Ciao to those legs......

Greetings from your slack blogger!! Yes, I know I've been shit but internet access is always awkward when you don't have your own computer and to be honest, nothing that groundbreaking has really happened to report.

Last you heard I was picking olives in Italy. Well, that finished a few days later, actually when I was granted my second day off (unexpected, given I was leaving the next day and didn't think they'd bother giving me the Friday off). On the spur of the moment, I decided to take the 2+ hour train to Arezzo and check out this town that had not overwhelmed me with its description in dad's 80s tour guide of Italy.

The town itself was not so big, surprising for something that appears quite prominent on the Italian map, but it allowed me to do my cheapskate walk around it in record time (I am my father's daughter) and catch the Rapida (fast) train back on my slow train ticket. They didn't really care. I cared, though, about the addicted smokers using every small stop to puff out the windows and doors. Urgh.

Again, the touristy parts were full of American tourists (man, how they grate on my ears) although it was in general not that busy. A welcome calm.

Once I checked my train times back at the 'stead, I realised I was on a later train than first thought and voila! M unexpectedly asked if I wanted to ride so this time I got a go on Edwi, the largest but laziest of the 3. He's only 5 but already you can feel him saying, "ohhhhhh do I reallllllllly have to canter???"

Afterwards, I said goodbye to the gorgeous 360 view of the remnants of Tuscany, the carb-heavy dinners with pane de chocolatte dessert, the gorgeous dancing girls on the nightly variety show in their tiny outfits with their beautiful, long, bronzed legs framing the host's desks... sorry, where was I?? Yes, I will miss this place and the family - even the freaky looking ferret/alien/cat Jerry - but I know I can always come back if I really want. Would like to find somewhere I can take the horses out into the wilderness though... But all in all, a lovely experience!

Going nutty for Nutella

Three days into the proper work schedule of Torre Amena (Red Tower) and I will give you a little indication of what my days and nights consist of. Firstly, we help with the mucking out, grooming, feeding and stable tidying of the horses. That's pretty simple but does involve getting up before the sun which is a bit unnatural in my eyes, but you gotta do what you gotta do. I just like complaining! And anyone who knows me knows I am NOT a morning person. But the cool morning air does help to give me a quick wake-up call once I step out.

The horses are a bit flighty but nothing unexpected from semi-young competition horses. They're all quite big, esp Edwi who I reckon is over 17 hands. The dogs, 5 in total, are adorable. All really sweet, particularly Ariel who is the 'helpers' dog... she follows whoever is visiting on the farm helping out, sleeps in front of our cottage door and always stays watching us work. Cute!!

Dinnertime, and in fact any other meal-related event, usually involves chocolate which is totally fine with me. But sometimes even I have to say no (not often) because of choccy overload!! They esp like Nutella... and choc and bread... But having just eaten lunch before writing this I need to stop talking about food or I'll feel sick. But it's Italy, they like you to eat well! Although I am chided often for my method of eating, esp spaghetti which I cut with a knife once. Mistake!

What else?? Oh yeah, we started picking olives yesterday but only got half a day in before it started to rain. Today is another story, beautifully sunny but windy as hell. It's ok in the olive grove as it's pretty sheltered but I'm about to have my first ride on the horses so who knows if it will spook at the wind and I go flying! Guess we can only wait n see! I'm just glad I've been asked to ride, I was getting such itchy feet...