Small Towns and Summer Skies
I suppose a little backstory is in order.
Then there was Montomoli, our favorite bakery. Their flagship store is in Boccheggiano, and lately the Massa location has been out of Ira's favorite almond cookies.
The final nudge came during a conversation with our hairstylist. She was telling us about the most beautiful wedding she'd recently attended, where seemingly the entire town had turned out to celebrate. The town? Boccheggiano.
At that point, I thought, while we're still limited to traveling within Italy, why aren't we taking advantage of it? Tuscany is full of wonderful places close enough for an easy day trip. So we decided to head to Boccheggiano, with tentative plans to continue on to Montieri and perhaps even Prato if time allowed.
We guessed that the restaurant Andrea and Melissa had recommended was La Ciottolona, since it has excellent reviews. Unfortunately, on the very day we planned our visit....it was closed.
So, wink, wink....we still haven't made it there, in case anyone is keeping score.
Montomoli
We did make it to Montomoli, though. The shop itself was tiny, but it was fun to visit the "mothership." Best of all, they had plenty of Ira's favorite cookies--ricciarelli, the almond cookies on the middle shelf second from the left, dusted generously with powdered sugar.
Trust me, he's tried them everywhere else. These are still his favorite.
Montomoli Mothership
Chestnuts
As it turns out, Boccheggiano sits high in the hills, surrounded by chestnut, oak and hornbeam forests. Suddenly Montomoli's abundance of chestnut pastries made perfect sense.
Normally, I'm an almond girl, so chestnut desserts aren't my first choice. But we tried a cookie I'd never seen before called a Boccheggianese, and it was delicious. I'd happily buy those again--although I probably don't need yet another favorite cookie at this bakery.
After stocking up on baked goods, we wandered through the village. It has the same medieval charm as Massa Marittima's historic center, but somehow feels even more intimate, with narrower streets, twisting around the hillside. Later I discovered that, viewed from above, the town is actually laid out in the shape of a heart.
Boccheggiano hill
Montieri is recognized as one of Europe's "Green Hamlets." It sits directly above Italy's geothermal basin, allowing the entire municipality to heat both public and private buildings using naturally occurring geothermal steam. The result is a remarkably low-carbon community.
Pretty cool....literally and figuratively.
Here is what we ate:
We were pleasantly surprised by how good the food was. We had chosen the restaurant purely based on online reviews--which, these days, can be a bit of a gamble.
We wandered through the town until we found a restaurant that looked promising. It wasn't open yet, so I called to see if they had room for lunch.
I'm feeling pretty comfortable making phone calls in Italian these days, which is measurable progress for me.
Luckily, they had a table available. We arrived just as they were opening and were seated in the corner with a great view of both the dining room and the bar.
Entrance to Le Contrade
The bar
The bar was decorated around Montieri's historic Contrade. The village was once divided into five districts before two eventually merged, leaving four.
Every July during the feast of Beato Giacomo, the Contrade competed in games and a treasure hunt, with the winners earning the Palio, a painting banner inspired by Siena's famous tradition. The festival reached its peak in the 1990s, but sadly the tradition has since faded away.
It makes us appreciate even more that Massa Marittima has managed to keep its own traditions alive. The tradition may not be centuries old, but from our North American perspective, it's still impressively old. We think it's pretty cool that communities continue to keep these traditions alive.
Contrade themed cocktail menu
- Light Cream of Asparagus Soup
- Fried dough with Tuscan ham and stracchino cheese
- Green risotto with spinach cream, pecorino drops and toasted almonds
- Homemade pappardelle with wild boar ragu (not pictured)
- Chocolate Souffle (not pictured)
Vellutata leggera di asparagi
Coccoli, prosciutto toscano e stracchino
Risotto verde con crema di spinaci, gocce di pecorino e mandorle tostate
After a leisurely lunch, we were pretty much ready to head home. So the visit to Prato was going to have to wait for another day.
Back closer to home, let me show you just how seriously Italians take summer at the beach.
Along the coast you'll find bagni (beach clubs), where rows upon rows of umbrellas and loungers can be rented for the day--or, as many locals do, for the entire season. Each beach club has its own signature-colored umbrellas, while stretches of free beach become a colorful patchwork of everyone's personal setups.
It's quite the sight.
Follonica Beach
Moris
Although we're probably never going to become full-time beach people, we did finally make it back to the Moris Terrazza. Oddly enough, the occasion was to introduce Niccolò to a place he'd somehow never been before.We could hardly believe it.
While we waited for Niccolò to arrive, the staff uncovered a special surprise. A family of baby birds had just hatched inside one of the old wine barrels that now serves as a side table. A small hole in the side lets the mother fly in and out of to feed them, while the father keeps watch from a nearby tree.
Baby birds
Andrea & Melissa
Then came another surprise.Who should arrive but Andrea and Melissa! Fitting, really, since they were the ones who first introduced us to the Terrazza back in October 2024. This time, we were the ones bringing someone new.
Niccolò eventually headed home, but we decided to linger a little longer. Andrea and Melissa joined us for a while, and it was nice to catch up after they'd spent the past months immersed in a home renovation project.
As we settled our bill, we ended up chatting with our server. She grew up in San Diego, where her father still lives, but her mother is from Follonica. She's lived in Italy for six years now, and her Italian is absolutely beautiful.
Someday.
It's interesting how many different colors the sky can be in just one evening. It's nice to be able to take the time to notice. We know we're lucky.
Dusk
The sun has set behind the hills
Ciao, ciao!
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