The Journey Home

20 November

We had decided to make our return journey to the Highlands into a holiday and the first stage saw us getting a lift to Golfo Aranci, a quiet port near Olbia to catch the ferry to Livorno in Toscany on the Italian mainland. All was calm, despite the arrival of heavy cyclonic rain in parts of the country.

Golfo Aranci - fishing boats

The ferries can be very reasonably priced if you travel without a vehicle, in the low season...... and especially if you qualify as an island resident!

Grand Duke&4 Moors, Livorno

Livorno Station

 21 November: After walking the mile or so to the railway station from the quay, we decided to catch an earlier train than planned to our next stop, Pisa.  This was easy as the trains are quite frequent and not expensive.

Pisa station

Pisa on the river Arno

Piazza del Duomo &Tower

Pisa surprised us, as we did not expect to find such a beautiful, mainly pedestrianised old town centre, which led ... directly to the famous....Tower and Cathedral....though we gave them a miss and hurried back so as to catch our next train, this time to the walled town of Lucca, where we were to stay the night.

Lucca station

Heavy rain on our arrival at the station, situated just outside the town battlements, meant that we could make for the first restaurant in town as soon as we found our way through the wall by way of an underground passage and steps.  We really felt like invaders!

'Undici, Undici' was the intriguing name of the cosy trattoria/osteria beside the cathedral: Battistino went straight for the Tuscan cold meats, while I stuck to salad.

Mixed platter with spinach

We wove our way through the tangled web of tiny cobbled streets, GPS proving tricky to follow without falling off the pavement or bumping into something.  Luggage can definitely be an issue, and although we had thought carefully about what and how to carry it, there is the inevitable relief when you get to your lodgings.

Our B&B owner had chosen an historic theme: our room was King Arthur's (next door were Sir Gawain and Sir Lancelot).  I am yet to discover a link between Lucca and this band of merry knights, but it was cosy and we enjoyed the quirky style.

Re Artur

Wall walk

Piazza Anfiteatro

Facade of San Michele church

Torre Guinigi (note the trees on top)

22-23 November

Superb own brand coffee at Caffe Ninci on the Piazza Napoleone after taking in yet another market - November seems to be the season for markets hereabouts.  Then it's off to catch the train to Prato, changing onto another for Bologna.  As we wait, we chat to Sister Maria Rosa about her travels  and experiences in the places she has been 'posted'.  Countryside is very water-logged, following heavy and prolonged rainfall in recent days and weeks.  We see many nursery plantations for trees as we pass on through Tuscany to Emilia Romagna, where we alight and head a short distance up the main road to our hotel, which overlooks the bus station.  The first delight to greet us as we head out in search of the old town is another market....one totally devoted to CHOCOLATE!!

one of the chocolate market stalls

From drinking chocolate and chocolate beer to Lego bricks and screwdrivers....

We finally arrive at the Piazza Maggiore at dusk and choose a local bar rather than a stroll inside the cathedral.  Impressive clock ...

on Piazza Maggiore

97.2m Torre degli Asinelli

It seems the tower architects persevered more here than in Pisa so that their first attempt was improved on and its neighbour became straighter and taller ....      So we spent some hours strolling around the city, wondering at the amazing displays of fresh produce - especially cold meats, porcini and cheeses.  We began to hunt out 'osterie', realizing that that's where to find excellent meals at a good price....you may need to queue for a while, but it's well worth the wait.  We found the Osteria dell'Orsa where we had a great meal, crammed into the small space in an amazing atmosphere of people just enjoying their food.  Next day, after a couple of breakfast and coffee stops, we ended up in the Osteria Bocca Buona for another good feed.  At night, we took a carry-out from La Prosciutteria, with its freshly sliced ham, cheese and salami, presented in thick crusty bread.  For the record, this is in Via Oberdan!!  We had seen, lost, hunted for and eventually found it again after much seeking...

One of the Salumerie

Dried porcini

Our takeaway 

                                                                                              

Breakfast

24 November Breakfast next day at the station coffee bar before setting off for Lyon, via Torino.  Heavy rain set in, so we had been very fortunate in Bologna, having had dry weather the whole time.  Torino Porta Susa station is used for the hi-speed service and it is out of town, so we went for a walk to a nearby bar, watched the Sunday football and enjoyed a toastie and a pint of beer.  The wait at the station was a bit bleak, despite it being a modern construction....only basic facilities and some of those shut, either on account of the local strike, or because it was a Sunday.  We worried that our train might have been cancelled, as the earlier Paris-bound train had apparently been delayed...and then cancelled and there was little or no information available about services operated by SNCF.

