And then it rained!

Ciao!

Wow!  For much of the time that we have been traveling in Italy, there have been thunderstorm warnings when we have checked the weather report most days.  And, with the exception of a few drops last night, and some rain after we’d gone to bed the night before, nothing has happened!  And then – today –  it rained!  Boy! Did it rain!

Heading to Roselle

Historic center of Grosseto

Grosseto Duomo

Loved the sea creatures

Model of ancient Etruscan temple

My favorite artifact for today!

Made it into Roselle; these are Roman baths

Up an ancient Roman road!

I thought the Roman sewer was appropriate

Etruscan remains of village

Lovely mosaics (Roman)

Beautiful cistern; again, Roman

Me under protective (but metal!) cover

Our dinner restaurant's "wine list!"

R's mussels

My bresaola salad

My steak with truffle sauce

R's steak with green pepper sauce!

However, to start with the beginning.  We were up this morning about 6 am and ready to head to breakfast by 8.  Robert is having a rather hard time of it, as there really isn’t a hot breakfast at all – no eggs or bacon or sausage or even good fruit to choose from.  He did mention this morning in passing that sometime today we needed to get to the grocery store so that we could get some fruit to eat.  

We had decided today to head to Vetulonia, Grosseto and Roselle, but not necessarily in that order.  On line, there was a website saying that the Roselle archaeological park opened at 8:30 in the morning, and closed at sundown, whenever that was.  So, being ready to go by 8:20 am off we went to Roselle.  Now first of all, I must mention Italian street sign painters.  We have found over the years that there are very often lots of signage when one is looking for something.  The problem is that one gets sucked in to believing the signs really do lead somewhere.  I cannot count the times that we have attempted to following signage that for whatever reason, suddenly stops appearing, and we are left totally in the lurch.  I did have a Swiss friend once say that when that happens, one should go “right” but I wasn’t really happy with that piece of advice.

So … Roselle Archaeological Park– great signage, and my own personal favorite was the one that not only indicated the direction to the park but indicated that one would reach it in 2 kms!

Ha!  To say it was farther than 2 kms is like saying the Pacific Ocean is within walking distance of Tucson!  Entirely UNTRUE!  At any rate, after driving and driving and driving (just one more little bit before I turn around…), there it was!  Unique!  However, what was really frustrating to read that not only did the place not open at 8:30 am, but it didn’t open until 10:15am!  UGH! Small consolation that there was also a German couple there with us, who had also read the same website…So … what to do?

As it was only 9:30 am and we didn’t want to hang around for 45 minutes, we decided to go to Grossetofirst and find their museum.  And here is where I have to apologize to Grosseto!  I had read on several websites and in several books that Grosseto is a highly industrialized location with not much charm, and that the best thing one could do with Grossetois to leave it!  Well, I’m here to tell you, that ain’t true!  Grosseto was actually quite lovely, with some beautiful houses and a really thick wall around their old city center!  They also provide something that is usually hard to find in historic city centers – parking!  We were able to park the car, and walk through a very nice playground, and through a big gate into the historic part of the city!  We dropped into the Duomo but mass was going on, so weren’t really able to see much.  Something was also happening in the main piazza as well – lots and lots and lots of elementary school children, with what looked like identical hats to identify the various groups, and a gal with a microphone on a small stage screaming at them – or at somebody!  Not sure what that was about, but something big having to do with recycling was definitely going on.

While the city center isn’t that large, we ran out of Archaeological Museo signage well short of the museum.  Robert went into one shop to inquire and came out with a man who told us - in Italian - that he would take us to it .  The only problem was, he took us to the Natural Science Museum and you know what?  That’s an entirely different place from archaeology!  I’m sure his heart was in the right place.

Finally found the museum, and it was excellent.  The ground floor contained the finds from the Roselle excavation, starting from Neolithic times and progressing through Etruscan, Roman and then medieval times, when the city was abandoned.  The second floor contained artifacts from places all over the Marittema, again, chronologically catalogued.

