PHOTOS: 1 the driveway
2 the front yard
3 the backyard
We are at the house of the Clowns. We drove here from Lucca in the hiariously small Spanish car we have rented. Even after ditching the big suitcase and alot of stuff it turns out we can live without, we can barely fit ourselves and our things in the car. The only thing big about the car is the carseat we rented for 60 euros that takes up 2/3 of the back seat and makes Ezra have an absolute shit fit over lack of presonal space just about every time we get in the car. Getting the carseat latched requires a small miracle due to the Italian design and every time I manage it I can't figure out how for next time.
We have crossed a couple of hurdles - for one, food shopping in an Italian grocery, which is not so hard but you have to weigh your produce and tag it yourself and aslo, it is really hard to buy cookies because the ones that look good are not always so good. We have dicovered malt yogurt which is delicious, brown and looks and tastes a bit like coffee yogurt might. I realize that sounds disgusting but it is really pretty yum.
The other big hurdle - driving in Italy. Josh has done all of it so far, but being his passenger is also a big deal as he seems to be enjoying the thrill of almost dying on every bend.
We arrived in Chianni later than expected but found the town and the house with only a map of Italy, some brilliant navigating (me) and by asking someone to point us to the door of the house of the clowns. Chianni is a town of 1000 and everybody know the Circusbandando people, as they really are pretty famous in the region.
This house is outrageous. The most amazing place I have ever seen, and while I feel like I have been throwing this phrase around a bit, I really mean it this time. The front of the house opens to the village which was built in the 12oos and still looks it completely except for the cars which are few but fast. You walk to everything in two minutes or less - the post, pharmacy, butcher, grocery, bar (Oh the bar! We are headed there in a bit, once the kids fall asleep. Last night after a dinner of bread, salad, and sausage cooked on the open fire, we went with our eccentic host Pasquale at 10pm and first coffee, then limoncello, with 20 or more village elders - seemed like all the town's old men, watching a futbol game on a tiny TV with maybe 6 young people, all face-pierced.
Anyhow, the house. The back of the house opens to the Tuscan countryside. Because Chianni is up on a hill, the house has astounding views. There are several terraces and the inside is warm and cozy, bookshlves and lamps everywhere, one in particular that sits atop a bingo drum and changes colors with a remote control. It is pointed at a beautiful archway built forever ago and uncovered recently. Pasquale is really into setting the mood and right now has soft music from Istanbul (Cafe Anatolia: New Spring) and about 20 tiny lamps lit.
We spent the day in Volterra (of New Moon fame for all the vampire fans.) Very lovely, old, old and Tuscan views indescribable. As a family, we had many coffees, an astonishingly tasty wild blueberry tart, and some awful tea that tasted like it has baking soda in it. Wierd, because the shopowner tasted it an said it was normal. We drove back to Chianni without a map and in the dark which was another feat, but we made it and just in time for our polenta with mice.
Lovingly prepared by Guilia, the polenta is stirred for a long time and made with maize, she told us, but pronounced it "mice" which has us all still chuckling. We had another beautiful dinner and now that Josh is back from putting the kids to sleep, we are off to the bar.
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