Torino Porta Susa station

View over Lyon station

Finding our reserved seats proved a puzzle on this train as Nr. 8 coach did not appear to be marked as such,  and a smattering of French was required in order to sort the problem out.  French and Italian students accompanied us as far as Lyon.  They had been on an academic exchange to Torino and were full of excitement about their adventures. Lyon was easy - hotel very close by the station, though no food available on a Sunday evening, so we contented ourselves with the remains of yesterday's abundant takeaway supper!
The hotel buffet breakfast provided a good selection, but sadly the quality proved disappointing.  Nevertheless, we hung onto a few slices of their bread and ham, which we eventually turned into toasties on our return to Drumnadrochit....3 days later!!

25 November

Filled baguettes/soup

Bastille monument

Gare du Lyon

 Arriving in Paris on a beautiful autumn day, we had time to stroll out of the Gare de Lyon to find a sandwich bar and take a shot of the Bastille before using our carefully conserved Metro/RER tickets for the journey to Gare du Nord.  The signage at these stations is more confusing - being unfamiliar with the system, so it was helpful to be re-assured by asking other people if we were heading the right way.  LINE D, direction CREIL!!
Eurostar is well-organized and efficient.  Our first port of call, a bar, across from Kings Cross, turned out to be run by Italians....so no chance to become homesick!  We found out it is a lot cheaper to use contactless at London Underground ticket gate, rather than buying a single ticket to Victoria.  Victoria station has excellent, free, toilets.... and the restaurant floor at the Victoria shopping centre provided us with an enjoyable Frankie and Benny's Vegan Burger / BBQ ribs to keep us going on our long night's bus ride to Edinburgh.  It may be called Megabus, but it is only Mega in size, not comfort, we found.
26 November
They got us in to Edinburgh 15 minutes earlier than scheduled, though we had no need of extra time as Chris wasn't expecting to hear from us until after his shower i.e. eight o'clock!  The 3 of us had breakfast together at his local Sainsbury's, left the luggage at the flat, and we two headed out in the rain for a leg stretch in town, visiting charity shops etc, until lunchtime beckoned us into the Shakespeare in Lothian Road.  Time to check in at Cameron Toll, enjoy a well-earned shower and relax, before persuading Chris to join us in the salubrious Travelodge restaurant for dinner.....and, indeed, for breakfast the next morning.

Our Megabus Gold journey to Inverness was brightened up considerably on another grey day by the very witty, helpful and forgiving bus driver, who more than compensated for the fact that the refreshment steward had not turned up for work, meaning no hot drinks available as promised!  Change of chariot in Inverness to a double decker, driven somewhat more recklessly, but which dropped safely at our very own front door in Lewiston.  Home again.

Autumn has arrived

The first of November is a reminder that Autumn  has arrived. This early morning was welcomed by a weak sun rising above the Oliena mountain and wet ground with new grass starting to grow.  This suggests  a  different prospective  for what we are to expect in the last 3 weeks here in Sardinia.

rain was very heavy at times

Temperature has dropped around 10 degrees in the last week.

During the day if the sun is out it is still very pleasant and working outside is more comfortable.

The first rain for months has fallen  and yesterday it was heavy at times. Wet conditions free us from watering plants regularly. Not long ago we were watering every two days, now we will not water them at all or perhaps once every 10 days, except the ones in the green houses.

Planting lentils and chick peas for next summer

Our latest work on the roof seems finally to have made the difference and so far we have not had any leaks. So, in March next year we will be putting up the final touches to complete the job once and for all. This is a big relief and seems like progress.

Our vegetable gardens ( we have two places plus a couple of green houses) are still producing greens and some tomato plants still have fruit on them, but we suspect that with  less day light and less warmth it will be a struggle to get them to mature.  More lettuces and cabbages have been planted and a couple of days ago we also planted a 2 by 30 metre rows of chick peas and lentils.

still producing beans and other greens

With this autumn feeling and dampness we are hoping to collect a few mushrooms from the land over on the river side.

french beans

Halloween here had no visitors as we are pretty isolated, so there was no knocking on doors but only far away barking of shepherd dogs. Our dog Rex  has been quiet in the last couple of weeks as he got an infection on the left back leg but after some medication is now recovering well. Not much disturbance from him during the night

our grapes from the seaside house

First of November here is a festivity day as people celebrate All Saints and pay respect to the people who have died, going to visit their place of rest.

More work was done in our residence in the seaside as more problems had arisen recently (blockage in the Kitchen sink and the sewage system also not functioning due to invasive tree  roots). We started sorting these problems  a couple of weeks back and we are going back there next week to complete the job.

new manhole

Everything else is running as usual and I think work schedules are more settled than our  first visit in this experimental 3 monthly countryside experience.

Olives are ripening and hopefully swelling a bit more with the recent rain

A prolonged summer

We are now in the land of Locoe for 10 days and the summer here does not seem to go away. Temperatures are still around 28/30 degrees and so far we have not experienced any rain. A very different situation from last year's unusually wet conditions.
I can now recall the different effects on different crops.
Last year very wet conditions affected the olive growth to the point we did not get any crop.
This year the extreme warm weather (6 plus weeks of daily  temperature around 40 degrees) has damaged the first cropping of vegetables. All of them except the potatoes.
Luckily the second crop has been productive so we can now enjoy a good variety of vegetables on our door step.

