My Winter Tuscan Experience
Typically when travelers discuss Tuscany, there is a lot of talk about the beautiful villas, the art, the museums, churches, and buildings. The scenic drives through picturesque villages. The wine. The food.
Most people visit Tuscany in Summer (though Fall is my personal favorite season in both Italy and France). Nobody visits in Winter. For good reason.
In winter, Tuscan weather is just as cold and dreary as places like England or Ireland.
I’ve been writing from many different places in Europe and from many different points of view over the past ten months. Sometimes from an apartment in the center of a major city with a metro stop outside my door. Sometimes from inside the walls of a small, medieval city. Still other times, I find myself in tiny, remote villages.
This was the case for me in the little village of Vorno, near Lucca, in Tuscany where I recently spent three weeks house and dog-sitting on a Tuscan Villa property.
International Housesitting
International house-sitting/pet-sitting is a new thing for me and so far it’s given me some great (if a bit strange) experiences. It can also have its downsides.
I was in Spain when I committed to taking this particular house-sitting assignment, and after a Skype call and back and forth and some emails I booked my ticket from Madrid to Pisa!
I didn’t even think to look at the weather. I may be an experienced traveler and overly zealous researcher most of the time, but even I make rookie mistakes.
Three weeks of free accommodation in Italy on a Villa property with a cute dog, seemed too good to be true, so I jumped on the opportunity. But here’s the thing….
1) The Weather
My first 10 days at the cottage, it continuously poured rain, day and night (including the occasional torrential wind storm, thunder storm, and power outage) and the weather was freezing.
With nowhere to go (tiny village with only one restaurant and no supermarket), no car, and a very clingy, badly behaved 140 lb pooch to look after, my lovely Tuscan vacation became less exciting, quickly.
Instead of taking taking long leisurely walks with my adorable canine companion, and writing pages and pages, like I had visualized… I found myself drinking too much wine (really bad wine because it was all that was available at the local butcher’s shop/market), watching a lot of movies and cowering under mounds of blankets, wearing every pair of socks I owned while trying to get the dog to stop biting holes in my clothing.
2) The Dog
Let’s just say…. he was not well behaved! I love, love, love, dogs and have taken care of many in my time but this guy was such a spoiled and awfully behaved pooch that any cuteness or love-ability was, tragically, lost unless he was sleeping. His clingy and moody characteristics in addition to his tendency to violently launch himself at and attack (if allowed to get close enough) any male dog (or dogs) that crossed our paths while out walking, made him less of a pleasure and more of an unpleasant, exhausting, and perilous (unpaid) full time job. Lesson learned- you must dig deeper into owners and dogs before committing to such a long house-sit.
3) The Silver Lining
But…… and yes there is always a but… even with all of the dog drama, crap weather, and isolation there was a silver lining. I was, after all, residing at a Villa in the Tuscan hills.
I enjoyed walks around the Villa in the morning and taking photos from every angle before the day’s deluge started. There were also the occasional walks to the one village cafe on a clear day and the nights of drinking wine or weekly trips to the supermarket in Lucca with my neighbor (a young British girl staying alone in one of the great big Villa buildings, doing marketing for the owners) that became the preservers of my sanity.
Rain Rain Go Away………
After my first ten days at the Villa, the weather finally cleared up for a couple of days. I was able to explore the Villa property more fully with my British neighbor, taking tours inside the larger buildings, and poking around the bedrooms and gardens.
Living inside the gates of a 17th century restored Villa, meant that even my morning walks out to collect the trash bins or to take the dog out included stunning scenery. It was easier to appreciate this once I could explore without getting absolutely drenched.
A sunny or clear day, at an empty Tuscan Villa of which you have free reign, is a beautiful thing. Every chance I got (sometimes also during the breaks in the rain on cold cloudy days), I took off for a hike up the mountain behind the Villa, that led up to miles of hiking, forest, and views out over Lucca and the Tuscan hills.
Pulling my very large, very stubborn canine companion with me, and bracing for the inevitable run-ins with other large male ‘machismo’ Tuscan village dogs became my workout regime.
Parting-relief or sweet sorrow?
When I finished this house-sitting stint in Vorno, I was very happy to be moving on to somewhere I knew I wouldn’t have dangerous dog run-ins every day, and would have control over when I could get to a supermarket (aka buy food). Yet, there was a small part of me that knew I would miss waking up to the views of a Grand Villa.
Both the challenging, and the good times mix together now and create one fond memory littered with images of wet, green hills, olive groves, and clanging church bells echoing in the silence of a small Tuscan village.
Such a natural post! Can picture myself doing all that in Tuscany