Noora had bought new jogging shoes just the previous day, so naturally Siru would need some, too. She had borrowed Marta’s old shoes, but they were a bit too big. We returned to Valdichiana and swore to ourselves we wouldn’t visit it this often – 3 times in just 2 days. Naturally they had to be tried out, too. On Tuesday we had a rest from jogging and went swimming instead and on Wednesday we were on the track again. Usually we don’t have the time or we’re just too tired to make a proper meal, but we made a really nice lunch with salad and dressing, steaks, sage potatoes and red wine sauce. The sauce didn’t turn out to be so good, but we were still proud of ourselves – we hadn’t gone back to pasta meals we ate for the first couple weeks, or the truth be told, the first month. Siru was especially happy to eat a piece of real meat instead of veggies or minced meat.

As Tiia’s birthday was coming up we decided to celebrate it by taking her and her two Finnish friends to an outdoor disco La Signoria in Sinalunga. The disco was crowded with people and it was hard to dance due to the lack of space. The night out was nice even though the parking system sucked and we still think that La Villa is way better place – but the most important thing is that Tiia had fun.

In the morning, after three hours of sleep, we went to work. Mauro had two wine tastings coming up so we helped him with slicing the zucchini and frying it – spinning blades and hot stoves woke us up pretty quickly. The working day, as long as it was, went well, but when we got home we slowly started losing it. We had planned to go to Pisa on Sunday, so we would have to shower in the evening and as our dear neighbor cut the grass in front of our apartment we wanted to thank him by making apple-cinnamon pancake. As good as our plan sounded, it didn’t go so well. We made the dough alright, and left it on the stove to sit as we would grab a quick ice cream from Foiano and pizza from Pozzo. When we finally got back ready to go to bed we remembered the dough and the shower. Siru started to prepare the pancake while Noora tried to hurry with the shower. Halfway through baking it in the oven we realized that when it comes out it would already be late and that the pancake would be hot. In the end we just wrapped the pancake in foil and put it in a free shelf in the fridge.

Siru decided to shower first thing in the morning so we didn’t get to sleep so late. We were in a bit of a hurry and ended up having the breakfast in the train. When we got to our destination we naturally headed for the leaning tower of Pisa and we were quite surprised how small it eventually was, at least compared to tower of Puijo in Kuopio. We found it also surprising that in Pisa there were not so many tourists, taken how big a thing the phenomenal tower is around the world, but as we we found out there wasn’t really much to see besides it. The canal we crossed was even dirtier than in Venice, if possible, and scenery looked rather depressing. We went to practically every shop in the tourist district, visited a museum with old statues and artifacts and would have gotten the chance to get familiar with some church, too, since a Polish homeless guy would have wanted to marry Noora. Probably needless to say that we had to pass on the honour.

As the access to the Internet has been limited as well as the amount of our free time, we haven’t been able to update the blog in what seems like eternity. We’re still alive, though, and we’ll update a few weeks at time.

On Tuesday we picked up Noora’s parents from Foiano della Chiana and after work we had planned to go eat in Mengrello, a local restaurant, but as we discovered it was closed we first went to Gelateria Fiordilatte (our favorite place; the nice lady recognizes us and we don’t know if that’s a good thing or not) and then to Il Tempio for a pizza.

Next morning we had breakfast together before we had to go to work to lay a breakfast for our guests. We only worked half day as Marta had given us the rest of the day of for a day-trip to Siena. Noora’s parents had rented a car and first we went to Monte San Savino for yet another ice cream at Gelateria di Carlo. As soon as we got out of the car it started pouring rain and we all got soaking wet. At least the gelato was good. From Monte San Savino we continued to Siena driving curvy little mountain roads through – surprise, surprise – coniferous forests. In Siena we visited Basil of Saint Francesco, Piazza del Campo and lots of shops. For the evening we had made a reservation for Osteria La Lodola, where we had cold cucumber soup with yoghurt and salmon for antipasti and raw-cooked veal with parmesan for the main course. On the next table there was group of Italians of which some had married Danish and some Norwegians. They started a conversation with us and poured us white and red wines and they would surely have kept going for hours if we hadn’t politely excused ourselves.

On Thursday we also had breakfast together and we got some souvenirs from Finland – rye bread, salmiac and other treats. For a change we provided the food for them and served potatoes and brown sauce and afterwards gave them a quick tour at the winery before their departure back to Pesaro. In the evening we had a dinner for 22 people – Marta’s parents had invited some family and friends over. The food was delicious as always and Marta’s mom had made beautiful flower arrangements.

On Saturday after work we went to Monte San Savino medieval fest – by the time we got there there was only some little boutiques selling beer and snacks and some artists demonstrating traditional handicrafts. After Monte San Savino we headed to Foiano della Chiana, where a nocturnal Carnival took place – lots of people, loud music, dancing and huge carriages. Altogether a good night. On Sunday we thought of sunbathing but instead we decided to go to Valdichiana Outlet Village once again – or as it turned out, twice. We had to return in the evening to buy new jogging shoes for Noora and to test them right away when we got home.