I have been in Italy for 18 months. Last year all my scheduled flights back to Australia were postponed then cancelled.
I haven’t even tried to get home this year. The vaccine rollout in Australia is proceeding at snail’s pace. The number of Australians allowed to fly home is all over the place and if I did manage to get one of the very expensive flights I would have to pay to quarantine in a hotel for 2 weeks.
I am staying put until I can quarantine at home. At this rate I am expecting to go home mid next year…there are worse things that could happen.
Summer is marching on, with lovely cool mornings and extremely hot afternoons. I do what I have to do in the morning and retreat to my apartment for the afternoon and venture out again in the cool of the evening. Thank goodness for my sewing machine or I would be bored silly.
I have guests at Casa Debbio until mid September so I am now at Ponte a Serraglio for a while. I had some lovely friends come to stay and we did a few day trips, not too far away…Siena, San Gimignano and Cinque Terre. I can walk fairly well but I still get a bit tired, especially in the heat.
I went recently to delightful Forte dei Marmi, just over an hour away on the coast. I wanted to visit a new shop by 2 Australian sisters…the extremely successful Zimmermann.
The shop has opened in a pretty square off the main street
Zimmermann.
The shop was busy when I arrived and I had to wait until a few people left…covid rules. I asked if I could take some photos to show friends at home who love the brand. The charming assistant told me they have had a wonderful season. I am not surprised, the beautiful clothes would fit right in in Forte dei Marmi.
Some friends and I discovered a new restaurant in Lucca and were impressed. It is called SurReale, and is the brain child of the owners of Villa Reale, once owned by Napoleon’s sister. The menu was created by the chef from Butterfly restaurant, well known and loved for years. His son is the chef for SurReale.
It is just outside the anfiteatro walls.
The decor is modern.
There is an open courtyard at the back.
We chose a table at the front where it was cooler.
Hot bread arrived with truffled butter, a good start.
First courses…anchovies and tiny prawns with a delicious mayonnaise.
Salmon.
Burrata.
Second courses. Lamb, duck and pork.
Delicious dolce. Apple tart tartin and an amazing strawberry concoction.
These are the fun things about being in Italy. It is not always fun and laughter. My Wifi stopped working at Casa Debbio a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t worry too much, it sometimes happens in the mountains. I eventually went to the shop that handles Noitel, previously Cloud Italia.
I told the attendant I had no Wifi in Vergemoli. She replied “No, you won’t, they took the tower away.” Where does that leave me? I asked. “Nowhere” came the reply. The company decided there was too much maintenance on the tower, so they removed it. There was no notice and they kept taking payment for a service they no longer provided…well done Noitel!
I went to nearby Gallicano to sign up for Eolo, a company that specialises in Wifi for remote properties. I waited 10 days for the technician to arrive. After a debacle involved with getting to the house he announced that I can’t have it because their tower is not in the line of sight from our house. He offered no alternative.
I went back to the office and asked for Sky. No, I can’t have that without a landline. Can I have a satellite dish? Yes, that should work. I have now signed up for a dish and will wait for the technician to come. You must actually ask directly for information, none is offered.
Another 10 days waiting by the phone for a connection date, along with waiting for a new couch to be delivered, now a couple of weeks late.
If this doesn’t work I will have to go to Tim and get a landline. I would rather stick pins in my eyes!
Zimmermann…Piazza Tonini 12, Forte dei Marmi.Phone…0584 1862050
SurReale… Via del Anfiteatro 37, Lucca
Phone…0583 1382422