 We certainly enjoy the dry conditions more than the wet. We can do more work early in the morning and late in the afternoon. midday is still a no-no as the heat is too uncomfortable.

We are now watering the plants every two days and fortunately we have plenty of water at our disposal thanks to last year's continuous heavy rain.
Before it does start to rain (better to anticipate it this time!) we have put in some more work on the troublesome roof over our sleeping quarters:

All the almonds have been collected and now are toasting under the sun.
Some low level pruning has commenced on the olive trees which are promising well in terms of quality. There will be not an abundant crop but quality should be on the plus side.
This week-end we are harvesting the grapes (again not much of it on our own land, but good quality) and crushing them to produce  the well deserved wine for next season.

We are still waiting for an inspection on our vineyards in order to extirpate the old plants and replace them with new ones . This is a complex job with different stages to be achieved at different times and has to be coordinated well. If everything falls into place nicely we should have new vines at the beginning of March 2021.

This year we are trying to dry in the old fashioned way the abundance of figs. Last year in September there was nothing left on the trees but this year  we are eating them on a daily basis and my breakfast so far is all fruit: peaches, figs and grapes together with yoghurt.

One new crop that we tried planting last November was lentils.  We know that these grow very successfully in other parts of Italy and as Lesley is fonder of these than of meat, we decided to try for a protein crop!  They were very productive and  there was a bundle of dried plants awaiting our arrival in September.  It took a lot of head scratching and internet searching to discover a simple way of extracting the tiny lentils from their flimsy pods and separating them from the dried plant.....no way as easy as shelling peas!  We also now understand why you are told to 'pick over' lentils to remove stones before preparing a meal........

Seeking shade, we have occasionally been down to the stream at the bottom of our other field.  It has become shady and cool and this year we discovered a number of tiny fish have returned to it.  A good sign.  We have also replenished the wood stock a little from fallen trees at the river side.

Another crop to think about and experiment with....

Gojo berries

Back in Sardinia

Here we are, back in the land of wine, olive oil, fresh vegetables and sunshine.
We arrived on the 7th, crossing the sea from Toulon to Porto Torres. Before the crossing we had been travelling over land  by bus and train as we have now decided to ditch the air travel for ecological reasons. We hope to carry on travelling this way in the future and we will try to take the opportunity to visit places as we go, stopping in and enjoying the localities as we encounter them.

The bus from Drum to Inverness

Inverness station

Lesley checking the beds

getting ready

Last Supper in Inverness station

We left Invernes on the Caledonian sleeper to then take a Eurostar train from London to Paris in the morning. In Paris we changed station to ride with the French TGV all the way to the south of  France arriving in Toulon early evening.

Saint Pancras

Station breakfast

Euston train station

Gare de Lyon

We had chosen a hotel near the station and it was easy to get sort it and go out for dinner in a small restaurant run by a young Moroccan  boy.

Grand Hotel de la Gare

Next day was dedicated to explore Toulon, a nice medium size town with a lovely sea front looking south west on the harbour full of sailing boats of many sizes, including sophisticated 007 style multimillion  yachts.
                                                             
                                                                 

Port of Toulon

Toulon train station

Steak (?), mixed salad and anchovy sauce; Corsican beer

vegetarian burger with goat's cheese and figs

Funicular to see view over Toulon from mountain top

Moored in the harbour were also the commercial and passenger ships, one of which we were going to board later in the evening. Lots of restaurants were lined all along the seafront, offering us our morning croissants and coffee.  We then explored the town, becoming hot and exhausted, in the way enthusiastic tourists do.  Lunch in a restaurant on a tree-shaded square provided touch of  French cuisine and a well-deserved rest.
The crossing from Toulon to Porto Torres was a 10 hour smooth  gentle journey and we slept well in our comfy cabin.

Watching a sister ferry leaving the harbour

Arriving in Sardinia spot on time at 8 am (in spite of a 2-hour departure delay from Toulon) gave us a wait of 3.5 hours before catching the bus to Santa Teresa, 3 km from our house. We sat in a café' at the port enjoying a proper thick chocolate and coffee, cappuccino with brioche for breakfast and listening to the local retired oldies exchanging their Saturday morning gossip, recipes, political opinions.

We then spent a few days at the seaside in Marazzino before arriving here in Oliena. A quick visit to the house in the countryside for some cleaning was necessary before we transfer ourselves over there and start some work. Today (Saturday 14th) we are going to a wedding.
Weather is very nice and the summer was very hot and torrid for very long time. Temperatures are still around 30 and forecast still gives a couple of weeks of hot weather. We will take the opportunity to sort out the leaking roof - once and for all - we hope!  So, this job has priority at the moment.
After that we will start collecting almonds (there are not many this year), then at the end of the month it will be grape harvesting for the production of wine.