Down to the Market...

As 'Porchetta' day comes around again, we ceremoniously troop into town to sample the flavoursome old sow that gets carved up once a week in the middle of the market.  Being a little later into Camucia than usual, we were at the back of the queue and down to the last remnants of the left butt cheek and this turned out to be a little drier than previous servings, so lessons need to be learned as an earlier start is required for future visits to get the juicer flesh!

We mull over this thought over a frothy cappuccino on the street and reflect...

The market stalls are full of everything that market stalls generally sell with plenty of local and traditional meats, cheeses and focaccia bread made from in and around this area of Tuscany. Today, we came away with locally grown salad, red juicy tomatoes and sweet seasonal apricots from the one of the many veggie stalls. Massive melons were also on display and looked very tempting but we were drawn away by an awesome smell, and we found that it wasn't possible to walk past the rotisserie without coming away with a spit-roasted chicken and a load of tasty prosciutto too....

Camucia is our local town and sits at the base of Cortona on the main Florence to Rome line. It's only ten minutes drive from La Cesa and seems to have everything a real man needs. To date, between Camucia and Cortona, I'v been hanging out in the 'Consortsio'. (agricultural merchants), the 'Fai Di Te' (DIY shop), 'Trenti's (tractor and chainsaw shop), Claudio's (Delicatessen), 'Snoopy's Ice Cream parlour, a couple of helpful Electrical outlets, a cake shop that sells amazing 'Cannoli's' and a personal favourite of mine, the massive 'Gonads', a local supermarket with a great name and an unfeasibly large fish counter...Phnarr, Phnarr!!

Who would have thought shopping was sooo good....not me!

'Down to the market' was a track off the Kooks 2008 album, Kong...probably went there after they went to the 'Seaside'?

https://youtu.be/PLFrrvknoTY

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The Trees...

A simple task in the afternoon sun ☀️now takes quite a lot of energy, so to supplement myself I have taken to standing under a certain tree and munching away on my new found delicious fruity offerings. It was a delight to discover the Mulberry tree with its tasty dangling berries so much so that I am now in competition with the birds as to who can eat the most- they are truly tasty!

Energy 179.912 kJ (43.000 kcal), 43 calories, Vitamin C and a daily intake of anthocyanin all rolled into one tree!

The garden's grounds have an amazing array of various trees from all over the world, many fruit bearing and interesting so I might have to feature a different one as I find them along the way. It's nice actually having the time to appreciate them.

They are all desperate for a drink and the ground is as dry as a bone!

Still, they'r only trees....who needs 'em?

'The Trees' is a song sung by Jarvis Cocker of Pulp and dates back to 2002, this tune a live track from the Eden Project where I am sure they also grow lots of trees....but a good track nevertheless!

https://youtu.be/-zh-r1uo_94

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Be Good or be Gone...

Some are wondering how I'm occupying myself here so today I thought I'd maybe give you a snap shot of life at La Cesa, in downtown Tuscany.

Each day is extremely challenging and technically skilful but I am having to use all my transferable skills, built up over the years, to the max.

Today was supposed to be about the pool, but yesterday, the old lady manning the desk at the pool shop where the pumps are being refurbished, said that we need 'Franco', and he isn't around till Thursday (all in broad Italian I might add) so we told her that it just so happens that we DO have to come back into town on Thursday because as you all know - it's Porchetta day, so we now intend  to kill two birds, and a pig, with one stone!

...and that's how it is...!

So, I found a job to do and named it 'Getting rid of dead wood!'....a crucial and satisfying task to remove all the old, useless, malingering, unfit for purpose excrescence lying around the place in order to be able to rejuvenate and allow good, healthy, hard working growth to thrive and prosper for the future...a concept that maybe familiar to some and you may already be all too aware of?

I Digress....

The task - 

Remove dead stuff...

Put dead stuff in truck...

Empty truck on to bonfire pile...(With a view across to Cortona on the hill)

H&S - Risk assess things that bite, sting and prick and apply factor 50 to exposed sensitive areas in direct sunlight.

At the end of the task there is no paperwork to complete, no login passwords required and I have yet to determine what work recoding code to use but until I do, as before, I will just put it down as.....'Cocking about Time'....!

And now it's...Siesta time!

Enjoy this lovely simple song by Irish singer songwriter, Fionn Regan and his 2006 song that was used for Greys Anatomy featuring, probably, other dead stuff.....?

https://youtu.be/k1gOI_Q-NJw

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Happy when it rains?.....

It's only taken a couple of days to see the irony...

