valeria and I grab lunch and a coffee and return to Volpaia to walk through the house and make notes on things that need to be done this week and throughout April and May. Where Donika, our caretaker and resident expert, has told me the heating system has a blockage due to the "calcare" in the water in Volpaia. I grew up with "hard water". Anyone else? As a kid, this made no sense, and it still cracks me up. But the water in Spokane, Washington has nothing on Chianti. When they say "hard"…they mean hard. This means that water softening (with salt, or "sale"), is a necessity. The calcium deposits are otherwise a nightmare to clean and a hassle to clear out of plumping and heating systems. And this, folks, is why we do a spring cleaning trip!
Since an afternoon espresso made by Luigi at Pizza Pie did not do the trick, I break a personal rule and bale on work at 5pm in favor of a 2-hour nap. Then, having promised my friends at Pizza Pie that I would return for dinner, I head there to work on my month-end reporting. Or try to. Luigi keeps walking by, shutting my laptop and telling me to "manga". No wonder I gain weight.
Ciao for now!
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