Well time has certainly seemed to slip by. I can’t believe it is nearing the end of July already. So much has happened here at Patrignone over the last few months to fill you all in on. We have had hot air balloon festivals, weddings and many many guests come and go at the Villa already. Potty training has begun! I have had Aussie friends come to visit me, spent weekends camping on the southern Tuscan beaches with all the holidaying Italians and recently spent 5 days on the Italian Riviera, soaking up the sun and exploring the hinterland behind the hustle and bustle of the coast. Summers Arrival
Summer seemed to arrive early this year and then go and come again with the regularity of a mother swallow tooing and froing from her nest. The change was swift; although it did take some time for the heat of the days to settle. Almost as if summer had realised her rudeness in disrupting springs glory she retreated periodically until it was her time to fully shine and take the limelight. All through June, thunderstorms swarmed menacingly around us, just as they had done last year. One storm brought such large hail stones, some farmers were left with nothing but bare branches on their young vines and with the devastating knowledge that they would have no grapes this year to harvest. The rumble of thunder in the distance became our old friend and it was a constant reminder to be on guard because in a matter of moments we would have to hurray to batten down the hatches to keep the rain from pouring in yet again. But now as we head into the hottest month of the year, and with summer shining in all her glory we are blessed with endless beautiful, hot sunny days.
Patrignone gets Wired!
One of the most exciting developments to have happened at the Villa over the winter was the installation of a better internet connection. We have finally been brought into the 21st century and I am yet again able to connect my laptop and bring it to life with news of the outside world which we seem so easily able to avoid here. Although the wireless connection only reaches as far as the courtyard and the commercial kitchen I am able to finally use skype and send emails far more easily than before, allowing myself to feel less isolated and capable of staying in touch with the rest of the world. It’s hard to imagine how we ever survived without the internet. For a traveller like myself, whom decided to venture to the other side of the world only a mere 20 odd years ago, staying in touch with friends and family and being able to connect to their lives in their homelands would have been impossible. Which is why I am ever so grateful for its existence here now while I allow myself to be as far away from friends and family as it is possible.
Hot Air Balloon Festival
In May we were lucky enough to have Simon’s ex-business partner bring a group of friends and his magnificent hot air balloon to the Villa for our very own mini hot air balloon festival to join the larger festival which was happening around Tuscany during that week. Each morning at the crack of dawn he flew his hot air balloon from various destinations around Tuscany. All the guests staying at the Villa were offered flights, if they could brave the early morning call on their relaxing holidays. My flight was offered to me the morning we were due to take off from our very own fields here at Patrignone. At the crack of dawn we took the balloon to one of our top fields were we took flight and were able to view our Villa and surrounding olive fields from above. What an experience to float over our land while the sun was rising. To see it all in its magnificence. As I floated over the patchwork landscape of the Tuscan countryside it was hard to grasp how I had culminated a life in which I found myself travelling through the air, in one of the oldest methods of air travel over a landscape which in itself holds so much history and tradition. And I was being paid to do this!
Carla’s back
Carla (Sam’s Nonna, Simon’s Mum and owner of the Villa and friend to all) has returned to her beloved Tuscan Villa for yet another summer after her whirlwind year of chasing the sun from northern to southern hemispheres. After leaving Tuscany here in September last year she ventured to the UK, to Arizona, USA, then onto Mexico, before finally arriving back to us here in Italy for the northern hemisphere’s summer. What a life!
I love spending time with Carla, we sit up late into the night polishing off bottles of Chianti wine, chatting about everything and anything. She is an incredible woman who has achieved much in her lifetime and I feel I have much to learn from her. It is not hard to hold respect for someone and listen as she tells me her many stories and tales of how she developed the villa and how she views life now, after all her hard work is done. She is certainly a character whom we love having around the Villa and miss dearly when she ventures off for her next adventure.
Some familiar faces
In June I was lucky enough to have some familiar faces come and visit me here at the Villa for a brief few days. Dave and Alicia, friends from Melbourne joined me here at the villa and gave me the first hugs from home in a long time. We hung out at the villa, took day trips to Siena, Florence, Fiesole and San Gimignano. I loved being able to chat away on the terrace with them and being able to share my life here at the villa with them. A little piece of home to come and reconnect with was wonderful. They were horrified by my new Australian/English mixed accent and tried their hardest to beat it out of me. I was sad to see them leave, as having friends and family around me is something I miss dearly.
Fireflies
Fireflies are one of lives most extraordinary masterpieces. They exist for only a very short few weeks in May each year, and are very small beetle like insects which when they flap their wings emit a bright fluorescent light. They are living fairy lights! They turn woods at night into a theatre of flashing moving fairy lights. A venture in the middle of the night into the olive fields which surround the villa brings a light show like no other. In the silence of the night and with only the moon to cut through the darkness of the Tuscan countryside the little fireflies create a magical experience as they flash and flutter amongst the shadows of the olive trees. Just beautiful.
