Small Victories in Tuscany
Living in Tuscany means enjoying life, improvising and being patient. From 38-degree heat and a missing water meter to Ryanair, an old tractor and the first steps towards our agriturismo.
8/30/20264 min read
The seller of our house told us from the very beginning: you are in a very special area here. Because of its location between several hills, this part of Tuscany seems to have a climate of its own. At the time, I simply took his word for it, but after the first few weeks I have to admit he was right. Whatever the weather forecast says, there is one thing I now know for sure: it is never completely accurate.
For the past few weeks, it seems to have been 38 degrees almost every day. And if it does rain, which honestly feels like a relief, the sky is often bright blue again shortly afterwards and the temperature starts climbing once more.
Can you cope with that kind of heat? Absolutely. It is a different kind of heat from what we are used to in the Netherlands, and there always seems to be a breeze here. So yes, it is hot, but if you take things at a slower pace, it is perfectly manageable. And if it really does become too much, we can always rely on our faithful Intex swimming pool.
Don’t get me wrong, of course we are happy with this weather. Especially when you see the images coming from northern Italy, where hailstones the size of tennis balls sometimes fall from the sky. With the grapes now almost ready for harvest, I mainly hope we are spared that kind of weather.
A quick update on the water meter. You know, the one we could not find.
That’s right: could not, because we finally found it.
In the end, the water company sent us the GPS coordinates of the manhole where it was located. Seriously, I think the water meter is about a football field’s length away from our property, hidden in a manhole beside the public road.
And it still feels slightly strange that you can stand there beside the road, together with Hanneke, armed with a crowbar, screwdriver and hammer, messing around with a manhole while absolutely nobody seems to wonder what on earth the two of you are doing.
Another victory. (Yes, this is apparently our level of victories in Italy these days 😊.)
At the moment, I am working in a hybrid setup, which meant I had to travel back to the Netherlands for work to attend something in person. It is strange how that feels in your head: you are going to the Netherlands. No matter how familiar everything still is, it is no longer home. You know the roads, the habits, everything feels familiar, and yet somehow it is different.
I was glad that, for this first trip away, I could leave my family behind knowing that my parents-in-law were there with them. That way, we could both experience what it would be like if I was away for a few days.
When I arrived at Pisa Airport, I parked the Kodiaq in one of those typically Italian parking spaces. You know the kind: either the space is simply too small, or the lines on the ground bear absolutely no relation to the way all the other cars are parked.
By the time I had finally found a spot, a message from Ryanair came through: delay.
Hmm. Great start, I thought.
Rather stupidly, and yes, I can admit that myself, I then walked through security completely lost in thought. Stupid, because once you are through, you basically end up in one enormous chicken coop. And when your flight is delayed, there is very little you can do except wait until someone decides you are allowed to move on.
Then I saw her standing there. I looked her over from a distance and her elegant lines brought a smile to my face. Just to be clear, I am talking about the aeroplane.
Until I looked at one of the engines. They were clearly working on it, and suddenly I understood the delay a lot better. And you know what? Sometimes you are actually very happy about a delay. I would much rather they take their time and make sure everything is right before we leave.
Eventually, we arrived safely in the Netherlands. An hour and a half later than planned, but never mind: better an hour and a half late than not arriving at all became the motto.
And hybrid working had another unexpected advantage. While my parents-in-law were staying with us in Italy, I stayed with my father in the Netherlands. It was lovely to be back under Dad’s wing for a little while. Spending some quality time together was certainly no hardship.
Meanwhile, back in Italy, the grapes continue to ripen. Every day I do a quick inspection round of the land. Is the fence still standing? How do the grapes taste? Are the leaves changing colour? And what condition is the soil in?
I do all of that on my old Ford 4600 tractor. A tractor that is older than I am and still manages to surprise me almost every single day.
Sometimes it feels as if that machine is personally testing my patience. Will it start today or not? Are the lights working? Am I in high or low range? The thing is so old, yet incredibly strong, that in some places you simply cannot read anything anymore.
And every time I think, ah, now I finally understand it, something turns out to work slightly differently again.
That is when you realise just how spoiled we have become by modern technology. Going from a Kodiaq that does almost everything for you to a tractor that does just one thing: exactly what you ask it to do. And if you ask it to do the wrong thing, well, it will happily do that too.
Quite an experience, I can tell you. 😄
And meanwhile, very slowly, La Meridiana is beginning to take shape. The chickens are arriving this week, the first shed has been demolished, and this week they are also coming to carry out the site inspection for the installation of a new boiler.
Step by step, we are moving forward in our new adventure: living in Tuscany, working the land and building our future agriturismo.
And who knows, perhaps next year we will be welcoming you as our guest at La Meridiana🌿