Smith holiday week 1

With apologies for the brevity and tardiness of this post, the following is a pictorial round-up of the first week of the Smith family holiday.

Tuesday saw the arrival of the Smiths from the UK: Stuart's Mum, Sheila; brother, Lee; daughter, Kerys; and son, Ben. It had been a long time since we'd seen any of them - we last saw Sheila at Christmas, Lee two years ago, and Kerys and Ben a year ago - so despite a late evening arrival time, we were all eager to sit up and catch up over a glass of wine (adults) while Reggie re-familiarised himself with Sheila, Kerys and Ben and slowly built up the confidence to edge closer to Lee.

With guests still in situ in the apartment downstairs, the sleeping arrangements were, shall we say, cosy, with Lee and Ben sharing a makeshift bedroom in the form of a single mattress and a camping bed in the office while Sheila and Kerys bunked up in the spare room and I shoe-horned my office space into a corner of our bedroom. We just about all fitted in!

Compact and bijou.

A wardrobe office.

Over the next few days I stayed behind at the house to get on with my work while the others went on various excursions, so the following is the briefest of roundups by necessity!

On the first day, the gang started off with a good Reggie walk in the woods, and followed that up with a long (3.5 hours to be precise!) and delicious lunch at our friends Michelle and Mimmo's restaurant. 

A walk in the woods.

Lunch at Trattoria Lina.

Cheers.

Still going.

Still going...

After finally finishing lunch, the gang popped into Pescia in search of more food (meat for the barbeque), taking in a drink at Pietrabuona circolo on the way.

The evening drew to a close with board games and a late night barbeque.

The following day, after a later start and lunch at home, the gang all headed off for a visit to the lovely city of Lucca - the last time Lee had visited us we'd tried to take him to Lucca but had been thwarted by road closures for the annual Lucca marathon. This time they had better luck and spent the afternoon walking along the walls and exploring the city's beautiful streets - of course not forgetting to stop off for refreshments along the way.

Thursday evening was the last night of Lee's all-too-brief visit, and he generously offered to take us all out for dinner. We all crammed ourselves into the car (four of us on the back seat that officially only seats three) and rolled down the road to our local restaurant Da Nerone in the village. We spent a lovely evening at Nerone's, filling ourselves with antipasti, pizzas, meat and plenty of wine. We sat in the pretty outdoor dining area of the restaurant and relished the coolness of the evening air.

Lee had to return to the UK on Friday, so Stuart ran him to the airport first thing in the morning, and the rest of the day was filled with chores - work, a supermarket trip and other mundane tasks.

On Saturday (my first time out of the office/house in five days), we decided to take Sheila, Kerys and Ben to one of all of our favourite spots: Montecarlo. While the three of them have been there before, and loved it, we were hoping to show them a different part of the town. The medieval fortress that sits proudly at the entrance to the town is only open to the public on Saturday and Sunday between 4pm and 7pm - which is why we ourselves have only been in it once before, and we'd never taken Sheila and the kids in. We were in luck (on occasion, we have found the fortress closed even during its usual opening hours as it is sometimes hired out for weddings and other events), and after a quick chat with the friendly custodian, Walter, who waived the entrance fee for Stuart and me and charged just €3 a piece for the others, we were through the gates and exploring the impressive historic buildings.

After finishing at the fortress we wandered into the town and promptly found a new bar that had opened a couple of months ago. Well, it would be rude not to give it a try, wouldn't it? So we sat and had a couple of rounds of drinks while watching the world go by and listening to a band setting up right in front of us.

The pubblica assistenza of Uzzano poured out of the church in their high-viz uniforms after some sort of blessing/ceremony.

We finished the day on Saturday at a relaxed pace with dinner on the terrace, sausages cooked over the fire pit.

Sunday was my birthday, and after a late start and a late breakfast, we decided we would try to one of the big old spa buildings in the park in Montecatini – a few of our guests have visited and shown us photos of it, but we’d never managed to find our way in. 

After getting handy directions from Samantha on where to park nearby, we found our way to the park and to the main spa building in the middle. It was lovely – a stunning building and a tranquil oasis with lots of shady spots and fountains. 

In its heyday, Montecatini was quite the destination for Italians coming for spa treatments in its thermal waters. While there are grand old spa buildings dotted around the city, the one we visited was the famous in particular for its waters - of which it offered three different types, from three different sources - and their healing properties for gastro-intestinal ailments. We were quite bemused by the abundance of toilets on site - when we found the building housing the facilities, we were amazed to find row after row of individual cubicles - both in the men's area and in the ladies' area. We'd never seen quite an abundance of conveniences and couldn't quite work out why there was such provision - until Samantha explained to us a few days later, that once the healing waters have been taken, they ahem... do their job fairly quickly, hence one wouldn't want to be queuing to use the facilities...

After a spot of lunch in the cafe at the spa, we left Montecatini and went for a drink in Sandrino’s bar in Sorana - we usually frequent the bar on weekend mornings for a coffee and a pastry either prior to or at the end of our morning Reggie walk. It was nice to have a bit more of a leisurely drink there, without being pulled in all directions by an over-eager or anxious dog, and Stuart and Ben took advantage of the free table football while the rest of us enjoyed a drink at a more relaxed pace.

Finally, we rounded off my birthday and the weekend with an impromptu barbeque - Sarah, David and Donatella joined us and we combined grilled meats with board games late into the night.