Trying to do ANYTHING in the afternoon is near impossible and if you try, you wilt quite quickly and eventually head for some shade. When the wind gets up and there is a chance of cloud you start to wonder positively if there is a bit of rain for you?

Just a drop, to cool you down and give the plants a break....?

...but no, it misses and falls in the next valley!

England and Scotland don't realise how lucky they are with their rain sodden summers...!

Been trying to rescue the pool too...

Almost forgot to mention that the track is by 'The Jesus and Mary Chain', but I guess you knew that...
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Wunderbar....

We hit the autostrada outside Strasbourg after a hearty breakfast and continued to head south towards Karlsruhe on the A5. Now the number plates started to change from F to D as we marched deeper into German soil. The road signs changed too and got a lot longer with comedy names of towns like 'BillWerbenickledunkenschlongen' and Schittenfuggerschaffendorf to keep the kids amused....

Approaching late morning we desperately needed some go juice so it was quite a relief when we finally managed to 'Ausfahrt' into the services before we followed through to  'Munchen Gladbach'....!😜

By lunchtime we were in amongst the pine forests and rolling German hills as the scenery changed and became more mountainous as we entered Austria and past Innsbruck in the afternoon. 

Peering through the insect splattered windscreen we could make out the Alps in the distance.

We crept slowly in the heavy traffic over the famous 'Rory Bremner' pass and into South Tyrol, home of the Triumph Dolomites!

Lovely Swiss cows grazed the upland pastures practicing campanology as they went and we heard the sound of music as milk maids played waltzes on glockenspiels, cuckoos crowed and Mr Grizwald waited in his Schloss-haus for his delivery of the latest 'Falco' cd order from Yodel....

"Broadsword calling Danny boy,

Broadsword calling Danny boy"..........

Onwards and upwards over the Alps and then downwards into northern Italy, Bolzano and down past the grapes 🍇 in Trento valley towards Verona and Lake Garda. With the weather warming up and the day depleting we rattled on to Bologna and only made Florence by the time it went dark. With about 1100km completed in the day we arrived at our journeys end, Cortona at about midnight.

An epic journey and a fine day out in fantastic scenery so today's track has to be 'Wunderbar', an old favourite to re-visit from 1981 by Eddie Tenpole and Tenpole Tudor.

Great Vid and try not to sing along....I dare you!

https://youtu.be/3bx7QFFlV9M

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Laisse tomber les filles...

Leaving Dover with the 'sole' intention of getting the 11.15 ferry we arrived earlier and managed to get on the 10.15 sailing on the 'Jolene' heading for French France. 

Today would be all about the girls as per today's blog title...

Looking back at Vera's white cliffs, we were accompanied most of the way by the seagulls...

 

After Calais it didn't take long for the monster truck to be in top gear and we headed south down the Rue A26 at about 130 Rappels a hectare passing sleepy towns like St. Quentin(de Crisp) until we needed to stop for a 'peage'...

During the journey I concluded that northern France is actually quite boring, as it's just kilometres and kilometres of wheat and barley and beans and no one really lives there, no Maisons with chiens behind them...nothing but unfeasibly large fields of crops!

A few 'Peage's on and we got to the the famous Champagne town of Reims where we were ready for a break; we were ok for 'gonflage' but we needed another tank of 'sans plomb' together with an old ladies 'Oui'. 

Refreshed, we grunted further down the highway with Luxembourg on our left, passing 'Nancy' and further on through the green hills of Verdun (1914-18) past the historical regions of Alsace and Lorraine.

As the day drew to an end after 620km and unable so see out of a windscreen full of splattered insects we pulled off the A4 into downtown Strasbourg, checked into a hotel and enjoyed a dinner of fine french cuisine outside the http://www.renard-prechant.alsace/

Fin

"Laisse tomber les filles" a quintessential french flavour to this old tune, probably one of the oldest I have from 1964 I think but I love the tune. Translates to English as 'Stop messing about with the girls'....hence the girl link.

https://youtu.be/FWRCJhsz5t4

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Jeepster...

Leaving the city of culture, past the ornamental Mecca bingo and the Edwardian Travelodge I couldn't help noticing the gothic architecture of the Arco warehouse....Arthur Negus would be proud! (One for the kids).
Picked up the unassuming Red Cherry 🍒 and headed south.
I know your wondering and yes, it's a 4litre, twin cam, double sprocket, wrangler with added flange washers and leaf springs.....(why anyone would make suspension out of leaves is beyond me but don't let it be said I don't know my 🚗)
It's a noisy, petrol suppin', wind rattlin' brute of a thing but it's my ride...
Overnight in Dover.

A T-Rex classic as I can't be arsed to think of wot else at this time of nite!

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