Slow Life in the Italian Countryside | Weeks in Tuscany
We just spent 10 days in the Tuscany region.
May is the best time to visit this beautiful corner of the world 🌼 The weather is so pleasant, not too hot not cold - a time when wildflowers are in bloom and Tuscan landscape is at its most vibrant.
Follow me and have a glimpse into the slow life in the Italian Countryside.
David Foster Wallace once wrote an essay called "This Is Water."
There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, ‘Morning, boys. How’s the water?’
And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, ‘What the hell is water?’“
Life is water.
Since the beginning, humanity has been obsessed with the question "What is life and the meaning of life?"
Why is it so hard for us to find the answer?
It's the notion that life is about being aware that we exist, and doing things that make us feel truly alive. For some, it could be cooking, taking care of the house, growing veggies. For the other, it could be extreme sports like free solo climbing...
Just live, whether it's a glorious, "boring", simple or different life, as long as we are happy and like it.
What's water for me personally?
I closed my eyes, and relived the moments we've experienced together.
Alexia picking mint leaves, making the tastiest lemon juice in the world, we dancing together in the sunset.
Yes, this is water.
There were sheep and goats at the bottom of the rolling hills.
The sea of grass was so calm, as if the wind stopped blowing.
We played the song "Lascia ch'io pianga".
My love passed me a warm slice of pizza.
In the distance, the sun was shining bright pink.
One of the most brilliant sunsets I've ever seen.
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Italian truffle hunting is a set of knowledge and practices that has been transmitted orally for centuries. We're thankful that Gemma, Maurizio and their dog Batos have taught us everything they know.
There are two steps to truffle hunting: the hunting and the extraction. Batos is a trained dog that's been hunting truffle for 8 years, and with the help of him, we went find areas where the truffle plant grows, from whose roots grows the underground fungus named ‘truffle’.
Truffle hunting involves a wide range of skills & knowledge about climate, environment, vegetation, and most importantly, the dog-truffle hunter relationship. The hunters use a special spade that allows them to extract the truffles without disturbing the soil conditions.
We had great success, found 3-4 big truffles and I will cook pasta with truffle the next day.
The landscapes and people of Tuscany have been an inspiration for writers for centuries.
From Germany, Goethe traveled to Italy from 1786 to 1788 and this journey would greatly influence his literary and philosophical development.
Two years after he returned to Germany, he wrote in a poem, “We are all pilgrims who seek Italy.”
There are so many hills popping up, and they take no notice of one another. There are so many little deep valleys with streams that seem to go their own little way entirely, regardless of river or sea.
I think slow travel is much more sustainable.
When we get to know a destination well, we get to experience the local culture & communities at a deeper level, giving us the opportunity to have more meaningful experiences, and create memories that we will treasure for a long time.
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"There was a raw, feral beauty about this landscape that was totally unselfconscious but no less real...
There was no pomp or vanity here;
this was an innocent, natural beauty, the best kind,
like a woman first thing in the morning,
lit up by the sun streaming through a window,
who doesn't quite believe it when you tell her how beautiful she is.”
Not far from Florence, we discovered the joys of pottery with a ceramic masterclass in a small, charming Tuscan village.
We were able to see the cycle of production of Italian handmade pottery, witness the history behind and all the involved techniques.
Experiencing the day-life of an artisan is amazing. Matteo and his dad Salvatore shared with us their love of clay – and the power of touch.
"Clay acts almost as an antidote to the overwhelm of the digital world."
"It interrupts our compulsive email-checking.
Our mind has a single focus, so the practice feels meditative.
There is no way to speed up clay-drying or firing, ceramics take as much time to make today as they did 2,000 years ago."
In an age of mass-produced goods, handmade items have a higher perceived value and feeling. We create an emotional connection to artisan items, knowing they were the creative result of an artist who touched and shaped the piece.
We were given a chance to work with our own hands as well, and Salvatore will fire our creations and ship them to our home.
Pottery class can be very beneficial for kids! After this trip I'm thinking of buying a pottery wheel to learn the craft with Alexia.
Clay is easy to move and shape. Using clay can leave kids feeling in charge, which can lead to more confidence communicating their thoughts.
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