Territory that speaks to my soul: Italy, Tuscany
Deciding to go to Italy happened without knowing anything about the land or people. It was one of those dreamy ideas that came out of no where, and once it popped into my mind I was set on it. I knew I wanted something very rural and minimally touristy. I began to search the geography. I searched Airbnb using the map, examining the territory and seeing what kind of homes emerged. This is my now usual style of doing it. Borders in region and country become less significant, forest, ocean and mountains become guiding beacons. Tuscany emerged as the place to go to, and inside of it an area that is not famed or much visited. Once the geography gives me a picture of what I want I zoom into structure.
The way I found the exact spot I wanted to visit was through the home of Luisa, or the home of Amir (her puppy) if you asked my daughter. My eye knows a gem of a home. All the details I consider right come together: wifi, washing machine, bath, comfy duvet and bedding, large garden, simple but elegant decor, a kitchen that is made and was used by good cooks. These things you can notice through images and reviews. The atmosphere which is the ultimate factor, that which turns it from a great find to a gem, that is more abstract. It touches into a knowing that either you have or you don't. I think this is a defining quality of a good nomad: knowing how to find the place where golden experience lies and knowing how to go back there.
Getting to this gem was a bit of a trek. That is often the case with such places. We landed in Pisa, the most direct flight we could find from Istanbul. We overnighted in Livorno, a very poor pick by me. It would have been better to stay in Pisa and buy two hotel rooms - I struggled to get a good deal on a room with two double beds which is what I wanted which led me to staying in Livorno. Then we drove from Livorno to Castel del Piano, a two and half hour drive. The last hour was very curvy and Tuscany is curvy territory, so be prepared for winding drives that create some car sickness if you are prone to that. When we finally found the home - it took some navigating as it's really not easily googable - we immediately knew it was worth it.
Luisa is a strong and immensely generous woman. Over twelve years she created a space, mostly on her own, that is exquisite. The stone house we stayed in was originally a chestnut barn. The outside walls are covered in roses, a wood burning fire place kept us warm, the upstairs bedrooms have wooden floors that let little bums easily sit down and read. A skylight let the moon shine in at night and each window looked into green and flowers. Downstairs the stone floor felt like earth under our feet, very real and solid. Everything was simple and tasteful. My favorite spot was the bath because you could look into the garden and smell the flowers.
What really made the space was outside. Ruya found the cherry tree soon after arriving. She patiently watched the green cherries ripen into deep red ones, over three weeks. As soon as red emerged she started picking and eating them. Being under that cherry tree was heaven for her, she spent hours there. Our garden overlooked rolling hills covered in olive trees, onto a town perched as they do in Italy, on top of a little mountain. Over the days the children and I found our morning walk: down through the garden onto the little dust road, that led to the not used tractor where we would sit for a while and play. Then we would follow the road past the chestnut forest that overlooked our home, to the little grassy patch with flowers and rocks. There we stood and sang songs, picked flowers, swung on branches and played princess stories. After that we walked onto the gravel road back towards the gate of the property. Usually we found red poppies and one day we found a dead snake. Through the gate with the bell, up the stone path back to home. Nap time came quickly after this eventful adventure.
Mostly we just wanted to be where we lived. That I found to be a defining factor in my Italy experience. The places we stayed made us want to stay there. Life is slower paced, work is scheduled into morning and evening time, with the bulk of time being for other things. Rest is very important, as is animated conversation and food. I learned to shop in the morning and play in the afternoon when everyone slept and all was closed. We kept our routine as it works for the children, eating together early at six pm. And we always ate at home because nothing opens for dinner until seven or later. But that was no issue, the food is incredible with minimal preparation. Fresh produce is best bought at the tiny groceries that dot towns. I learned who had the best lettuce and apples, and that the fish came Friday night so we bought and cooked it on the fire on Saturday. Fruits and vegetables are varied, mostly local and incredible to taste. Risotto, polenta and the ubiquitous fresh pasta shops offerings are abundant. The cheese was heavenly. I finally got what mozzarella is actually about. Paired with sweet basil, really good olive oil and intense red tomato, the cheese is exulted to bliss. Olive oil is naturally amazing, but olives are bad. Ricotta became a staple at night, mixed into spinach or just served with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The pecorino cheese is actually a family of cheeses, and slowly I learned to taste my way through them. Parmesan whilst delicious is just a small fragment of Italian cheese. Clearly I could go on, suffice to say the food is fucking incredible and all you have to do is buy it and make it yourself with little intervention.
When we did leave the property we went to the hot springs. About forty minutes from Castel del Piano are the Bagno Vignoni hot springs, which feed into various places. There is a natural set of pools in the forest which was fun but way too crowded. We ended up going back and back again to the man made but still very natural pools at Posta Marcucci. You pay a small fee and enter a little garden of eden with soft lawn, quiet atmosphere and large pools, all served by two waterfalls of intense, hot water. When I stood under the waterfall with the heat pounding my shoulders I felt released. At the end of that kind of day I always wandered what kind of stuff was inside the water because I was exhausted. I had to drink gallons of water and fall asleep with the children.
At the end of three weeks we left. By that time my man and I had cemented a desire to buy a rural place of our own, not later, but now, this year. The house is an anchor physically, a place to rejuvenate and place some special things. And it is a symbol, of our commitment to each other and our family. It's our wedding ring. Being in the Tuscany gem gave space for this to happen. Such is the power of place. Context does much to alter perception and make us see what we did not want to see, or did not know was there.
We drove North for two hours to Bolgheri. The place we arrived at was not a gem. It was nice, in most estimations very lovely. The host was especially kind, filling the house with a bounty of offerings. But the place was geared for the tourist, a vacation outlet apartment overlooking a large garden, that could not catch our imagination after what we had been in. So we did what any good nomad does, we aborted our stay and quickly found another place to go. I was able to alter the dates with the host and we left after three nights. We had planned to meet some friends there hence staying that time. In those three days we did what people usually do in Tuscany: we visited the beach and the wineries. The beach was not great. The wine was sometimes amazing. You can find great wine for under ten euros in Italy, so the winery is more about tasting and atmosphere. I realised my error had been to place an arbitrary limitation on us when I planned the trip. I was trying to find our second place between Pisa and Luisa's house. In fact we should have gone past Pisa and that is exactly what we did.
We drove two and a half hours to Lerici. Here we found ourselves at a house beyond our normal price range. In the past six weeks I have refined my bargaining strategy and it's paying off. I have realised the truism that value is only real in the moment of exchange. Until then it's arbitrary. So we stepped up a notch and got to experience something like Luisa's place with more luxury. Ottavio has worked on his land for about fifteen years. When he was on the property he worked steadily all day. When he left he traveled. He reformed four structures, each a four year project and each a home with its own character. We stayed on the one I ended up liking best - it overlooked a small vineyard, an olive grove, with a forest on the side and a little splash pool above us.
As with Luisa's gem this place too made us want to stay. And we did mostly. Ruya, Aziz and I walked through the little forest, found a mushroom and then visited the very wild hens in their coop. We watched a pregnant hen sit, so very still in her little house, waiting until her moment came. We found one egg and Ruya carried it running through the forest all the way home. We played princess stories in the olive grove and told the story of how wine came to be as we walked back through the vines. In the evening the children filled buckets with water and dug into the mud while I sat with my love and spoke with time in our words.
I left Italy wanting to come back, to explore more. The territory attracts me deeply. The culture is relaxed enough, with an appreciation for beauty and food. We had family time and deeper our sense of family got stronger. As I say to my children, home is where are, and that knowing let's us make home where ever we are. But place is important to, and Italy is a place that rocks my soul.
