Paradise, Blue Eyes and Art Deals

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There are occasions in life where you find yourself in surreal situations. I think our spa classifies for this category.

We arrived at our hotel and couldn't get through the secure gate without buzzing reception, HMMM. The hotel is stunning with amazing views.

We went for dinner at the hotel and had the most amazing appetizers and good wine, the mains were a bit of a letdown. We spent some time trying out all 4 of the different pools: 3 volcanic thermal pools and one standard temp. The people in the hotel all seem quite wealthy and keep to themselves. There were quite a few older gentlemen with younger (but adult) female companions, as well as a few men with two women.

Because we don’t know the real life stories of anyone here, we have taken to creating stories for them.
There is in fact someone here with a very bored looking bodyguard. The bodyguard stands around and watches him swim, read and suntan. I have made him a Russian billionaire, so rich he is always looking over his shoulder.

Then there is the North American mother with the very precocious 3-year-old. After seeing the Dad's dark-haired and a big bushy beard, they become the Rock Star family. I also decide that any one of the Italian men there could be in the mafia. (bless the movies for stereotyping)

The second night we tried dinner in town at the only restaurant there. Everything went down well but upset our tummies later. 0 for 2 on dinners.

For the record I am leaving out the daytime bits as that’s Kimmy’s blog.

Lunch times are ridiculously difficult around here as very rigidly 12-13:30 are the only times to eat. We did try the Hotel lunch buffet one day, WOW is all I can really say. The buffet was packed with grilled fish, breads, cheeses, meats, pastas, wines, deserts, fresh fruits. Much better than the evening meal. We did overeat on this occasion a little bit.

By far the best meals we found were from the local Pizzeria called “BLUE EYES”, which we ended up going to 3 nights in a row. A nice local place where the waitress politely corrects your pronounciation. Pizzas were amazing and I loved the fact that the balsamic vinegar was in a spray bottle. I must confess, I could not resist the temptation to squirt the Balsamic direct into my mouth whenever the waitress wasn’t looking. (I really am a child sometimes.) The other thing that endeared us to the pizzeria is that the same old men stop by every night for a quick drink on their walk home.

Sometimes food is best at its simplest: Prosciutto, salami selection with bruschetta. If our lives should ever become a pilgrimage for anyone, this simple appetizer would be the meal served at the pinnacle.

In the late hours of the night I happened upon the website of our favourite artist, DOUG HYDE. We discovered him 5 years ago while walking along Bishopsgate (Liverpool Street Station London). There was a gallery with a painting in the window called Beware of the Dog. Back then we passed it by (big mistake). Spent the next 5 years looking for it. While in Chiswick the last 2 years, we have found a local gallery that carries Doug and purchased 2 paintings and a sketch (the big one was our wedding gift to ourselves). While looking at Doug’s new site I saw a random note saying he was selling off some of his personal collection to launch the new site. One of the pieces was our elusive “Beware of the Dog” print. NO ONE WORRY I AM GETTING TO HOW THIS RELATES TO OUR HOLIDAY AT THE SPA IN TUSCANY.

I registered my interest in the print on the Doug website and told Kimmy all about it in the morning. Not willing to wait for the response from the Doug site, I took the decision to call our Art Gallery in Chiswick to see if they could acquire the print for us. I made the phone call in my bathrobe from the pool area overlooking the Tuscan valleys and hills. This one phone call by the volcanic hot spring pool in Tuscany made us feel like colossal SNOBS. “OH HELLO, THIS IS SHANE, I SIMPLY MUST HAVE THAT PRINT!” The thing is, I have a feeling I wasn't the only one to have ever made an art deal in this exact setting given the clientele.

After all this I wonder what stories everyone at the spa made up about us…

P.S. We did get the print!

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