9 September - Pistoia

Having written off this area as somewhere to buy, we had a nice relaxing day wandering around Pistoia. It now felt rather a nice town in the weekday sun, compared to the previous time when it had been gloomy and rather deserted. We took a long people-watching coffee stop to start with. Again, the coffee was nothing compared to what we'd had further south. A cappuccino here is dark underneath with a huge blob of pure white froth, whereas around Cortona it was more like a small New Zealand flat white. The cafe lungo, which had been a slightly larger espresso, now was even larger and served in a mid-sized cup instead of an espresso cup. neither were very good, but the people-watching was excellent. Clearly central Tuscany is more wealthy than northern Tuscany. There were none of the beautifully-dressed women and men we'd seen in Arezzo and Cortona.

The town gardens were just lovely, and full of people relaxing. There were deckchairs for the taking, and little tables and seats made from drinks boxes with groups of men playing cards at them.

Giardini Pubblici in Pistoia

The Chiesa di Sant'Angelo was a gorgeous old structure full of impressive and very old carving, especially a noted pulpit. The town is known for its prolific pulpits.

We had got no further ahead on the Pergo house. We need more information from the agent. We were alternating all day between thinking how great it could be, and being put off by the cost and effort involved.