I love Italy. For hundreds of years, if not centuries, the people of Italy (Italians) have been living here. And without doubt the culinary heart of this amazing country would have to be Tuscany. Some of the world’s finest olive oil, wines, smallgoods and cheeses come from this fertile region abutting the Ligurian Sea.
In addition to food, there’s also the culture of Italy to embrace. This is the land of artists: Michelangelo, Botticelli, Mussolini, not to mention Leonardo da Vinci and my very own ‘old master’ Phillip. Our trip would give him the chance to pursue his art, something that’s had to take a back seat while we ran the restaurant. Phillip’s a terribly gifted painter and there couldn’t be a better place than Tuscany for him to exercise his muse.
GETTING AWAY
Of course, getting away proved more difficult than we first thought. We had to reassure nervous colleagues that we were only a phone call away, tie up various business deals and organise somewhere to stay. Then there was the packing up at home! As our house-minding service was not able to start for several weeks, we decided to leave the rabbits locked in the laundry with plenty of water and lettuce. We took a similar approach with Phillip’s mother.
Much of our luggage was sent on ahead but we still found ourselves at Gatwick in mid-May with some rather over-sized suitcases. I usually find the staff at the check-in counter pretty understanding but wouldn’t you know it, we got the employee from hell (or, to be more accurate, Hyderabad). I’m not sure if young Sanjeet was deliberately trying to make life difficult, but frankly I found the concept of someone of her background penalising me for taking too much out of my own country just a little hard to take.
Several hours (not to mention gin and tonics!) later, Phillip and I touched down at Fiumicino, collected our hire car – a rather sporty Fiat (when in Rome …!) – and set off, with Phillip behind the wheel and me beside him as navigator.
The road signs were terribly confusing and my last-minute cries of ‘left’ and ‘right’ meant that poor Phillip was changing lanes like a modern-day Fangio, much to the annoyance of other drivers. After about half an hour we realised we were lost. Worse, we were still in the airport car park.