We didn't do much worthy of note on Friday, it was a work day in the office for me (punctuated with a lovely phone call from Allison at lunchtime), and Stuart did various chores around the place, including picking up another set of used tyres so that we can get on with completing the steps in the middle of the terraces and so that we can finally make a flight of steps for easy access to the lowest of the veg terraces, rather than having to scramble around the side through the ever-re-growing bramble and bracken.
At the end of the day we took Reggie out for a walk in the evening sunshine alongside the river in Pescia.
Saturday was a busy day.
We started the day with a trek around the supermarket. We went first to Lidl, but on driving around the car park and finding no spaces whatsoever, as well as some utterly crazy Italian parking that had pretty much blocked in the people in the real spaces, we decided we would head to Esselunga and do all our shopping in one hit. The reason for the more-crazy-than-usual parking situation was that a lot of the parking spaces in town were out of action today, as the town was preparing for 'Nottambula', a kind of festival that was due to take place in the evening. More on that later. Anyway, we dragged ourselves and our trolley around a very busy Esselunga (we hadn't managed to get out of the house until mid-morning, so we'd well and truly missed the quiet morning slot) and once we'd finished we headed to the Phillips house to do our two-daily check on the chickens. By the time we'd filled up their food and water containers, collected the eggs and driven back up the road it was nearing 12.30pm, so we ate lunch straight away, in the shade of the garden umbrella.
After lunch, it was well and truly too hot to give Reggie a walk, so that would have to wait until the early evening. Instead, Stuart and I donned our work clothes and headed out to the drive, hedge trimmers (his & hers) in hands.
With the temperature in the the 30sC, we were both drenched in sweat by the time we'd finished, so we each had a quick shower and changed before heading out with Reggie for the walk we'd promised him. We took him up to the cava track, and he had a good run around.
It was getting on for 6.30pm by the time we got back, so after feeding Reggie and the cats, and making sure they were all safely separated from each other, we headed straight back out again. Last year we missed Nottambula as we were otherwise engaged, so despite feeling like we could happily stay at home for a quiet evening, we were determined we would go and see what it was all about this time around.
Nottambula is Pescia's version of a Notte Bianca (literally white night) - a kind of festival in which all the shops, bars and restaurants stay open all night, with lots of special meals laid on, special deals in all the shops, lots of live music, stalls and entertainment.
Knowing that most of the usual parking spots were out of action, we headed straight to Chris and Sue's to park there, and then walked back into the main square. It was still quite early in the evening at this point, and a lot of things were still being set up, but we could tell from the enormous main stage in the square that things would be buzzing later on in the evening.
We decided to call in at Bar Pulter for an aperol spritz to try and get ourselves into the right mood. We'd never seen Bar Pulter so busy - there were 3 or 4 additional staff on, and still they were rushed off their feet. We sat there a while, enjoying watching the world go by at a hectic pace, before paying up and moving on.
We wandered through the streets - which by now were starting to get busy - and headed over the bridge towards the cathedral. It was just as we were approaching another stage outside the cathedral, which was just about to burst into life with a performance from some dancers, that we spotted a figure we recognised: Alex's Dad, Byron, had come down from his apartment to watch the goings on, so we went to say hello and keep him company for a while. Byron has been a jazz singer all his life, so he is no stranger to live performance and the three of us watched the performances on the stage, which varied from dancing to singing acts, while enjoying a glass of wine from the café. It was good to see Byron as we know he is alone for much of the time and we can't help but want to offer him some friendship. He seemed to appreciate the company even though we only stayed for a couple of drinks - we left with the promise that we will see him again soon.
By the time we left, darkness was falling and it had gone 9pm, so we hurried back to the car and back to the house to rescue Reggie and to cook a very late dinner.
After a late night (well, late for us, and certainly later than usual) last night, we were lucky enough to be allowed a lie-in by all of the animals. The cats pestered for their breakfast as usual at 6.30am, but once I'd sprinkled some biscuits into their bowls, they were happy enough to settle back down again, and it wasn't until 8.30am that they started stirring again.
Over breakfast on the patio, we decided to go and walk Reggie as soon as possible as the day was already feeling hot. We also decided to drive further up the valley than we usually do (partly for a change of scene but also as we thought it might be a degree or two cooler up there), and to try a walk that my Mum and Dad had done back in March (or at least part of the walk).
We parked up just outside Lanciole and set off along a forest path, following directions written by Mum and Dad. By and large, the directions were very accurate and we didn't get lost, but we did realise that walking around these parts in March is a very different experience from walking around these parts in June - and we wished we had brought a machete, or at the very least some secateurs!
Not only was the temperature scorching but it was the longest walk we have ever taken Reggie on - we kept stopping to offer him drinks of water and eventually worked out that he would only drink out of the travel bowl if we put it down on the floor for him - if we held it for him he simply wasn't interested (talk about high maintenance!). It was a beautiful walk, and we look forward to coming back again and going a bit further - but next time we will leave out the overgrown section and park on the road that leads to Croce a Veglia!
We didn't get back to the car until 12.30pm (what is it they say about mad dogs and Englishmen in the midday sun?!) so headed straight back home to get Reggie - and ourselves - indoors out of the heat.
After some lunch, we both felt exhausted and overheated and couldn't face doing any outdoor work. In the end we both fell asleep on the sofa for an hour (how old are we?!). After that mini-siesta, we decided to go into town again with the sole purpose of eating ice cream.
We parked up just outside La Barrachina, bought our ice creams and sat on a bench eating ice cream and watching the world go by - ducks swimming up the river, children splashing around, people walking dogs.
And so there you have it - a hot, hot day, but then hot days are a good excuse for an ice cream, so who are we to complain?
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