We basically again had the place to ourselves, except for one man who was lecturing several older people in Italian, but they were pretty stationary at the time.  My favorite piece today was a wonderful carving of a woman from Etruscan times.  I think she’s quite lovely!  

When we had finished at the museum and walked outside, it turns out that it had rained – hard – and there was water everywhere – and we hadn’t heard a thing!  Robert did point out that I had excellent timing, as we were nice and dry – as were our umbrellas in the back seat of the car!

Back then to pick up the car and head out of Grossetoand back to Roselle– hoping that by noon they would now be open!  And they were!  The sky looked rather threatening by this time, so we definitely took our umbrellas with us for the walk to the excavation sites. 

Well, to say it started to rain is rather an understatement.  We walked up the long hill towards the residential part of Roselle on the path rather than the stone Roman road – truly, those stones are trouble in dry weather; can’t imagine trying to walk up hill on them in the rain.  For the first 10 minutes or so, the rain was off and on again and we were able to identify Etruscan parts of the excavation.  We made the decision, considering the weather, to skip the Roman and Hellenistic parts of the dig to focus on the Etruscan parts and ended up at the top of a big hill that had been used in Etruscan times as an artisan’s quarter, complete with kilns.  So, at last, we found an Etruscan village, not a necropolis.  Apparently, the Etruscans – even the aristocracy – built their houses using mud brick that only rarely survived to the present.  The aristocratic tombs, however, were of stone and that is what we have been seeing for the past weeks.

That was went the water starting to pour, along with lightning and thunder!  It was quite a show, but as we had taken refuge under a metal and corrugated translucent fiberglass material cover and were sitting on the wooden walking boards, Robert was more than a little uncomfortable. So, when the rain slacked off just a bit, we high tailed it back to the visitor center for protection.  And then it REALLY started to rain!  R took a photograph of the water bouncing on the ground and puddling; it was amazing!  We Tucsonans don’t get all that much chance of big rain, and this one was truly something!  We decided at this point, that once we could safely and successfully make it back to our vehicle, we would head back to the hotel.

So, that’s what we did, with a brief visit to the local COOP (grocery store) so that we could buy fruit for Robert!  (Who is even now happily munching on a basket of cherries, his favorite!)  I had thought that maybe it wouldn’t have rained or be raining in Massa, but that wasn’t true!  In fact, we just made it to the hotel’s parking lot when the heavens opened up yet again.  Wow! Great day!

As we didn’t really have a chance for lunch, we are planning on (hopefully) going into town tonight for a good dinner (although my pizza last night was wonderful!)  So, as I always say,

more later!

m

xxx

Just back from a wonderful dinner!  We walked up and into town about 6:30-ish, and found a restaurant that had bresaola, which I absolutely love.  So, in we went to Eredi Vanni.  Quite a lovely interior, and we had a great table for four in the front room.  Besides the sparkling water, we wanted a bottle of wine, and asked for the wine list. Well, believe it or not, their wine list is their back wall – lots of bottles of wine, and you just look until you see something you like!  So, we did, and got a wonderful Tuscany cabernet sauvignon.  To go with that, I had their bresaola salad with arugula and parmesan.  R  had their sautéed mussels with croutons.  I have to admit that R’s mussels smelled so incredibly good – I can’t remember the last time I smelled something that good; he said they were great!  For mains, we both got filets – mine had a black truffle sauce, and R’s had a green pepper corn sauce.  R  also ordered a serving of roasted potatoes, which we split.  Well … everything was fabulous.  The steaks were perfectly cooked rare, and we both loved them – as well as each other’s, which we tried.  R says he would rather the steaks not be completely covered in sauce as they don’t photograph well, but truly, they were wonderful.  My steak was so large that I couldn’t finish it, but Rcleaned up his plate completely!  Wonderful, wonderful meal!  I hate to admit that after all that, I did go next door to my gelato place, and enjoyed every bite!  Will definitely be back on the diet when we get home, that’s for sure!

More tomorrow!

m

xxx